We left on Friday, March 13, and left Anaheim on Thursday, March 19. Our Disney days were Sun-Tues. It was a great trip with our family (me, DH, DD13, DD10) and my DBIL's family (DBIL, DFiance, DFiance's DD8). The trip was perfect except for one glitch (flat tire) and a terrible dinner experience on our last Disney day at the Storyteller's Cafe. Hope you enjoying reading this and that I'm not too wordy!
Our Flight:
We took advantage of the cheap flights with Alaska Air ($49 going, $59 the return). We flew from SEATAC to LGB at 6:50pm. It departed on time and arrived on time. Always wonderful flying with Alaska. LGB airport was a pleasant first-time experience. Being a small airport, we managed to get out, claim our baggage, and grab our rental minivan from Enterprise which was onsite in about 20-30min. Very convenient. We will fly into this airport again. It took us about 25 min to get to our hotel, Hilton Garden Inn Garden Grove.
Our Hotel:
What a pleasant surprise when we walked into the lobby of the hotel. It was bright, inviting, and nicely decorated. We were greeted with yummy oatmeal raisin cookies at the front desk. The room was renovated in 2008 and included a microwave and fridge. The room was clean, and all the furnishings looked very new. The bed was the BEST part. It was the most comfortable mattress that it was a toss-up whether to sleep in or get up to go to Disneyland -- yes, it was THAT good! We got a bed and breakfast rate of $95 and free parking (though not free anymore as of March 1st but they waived the parking charges for us since we booked back in Jan.). The breakfast was great in the morning with cooked to order eggs, hash browns, ham/bacon/sausages. They let you help yourself with the fruit, toast, cereals, juices, oatmeal, and pastries. BTW, if you didn't get breakfast included in the rate, it would cost $12.95 pp. Fabulous hotel. We will return here in the future.
ART:
It was a good experience, and an experience that we didn't think we'd have. The glitch that I mentioned earlier was that we somehow got a nail in a tire. On our first Disney day at 8am, we came out to a flat tire. My DH waited for AAA to arrive and repair while we hopped onto the ART. The stop was in front of the Embassy Suites, just next door to our hotel, but we had to buy the tickets at the Hampton Inn next door to the Embassy Suites. DH got everything repaired and joined us at the park by 10am. The ART ride was good, not too crowded, and we got to the park in a timely fashion.
Disneyland:
Great park experience. It was crowded with spring breakers like ourselves. But definitely manageable with fast passes. We rode Indiana Jones, Matterhorn, BTMM, Buzz Lightyear, POTC, IASW, etc. The only rides we didn't go on due to long line-ups and no fast passes were Nemo and Peter Pan. We do love Peter Pan and were sad we couldn't go on it...but a 1-hr wait was just not possible with so much other stuff to do. IASW was fantastic. Loved the subtle infusion of the Disney characters -- very well done! The fireworks were great too.
We had a meal at Cafe Orleans and satisfied DH's craving of the montecristo, and my craving for the pomme de frites and chicken gumbo soup. DH introduced the montecristo to DFiance, who LOVED it. Everyone kept digging into my pomme de frites, which is certifiably yummy!!!
We had a meal at the River Belle Terrace which was also very satisfying. DH and I shared a Tennessee pulled pork sandwich. It was great!
CA:
We love this park. We rode Soarin', Grizzly River Rapids, Tower of Terror, California Screamin', Mulholland Madness, Orange Stinger, TSMM, etc. We got a small pack of tortillas from the Mission Tortilla Factory (DD turned 10 week before the trip). What we did miss that they don't do anymore is the Electrical Parade -- always enjoyed that. But we did enjoy the afternoon parade.
Whitewater Snacks:
Fantastic as usual. DH and I shared a chicken guacamole sandwich. We had it with strawberries instead of the fries. DBIL was impressed with how quiet this place was, a bit of an oasis.
Goofy's Kitchen:
Also fantastic as usual. We come here on every trip. It's expensive (even with the 10% AAA discount) but well worth it for the fun factor. Kids loved it though DH and I noticed the lack of characters floating around. In years gone by, there always was a steady flow of characters, but this year, just a small handful -- Goofy, Minnie, Chip, Alice. Where is everyone??? Also, they dropped the macarena and something else is in place (wasn't quite sure what that was). But that's OK since we had a great time nevertheless.
Storyteller's Cafe:
This was one of our favourites, and we always come here on every trip. We decided to take our BIL and his family on our last night at Disney so they can experience what we love about this place. However, everything went wrong this time, and it was the worst experience. My sea bass tasted fishy, was overcooked on the outside and uncooked on the inside. My DD13's and DD10's ravioli dishes were in a broth rather than in a tomato sauce as the waiter said it was when it was being ordered. When we asked him about it, he took my plate and disappeared for 30 min. By that time, my DD had finished her meal (she was hungry) and we wanted to get back to the park (CA was closing at 8pm that evening). The waiter then finally came back, we asked him again why was the ravioli in a broth and not the red sauce as he said it was. Instead of addressing the issue, he made a snarky remark saying that she (DD) had no problems finishing the meal and then walked off.
We were stunned that he said that -- afterall, if someone didn't come back to address your concern after 30 min. then wouldn't you just finish up and get the bill? During this time, I had no meal, since he had taken my plate away. I went to get a manager. Because I couldn't find one, I asked a host to send the manager to us. OK, another 20 min. comes and goes, and no manager. When my BIL and DH finally did see Manager Mike, he was nasty to them and added to the poor customer service with his bad attitude. He refused to take off anything off the bill until my DH reminded him that I never did eat my fishy meal or hear back from the waiter about my meal. Yeah...whatever happened to our waiter??? 
By that time, CA had closed, and we never did take the kids on their final Screamin' ride. We will never go back to Storytellers. The food is awful. For those prices, I expected so much better.
That's all for now. If you have any questions, ask away.
Our Flight:
We took advantage of the cheap flights with Alaska Air ($49 going, $59 the return). We flew from SEATAC to LGB at 6:50pm. It departed on time and arrived on time. Always wonderful flying with Alaska. LGB airport was a pleasant first-time experience. Being a small airport, we managed to get out, claim our baggage, and grab our rental minivan from Enterprise which was onsite in about 20-30min. Very convenient. We will fly into this airport again. It took us about 25 min to get to our hotel, Hilton Garden Inn Garden Grove.
Our Hotel:
What a pleasant surprise when we walked into the lobby of the hotel. It was bright, inviting, and nicely decorated. We were greeted with yummy oatmeal raisin cookies at the front desk. The room was renovated in 2008 and included a microwave and fridge. The room was clean, and all the furnishings looked very new. The bed was the BEST part. It was the most comfortable mattress that it was a toss-up whether to sleep in or get up to go to Disneyland -- yes, it was THAT good! We got a bed and breakfast rate of $95 and free parking (though not free anymore as of March 1st but they waived the parking charges for us since we booked back in Jan.). The breakfast was great in the morning with cooked to order eggs, hash browns, ham/bacon/sausages. They let you help yourself with the fruit, toast, cereals, juices, oatmeal, and pastries. BTW, if you didn't get breakfast included in the rate, it would cost $12.95 pp. Fabulous hotel. We will return here in the future.
ART:
It was a good experience, and an experience that we didn't think we'd have. The glitch that I mentioned earlier was that we somehow got a nail in a tire. On our first Disney day at 8am, we came out to a flat tire. My DH waited for AAA to arrive and repair while we hopped onto the ART. The stop was in front of the Embassy Suites, just next door to our hotel, but we had to buy the tickets at the Hampton Inn next door to the Embassy Suites. DH got everything repaired and joined us at the park by 10am. The ART ride was good, not too crowded, and we got to the park in a timely fashion.
Disneyland:
Great park experience. It was crowded with spring breakers like ourselves. But definitely manageable with fast passes. We rode Indiana Jones, Matterhorn, BTMM, Buzz Lightyear, POTC, IASW, etc. The only rides we didn't go on due to long line-ups and no fast passes were Nemo and Peter Pan. We do love Peter Pan and were sad we couldn't go on it...but a 1-hr wait was just not possible with so much other stuff to do. IASW was fantastic. Loved the subtle infusion of the Disney characters -- very well done! The fireworks were great too.
We had a meal at Cafe Orleans and satisfied DH's craving of the montecristo, and my craving for the pomme de frites and chicken gumbo soup. DH introduced the montecristo to DFiance, who LOVED it. Everyone kept digging into my pomme de frites, which is certifiably yummy!!!
We had a meal at the River Belle Terrace which was also very satisfying. DH and I shared a Tennessee pulled pork sandwich. It was great!
CA:
We love this park. We rode Soarin', Grizzly River Rapids, Tower of Terror, California Screamin', Mulholland Madness, Orange Stinger, TSMM, etc. We got a small pack of tortillas from the Mission Tortilla Factory (DD turned 10 week before the trip). What we did miss that they don't do anymore is the Electrical Parade -- always enjoyed that. But we did enjoy the afternoon parade.
Whitewater Snacks:
Fantastic as usual. DH and I shared a chicken guacamole sandwich. We had it with strawberries instead of the fries. DBIL was impressed with how quiet this place was, a bit of an oasis.
Goofy's Kitchen:
Also fantastic as usual. We come here on every trip. It's expensive (even with the 10% AAA discount) but well worth it for the fun factor. Kids loved it though DH and I noticed the lack of characters floating around. In years gone by, there always was a steady flow of characters, but this year, just a small handful -- Goofy, Minnie, Chip, Alice. Where is everyone??? Also, they dropped the macarena and something else is in place (wasn't quite sure what that was). But that's OK since we had a great time nevertheless.
Storyteller's Cafe:
This was one of our favourites, and we always come here on every trip. We decided to take our BIL and his family on our last night at Disney so they can experience what we love about this place. However, everything went wrong this time, and it was the worst experience. My sea bass tasted fishy, was overcooked on the outside and uncooked on the inside. My DD13's and DD10's ravioli dishes were in a broth rather than in a tomato sauce as the waiter said it was when it was being ordered. When we asked him about it, he took my plate and disappeared for 30 min. By that time, my DD had finished her meal (she was hungry) and we wanted to get back to the park (CA was closing at 8pm that evening). The waiter then finally came back, we asked him again why was the ravioli in a broth and not the red sauce as he said it was. Instead of addressing the issue, he made a snarky remark saying that she (DD) had no problems finishing the meal and then walked off.
We were stunned that he said that -- afterall, if someone didn't come back to address your concern after 30 min. then wouldn't you just finish up and get the bill? During this time, I had no meal, since he had taken my plate away. I went to get a manager. Because I couldn't find one, I asked a host to send the manager to us. OK, another 20 min. comes and goes, and no manager. When my BIL and DH finally did see Manager Mike, he was nasty to them and added to the poor customer service with his bad attitude. He refused to take off anything off the bill until my DH reminded him that I never did eat my fishy meal or hear back from the waiter about my meal. Yeah...whatever happened to our waiter??? By that time, CA had closed, and we never did take the kids on their final Screamin' ride. We will never go back to Storytellers. The food is awful. For those prices, I expected so much better.That's all for now. If you have any questions, ask away.
