Hi everyone - we just returned from our first vacation using DVC points outside of WDW, and I have to report that we are very happy with the results.
We stayed in San Francisco at the Fairmont Hotel. This hotel is very elegant (it has a beautiful lobby) with clean, comfortable and spacious rooms. The hotel staff is very accomodating. One small note - if you stay here, request an even-numbered room. Our room was odd-numbered, and overlooked the top of the three domes of one of the hotel's restaurants as well as some air conditioning units. Not a very nice view, but the room itself was fine. The hotel has a couple of restaurants, one of which, Tonga, reminded us of a cross between the Poly and Rainforest Cafe. We also had dinner at a very nice restaurant called the Carnellian Room which is on top of the highest office building in SF. We had a corner table with a panoramic view of the city at sunset - it was amazing! But two words of caution - it is extremely expensive, and they do not have a children's menu. They were very nice, though, and made a pasta dish for DD8 since most items on the menu were too rich for her.
We loved San Francisco. Its a beautiful city, very clean and well maintained (although VERY expensive), and there are a million things to do there. Before we left home, DS15 and DD8 were looking at the S.F. portion of the trip as something they had to put up with until they could go to Disneyland, but they ended up having a great time and not wanting to leave.
After San Francisco, we drove down the Pacific Coast Highway from San Francisco to Cambria, which is in the middle of the state. (This was the non-DVC portion of our trip.) The views are stunning, but the ride is also a little scary at times, I would look out my window and see nothing but a straight 3,000 foot drop down to the ocean! We went to Hearst Castle at San Simeon, and then drove over to the interstate to head down to Disneyland. (By the way, since we are from the New York metropolitan area, I always thought our traffic was bad, but southern CA is much worse we sat in a 2 hour traffic jam on the freeway at 2:00 on a Saturday afternoon! And it seems to be like that there every day.)
We checked into the Grand Californian for a 6 night stay, and we all really loved this hotel. It reminded us very much of VWL, our home resort. We had a great room with a theme park view (also a view of the 2 pools). We could watch the Electrical Parade from our balcony at night.
I have to admit that I was very skeptical about visiting Disneyland, since I am a die-hard WDW fan. But I found that there are many things to appreciate about both Orlando and Anaheim. DL is much, much smaller than Magic Kingdom, but it actually has many more attractions. The Dkids enjoyed the rides based on the classic Disney movies, such as Alice in Wonderland and Pinocchio, as well as the Indiana Jones ride (wish they would bring this to MGM to replace the Indiana Jones stunt show). Incidentally, we learned from a Disneyland CM that Indiana Jones is the same track as Dinosaur at AK, while California Screamin' at CA is the same track as Rock 'n Roller Coaster - they are themed so differently that you would not realize this unless someone told you.
Since DL is so much smaller than WDW, everything is much closer together, which is actually easier on your feet since you dont have to do quite as much walking to get from place to place. DL has a special charm that I think is from the direct influence of Walt Disney. We loved the details on the buildings on Main Street and in the various lands. And we all agreed to our surprise that, of the attractions that are both in WDW and DL, the DL versions are for the most part superior. (Especially Pirates of the Caribbean - the ride is about twice as long and infinitely more detailed. The castle, however, is unbelievably tiny! DL seems to be much less crowded than WDW - at least it was during our visit. The first day we went to DL, we walked onto most rides or waited about 10 minutes at most. The second day we went, there were a lot of day camps visiting, so it was a little more crowded, but still the waits were nothing like they are at WDW - no more than 20 minutes on the headliner attractions. We only used FastPass once, for a second ride on Indiana Jones.
The DL fireworks were amazing. They begin and end with Wishes, same as at MK, but there is a very long middle section narrated by Julie Andrews (and Walt Disney himself) which highlights the major attractions which have made Disneyland special, such as the Electrical Parade, Haunted Mansion, Pirates, etc. They use the music and narrations from the attractions, all coordinated with lasers, fireworks, and lights and colors on the castle. I had tears in my eyes by the end the best Disney fireworks I have ever seen (and that is saying something, since the Orlando fireworks are great).
I have read very mixed reviews about California Adventure, but I have to say that we all really liked this park very much. I would say that I liked it better than MGM, not as much as Magic Kingdom or Epcot. They have a lot of really unusual attractions, and of course being Disney the park is beautiful and spotless. We were glad to ride Soarin' again and did so several times. Soarin' is just a few steps away from the GC entrance into the park - very convenient.
We have always heard that Walt Disney was very frustrated by the fact that Disneyland was completely surrounded by the city of Anaheim, which limited the magic feeling in a way that does not exist in Orlando, where you are completely surrounded by magic. The changes that they have made in the California parks/hotels have really gone a long way toward improving this. The Grand Californian is connected to California Adventure on one side and to Downtown Disney (nicer than the one in Orlando) on the other side. The Downtown Disney area connects the two theme parks the main entrances of Disneyland and California Adventure face each other at the end of the Downtown Disney walkway. So you never have to worry about buses or boats you can walk to either park in less than 5 minutes. It was great!
We all felt that the Disney employees in Florida are much more friendly and outgoing than those in California. The employees in the parks and the hotel in California are very polite and nice, and will help you if you ask for something, but we have always found in Orlando that the employees are very approachable, have great pride in working for Disney, and are always willing to talk about the parks, about their jobs there, about anything! The exception to this is the Disney characters, who I think are somewhat superior in California. Perhaps it is because the park is less crowded than MK, but the characters spend much more time with the children. The first morning, we walked into the park, and saw Alice, Tweedledum and Tweedledee, the Queen of Hearts, Peter Pan and Wendy sitting in a circle in front of City Hall, playing charades with any children (or adults) who wanted to play. They were there for a really long time! The second day, we saw the same group in a different location playing Red Rover with the kids. I have never seen anything like that at MK. You also see characters walking through the parks much more than at MK (I guess they do not have the same system of tunnels as at WDW). So you will see Cinderella and the Prince or Beauty and the Beast strolling to their autograph location, followed by a trail of little kids (and their parents!) We took the kids to the best character breakfast ever. They have a breakfast with Minnie and Friends in the park. There were about 10 different characters at this breakfast. The characters actually sat down at the table with the kids, wrote notes in their autograph books (Chip wrote a poem in DDs Roses are red, violets are blue, I love acorns and Dale does too but Dale smells!) and kept returning for hugs and kisses. Tigger accompanied DD to the buffet to tell her what he wanted her to put on her Mickey waffles. Minnie escorted a little girl dressed in a Minnie costume to her table and sat and snuggled the girl on her lap. It was the cutest thing ever!
In summary, anyone who loves Disney should try to visit DL someday to appreciate how special it is. We thought we would go just once to see what it was like, but I would definitely go back. It was actually cheaper to fly to California than it is to fly to Orlando at the peak times when we usually travel. I can see doing Orlando in the winter and California some summers.
Oh, we also spent one day at Universal Studios, which DH and DS15 really liked but DD8 and I could have done without. (She hates thrill rides and will not ride, and I always stay with her so I didn't do much there.) DD was also very concerned because she had promised the CM's at Whispering Canyon not to go to Universal! Well, been there, done that, no need to go back!
All in all it was a great trip and one that we never would have taken without DVC.
We stayed in San Francisco at the Fairmont Hotel. This hotel is very elegant (it has a beautiful lobby) with clean, comfortable and spacious rooms. The hotel staff is very accomodating. One small note - if you stay here, request an even-numbered room. Our room was odd-numbered, and overlooked the top of the three domes of one of the hotel's restaurants as well as some air conditioning units. Not a very nice view, but the room itself was fine. The hotel has a couple of restaurants, one of which, Tonga, reminded us of a cross between the Poly and Rainforest Cafe. We also had dinner at a very nice restaurant called the Carnellian Room which is on top of the highest office building in SF. We had a corner table with a panoramic view of the city at sunset - it was amazing! But two words of caution - it is extremely expensive, and they do not have a children's menu. They were very nice, though, and made a pasta dish for DD8 since most items on the menu were too rich for her.
We loved San Francisco. Its a beautiful city, very clean and well maintained (although VERY expensive), and there are a million things to do there. Before we left home, DS15 and DD8 were looking at the S.F. portion of the trip as something they had to put up with until they could go to Disneyland, but they ended up having a great time and not wanting to leave.
After San Francisco, we drove down the Pacific Coast Highway from San Francisco to Cambria, which is in the middle of the state. (This was the non-DVC portion of our trip.) The views are stunning, but the ride is also a little scary at times, I would look out my window and see nothing but a straight 3,000 foot drop down to the ocean! We went to Hearst Castle at San Simeon, and then drove over to the interstate to head down to Disneyland. (By the way, since we are from the New York metropolitan area, I always thought our traffic was bad, but southern CA is much worse we sat in a 2 hour traffic jam on the freeway at 2:00 on a Saturday afternoon! And it seems to be like that there every day.)
We checked into the Grand Californian for a 6 night stay, and we all really loved this hotel. It reminded us very much of VWL, our home resort. We had a great room with a theme park view (also a view of the 2 pools). We could watch the Electrical Parade from our balcony at night.
I have to admit that I was very skeptical about visiting Disneyland, since I am a die-hard WDW fan. But I found that there are many things to appreciate about both Orlando and Anaheim. DL is much, much smaller than Magic Kingdom, but it actually has many more attractions. The Dkids enjoyed the rides based on the classic Disney movies, such as Alice in Wonderland and Pinocchio, as well as the Indiana Jones ride (wish they would bring this to MGM to replace the Indiana Jones stunt show). Incidentally, we learned from a Disneyland CM that Indiana Jones is the same track as Dinosaur at AK, while California Screamin' at CA is the same track as Rock 'n Roller Coaster - they are themed so differently that you would not realize this unless someone told you.
Since DL is so much smaller than WDW, everything is much closer together, which is actually easier on your feet since you dont have to do quite as much walking to get from place to place. DL has a special charm that I think is from the direct influence of Walt Disney. We loved the details on the buildings on Main Street and in the various lands. And we all agreed to our surprise that, of the attractions that are both in WDW and DL, the DL versions are for the most part superior. (Especially Pirates of the Caribbean - the ride is about twice as long and infinitely more detailed. The castle, however, is unbelievably tiny! DL seems to be much less crowded than WDW - at least it was during our visit. The first day we went to DL, we walked onto most rides or waited about 10 minutes at most. The second day we went, there were a lot of day camps visiting, so it was a little more crowded, but still the waits were nothing like they are at WDW - no more than 20 minutes on the headliner attractions. We only used FastPass once, for a second ride on Indiana Jones.
The DL fireworks were amazing. They begin and end with Wishes, same as at MK, but there is a very long middle section narrated by Julie Andrews (and Walt Disney himself) which highlights the major attractions which have made Disneyland special, such as the Electrical Parade, Haunted Mansion, Pirates, etc. They use the music and narrations from the attractions, all coordinated with lasers, fireworks, and lights and colors on the castle. I had tears in my eyes by the end the best Disney fireworks I have ever seen (and that is saying something, since the Orlando fireworks are great).
I have read very mixed reviews about California Adventure, but I have to say that we all really liked this park very much. I would say that I liked it better than MGM, not as much as Magic Kingdom or Epcot. They have a lot of really unusual attractions, and of course being Disney the park is beautiful and spotless. We were glad to ride Soarin' again and did so several times. Soarin' is just a few steps away from the GC entrance into the park - very convenient.
We have always heard that Walt Disney was very frustrated by the fact that Disneyland was completely surrounded by the city of Anaheim, which limited the magic feeling in a way that does not exist in Orlando, where you are completely surrounded by magic. The changes that they have made in the California parks/hotels have really gone a long way toward improving this. The Grand Californian is connected to California Adventure on one side and to Downtown Disney (nicer than the one in Orlando) on the other side. The Downtown Disney area connects the two theme parks the main entrances of Disneyland and California Adventure face each other at the end of the Downtown Disney walkway. So you never have to worry about buses or boats you can walk to either park in less than 5 minutes. It was great!
We all felt that the Disney employees in Florida are much more friendly and outgoing than those in California. The employees in the parks and the hotel in California are very polite and nice, and will help you if you ask for something, but we have always found in Orlando that the employees are very approachable, have great pride in working for Disney, and are always willing to talk about the parks, about their jobs there, about anything! The exception to this is the Disney characters, who I think are somewhat superior in California. Perhaps it is because the park is less crowded than MK, but the characters spend much more time with the children. The first morning, we walked into the park, and saw Alice, Tweedledum and Tweedledee, the Queen of Hearts, Peter Pan and Wendy sitting in a circle in front of City Hall, playing charades with any children (or adults) who wanted to play. They were there for a really long time! The second day, we saw the same group in a different location playing Red Rover with the kids. I have never seen anything like that at MK. You also see characters walking through the parks much more than at MK (I guess they do not have the same system of tunnels as at WDW). So you will see Cinderella and the Prince or Beauty and the Beast strolling to their autograph location, followed by a trail of little kids (and their parents!) We took the kids to the best character breakfast ever. They have a breakfast with Minnie and Friends in the park. There were about 10 different characters at this breakfast. The characters actually sat down at the table with the kids, wrote notes in their autograph books (Chip wrote a poem in DDs Roses are red, violets are blue, I love acorns and Dale does too but Dale smells!) and kept returning for hugs and kisses. Tigger accompanied DD to the buffet to tell her what he wanted her to put on her Mickey waffles. Minnie escorted a little girl dressed in a Minnie costume to her table and sat and snuggled the girl on her lap. It was the cutest thing ever!
In summary, anyone who loves Disney should try to visit DL someday to appreciate how special it is. We thought we would go just once to see what it was like, but I would definitely go back. It was actually cheaper to fly to California than it is to fly to Orlando at the peak times when we usually travel. I can see doing Orlando in the winter and California some summers.
Oh, we also spent one day at Universal Studios, which DH and DS15 really liked but DD8 and I could have done without. (She hates thrill rides and will not ride, and I always stay with her so I didn't do much there.) DD was also very concerned because she had promised the CM's at Whispering Canyon not to go to Universal! Well, been there, done that, no need to go back!
All in all it was a great trip and one that we never would have taken without DVC.
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