sunryzez
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 18, 2011
Trip report California 2017.
Info about us: family of 6. I turned 36 during this vacation, DH-40, Mom-70, DD -15, DD-10, DS- 9. We live in Florida so visit WDW constantly but this was our very first trip to Disneyland. We bought into DVC a few years ago with Aulani being our home so we could make this trip!
I just came back from an amazing two week trip. We spent one week in California, 4 days that were at the Disney Grand Californian and one glorious week in Aulani. I will add pictures to this trip report once I am able to load them.
I will briefly discuss the first 3 days of my trip pre Disney just in case anyone else is interested in information since I see people asking questions about other activities in the area.
We flew from Tampa to San Diego on a Saturday morning using SouthWest. It was a pretty easy flight and decided to stay at the Marriott Rancho Bernardo. It was about 25 minutes from main San Diego but I was able to book two rooms using points and there was no resort or parking fee. Everything in San Diego was way more points and so many extra fees. If any of you are looking for a quiet, clean, and affordable hotel this is the way to go! We flew here to visit family and go to the San Diego Zoo. I will say I have heard my entire life that this is the best zoo in the country. I will admit that it was an amazing zoo. My whole family had a Wonderful time and enjoyed the day. However it is very pricey. For our party of 6 we spent 270.00 and that was with a 10% triple A discount. I am glad we went but I don't think we would go again because growing up in NY I found it very comparable to the Bronx Zoo.
We stayed in San Diego for two days and then we're ready head to Anaheim. We decided to make a short day trip to Los Angeles. My daughter is obsessed with drama. She has been taking classes for years and always nabs the lead so she really wanted to see the Walk Of Fame. I highly recommend this. The kids loved hunting for the names they knew. We were there the day Ice Cube got his square and the kids were so excited about that.
I wanted to stay at VGC for four nights and five days but they were booked the first day of my trip and never opened up so I stayed my first night right across the street at the Marriott Courtyard . I was able to book a studio with bunk beds and a theme park view. The hotel was nice and the room was amazing. The kids loved the bunk beds and the balcony view. The best part is I was able to book it with points. The only thing I had to pay was a 20.00 parking fee. If you are doing Disney and are not staying on property I would definitely recommend this hotel. It really had its value and you could walk to the theme park easily from it. That night we decided to go to Downtown Disney. It is smaller than Disney Springs but I enjoyed it a lot more. Every time we went there was some sort of live music playing. It did not seem nearly as crowded. The stores were lovely. DVC discounts here were 10% off ding and merchandise.
The next day was finally check on day at the Grand. We booked a 9:00 am character breakfast at Storyteller's and planned to spend the whole day as our relax day at the pool. The hotel is absolutely STUNNING! They started the construction so parts of the lobby were cut off and covered but it was still a wonderful lobby. The fireplace was my favorite part. I did not get to spend nearly enough time there. Breakfast food was good and there were four characters there. Afterwards we got changes and headed for the pool. We booked a 2 bedroom villa. She said it would probably not be ready until about 5 but we got it at 3:30. My mom enjoyed the spa. She got the fire and o e manicure which is what she always has done on the Disney cruise. We were pool side all day and could not be happier. I loved the pool. The woodsy decor is breathtaking. The hot tub was nice as well. The whole family enjoyed the slide.
The only negative thing I will mention the entire trip report is we had a rental car that morning and were going to return it after breakfast. Valet parking is free for three hours with a Character breakfast so we did that. When we went to get the car there was a lot of confusion. The original valet check gave us the wrong ticket, then we were unaware we had to validate the ticket, then we go to get it validated at Storytellers but couldn't because of the wrong ticket. Then back to valet and they don't have the other ticket so they say they need the receipt .I didn't know where we put it so back to the restaurant and they needed my servers name which I didn't know so they wouldn't get me the receipt or try help me figure it out. I went back to the pool are and dug through all our things and finally found it. This whole process took about twenty minutes and a lot of back and forth. I however am pretty laid back so I don't really let it bother me but wanted to include it in my report because if had I not found the receipt they would of charged me a fifty dollar valet charge so I want to give a Heads up to anyone who might have a similar plan as we did. I did however think to myself that this kind of customer service would not of flown at WDW.
Anyway, I had requested the 6th floor theme park view or one of the fifth floor ones as a back up. I did not get any of these. I got a 3rd floor pool view, room3505. It was such a wonderful room. The two bedroom villas really have so much space. We usually only rent studios but since it was so hard to get reservations here I splurged on the extra points to get it. I am so glad I did. I loved having three showers and bathrooms. The washer and dryer was great too. I might need to stay booking villas more often. Since this was our first time there and it was such a short trip I don't feel like we utilized the villa as much as I wish we could have.
Our first park was early the next day at California Adventure. I LOVE this park. If I was comparing it to Hollywood studios it would win by a landslide. We got on line at about 7:30 and line was already long but it moved quickly once the entrance opened. As much as we wanted to ride guardians of the galaxy I knew that CarsLand was our priority. My son is obsessed with Lightning McQueen and that is all he has been wanting to go on for years. This was my favorite part of the park. It is so spot on and exactly like the movie. We went straight to Radiator Racers and line was already 25 minutes long. Super glad we did this first because the rest of the day that ride was at a steady 105 minute wait. I knew if we didn't rush to grab a fast pass for guardians we would be out of luck so the kids were sad we weren't going to do that ride but once they got on cars they forgot all about it. It is a million times better than test track. The other rides at Cars land were fun too. They also had a sneak peak for the new movie right next door at bugs land. We ate at Flo's cafe for breakfast and it was yummy. My husband said the banana French toast was the best he ever had. Next we had a fast pass for Soarin and again we were blown away. I love this ride at Epcot so I was not surprised how much I loved it here. After my daughter and I had a fast pass for California screamin and the rest of the family did toy story mania. This is a must do ride! That rollercoaster is fast and fun! Afterwards we got some sourdough bread which was a wonderful snack since I am a breadaholic!lol. We went over to bugs land next and the kids enjoyed the rides. They definitely aren't thrilling rides but are still cute and fun. It was so hot that day and we were getting tired. We headed over to the superhero area and also went to the Disney junior Dance party live. I'm sure we did a few other rides and then we decided to head back to the hotel early. We could have waited at a two hour line for guardians or head back and enjoy the pool for that time and then head back for world of color. We decided on the pool. We have done so many 14 hour park days at WDW and I just really wanted to enjoy the amazing hotel amenities. We also ate a the New Orleans place at Disney springs and we really enjoyed it. The beignets are super good. We went back for world of color. I wish i researched It more about how the show worked. We were behind a few people and it was difficult to see anything. It was only me and my ten year old since everyone else Stayed at the hotel and was tired. Luckily a very nice guy saw my daughter struggling to see anything and allowed her to take his spot so she was in the front and able to see everything. I was so grateful for his act of kindness. Even from the little bit I did see it looked amazing. I'm pretty jealous they don't have a show like that at WDW. The theme park entrance was so convenient and we were back to our room rather quickly.
The next day we were up even earlier for magic hour at Disneyland. Our plan fell apart a bit cause I did not realize that Indiana jones did not open for that hour so we went over to space mountain and that ride was down. By the time we figured okay let's try star tours the line was insane because that was really the only big attraction open. So we decided to go to fantasyland and did a few of the classic rides. We knew the waits wouldn't be long later but figured the lines would be almost non existent at that time and we were right. We got right on to Snow White, Pinocchio, Mr. toad and one other ride I can't remember. We then Walked back to eat breakfast at jolly holiday cafe and it was really good again. I must say i was very impressed with the food choices at DL. After this we went over to Indiana jones and it was my favorite ride at this park. So much fun. Must do! Then throughout the day we went on Alice, storybook, small world, Pirates, haunted mansion, roger rabbit, inspector gadget and I'm sure a few more I'm forgetting. I am a classic lover and I was so happy to bring the kids to toon town. I was so upset when they got rid of it at WDW. How do you kick Mickey Mouse out of Disney? Anyway, my only let down was the Matterhorn. I don't know if it is because everest is my favorite ride ever and I was comparing but I found it really lame and short. We had a fast pass and only waited like 10 minutes but the wait was 90 and I would of been mad if I would of waited that long for that ride, do not go on expecting thrills and drops...
We watched the parade and spent sometime just enjoying main street. I loved the nostalgia of it all. I also liked the Walt quotes all over. Even on the snack cups and plates. We headed back to the hotel around 5pm. We had left our hotel at 6:30 so it was a really long day. We got in our bathing suits again as soon as we got back to the room and enjoyed the pool. We ate poolside and had a few drinks. Later that night it was time to pack everything up, order a taxi for the morning and get ready for the next leg of our trip Aulani. We had a 9:45 flight so they suggested we leave at 6:30 am because of how busy LAX gets. I have to admit as much as I loved Aulani since we spent 8 days there in hindsight I wish i would of got a later flight out of Cali so I could of enjoyed the grand a bit more longer. I would of loved to enjoy my balcony and have a cup of coffee instead of rushing out each morning and enjoyed a drink by the fireplace lounge. However I know the things I have to look forward to for the next trip there.
My tips after this trip are:
1) research your must do's and make sure to hit those first( or at least grab a fast pass for them)
2) If you are staying at the grand ENJOY the hotel. It is truly majestic.
3) the quick service stops are way better at DL than at WDW.
4) storytellers breakfast is worth the extra cost.
5) have a somewhat clear plan of what you want to get done on that day. That helped us immensely.
6) for world of color just make sure you are front row by the bar. It doesn't matter how close you are. It is more important that no one is blocking your view, especially if you are short like me.
7) arrive early to hotel to enjoy the full day there.
8) utilize magic hour!
If you have any questions I will try my best to answer them.
If you want to hear about the other part of my trip head over to the Aulani board and I will be posting it shortly.
Info about us: family of 6. I turned 36 during this vacation, DH-40, Mom-70, DD -15, DD-10, DS- 9. We live in Florida so visit WDW constantly but this was our very first trip to Disneyland. We bought into DVC a few years ago with Aulani being our home so we could make this trip!
I just came back from an amazing two week trip. We spent one week in California, 4 days that were at the Disney Grand Californian and one glorious week in Aulani. I will add pictures to this trip report once I am able to load them.
I will briefly discuss the first 3 days of my trip pre Disney just in case anyone else is interested in information since I see people asking questions about other activities in the area.
We flew from Tampa to San Diego on a Saturday morning using SouthWest. It was a pretty easy flight and decided to stay at the Marriott Rancho Bernardo. It was about 25 minutes from main San Diego but I was able to book two rooms using points and there was no resort or parking fee. Everything in San Diego was way more points and so many extra fees. If any of you are looking for a quiet, clean, and affordable hotel this is the way to go! We flew here to visit family and go to the San Diego Zoo. I will say I have heard my entire life that this is the best zoo in the country. I will admit that it was an amazing zoo. My whole family had a Wonderful time and enjoyed the day. However it is very pricey. For our party of 6 we spent 270.00 and that was with a 10% triple A discount. I am glad we went but I don't think we would go again because growing up in NY I found it very comparable to the Bronx Zoo.
We stayed in San Diego for two days and then we're ready head to Anaheim. We decided to make a short day trip to Los Angeles. My daughter is obsessed with drama. She has been taking classes for years and always nabs the lead so she really wanted to see the Walk Of Fame. I highly recommend this. The kids loved hunting for the names they knew. We were there the day Ice Cube got his square and the kids were so excited about that.
I wanted to stay at VGC for four nights and five days but they were booked the first day of my trip and never opened up so I stayed my first night right across the street at the Marriott Courtyard . I was able to book a studio with bunk beds and a theme park view. The hotel was nice and the room was amazing. The kids loved the bunk beds and the balcony view. The best part is I was able to book it with points. The only thing I had to pay was a 20.00 parking fee. If you are doing Disney and are not staying on property I would definitely recommend this hotel. It really had its value and you could walk to the theme park easily from it. That night we decided to go to Downtown Disney. It is smaller than Disney Springs but I enjoyed it a lot more. Every time we went there was some sort of live music playing. It did not seem nearly as crowded. The stores were lovely. DVC discounts here were 10% off ding and merchandise.
The next day was finally check on day at the Grand. We booked a 9:00 am character breakfast at Storyteller's and planned to spend the whole day as our relax day at the pool. The hotel is absolutely STUNNING! They started the construction so parts of the lobby were cut off and covered but it was still a wonderful lobby. The fireplace was my favorite part. I did not get to spend nearly enough time there. Breakfast food was good and there were four characters there. Afterwards we got changes and headed for the pool. We booked a 2 bedroom villa. She said it would probably not be ready until about 5 but we got it at 3:30. My mom enjoyed the spa. She got the fire and o e manicure which is what she always has done on the Disney cruise. We were pool side all day and could not be happier. I loved the pool. The woodsy decor is breathtaking. The hot tub was nice as well. The whole family enjoyed the slide.
The only negative thing I will mention the entire trip report is we had a rental car that morning and were going to return it after breakfast. Valet parking is free for three hours with a Character breakfast so we did that. When we went to get the car there was a lot of confusion. The original valet check gave us the wrong ticket, then we were unaware we had to validate the ticket, then we go to get it validated at Storytellers but couldn't because of the wrong ticket. Then back to valet and they don't have the other ticket so they say they need the receipt .I didn't know where we put it so back to the restaurant and they needed my servers name which I didn't know so they wouldn't get me the receipt or try help me figure it out. I went back to the pool are and dug through all our things and finally found it. This whole process took about twenty minutes and a lot of back and forth. I however am pretty laid back so I don't really let it bother me but wanted to include it in my report because if had I not found the receipt they would of charged me a fifty dollar valet charge so I want to give a Heads up to anyone who might have a similar plan as we did. I did however think to myself that this kind of customer service would not of flown at WDW.
Anyway, I had requested the 6th floor theme park view or one of the fifth floor ones as a back up. I did not get any of these. I got a 3rd floor pool view, room3505. It was such a wonderful room. The two bedroom villas really have so much space. We usually only rent studios but since it was so hard to get reservations here I splurged on the extra points to get it. I am so glad I did. I loved having three showers and bathrooms. The washer and dryer was great too. I might need to stay booking villas more often. Since this was our first time there and it was such a short trip I don't feel like we utilized the villa as much as I wish we could have.
Our first park was early the next day at California Adventure. I LOVE this park. If I was comparing it to Hollywood studios it would win by a landslide. We got on line at about 7:30 and line was already long but it moved quickly once the entrance opened. As much as we wanted to ride guardians of the galaxy I knew that CarsLand was our priority. My son is obsessed with Lightning McQueen and that is all he has been wanting to go on for years. This was my favorite part of the park. It is so spot on and exactly like the movie. We went straight to Radiator Racers and line was already 25 minutes long. Super glad we did this first because the rest of the day that ride was at a steady 105 minute wait. I knew if we didn't rush to grab a fast pass for guardians we would be out of luck so the kids were sad we weren't going to do that ride but once they got on cars they forgot all about it. It is a million times better than test track. The other rides at Cars land were fun too. They also had a sneak peak for the new movie right next door at bugs land. We ate at Flo's cafe for breakfast and it was yummy. My husband said the banana French toast was the best he ever had. Next we had a fast pass for Soarin and again we were blown away. I love this ride at Epcot so I was not surprised how much I loved it here. After my daughter and I had a fast pass for California screamin and the rest of the family did toy story mania. This is a must do ride! That rollercoaster is fast and fun! Afterwards we got some sourdough bread which was a wonderful snack since I am a breadaholic!lol. We went over to bugs land next and the kids enjoyed the rides. They definitely aren't thrilling rides but are still cute and fun. It was so hot that day and we were getting tired. We headed over to the superhero area and also went to the Disney junior Dance party live. I'm sure we did a few other rides and then we decided to head back to the hotel early. We could have waited at a two hour line for guardians or head back and enjoy the pool for that time and then head back for world of color. We decided on the pool. We have done so many 14 hour park days at WDW and I just really wanted to enjoy the amazing hotel amenities. We also ate a the New Orleans place at Disney springs and we really enjoyed it. The beignets are super good. We went back for world of color. I wish i researched It more about how the show worked. We were behind a few people and it was difficult to see anything. It was only me and my ten year old since everyone else Stayed at the hotel and was tired. Luckily a very nice guy saw my daughter struggling to see anything and allowed her to take his spot so she was in the front and able to see everything. I was so grateful for his act of kindness. Even from the little bit I did see it looked amazing. I'm pretty jealous they don't have a show like that at WDW. The theme park entrance was so convenient and we were back to our room rather quickly.
The next day we were up even earlier for magic hour at Disneyland. Our plan fell apart a bit cause I did not realize that Indiana jones did not open for that hour so we went over to space mountain and that ride was down. By the time we figured okay let's try star tours the line was insane because that was really the only big attraction open. So we decided to go to fantasyland and did a few of the classic rides. We knew the waits wouldn't be long later but figured the lines would be almost non existent at that time and we were right. We got right on to Snow White, Pinocchio, Mr. toad and one other ride I can't remember. We then Walked back to eat breakfast at jolly holiday cafe and it was really good again. I must say i was very impressed with the food choices at DL. After this we went over to Indiana jones and it was my favorite ride at this park. So much fun. Must do! Then throughout the day we went on Alice, storybook, small world, Pirates, haunted mansion, roger rabbit, inspector gadget and I'm sure a few more I'm forgetting. I am a classic lover and I was so happy to bring the kids to toon town. I was so upset when they got rid of it at WDW. How do you kick Mickey Mouse out of Disney? Anyway, my only let down was the Matterhorn. I don't know if it is because everest is my favorite ride ever and I was comparing but I found it really lame and short. We had a fast pass and only waited like 10 minutes but the wait was 90 and I would of been mad if I would of waited that long for that ride, do not go on expecting thrills and drops...
We watched the parade and spent sometime just enjoying main street. I loved the nostalgia of it all. I also liked the Walt quotes all over. Even on the snack cups and plates. We headed back to the hotel around 5pm. We had left our hotel at 6:30 so it was a really long day. We got in our bathing suits again as soon as we got back to the room and enjoyed the pool. We ate poolside and had a few drinks. Later that night it was time to pack everything up, order a taxi for the morning and get ready for the next leg of our trip Aulani. We had a 9:45 flight so they suggested we leave at 6:30 am because of how busy LAX gets. I have to admit as much as I loved Aulani since we spent 8 days there in hindsight I wish i would of got a later flight out of Cali so I could of enjoyed the grand a bit more longer. I would of loved to enjoy my balcony and have a cup of coffee instead of rushing out each morning and enjoyed a drink by the fireplace lounge. However I know the things I have to look forward to for the next trip there.
My tips after this trip are:
1) research your must do's and make sure to hit those first( or at least grab a fast pass for them)
2) If you are staying at the grand ENJOY the hotel. It is truly majestic.
3) the quick service stops are way better at DL than at WDW.
4) storytellers breakfast is worth the extra cost.
5) have a somewhat clear plan of what you want to get done on that day. That helped us immensely.
6) for world of color just make sure you are front row by the bar. It doesn't matter how close you are. It is more important that no one is blocking your view, especially if you are short like me.
7) arrive early to hotel to enjoy the full day there.
8) utilize magic hour!
If you have any questions I will try my best to answer them.
If you want to hear about the other part of my trip head over to the Aulani board and I will be posting it shortly.
