ChiSoxKeith
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 16, 2010
- Messages
- 2,174
Whew. We just landed back in Chicago so this is just the beginning of the trip report. I'll try to work in photos along the way......but we'll start out with a bit of a lead up first. I don't have the energy to post pictures now, but later posts will
We were unsure about making the 8 1/2 hour flight from Chicago to Honolulu with our DD4 so we decided to split the trip up into two segments. We would leave on Saturday 9/10 for LA and spend 4 days at the Grand Califronian - then a week at Aulani - followed by two days at the Grand Californian on the way home. We had never been to Hawaii before, and I hadn't been at DLR since I was 9 years old.
Day 1
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The flight to LAX went without a hitch - we actually landed 15 minutes early! Our DD4 is actually a very good traveller so there weren't any issues. She watched a movie on my iPod Touch for most of the flight and colored a bit when BOLT was over. We picked up the rental car and drove down to the Grand Californian. We had landed around noon on a Saturday but the roads were still pretty crowded and it took us just about 50 minutes to make the journey.
I know in the VGC lovers thread many people tout the Grand Californian as one of the nicest DVC resorts and they have good reason to be so proud of the resort. It is drop dead gorgeous. Like the Grand Floridian, the Grand Californian's large main lobby has a piano and a very nice gentleman was playing all sorts of Disney Tunes. DD4 loves to watch people play the piano so she wandered over there with DW while I checked us in. He asked her what her favorite princess was (Ariel) and began to play a selection of tunes from The Little Mermaid for her. It made her day and she was very excited.
Again we had arrived at around noon so I was surprised to find that our room was ready (a studio) so we went straight to our room. Located on the 5th floor, we had a nice view of the backside of the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail. (I'll post a pic from the room in my next update). The room was actually very nice. Our only previous studio stay was in an AK value room which was a touch smaller.
With our bags unpacked and the rental car put in the self-park lot (which is right across the street from the Grand Californian - sorry, I'm cheap, I'm not paying for Valet Parking when the free lot is less than a block away). We aimed out for the parks. DD4 really wanted to see the new Voyage of the Little Mermaid ride so we went to DCA first.
One of the nicest things about the Grand Californian is how close it is to the parks. Not even our home resort of BLT is as close as the Grand Californian is. You can actually walk out of the Grand Californian into DCA! We didn't know about that shortcut yet, so we went up through Downtown Disney. No matter what they do in Orlando, Downtown Disney will probably never be as nice and vibrant as it is at DLR. If you're staying at Paradise Pier or VGC you almost have to walk through Downtown Disney so there is always a crowd of people moving through. The shops were nice and we made our way to the turnstiles.
This is where we hit our first snag. DW and my Premiere Passport worked just fine, but DD4s was not working at all. We had bought them last December on our AKL trip and I was worried. I didn't have the receipt with me on the trip and the pass had worked just fine when we bought it. It kept scanning in as an invalid pass. So we walked back to the ticket booth and ran into the nicest group of cast members we ever did meet. They couldn't figure out why the pass wasn't working - so the person at the ticket booth and the manager walked back with us to the gate and tried to check us in. Still the computer said DD4 had an invalid ticket. So we walked back to the ticket booth - with both Cast Members falling over themselves with apologies and issued my DD4 a brand new pass. They both then walked us to the gate to make sure that it worked this time - which it did.
With that problem solved, we entered the park and made our way towards Paradise Pier and the Little Mermaid ride. Even though it was a Saturday / mid afternoon the park was pretty dead (a recurring theme for our stays at DLR). The wait for Voyage of the Little Mermaid was only 15 minutes so we got on. A very nice ride - filled with a nice selection of LM music. Maybe not worth the hype - it's very similar to the Finding Nemo ride in EPCOT.
With that ride out of the way we made our way back to Disneyland. They only shoot Fireworks (and Fantasmic) on Fridays / Saturday / Sundays and we would only have two opportunities on our trip to see them and wanted to make sure we caught them Saturday night.
Again, this is where DLR really shines. The parks are so close together that hopping between the two is a breeze. They even have it sectioned off so that while you have to go through the ticket gate to get into the other park, you don't have to have your bags rechecked. WDW really is blessed to have all that land to spread out in, but everything being so close was very nice.......
Up next, Day 1 inside Disneyland proper and the fireworks.
We were unsure about making the 8 1/2 hour flight from Chicago to Honolulu with our DD4 so we decided to split the trip up into two segments. We would leave on Saturday 9/10 for LA and spend 4 days at the Grand Califronian - then a week at Aulani - followed by two days at the Grand Californian on the way home. We had never been to Hawaii before, and I hadn't been at DLR since I was 9 years old.
Day 1
-------
The flight to LAX went without a hitch - we actually landed 15 minutes early! Our DD4 is actually a very good traveller so there weren't any issues. She watched a movie on my iPod Touch for most of the flight and colored a bit when BOLT was over. We picked up the rental car and drove down to the Grand Californian. We had landed around noon on a Saturday but the roads were still pretty crowded and it took us just about 50 minutes to make the journey.
I know in the VGC lovers thread many people tout the Grand Californian as one of the nicest DVC resorts and they have good reason to be so proud of the resort. It is drop dead gorgeous. Like the Grand Floridian, the Grand Californian's large main lobby has a piano and a very nice gentleman was playing all sorts of Disney Tunes. DD4 loves to watch people play the piano so she wandered over there with DW while I checked us in. He asked her what her favorite princess was (Ariel) and began to play a selection of tunes from The Little Mermaid for her. It made her day and she was very excited.
Again we had arrived at around noon so I was surprised to find that our room was ready (a studio) so we went straight to our room. Located on the 5th floor, we had a nice view of the backside of the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail. (I'll post a pic from the room in my next update). The room was actually very nice. Our only previous studio stay was in an AK value room which was a touch smaller.
With our bags unpacked and the rental car put in the self-park lot (which is right across the street from the Grand Californian - sorry, I'm cheap, I'm not paying for Valet Parking when the free lot is less than a block away). We aimed out for the parks. DD4 really wanted to see the new Voyage of the Little Mermaid ride so we went to DCA first.
One of the nicest things about the Grand Californian is how close it is to the parks. Not even our home resort of BLT is as close as the Grand Californian is. You can actually walk out of the Grand Californian into DCA! We didn't know about that shortcut yet, so we went up through Downtown Disney. No matter what they do in Orlando, Downtown Disney will probably never be as nice and vibrant as it is at DLR. If you're staying at Paradise Pier or VGC you almost have to walk through Downtown Disney so there is always a crowd of people moving through. The shops were nice and we made our way to the turnstiles.
This is where we hit our first snag. DW and my Premiere Passport worked just fine, but DD4s was not working at all. We had bought them last December on our AKL trip and I was worried. I didn't have the receipt with me on the trip and the pass had worked just fine when we bought it. It kept scanning in as an invalid pass. So we walked back to the ticket booth and ran into the nicest group of cast members we ever did meet. They couldn't figure out why the pass wasn't working - so the person at the ticket booth and the manager walked back with us to the gate and tried to check us in. Still the computer said DD4 had an invalid ticket. So we walked back to the ticket booth - with both Cast Members falling over themselves with apologies and issued my DD4 a brand new pass. They both then walked us to the gate to make sure that it worked this time - which it did.
With that problem solved, we entered the park and made our way towards Paradise Pier and the Little Mermaid ride. Even though it was a Saturday / mid afternoon the park was pretty dead (a recurring theme for our stays at DLR). The wait for Voyage of the Little Mermaid was only 15 minutes so we got on. A very nice ride - filled with a nice selection of LM music. Maybe not worth the hype - it's very similar to the Finding Nemo ride in EPCOT.
With that ride out of the way we made our way back to Disneyland. They only shoot Fireworks (and Fantasmic) on Fridays / Saturday / Sundays and we would only have two opportunities on our trip to see them and wanted to make sure we caught them Saturday night.
Again, this is where DLR really shines. The parks are so close together that hopping between the two is a breeze. They even have it sectioned off so that while you have to go through the ticket gate to get into the other park, you don't have to have your bags rechecked. WDW really is blessed to have all that land to spread out in, but everything being so close was very nice.......
Up next, Day 1 inside Disneyland proper and the fireworks.
Bill
