Cast
ME DW 38
DH 37
DD 11
DS 10
DS 9
DNeice 24
Overall, it was a great trip. Please ask if you have any questions! I got alot of great ideas from this board, and wanted to thank everyone for their help!!
Background:
We have been to WDW probably 20 times. My DH and I lived briefly in So. CA 15 years ago when he was in the military. We had APs to DL at the time. It was our first trip back since then!
We flew into San Diego Saturday, May 19.. Nonstop but long flight from the east coast. SD is a nice, small airport that I highly recommend.
We stayed by the airport in SD for one night.
Sunday, May 20th
San Diego Zoo - We arrived early thanks to our 3 hour ahead time zone difference. What a great day! It was not crowded at all. The bus tour is wonderful to see alot of the zoo w/o so much walking (I broke my leg last year at the knee, and hills and steps are still rough for me). We sat on the upper level of the bus, which provided some exceptional views into the animals enclosures. The skyway is also wonderful for views of San Diego. The giant pandas are not to be missed. We left the zoo at around 4:00 p.m. and felt we had seen most of the park, and we took in both shows too...
We then headed up to check into the Marriott Newport Coast Villas. We have stayed in numerous timeshares in Florida and the East Coast, but this place was simply lovely, and the service was exceptional.
We had dinner at the Cheesecake Factory in Fashion Island. It was delicious!
Monday, May 21st
We spend this day playing and relaxing at the resort. In the evening we headed over to the Balboa Pier. There is a playground and showerhouse at the end of the pier. The kids really enjoyed this little taste of the Pacific Ocean.
Note about this location in Orange County... Holy smokes, what a wildly wealthy part of CA. I will admit that I drove an AUDI myself prior to our latest Honda minivan, but I have never seen so many BMWs, Bentleys, and Mercedes in one place! Just a completely different lifestyle than our country home here in PA. My daughter loved CA, but I think she thought it was all like Newport Beach!
Tuesday, May 22nd Disneyland!
We came through the gates at park opening - about 9:05. We went directly to Matterhorn Mountain, then worked our way around the park. The park was not crowded, our longest wait may have been posted at 20 minutes for Indiana Jones, but I don't think we waited that long. I particularly enjoyed the traditional rides in the park not found at WDW. I would say we saw 90% of the park attractions and exited around 7:00 p.m.
Some notes of comparison between WDW and DL:
I thought the crowd was friendlier in CA. Not as much cut throat, I paid so much for this vacation I will run you over to get my money's worth sort of thing. Less smoking in non-smoking areas, less rough looking guests, and overall cleaner I think. The restrooms were in great shape, our last few trips to WDW, they have been really icky. And, this is the original Disney park - it still has a feel of Walt Disney's imagination and dream to me.
Wednesday, May 23rd
Today was beach day at Corona Del Mar. Another excellent, relaxing day. The ocean was 58 degrees. My boys were in the water for hours. I jumped in briefly. That is cold! We saw seals in the water there too! Very cool.
Thursday, May 24th California Adventure
We are still not on West Coast time, so we are there b/4 park opening. We did the rope drop to TOT, then onto to Monsters (loved it) and around the park. California screamin' did not open until late in the day, but my two oldest kiddos rode three times with FP. We had lunch at White Water Snacks thanks to this board, and it was excellent. Again, the park was uncrowded and we rode everything we wanted in the day and exited b/4 closing at 6 p.m. for a brief return to DL to ride the carousel. This park is smaller, but very enjoyable and well themed.
Friday, May 25th La Brea Tar Pits, Hollywood and Griffith Observatory
Traffic from Newport to Hollywood was not bad thanks to the carpool lane. We left the resort around 9:30 and it took just over an hour to get to LaBrea. Our family enjoyed this museum immensely. Again, we were fortunate, and had no crowds. We spend about 2 hours there, and then headed to park the car at Hollywood and Highland. We had a quick lunch and spent a half hour or so outside the Chinese Theatre and at the walk of fame. I was sorta unimpressed with this area. The most cheesy tourist stuff we had encountered so far in our trip. We took the shuttle to the Griffith Observatory. What a magnificent place! The views are phenemonenal, and the place is extremely impressive. The planetarium show is a must see too. I don't know how we got so lucky this trip, but I bet there were less than 100 guests in the place while we were there.
Saturay, May 26th
Our flight departed SD at 4 p.m. I figured the ride was around an hour, so we left the resort around 12:30 p.m. Well, traffic on the freeway 5 was horrendous! We got the the airport at 3 p.m.! Where are all these people going on a Saturday afternoon?? Again, I am a county girl now and I was constantly amazed at traffic everywhere...
Thanks again to all for your help! Gotta go unpack now!
ME DW 38
DH 37
DD 11
DS 10
DS 9
DNeice 24
Overall, it was a great trip. Please ask if you have any questions! I got alot of great ideas from this board, and wanted to thank everyone for their help!!
Background:
We have been to WDW probably 20 times. My DH and I lived briefly in So. CA 15 years ago when he was in the military. We had APs to DL at the time. It was our first trip back since then!
We flew into San Diego Saturday, May 19.. Nonstop but long flight from the east coast. SD is a nice, small airport that I highly recommend.
We stayed by the airport in SD for one night.
Sunday, May 20th
San Diego Zoo - We arrived early thanks to our 3 hour ahead time zone difference. What a great day! It was not crowded at all. The bus tour is wonderful to see alot of the zoo w/o so much walking (I broke my leg last year at the knee, and hills and steps are still rough for me). We sat on the upper level of the bus, which provided some exceptional views into the animals enclosures. The skyway is also wonderful for views of San Diego. The giant pandas are not to be missed. We left the zoo at around 4:00 p.m. and felt we had seen most of the park, and we took in both shows too...
We then headed up to check into the Marriott Newport Coast Villas. We have stayed in numerous timeshares in Florida and the East Coast, but this place was simply lovely, and the service was exceptional.
We had dinner at the Cheesecake Factory in Fashion Island. It was delicious!
Monday, May 21st
We spend this day playing and relaxing at the resort. In the evening we headed over to the Balboa Pier. There is a playground and showerhouse at the end of the pier. The kids really enjoyed this little taste of the Pacific Ocean.
Note about this location in Orange County... Holy smokes, what a wildly wealthy part of CA. I will admit that I drove an AUDI myself prior to our latest Honda minivan, but I have never seen so many BMWs, Bentleys, and Mercedes in one place! Just a completely different lifestyle than our country home here in PA. My daughter loved CA, but I think she thought it was all like Newport Beach!
Tuesday, May 22nd Disneyland!
We came through the gates at park opening - about 9:05. We went directly to Matterhorn Mountain, then worked our way around the park. The park was not crowded, our longest wait may have been posted at 20 minutes for Indiana Jones, but I don't think we waited that long. I particularly enjoyed the traditional rides in the park not found at WDW. I would say we saw 90% of the park attractions and exited around 7:00 p.m.
Some notes of comparison between WDW and DL:
I thought the crowd was friendlier in CA. Not as much cut throat, I paid so much for this vacation I will run you over to get my money's worth sort of thing. Less smoking in non-smoking areas, less rough looking guests, and overall cleaner I think. The restrooms were in great shape, our last few trips to WDW, they have been really icky. And, this is the original Disney park - it still has a feel of Walt Disney's imagination and dream to me.
Wednesday, May 23rd
Today was beach day at Corona Del Mar. Another excellent, relaxing day. The ocean was 58 degrees. My boys were in the water for hours. I jumped in briefly. That is cold! We saw seals in the water there too! Very cool.
Thursday, May 24th California Adventure
We are still not on West Coast time, so we are there b/4 park opening. We did the rope drop to TOT, then onto to Monsters (loved it) and around the park. California screamin' did not open until late in the day, but my two oldest kiddos rode three times with FP. We had lunch at White Water Snacks thanks to this board, and it was excellent. Again, the park was uncrowded and we rode everything we wanted in the day and exited b/4 closing at 6 p.m. for a brief return to DL to ride the carousel. This park is smaller, but very enjoyable and well themed.
Friday, May 25th La Brea Tar Pits, Hollywood and Griffith Observatory
Traffic from Newport to Hollywood was not bad thanks to the carpool lane. We left the resort around 9:30 and it took just over an hour to get to LaBrea. Our family enjoyed this museum immensely. Again, we were fortunate, and had no crowds. We spend about 2 hours there, and then headed to park the car at Hollywood and Highland. We had a quick lunch and spent a half hour or so outside the Chinese Theatre and at the walk of fame. I was sorta unimpressed with this area. The most cheesy tourist stuff we had encountered so far in our trip. We took the shuttle to the Griffith Observatory. What a magnificent place! The views are phenemonenal, and the place is extremely impressive. The planetarium show is a must see too. I don't know how we got so lucky this trip, but I bet there were less than 100 guests in the place while we were there.
Saturay, May 26th
Our flight departed SD at 4 p.m. I figured the ride was around an hour, so we left the resort around 12:30 p.m. Well, traffic on the freeway 5 was horrendous! We got the the airport at 3 p.m.! Where are all these people going on a Saturday afternoon?? Again, I am a county girl now and I was constantly amazed at traffic everywhere...
Thanks again to all for your help! Gotta go unpack now!
