Our Magical Mother Daughter Trip - Complete!

[Jennifer03]

Hello and welcome to my trip report. I just returned from a three night stay at Paradise Pier Hotel at the Disneyland Resort (November 2–5). My first visit to Disneyland was on a family vacation in 1995 when I was eleven years old. I didn’t return again until April 2003 when I was senior in high school. My mom and I had taken this trip by ourselves and had such a great time that we knew we had to go back. Here is a picture of us in front of the castle from that trip:

In August of 2005 I turned 21 so we planned to be in Disneyland on my birthday. It was fun, but very crowded. We returned again June 2007 to celebrate my graduation from college. As you can probably tell, we were going about every two years. I was starting to plan for our 2009 trip, but just couldn’t wait that long. So in early October I suggested buying annual passes and taking a trip this November. We called on October 8th to find out if there were any rooms available with the AP discount. Luckily, there was still availability! So we booked our rooms and purchased our annual passes online. I had been reading these boards for over a year and had been slowly saving various tips and information. I had already created a spreadsheet in Excel that listed where to eat and what rides and attractions we liked in each land, as well as a list of where to find photopass photographers. So I really didn’t have too much planning to do for our last minute trip.

Soon after the trip was finalized, I created a countdown calendar. It was so fun tearing a number off each night.

Next: Our arrival and first day at the parks!

 

[Jennifer03]

Sunday, November 2, 2008
I woke up at 5:00 AM feeling very excited. After eating breakfast and getting ready, I finished packing last minute items. Once all of our bags were ready, we took them downstairs and loaded them into the car. We were off at 7:05 AM.

The Saturday before we left for our trip a storm had hit. It was raining extremely hard with thunder and lightening. When we woke up on Sunday morning the rain had stopped and the sun was slowly coming out. Soon after we left home we noticed a beautiful rainbow in the sky. It was so nice seeing that on the way to Disneyland.

It wasn’t long before we saw this billboard:

Before we knew it, we were there!

We arrived at Paradise Pier Hotel at 1:15 PM. Last year we had a view of California Adventure, so I was hoping for something a little different this time. I really wanted a pool view, but would have been happy with anything. After checking in, we were told our room was on the 9th floor, room 937, overlooking the pool! I was so happy to hear that!

I love the carpet in the hallways.

 

[avalon451]

Great start! Looking forward to reading more.

That is great that you and your mom get to do these trips together. I just took my first trip with my DD13, and it was magical. I hope to make it a tradition with each of my 3 daughters!

 

[bumbershoot]

I'm reading!

Look at those cute little shampoo bottles...very different from the ones they had in Sept '07.

 

[Jennifer03]

Great start! Looking forward to reading more.

That is great that you and your mom get to do these trips together. I just took my first trip with my DD13, and it was magical. I hope to make it a tradition with each of my 3 daughters!

Mother daughter trips are the best. I think it's great that you want to take trips to Disneyland with each of your daughters, it will give them many wonderful memories.

I'm reading!

Look at those cute little shampoo bottles...very different from the ones they had in Sept '07.

I love how Disney pays attention to every little detail, right down to the shampoo bottles!

 

[prettyprincessbelle]

Great start! I can't wait for more!

I've been bugging and nagging my Mom to get her butt in gear so we can have a mother daughter trip!

Can't wait to read the rest!

 

[wendylady36]

Looks like a great trip so far! Yay for getting the view you wanted! I've never stayed at PP, so I really enjoy seeing all the pictures you took of it, it looks like a cute place to stay.

I can't wait to read more!

 

[Jennifer03]

Looks like a great trip so far! Yay for getting the view you wanted! I've never stayed at PP, so I really enjoy seeing all the pictures you took of it, it looks like a cute place to stay.

I can't wait to read more!

Paradise Pier is a very cute place to stay, it's my favorite of all the Disney resort hotels.

Great start! I can't wait for more!

I've been bugging and nagging my Mom to get her butt in gear so we can have a mother daughter trip!

Can't wait to read the rest!

Mother daughter trips are so fun. I hope you and your mom can go to Disneyland together soon!

 

[Jennifer03]

Sunday, November 2, 2008 continued

After unpacking we headed to Disneyland to activate our annual passes. The line at the Bank of Main Street was long, but moved quickly. While standing in line I saw Goofy in his Halloween costume and Cruella De Vil.

After taking our pictures, we had our annual passes!

Then we took our first photopass pictures in front of the pumpkin.

We decided to ride The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh first, so we headed over to Critter Country. On the way we bought some grapes at a fruit stand and ate them on a bench across from the ride. Before getting on the ride we took some pictures.

Then we left Disneyland and walked over to California Adventure to watch Muppet Vision 3D. I had never seen it before and really liked it.

Next we rode Monsters, Inc. which I liked as well.

By this time it was almost 5:00, which is when we normally eat, so we looked at the spreadsheet I had made to decide where to eat. We chose Bountiful Valley Farmers Market since they had the kid’s turkey wrap. We both thought the turkey wrap was really good and found it to be very filling.

After dinner we headed back to the hotel. I went online (I love that Paradise Pier offers wireless internet access) and we watched some t.v., including the princess bedtime stories. I love all of the programs on Disney hotel televisions.

We went to bed early since we had a full day at California Adventure ahead of us

 

[Jennifer03]

Monday, November 3, 2008

I woke up at 6:00 AM and ate a quick breakfast in our room. Since the park didn’t open until 10, we spent the morning taking pictures around the hotel and Downtown Disney.

A hidden Mickey!

We were starting to get hungry at this point, so we walked over to White Water Snacks at the Grand Californian and shared a Mickey pretzel. It was very good once we took the salt off.

 

[Jennifer03]

Is anyone reading this? I’m not sure if I should continue with my trip report or not…

 

[wendylady36]

I'm here! I'm loving all of your pictures. It looks like you gals had a fun time!

The early morning pictures are great, because there's not a whole bunch of people in them! I don't think I could get up early enough to do that though.

 

[1-disneyfan]

I'm here too enjoying seeing the Halloween decorations we missed we were there Nov 5-11 DD5 tap class danced at DCA on the 8th and DL on the 10th. Beautiful weather.....came home to wonderful Washington rain

Kris

 

[Jennifer03]

Monday, November 3, 2008 continued

Once we finished we walked back and lined up at bag check. The lines for California Adventure were still pretty short at this time so we the third in line. They let us in at 9:30 and we walked around Sunshine Plaza, looked at Greeting from California, and took some photopass pictures.

Then we waited at the Hollywood Pictures Backlot rope.

At 10, the rope was removed and we headed over for the Visa Meet and Greet. When we arrived, nobody was there. We waited around for a while, but nobody ever showed up. We decided we didn’t want to waste time so we took some pictures in the area.

While taking pictures, I noticed several people walking over to the meet and greet area, but leaving soon after. I’m assuming they weren't going to have the meet and greet since it’s off-season, which isn’t right, but oh well.

We went to the animation building next and waited for the first Animation Academy class, which started at 11.

The class was really fun and we learned to draw Mickey Mouse. I would love to go again on my next trip.

The picture I drew:

The picture my mom drew:

After the class we went to Pizza Oom Mow Mow for lunch. We both had the kid’s primo pasta with meatballs. I really liked this; it was probably my favorite meal of the whole trip.

After lunch we went to A Bug’s Land and rode the Chew Chew Train, which was absolutely adorable!

 

[Jennifer03]

I'm so glad I have readers!

I'm here! I'm loving all of your pictures. It looks like you gals had a fun time!

The early morning pictures are great, because there's not a whole bunch of people in them! I don't think I could get up early enough to do that though.

Getting up early was nice since there wasn't anyone around, it's a great time to take pictures.

I'm here too enjoying seeing the Halloween decorations we missed we were there Nov 5-11 DD5 tap class danced at DCA on the 8th and DL on the 10th. Beautiful weather.....came home to wonderful Washington rain

Kris

Wow, you had a nice long stay at Disneyland. The weather was great for us as well, but we too came home to cold weather.


November 3, 2008 continued

We watched It’s Tough to be a Bug next. It was cute, but probably not something I’d watch again.

 

[Jennifer03]

November 3, 2008 continued

After leaving A Bug’s Land, we headed to Paradise Pier to ride Toy Story Midway Mania. The line was only thirty minutes and moved pretty quickly. This was my first time on the ride and I thought I was going to hate it since I don’t like video games. However, I ended up loving it! It’s so much fun and I’m really looking forward to going on it again next year.

Our scores; I was player 2.

I saw this after getting off the ride. Does anyone know what exactly it is supposed to be?

We decided to explore the Grizzly Peak Recreation area and Redwood Creek Challenge Trail next.

It was so pretty here. I really felt like I was in a national park.

Since we were really thirsty, we decided to have a snack. We shared a strawberry frozen lemonade. I actually liked this much more than the original.

We decided to take the factory tours next. First we went to the Mission Tortilla Factory tour, which was interesting. I loved the fresh warm tortilla they give you for free at the end.

Then we went to the Bakery Tour. We received a free small bread sample before taking the tour.

After the tours, we had done everything we wanted to in California Adventure. We were tired, so we headed back to our room to rest for a while before coming back to eat dinner and watch the parade.

 

[Yakety76]

Great pictures. The pictures of the Redwood Creek area look really nice. We have yet to make it back that way, but it looks like it needs to become a priority for us on our next trip.

 

[Jennifer03]

Great pictures. The pictures of the Redwood Creek area look really nice. We have yet to make it back that way, but it looks like it needs to become a priority for us on our next trip.

Thanks! I had read about the Redwood Creek area in the Unofficial Guide, so I made sure to add it to my list of places to visit. It was so beautiful and peaceful there, I think you'll really like it.

 

[Jennifer03]

November 3, 2008 continued

We took about an hour long break in our room. During that time I worked on an assignment for school and went down to the gift shop to buy something for my mom. I was going to save it for Christmas, but ended up giving it to her early. Around 4:10 we walked back to California Adventure. We went to Pacific Wharf Café and ordered the Salinas turkey sandwich to share for dinner. It tasted really good and the bread was so fresh.

We ate our sandwich on a bench near Golden Vine Winery, facing the Paradise Pier area. Here was the view we had:

I was surprised that more people weren’t finding seats for the parade. I know at Disneyland people claim their spot early on. Around 5:10 all of the benches filled up and the Pixar Play Parade started soon after at 5:15. My camera doesn’t take the best pictures at night, even with the flash off. These were the best of what I had taken.

I thought the parade was really cute and loved seeing it so close. I’ve never had a front row seat for a parade before, so it was nice. Once the parade was over we left the park and walked back to the hotel. I went online to check our photopass pictures and we watched Dancing with the Stars. After a long day we were both exhausted and went to bed early.

Next: Magic Morning at Disneyland!

 

[Sherry E]

Jennifer, I am really loving your TR because it is loaded with pictures. And the thing is, you remind me of me when I was your age in terms of what you take pictures of! I used to do the exact same thing - I would take shots of everything from the second we set foot on Disney soil to when we left, in and around the hotel, just random crowd shots, at every attraction, just everything I saw, all the details, until everybody wanted to shoot me! I probably still would do it if I had the patience for it and if I traveled with people who had the patience for it! I LOVE that sort of narrative style of picture taking. You can tell a chronological story of your trip for people largely in the photos, so you don't even really have to verbally explain too much beyond that! And your pictures are colorful and clear, too. They complement the subjects, whether it be a plate of food, an attraction or a hotel room...

In fact, I should mention, that my recent stay at the PPH (which was my 3rd or 4th time staying there - can't recall exactly) was not exactly the best one I have had. There were some issues with the water in the bathroom and it just was not good (we did, however, have a GREAT, almost eye level view of the pool, which I know you will appreciate). BUT, looking at your photos, which really flatter the hotel rooms quite a bit, I am thinking to myself, "You know, that IS a pretty cute little hotel! I don't think I have appreciated the little details enough when I have been there." It almost makes me want to go back there again!

I am looking forward to more of the Trip Report!!