DISFaninMI
Block M for Mickey
- Joined
- Aug 10, 2011
- Messages
- 48
Our Trip Video: https://youtu.be/EmF4RBheuzw
Last year (2014), we thought it would be great fun to visit my parents in Arizona, and then travel with them out to California for a couple of days in the parks. We started getting worried when we noticed rain in the forecast for (probably the only time in the last 5 years) multiple days of rain. Undeterred, and knowing how quickly weather can change, we headed out west. Then the little one (2) got an ear infection coming over the mountains. Then my mom got sick. Then my wife got sick... fever, dizzy, etc. Not good.
Disneyland looked like this:
ALL DAY. And my poor, miserable wife, on her first trip to Disneyland ever, remembered about 5% of it.
Which is why, about April, she announced we were going to try again. Just the 4 of us, three days in the park, and plenty of spare days just in case.
Spoiler: Weather was FANTASTIC. No one got sick! We had an awesome time!
Details:!!
Day One - Out to California:
We rented a car from PHX and drove out to California on the Sunday after Thanksgiving. Oops. Everyone in LA was coming back from Palm Springs. So we got a crash course in outlying LA traffic and got to watch the windmills up close and personal for a little over an hour. We survived. Turned the car "in" and took the same car back "out" from the rental car agency, and off we went to see an old college buddy who lives in LA -- awesome Mexican food at Casa Vega. Stayed at a Hampton Inn near the 405 & 101.
Day Two - LA Touring:
My eldest son is a college football junkie. So, we headed out to Mecca, A.K.A., the Rose Bowl. After letting the boys run a bit, it was time for our "unofficial" Disney Studios tour (read: we drove around the studios a few times, got out and took some pictures and videos from the sidewalk). We then headed up the hill to Griffith Park Observatory and got some nice pics of us and the Hollywood sign. Heading back down, we drive through Rodeo Drive and headed out to Hollywood Blvd. Got some lunch at In-N-Out, and then saw some important Disney landmarks.... Stars for Disneyland, Roy O Disney, Donald Duck, Annette Funicello, John Lasseter, Mickey Mouse, and, of course, Walt Disney (movies star). Played in front of the Chinese Theater, gave the boys some ice cream at Ghirardelli's, and then headed down to USC and the Coliseum. Time to experience some more traffic on the 405 on our way to Orange County!
Day Three - Disney California Adventure:
We're rope-drop to close type folks. So we were at the gates early for the 9am open. We did a lot of Dad takes the elder son on E-Ticket rides and Mom takes the younger one for autographs with characters. Things were going pretty well until a trip on Mickey's Fun Wheel and when the CM asked us if we wanted to go again. So we stayed on... and then the ride broke down. 20 extra minutes on Mickey's Fun Wheel feels like 2 hours... and it's not "fun". At least they gave us 1 free FP. Anyway... a fun day had by all regardless. We decided not to do any table service or character meals this trip, so no amazing food tales (Dinner was chicken nuggets and burgers on our laps in front of the Pixar parade). Recommendations: The Mickey Newsies show is really cute. We loved Aladdin - catch it in its last few days if you can. And we think the view from the boardwalk might actually be better than the Blue section for WOC.
Day Four - Disneyland:
Much, much, much better this time! No rain! No flu! We made a beeline for... the submarines (recommendation from DisBoards - they load slow). I think this was the first time I'd ridden these in 30 years - super awesome! The boys got to drive next... I really hope they improve over the next 8-9 years... yikes! Hyperspace Mountain is AWESOME!! The Christmas parade (finally - after being rained out last year) was very cute, The Frozen show in Fantasy Faire was surprisingly very cute and FUNNY (loved the inside jokes) and wow we can't say enough about Paint the Night. Also, my wife has a new #1 tip for those of you who want to meet the princesses in Fantasy Faire... go at around 5:30pm, when everyone else is lining up for the parade or headed to dinner... you breeze right in. Lunch: Golden Horseshoe with the Laughing Stock Co. Dinner: Rancho del Zocalo. Both were decent. Snacks: Dole Whip Float, Popcorn, Chips (crazy boys), etc.
Day Five - Downtown Disney & PCH:
Our "rest day" started with some shopping and wandering around downtown disney in the morning. We buzzed past Angel's stadium for the boys to see, and then we headed to the coast for a drive down the PCH The drive ended up to be super relaxing when the boys conked out for about a 2-hour nap (I think the parks may have gotten to them a bit!). When they finally woke up, we found a take-out pizza place and we headed for some beach time. We found a really cute one called Aliso Beach that has a playground on the beach and only costs $1 per hour. The boys ate pizza basically for lunch and dinner. We stayed until sunset, headed back to our hotel, put the boys to bed, and took out some Chinese for the tired & hungry parents.
Day Six - Disneyland, the rest (well, more at least) of it:
No, I don't think we can say we did it all. We missed some of the attractions, but we got prime FPs for Fantasmic, saw Mickey and the Magical Map (thanks DL Podcast Team!), got silhouettes of the boys (I can't believe they do this by hand!), found Hanukkah merchandise(!!), saw Small World light up, rode the train through the Grand Canyon and Primeval World, and rode some of the amazing rides they only have on the "left" coast. Lunch: Bengal Barbecue (boys: hot dogs from Refreshment Corner), Dinner: French Market (thanks again Podcast team for the bread bowl trick) - both were pretty darn tasty! Too full for the seasonal funnel cake and line was too crazy for the Mickey beignets. Overall though, it was an amazing trip and definitely was a much better set of memories than our rain-soaked 2014 venture. We're probably done with the Disneyland jaunt for a while -- WDW is a bit easier of a trip from Michigan -- but we definitely agree that everyone should experience Disneyland at least once... preferably when it's not pouring rain!
Thanks for reading -- be sure to check out our family trip video: https://youtu.be/EmF4RBheuzw
Our playlist of all of our family Disney trips: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQlgbasSeXZtQnnb9n-eqEX5aUrMaY0uY
Last year (2014), we thought it would be great fun to visit my parents in Arizona, and then travel with them out to California for a couple of days in the parks. We started getting worried when we noticed rain in the forecast for (probably the only time in the last 5 years) multiple days of rain. Undeterred, and knowing how quickly weather can change, we headed out west. Then the little one (2) got an ear infection coming over the mountains. Then my mom got sick. Then my wife got sick... fever, dizzy, etc. Not good.
Disneyland looked like this:
ALL DAY. And my poor, miserable wife, on her first trip to Disneyland ever, remembered about 5% of it.
Which is why, about April, she announced we were going to try again. Just the 4 of us, three days in the park, and plenty of spare days just in case.
Spoiler: Weather was FANTASTIC. No one got sick! We had an awesome time!
Details:!!
Day One - Out to California:
We rented a car from PHX and drove out to California on the Sunday after Thanksgiving. Oops. Everyone in LA was coming back from Palm Springs. So we got a crash course in outlying LA traffic and got to watch the windmills up close and personal for a little over an hour. We survived. Turned the car "in" and took the same car back "out" from the rental car agency, and off we went to see an old college buddy who lives in LA -- awesome Mexican food at Casa Vega. Stayed at a Hampton Inn near the 405 & 101.
Day Two - LA Touring:
My eldest son is a college football junkie. So, we headed out to Mecca, A.K.A., the Rose Bowl. After letting the boys run a bit, it was time for our "unofficial" Disney Studios tour (read: we drove around the studios a few times, got out and took some pictures and videos from the sidewalk). We then headed up the hill to Griffith Park Observatory and got some nice pics of us and the Hollywood sign. Heading back down, we drive through Rodeo Drive and headed out to Hollywood Blvd. Got some lunch at In-N-Out, and then saw some important Disney landmarks.... Stars for Disneyland, Roy O Disney, Donald Duck, Annette Funicello, John Lasseter, Mickey Mouse, and, of course, Walt Disney (movies star). Played in front of the Chinese Theater, gave the boys some ice cream at Ghirardelli's, and then headed down to USC and the Coliseum. Time to experience some more traffic on the 405 on our way to Orange County!
Day Three - Disney California Adventure:
We're rope-drop to close type folks. So we were at the gates early for the 9am open. We did a lot of Dad takes the elder son on E-Ticket rides and Mom takes the younger one for autographs with characters. Things were going pretty well until a trip on Mickey's Fun Wheel and when the CM asked us if we wanted to go again. So we stayed on... and then the ride broke down. 20 extra minutes on Mickey's Fun Wheel feels like 2 hours... and it's not "fun". At least they gave us 1 free FP. Anyway... a fun day had by all regardless. We decided not to do any table service or character meals this trip, so no amazing food tales (Dinner was chicken nuggets and burgers on our laps in front of the Pixar parade). Recommendations: The Mickey Newsies show is really cute. We loved Aladdin - catch it in its last few days if you can. And we think the view from the boardwalk might actually be better than the Blue section for WOC.
Day Four - Disneyland:
Much, much, much better this time! No rain! No flu! We made a beeline for... the submarines (recommendation from DisBoards - they load slow). I think this was the first time I'd ridden these in 30 years - super awesome! The boys got to drive next... I really hope they improve over the next 8-9 years... yikes! Hyperspace Mountain is AWESOME!! The Christmas parade (finally - after being rained out last year) was very cute, The Frozen show in Fantasy Faire was surprisingly very cute and FUNNY (loved the inside jokes) and wow we can't say enough about Paint the Night. Also, my wife has a new #1 tip for those of you who want to meet the princesses in Fantasy Faire... go at around 5:30pm, when everyone else is lining up for the parade or headed to dinner... you breeze right in. Lunch: Golden Horseshoe with the Laughing Stock Co. Dinner: Rancho del Zocalo. Both were decent. Snacks: Dole Whip Float, Popcorn, Chips (crazy boys), etc.
Day Five - Downtown Disney & PCH:
Our "rest day" started with some shopping and wandering around downtown disney in the morning. We buzzed past Angel's stadium for the boys to see, and then we headed to the coast for a drive down the PCH The drive ended up to be super relaxing when the boys conked out for about a 2-hour nap (I think the parks may have gotten to them a bit!). When they finally woke up, we found a take-out pizza place and we headed for some beach time. We found a really cute one called Aliso Beach that has a playground on the beach and only costs $1 per hour. The boys ate pizza basically for lunch and dinner. We stayed until sunset, headed back to our hotel, put the boys to bed, and took out some Chinese for the tired & hungry parents.
Day Six - Disneyland, the rest (well, more at least) of it:
No, I don't think we can say we did it all. We missed some of the attractions, but we got prime FPs for Fantasmic, saw Mickey and the Magical Map (thanks DL Podcast Team!), got silhouettes of the boys (I can't believe they do this by hand!), found Hanukkah merchandise(!!), saw Small World light up, rode the train through the Grand Canyon and Primeval World, and rode some of the amazing rides they only have on the "left" coast. Lunch: Bengal Barbecue (boys: hot dogs from Refreshment Corner), Dinner: French Market (thanks again Podcast team for the bread bowl trick) - both were pretty darn tasty! Too full for the seasonal funnel cake and line was too crazy for the Mickey beignets. Overall though, it was an amazing trip and definitely was a much better set of memories than our rain-soaked 2014 venture. We're probably done with the Disneyland jaunt for a while -- WDW is a bit easier of a trip from Michigan -- but we definitely agree that everyone should experience Disneyland at least once... preferably when it's not pouring rain!
Thanks for reading -- be sure to check out our family trip video: https://youtu.be/EmF4RBheuzw
Our playlist of all of our family Disney trips: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQlgbasSeXZtQnnb9n-eqEX5aUrMaY0uY
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