Which way to Disneyland? TR (comparison update 7/26)

[pmama]

I haven't posted since when you first began this TR, but I am still out here, following along. I am loving the pictures and the whole step by step rundown. I haven't been to Coronado (or Sea World and the Zoo, for that matter) in soooooooo long, but your photos made me want to revisit them. Remember I told you a long time ago that you should try visiting Catalina Island? The same thing you said about falling in love with Coronado is what happens when people go to Catalina. It just captures them somehow and they want to go back ASAP! So I think you and the family should make a whole separate trip to SoCal just to do Coronado and Catalina! You will probably be so relaxed and well rested by the time you are done that you won't want to move!!

By the way, I don't know if you mentioned this and I missed it, but what kind of camera are you using? I don't know if it is a point and shoot or something more advanced, but the pictures are exceptionally crisp and clear - whether it be a kind of overcast day at the beach, or a bright and sunny day at the Zoo.

Anyway, I can't wait to hear what the girls' reactions were when they finally figured out where you all were going next!!!

Yes, we will definitely have to try out Catalina Island sometime. You're right that would be a great vacation! The camera is just point and shoot digital camera. In fact, it's not in front of me now so I couldn't even tell you the brand. I don't really concern myself with getting the perfect picture, more so I focus on capturing our joy of the moment.

Wow! That zoo looks HUGE! My kids would LOVE it! Granita sounds like a fun Gma! The photo guy is funny.

I want one of those trees. I wonder if it'd grow in Myrtle Beach?

Yep, I don't know. There was a sign saying exactly where it was from and that it did well in S. CA climate but I can't remember where it grows native.

It has been quite awhile since we have been to the SD Zoo...It is huge! I seem to remember doing the bus tour first and then the pandas...If I remember correctly, it is quite a maze of escalators, hills, paths veering off in all directions...where's the gps when you need it? lol. (oh, and cute pics!)

Yes, a definate maze! I think our main problem was that we had no man w/ us. Somehow they keep us sane.

That is too funny! I have that same panda your older daughter has and I got it a long time ago at either the San Diego Zoo or the Wild Animal Park!
I miss that zoo! It was always so awesome to go on the sky tram, I looked forward too it and usually went there instead of the Wild Animal Park because of it.

The zoo is a bit overwhelming, but I'm glad the two Zoo CMs helped out! Looks like you guys had fun

Yes, we are glad we went despite the maze.

Great pics of the Zoo...seems like an overwelming place though, that's how I feel at AK, it's always SO hot and I can never figure my way through there. It gets to the point, we just need to leave!

The pics of the girls with Granita are adorable! She looks like so much fun!!
Love the tshirts the girls got...they are cute with your picture on them!!

Can't wait to hear about your train adventure to an unknown place.....

Glad you can relate. SD Zoo makes AK look like a kiddie playground no kidding!

Great updates!

I feel your pain on getting lost (again and again) in the zoo...not fun! Who knew the zoo would be so difficult to navigate. Thanks for the tips...if I ever go it will for sure be (1) bus tour (2) tram.

I've also heard wonderful things about the Wildlife Park, both from friends in southern CA and from the DisUnplugged. So many choices and options in southern CA, aren't there!

Can't wait to hear more about the trip and hear all about how you surprised the girls!

Yep, I DisUnplugged talk about the Wild Animal Park too. We chose San Diego Zoo just because it was closer and a little more popular. Some day when we return to San Diego we'll try the wild animal park.

What a great update . Love the shirts. We would loe to go to the San Deigo zoo. They have live cams of the animals on the computer that we love to look at. Your girls would love that.

Oh, we'll have to check out the live cams.

 

[alan_renfroe]

Great update! Your youngest daughter looks SO MUCH LIKE YOU!

 

[heatherlizz602]

Those little girls of yours are absolutely adorable. Are they really close to each other? I bet they will be best of friends when they are older. I wanted to go to the zoo real bad but is it worth the price to only go in for a few hours or will we not accomplish much? It seems we will be walking alot.

 

[chickyann]

These trees with purple petals were all over Coronado and southern California. Does anyone know what they are called? We loved them. We have no trees with purple petals here in Colorado.

We have these trees in Australia too, they're called Jacaranda's here.
Gorgeous purple flowers, tiny green leaves & big seed pods, they are beautiful & very messy

I'm loving your TR, can't wait to see the DL & Daddy posts

 

[AussieAngel]

Oooh, I'm a bit late, but jumping on board to your great trip report now!!

I read your last trip report too and loved it, so I'm excited to see a new one! Yayyyy!!

DH and I went to Seaworld in San Diego in 2006 and had a fabulous time! Like you, I found it really relaxing and laid back. And the shows are amazing!! We went to Orlando Seaworld this past January, and didn't enjoy it anywhere near as much. It just didn't have that fun, relaxed vibe!

I can't wait to hear about your Disneyland adventures! I've never been there and would definitely love to go someday!

Such a cute family!! Your youngest daughter reminds me of a little Reese Witherspoon!!

 

[tmkinney]

Great update! I know how you feel about the zoo, especially on a hot day! We have the NC Zoo and it is huge like that and seems like the animals are all 3 miles away from each other, I get so tired of walking so it is not my favorite place to go! When I first heard about all the walking at Disney I thought Geez, I hope its not like the zoo! But thankfully every few steps at Disney there is something awesome to do so I didn't mind the walking there! Can't wait to hear about the girls being told about Disneyland!!!

 

[thmar]

Wonderful TR...looks like I'll have to take my grandchildren to San Diego sometime, too.

 

[pmama]

Great update! Your youngest daughter looks SO MUCH LIKE YOU!

Yep, she's my mini-me.

Those little girls of yours are absolutely adorable. Are they really close to each other? I bet they will be best of friends when they are older. I wanted to go to the zoo real bad but is it worth the price to only go in for a few hours or will we not accomplish much? It seems we will be walking alot.

I really do hope the girls are best friends when they are older. They do play hours and hours together. I am often so thankful that they have eachother. Gives me a break every once in a while.

We have these trees in Australia too, they're called Jacaranda's here.
Gorgeous purple flowers, tiny green leaves & big seed pods, they are beautiful & very messy

I'm loving your TR, can't wait to see the DL & Daddy posts

Isn't our planet amazing? Those trees can grow only in certain area here in the states yet they also can grow in parts of Australia. Pretty neat.

Oooh, I'm a bit late, but jumping on board to your great trip report now!!

I read your last trip report too and loved it, so I'm excited to see a new one! Yayyyy!!

DH and I went to Seaworld in San Diego in 2006 and had a fabulous time! Like you, I found it really relaxing and laid back. And the shows are amazing!! We went to Orlando Seaworld this past January, and didn't enjoy it anywhere near as much. It just didn't have that fun, relaxed vibe!

I can't wait to hear about your Disneyland adventures! I've never been there and would definitely love to go someday!

Such a cute family!! Your youngest daughter reminds me of a little Reese Witherspoon!!

Hi AussieAngel. That's interesting about the contrast between Sea World in CA and in FL. I've never been to the Orlando one.

Yes, both DD5 and I get compared to Reese Witherspoon sometimes.

Great update! I know how you feel about the zoo, especially on a hot day! We have the NC Zoo and it is huge like that and seems like the animals are all 3 miles away from each other, I get so tired of walking so it is not my favorite place to go! When I first heard about all the walking at Disney I thought Geez, I hope its not like the zoo! But thankfully every few steps at Disney there is something awesome to do so I didn't mind the walking there! Can't wait to hear about the girls being told about Disneyland!!!

You're right about walking at Disney. It's just about the only place where unlimited walking doesn't seem to bother you as much.

Wonderful TR...looks like I'll have to take my grandchildren to San Diego sometime, too.

I really do love San Diego.

 

[Sarah84]

Great updates, i just love your photos. Your daughters are so cute, looks like you are all having such a fun trip
Seaworld looks great i can't wait to visit there, i loved the one in Orlando although im disapointed it won't be open in the evenings when i visit as the night shows look great.
Can't wait to read more

 

[ladybugmom]

I'm loving your updates and all of your pics!! Your girls are just too cute!!

 

[pmama]

Great updates, i just love your photos. Your daughters are so cute, looks like you are all having such a fun trip
Seaworld looks great i can't wait to visit there, i loved the one in Orlando although im disapointed it won't be open in the evenings when i visit as the night shows look great.
Can't wait to read more

Yep, the reason I chose to do Sea World on a Sunday was so that we could see the night show and fireworks. It was a great end of the day! Although it still would be a great day w/o them.

I'm loving your updates and all of your pics!! Your girls are just too cute!!

Thanks, glad to see you've started your TR!

 

[pmama]

After our adventures at the zoo we decided to go have dinner at The Del w/ views of the Pacific Ocean. I don't recall the name of the restaurant we ate at. I do recall that it was way overpriced. It was about what you would pay for a signature dinning experience at Disney but there was nothing special about it. The food was blah. I couldn't help but wish we'd done something like the Blue Bayou instead of this restaurant. Here is DD8 taking a bite of her grilled cheese sandwich.

And here is DD5's pb&j.

These kids meals alone were almost $20 each. (And no princesses).

I had purposefully put the girls in white dresses w/ hopes to take some pictures along the beach around sunset. So, any bets on if the WHITE dresses stayed clean. The answer is NO. What was I thinking? DD5 got a huge ketchup stain and DD8 spilled red soda on her skirt.

As dinner was wrapping up it was starting to get a little chilly. Here's the thing about Granita. She is never the right temperature. If it is a bit chilly, she is freezing. If it is warm, she is burning hot. So we set out toward the beach to take some pictures. It wasn't quite sunset but Granita was seriously using the word frostbite so I figured I better hurry and take some pictures while I could. Here are a few. I recently got copies of Granita's pictures. Here camera was new. If I'd known how much better her quality of pictures were I would have used her camera. You can probably tell which ones she took.

And here they are running toward the beautiful Hotel Del Coronado!

That night we went back to our beautiful room (which I regret never having taken a picture of) and decided perhaps we should see if we could book a later train. Our train was booked for noon the next morning but first we'd need to return the rental car and get a ride to the train station which meant we'd need to leave the hotel no later than 10. It was very easy for me to change our booking to 3 p.m. over the phone and we all felt better about that time. I can't tell how grateful I am we changed it. It allowed for us to have a calm morning in Coronado collecting a few more seashells along the beach and plenty of time to pack up.

For those of you waiting specifically for the DISNEY portion I promise we will get to Anaheim in my next update!!!

 

[OneTreeHillAddict]

The beach pictures are gorgeous but there is no way in Haiti I'd pay that much money for a grilled cheese and an PBJ. I would have gotten up and left. Do tell me the drink was included. Man. If things are that expensive in CA I wont be going anytime soon.

I like the beach pics because you can see the girls having fun....it shows and I don't even notice the stains.

 

[tmkinney]

Love the beach pics and the hotel is beautiful!! That stinks about the restaurant

 

[jessily]

$20 peanut butter and jelly sandwich Yikes! What a beautiful setting though. Glad you were able to relax and enjoy the next morning.

 

[Sherry E]

Those pictures are fantastic! And again, I am wondering what kind of camera Granita had because the quality IS so excellent. Even if it is a point and shoot, it is better than many point and shoots. I wonder if it is a Sony or a Canon or Nikon, or some other type of camera.

Isn't it crazy how putting on any kind of all white outfit somehow seems to attract every different kind of red food item there is? That has happened to me in the past. The girls could have probably gone all day wearing dark colors and not spilled a single red item, but as soon as there is any white involved, all the colors start flying!

 

[Me&3]

What a great update the pics are so cute. Your DD'S seem to get along very well. $20 for a kids meal thats just crazy.

 

[ladybugmom]

WOW!! What beautiful beach pictures!! I love them in their whites dresses--so classic!

 

[princess&her4princes]

The girls dresses were so cute, no worries, didn't even notice any stains!! They were the cutest pics, are you thinking what I am, Christmas cards in the making?!! They are perfect, especially the one of them laying in the same, too precious!!!!

The hotel looks beautiful!!!!! Can't wait to hear more....and btw, $20 for a grilled cheese?!! And from the looks of it, Hope wasn't a big fan!

 

[alan_renfroe]

How lucky you are the be the mother of two adorable princesses! Those beach pictures look like the pictures that are already in a picture frame when you buy it new!!

That first picture of your oldest daughter eating the sandwich cracked me up!! There appears to be a bottle in the foreground that looks like Heinz Malt Vinegar....and the face she is making looks like someone poured a little on the sandwich!!!

Great trip report! Hotel Del Coronado looks amazing.