Disneyland through the eyes of WDW vets!!!

[omalley1118]

Hi there!! This is my first trip report, so be patient and kind!! We are the Miller Family from New Jersey. I am Kimberley, DH is Mark, and then we have Jordan, DD 11, and Lucas, DS 9. We have been to WDW around 9 times in the past 7 years, and we decided to try something different!!! Mark and I have been to DLR, but that was in 2001...

It's the first morning here, and I'm writing this as I am waiting for everyone to get ready. We flew out of Philadelphia via Denver to get here yesterday. that entailed waking at 0315!!!! Other than a 40 minute delay on the Tarmac, things went well!! Lucas has ADHD, and we had never flown this far with him, so we had our doubts...he did GREAT!!!!

My first culture shock came at LAX!!! Where's the Magical Express????? HAHA!! I will admit that I am spoiled!! After a little confusion, we made our way to the rental car shuttles and got our car. All in all, it was fairly smooth, and then we were on the open road, luckily this was early afternoon, so we made it to Anaheim in under 40 minutes or so. Fabulous!!!! I will tell you that the sit of the first DLR signs did choke me up a bit!

We are staying at the Paradise Pier Hotel. My second shock came when I didn't get to hear, "Welcome Home!" I'm trying to keep an open mind... Just kidding!! The hotel is very pretty, and everyone was so excited to be off of transportation of one form or another. Or room wasn't ready yet, so we checked luggage and had a quick lunch in the lounge off the lobby, can't remember the name. $40 later...our room was ready!!! We are on the 12th floor, which is great! We have a pool view as well. I would have liked a park view, but we were already using so many points... The room is really nice!

Mark took the kids to the pool while I unpacked. I never feel like I'm on vacation until that's done. Plus, my Mamma didn't raise any fools...I had an air conditioned room to myself! After several calls from my husband, I went to the pool. The kids LOVED the slide!!!!! It's really cool!! The pool was a bit small, reminding me of the ones on the DCL. Bt the kids loved it, so who cares??? Wow is the sun hot here!!!! Thank goodness for all of the sunscreen I brought!!!

Although we had all kinds of plans for the evening, all the traveling and early rising caught up with us. We had a nice pizza dinner at Shakey's and crashed!! The driving around here is very confusing... Seem how I entered the parking lot for the parks, but the nice lady is obviously used to tourists and sent me on my way!!! Everyone slept well!!!

Off to DLR for the first time!!!

 

[Mouse Fanatic]

I too am a WDW vet planning a trip to DL and I can't wait to hear about the rest of your trip. Have a great time

 

[omalley1118]

Day two!!!!

This was our first day in the parks. It's now 10pm and I am EXHAUSTED!!!!! That being said, we had a fabulous day!!! We ate breakfast in the room; side trip to Walmart last night. Then we left for DL at about 815. Lt me say this. We do WDW differently, probably because we have gone so often... But when we are there, it's for 8-10 days with APs, so we never feel as though we have to get everything done in one day. Here is much different.

I love how everything is sort of right in the same place, and you walk to the parks. It's very nice not having to wait for busses. So off we went, out the back of the building and through DTD to the Monorail. We took that right into Tomorrow Land, which was great. I will say that I really prefer the monorail here..more seats in each car and drops you off INSIDE the park!!! We went immediately to the Submarine ride and LOVED it!!! The underwater scenes were very cool.

Next we went to Autopia, where Jordan was able to drive alone for the first time!!! Where has the time gone... She took her brother with her and discovered he is as bad of a back seat driver as his father... We then went to the Tea Cups, which are still end of my favorites. Off to Alice in Wonderland, Pinnochio, and Mr. Toads Wild Ride!!! Dd I mention that there was basically NO LINE at any of these????? This was awesome!!! We did all of those in under 90 minutes. Next came the carousel and dumbo! We have a running joke that Mark has never gotten to ride the Dumbo ride in WDW because its always too crowded... Well he rode it here!!

We decided to break for lunch then and ate in Fantasyland at The Stage Door Cafe. The food reminds me of Harbour House, which I love. We sat at a nice table on the terrace with an umbrella to protect us from the sun. Lucas and I split the fish and chips which was plenty for the two of us and very delicious. mark had the corn dog, and Jordan had the kids power pack lunch. That was cool! She got yogurt, milk, carrots, goldfish, and a banana. What a healthy idea for kids. I may try that tomorrow!!!

Next we were off to New Orleans Square. I liked this area a lot; very pretty and lots of shops and places to eat. They all went on Pirates of the Caribbean, while I looked in stores. Then we went to one of my favorites: Haunted Mansion!!!! Loved it!!! I thought the ride here was longer and more to see. I also liked the walk into it better. Ater this, it was time to wander over to California Adventure. This is also something new for us. In Florida, we tend to go back to the hotel after lunch...

The kids loved Tower of Terror as always. They even got Dad to go with them...shocking!!! I sat in the shade and read a book, something I never go anywhere without... We moved on to the Monsters Inc. ride. This was GREAT!!!! Something they don't have in WDW but should!!!! We all really enjoyed this ride!!! Jordan and I had ice cream on Main Street, and we all browsed in some of the stores..do you see a pattern here??? HAHA!! As soon as they got off, we went next door to the Aladdin show and walked right in. I cannot say enough about this show!!! It was amazing!!! The whole thing was awesome, from the hilarious genie to the amazing special effects. DO NOT MISS THIS SHOW, in my humble opinion.

The crowds had picked up a bit by now, and it was HOT!!! I had been checking the weather religiously before we came, and it was SUPPOSED to be a hi of 81-82 all week, but someone lied! It was 90! The good news is that the humidity was only 31 percent. Tat really makes a difference, although the sun feels much hotter here. We decided to head back to the hotel and enjoy the pool! Mark took them while I went back out to a store to get some bottled water that we had forgotten the night before. I admit, the idea of being alone in an air conditioned car was just too tempting. Although in my defense, Mark did prefer the pool to Walmart...

We had dinner reservations at Goofy's Kitchen for 620pm. It seems as though there are less character meal choices out here, so we definitely wanted to do this one. I am soon lad that we did. This was an awesome experience!!! The food choices were varied, but the characters really made the day! There was a huge and surprising variety, with Minnie, Pluto, goofy, Aladdin, Belle, Chip and Dale!!! The kids loved it, and so did we!!

Are dinner, we went back to CA to see a show. We headed to Cars Land and were VERY impressed!!! We got on Luigis Flying Tires and the town after ride...not sure of the name. They were great!!! I laughed so hard I had tears running down my face!!! I highly recommend both!! We then tried to go to World of Colors, but had no idea you need to get a ticket first...OOPS!!! So much for that. By now, we were all dead tired, so we went back to the hotel.

All in all, this was a fabulous day!!! The kids had a great time, and I was amazed at the lack of crowds!!! Now it's time for bed....

 

[TexasErin]

Great report! We are also WDW vets who are heading out to DLR for the first time next year (the kids don't know- they think we are going back to WDW). I'm enjoying hearing your experiences!

 

[elphie101]

Great report! We also went to DL this year as WDW vets for basically the first time (that we remembered anyway!) and I love reading stories from others in the same boat!

 

[elaine amj]

So is this a low crowd time to go to DL? We are planning our first DLR trip next year and will likely go in the summer. Debating between end of July or end of August.

LOving this report

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