Honeymooner04
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 24, 2003
- Messages
- 570
Our Spontaneous Disneyland Trip
Cast of Characters:
Myself (28) stay-at-home mom to a 3 month old and lover of all things Disney and spontaneous.
Husband, Jeremy (27) airline pilot and dad extrordinare
Daughter, Kaitlyn (3 months) willing participant and Disneys newest fan
Intro:
This was both my daughter and my first trip to Disneyland and my husbands second. Jeremy and I honeymooned at the Port Orleans Riverside resort in Disney World in 2004 and returned a year later to celebrate our 1 year anniversary. We have a December trip at the Polynesian hotel planned for all three of us but we needed a Disney fix before then! My husband had the week of mothers day off so we called a couple of days before we left, got the last available room in a Disney property left, and packed up and drove to Anaheim.
We arrived in Disneyland on Mothers Day at about 4 in the afternoon. We checked into the Paradise Pier Hotel and went up to our room to give our daughter a break since she had just soldiered through the 6 hour drive from Tucson like a champ. The room (927) was really nice, I would say about the same quality as a moderate at Disney World. Our room overlooked the pool and the parking garage but was quiet and comfortable. We had two queen size beds, a pull out couch and our requested pack-and-play and refrigerator were in our room when we arrived, as well as a bouquet of flowers for Mothers Day that my husband had arranged for. Too sweet.
Anyway, I fed Kaitlyn and let her relax while we discussed what to do for dinner. We decided that if it looked like Kailtyn could handle it we would put her in her stroller and find something to eat at Downtown Disney. She seemed cool with that so off we went. We ended up eating at La Brea Bakery since it llooked like it didnt have too long of a wait and the menu looked good. We were seated quickly but the food didnt end up tasting as good as it sounded. It wasnt horrible just ok. Jeremy had the NY Strip and I had a turkey panini. Kaitlyn had a good nap.
The next day, Monday, was our first day at the parks. This is the first time we have ever taken Kaitlyn on any kind of extended outing so needless to say I was a little nervous on how she would take all of the hustle and bustle. I shouldnt have worried at all. She slept in her stroller when she was tired and hung out in the Baby Bjorn when she wasnt. We used the Baby Care Centers at both Disneyland and California Adventure a lot. They are awesome. A perfect place to change a diaper, cool off and recharge for a minute, much better than using the public restrooms to change her. Anyway, our goal was to use the early entry option for resort guests but we got a late start and only ended up getting there 10 minutes before the park opened for the regular hours. We rode Peter Pans flight and the Jungle Cruise without though without hardly a wait. Kaitlyn got sleepy at this point so we decided it was a good time to go get some breakfast. We ended up eating at Liberty Terrace (I think that was what it was called) next to Adventureland. It was not good, well it might have been if it had been warm but it wasnt. Cold scrambled eggs are not the way I wanted to start the day food-wise. Oh well. We spent the rest of the morning walking around the parks. Jeremy and I took turns riding the Indiana Jones ride and when Kaitlyn woke up we took her on Winnie the Pooh. At some point we fed her too but I cant remember when that was....didnt want you to think we werent feeding the baby! We decided to head back to our hotel around 2 for a good nap. It had gotten kind of hot but the humidity is what started to bother us, and it had gotten a little crowded at this point. We returned to the park around 5, walked around, got a corn dog for dinner and staked out a good place to watch the fireworks. THen we found out when Jeremy went to buy popcorn that there are only fireworks on certain days and this was not one of them. Oh. Silly us, guess we should have looked at our times guide so we headed back to the hotel to go to bed.
Tuesday morning we got up and actually made it to the parks at 8:00. We had PS at the character breakfast with Minnie at 9:20 and we were able to ride the Matterhorn bobsleds andSpace Mountain before it was time to go to breakfast (actually Jeremy was the only one to ride those rides - didnt want you to think we snuck our baby on a roller coaster!) Our breakfast was fairly good - your standard breakfast fare. The characters we saw were Captain Hook, Gapeto, Minnie, Tigger and Eeyore which I thought was an odd combination but we had fun. Afterwards we walked around rode Splash Mountain, Pinnochio, Snow White and then headed back to the hotel for a nap. We returned to the park around 4:00 rode Small World and then sat down to watch the parade which I think was the highlight of the trip for Kaitlyn. She stood on my lap and had a ball watching everybody. After the parade we rode the Haunted Mansion (which Kaitlyn fell asleep in) and the carousel.
Our final day at Disneyland we devoted entirely to California Adventure. We got there right at opening, got a fast pass for Soarin and went and had a really good cinnamon roll and cup of coffee at the bakery in the train. We took turns to ride Soarin and then Jeremy rode the Screamin coaster at Paradise Pier while Kaitlyn and I shopped nearby. Then we saw Turtle Talk with Crush which is a great show. Kaitlyn even seemed to enjoy it. And at some point in the morning Jeremy rode the Tower of Terror. We had PS at Ariels Grotto for lunch and actually had our best meal of the trip there. I had the fish and chips and Jeremy had the meatloaf and we both had the onion soup which was fantastic as far as onion soup goes. We met Ariel, Cinderella, Belle,Jasmine and Snow White and they all made such a fuss over our little princess. We got some great pictures and video there. After lunch we hit the Bugs Land and rode the Heimlich choo choo and Fliks Flyers with Kaitlyn. We ended the day by taking turns going on Grizzly Bear River ride and getting soaked. Awesome!
All in all it was an excellent trip. It was hard not to compare Disneyland to Disney World and while there were a few rides I thought were better at Disneyland, I have to admit Im still really partial to Disney World. What I liked most about Disneylnad was that you could walk everywhere and didnt have to wait for a bus. What I liked least was the food (I miss the Hollywood Brown Derby!) and a couple of comments we got about how our daughter was too young to remember this and therefore our vacation was a waste of money (but I guess sour pusses like that are everywhere). I enjoyed our trip immensely though and would do it again in a heartbeat. And to those of you worried about doing Disney with an infant - our experience was EXTREMELY positive and while I cant speak for every baby out there ours did very well. And while she wont remember our trip to Disneyland, I definately will. Hearing my 3 month old laugh at a 6 foot tall Tigger is a memory I will never forget!
Thanks for reading my trip report! (This is my first one ever!)
Patty
Cast of Characters:
Myself (28) stay-at-home mom to a 3 month old and lover of all things Disney and spontaneous.
Husband, Jeremy (27) airline pilot and dad extrordinare
Daughter, Kaitlyn (3 months) willing participant and Disneys newest fan
Intro:
This was both my daughter and my first trip to Disneyland and my husbands second. Jeremy and I honeymooned at the Port Orleans Riverside resort in Disney World in 2004 and returned a year later to celebrate our 1 year anniversary. We have a December trip at the Polynesian hotel planned for all three of us but we needed a Disney fix before then! My husband had the week of mothers day off so we called a couple of days before we left, got the last available room in a Disney property left, and packed up and drove to Anaheim.
We arrived in Disneyland on Mothers Day at about 4 in the afternoon. We checked into the Paradise Pier Hotel and went up to our room to give our daughter a break since she had just soldiered through the 6 hour drive from Tucson like a champ. The room (927) was really nice, I would say about the same quality as a moderate at Disney World. Our room overlooked the pool and the parking garage but was quiet and comfortable. We had two queen size beds, a pull out couch and our requested pack-and-play and refrigerator were in our room when we arrived, as well as a bouquet of flowers for Mothers Day that my husband had arranged for. Too sweet.
Anyway, I fed Kaitlyn and let her relax while we discussed what to do for dinner. We decided that if it looked like Kailtyn could handle it we would put her in her stroller and find something to eat at Downtown Disney. She seemed cool with that so off we went. We ended up eating at La Brea Bakery since it llooked like it didnt have too long of a wait and the menu looked good. We were seated quickly but the food didnt end up tasting as good as it sounded. It wasnt horrible just ok. Jeremy had the NY Strip and I had a turkey panini. Kaitlyn had a good nap.
The next day, Monday, was our first day at the parks. This is the first time we have ever taken Kaitlyn on any kind of extended outing so needless to say I was a little nervous on how she would take all of the hustle and bustle. I shouldnt have worried at all. She slept in her stroller when she was tired and hung out in the Baby Bjorn when she wasnt. We used the Baby Care Centers at both Disneyland and California Adventure a lot. They are awesome. A perfect place to change a diaper, cool off and recharge for a minute, much better than using the public restrooms to change her. Anyway, our goal was to use the early entry option for resort guests but we got a late start and only ended up getting there 10 minutes before the park opened for the regular hours. We rode Peter Pans flight and the Jungle Cruise without though without hardly a wait. Kaitlyn got sleepy at this point so we decided it was a good time to go get some breakfast. We ended up eating at Liberty Terrace (I think that was what it was called) next to Adventureland. It was not good, well it might have been if it had been warm but it wasnt. Cold scrambled eggs are not the way I wanted to start the day food-wise. Oh well. We spent the rest of the morning walking around the parks. Jeremy and I took turns riding the Indiana Jones ride and when Kaitlyn woke up we took her on Winnie the Pooh. At some point we fed her too but I cant remember when that was....didnt want you to think we werent feeding the baby! We decided to head back to our hotel around 2 for a good nap. It had gotten kind of hot but the humidity is what started to bother us, and it had gotten a little crowded at this point. We returned to the park around 5, walked around, got a corn dog for dinner and staked out a good place to watch the fireworks. THen we found out when Jeremy went to buy popcorn that there are only fireworks on certain days and this was not one of them. Oh. Silly us, guess we should have looked at our times guide so we headed back to the hotel to go to bed.
Tuesday morning we got up and actually made it to the parks at 8:00. We had PS at the character breakfast with Minnie at 9:20 and we were able to ride the Matterhorn bobsleds andSpace Mountain before it was time to go to breakfast (actually Jeremy was the only one to ride those rides - didnt want you to think we snuck our baby on a roller coaster!) Our breakfast was fairly good - your standard breakfast fare. The characters we saw were Captain Hook, Gapeto, Minnie, Tigger and Eeyore which I thought was an odd combination but we had fun. Afterwards we walked around rode Splash Mountain, Pinnochio, Snow White and then headed back to the hotel for a nap. We returned to the park around 4:00 rode Small World and then sat down to watch the parade which I think was the highlight of the trip for Kaitlyn. She stood on my lap and had a ball watching everybody. After the parade we rode the Haunted Mansion (which Kaitlyn fell asleep in) and the carousel.
Our final day at Disneyland we devoted entirely to California Adventure. We got there right at opening, got a fast pass for Soarin and went and had a really good cinnamon roll and cup of coffee at the bakery in the train. We took turns to ride Soarin and then Jeremy rode the Screamin coaster at Paradise Pier while Kaitlyn and I shopped nearby. Then we saw Turtle Talk with Crush which is a great show. Kaitlyn even seemed to enjoy it. And at some point in the morning Jeremy rode the Tower of Terror. We had PS at Ariels Grotto for lunch and actually had our best meal of the trip there. I had the fish and chips and Jeremy had the meatloaf and we both had the onion soup which was fantastic as far as onion soup goes. We met Ariel, Cinderella, Belle,Jasmine and Snow White and they all made such a fuss over our little princess. We got some great pictures and video there. After lunch we hit the Bugs Land and rode the Heimlich choo choo and Fliks Flyers with Kaitlyn. We ended the day by taking turns going on Grizzly Bear River ride and getting soaked. Awesome!
All in all it was an excellent trip. It was hard not to compare Disneyland to Disney World and while there were a few rides I thought were better at Disneyland, I have to admit Im still really partial to Disney World. What I liked most about Disneylnad was that you could walk everywhere and didnt have to wait for a bus. What I liked least was the food (I miss the Hollywood Brown Derby!) and a couple of comments we got about how our daughter was too young to remember this and therefore our vacation was a waste of money (but I guess sour pusses like that are everywhere). I enjoyed our trip immensely though and would do it again in a heartbeat. And to those of you worried about doing Disney with an infant - our experience was EXTREMELY positive and while I cant speak for every baby out there ours did very well. And while she wont remember our trip to Disneyland, I definately will. Hearing my 3 month old laugh at a 6 foot tall Tigger is a memory I will never forget!
Thanks for reading my trip report! (This is my first one ever!)
Patty
