Our first visit to DLR

[DrGaellon]

David's best girlfriend lives in Vista, California, about an hour north of San Diego. He usually goes to visit her for a couple of weeks in the late winter. I booked a week of vacation at work for March (I get almost six weeks a year, and can only carry over 2, so I pretty much have to use all six every year or lose them.) We were able to book a week at the Paradise Point resort in Mission Bay, including airfare, for about $1700. San Diego is only about 90 minutes from Anaheim, and I've never been to Disneyland, so I talked David into two days at DLR. (We were able to get one night at the Hilton Anaheim for $109.)

We will plan to drive up from San Diego the morning of Tuesday March 13, and return the night of March 14. I got us two two-day Park Hoppers and 4 one-day passes for the resort transport. (The add-on cost for this excursion is about $500 total.)

I know almost NOTHING about DLR, so suggestions for things to do and see will be most welcome. (In fact, suggestions for San Diego will also be welcome.) We don't like kiddie-ish rides like the Tea Cups or Aladdin's Carpets. I already know we have to do Mr Toad (which I haven't experienced since 1983), the Tiki Room (I hate the Orlando script with Iago) and Indiana Jones. I know 20,000 Leagues has been re-themed, but it's also on our must-do. David is disappointed that Matterhorn is down for refurb, but I'm hoping Space Mountain will make up for it.

 

[DrGaellon]

We've been talking for almost a year about moving some of my books into storage and getting rid of a couple of bookcases in our rather cramped living room. I've been working on cataloging and boxing up books for weeks; I also started ripping DVDs to the network drive and boxing those up as well. We finally bit the bullet and rented a storage unit today, and moved all the filled boxes over there. Why is this relevant to a pre-trip report? Because we are leaving in 12 days, and David wanted to move the suitcases to open up room in the front hall closet! I gently reminded him that we need them in the very near future...

 

[DrGaellon]

Ordered new suitcases (a set of 4, hard sided) from luggage.com; expecting delivery Tuesday. Seven days til we leave, ten til DLR!

 

[DrGaellon]

Suitcases arrived as expected. Of course, David has the larger of the two checkable bags, AND the larger of the two carry-ons. (The set has a 29", a 25", a 22" and a 19").

David spent the last two days cleaning like a mad thing and doing load after load of laundry. He started packing Wednesday - and basically bullied me into doing the same by leaving my suitcases open on my side of the bed. I took the hint and started packing. We finished packing tonight after we got home from dinner - all that remains is to pack up the computers and electronics in the morning. We will leave here around 3 and drive to my sister's, where either she or my brother-in-law will join us. When we get to the airport, she (or he) will drive my car back to their place for the week.

Boarding passes are printed and sent to both phones. Receipts for the pre-paid hotel and rental car are printed. Same for the hotel in Anaheim, and our tickets for DLR.

We have reservations for brunch Sunday at Tom Ham's Lighthouse, and for dinner at Bertrand at Mister A's. Tuesday, when we go up to DLR, we will be dining at Napa Rose. We've made no other commitments for the week.

 

[DrGaellon]

We got in late Saturday night (albeit about half an hour early). The computers at Avis were down, so the line was nearly out the door - but they came back up while I was standing there. We got a nice white Mustang convertible, loaded it up and headed out.

The resort is lovely, though storage space is limited (there is only one cabinet with two drawers; we asked for another, but were told none were available).

We had lunch yesterday at Tom Ham's Lighthouse, on a spit of land in the harbor just south of the airport. The spread was enormous - typical brunch items like french toast, sausage, bacon, and a made-to-order omelet station, but also a made-to-order pasta station, a carving station with a pork steamship round, a bbq beef brisket and bbq ribs, and also a boat full of seafood - lobster claws, king and snow crab legs, peel-and-eat shrimp, shrimp ceviche, scallop ceviche and smoked salmon (with bagels and cream cheese at hand). There was also a dessert bar with creme brulee, brownie mousse, cheese cake, chocolate croissant bread pudding and a sundae bar.

We had dinner at what is apparently the best restaurant in San Diego, Bertrand at Mr. A's. We were seated at a table in the southwest corner of the restaurant; the location is such that we were watching aircraft landing at the airport nearby - and they generally passed the building just about at the level of the restaurant on the 12th floor. David started with a "pomegranate paradise" (a martini variant), while I had a Frenchman (Grand Marnier, cabernet sauvignon, lemon, lime and hot water). We shared a lobster strudel, which was so good it rendered me speechless. David had grilled scallops with a cabernet risotto, while I had braised lamb shank with flageolet beans; we had a Merry Edwards Pinot Noir from the Russian River to go with. We ended with a caramel cheesecake with a side of blueberry and cherry compote. It was quite possibly the single most-expensive-per-person meal I've ever had, but it was just amazing. We then wandered up the street to the Caliph Lounge and had a few drinks and some karaoke to round out the evening.

We are getting ready to head out for lunch at Top of the Park, and will be having dinner tonight with David's goddaughter and her fiance at Tre Porcellini in Hillcrest.

I actually got David to agree to get up and get out early tomorrow, so I'm hoping to get to Anaheim before 10am. I think we will spend four or five hours at DCA, then head over to the hotel to check in and freshen up. We'll head back, have dinner at Napa Rose, then finish up the evening at DCA. When it closes at 10, we'll cross over to DLP and hit a couple of things, then plan to get up early and get into DLP no later than 9am on Wednesday.

 

[elt0307]

I wish I had see your thread earlier! I am about to take my first trip to DLR the end of April...I have a conference in Anaheim so I had to extend my trip to make time for DL! It wasn't difficult to convince DGF to fly to CA for a few days to see the parks with me. How did you like your first DL experience and what did you think of Napa Rose?

 

[DrGaellon]

I wish I had see your thread earlier! I am about to take my first trip to DLR the end of April...I have a conference in Anaheim so I had to extend my trip to make time for DL! It wasn't difficult to convince DGF to fly to CA for a few days to see the parks with me. How did you like your first DL experience and what did you think of Napa Rose?

We really enjoyed our two days in Anaheim. WDW has nothing to compare to World of Color; I was absolutely stunned by it. I concur with the assessment that Indiana Jones is what Dinosaur should have been, and Pirates of the Caribbean was better in California. I loved revisiting Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, which I hadn't seen since 1983. I missed the original theming of the 20,000 Leagues ride, but the Nemo theming was a worthy successor.

Napa Rose was really excellent. The space is beautiful. Our waiter was also trained as a sommelier, and helped us choose our meals and wines to go with them. We shared an appetizer of steak tartare with sweet potato fries. I had venison, which I only ever get when we go out. David had the fish of the day; I don't remember what it was and will have to ask him. We split the chocolate paté for dessert (a slab of what was essentially chocolate ganache - Schaffen Berger chocolate - with a hazelnut creme anglaise). It was a beautiful meal in a beautiful space. This is us at our table (with the remains of dessert in the center):