Disneyland 2: The Day Family Strikes Back

[KCmike]

Well we have returned from our 2nd ever trip to Disneyland. I am a Disneyworld veteran. Living in the Midwest it takes alot of time and disposable income to travel to the world (been there seven times). We went to Disneyland last year and were overcome with the pure joy of the original park. Our family was going to do a Yosemite, San Fran, Monterey Bay, and Disneyland driving extravaganza but my wife hurt her back a month before we were to go. So we scoured trip advisor and the disboards for something to split our stay with Disneyland in San Diego. We desperately wanted a beach front hotel. We spent many hours and many days trying to find the right fit.

We decided on Hotel Del Coronado. First let me say that this is the most expensive hotel we've ever stayed at. The only reason we got to do something like this was because they had a buy two get one night free offer going on. So we flew into LAX and drove down Highway 1 thru Laguna and then into beautiful San Diego on into Coronado.

Our balcony view...the main pool, the pacific ocean just to the left (a rock's throw), and the main building to the right. We stayed in what they call the cabana room.

Day 1 ends. Day 2 brings on more Del Coronado with a little Sea World thrown in. My Wife and two daughters take a special tour to touch dolphins while the son and I ride Journey to Atlantis.

 

[KCmike]

Here is the main shot from our balcony

 

[Hound 109]

Del Coronado!!!

Wow....when you guys visit SoCal, you do it up right!

I've always wanted to stay there (ever since i watched "Some Like it Hot" about 20 years ago). Looking forward to reading about the second invasion of KC Mike & family.


hound -

 

[KCmike]

On our second day we decided to hit Sea World. We have been to the Orlando version about a decade or more ago. We liked it well enough. My wife and daughters went on a special tour where they got to touch dolphins, feed eels with squid, and feed sea turtles (my youngest daughter's favorite part of the trip). My son wanted no part of the dolphins so we headed out for Journey to Atlantis. It was your standard big boat drop with a twist. At the end of the first drop they splash you not once but twice with a good spray of water. Then the ride lifts you back up in the air sort of tower of terror style and it becomes a rollercoaster type ride. My son loved it. Sea World is nice. It's clean and they have a good selection of food choices. It's not disney. In fact all three kids said that they had a good time but it doesn't hold a candle to Disney. The kids did love the Shamu show (who doesn't?) and the little chant all the cast members do before the big splashes that come your way. We really were flip flopping about the zoo down there. We have heard how world class it is but in the end its still a zoo and we really wanted to spend our time at the hotel (since we spent so much on it!) and enjoy the Pacific.

Here are a few pics from day 2.

Day 3 It's all about the Hotel Del Coronado.

 

[chickyann]

wow what beautiful photos

 

[tinkermell]

Loving your TR so far. Your pictures are beautiful. My DH and I have stayed at the Del too. It is so beautiful, and the landscaping so lush and gorgeous.

Hope your wife is feeling better. Oh, and sorry you couldn't see Yosemite, and the rest on this trip. You will just have to plan another trip out here again.

In the mean time..........looking forward to more TR!!

 

[mommaU4]

LOVE the SeaWorld pics! One of my favorite places next to Disneyland of course.

 

[KCmike]

The hotel del coronado is an amazing place to stay. The location makes it the ideal spot. We searched high and low for a beachfront hotel but the options were really limited. Prices there are enormous to say the least. A bottle of water in the room was around $7. Can anyone imagine paying that? We stayed in the cabana room which we found to be the best for our family of five. Our view was of the main pool. The ocean is just to the left, the main pool is centered and the main hotel was just to the right in this picture.

We really couldn't afford the restaurants there. We ate at the village pizzeria and beach n diner more than one night. The pacific ocean is so beautiful.

Day 4 we drive up to Hojo and my favorite new disney park.....DISNEYLAND!!!

 

[Sleepless Knight]

Wow. Those pictures are amazing. I think I've changed my mind about ever staying at the Grand Floridian. I'll just stay at the one that inspired it instead(there are other deluxes in WDW I could try instead).

 

[KCmike]

We drove up from San Diego into Anaheim on a Tuesday morning. We didn't hit traffic until we reached about 15 minutes from Disneyland. The park didn't open until 10am so we had some time to get our free backpack from downtown disney and look around even though the shops were closed.

We ended up back at the magic kingdom around 20 till 10. We took a few pics after entering the gate and then our commando plan took into effect.

We noticed that the crowd was backed up almost all the way back to the end of the emporium...so we bee lined it through the emporium thru the shops until I believe you get to the candy store where you let out into the crowd. That is about 3/4 of the way up main street. On our first visit we were right at the rope in Ocotber and when the music came on and the rope dropped (Welcome to our family time) we made our way for fantasyland and rode Peter Pan for the first time. That time we really liked it but felt it was missing something. I contributed it to being in the dark for the first ride but who knows? So this time we did Snow White, then Pinocchio (on this visit we didn't hear the big mean guy say "You make me lots of money!" so that was kind of disappointing, then on to Toad. We were ready for Peter but the line was out of the que area so we went to Tea Cups. Again I must say that Fantasyland at DL is SO MUCH BETTER than WDW.

Our family then splitted up...my son and I went on Matterhorn, fantasyland side, while the girls ran to Toontown. They used their early pass to get in early. Can you believe that on our first trip we didn't go into Mickey's house!
We wouldn't make the same mistake twice. We met up with the girls and decided to take the train all the way around to New Orleans Square and ride the number 1 attraction...POTC. This was about a mid afternoon shot on a Saturday the first week of June. To all those who have never rode DL's version..shame on you..this one is light years better.

We then jumped over to Haunted Mansion. I still like it dearly, about the same amount as WDW but I absolutely love the overlay during Halloween. It was then time to eat. Our favorite place to eat burgers at DL was Hungry Bear. I would give you the shot of my wife rubbing her tummy in front of hungry bear but she would get mad of me at putting her pic on here.

It was then on to Winne the Pooh

I had gotten fast passes for Splash before we went on HM so we did that next. I still have to say that Splash at WDW is better. In fact it is my #1 ride at WDW. We have gone thru about half our day and really wanted to see Elvis Billy so we made sure to check the times guide and made our way back towards frontierland. Gotta go for now. Will continue our journey soon.

 

[Sleepless Knight]

Nice pics. I'm enjoying your straight up account of the trip.

 

[KCmike]

The reason I am only giving a quick report is that I did a Hotel Del Coronado one on the SoCal thread and did an extensive report when it was my first time to DL back in Oct of 07. It was called WDW vet goes to DL for first time or something like that.

Now on with the show.

It was Wed night and the park was open late. In fact it was open to 11pm I believe. The next night it would close at 9pm for a Grad nite. So we tried our best to stay till closing or bell to bell as we in the retail business call it.

We ended up riding Big Thunder in the late afternoon in which I did the billy goat trick and didn't really get that great of a sensation. We also rode Jungle cruise..

and then on over to Indy. I must say that I really love the Jungle Cruise at Dland. The vegetation is overgrown giving it that real jungle feeling. We also experienced that ride at night and I must say I was shocked at how well we all enjoyed it. My youngest daughter is now a fan of Indy. It is her favorite ride followed by pirates.

We ended up watching the Parade of Dreams coming down main street...

and believe it or not but none of the kids in my clan like this parade. My favorite moment is when they stop the parade and Walt comes on over the loud speaker and speaks the part of how Dland is your land etc. I get goosebumps everytime...at this point my kids give me the business.

We ended up eating at Rancho Del Zocal or something like that...the mexican restaurant that serves up tasty tacos, burritos and the like. They also have free water. Yes you heard me right, FREE WATER! There are cups right there for the taking. One of my favorite personal finds in DL. It's funny how you find special things as a family and how they become your own little personal gems. This is looking down the walkway towards the restaurant.

 

[KCmike]

We ended up in Tomorrowland for the remainder of the day. We rode Space Mtn (another ride that blows away WDW...In fact my favorite story or comparison of this is a trip report that said that WDW version is like a gear shift that is missing. They really need to update the ride at WDW.
We fastpassed Buzz before we rode Space and Autotopia and then came back and did standby and fastpassed it so we could ride it twice. This is one area that I like WDW better. I like the peoplemover, carousel of progress, and Indy speedway better at the world. I also like Big Thunder better at the world. We finished our first night with my wife's favorite attraction - Tiki's! Back on our first trip we had no idea how well we would enjoy this. WDW version is just plain bad. Back in 07 people were singing along at DL and it instantly became one of our favorites.

Here is a list (so sad but true) of things we did this time but missed on our first visit:
Main Street Vehicles - this is so much fun

Casey Jr Circus Train - we loved it...in fact more so that story book canal

Innoventions - Don't really get it - didn't seem all put together
City Hall- never walked inside
Thunder Ranch - ?
It's a Small World - still haven't done - its always in refurb

I think that's it.

Day 5 will be all CA

 

[Sleepless Knight]

Interestingly enough, I liked Disneyland's BTMRR a lot better. Maybe it's because I did WDW's first thing in the morning and it felt like it wasn't firing on all cylinders or something.

Jungle Cruise is so much better at night now. I think it helps that they have better lighting so you can actually see the animals and what not. I also recommend Storybook Land at night. Simply amazing all lit up and so forth.

Maybe when your kids are older they'll understand why the Parade of Dreams is so touching. It's so Walt focused in so many ways, and I think that's why the parade stop part always gets some of us. Disney really needs to do a better job of educating people about Walt and what he means to company. Even now, 40 years after his death, the great majority of the most popular Disney characters were created by Walt or under Walt's watch.

 

[julezdisney]

I love your touring style and GREAT BIG PICS! Thanks!

 

[KCmike]

California Adventure has its good and bad points. First it has some of my new favorite attractions: Screamin', Alladin show, Toy Story Mania etc..

The bad stuff is that it doesn't have the disney feel yet. It just seems out of sorts to me. I like Monsters Inc., of course Soarin', and Grizzly River Run.

We started out like normal by riding Soarin' (we were first ones on) and then we fastpassed it for later. We then walked over to Monsters Inc, got my little girls pic in front of Boo's door, then off to Muppets and over to the Animation builiding. We then waited for Alladin. We had the priority seating that they give you when you buy the package. We have favorite seats that we like to sit in for the best view.

Last time my daughter got really sick and we had to cut CA short by missing bugs land and most of the pier. This time we ate at McDonalds and then rode every single ride there. We rode all of the bugs land rides (lame in my opinion even by kids standards) and then headed off to ride Mullholland Madness, Jumpin Jellyfish and the big ferris wheel.

As we headed for Screamin we saw this family let there kids playing in the water fountains. Not very safe. Who lets there kids play in water fountains at amusement parks?

View from Sun Wheel

Riding down Grizzly River Run

Rennovations at Grand Californian

Entryway to CA

Screamin is alot of fun. We headed back towards Golden Dreams and was a little disappointed with the film. I saw why there was only us and about three other families in there. We ended up catching Electrical Parade on Friday night which was the next night as we had seen it before in the magic kingdom in WDW on our first visit there back in 1990. We were blown away then and were wondering if it would still be as good. We had built it up for the kids and they were very excited. It didn't disappoint. We viewed it at the hub at the front of the park. We did that so we could bolt thru the exit to catch Remember Dreams Come true. We missed the first few minutes of it but still enjoyed it. In fact we actually watched most of it but had to get some choice spots for Fantasmic as we had dedicated Dreams come true for our last night on Saturday.

Of our four days at DL we spent three of them at DL and one at CA except for going back on friday night for the Electrical Parade.

Next up is our last two days at DL. Many more pics to come.

 

[PirateFish989]

The Del?!?! Lucky you! The Hotel Del is my favorite hotel in the world (I've never stayed there, but it is so gorgeous!). I'm going to school in San Diego and when I go to the beach, I go to Coronado because 1) the best beach in SD is there (although there are some nice beaches 10 minutes from campus in La Jolla) and 2) I get to see my favorite hotel!

As I'm sure many of you know, The Grand Floridian at WDW was modeled after the Hotel Del Coronado! A pretty cool fact, if you ask me.

Your Disneyland pictures make me was to go to Disneyland!

I cannot believe those people let their kids play in a fountain! EWW! Although Disneyland fountains are probably the cleanest fountains you could play in, but STILL...EWWWW!

Looking forward to reading more!

 

[Sleepless Knight]

I couldn't agree with you more about DCA. I think that once they've finished the 1.1 billion refurbishment it will be a park worthy of the Disney name.

Not to hijack your TR, but if you're interested, I've updated my TR again.

 

[KCmike]

Love your trip reports SleepingBeautyJedi. It is like a good book and I find myself reading thru it very fast and then going back to read it a second time.

Here are some of my fav. pics of our time at disneyland:

Next time I will conclude with with the last two days at Disneyland and will spill some of our favorite things we've found in D'land.

 

[Sleepless Knight]

I love those Fantasyland pics. Of course Disneyland's Fantasyland is just so beautifully themed anyways. And thank for your kind words on my reports. I feel like what makes each visit special are the moments that happen to the people visiting the park. I think that most of us who post on these boards share a love of Disney more than it just being a vacation destination. Maybe we grew up with the films and characters, maybe our first visit to Disney was for a very special occasion, or something like that. So I try to present what makes Disney special to me in these reports and hopefully entertain and maybe even educate a little bit along the way.