Disneyland Resort - 2019 Trips
Disneyland Resort: Disneyland and California Adventure
This year, my husband and I chose to buy a Disneyland Annual Pass, which is a 12-month pass to get into the parks any time. We bought the type of pass that has no black-out days and a lot of other perks on it, so we went into this with the idea that we'd be going up to Anaheim at least 5-6 times between July 2019 and July 2020 to get our money's worth. It helps that we live about a 1-1/2 hour drive (depending on traffic, of course) from Anaheim.
Hopefully, this thread can assist any of our members in planning a trip that includes the Original Disneyland in Anaheim. Sure, Florida has more parks under its belt, but we here in California have the ORIGINAL, the only park where Walt actually completely planned, executed, had an apartment within, and watched it grow for 10 years. That said, and knowing we have a one-year pass, I will add more to this thread as we go up each time.
Over the years, I have visited the Disneyland park many times. My first visit was when I was a kid, and Walt had just passed away about 6 months before. On my third trip, as a young adult, I introduced my then-boyfriend-now-husband to the park, and he was also enamored with it. Now we're older adults and we do the parks a lot more leisurely!
Monday, July 22
This was our packing and driving up day. We didn't leave our home until mid-afternoon, as we wanted to arrive at the hotel after check-in time. Traffic was okay until we got to Tustin, then it was heavy to the point of slow-and-go. We used the "carpool lane" which is a lane for vehicles with 2-people or more in them, as much as we could, but even IT was slow-and-go at times!
Our hotel on this go-round was Best Western Plus Meridian Inn and Suites, located sort of on the city limits between Orange and Anaheim. It was about 5 miles south of the parks but it avoided us paying either a resort fee of $10 (required by the City of Anaheim) or parking fees of $10-15. This place is lovely while not being overly fancy -- the room was small but clean (we opted for the Standard King Room). There was a heated pool and hot tub, which we took advantage of almost immediately. The air conditioning system was different from any I've seen in a hotel, activated by your room key card. (With the costs of power out here in SoCal, I really can understand why the place wanted to do that.)
The only bummer to this particular hotel was that there wasn't a lot of restaurant choice nearby. The closest was a dubious-looking Mexican place; everything else, you either had to pay to have delivered in, or go out in your vehicle. We chose the latter and picked up chicken to go.
Tuesday, July 23 - California Adventure
We hadn't been up to the Disney Parks in about 6 years, so we prepared ourselves for possible changes. Thanks to a map that was on the same paper as the hotel diagram, we found our way up to DLR (Disneyland Resort) without getting on either CA-22 or I-5, both reported to be slow-and-go because it was Rush Hour. We went down Garden Grove Blvd. to West, which becomes Disneyland Drive north of Katella, and found our way into the new Pixar Pals parking garage. So new that they hadn't added a lot of light fixtures yet!
Realized after walking all the way down to the Tram pickup, that Disney now uses full body airport-type scanners at Security instead of the rudimentary search they used to do. So back up we went -- hubby had his little bitty pocket-knife with him. I had NO bag with me but still buzzed -- RFID card holders will make the scanner buzz, so as soon as I declared it, I went through.
Tram ride, then had to stand in line at the Ticket booths to get our e-ticket (which got us into the parking garage free; regular passholders and ticket holders pay $25 for the privilege of parking) exchanged for a regular pass card. Went straight into California Adventure from there, as we'd already made reservations for dinner there.
I didn't take any photos that day -- I will next time we go -- but we were on rides a lot. Hubby even got me on the one roller coaster that does a big loop-de-loop in it, on condition that he didn't make me sit in front. Generally I find roller coasters to be fun, but don't like going upside down.
We enjoyed lunch at Pacific Wharf, which has soups and salads that are placed in a sourdough bread "bowl". We also bought ourselves some refillable cups, but for this trip, they were kind of a pain because we didn't have a place to put them and had to carry them all day.
Beyond riding a lot of rides, we also went to see the "Frozen: Live" show. It was hotter-n-Hades that day, and seeing a show in an air conditioned theater was great -- it was free with your admission and lasted about 1 hour. We both love the Frozen movie, and the live show was done well with "Disney magic" (special effects) added to it. My only comments was that one of the two little girls that played Little Anna, had a very brash singing voice and needed to tone down her vowels, and the choreography was really uninspiring and not "in period". The woman that played Elsa was beautiful and had a lovely voice, as did the young man who played Anna's "first love". The show lasted about 62 minutes.
On a hot day, you're looking for any opportunity to enjoy air conditioning, so we walked shops, went on rides that were inside, got Fast Passes (i.e. "head of line" passes) for any ride we possibly could.
Dinner was at Carthay Circle. We'd never eaten there and wanted to try it. The ambiance was amazing, a very ritzy feel to the place. Prices were on the high side but you came away full and the service was really great. I don't think we'll be eating there every time we go to DLR, though, because you can easily drop $150 for 2 if you aren't careful. Oh, it is a place that serves liquor. There are several places within DCA that serve liquor, unlike DL across the Esplanade.
We walked around some after dinner, as the weather was cooling down. We had fast passes for a 10:30 World of Color, which I've never seen, but we were exhausted. We wanted to sit in the place where the FP folks would sit for WoC, around 9, but they would not allow us to. So we decided that we'd just leave and go back to the motel.
We got lost trying to exit Pixar Pals and get back to West/Disneyland Drive, ended up on I-5 south. It worked, but it was the long way. The next evening, we scouted out our exit from the garage before getting back to the car, which helped a lot.
Back at the motel, we were able to enjoy the pool and a relaxing evening before going to bed. Because of all the walking that day (I had 20K on my FitBit by the time we got to the room), we slept WELL!
Wednesday, July 24 - Disneyland, the Original
Once again before we left, we ate breakfast at the hotel. It was really an extensive breakfast, with two types of scrambled eggs, sausages, a waffle maker, all sorts of breads and sweet rolls, yogurt, fruit (fresh and fruit cups), juices, cereals, milks, and of course coffee and tea. If you went away hungry, it was your own fault.
Back to the parks and in the same garage, almost the same parking space, walk, security, ride tram, but this time you go straight to the park. We went to Tomorrowland, and were amazed that this was NOT where they put the new land. Galaxy's Edge, the new Star Wars land, we later found out was in the back northwest corner of the park, "behind" Critter Country. For those who know DLR history, a while back that was where they had a petting Zoo for awhile and the "back road" between Critter Country and Fantasyland.
Anyway, we enjoyed the new theme for Space Mountain, which is now Star Wars theme. I still don't "get" the story (I've only seen the original 3 SW movies once each and didn't find them to be my cup of tea), but the ride is still fun without knowing the SW stories. Rode other rides, sat out in the shade whenever possible or enjoyed air conditioned places.
Lunch was at Plaza Inn, where they had wonderful fried chicken. In all our trips to DLR over the years, we had never eaten at PI. We took a table for 4, and ended up sharing it with a young couple who had come down for a one-day to both parks.
We went to Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge (SW: GE) at a bad time of the day, the hottest time. We look forward to seeing this in a few months when it won't be so hot. Why? Almost the entire land is made from concrete and metal, which have the tendency to draw in and retain the sun's heat. There was very little in terms of greenery and few places for shade. They had one ride open (I understand a 2nd one just opened), Smugglers Run, but it had a 75 minute wait and no Fast Pass available. Not knowing what the queue area was like in terms of AC or shade, we chose not to wait. With a year pass, we'll ride it eventually.
Did a bunch more things, including two of our favorites, Pirates of the Caribbean and Haunted Mansion. Love both of those rides, and within about 6 or 7 weeks, HM will be changed to a Halloween overlay that I've never seen.
Dinner was at our favorite place at DL, Blue Bayou. It's hard to get reservations there, even 60 days out, much less only 10 days like I did. But we had a lovely water-front table. Blue Bayou is located on the "shores" of Pirates of the Caribbean and is air conditioned, table service. Great table service and food. Next time we go, though, we want to do lunch there as they have the best Monte Cristo sandwiches.
Once again we chose not to stay late, but to go back to the room and enjoy the pool instead of fireworks.
Thursday, July 25 - Driving Home
Just a drive home today, about 1-1/2 hours. We waited until later in the morning to do so, though, to avoid trying to drive I-5 south in the Rush Hour. Next time we go up, it will be a weekend. That doesn't mean that there won't be traffic on I-5, though. That highway is the Ho-Chi-Minh Freeway Trail West!
Donna
Photos from July 2019 DLR trip
Oops! I'd forgotten that I took 2 photos at California Adventure!
Tower of Terror has been changed to a theme for Guardians of the Galaxy. It's a bit different but still has the elevator "drop" several times.
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Ah, Lightning McQueen! He was parked at the Cozy Motel in CARSland, which is a lovely Pixar-based land of Route 66.
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Disneyland:
Looking down Main Street USA toward the Castle.
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Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge
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Looking up! SW: GE
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Sometimes I felt like I was at the Smithsonian Air and Space, but this was SW: GE
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Felt sorry for this Character! HOT!
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We listened to several different entertaining groups, this one is the Disneyland Band with Belle and the Beast dancing in front.
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Teased my husband about seeing more red rocks (Big Thunder Mt RR):
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Trip Report: September 21, 2019
Continuing on with our 2019 trips to Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, here goes this weekend's trip.
Friday, September 20
Work gets in the way of life sometimes, at least until one retires. As soon as I was home from work, we knew we had some last-minute packing up to do and then we were off by 4:30. One thing learned: you forget stuff that's important, even for a weekend, if you pack quickly and without the benefit of a list. We forgot one important thing, which we laugh about now.
Traffic in Southern California on a Friday afternoon can be brutal. We did fine on I-15 north, then slow-and-go and stop-and-go on the 78 west. We stopped for dinner at Texas Roadhouse, which has opened its only San Diego County location in Oceanside near the intersection of the 78 and I-5. Good food, nice ambiance, reasonably priced. Went in and out quickly though we were busy -- groups of 3 or more had a wait, couples got right in. The rest of the drive up was smooth until Tustin....again. Same slow-and-go that we'd experienced two months ago, all the way to our exit in Anaheim.
Not being able to get in to the same place we stayed in July, we chose Quality Inn Maingate located on Harbor Blvd. We had a king room on the third floor. The parking lot, like many in Orange County, was "tight", making me so glad we were NOT in our pickup! The room had all the amenities we have come to like, but we were taken aback a lot with the laminate "hardwood look" flooring throughout. What was nice...a short walk down the outside balcony corridor took us to a viewing spot to watch the aerial portions of the Disneyland fireworks. We didn't have the Disneyland soundtrack -- instead, our soundtrack were car alarms being set off about every minute by the "BOOM" of a firework exploding. There was a pool at this place, taking up space in the parking lot, very small, and not very inviting. Off we went to la-la-land, knowing we had a big day coming up.
Saturday, September 21 - Disneyland
Up as usual, we tried the breakfast buffet, which wasn't much nor very appetizing. We ate lightly anyway, knowing where we had lunch reservations. Off we went to the Park, which was very close. This time we parked in the Mickey and Friends Parking Garage, since that was the first one that the road led us. The bummer was being forced to park on the rooftop -- hot car. Disney does lines very well, all the way from getting you parked to the rides and to photographs by some of the best spots!
We went back to Galaxy's Edge, fully intending to catch one of the two rides in that land. We ended up at Smuggler's Run, since Rise of the Resistance has yet to materialize (no pun intended) into a working attraction. SR supposedly had a 75-minute wait already, but we were in line for "only" 55 minutes before being allowed in. The ride itself was very worth the wait, exciting and fun. The queue was equally fun, making me comment, "The Imagineers must have had a ball raiding every junk yard in the state to build this attraction!" It really looked authentic, though one thing in the queue caused my husband to comment, "That would never work," and proceeded to tell me why.
If you remember in my previous trip, talking about the Halloween overlay for Haunted Mansion, we went to that next. We chose not to get a Fast Pass for it because the queue is so cute. Decorated for the holidays based on "The Nightmare Before Christmas" (starring Tim Burton), it was also well worth the 40 minute line. Of course, I'm rarely hesitant to strike up a conversation with someone next to us in line.
We rode the train around the park this time, partly because we hadn't ridden last time and we had a Fast Pass for another ride that was still a bit of time away. I love the train ride, as it's relaxing. It can also take you to another land without using your feet, which can take a beating. Wear good comfortable shoes to do a Disney (or any other) theme park!
Back to the Red Rocks in Big Thunder Mountain, and then it was about lunchtime. We snagged a water-side table at Blue Bayou, which is our all-time favorite eatery in the park, and got Monte Cristos, which they do exceptionally well. Yum. We were so full afterward that we chose to do a long walk around the park.
Among other things, we rode It's a Small World, AstroBlasters, and more. We went shopping in the shops. Then we found a good seat for the nightly parade, which was only in the park for 6 or 7 weeks and its last day is Sept. 30th. We sat there, standing up occasionally, taking turns going on a short walk, for about 3 hours. It was worth it. The parade viewing areas were full an hour before the parade was to start, yet people still tried to horn in on the spots which others had found 2-3 hours earlier. It made all of us annoyed, that's for sure....sort of like when you are sitting in a line of traffic waiting to merge onto a freeway and somebody speeding by you to cut in front of the first person who is willing to let him in to avoid an accident.
Love that parade.....Main Street Electrical Parade. We first saw it back when it was only a year old and we were not married yet. Have seen it a number of times over the years, the most recent back in 2012 (see my trip report) at Florida's Magic Kingdom. Most of my favorite floats were included. They'd told us at City Hall, earlier in the day when we went to see them, that Florida climate and the truck trip back to CA had been hard on many of the floats, including the Blue Fairy (Pinocchio). But even missing floats, it was so worth sitting (on a bench; we'd scored!) waiting for. That was followed by fireworks afterward -- this time, viewed from the park so that we saw most of the ground stuff that was missed at the hotel balcony on Friday night.
Headed out after two stops, long walk. I'd put 18,000 steps (about 7 miles) on my feet, so we were both tired. The motel room looked great to us when we got back.
Pictures to come.
Donna
The February Long Weekend at Disneyland Resort
Thursday, February 13
We went up to Anaheim after I got off work, leaving in time to stop "somewhere" for dinner to wait out the rest of the Rush Hour. We got caught in the North San Diego County Rush Hour, which wasn't much fun, and got ourselves on a waiting list for the Red Lobster in Oceanside. That's technology at work for you, the ability to get in line while still sitting in Rush Hour traffic. The front desk at RL was rather disorganized, but we finally got a table (despite being on the wait list/reservation system). Dinner was good, though.
We pulled into our favorite hotel in the area, Best Western Meridian Inn and Suites in Orange. It's about 4-1/2 miles to the park "by the back roads" (not using CA-22 and I-5), about a 12 minute drive. It's quiet, and there's a heated outdoor pool and a Jacuzzi. At this time of the year, the Jacuzzi was appreciated at the end of my workday and the drive, and at the end of the Disney Day.
Friday, February 14
Hubby and I forgoed the motel breakfast, which is usually quite extensive, because he wanted to go to Carnation Cafe at Disneyland. Bad news: on a 4-day weekend, that place is "reservation only". We had only one reservation for the weekend, and that was not it. We ended up getting breakfast by Mobile Order at the Jolly Holliday Restaurant in the Hub. Mobile Order is something possible to do if you download the DL app and set up an account ahead of time, and it's usually a big time saver. You order your food through the app (menus are there) and then go pick it up at the time you designated. Sort of a "Fast Pass" for food.
We are not huge on the rides these days, but we enjoy the shows, and some of the rides can be done more than once. The music in New Orleans Square is great Dixieland Jazz, the Disneyland Band is usually somewhere between the Main Street Entrance and Sleeping Beauty's Castle and plays all sorts of music, and the Dapper Dans (barbershop quartet) are always excellent. Sometimes we'll go listen more than once in a day, as they don't always play the same set!
The crowds were a lot heavier than we expected, and we did a few of the rides on Fast Pass. We could not get into the newest ride, Rise of the Resistance, in Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge land. Come to find out, at this point (it just opened Jan 17th this year) you better be at the park an hour before it opens so you can be inside DL in the first 3 minutes to get a "Boarding Pass" (i.e. Fast Pass), or stay in one of their hotels. Otherwise, you won't get on that ride yet. We tried on Sunday, but didn't make it. Oh well, I can't say we are big Star Wars fans. We saw the original 3 movies years and years ago and have never seen any of the newer movies.
Though we have new phones now, since our Christmastime visit to the parks, we did not take many photos that first day. I think it's become very much a part of our life, at least for this year. (We will not renew our passes when they come due in July.)
We ended our day with an early dinner at the French Market. Like Jolly Holliday, this was a restaurant we have never tried. Both of us ordered the French Dip sandwich. Hubby got his without the horseradish; I didn't tell them not to put it on and ended up taking most of it off. While sitting and enjoying our meal, the Dixieland band set up and played for us.
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Disneyland's California Adventure
Saturday, February 15
This time, we caught breakfast at one of the two IHOP's on Harbor Blvd. I can take or leave motel breakfasts, hubby just doesn't care for them. We got there just in time, before the crowds, then moved on for a day at Disney's California Adventure.
Once inside the park, we got our first Fast Pass for the day, but decided to go check out Carsland (by far my favorite area) anyway. The wait time was 90 minutes for Radiator Springs Racers, probably my favorite ride in that park too. On Friday, we'd gone through a 75 minute line in 60 minutes, so we figured that would be the case here. Nope. We waited almost 2 hours. I always chat with people around me in line. While waiting, I heard my name being called out -- someone I used to work with a couple of years ago, who has moved to a different school in our district.
We ended up on this ride twice on Saturday -- once in the morning 2-hour wait, and once in the early evening hours, right before our late-Valentine's Dinner reservations, that time on a Fast Pass (15 minutes).
Due to our type of annual pass, we get Photo Pass, so here are the pictures of us as taken by the in-attraction camera. In the first picture, we are in the front row:
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Now we're in the second row:
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Those familiar with the Orlando Disney Resort, may know this attraction as Test Track, with different decor I believe. Here are some other photos from Carsland:
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After the first ride on Radiator Springs, we were able to get another Fast Pass -- you can usually only get one at a time, but when the first fast pass you get is for 5 pm (and you got it at 9:30 am), you're able to get another one 2 hours later. Hubby got one for Incredicoaster, which is probably my *least* favorite ride in any park, because it's a roller coaster with a loop in it that takes you upside down. I do that ride only out of consideration for my hubby, who loves that kind of thing. In the next photo, we're in front. A close look will show you my look of absolute terror.
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We ate dinner that night at Naples Restaurant in Downtown Disney. Honestly, it was one of only 3 places that we were able to find reservations for, that evening or the night before. So we celebrated our Valentines' Day a day late. The food was actually pretty good, we had a table that overlooked Downtown Disney, and the service was the usual Disney-Incredible. I was fascinated by the light fixtures in the place, and chose to take a photo:
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OH! I almost forgot: these were our souvenirs of the weekend, our new "road trip cups". Hubby found them in Carsland. I will be making up some padded "stuff sacks" to transport them safely while we're on our trips. I was able to find fabric to match, at my local fabric store. (When I finish them, I'll post a photo.)
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Sunday, February 16: Disneyland
Sunday, February 16
Trying to get onto the new ride, we got to DLR a bit early. We were still unsuccessful in getting a "Boarding Pass". As such, we may never ride it. This is probably one of our final trips on our Annual Pass, which comes due this summer. It has "paid for itself" after 7 days in the parks, and we have now hit the magic 10, I believe. We don't want the Magic to die, and it's starting to do so with high prices and long lines. Walt will have a few words to say to Bob Chapek, if they ever meet in the after-life. Walt always wanted families to be able to afford the parks.
So we spent a short day at Disneyland, riding a few things -- I'm always good for two or three runs on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (a favorite), a run on Space Mountain (so glad they removed the Star Wars overlay). We also got on two rides we have not done in a long long time: Alice in Wonderland (Fantasyland) and Winnie the Pooh (Critter Country, near Splash Mountain). They're both what I call "fun house" rides, very simple and definitely easy on the blood pressure.
We listened to the Dapper Dans a couple of times that day. They've added a little tap dance to their routines, and I wanted to know how often they have to change the taps on their shoes. (Dancing on pavement is very hard on taps.) The answer, from the leader, was "Yeah, a lot, and I'm probably due for some new ones." (I talked to the one in purple.)
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I love the history of the Disney company, and the park is part of that. So when they add something new to the museum outside of the Lincoln attraction, I'm there to see it. They had two things from Griffith Park there. One was the carousel horse that Walt watched his daughters ride, and the second was the bench that he was sitting on while watching those two daughters (Diane and Sharon). It was then that he conceived of Disneyland. I didn't get a picture of the carousel horse, but here's the bench and the plaque that is now on it.
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Donna
