April 1 - 5, me, DH, DD's 5 & 9, and my Mom. Sunday 4/1 was great, started with brunch at Goofy's Kitchen. Saw Peter Pan and Cruella - had never seen them up close before, so that was exciting for the girls. Headed over to DL, was surprised by the lack of crowds. We covered a lot of ground that day and it was a good thing we did - Monday was a different story! 
4/2 the park was totally packed! Long waits just about everywhere. Had lunch at Blue Bayou for hubbie's Bday, that's always fun. LOVED the "new" (to us) Pirate's ride. Being from Washington, we hadn't seen the sun in awhile, so my girls were dying to swim. Headed back to the hotel for a mid day swim - great idea, when we returned in the evening, the crowds were much more managable. Rode evertying we wanted to.(My kids are young, and not dare devils, so no roller coaster type rides for us.) Stayed for the fireworks which we thought were fabulous!
4/3 took a day off and rented a car and drove to American Girl in LA. A BIG hit with my family.
4/4 Did CA. LOVED the Aladdin show. Was worth the wait in our opinion! We though the "Bug's Land" was kinda lame. The kids would've enjoyed the water fountain areas had it been a little warmer. Long waits for very short rides. The Electric Light parade was a highlight!
We stayed at Anaheim Marriott Suites. They no longer serve a free breakfast, which was news to us. The hotel was nice enough, but the pool is small and seems to be on the "wrong" side of the hotel - it never seems to be in the sun. Didn't really care to be that far away, will either stay at DLR or in walking distance next time.
Rode the ART Shuttle back and forth, which worked out O.K. It ran about every 20 minutes. Occasionally there were longer waits. By our last night, I had had it with the crowds - we missed one shuttle as it was leaving DL (too full), no big deal, we are first in line for the next. Everyone lines up behind us to wait for the next. When it arrives (maybe 15 minutes later), a young boy (perhaps age 12 or so) is trying to push his way on the shuttle in front of us - by shoving my 5 year old out of the way! I tell him to stop pushing my daughter and glare at his mother who says nothing to her son! I can't stand rude people!
We used Disneyland Express as our transportation to and from LAX. The night we arrived, it took us 2 hours from the airport until we got off the bus at our hotel, because of all the stops it made letting other folks off at their hotels. Not a huge deal, but we were tired and wanted to get up early the next day. Will probably look into other options next time, unless we stay at DLR - it is direct if you stay at DLR.
Our's was a package deal made through Alaska Airlines. All the details were fine, I just started planning a little late, so didn't really have a choice on where we would stay or where we would fly out of. When we went in 2002 we flew in & out of Orange County and we liked that a lot better.
I don't know if I would go at Spring Break again. I'd look to see when ours was in comparison to when Easter is. It was amazing how different the crowds were between Sunday & Monday. And I thought Sunday would've been more crowded because it was a weekend day! When they say the week before Easter & the week after Easter are more crowded, they really mean it!
All in all, it was a GREAT trip. My entire family really loved it! If I can answer any questions for anyone, please ask. The DIS boards are the best!
4/2 the park was totally packed! Long waits just about everywhere. Had lunch at Blue Bayou for hubbie's Bday, that's always fun. LOVED the "new" (to us) Pirate's ride. Being from Washington, we hadn't seen the sun in awhile, so my girls were dying to swim. Headed back to the hotel for a mid day swim - great idea, when we returned in the evening, the crowds were much more managable. Rode evertying we wanted to.(My kids are young, and not dare devils, so no roller coaster type rides for us.) Stayed for the fireworks which we thought were fabulous!
4/3 took a day off and rented a car and drove to American Girl in LA. A BIG hit with my family.
4/4 Did CA. LOVED the Aladdin show. Was worth the wait in our opinion! We though the "Bug's Land" was kinda lame. The kids would've enjoyed the water fountain areas had it been a little warmer. Long waits for very short rides. The Electric Light parade was a highlight!
We stayed at Anaheim Marriott Suites. They no longer serve a free breakfast, which was news to us. The hotel was nice enough, but the pool is small and seems to be on the "wrong" side of the hotel - it never seems to be in the sun. Didn't really care to be that far away, will either stay at DLR or in walking distance next time.
Rode the ART Shuttle back and forth, which worked out O.K. It ran about every 20 minutes. Occasionally there were longer waits. By our last night, I had had it with the crowds - we missed one shuttle as it was leaving DL (too full), no big deal, we are first in line for the next. Everyone lines up behind us to wait for the next. When it arrives (maybe 15 minutes later), a young boy (perhaps age 12 or so) is trying to push his way on the shuttle in front of us - by shoving my 5 year old out of the way! I tell him to stop pushing my daughter and glare at his mother who says nothing to her son! I can't stand rude people!
We used Disneyland Express as our transportation to and from LAX. The night we arrived, it took us 2 hours from the airport until we got off the bus at our hotel, because of all the stops it made letting other folks off at their hotels. Not a huge deal, but we were tired and wanted to get up early the next day. Will probably look into other options next time, unless we stay at DLR - it is direct if you stay at DLR.
Our's was a package deal made through Alaska Airlines. All the details were fine, I just started planning a little late, so didn't really have a choice on where we would stay or where we would fly out of. When we went in 2002 we flew in & out of Orange County and we liked that a lot better.
I don't know if I would go at Spring Break again. I'd look to see when ours was in comparison to when Easter is. It was amazing how different the crowds were between Sunday & Monday. And I thought Sunday would've been more crowded because it was a weekend day! When they say the week before Easter & the week after Easter are more crowded, they really mean it!
All in all, it was a GREAT trip. My entire family really loved it! If I can answer any questions for anyone, please ask. The DIS boards are the best!
