3 Hotels, 2 Parks, 1 Big Bang of a Surprise = A Trip of a Lifetime!!-update 3/21, pg4

[jeremysdisneymom]

3 Hotels, 2 Parks, 1 Big Bang of a Surprise = A Trip of a Lifetime!

Hello and Welcome to my first ever Disneyland Trip Report! It is still exciting to think we finally made it to DL and what a wonderful trip it was. This is also my own Welcome Back to the Disboards as I have practically been MIA since spring last year.

We are WDW veterans. We have been 9 times since our son was 4. He is 11 now. We own DVC at Bay Lake Tower. Been on one Disney Cruise on the Dream. Our family loves everything Disney. We have planned many times to go to DL but always changed our minds. WDW is a 14 hour drive from where we live in southern Ohio or an easy 2 hour flight. At the beginning of 2013, it was decided that this was the year for DL--no ifs, ands, or buts about it! Flights were booked in February, hotels soon after---there was no going back. But sadly, there was no going to WDW either. Our budget didn't allow it (nor did our DVC point balance) with all the other trips we had planned in 2013.

I will tell you before I get started that this was the absolute BEST trip my family ever took. We had no problems and enjoyed our time together more than we ever have. So this is going to be a trip report full of positive, happy moments and hopefully you will enjoy and learn about DL for my WDW friends.

Let's start off with introductions.



First up, is me-Erika, aka jeremysdisneymom here on the boards. I used to be the uber-Disney planner in our family. I still am to some degree. I just didn't plan our DL trip very well like I have been known to in the past. I am an accountant/finance manager by day for an electric company, and a boy scout mom at night. Work has kept me very busy in 2013. I oversaw a lot of projects and felt like I made a big impact for the company. It was a good experience but did keep me from enjoying my time on the Dis. I am glad things have slowed down so I can get back on here. I had been to DL years ago in high school but didn't remember anything about it so I was excited to go back.



Next up is DH, Tom. He works for our local sheriff's office full time, is an EMT for the local life squad, and is our son's boy scout troop scoutmaster. I call him the workaholic in the family. He loves what he does and I encourage him in it everyday. There is a hint of mischievious in that because when he got his EMT a few years ago, Jeremy and I got a mother/son trip to Disney out of it when he was in school. I am currently trying to talk him into going for his next step which I think they call EMT Intermediate and then on to a Paramedic. He had never been to DL. His love for WDW has grown over the years and he looks forward to our trips as much as I do.



Last, is DS Jeremy. He is our only child and a true Disney delight. He is 11 and loves all things Disney. His desire is to one day become a Disney Imagineer. He loves the theme parks, the rides, shows, resorts.......you get the picture. His mind is constantly thinking of the next thing Disney can do to their parks--what rides to build, what shows to create. His mind never stops thinking Disney. He had never been to DL so was super excited to go. He had done a lot of research on the parks. He also conquered a lot of his fears on this trip. He really showed how much he had matured on this trip and our Disney trips are definitely switching modes than what they used to be. He is an honors students, and is involved in 4-H and boy scouts.

I must apologize right now. I still need to figure how to size pictures on Photo Bucket. I thought I had it down but it is obvious from my pictues above that I do not. Any suggestions would greatly be appreciated!!!

To give you a little preview of what is to come:

1. We stayed at all 3 DL hotels.
2. Visited both parks twice.
3. Visited the first amusement park.
4. Saw some celebrities.
5. Had a a big surprise on a tour in LA that went off with a bang!!!
6. Drove in LA!
7. Got lost in LA!
8. Vowed to never drive in LA again!!!

Up next:

Departure day, a plane delay, and we are finally at DL!

 

[jeremysdisneymom]

Reserve for Trip Updates

 

[mumto2]

Oooh, can't wait to read more!

 

[BellaBaby]

We are heading to DLR in a few months!

 

[jeremysdisneymom]

Oooh, can't wait to read more!

Welcome! Glad you are here. Hope to get an update posted later today!

We are heading to DLR in a few months!

Welcome! We had a blast at DLR. It is an entirely different experience than WDW. We really enjoyed it and would love to go back.

 

[jeremysdisneymom]

Departure Day, November 23, 2013

I think I have this picture thing figured out. Well, maybe I do. Not 100% sure but I will give it a try.

I really should start with Friday, November 22, 2013. That is the day we left home. It was a school day for Jeremy, a work day for me but I took it off, and a normal day off for Tom. Tom and I got everything packed while Jeremy was at school. Car got its customary washing. Not sure why as it was only going to be sitting in the airport parking lot but we did it anyway. Friend came over and I showed her how to feed, water and clean the litter box for Walt, our cat. I chose to leave Walt home this time instead of boarding him at the vet. The last time he came home dirty and stinking. I wasn't very happy so I paid my friends children to take care of him. It worked out well and he loved the attention. BTW, Jeremy named Walt after Walt Disney. If he had been a girl, it was going to be Lillie after Lillian Disney. I have raised him right! This is when he first came to our house. He is much bigger now!



We picked Jeremy up from school that afternoon and head to Dayton, Ohio. We live in southern Ohio. We live in a location where we can easily fly out of Cincinnati, Lexington, KY, Columbus, Oh, or Dayton, Oh. When I started looking for flights back in February I found a cheap deal on United out of Dayton, Ohio. The total for 3 tickets was a little over $900. That is a steal for flying into LAX as most tickets average $500 for our location.

It wasn't quite a 2 hour drive to Dayton. We spent a freebie night on our Marriott Rewards at a Fairfield Inn near the airport. We had dinner at Cracker Barrel and went to bed early--3:00 a.m. comes early!

Now on to departure day for LA, November 23, 2013. We were up at 3:30, showered, and on our way to the airport by 4:00 a.m. We had never been to Dayton airport. It was easy to find and very easy to maneuver around. Our 6:00 a.m. flight to Chicago was uneventful. It was neat to watch them de-ice the plane that morning. That was a new experience. Jeremy loved getting off the plane in O'hare by steps and walking in the building. He had never done that before. We had breakfast at McDonalds and boarded the plane around 8:30. That is when things got weird. We waited and waited and waited. At one point, a flight attendant told a passenger next to us they were waiting on the pilots. Uh, excuse me. I am not sure I want a pilot running late and behind schedule flying me four hours across country. After 45 minutes, they came on and announced that there was mechanical issues with the plane and we would be deboarding and boarding another plane. Guess what, the pilots were sitting near the other gate waiting for that plane to be ready. I felt bettter as they already knew the plane wasn't going to fly and we would be on another one. Not sure why no one else did and they boarded us but all was well. Well, sorta. The new plane had no tv so it was a LONG 4 hours to LA.

We arrived in LA about 1 1/2 hour later than we were supposed to. No problem navigating around LAX. Found our luggage and went outside to get a shuttle to the rent a car place. Note: there are no rental car agencies actually in the LAX building. They are around it and you take their shuttle to get to them. We had rented from a new company that opened at LAX called Firefly. The rates were a good price without prepayment. They share a building with Thrifty so after shuttles came and none were Firefly, I called and found this out. We got on the next Thrifty bus and were gone. The only snag that happened the entire trip was with Firefly. No where do they tell you that when they charge your credit or debit card they charge it almost twice the rental initially. It was already done when I went to sign the paperwork. It wasn't a problem for us but could be if you were using your debit card.

We got our car and was on our way. It was about a 45 minute drive from LAX to Anaheim. We hit a good time of the day. The highways were busy but not back to back traffic I had heard about. We were soon in the DLR area. And yes, I have no pictures. Trying to help Tom with directions and the excitement of it all, I completely forgot to take pictures at that point. I was taking it all in.

Our first hotel was the Disneyland hotel for one night. We missed the turn for it initially but soon found it. We parked and quickly made our way inside.



There was a lot of people checking in but it didn't take very long. We got the nicest CM in training and CM helping her. They both got super excited when they found out we were DVC members. They wanted to know where we owned, where we had stayed at WDW, what our favorite resort was. We were amazed. This attitude followed the entire trip. DLR cast members love DVC members!

The CM's hooked Jeremy up with all types of buttons he could have. He was excited as we never got a 1st Visit button when we went to WDW. We were still newbies then and had no idea they had them.

Our room was in the main tower. The rooms were amazing. This was probably my favorite resort to stay at. You couldn't beat the view, the beds were sooo comfortable, and they were huge rooms. The only downside was that it was a walk to the main entrance to the parks.







The bed with fireworks overhead was a huge hit with all of us! I could sleep in one of those every night.



I love this picture that was in the room.



We reserved a standard view room when I booked. The nice CMs mentioned that we had a standard view room. However, the girl smiled very sweet and said she thought we would like our view. We had gotten upgraded!!! That had never happened to us!



The picture doesn't do it justice but we had a view of Disneyland. That is BTM and the Matterhorn in the distance. It was going to be a great view for fireworks.

Cool light fixture.



Going to stop here for now. This will be the wordiest update I have. I have over 1000 pictures to share with you.

Up Next:

Will it be warm enough to try the Monorail slide?
An evening in Downtown Disney.
Disneyland Fireworks from the room---will we see them?

 

[wiscbugs]

I always enjoy your WDW reports so I am excited to read your DL report. We have also been to both in the past fews and DL is definitely great...especially how close everything is!

 

[jeremysdisneymom]

I always enjoy your WDW reports so I am excited to read your DL report. We have also been to both in the past fews and DL is definitely great...especially how close everything is!

Welcome! Glad to have you here. We loved being able to walk to the parks and not rely on Disney transportation. So much easier.

 

[Poolrat]

I am glad you are back!!!!

Sounds like you got off to a great start in CA.
I am hoping to make it back this fall around my conference in late Oct.

I do need to explore more this time- I must go see the other hotels and eat better. I think I really shorted myself that way last time. I mean I ate but now I really can see what was around and well I chose poorly in some respects.


I am excited to see if you can see the fireworks. That is so cool.

 

[jeremysdisneymom]

November 23, 2013-continued

After checking out the room and getting things put away (as much as I was for one night), a decision had to be made. I had promised Jeremy he could swim and that I would go with him. However, I never bet on there being a cool breeze and low 70s when we got there. I agreed that I would give it a try but wasn't promising anything. I knew Tom was a definite no. He won't even get in our pool at home unless it is high 80s.

We got ready for the pool and headed down.

View on the way to Tangora Terrace for some late lunch.



There are no food pictures. I am horrible about taking them and remember after half the plate is gone! Tom and Jeremy had the hawaiian cheeseburger and I had the Asian salad. Both options were very good and very huge!

If you have never been to DL and are DVC, remember this one thing---show your membership card everywhere you go!!! You get 10% off meals at DL including counter service. We didn't do the dining plan as we only had one sit down meal planned and most things I read said the plan wasn't worth it. So we paid out of pocket on everything and I know we saved a bunch thanks to DVC!

After our late lunch which was really supper time for us due to the time change, we ventured down to the monorail slides. Jeremy had been anxious to do this forever.

One foot in the water and I knew there was no way it was going to happen for me! It was too cold for me but not Jeremy. He was soon heading down the slide.




There are two different slides. One was a little higher up and longer than the other.



They don't empty into a pool. I don't know how to explain it but it is like how you come out of the aquaduck on the cruise ships. You can tell from the picture.



Jeremy never ventured into the pool-only the slide. After about an hour he was done. We went back to the room and cleaned up to explore DTD that evening.

DTD is right next to Disneyland Hotel. You simply walk out the main building and it is to your left.



Earl of Sandwich, ESPN Zone, Lego Store, and AMC movies was close to that end. We ended up walking the entire area, but it was dark and when we got to the World of Disney store, I had no idea the parks were just ahead. Down near Earl of Sandwich, a skating rink had been set up for the holidays.



Olaf was watching over the rink. Sorry, my picture turned out blurry.



They had set up a Christmas village around the rink. Shops were selling scarves, Ghiradelli Chocolate, etc.



Photobucket has decided to give me fits while I am on a roll!

Will finish day 1 tomorrow and start on day 2!

Up Next:

Will we get to watch the fireworks from our room?

A move to Paradise Pier

Disney California Adventure

A different way to enter the parks.

Will we get on Radiator Springs?

Jeremy Conquers his fear (and I do too!)

 

[jeremysdisneymom]

I am glad you are back!!!!

Sounds like you got off to a great start in CA.
I am hoping to make it back this fall around my conference in late Oct.

I do need to explore more this time- I must go see the other hotels and eat better. I think I really shorted myself that way last time. I mean I ate but now I really can see what was around and well I chose poorly in some respects.


I am excited to see if you can see the fireworks. That is so cool.

Me too!!! I have missed the Dis and all my friends so much!!!

We loved CA. Would love to go back. Wish I had endless pockets of money and I would but that isn't happening.

I ate much healthier this time than I have in the past. My favorite counter service was Flo's in Carsland. They had some really good meal choices for counter service.

I got another update in as we were posting but dang photobucket gave me fits. Will post about fireworks tomorrow.

So glad you are here reading along!

 

[BellaBaby]

Great update!

That Christmas village looks so cute!

Can't wait to read about your 1st park day!!

 

[MEK]

Thanks for the heads-up! I am really looking forward to hearing about your DL trip! It seems that everyone loves it there. I am tentatively planning a trip for next winter or early spring.

That hotel is very cool. I love the headboards.

And that slide - very cool!

Looking forward to reading more!

 

[MeMom]

It is doubtful that I will ever get out there, so I enjoy seeing other people's pictures. If I do, it will be a driving trip, most likely, so we can make plenty of stops along the way to see other things. I don't think I could do that long of a flight, and we'd like the girls to see some of the other part of the country, as well. Maybe we could rent a motor home to make the travel easier.

I will look forward to seeing your thousand pictures!

 

[Poolrat]

Me too!!! I have missed the Dis and all my friends so much!!!

We loved CA. Would love to go back. Wish I had endless pockets of money and I would but that isn't happening.

I ate much healthier this time than I have in the past. My favorite counter service was Flo's in Carsland. They had some really good meal choices for counter service.

I got another update in as we were posting but dang photobucket gave me fits. Will post about fireworks tomorrow.

So glad you are here reading along!

We call that type of slide "end" a "runout" instead of a catch pool which would be a 3-3 1/2 ft pool area.

Of course Jeremy would love the monorail slide.

I need endless pockets of money to be able to travel from Disney property to Disney Property.


I had a great meal at Flo's. I walked down to Earl's but it wasn't open yet.
Earl's is quick and pretty reasonable. I also need to better with the jet lag, by day 3 it hit me hard and I crashed for about 3 hours.

I know PB can be a pain. I can be patient.

 

[jeremysdisneymom]

Great update!

That Christmas village looks so cute!

Can't wait to read about your 1st park day!!

It was cute and a nice touch for Christmas. The rink was small but just right for kids. I have tried ice skating but cannot stay up long enough to master it.

Park day will up tomorrow!

Thanks for the heads-up! I am really looking forward to hearing about your DL trip! It seems that everyone loves it there. I am tentatively planning a trip for next winter or early spring.

That hotel is very cool. I love the headboards.

And that slide - very cool!

Looking forward to reading more!

DL was awesome. I honestly liked it better than WDW. It was nice to just walk out your room and be in the park so quick. Plus, I think Disney fans like us truly get it. For me, it was so nostalgic to finally be in a park Walt was in after it opened. I had so many people tell me we wouldn't like DL compared to WDW because it was smaller and less to do. However, these are the same people who make fun of us for going to WDW so much. Silly people!

I wish it had been warmer or I would have went down that slide. Weather was pleasant the whole time we were there but just not swim weather for me.

Disneyland hotel is my favorite for the room. The towers aren't all that glam but the rooms can't be beat.

It is doubtful that I will ever get out there, so I enjoy seeing other people's pictures. If I do, it will be a driving trip, most likely, so we can make plenty of stops along the way to see other things. I don't think I could do that long of a flight, and we'd like the girls to see some of the other part of the country, as well. Maybe we could rent a motor home to make the travel easier.

I will look forward to seeing your thousand pictures!

I vote for the motor home!! That would be fun. The flight is horrible. 4 hours is too long for me cramped up on a plane. Tom was miserable. He is 6' 5 and there is no way getting comfortable for him.

Hope you enjoy all the pictures. When is your new grandbaby arriving?

 

[jeremysdisneymom]

We call that type of slide "end" a "runout" instead of a catch pool which would be a 3-3 1/2 ft pool area.

Of course Jeremy would love the monorail slide.

I need endless pockets of money to be able to travel from Disney property to Disney Property.


I had a great meal at Flo's. I walked down to Earl's but it wasn't open yet.
Earl's is quick and pretty reasonable. I also need to better with the jet lag, by day 3 it hit me hard and I crashed for about 3 hours.

I know PB can be a pain. I can be patient.

Cool, I will have to let Jeremy know that. We wondered what that was called.

Yes, Jeremy loves the slides! He talks about going to your waterpark quite often in the summer when he gets his beach towel out they got there that day. I keep thinking I will surprise Tom one day with tickets to the Charlotte NASCAR race but it never happens. Maybe we will meet up in Disney sometime.

We ate at Earl's quite a bit. I finally had the Holiday sandwich and couldn't get enough of it. Such a good place to eat!

Jet lag is horrible. I had it bad when we got home. Tom had it during the trip.

 

[KatMark]

I'm coming over from the FB page.

I still have several TR's and my own to get updated, but I will be back to catch up as soon as I can.

 

[TheChapman6]

I can't wait to read you update I'm dying to know about your experiences at the other hotels we stayed at DLH last year and we are heading to PPH in a few weeks

 

[KatMark]

Erika, I am back and caught up.

Love your intros. And I am very excited to read this and learn about DL. Mark and I are planning our first ever trip to DL in 2015 after 20+ visits to Walt Disney World. So I will need LOTS of hints and pointers, including where to stay.

The monorail slide looks really cool.

And love the photos from DTD.