Back from Disneyland!

[HonoluluMom]

Just got back from Disneyland! We did 4 full days at Disneyland and California Adventure. I just want to give a quick rundown on the hotel, food, and parks. It wasn't very crowded and the weather was nice and cool - in the 60s (although one day got pretty warm) - and it was wonderful walking weather.

Feel free to ask any questions. I may be forgetting some things, but here's what I remember:

Howard Johnson Anaheim: Got the Entertainment Card rate for a 2 queen bed room with Disneyland view. The room had a microwave, fridge, and Keurig coffee maker. It was about a 10 minute walk to the parks. It's a very basic hotel/motel and I have no specific complaints, but I probably wouldn't stay there again.

Disneyland rides DD loved the rides! Here's what she rode:
Dumbo (her favorite): several times
Teacups (second favorite): several times
Carousel: several times
It's a small world: several times
Pirates of the Caribbean: 1 time
Nemo submarine ride: 1 time
Winnie the Pooh ride: 1 time
Storybook canal: 1 time
Jungle Cruise: 1 time
Toontown: spent 1/2 day there

Wanted to do Peter Pan's flight, but the wait time was usually around 40 minutes and I didn't want to wait that long.

Soundsational parade at Disneyland: I thought it was great! DD also loved it, so it was worth the wait. We waited for perhaps 30 minutes inside Fantasyland, which is where the parade started, and got first "row" seats.

Food at the parks: I wasn't impressed by the food. We ate at a few restaurants in New Orleans square and Main Street. I was, however, pleasantly surprised that the children's meals came with fresh fruit and a drink. There were also numerous food stands selling fresh fruits and vegetables.

Character meals : We did Breakfast with Minnie at Disneyland, Breakfast with Mickey at Paradise Pier Hotel and the Princess lunch at California Adventure. We saw many characters and were able to get a lot of autographs. I don't like waiting in lines so, for me, the price made it worth it since we could get autographs easily and with no wait. The food was pretty good at Breakfast with Mickey and the Princess lunch.

Disneyland fireworks: DD did enjoy the fireworks. I wanted to do Fantasmic, but since DD didn't seem to like World of Color, I opted to skip Fantasmic for the fireworks.

California Adventure rides: DD rode these rides once, probably only because we didn't have enough time to ride them more often:
Hemlich chew chew train
Ladybug boogie (like the teacups)
Flik's flyers
King Triton's carousel
Ariel's undersea adventure
Turtle talk with Crush

World of Color: We ordered the World of Color picnics. The food was okay, nothing spectacular. I forget what color area we were in (maybe yellow?), but the view wasn't very good. DD wanted to leave the show early, and as we were walking out, I thought you could get a better view from the park level (I think near Ariel's ride).

Stroller: I bought a buggyguard right before the trip, thinking I'd lock up the stroller in each land. Well, the darn thing broke on the flight to California. http://www.buggyguard.com/
Also, when we first got to Disneyland I looked to see if there were a lot of strollers locked up and I saw only 1 lock. Since there were a lot more expensive strollers sitting around unlocked (I saw a lot of BOB and double BOB strollers), I thought mine would be okay. Sure enough, it was fine.

[fivi2]

Glad you had fun! I must admit that, while I am sorry you didn't love it, I am selfishly glad to hear that someone else didn't love the HoJo. We weren't thrilled with it at all, but I always seem to be the only one to say that! :)

Sounds like a fantastic trip, though :)

[hoodlims]

Your kiddo is 2.5? I was thinking of taking mine this fall, and she will be 2.5 then. Is your DD still napping? How is she with waiting? My baby will be about 10m when I want to go, I am just trying to think of how long we will stay for, whether or not we will leave the park for naps, etc. My DD is hit or miss with the naps now, prob will not be napping then, but who knows after a day at D-Land. DS will be napping. My parents live about 15min away. How late did you stay?

[hoodlims]

Oh, and I love how you included all the rides they liked. What was your avg wait time? Thanks a bunch!

[sariana]

Sounds like a great trip! I'm sorry you missed Fantasmic, though. It's a million times better than World of Color. (Then again, I wouldn't know because I couldn't see ANYTHING at WoC. Terrible crowd management, IMO.)

We have tickets for one day at one park. We're not sure which one we're going to do. We've been to both. We likely will have to go when it is crowded.

[lalasmama]

Just got back from Disneyland! We did 4 full days at Disneyland and California Adventure. I just want to give a quick rundown on the hotel, food, and parks. It wasn't very crowded and the weather was nice and cool - in the 60s (although one day got pretty warm) - and it was wonderful walking weather.

We must have been there about the same time :) I was there Friday-Sunday!


Howard Johnson Anaheim: Got the Entertainment Card rate for a 2 queen bed room with Disneyland view. The room had a microwave, fridge, and Keurig coffee maker. It was about a 10 minute walk to the parks. It's a very basic hotel/motel and I have no specific complaints, but I probably wouldn't stay there again.

So glad to hear this! :) I have heard so many wonderful things about HoJo that I have to admit--I felt like I was denying DD the "best vacation ever" by just not staying at HoJo! My walk to Super 8, while not of the same hotel caliber, obviously, was only a few minutes more than your walk to HoJo. (Again, makes me feel okay with my choice, LOL!)


Wanted to do Peter Pan's flight, but the wait time was usually around 40 minutes and I didn't want to wait that long.

I rode Peter Pan for the first time this trip. I liked it more than I expected to. LOVED the "flying" aspect of it. I'll admit, though, that I did this during the Magic Morning time, so the wait was less than 10 minutes. Otherwise, it would have been a hard sell for me!


Food at the parks: I wasn't impressed by the food. We ate at a few restaurants in New Orleans square and Main Street. I was, however, pleasantly surprised that the children's meals came with fresh fruit and a drink. There were also numerous food stands selling fresh fruits and vegetables.

I've found my favorite places are the pasta place on Paradise Pier, and Taste Pilots by Soarin'. But, I haven't tried many places in Disneyland itself. Usually, we were doing some type of more "eat and run" things in DL, and in DCA, I tend to take more time to enjoy my meals. :bag I'll admit I also tend to actually enjoy the hot dogs a lot there. The buns are soooo soft for whole wheat!



Disneyland fireworks: DD did enjoy the fireworks. I wanted to do Fantasmic, but since DD didn't seem to like World of Color, I opted to skip Fantasmic for the fireworks.

To enjoy WoC, you have to have a good view, I think. We saw it last time, and it was annoying to stand for 2 hours for the show--my feet were hurting, DD was bored, etc. For Fantasmic, you can see a little better since Mickey's on the island. The fireworks were a first-time experience for me, and I enjoyed seeing Tinkerbell :)


Stroller: I bought a buggyguard right before the trip, thinking I'd lock up the stroller in each land. Well, the darn thing broke on the flight to California. http://www.buggyguard.com/
Also, when we first got to Disneyland I looked to see if there were a lot of strollers locked up and I saw only 1 lock. Since there were a lot more expensive strollers sitting around unlocked (I saw a lot of BOB and double BOB strollers), I thought mine would be okay. Sure enough, it was fine.

I actually paid attention to the stroller thing when I was there this time. I noticed a LOT of high-end strollers mixed in with the Walmart Disney strollers. I'm still scared to take a "good" stroller when I go (assuming we ever get a new baby)... only because I'd be so afraid of it being mixed up with someone else's when the cast member starts moving them around!

Glad you had a good time! It sounds like it was a lot of fun! And the weather was so nice! I came home with a slight burn, but it was so worth it :)

[elektra]

We were there Friday too. :)
I thought it was a bit crowded but not the worst we've seen.

DS's favorite ride was Monster's Inc and we actually spent way more time in DCA than originally planned. The kids seemed to be having a good time and so we stayed.
DD's favorite was Autopia. She thought she was actually driving I think. :)
What were your favorite rides Honolulu Mom?

We liked Goofy's Kitchen, and I thought it was decent buffet food. The character meals are great for meeting the characters. I never even knew about these meals until the BBB! We were always a grab a snack and go family growing up.
I am surprised when people talk about the food not being good though. I mean it's definitely better than fair food but it's not fine dining (Club 33 and Napa Rose excepted!), nor would I expect it to be (even though it is expensive). I guess my expectations have always been low as far as the food goes, so I have never been disappointed! We were actually pleasantly surprised with the Bengal BBQ- it was my first time trying it and not saying I would go there again and again if it was a restaurant near my house but for DL food I thought it was good.

[BayGirl2]

Very helpful report! My DS is the same age as your DD and we're going in Sept, plus we'll have almost 1 YO DD with us. Good to hear she liked a lot of the rides. I'm trying to plan ahead to hit the shows but I think its going to be hard to wait with them for good seats at everything, we'll see. Mine actually nap better in the stroller/carseat so I'm planning to bring the big SBS double packed for a long day at the park instead of going back and forth for naps.

What did you not like about HoJo? We have res's there or can use points at the Sheraton Park and I haven't ruled out onsite yet if I can find a deal. The thing attracting me to HoJo is the Kid's Suite and the water play area. I'd really like DC's to sleep in a separate room from DH and I. Worth it or not?

[HonoluluMom]

Your kiddo is 2.5? I was thinking of taking mine this fall, and she will be 2.5 then. Is your DD still napping? How is she with waiting? My baby will be about 10m when I want to go, I am just trying to think of how long we will stay for, whether or not we will leave the park for naps, etc. My DD is hit or miss with the naps now, prob will not be napping then, but who knows after a day at D-Land. DS will be napping. My parents live about 15min away. How late did you stay?

Naps: Yes, DD still naps. Every day we went back to the hotel after lunch to take a nap. There was one day, however, that DD fell asleep in her stroller on the walk back to the hotel and when I transferred her to the bed, she woke up and refused to go back to sleep. I just made her lay quietly for about an hour.

Waiting: DD was fine during the waits (she's much, much more patient than I am). When we waited in line for rides, she usually ate a snack or we just talked or kept her entertained (there's a lot to look at and talk about). When we waited for the parade or World of Color, I brought a few books to read to her and glow sticks that she could play with during the wait.

How late we stayed: We stayed at the parks until about 8:30-9ish, although we stayed later for the fireworks, which I believe started at 9:30 p.m. If we had a late night, I just planned to start the next morning later.

[HonoluluMom]

Oh, and I love how you included all the rides they liked. What was your avg wait time? Thanks a bunch!

The average wait time for the rides we did during the week (Wednesday-Friday) was probably about 10-15 minutes. Some rides we basically just walked on like It's a Small World, Teacups, Carousel, and Pirates.

On Saturday, it depended on the ride. I think Dumbo was the longest at about 30 minutes. I skipped Peter Pan's Flight because I always saw a long wait time for this ride, and didn't want to wait that long.

At California Adventure, we went there in the morning when they opened at about 10am and Bug's Land was deserted. We had zero wait time there and at King Triton's carousel. I think Ariel's ride was the longest wait time at California Adventure, at about 15 minutes.

[HonoluluMom]

Sounds like a great trip! I'm sorry you missed Fantasmic, though. It's a million times better than World of Color. (Then again, I wouldn't know because I couldn't see ANYTHING at WoC. Terrible crowd management, IMO.)

We have tickets for one day at one park. We're not sure which one we're going to do. We've been to both. We likely will have to go when it is crowded.

I saw Fantasmic at Disneyworld over a decade ago and still remember being amazed! The next time we go to Disneyland or Disneyworld, we'll try to catch it!

[HonoluluMom]

Very helpful report! My DS is the same age as your DD and we're going in Sept, plus we'll have almost 1 YO DD with us. Good to hear she liked a lot of the rides. I'm trying to plan ahead to hit the shows but I think its going to be hard to wait with them for good seats at everything, we'll see. Mine actually nap better in the stroller/carseat so I'm planning to bring the big SBS double packed for a long day at the park instead of going back and forth for naps.

What did you not like about HoJo? We have res's there or can use points at the Sheraton Park and I haven't ruled out onsite yet if I can find a deal. The thing attracting me to HoJo is the Kid's Suite and the water play area. I'd really like DC's to sleep in a separate room from DH and I. Worth it or not?

We didn't stay in the Kid's Suite, so I can't comment on that. I believe smiles33 stayed at the Kid's Suite and had favorable things to say about it. Sorry I don't know how to include a link, but if you do a search for smiles33, her trip report will probably pop up.

We didn't visit the water play area since it was too cold for us and frankly we didn't have time.

I don't have anything really negative to say about HoJo. It's a very basic motel/hotel. It was relatively clean and neat and served its purpose. I was fine with the distance from the park, about a 10 minute walk.

[HonoluluMom]

lalasmama and elektra, I was definitely looking around wondering if this person or that person was a BBB forum member!

elektra, I didn't ride any adult rides. Of the rides that I rode with DD, I'm definitely a teacups kind of gal.

[smiles33]

We didn't stay in the Kid's Suite, so I can't comment on that. I believe smiles33 stayed at the Kid's Suite and had favorable things to say about it. Sorry I don't know how to include a link, but if you do a search for smiles33, her trip report will probably pop up.

We didn't visit the water play area since it was too cold for us and frankly we didn't have time.

I don't have anything really negative to say about HoJo. It's a very basic motel/hotel. It was relatively clean and neat and served its purpose. I was fine with the distance from the park, about a 10 minute walk.

I'm sure HoJo is only ho-hum in a regular room. We LOOOOVED the Kids' Suite. Two full rooms, 2 bathrooms, the fun bunkbed, mini-fridge, Keurig coffeemaker, and a microwave for only $99/night with the special Entertainment Card rate. I felt guilty we got so much for so little--it was almost like how I'd feel STEALING something. I see it's now closer to $180/night for next April 2013 (no Entertainment Card rate) and that's still a reasonable rate.

We didn't use the water park at all, though it looked fun, because when we weren't in the park, we were sleeping!