Are we there, yet?
Alright, let's get this trip report to
ANAHEIM!!
Monday morning, my husband awoke early and saw me packing and running around our hotel room. I was just too excited to stay asleep! I checked the Dis on my cell phone, just to make sure I hadn't missed some major news that could affect our park visits, and more importantly, our touring plans!
After a just ok breakfast at the Rocky Cola Cafe in Manhattan Beach and a pit stop at Trader Joes to get snacks, we were finally on the road. (Oh how I miss my T-Joes! When oh when will you ever open in Florida?!) I am sure I annoyed my husband with my giddy-ness as we took 105 East...then over to the traffic on the 5...and it almost turned ugly till I finally promised him his first In-N-Out Burger off the 91.
My real reason for the 91 detour was to hit the
Disney Character Warehouse outlet, and as my husband hates shopping, I had already done my research and found said burger place was just the next block north on Katella. Aren't I smart?
It was also good that there was a Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf just a few shops down from the outlet, so he killed time there, while I perused the cheap(er) Disney goodies.
Now I know from reading on here, the outlet can be hit or miss. As this was my first time there, I am not sure if it was a good, lousy, or mediocre day. So what did I see that day? Photo albums, some art and jewlery, retired mickey ears and Pirates of the Caribbean hats, and of course LOTS of t-shirts and sweatshirts. I was sad to see the lack of pins for sale, but I am not sure if that is normal or not. None of the pins interested me. So what did I score? I got a nice blue embroidered
Disneyland t-shirt that was $36 down to $16... and a double cd of Disneyland music for $6. That was the best deal because although there is a newer version being sold now in the parks for $25 or so...the songs are pretty much the same. While I did not walk out of the store with a bag stuffed with items, I thought I got some good stuff. Plus, I didn't feel guilty for going berzerk in there! For those of you who have not been to the outlet, know that it is only about a 8 min drive North of Disneyland on Katella. There appears to be a bus that also goes straight up and down from the parks. I think it is definitely worth the visit if you have time and want cheaper souvenirs or gifts for kids etc..
From here, we headed over to
In-N-Out. As a pseudo veggie (I eat fish), I sat and watched my husband happily eat his burger. I was kinda surprised that he did not order off the “secret” menu, and he just went with the traditional cheeseburger.
As we were leaving, I got a good chuckle at the intersection on Katella in this area. I counted 26 video cameras!
Now I know some intersections have cameras to catch people who breeze through red lights or to monitor the area, but I think 26 cameras is a bit bunch! Anyway, from here we were finally heading South to that oh so Happiest Place on Earth!
I kept telling my hubbie, soon you are going to see a snowy mountain on our right, and then finally the beautiful Matterhorn (est. 1959) was in view! I did as much of a happy dance one can do while driving a car. There were definitely some tears as well I was in awe as we drove down past the park, for so much had changed in the area in the last 10 years....and even more so when comparing to earlier memories. As we passed the Tower of Terror, I knew our own hotel was soon going to be on the right! And then I saw the sign... the
Candy Cane Inn (CCI)!
Alright, I guess this would be the appropriate place to give my little review of the CCI. Based on reviews I had read on Trip Advisor back when we were booking (it was #1 at that time in ratings) and the nice words here on the Dis, we went with the CCI. While staying on property would have been fun, we just could not justify the $$$ difference. When we go to WDW, and use discount codes for FL residents, we get to stay on site at places such as the Disney Coronado Springs Resort for less or about the same prices as the Good Neighbor hotels:
Those pics were from our WDW trip last fall. So a Good Neighbor hotel it was! To be honest with you, since the CCI was
SO close to Disney, it really did feel like we were staying at a natural extension of the resort. Plus, we were only there to sleep and wash up. But I am jumping ahead... Upon check in, staff were super friendly. Our room was already available, and we were given a second floor room near the entrance. I know some people complain that the basic rooms are small, but as we are just a couple, we did not find it all that small at all. I am sure if we had two kids in tow, we would have opted for the larger rooms offered at the Inn, but for our needs, this was perfect. The room was always kept very clean by the staff and the beds were comfortable. The room was quiet as well, and the a/c was strong. Did you notice I wrote beds? Even though we requested a king size bed, we got two bed in our room. While we could have complained and such, we were happy with the location of our rooms. Plus at WDW, we have booked rooms in the moderate resorts, which by default gives you two beds. As we were ok sleeping in our own beds after the long days in the parks back there, we figured it would be ok during our DLR stay as well. So yeah, we were like Lucy and Ricky with our own double beds! I am sure you can understand that while it is nice to cuddle with the love of your life, after walking miles at the parks, it is nice to stretch out and have your own bed! Here is a pic of our room at the CCI:
As far as getting to and from the parks, we walked in the morning because we wanted to get to the parks way before opening, but took the shuttle back at night. CCI has an exclusive shuttle for their guests. The shuttle drivers were very friendly, and they were frequent in going to and fro. When walking to the parks in the morning, we found the walk to be quite easy to the main gates, about an 8-10 minute walk at most. It was so easy that I found myself wondering why people complain about the walk...??
Because we wanted to be at the parks bright and early, we did not partake in the free breakfast. We would have been fine if we stopped in to pick up food to go at 7am (when breakfast started), but I was too excited and happy with just munching on a granola bar. Not to mention, I have a coffee snob husband, so that meant he would rather have a bottled Starbucks then whatever hot coffee they were serving. (For all we know, it could have been Starbucks or something similar!)
The CCI is a family owned hotel, that opened not too long after DL opened. The man at the check-in desk said that the people who opened the Inn went on a vacation to see DL. After seeing the park, the husband told his wife that he wanted to build a hotel next to the park. His wife thought he was crazy, but they ended up building it. 50 years later... it is still there and run by their child(ren).
Ok, more to come shortly....
Next up Downtown Disney and a nice meal at Napa Rose!
Come on! In a tribute to Walt it is our duty to honor things non-Disney whilest showing our affection for Disney by being here on the Disboards. That sounded more preachy than I meant it to, but ... you know what I mean!? Walt loved lots of stuff w/o Mickey.
You are beautiful and happy and all a flutter with blushing innocence
Very sweet!
He is SO happy when he finds out he is not alone in the world of sweet, controllish, but totally GORGEOUS, dis-freaks! 
