A mini vacation to Disneyland- updated 8/17

[mylittleguys]

First, I want to say thanks for all the advice that I received lurking and sometimes posting on the DL board. We live on the East Coast and have been to DW a few times but decided to spend a few days in CA following a wedding in Vegas.

Our party includes my husband and I and our two sons (ages 5 & 7). We arrived in Anaheim on a Friday around 5 PM. We had reservations at the Homewood Suites. Just enough time to check in, drop our bags, and leave to make our dinner reservation at Goofy's Kitchen. We took a cab to dinner and wound up taking the phone number of our driver so he could pick us up after dinner. This was helpful! We arrived a few minutes early with just enough time to explore the lobby of the hotel and buy the kids autograph books from the gift shop.

The character dinner worked out great. We got to meet Goofy, Minnie, Chip, Dale, Pluto, Snow White, and Cinderella. Characters came along at a nice pace although we had to wait for Pluto for a while. Food was ok-there was a good variety which was helpful. We took a cab back to the hotel and I studied my maps to prepare for our first full day! Trip report to be continued...

 

[jupers]

Looking forward to hear...

 

[DisneytheKid]

Looking forward to hearing more

 

[mylittleguys]

Day 1: California Adventure

We woke up early to get breakfast at the hotel, which was a great perk. The Homewood Suites was a bit rundown compared to some other hotels that I have stayed in.... But the staff was very courteous and friendly. We took the Hotel shuttle that stopped only at our hotel and the marriott next door. We paid $14 per day for our family of 4. It worked out fine. I regret not getting a stroller when we checked in. We arrived 30 mins after the park opened. As advised on disboards we chose this park because there was early entry at Disneyland- which should make DCA less crowded.

Let me start by saying.. We loved, loved, loved this park!!! We found it had a different vibe from the other parks. We rushed to get FPs for RSR and the return time was 1:30-2:30. (On the way we noted Soarin was down). We also got FP for WOC. DH and DS1 rode Grizzly River Run while myself and DS2 hung out at Redwood Challenge Trail (which he LOVED). I highly recommend Redwood for someone who has a little one and wants to stay in that area of the park. After that we headed towards Soarin which just reopened so DH and DS1 only waited about 15 mins.

We then went to Cars Land - did maters & luigis rides- which only had wait times of 5-10 mins! Kids got pictures with McQueen, Mater & Red. We asked the nearly cast members to sign autograph books as "Maters pit crew" etc. We stopped for lunch at Flos and ate inside by the window. This gave us a great view of the RSR track! Adult portions were huge and we enjoyed the food. We then did some rides in a bugs land while DH went solo on Tower of Terror.

Finally it was time for our FPs for RSR. Waited on line about 20 mins (standby line was 2 hrs plus) and my 5 yr old began to cry and wouldn't get on!!!! My DH and DS1 went on and loved it!! (I will have to wait til next trip).

Next we saw Aladdin which was great!! Some funny twitter and Justin Beiber references. It was very entertaining! We went on the Monsters Inc ride and then headed over to Paradise Pier. We ordered dinner from Cocina Cucamunga Mexican Grill and sat on the pier. We enjoyed eating that meal and people watching!

We really enjoyed Paradise Pier. Our highlight was riding Mickey's fun wheel at night. Our last ride of the night was Toy Story Midway Mania (which had a 30 mn wait). We had a great view of the DL fireworks from the pier. Although we had FP for world of color, we wound up getting a spot on the pier across from the exit of TSMM. I'm not sure if that's the back or the side but it was perfect for us and not too crowded. We slowly walked back to the shuttle. I was disappointed we didn't see the parade but we were able to see most of our "must sees." To be continued...