Trip Report!! ABD Disneyland Resort & Southern CA - 4/20 - 4/25/25 Updated 5/28/25

[sayhello]

Well, now that I finished my Nova Scotia Trip Report, I can start on my latest trip - the Southern CA ABD!

I'd always heard what a great ABD this was, but since I grew up in Southern CA, it was never high on the priority list. But when I heard that Mr & Mrs @Grifdog22 were planning to take Amtrak cross-country and then do this ABD, I decided the time had come to go for it. I asked if they minded a 3rd wheel on their trip, which they graciously did not! Grifdog and I have corresponded via the DISBoards and elsewhere for years, and he and I and Mrs Grifdog spoke on the phone several times planning out our first trip together - the Rhone River cruise in May of 2020, which obviously never happened! We just weren't able to ever get it rescheduled. So I was really happy to get a chance to finally travel with them, and meet them IRL.

Pre-days in Chicago:

They started on the train on the East Coast, and I flew to Chicago to meet up with them there, where we would catch the Amtrak Southwest Chief to Los Angeles on April 18th. I flew in a couple of days early to visit with my cousin and with an old friend, both of whom live in the Chicago area.

Fortunately, there were no issues with my flight to Chicago! Always a relief!

My first full day in Chicago, I took the Metro into Chicago proper and met up with my friend to do some sight-seeing and wandering. It was a beautiful day, but very windy (hey, it *is* Chicago!) and the wind had a bit of a bite to it. I wasn't positive how long the Metro would take me to get into town, and I ended up getting there an hour before I was to meet my friend. So I did some wandering on my own, and visited some favorite spots, like The Bean at Millennium Park.



I met my friend at a restaurant called Italian Village, where we had an extremely pleasant lunch catching up.

She then took me to The Chicago Athletic Assoc, which is now a very beautiful hotel with some aspects of the private club still there. We wandered around, looking at the view and the beautiful architecture.





We then decided to head way down Michigan Ave, over to the newly opened Harry Potter Shop Chicago. My friend did not even know they had a Harry Potter Shop (it had literally opened less than a week before) so I was glad that I'd seen an article about it! Yes, we are both huge Harry Potter fans, so it was a ton of fun to check it out!



Oh, I should probably mention this here, as you'll be seeing it a lot, but in the picture above, you can see a grey cushion hanging from my shoulder that I carried with me pretty much everywhere on this trip. I'd injured my tailbone a few weeks before the trip, and while it was doing much better and feeling much improved, I was still in the "babying it" phase, and used the cushion whenever necessary. Yes, even at Disneyland! They didn't let me use it on all the rides, but on enough of them that I was fine. And I definitely wanted it for on the train! I just fastened an old lanyard I had to it, slung it over my shoulder, and off we went!

The Goblet of Fire!!



The attention to detail was amazing! They had tons of wands, artwork, shirts, mugs, pens, scarves, pins, etc, etc. Pretty much all the standard fare you'd find at a Harry Potter Store like at Universal. Fun times!

We wandered some more, taking in the views along the River.



We eventually walked back to the financial district, where I caught my Metro back to my cousin's, and she caught her train out to the suburbs. It was a really nice time catching up with a good friend.

The next day, I spent time with my cousin, and we checked out some of the amazing Frank Lloyd Wright homes in the Oak Park area outside of Chicago. I do love FLW architecture! We took a fascinating tour of FLW's home that he designed for himself in Oak Park, which included an office and studio for his architecture business.









Continued in next post.

 

[sayhello]

I loved how he had designed this window so that it let a ton of light into the bathroom, but because of the direction it faced in the alcove, no-one outside could see in through the window.



The Studio.







His office where he met with clients.



The docent we had giving us the tour was very fun and fascinating. I learned a lot about FLW & his early days in Oak Park. My cousin has been there many times and says each time she learns something new!

FLW's first independent commission in Oak Park, the Moore-Dugal Residence, completed in 1895. After a fire destroyed the 3rd & 4th floors in 1923, FLW flew back to Oak Park immediately to redesign & rebuild the home. Kind of a crazy mix of styles!



I didn't see a sign for this one.



The Hills-DeCaro House, built in 1906.



Oak Park is a very cool old neighborhood, with several homes designed & built by Frank Lloyd Wright, and a ton of other old gorgeous homes, too.

Afterwards, we headed out to have dinner with her daughter, son-in-law & their kids. It was a really fun time.

It was then back to my cousin's house to re-pack everything, as I was headed out to Union Station the next morning, and had to have things organized a bit differently, as I would not have access to my checked bag until we arrived in Los Angeles, so I had to be sure anything I needed was in my carryon or in the ABD duffel bag I'd brought with me. I was also able to throw some things I knew I wouldn't need on the train into the checked bag.

Tomorrow: Amtrak bound!

 

[Kit Jackson]

Because I am such a huge fan of 1980s teen movies, here's where my mind went immediately after I saw the mention of Oak Park:
Chris: We're from Oak Park. That's a suburb.
Brad: They probably figured that out already.
(I'm doing this from memory).

 

[sayhello]

Because I am such a huge fan of 1980s teen movies, here's where my mind went immediately after I saw the mention of Oak Park:
Chris: We're from Oak Park. That's a suburb.
Brad: They probably figured that out already.
(I'm doing this from memory).

Umm, I'm sorry, but I literally have NO CLUE what movie you're referring to here!

Sayhello

 

[Kit Jackson]

Umm, I'm sorry, but I literally have NO CLUE what movie you're referring to here!

Sayhello

The 1987 movie Adventures in Babysitting. It was on cable all the time when I was younger.

 

[Asha2025]

We are considering the ABD SoCal/Disneyland trip with my 8 yr old for her birthday over thanksgiving break. I know there is a quite a bit of history on this particular trip. Did you have younger kids on your tour and did they seem to enjoy themselves? Also were you left on your own to explore Disneyland and did you have any difficulty using the provided passes?

 

[sayhello]

We are considering the ABD SoCal/Disneyland trip with my 8 yr old for her birthday over thanksgiving break. I know there is a quite a bit of history on this particular trip. Did you have younger kids on your tour and did they seem to enjoy themselves? Also were you left on your own to explore Disneyland and did you have any difficulty using the provided passes?

Our trip ended up having no kids. Actually, we were all 50+.

You are definitely left on your own both Park days. You do breakfast together, then stuff as a group in the morning. Lunch is on your own, and then you're OYO the rest of the day for the first (DCA) Park day, and until evening the second (Disneyland) Park day (the last night). They gave us multipasses for all the days, and they were very simple to use.

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[Grifdog22]

It was a great trip! This far exceeded our expectations and it was a really amazing trip. Lots and lots of details, history and the level to which imagineers work to create this stuff was mind boggling. I would recommend this to everyone.

 

[IzzyBella]

We are considering the ABD SoCal/Disneyland trip with my 8 yr old for her birthday over thanksgiving break. I know there is a quite a bit of history on this particular trip. Did you have younger kids on your tour and did they seem to enjoy themselves? Also were you left on your own to explore Disneyland and did you have any difficulty using the provided passes?

We went back in 2017 when our DD was 8, so I’m sure a lot has changed, but a lot is probably similar. It really depends on your child. When you’re touring outside of the parks (and even in the parks) there can be a lot of standing and listening. Our DD was fine, but there was another kid with a shorter attention span. One of the Adventure Guides usually had a deck of cards or something to help entertain them when it got really long, but I wouldn’t depend on that.

The days are long in the parks. Early mornings (pre park opening) and late nights (nighttime entertainment). I recall we went back to the hotel for a nap mid afternoon at least one of the days. We stayed an extra night so that we had a full day at the parks on our own.

Be warned - ABD can become addicting. We just booked our 5th trip!

 

[Asha2025]

We went back in 2017 when our DD was 8, so I’m sure a lot has changed, but a lot is probably similar. It really depends on your child. When you’re touring outside of the parks (and even in the parks) there can be a lot of standing and listening. Our DD was fine, but there was another kid with a shorter attention span. One of the Adventure Guides usually had a deck of cards or something to help entertain them when it got really long, but I wouldn’t depend on that.

The days are long in the parks. Early mornings (pre park opening) and late nights (nighttime entertainment). I recall we went back to the hotel for a nap mid afternoon at least one of the days. We stayed an extra night so that we had a full day at the parks on our own.

Be warned - ABD can become addicting. We just booked our 5th trip!

Thanks so much for the information! We are actually taking our first ABD next month on a Danube River cruise so I think it’s safe to say we are already addicted haha !

 

[jimmymc]

We are considering the ABD SoCal/Disneyland trip with my 8 yr old for her birthday over thanksgiving break. I know there is a quite a bit of history on this particular trip. Did you have younger kids on your tour and did they seem to enjoy themselves? Also were you left on your own to explore Disneyland and did you have any difficulty using the provided passes?

On my tours, we had a few kids in the 10 to 12 range. One of them was fascinated by everything we saw, while the others got a little restless at places like the Academy Museum and Walt's apartment. On the theme park days, you do the tours early in the morning and eat breakfast together. Then from 10 or 11 am, you're on your own. The passes show up in the app and are easy to use, and the guides will let you know if they have reserved seating for shows or parades that day/night. Those vary by trip.

 

[sayhello]

A Train Ride to California!

As I was getting ready to head out to Union Station (my cousin nicely offered me a ride!) I got a message from the Grifdogs that their train from the East Coast was running late, and they would not arrive in time for our meetup time (but should hopefully arrive in plenty of time to board the train). They'd let me know when they got to Union Station. My cousin and I had an interesting time finding an open entrance to the station with room enough at the curb for her to stop and drop me and my luggage off (there was a TON of construction going on around the station!) But we managed, and I bid her a fond farewell!

I got checked in, said goodbye to my checked bag until we got to Los Angeles, and dropped my carryons with the front desk at the Lounge (being in the Sleeper Car qualifies as First Class, so we had full access to the First Class Lounge) I decided to just chill in the Lounge and eventually got a text that they had arrived and were heading my way!! And then I actually got to meet Mr & Mrs Grifdog in person!! Joy! After some hugging and discussion, we headed out for lunch at Giordano's (by the time we were supposed to board, it would be past lunch time).

Unfortunately, Giordano's, as famous as their pizza was, did not have any that fit my dietary restrictions (no tomatoes, green bell pepper or fresh citrus fruit) so I had a very yummy salad instead.



We headed back to Union Station with plenty of time to go until boarding for the Southwest Chief.

It's a beautiful old Station! (Yep, they're a lovey-dovey couple! )



Eventually, we got called to line up and head to our train. I had a Roomette, and the Grifdogs, who were celebrating their Anniversary, got an actual Bedroom.

The Roomette was *definitely* smaller than I'd been led to believe (much narrower, with much less storage space). Apparently this was a newer Sleeper car, and the configuration was different (and smaller) than what I'd seen on all the YouTube videos I'd watched. As a place to sit during the day, it was fabulous, but there was really nowhere to put my carryon (fortunately, since I was alone, I wouldn't be using the top bunk, which stayed folded up to the ceiling, and I was able to use the stairs to the top bunk to hold my carryon. But it was a pain to get anything in or out of it). My personal item ended up under the bed when it was made at night, but it was inaccessible at that point, so I had to make sure I had everything I needed out of it before our attendant made up the bed at night). The bed was made by pushing the two seats down and together, and laying a mattress on top of it.





There was definitely an air of excitement up and down the hall as we all settled in and helped each other figure out some of the quirks and features of our tiny Roomettes. Someone commented that it felt like a dorm, and that was totally the vibe!



As we headed out through Chicago into the Midwest countryside, I called a friend of mine to chat about my trip so far & commiserate about the Roomette. It was one of the few times I had good enough cell service, so I was glad I called her when I did!





Crossing over the Great Mississippi.



The Station at Fort Madison, IA.





Continued in next post.

 

[sayhello]

Meals in the Dining Car were included in the fare for the Sleeper Cars. The food was pretty darned good, although the menu was fairly limited (the same choices each morning for breakfast, each noon for lunch and each night for dinner). This was the salmon, and I really enjoyed it, although the greenbeans were a tad undercooked.



Here's a map of the route of the Southwest Chief, and the stops it makes along the way



Most of the stops were only long enough for people to get on and off the train. But occasionally they made longer stops, and they'd announce it as a "fresh air" stop. Most of them, all you could do was get off the train and hang out on the platform, but it *was* nice to get the fresh air! Although this first fresh air stop, it was *freezing* cold, so most of us could only stand out there for so long! I forget which stop was our first fresh air stop. Maybe Mr Grifdog remembers!



That's my roomette in the middle on the top floor, with the light on and my orange shirt hanging on a peg on the wall.



Well, sleeping in my Roomette was, shall we say, "challenging". But it wasn't for any of the reasons folks had warned me about, like the motion of the train, or the sounds it made, or the train's horn. It was the darned mattress!!! That thing was only like an inch thick, and even though it was laid on top of the seats, it was NOT enough padding for my poor old body! I would get a couple of pressure points on one side, and have to turn over to the other side and get new pressure points, and just kept flip-flopping over and over. Plus, it was so narrow, I guess I kept smacking my hands & other parts of my body as I flipped over. When I got up in the morning, I had a small chunk out of one of my fingers and a blood blister on my thumb!! Fortunately, at about 3am, I remembered that there was another mattress up on the upper bunk, so I had to get up, go out into the hallway, lower the upper bunk, grab the very awkward mattress, and haul it down to the lower bunk. It *did* help enough that I was finally able to get some sleep, but I was never comfortable! (And I asked our Sleeping Car Attendant to make it up with both mattresses for the 2nd night, which he was happy to do).

The next day I finally got up in time to get breakfast in the Dining Car. (They were really good about announcing when things were happening in advance). Seating was four to a table, and they filled in all the seats, so we got to meet some interesting folks at meals. I apparently did not remember to take photos of any of my other meals.

For breakfast this first morning, I had the "Continental Breakfast" of seasonal fruit (delicious strawberries). greek yogurt and oatmeal, with a side of turkey sausage. It was a very nice breakfast, and the coffee was quite good!

Our next fresh air stop was in La Junta, CO. I *believe* this was the one where there was just enough time to walk off the platform and into the tiny town and hit the local donut shop. Not that I really *needed* donuts, but it was nice to join the others and walk there, and buy a small bag of donut holes that I shared with folks.



Daveon, our Sleeper Car Attendant.



As we continued West, there were some areas with snow still on the ground! It was kind of surprising for late April!







Wildlife!



Continued in next post.

 

[sayhello]

Raton, NM





They had an Observation/Lounge car you could go to with more loungy kinds of chairs and much larger windows. It was a nice area to sit in and watch the scenery go by, and I and the Grifdogs went there to play cards, also. I always forget how to play Uno, no matter how many times it's explained to me, but I did OK!

Las Vegas! (New Mexico!)



So far, most of the scenery had been VERY flat and just brown prairie. It was cool, but not exactly the gorgeous scenery I'd read about! Eventually, it *did* start getting interesting.





Somewhere in there, we headed to lunch, where I had a very yummy "Artisan Grilled Cheese Sandwich".

Right along the time where the scenery started getting more interesting, we suddenly hit -- snow!!! Even though we'd seen a little bit on the ground, nobody was expecting for there to be actual falling snow! And there was quite a bit of it.







Unfortunately, there ended up being enough of it that we were unable to see much of the mountains or canyons we traveled past, as everything was pretty well clouded in.

Lamy, NM





Continued in next post.

 

[sayhello]

The snow *was* quite pretty, but after a day of no gorgeous scenery, I was kind of sad to miss what was supposed to be the good part!

Although we did see some pretty bits here & there.



Somewhere in there, the train stopped, and we started getting reports that we'd hit a truck crossing the tracks. It was more or less confirmed when our Sleeper Car Attendant came around and said he had to confirm that each of us were OK. I went back to the back of the train (we'd already gotten past the truck by the time the train was able to stop) and from what I could see, the truck was pretty much totaled. But the driver and passenger were up and walking around, so they at least *appeared* to be doing OK. Given the state of that truck, it was *really* a miracle! Somebody made a bad decision crossing that track, and was very, very lucky!

After, I believe, around an hour and a half, we started up again.

Our next big stop was Albuquerque, NM. It was a pretty but small-ish station, and we were allowed like 25 minutes to walk around. Some folks walked to a local market, but Mr Grifdog & I just walked around the area of the station to look around & stretch our legs.









As it got on towards evening, the sky and the mountains in the distance got very pretty.







Dinner the second night was the Amtrak Signature Flat Iron Steak. It was pretty decent.

Eventually, it was time to try and sleep yet again. I have to admit I was very, very grateful that it was only for 2 nights. I don't think I could have handled any longer than that. Even with 2 "mattresses", it was just not comfortable. And it would be a very early morning, as breakfast was a quick service of a very limited menu, served pretty early so that they could be done and cleaned up before we hit Los Angeles Union Station at around 8:30am (somehow, we made up the time we lost after hitting the truck!).

I am so, SO glad that I did this train trip. Even though the sleeping was so uncomfortable, it was an Adventure, and I was really glad that I got the extra time with Mr & Mrs Grifdog to spend some quality time getting to know them better before the ABD started. I *LOVE* train travel, but I don't know that long distance train travel that requires sleeping on the train will become my preferred method of travel any time soon. And I now understand why all those Rocky Mountaineer trips stop and have you get off the train and go to a hotel room every night!!

About an hour and a half before we got to Los Angeles, I got a text from our driver from ABD (he actually said he was our chauffeur!) He just wanted to touch base and asked me to let him know when we were closer so he could head to the train station. (I forgot to mention that my wonderful Travel Agent had gotten ABD to agree to pick us up at the train station!) When we hit the next to the last stop (Fullerton) at around 8am, I texted him that we were supposed to be to Union Station in 35 minutes.

We pulled into Los Angeles Union Station, said goodbye to Daveon, our wonderful Attendant, then headed into the station to get our checked bags. There was quite a bit of confusion as to where we were supposed to pick them up (the room we had been directed to was closed off) but they eventually brought them to an area right outside the station, and we grabbed our bags and wheeled ourselves out to the parking lot the driver had indicated.



He was, as always, a really nice guy who loaded us up into his black Escalade, and headed off to the Loews Hollywood Hotel.

Up Next, ABD Day 1: Hollywood!

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

Really enjoying the pre-trip report as always. I love love love train travel (in Europe), but I suspect I am with you that sleeping overnight sounds cooler than the reality. Did the Grifdogs have similar sleep issues in their one-bedroom? DS28 special needs relied on Amtrak to take him back and forth from Taft to the Bay Area while he was in school,i and I don't think it was on time once. It was often a bit of a @#$%show. Ironically, he also had a truck hit on the track issue that took forever to resolve and was very anxiety provoking for him. I'm not nearly as enamored with American trains, LOL.

 

[sayhello]

Really enjoying the pre-trip report as always. I love love love train travel (in Europe), but I suspect I am with you that sleeping overnight sounds cooler than the reality. Did the Grifdogs have similar sleep issues in their one-bedroom? DS28 special needs relied on Amtrak to take him back and forth from Taft to the Bay Area while he was in school,i and I don't think it was on time once. It was often a bit of a @#$%show. Ironically, he also had a truck hit on the track issue that took forever to resolve and was very anxiety provoking for him. I'm not nearly as enamored with American trains, LOL.

The Grifdogs have done the overnight Amtrak thing before, and they *LOVE* it. So I assume they don't have the sleep issues I had, but I'm not sure if it's because the bedroom was larger and not so hard to toss & turn in or (more likely) that they just don't get the pressure points that I do while sleeping. I think the mattress, while larger, is the same thickness.

I could see those kinds of issues DS28 had on Amtrak being an issue for him. We weren't so worried, especially since it seems like they had padded our arrival time and we'd still be arriving on time, anyways. But I imagine our "chauffeur" would have dealt with it fine! I'm not so enamored of American trains, either, but they are better than the bus, and less stressful (to me) than flying.

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[AquaDame]

I'm not so enamored of American trains, either, but they are better than the bus, and less stressful (to me) than flying.

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Could not agree more..! I very much want to ride this someday, but hoping Canada is a little better about being on time. Thank you for sharing!

 

[sayhello]

Could not agree more..! I very much want to ride this someday, but hoping Canada is a little better about being on time. Thank you for sharing!

That does sound cool! But the person writing the article states multiple times that The Canadian is *plagued* by delays, so I wouldn't count on them being a little better about being on time! Personally, some day I want to do one of these.

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