geekypeach
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Feb 27, 2009
- Messages
- 226
We got back from our first family trip just last night! Our 
Mom (me), Dad, 5 year old, 18 month old. Grandma & Grandpa.
We drove from Salt Lake City straight through to Seal Beach, CA. The driving portion took about 10.5 hours, plus an hour or so for stops. We took no electronic entertainment for the kids, and they did so great. I wanted to set the bar low for future trips and have no regrets in doing so.
Seal Beach is AMAZING. We spotted a pod of dolphins hanging out by the pier. The beach is huge, clean, and there is plenty to see. Lots of ships. We stayed at the Ayres Hotel, which I highly, highly recommend. It was very quiet, the rooms extremely clean and in wonderful repair. Everyone we encountered at restaurants and other patrons were so nice, helpful and hospitible.
The next morning, we headed to HoJo on Harbor across from Disneyland. We were there quite early in the morning, so we went to the front desk to ask what they recommend for check-in and bags. They allowed us to check our bags at the front desk, they pre-registered us and asked what time we'd be back and then had our rooms ready when we arrived around 3. The nice part is that we were allowed to park there for free. I give the HoJo an A+ for being traveller and especially family friendly. They had the Entertainment rate available one night of our travel but gave us the rate on all three nights. These people rock! The room itself needs some help, it's just very dated and was a little smelly. But, everything was clean and in good working order, and the beds themselves were divine after a long day in the park. The water park MAKES this place. It really is that good.
Now, to the Park! We had the best time!! We were completely struck by the fact that every employee there was extremely nice and overly accomodating. They have the hospitality thing to a T. We ended up with 1st visit, "I'm Celebrating!", Honorary Citizen and Happily Ever After buttons, which we thought was pretty awesome! Our 5 yo was chosen to dance with Alice and the Mad Hatter about 10 minutes after entering! So cool. For our whole 3 days stay, everyday started out quiet and ended roaring. It was so busy that we've decided not to visit this time of year again. The crowds did take from the enjoyment a little bit. Fantasmic and the fireworks were simply breathtaking. The Pixar parade was awesome, and even better it was short and sweet. Fast Passes are a must and made things much better. Kid swap for rides is like the coolest thing ever. The baby was able to go on way more rides than I anticipated. Bot kids really enjoyed rides a lot more than I anticipated and they genuinely had fun the whole time. No meltdowns. The only upset was that my 5 yo couldn't ride California Screamin'! She's a thrill-seeker for sure! Next trip will be longer so that we can see more. I feel like we only saw 1/3 of what there was to offer.
The food in the park was a bit pricey, but not horribly so. The nicer sit-down restaurants were prohibitively expensive. The only sit-down place we ate in was in DCA near the Soarin' ride. The food was yummy though. I ended up with coffee from a few places, the best being on Main Street on the left side about a "block" up (coffee, bakery on the outside), the worst being in one of the New Orleans style places. This seemed a bit backwards to me! But, who am I to complain? We did do a character breakfast in Goofy's Kichen. I would not do this again. It was fun, but at $30 a plate for adults and $18 for the kid, I can find funner, better things to do in the park with that kind of cash. DH and I ate less than 1 plate of food, so it ends up being like $20 for a Mickey Waffle! Unreal. Also, Grandma was sick during this and did not eat even a crumb and we still had to pay $30 for her meal.
As for shopping, I feel we got a good amount of souvenirs for the money we spent (<$200). Both kids got their Buzz Lightyears and mouse ears. I got my all-you-can-stuff-in Mr. Potato Head (although tracking him down was tough, it ended up being in Engine Ears Toys right inside DCA). We got hats for the grandparents and postcards for friends.
To sum it up:
Fun: Never better.
Weather: So, so nice. Beautiful. Warm.
Crowds: Wanted to poke myself in the eye at times, although DCA was much quieter.
$$: We did everything for under $2000 and still felt like we splurged.
Am I planning my next trip yet? YOU BET!
Mom (me), Dad, 5 year old, 18 month old. Grandma & Grandpa.We drove from Salt Lake City straight through to Seal Beach, CA. The driving portion took about 10.5 hours, plus an hour or so for stops. We took no electronic entertainment for the kids, and they did so great. I wanted to set the bar low for future trips and have no regrets in doing so.
Seal Beach is AMAZING. We spotted a pod of dolphins hanging out by the pier. The beach is huge, clean, and there is plenty to see. Lots of ships. We stayed at the Ayres Hotel, which I highly, highly recommend. It was very quiet, the rooms extremely clean and in wonderful repair. Everyone we encountered at restaurants and other patrons were so nice, helpful and hospitible.
The next morning, we headed to HoJo on Harbor across from Disneyland. We were there quite early in the morning, so we went to the front desk to ask what they recommend for check-in and bags. They allowed us to check our bags at the front desk, they pre-registered us and asked what time we'd be back and then had our rooms ready when we arrived around 3. The nice part is that we were allowed to park there for free. I give the HoJo an A+ for being traveller and especially family friendly. They had the Entertainment rate available one night of our travel but gave us the rate on all three nights. These people rock! The room itself needs some help, it's just very dated and was a little smelly. But, everything was clean and in good working order, and the beds themselves were divine after a long day in the park. The water park MAKES this place. It really is that good.
Now, to the Park! We had the best time!! We were completely struck by the fact that every employee there was extremely nice and overly accomodating. They have the hospitality thing to a T. We ended up with 1st visit, "I'm Celebrating!", Honorary Citizen and Happily Ever After buttons, which we thought was pretty awesome! Our 5 yo was chosen to dance with Alice and the Mad Hatter about 10 minutes after entering! So cool. For our whole 3 days stay, everyday started out quiet and ended roaring. It was so busy that we've decided not to visit this time of year again. The crowds did take from the enjoyment a little bit. Fantasmic and the fireworks were simply breathtaking. The Pixar parade was awesome, and even better it was short and sweet. Fast Passes are a must and made things much better. Kid swap for rides is like the coolest thing ever. The baby was able to go on way more rides than I anticipated. Bot kids really enjoyed rides a lot more than I anticipated and they genuinely had fun the whole time. No meltdowns. The only upset was that my 5 yo couldn't ride California Screamin'! She's a thrill-seeker for sure! Next trip will be longer so that we can see more. I feel like we only saw 1/3 of what there was to offer.
The food in the park was a bit pricey, but not horribly so. The nicer sit-down restaurants were prohibitively expensive. The only sit-down place we ate in was in DCA near the Soarin' ride. The food was yummy though. I ended up with coffee from a few places, the best being on Main Street on the left side about a "block" up (coffee, bakery on the outside), the worst being in one of the New Orleans style places. This seemed a bit backwards to me! But, who am I to complain? We did do a character breakfast in Goofy's Kichen. I would not do this again. It was fun, but at $30 a plate for adults and $18 for the kid, I can find funner, better things to do in the park with that kind of cash. DH and I ate less than 1 plate of food, so it ends up being like $20 for a Mickey Waffle! Unreal. Also, Grandma was sick during this and did not eat even a crumb and we still had to pay $30 for her meal.
As for shopping, I feel we got a good amount of souvenirs for the money we spent (<$200). Both kids got their Buzz Lightyears and mouse ears. I got my all-you-can-stuff-in Mr. Potato Head (although tracking him down was tough, it ended up being in Engine Ears Toys right inside DCA). We got hats for the grandparents and postcards for friends.
To sum it up:
Fun: Never better.
Weather: So, so nice. Beautiful. Warm.
Crowds: Wanted to poke myself in the eye at times, although DCA was much quieter.
$$: We did everything for under $2000 and still felt like we splurged.
Am I planning my next trip yet? YOU BET!
. I had some thrill-seeker in me then, not so much now though, hah! 
