We've just returned last night from 4 days in the parks (plus a few hours on arrival night). We haven't been for 2 years, last year we did WDW, but the kids had been begging to go back to DLR...our family's favorite
. It was me, DH, DS13 and DD11. Thought I'd give an overview
First, Transportation- We generally fly into SNA, but tickets this time were much cheaper into LAX. Based on recommendations from the boards, we used Lanksy car service from LAX to DLR. Price was $200/rt, includes tip plus a 20 minute grocery stop. This was more expensive than shuttles, but cheaper than rental car, and with hoping to get in a couple hours at the parks on arrival, we opted to go this route. They used a minivan each way/ toyota sienna and honda odyssey. I'm a nervous passenger on busy highways, they did not scare me at all, which was good! The driver we had on the way to DLR was a great experience (Mr. Lee/Li). The driver on the way back to LAX smelled awful and the smell in the car made me gag (to the point I thought I would vomit) I had to leave the window down to air out the foul smell and get fresh air. It was some form of horrible smelling food, I can't describe what it was, but it was BAD. The driver was Mr. Gee (sp?). I think I'll leave feedback for the owner. This may have been a one off with the driver likely having sat in his car eating while waiting for us, but in the future I would see if I could request our first driver for both ways. Sorry to be so lengthy on this, but I really stressed about transportation to and from LAX, so hopefully this will help others
Next Hotel- We stayed at the Park Vue Inn for the first time. We usually stay at the Fairfield, but PVI was cheaper and included breakfast, and closer. All that was a win. I have to say we still prefer Fairfield, it seems a more updated and comfortable. But for the above reasons, PVI is perfectly fine with location being the real winner! Our AC had a very musty smell the whole time, which was my chief complaint. Room was clean. We were on the 2nd floor (top floor) which I was thankful for. Breakfast was adequate, with fresh eggs each day, either sausage or bacon and potatoes or biscuits, 3 choices of cold cereal, toast/bagels and waffle stations...hard to go wrong with that.
And finally, our park time! We were happy to be back at DLR!
It was HOT while we were there, but we're in Texas...so we can't complain too much
. Rides seemed to go down quite a bit, but never for long. Big Thunder was down for quite a while one afternoon. The CM told us that the trains were overheating. Haunted Mansion went down as we were about to get in the Doom Buggy, we sat and waited, it ended up being down about 35-40 minutes. My kids rode Screamin' for the first time (they've ridden everything EXCEPT that before). It was a love/hate. As soon as they came off, it broke down and people were stuck up high, it was down for quite awhile and they finally had people walking down. I was thankful it hadn't happened with my DD on it, she would have freaked out! (DS would think it's cool though.
I had posted about our MM not working as well as it had for us in the past. The old advice of go to Peter Pan first I fear should no longer be followed. One regular opening morning on Sunday, (8am opening), we were right up to the rope at rope drop and walked straight to Peter Pan, and still had 25 min wait! We noticed often times the line was a bit less later in the day, and busiest first thing. I was kicking myself for not just skipping it in favor of doing everything else during MM. But MM was super busy in general, and to me wasn't really worth it. (I've always been a die hard MM/rope drop person).
Because it was so hot, Splash and GRR had huge waits! We took advantage of using FP's and rode them multiple times, they were easy to get FP's for, even with 60-80 minute waits. On Monday we started in DCA and went straight to RSR, we had about a 25 minute wait, which was much better than I expected, given that we were in the middle of the rope drop crowd. We got a FP for it for mid day to ride again. On our last night, Wednesday, We got a FP to ride RSR at night, with a return of 7:30-8:30pm. We showed up at 8pm and the FP line was HUGE, and they were telling us the FP line would be 40 minutes! (Standby was 2 hours) It would be our last ride of the trip and we decided to wait. Luckily for us, it was really only about 20 minutes. Not sure that this is the norm, it sounded like the ride had gone down earlier so many people had been given fastpasses to return...and everyone happened to return at the same time.
Overall, we really fit a lot into each day and had a blast. We are not foodies, so the food wasn't a big part of our trip. We did eat at Carnation Cafe, which we do each time. Chef Oscar came to visit, and told us he's about to retire!
We watched the Paint the Night parade and the fireworks one night, and the rave reviews here on the board are spot on! It truly was the best parade yet, and same with the fireworks! We were mesmerized and wish the parade would stay!! A highlight for sure.
I was reminded how much I really love California Adventure! I love the theme and feel of the park I could go on and on..but these are just a few thoughts upon our return. Happy to answer questions
. It was me, DH, DS13 and DD11. Thought I'd give an overviewFirst, Transportation- We generally fly into SNA, but tickets this time were much cheaper into LAX. Based on recommendations from the boards, we used Lanksy car service from LAX to DLR. Price was $200/rt, includes tip plus a 20 minute grocery stop. This was more expensive than shuttles, but cheaper than rental car, and with hoping to get in a couple hours at the parks on arrival, we opted to go this route. They used a minivan each way/ toyota sienna and honda odyssey. I'm a nervous passenger on busy highways, they did not scare me at all, which was good! The driver we had on the way to DLR was a great experience (Mr. Lee/Li). The driver on the way back to LAX smelled awful and the smell in the car made me gag (to the point I thought I would vomit) I had to leave the window down to air out the foul smell and get fresh air. It was some form of horrible smelling food, I can't describe what it was, but it was BAD. The driver was Mr. Gee (sp?). I think I'll leave feedback for the owner. This may have been a one off with the driver likely having sat in his car eating while waiting for us, but in the future I would see if I could request our first driver for both ways. Sorry to be so lengthy on this, but I really stressed about transportation to and from LAX, so hopefully this will help others
Next Hotel- We stayed at the Park Vue Inn for the first time. We usually stay at the Fairfield, but PVI was cheaper and included breakfast, and closer. All that was a win. I have to say we still prefer Fairfield, it seems a more updated and comfortable. But for the above reasons, PVI is perfectly fine with location being the real winner! Our AC had a very musty smell the whole time, which was my chief complaint. Room was clean. We were on the 2nd floor (top floor) which I was thankful for. Breakfast was adequate, with fresh eggs each day, either sausage or bacon and potatoes or biscuits, 3 choices of cold cereal, toast/bagels and waffle stations...hard to go wrong with that.
And finally, our park time! We were happy to be back at DLR!
It was HOT while we were there, but we're in Texas...so we can't complain too much
. Rides seemed to go down quite a bit, but never for long. Big Thunder was down for quite a while one afternoon. The CM told us that the trains were overheating. Haunted Mansion went down as we were about to get in the Doom Buggy, we sat and waited, it ended up being down about 35-40 minutes. My kids rode Screamin' for the first time (they've ridden everything EXCEPT that before). It was a love/hate. As soon as they came off, it broke down and people were stuck up high, it was down for quite awhile and they finally had people walking down. I was thankful it hadn't happened with my DD on it, she would have freaked out! (DS would think it's cool though. I had posted about our MM not working as well as it had for us in the past. The old advice of go to Peter Pan first I fear should no longer be followed. One regular opening morning on Sunday, (8am opening), we were right up to the rope at rope drop and walked straight to Peter Pan, and still had 25 min wait! We noticed often times the line was a bit less later in the day, and busiest first thing. I was kicking myself for not just skipping it in favor of doing everything else during MM. But MM was super busy in general, and to me wasn't really worth it. (I've always been a die hard MM/rope drop person).
Because it was so hot, Splash and GRR had huge waits! We took advantage of using FP's and rode them multiple times, they were easy to get FP's for, even with 60-80 minute waits. On Monday we started in DCA and went straight to RSR, we had about a 25 minute wait, which was much better than I expected, given that we were in the middle of the rope drop crowd. We got a FP for it for mid day to ride again. On our last night, Wednesday, We got a FP to ride RSR at night, with a return of 7:30-8:30pm. We showed up at 8pm and the FP line was HUGE, and they were telling us the FP line would be 40 minutes! (Standby was 2 hours) It would be our last ride of the trip and we decided to wait. Luckily for us, it was really only about 20 minutes. Not sure that this is the norm, it sounded like the ride had gone down earlier so many people had been given fastpasses to return...and everyone happened to return at the same time
. Overall, we really fit a lot into each day and had a blast. We are not foodies, so the food wasn't a big part of our trip. We did eat at Carnation Cafe, which we do each time. Chef Oscar came to visit, and told us he's about to retire!
We watched the Paint the Night parade and the fireworks one night, and the rave reviews here on the board are spot on! It truly was the best parade yet, and same with the fireworks! We were mesmerized and wish the parade would stay!! A highlight for sure.
I was reminded how much I really love California Adventure! I love the theme and feel of the park
I could go on and on..but these are just a few thoughts upon our return. Happy to answer questions
