The Canadians' Road Trip Honeymoon to DLR/California - Last update :( 8/16

[blabbermouth]

Ok, with a mere 6 and a half weeks to go, I’m ready to start my pre-trip report.


INTRODUCTIONS: Hi, I'm Kelsey. I am 24 and I work in accounting. I'm currently studying to get my Certified General Accountant designation. I love cupcakes, snowboarding and goin out/girl talk with my friends. The other person on the trip is my soon-to-be husband, Jason. He is 25 and does sales and office work for my Dad's roofing supply company. Don't worry though, I got my Dad the employee; my Dad didn't get me the boyfriend. He likes beer, golf and his motorcycle.

This was last September during our first trip to Disneyworld.

Here’s one of our engagement photos (My little brother is such an amazing photographer!)

Ok, one more photo. This is where we're from! Victoria, BC. It was pretty cool to see this sign in Epcot, along with the gardens and the totem poles etc. Really made us feel at home.

TRIP PURPOSE: Our upcoming trip is for our honeymoon – we’re getting married at home in my parent’s garden on the 30th. We got engaged on February 28th (yes, much more romantic than the traditional February 14th) and 3 months and a few days later we’re gettin’ hitched. No no, I’m not pregnant! We’ve been dating for about 4 ½ years and living together for 1 ½ years in the condo we bought together, so we figured a wedding isn’t much more of a commitment than cohomeownership! (I swear that’s a word, break it down, it makes sense!) Plus, we knew it’d be at my parent’s house, so we didn’t have to book a ‘venue’, and the best time for pretty flowers is May. So we decided to not wait a full year, and just *ahem* get it over with! It’s going to be great, we have it all planned mostly. Fun, casual and cheap – that’s our wedding motto! Should get it engraved on the rings or something.

OUR DISNEY HISTORY: I’ve only been to Disneyland once when I was three-ish. The only things I ‘remember’, as in ‘have seen photos of’, is a Mickey shaped swimming pool (no idea what hotel it was!) and the carousel. So I consider myself a newbie. J has never been to Disneyland. We both went to Disneyworld last September with our good friends Randy and Karin (who are also getting married later this summer and honeymooning at Disneyworld). We had a good time at Disneyworld, but wanted to switch it up a bit and see a few more places.

TRIP DETAILS: We decided on a road trip because it’s cheaper, we both like to drive and it let’s us visit many places without renting a car. Also, it makes J feel like we’re going somewhere other than just Disneyland, which I’m looking forward to also. We will be going to:

- San Diego for 2 days 2 nights
- Disneyland for 4 ½ days 5 nights
- San Francisco for 2 days 3 nights
- And two lovely stops while driving: Oregon on the way down, and Washington on the way home

The first two days (and the last two days) will be very long days of driving, but we’ll hopefully be able to catch some sleep while the other person is driving. Once we’re in the three cities, we probably will drive very little, if at all.

Alright, next update will be our plans for San Diego. Hope you will all enjoy my PTR and my TR which will be starting in… 2 months. Ok, I really shouldn’t be thinking about coming home from our vacation already!

 

[hurleysweety]

Great start! Love reading about the honeymoon trips because I was just doing that myself this time last year! I'm sure the PTR is still floating around the WDW somewhere....

Sounds like you have a wonderful trip planned! Can't wait to read more!

 

[blabbermouth]

Yay! One reader! Who is now in Disneyland I mean... yay for you!

Ok, so two things you'll learn about us is: 1. We're cheap. Hence the cheap hotels we're staying in. 2. We like to sleep in. It's just the way it is. I know the pros and cons, we've come to terms with them. We probably won't arrive anywhere before 9am. Maybe one day at Disneyland we'll get up early to beat the crowds, but only if we're feeling like we're not accomplishing enough.

So we have two days in San Diego. I think we'll probably arrive pretty late the night before, so we will just crash. We have two full days and then we're driving up to Anaheim late on the second night (so we'll be fresh for Disneyland the next morning). We don't really have a concrete plan for what we're going to do each day. We're just going to try and squeeze as much stuff in as possible. Three days might have been a better idea...

We're buying the So Cal City Pass. It will get us into Sea World, either the San Diego Zoo or Wild Animal Park, Universal Studios and 3 days at Disneyland. All for $259. It's a pretty good deal, I think. Comments? I tried to work it out and even if we don't go to Universal it's still worth it.

So we're planning on going to the Zoo one morning/early afternoon, and SeaWorld the other morning/afternoon. Jason is a big animal lover, so these are mostly for him. I'm hoping we can see enough at each of them in about 4-5 hours. I don't think either of us feel the need to see absolutely everything. As long as J sees the Koalas, he's happy. And we should probably snap a pic of the pandas for our friend who responded 'No one's THAT lucky' when someone asked him if people every hit pandas with their car in China (you know, like hitting a deer or a moose...).

Probably on the day we go to the Zoo we will take the trolley tour. It will pick us up at the Zoo and has stops at El Prado in Balboa Park, Coronado Island, Seaport Village, the Marina, Horton Plaza, the cruise ship terminal, Old Town and a few other places. It takes 2 hours for a full round trip, but we will probably hop on and off at a few of those places too. And it's only $28. Plus, our hotel will shuttle us to/from the Zoo, so that's handy too, no driving or parking!

The day we go to Seaworld will also be beach day. I think in the afternoon we'll drive over to Mission or Pacific Beach. Just for a little beach walk and relaxing. Maybe find a nice restaurant patio to have a drink on.

For dinners we're just going to play it by ear. It will depend where we are and what's convenient to there. I hope to eat some really good Mexican food though. Any restaurant suggestions? Lunch will probably be at the zoo and seaworld. Breakfast I'm not sure. I'm happy with a bagel and a coffee, but J likes big breakfasts. He might just have to suck it up in San Diego because it'll set us back too late. At DL I'll eat a granola bar or something then we'll probably go on rides for an hour or two, then we can stop for a late breakfast. It will make him happy to have eggs and bacon, so we'll do it. And a lil Mickey pancake or waffle never hurt a girl. And I do have to find time for that iced latte I've been hearing about!

I would have loved to stay in a more interesting location or somewhere with water views, but we're cheap so we're staying in 'hotel circle'. It gets decent reviews on trip advisor and a coworker has stayed there a few times, so I trust her. It's also pretty convenient to all areas of San Diego which is really spread out. But I'm having second thoughts. I'll see how I feel. Hmm.

Then the second night after dinner we'll pack up the car and head up to Anaheim to check into the HOJO.

Next up I'll talk a bit about San Fran, and then get to the fun stuff - Disneyland!

 

[DizNee Luver]

I'm in...late but here......
Congratulations on your upcoming marriage!!!! A honeymoon at Disneyland will be so much fun & your side trips to San Diego & San Francisco!! Make sure you wave when you drive thru Medford Oregon (if you're driving I-5)...we're about 25 miles from the California border!!!
Can't wait to see more......please feel free to ask questions...we just did 2 trips to DL in March & April.....if you get bored you can check out my trip reports to get some info. (the link is in my signature below)

 

[blabbermouth]

In fact you've already helped Diznee! I PMed you about hotels in Medford. So I'll wave right before I fall asleep!

I've read a bit of your first trip report before I posted much. I should go back and catch up!

So tonight, bad news lead to good news. J has been sick with the flu (no, not swine!) all week but then his Mom brought us some amazingly good chicken noodle soup for dinner And he's starting to finally feel better today, so that's good too. At least he got it out of his system and will be healthy for the wedding and honeymoon!

 

[prettyprincessbelle]

You know I'm in.

 

[DizNee Luver]

In fact you've already helped Diznee! I PMed you about hotels in Medford. So I'll wave right before I fall asleep!

I've read a bit of your first trip report before I posted much. I should go back and catch up!

So tonight, bad news lead to good news. J has been sick with the flu (no, not swine!) all week but then his Mom brought us some amazingly good chicken noodle soup for dinner And he's starting to finally feel better today, so that's good too. At least he got it out of his system and will be healthy for the wedding and honeymoon!

I knew the name looked familiar........

The trip report just kept getting longer & longer & then we added a mini trip in there as well........now if we could just find employment down there, we'd have I'm moving to Disneyland report!!!!!!

Glad J is feeling better.....mom's have a way with their chicken noodle soup!

 

[Escape2Disney]

When you're going through Oregon, here are a couple of things that might be fun:

• Hellgate Excursions (No, it isn't evil ) - http://www.hellgate.com/ - These jet boat excursions are a lot of fun! The boat takes you down the river to a lunch (or dinner) in the woods, and then brings you back. It's about a 3 hour trip.
• Wildlife Images - http://www.wildlifeimages.org/ - Since your husband-to-be likes animals, this can be very interesting. There are small guided tours to learn about their rescued animals, which include wolves, wildcats, badgers, owls, birds of prey, etc.
• Wildlife Safari - http://www.wildlifesafari.org/ - I haven't done this one yet, but will be soon. I hear it is pretty interesting.

I'm moving to that area in late Fall to be near family, so we've done these things many times. Be sure to get a Dutch Brothers Coffee - there are TONS of them in Southern Oregon!!

 

[blabbermouth]

I knew the name looked familiar........

The trip report just kept getting longer & longer & then we added a mini trip in there as well........now if we could just find employment down there, we'd have I'm moving to Disneyland report!!!!!!

Glad J is feeling better.....mom's have a way with their chicken noodle soup!

Ok, I started back in on your report! Wow, so many great photos! I even somehow managed to get Jason to sit down and look at them with me. At least the Lilo and Stitch and GK buffet pics, lol.

You know I'm in.

*Yes* I'm going to read your update now.

When you're going through Oregon, here are a couple of things that might be fun:

• Hellgate Excursions (No, it isn't evil ) - http://www.hellgate.com/ - These jet boat excursions are a lot of fun! The boat takes you down the river to a lunch (or dinner) in the woods, and then brings you back. It's about a 3 hour trip.
• Wildlife Images - http://www.wildlifeimages.org/ - Since your husband-to-be likes animals, this can be very interesting. There are small guided tours to learn about their rescued animals, which include wolves, wildcats, badgers, owls, birds of prey, etc.
• Wildlife Safari - http://www.wildlifesafari.org/ - I haven't done this one yet, but will be soon. I hear it is pretty interesting.

I'm moving to that area in late Fall to be near family, so we've done these things many times. Be sure to get a Dutch Brothers Coffee - there are TONS of them in Southern Oregon!!

Wow, those sound really cool. And you must have known the other thing Jason likes a lot is COFFEE! Oh yeah, and I'm 1/2 dutch!

 

[DizNee Luver]

Ok, I started back in on your report! Wow, so many great photos! I even somehow managed to get Jason to sit down and look at them with me. At least the Lilo and Stitch and GK buffet pics, lol.

Thank you.....we just kept snapping pictures thru the whole trip....but I'm glad we do that....lots to chose from when making Disney slideshows!!!!

 

[blabbermouth]

Probably won't post more til Monday. Goin out for sushi tonight.

Tomorrow my sister is coming into town so we'll go shopping, drink some caesars etc. Sunday is my bridal shower, whee! So I'll be busy. Maybe J will be bored though... I can recruit him to post in my place!

OMG, just realized most American's don't know what caesars are! Bloody Marys, but with clamato juice instead of tomato juice. ie. WAY BETTER.

Have a nice weekend and mother's day everybody.

 

[blabbermouth]

Ok, my fun weekend is over. Had a great time with my shower, so spoiled! It was nice for family and friends to all meet each other. Now for the next instalment in my trip report:

San Francisco

This will be the third and last destination of our trip. We will have two full days here and the night we arrive. This will probably be the most laid back part of our trip – no theme parks!

We only have two “must-do”s here: 1. Alcatraz tour. Probably the night-time one as we’ve heard it’s more interesting. 2. Rent bikes and bike across the Golden Gate Bridge (then take the ferry back from either Tiburon or Sausilito after having lunch). We’ll also probably stop in Golden Gate Park (My Dad says there’s some pretty gardens there… and we’ll probably need breaks!)

We also want to check out: Fisherman’s Wharf (I know people say its tacky), China Town, Union Square and maybe visit Lombard Street (the zigzag hill one) and ride a trolley. Also, enjoy some good food and soak up the atmosphere.

Since we don’t have a ton of plans, if anyone has any suggestions, let me know!

Last night, Jason and I finally got to spend some time together. Got Noodle Box takeout and watched Monsters Inc. We went to bed early; I was even too tired to talk about the trip!

Next instalment: Onto the good stuff - our plans for Disneyland!

 

[blabbermouth]

Time for the part you’ve all been waiting for.

We’re arriving in Anaheim Wednesday night, and will be leaving Monday late morning. We’re staying at the HOJO, apparently in a room overlooking the garden pool. Better than overlooking the freeway!

We’ll probably go to bed early so we can get up sorta early the next morning. By this point I think we’ll be playing it by ear as to how tired we are, so I don’t have an official plan. Horrible, I know.

We’ll have 3 ½ days for the parks, so I think we should have enough time to do almost everything. We won’t do a Magic Morning the first day, we’ll save it until Saturday and see if we need it. We’ll probably take an afternoon nap/pool break most days.

First day will be for Disneyland of course. I think we’ll try to get there close to regular opening and head around left (I think it’s left?) and do Indiana Jones, Pirates, Haunted Mansion etc. We’ll leave Fantasyland for that night and the ones with long lines for the potential Saturday Magic Morning.

Must do’s in DL: Indy, Pirates, HM, Matterhorn, Space Mountain (so excited to see how much better it is than WDW), Splash, BTMRR, IASW and I have to at least check out Toon Town. Oh, and Fantasmic! and the fireworks.

The next day we’ll start at DCA to get to Toy Story and Soarin’ early. I can’t believe TS doesn’t have fastpasses, so sad! We also want to check out Screamin’ (yes, I will be, but it makes it more fun, I swear), Monsters Inc, TOT (love it!) and check out Bugs Land (so many cute things to see).

I’m sure I’m forgetting a lot of things on my lists. The other day and a half will be reserved for whatever we still need to do or want to do again.

On to the FOOD. For some reason, when J was sick with the flu, I managed to tie him down and make him look at food pics and menus. He was too sick to run away, yet too sick to really think he would enjoy anything! Moihaha.

We decided on these Table Service restaurants: Carnation Café, Wine Country Trattoria and ESPN Zone for our dinners. We’ll only be there three nights, I’ll get to the fourth afternoon/night soon. Reviews, anyone? We would like to try Napa Rose and we do like ‘fancy’ food, but we’ll already be spending so much on vacation, it’s hard to justify the value of a $150 dinner when a night at HOJOs is less than that! Yeah, we’re cheap

The morning we leave we’re going to do Lilo and Stitch Character Breakfast! The pics I’ve seen Stitch and Lilo (Thanks Diznee Luver) just seem like the cutest, like they actually take their time and have fun. But there’s also not a ton of characters to annoy you. It’s cheaper than Goofy’s and I like the Hawaiian theme. It’ll be one last goodbye before we hit the road to much less magical San Francisco.

For Counter Service we would like to go to a few of the following: Pacific Wharf Café, French Market, Rancho Del Zocalo, River Belle Terrace Breakfast, Little Red Wagon Corndogs and Taste Pilot’s Grill.

Snack time! Iced latte, corndog (Did I mention I LOVE Corndogs?), maybe a dole whip, maybe a tigger tail (keep me out of Pooh’s Corner so I don’t go crazy!) Mint Julep, Mickey or stuffed pretzel, cherry coke… yum!

Also, we want to do the wine tasting thing in DCA. Anyone know much about this? It still exists, right?

I’m sure I have more to say, but I’ll stop here because we still have 5 1/2 weeks to go! Oh yeah, I will talk about our 4th day later.

I might start on my planning binder tonight, if my first bootcamp class doesn’t kill me.

 

[WA Kay]

I'm in too. Congratulations on your upcoming marriage. I will keep my fingers crossed that the weather is perfect for the big day.

I also got married at home. It was casual, fun, cheap, and the sun shined all day. Of course even in Washington you are pretty much guaranteed nice weather on Aug 20th.

Your trip sounds perfect. I have driven from Mountlake Terrace (just north of Seattle) to Anaheim many times over the years and it was great getting to see so much. We would typically drive straight down I5 and come back up the coast.

I look forward to reading more about your trip and maybe we will see each other down there. My little group will be at HoJo's from June 20-27th. We are also staying in building 2 overlooking the garden pool.

 

[DizNee Luver]

Looks like your plans are getting lined out.....very exciting this planning stuff!!!!

Yes Indy & POTC & such are to the left at the HUB. Remember to grab FP's early in your day to use later. You don't have to use them during the hour stated...just anytime after that "time" on that day.

Don't forget GRR at DCA...if you like Splash you'll like this one!!! It's one of my favorites!!!

We loved Carnation Cafe & ESPN Zone, but have never been to Wine Country Trattoria....this is on our to-do list. We've also never had the money to do Napa Rose, but someday........

I'm glad you enjoyed the Lilo-n-Stitch pics....we enjoyed ourselves even with just the 2 main characters...... If you interact with them, they'll interact with you!!

Counter service choices look good (although we didn't enjoy Rancho at all) but another one to maybe check out is the Hungry Bear Restaurant up by Splash Mountain. They have very good food & you can sit & watch the boats go by on the Rivers of America. We like sitting on the lower section, close to the water to feed the ducks!! Very relaxing down there.

Snacks look yummy!!! Don't forget about the Rice Krispy treats & popcorn!! Oh & if you get a chance to get one of the Smore bars at the Candy Palace on Main Street........delicious!

Can't help on the wine tasting as we don't drink wine....probably why we'd never eaten at Wine Country before.....but now that I've seen pics & reviews...we got to try it!

I'm getting excited for you now!!!!!

 

[prettyprincessbelle]

I just realized how many days you'll be in CA! Wooohooo!!

We've done Lilo and Stitch's breakfast several times and we love it. Jesus is a giant Stitch fan and I love the food there, so we're both happy. It's really mellow (not like Goofy's) and I think the food is fantastic!!

 

[KrazyKat4DIS]

I'm in! Sorry joining so late.

I still have to go back read your SF and DL section, but in regards to San Diego, you might think about going to Old Town for dinner and getting some delicious Mexican food and even better margaritas

 

[blabbermouth]

I'm in too. Congratulations on your upcoming marriage. I will keep my fingers crossed that the weather is perfect for the big day.

I also got married at home. It was casual, fun, cheap, and the sun shined all day. Of course even in Washington you are pretty much guaranteed nice weather on Aug 20th.

Your trip sounds perfect. I have driven from Mountlake Terrace (just north of Seattle) to Anaheim many times over the years and it was great getting to see so much. We would typically drive straight down I5 and come back up the coast.

I look forward to reading more about your trip and maybe we will see each other down there. My little group will be at HoJo's from June 20-27th. We are also staying in building 2 overlooking the garden pool.

Yes, we are hoping for... no rain. Doesn't have to be sunny, just not rainy!

Exciting to see someone that will be there at the same time! I guess I'll have to get some lime green mickey heads goin on so you can say hi.

Looks like your plans are getting lined out.....very exciting this planning stuff!!!!

Yes Indy & POTC & such are to the left at the HUB. Remember to grab FP's early in your day to use later. You don't have to use them during the hour stated...just anytime after that "time" on that day.

Don't forget GRR at DCA...if you like Splash you'll like this one!!! It's one of my favorites!!!

We loved Carnation Cafe & ESPN Zone, but have never been to Wine Country Trattoria....this is on our to-do list. We've also never had the money to do Napa Rose, but someday........

I'm glad you enjoyed the Lilo-n-Stitch pics....we enjoyed ourselves even with just the 2 main characters...... If you interact with them, they'll interact with you!!

Counter service choices look good (although we didn't enjoy Rancho at all) but another one to maybe check out is the Hungry Bear Restaurant up by Splash Mountain. They have very good food & you can sit & watch the boats go by on the Rivers of America. We like sitting on the lower section, close to the water to feed the ducks!! Very relaxing down there.

Snacks look yummy!!! Don't forget about the Rice Krispy treats & popcorn!! Oh & if you get a chance to get one of the Smore bars at the Candy Palace on Main Street........delicious!

Can't help on the wine tasting as we don't drink wine....probably why we'd never eaten at Wine Country before.....but now that I've seen pics & reviews...we got to try it!

I'm getting excited for you now!!!!!

Oh yeah, GRR at DCA, except that I hate getting wet, lol, but I will do it anyways.

Rice Krispies and popcorn are a given!

I will add the Hungry Bear. Heehee, I think that's what I should call Jason. And on that note I've been so good with cooking real food this week! Last night I made Mexican Lasagna and it was pretty good. Monday night I made quiche, and I have Chicken Souvlaki Wraps all lined up for later this week.

 

[blabbermouth]

I just realized how many days you'll be in CA! Wooohooo!!

We've done Lilo and Stitch's breakfast several times and we love it. Jesus is a giant Stitch fan and I love the food there, so we're both happy. It's really mellow (not like Goofy's) and I think the food is fantastic!!

Yup, we're going to be down there for quite awhile! We don't really get the chance to go on lots of little trips, so when we do go, we go big!

I'm in! Sorry joining so late.

I still have to go back read your SF and DL section, but in regards to San Diego, you might think about going to Old Town for dinner and getting some delicious Mexican food and even better margaritas

Never too late to start!

Thanks for the tip about SD, we were thinking about doing exactly that, so it's nice that a person who's done it thinks it's a good idea too!


And on a slightly unrelated wedding note: I just booked a hotel for our wedding night. Rack rate of $479 (!) and we're paying $119. Crazy! So excited.

 

[blabbermouth]

We're going to spend our 4th morning in DL/DCA finishing the last few things.

That afternoon we're going to head up to Hollywood and probably just drive by the major tourist places and maybe check out Griffith Observatory. That night is "Jason Night" as we'll be going to see an LA Galaxy soccer game. Wheeeeee. (That was a sarcastic whee). To me, soccer is one of the most boring sports, and David Beckham (hottie for an older guy!) won't even be back yet. Oh well, J really wants to do it, and I'm hoping I'll like soccer a bit more in person than on tv. At least there's drinks and snacks! And there's no argument I enjoy those.

Another thing we gotta do: Get our picture taken at the Happily Ever After sign.

Also, I'm working on my planning binder kinda thing, so stay tuned for that!