Pluto468
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 11, 2020
- Messages
- 3,871
This is a long post but the short version is: I love Disneyland and had a fantastic time. Can't wait to go back 
~
I just returned from my long awaited trip that has been rescheduled 5 times! I can't believe I finally made it lol. I started planning this trip back in October and it was going to be a 1 night trip to see holiday decorations but it ended up being a 6 night trip with 4 park days.
My teens didn't want to get up early, which made it hard to get to the park by noon. I try to go with the flow while I'm at the parks, but it was so hard to wait! On the 3rd day I decided to go in by myself at 8:00am and it was wonderful. Low crowds, nice and cool, great wait times for all the rides. I had fun interactions with a few characters and was able to do so much between 8 and noon, when I met up with my family again. After they heard how empty it was the kids wanted to get into the park for 8:30 on our last day.
I saw Paint The Night and the Pride Nite cavalcade but missed the DCA parade and the daytime cavalcade. I watched the fireworks 3 times from 3 different locations. We had loads of character interactions this trip and watched a few of the bands. The Marching band was great. Crowds didn't seem too bad to me. As usual the heat bothered me more than the crowds. We took long afternoon breaks. The Pixar Play in Fantasyland Theater was so much fun.
Somehow we didn't spend as much time at DCA even though we had hoppers. It was fun going on the Monsters Inc ride one last time and I spotted Loki but didn't get to talk to him this time.
Hotels:
Hyatt Regency Orange County in Garden Grove:
The Hyatt Regency is very nice and we stayed here the first 2 nights, before we went to Disneyland. We used it as a home base on arrival night and when we went to San Diego Zoo. The room had cute Disney décor, like pictures of the carousel horses and the monorail, but overall I didn't find it very cozy. It was really busy with conferences, but there were also plenty of people going to the parks on the free shuttle they offer. We had breakfast at TUSCA and ordered the buffet, which was great.
The main issue with this hotel was that they messed up our room reservation. I booked connecting rooms and the week before the trip called to confirm and the person I spoke to assured me they were guaranteed connecting. They weren't! Luckily I did online check in early in the morning and called to fix the reservation. This caused a lot of anxiety all day, wondering what room would be open for us when we arrived. When I checked in we were upgraded to a suite and the desk clerk told me I was lucky because I got their last room. If I hadn't checked in online we wouldn't have been able to upgrade and would have been separated during that leg of the trip. So I'd give that hotel a C.
Candy Cane Inn:
I can't say enough wonderful things about this hotel! I haven't stayed there for 10 years, and it's SO nice after the renovations. Everything felt new and clean and the beds were super comfortable. I really hemmed and hawed over staying here vs on property, and Candy Cane Inn was the right choice for this trip. I think it's definitely the nicest motel style hotel on Harbor and we saved a couple thousand dollars by staying there. We were in 2connecting premium rooms in the back and it was so quiet you'd hardly even know you were on a busy street.
The customer service was excellent,starting with the tons of questions I emailed to the manager before I even arrived. We had turn down service every night and they arranged the stuffed animals in cute little scenes, plus left chocolates and the menu for the next morning's breakfast delivery.The breakfast delivery saved so much time and was one of the best aspects of our stay.
The only thing I would change is the window coverings! Fortunately I recalled that the shutters don't block the lights from outside so I brought blackout curtains that I was able to hang up and that fixed that problem.
The shuttle is very convenient but I do wish it was still every half hour, especially at night. It runs more frequently in the morning, which was great, but I'd love it to have a few more runs between 10-12pm, too. (The shuttle is where I finally ran into @Tinkaboo , which was a fun surprise!)
We missed the shuttle a few times and I timed leaving the Disneyland park exit gates to our hotel door as 20 minutes. But that probably varies from person to person. The walk is really nice and quiet and most of it is on a tree lined path set back from Harbor. It only felt long after 6 hours in the park!
Food:
I tried the breakfast chimmichanga and it's as great as everyone says it is! I ate that while taking a ride on the Mark Twain one morning.
Blue Bayou:
The food was way better than I remembered. Our table ordered the pesto pasta, Monte Cristo, the rosemary rolls and the chicken dish. Everything was delicious. I had the vegan crème brulee for dessert, and I wish I could have that every day lol. It was fantastic.
The only bummer at Blue Bayou is we were seated at a table about 5 feet away from the kitchen. I requested a water table when we arrived but the host said it would bean hour wait. Once I saw our table I asked about waiting for any other table and the host said it would be 45 minutes,which was just too long. So my view was some white fencing and waiters coming and going the whole time. I booked the meal for 12:20, thinking the 11:00 diners would be trickling out but it didn't work out that way. It was still one of our best meals of the entire trip. At least we didn't get the table right next to the bathroom, which we've had before.
I finally made it back to Plaza Inn! The chicken was as good as I remembered but my favorite of that meal was the rainbow cake. It was the best cake I've had in ages.
I also went to:
Jolly Holiday
Cafe Daisy
Red Rose Tavern
Goofy's
Pym's
Lucky Fortune Cookery
Alien Pizza Planet
Pooh Corner (not exactly a meal, I guess)
Mint Julep bar for beignets
Stagedoor cafe
The 70th Key: I hadn't planned on buying one but decided to because it looked like fun. I couldn't find one in stock for the first 2 days but once I finally did my kids had a blast with it. It was worth the cost for us.
Fantasmic Dining Package: I booked the Rancho Del Zocalo package. Everyone ordered the potato tacos and thought they were delicious. My daughter said they tasted like a tater tot taco, which sums it up pretty well. The sauce they used on it was very spicy (for me) so I took it off. The cake the meal comes with is excellent.
Seating: I have a bad back and can't sit on the ground so I planned to get to the check in area right at 8:00 so we could get a Harbor Galley table. We were late and all of those tables were gone by 8:20. The CM offered us a place on the stairs but that's still on the ground so I couldn't do that. We ended up at River Belle Terrace, on the other side of the premium package. The view was just ok. There were people streaming past during the show, and we weren't on a raised patio like the premium package. We did have a great view of the water screen and were a tad bit closer than the premium package seating.
The RBT seating area was roped off and we had to be escorted over there by our CM. There was only 1other person there so it seemed like a nice relaxing place to watch.But time and time again random people came over and asked the CM in charge of the roped off area if they could sit there and she let them in. I know they weren't part of the dining package because I could hear their conversations, and they weren't escorted by the CM who brought us over. By the time the show started the whole area was crowded. Now, I don't begrudge anyone a nice view or a chair but if I'd known I could just wander over and ask that CM if I could sit at RBT I wouldn't have paid for a dining package.
After Fantasmic we stayed to watch the fireworks and had an excellent view of the projections on ROA.That was my favorite view of the fireworks.
World Of Color Dessert Party: This was awesome as usual! The tables are set up differently than the last few times we've done it and the area felt more spacious. We checked in on the app at 6:00. I wanted to ask about getting a table on the end of a row so my daughter wouldn't feel too crowded. I talked to a plaid,who told me to talk to a “gold vest” down at the WOC seating area. She showed me our table and said to let her know if there was anything else they could do to help. We were at table 28 which had plenty of space between it and the table next to us. The view was great. I really liked the new presentation of the snacks. The food was very good but I did miss the mini bundt cake! Our CM was very attentive and friendly and took our picture for us. She came back a number of times to refill our drinks. She gave us a WOC tote bag to take our snack boxes away in, which was super helpful.
Characters I met:
Pluto
Genie
Peter Pan
Hook (He didn't like my Peter Pan's flight outfit!)
Tiana
Redd
Carl
Russell
Luca
Goofy
Chip
Dale
Minnie
Loki (saw from afar)
Dr. Strange
All in all another wonderful trip! My family has all stated that they don't want to go back for 4 or 5years, so my next trip will probably be solo or with my sister and/or Disneyland loving niece. I'm not sure when, but it won't be 4 years!
Thanks for all the tips and advice during the planning stages!
~
I just returned from my long awaited trip that has been rescheduled 5 times! I can't believe I finally made it lol. I started planning this trip back in October and it was going to be a 1 night trip to see holiday decorations but it ended up being a 6 night trip with 4 park days.
My teens didn't want to get up early, which made it hard to get to the park by noon. I try to go with the flow while I'm at the parks, but it was so hard to wait! On the 3rd day I decided to go in by myself at 8:00am and it was wonderful. Low crowds, nice and cool, great wait times for all the rides. I had fun interactions with a few characters and was able to do so much between 8 and noon, when I met up with my family again. After they heard how empty it was the kids wanted to get into the park for 8:30 on our last day.
I saw Paint The Night and the Pride Nite cavalcade but missed the DCA parade and the daytime cavalcade. I watched the fireworks 3 times from 3 different locations. We had loads of character interactions this trip and watched a few of the bands. The Marching band was great. Crowds didn't seem too bad to me. As usual the heat bothered me more than the crowds. We took long afternoon breaks. The Pixar Play in Fantasyland Theater was so much fun.
Somehow we didn't spend as much time at DCA even though we had hoppers. It was fun going on the Monsters Inc ride one last time and I spotted Loki but didn't get to talk to him this time.
Hotels:
Hyatt Regency Orange County in Garden Grove:
The Hyatt Regency is very nice and we stayed here the first 2 nights, before we went to Disneyland. We used it as a home base on arrival night and when we went to San Diego Zoo. The room had cute Disney décor, like pictures of the carousel horses and the monorail, but overall I didn't find it very cozy. It was really busy with conferences, but there were also plenty of people going to the parks on the free shuttle they offer. We had breakfast at TUSCA and ordered the buffet, which was great.
The main issue with this hotel was that they messed up our room reservation. I booked connecting rooms and the week before the trip called to confirm and the person I spoke to assured me they were guaranteed connecting. They weren't! Luckily I did online check in early in the morning and called to fix the reservation. This caused a lot of anxiety all day, wondering what room would be open for us when we arrived. When I checked in we were upgraded to a suite and the desk clerk told me I was lucky because I got their last room. If I hadn't checked in online we wouldn't have been able to upgrade and would have been separated during that leg of the trip. So I'd give that hotel a C.
Candy Cane Inn:
I can't say enough wonderful things about this hotel! I haven't stayed there for 10 years, and it's SO nice after the renovations. Everything felt new and clean and the beds were super comfortable. I really hemmed and hawed over staying here vs on property, and Candy Cane Inn was the right choice for this trip. I think it's definitely the nicest motel style hotel on Harbor and we saved a couple thousand dollars by staying there. We were in 2connecting premium rooms in the back and it was so quiet you'd hardly even know you were on a busy street.
The customer service was excellent,starting with the tons of questions I emailed to the manager before I even arrived. We had turn down service every night and they arranged the stuffed animals in cute little scenes, plus left chocolates and the menu for the next morning's breakfast delivery.The breakfast delivery saved so much time and was one of the best aspects of our stay.
The only thing I would change is the window coverings! Fortunately I recalled that the shutters don't block the lights from outside so I brought blackout curtains that I was able to hang up and that fixed that problem.
The shuttle is very convenient but I do wish it was still every half hour, especially at night. It runs more frequently in the morning, which was great, but I'd love it to have a few more runs between 10-12pm, too. (The shuttle is where I finally ran into @Tinkaboo , which was a fun surprise!)
We missed the shuttle a few times and I timed leaving the Disneyland park exit gates to our hotel door as 20 minutes. But that probably varies from person to person. The walk is really nice and quiet and most of it is on a tree lined path set back from Harbor. It only felt long after 6 hours in the park!
Food:
I tried the breakfast chimmichanga and it's as great as everyone says it is! I ate that while taking a ride on the Mark Twain one morning.
Blue Bayou:
The food was way better than I remembered. Our table ordered the pesto pasta, Monte Cristo, the rosemary rolls and the chicken dish. Everything was delicious. I had the vegan crème brulee for dessert, and I wish I could have that every day lol. It was fantastic.
The only bummer at Blue Bayou is we were seated at a table about 5 feet away from the kitchen. I requested a water table when we arrived but the host said it would bean hour wait. Once I saw our table I asked about waiting for any other table and the host said it would be 45 minutes,which was just too long. So my view was some white fencing and waiters coming and going the whole time. I booked the meal for 12:20, thinking the 11:00 diners would be trickling out but it didn't work out that way. It was still one of our best meals of the entire trip. At least we didn't get the table right next to the bathroom, which we've had before.
I finally made it back to Plaza Inn! The chicken was as good as I remembered but my favorite of that meal was the rainbow cake. It was the best cake I've had in ages.
I also went to:
Jolly Holiday
Cafe Daisy
Red Rose Tavern
Goofy's
Pym's
Lucky Fortune Cookery
Alien Pizza Planet
Pooh Corner (not exactly a meal, I guess)
Mint Julep bar for beignets
Stagedoor cafe
The 70th Key: I hadn't planned on buying one but decided to because it looked like fun. I couldn't find one in stock for the first 2 days but once I finally did my kids had a blast with it. It was worth the cost for us.
Fantasmic Dining Package: I booked the Rancho Del Zocalo package. Everyone ordered the potato tacos and thought they were delicious. My daughter said they tasted like a tater tot taco, which sums it up pretty well. The sauce they used on it was very spicy (for me) so I took it off. The cake the meal comes with is excellent.
Seating: I have a bad back and can't sit on the ground so I planned to get to the check in area right at 8:00 so we could get a Harbor Galley table. We were late and all of those tables were gone by 8:20. The CM offered us a place on the stairs but that's still on the ground so I couldn't do that. We ended up at River Belle Terrace, on the other side of the premium package. The view was just ok. There were people streaming past during the show, and we weren't on a raised patio like the premium package. We did have a great view of the water screen and were a tad bit closer than the premium package seating.
The RBT seating area was roped off and we had to be escorted over there by our CM. There was only 1other person there so it seemed like a nice relaxing place to watch.But time and time again random people came over and asked the CM in charge of the roped off area if they could sit there and she let them in. I know they weren't part of the dining package because I could hear their conversations, and they weren't escorted by the CM who brought us over. By the time the show started the whole area was crowded. Now, I don't begrudge anyone a nice view or a chair but if I'd known I could just wander over and ask that CM if I could sit at RBT I wouldn't have paid for a dining package.
After Fantasmic we stayed to watch the fireworks and had an excellent view of the projections on ROA.That was my favorite view of the fireworks.
World Of Color Dessert Party: This was awesome as usual! The tables are set up differently than the last few times we've done it and the area felt more spacious. We checked in on the app at 6:00. I wanted to ask about getting a table on the end of a row so my daughter wouldn't feel too crowded. I talked to a plaid,who told me to talk to a “gold vest” down at the WOC seating area. She showed me our table and said to let her know if there was anything else they could do to help. We were at table 28 which had plenty of space between it and the table next to us. The view was great. I really liked the new presentation of the snacks. The food was very good but I did miss the mini bundt cake! Our CM was very attentive and friendly and took our picture for us. She came back a number of times to refill our drinks. She gave us a WOC tote bag to take our snack boxes away in, which was super helpful.
Characters I met:
Pluto
Genie
Peter Pan
Hook (He didn't like my Peter Pan's flight outfit!)
Tiana
Redd
Carl
Russell
Luca
Goofy
Chip
Dale
Minnie
Loki (saw from afar)
Dr. Strange
All in all another wonderful trip! My family has all stated that they don't want to go back for 4 or 5years, so my next trip will probably be solo or with my sister and/or Disneyland loving niece. I'm not sure when, but it won't be 4 years!
Thanks for all the tips and advice during the planning stages!
