Trip Report Go west they said. The weather is so perfect you'll never want to leave they said.

Greetings to all my Disney-fied, Pixie Dust-fried friends! Yep, it's that time again...moving on to the next adventure. This time we finally went west for our glorious (or not-so-glorious?) return to Disney parks.

The particulars:

Who? Me, Tracey (DH, @Sweetpee's Sugar Daddy), Chandler (DS18, @casutton96), & Brian (DS16)

What? Disneyland Resort family vacation

Where? Disneyland Hotel / Disneyland / California

When? April 26, 2104 - May 3, 2014


I'm not feeling extra wordy at the moment (rare, I know) so let's get started....

 

[sweetpee_1993]

I totally took that picture (later in the trip) to use as my report opener! I'm such a nerd!

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Saturday, April 26 - Westward HO!

I got up and moving at about 5:00 a.m. We left the house on time, picked up Tracey's brother (he was dropping us at the airport & keeping our Tahoe), checked our furry-girl in at the local Pet Paradise at 7:15ish, managed airport security at Houston Hobby, and had a seat at our gate by 8:30 in SouthWest's cushy chairs with the charging stations.

Instagram shot! Yes, girls, I was rockin' my ' cowboy boots!




OH! In case you're an Instagram freak like me, feel free to look me up under the same username I go by here.

Our flight left on-time and was uneventful by most standards. Tracey & I watched "The Family" (Robert DeNiro & Michelle Pfieffer) on my iPad via an iTunes rental which passed the time perfectly. Such a funny movie! Two thumbs up here. As we neared our destination the views of the desert and mountains really blew me & the boys away. You see, the furthest west the boys & I had ever been was San Antonio, Texas. We've never seen deserts. We've never seen mountains other than the Great Smoky Mountains which are more wooded mountains than rocky ones. It was captivating to physically see what we'd only ever seen in pictures or in movies or tv. It was really cool! I was a bit nervous with how bumpy the ride was as we came in on final approach to John Wayne Orange County Airport. I had a solid grip on Tracey's hand, much to his amusement. For all the bumping around we did, the dipping back & forth, I thought the pilot did an excellent job floating us out and setting us down smoothly. Way to go Southwest pilot!

We opted to grab a taxi from the airport to the Disneyland Hotel. It was a wash when you paid the various shuttle fees x4 vs. go grab a taxi and go straight to our destination without other stops. It was a no-brainer, really.

We arrived at the Disneyland Hotel & got all checked in by 12:30. Our room was ready, too! WooHOO!!! Fantasy tower, 10th floor. Bring it.

We all ran into the room and did laps checking it all out. I did my inaugural lap then grabbed the camera to start shooting the room before we settled in.

There's a full-length mirror on the bathroom door. Thank you, Disney! Mirror shot for @HollyBelle! I so loved this new sundress with my boots.




Step inside the bathroom. The closed door is just out of frame on the right. Good size vanity. Worked well for us.




The lights on either side of the vanity were awesome.




I loved the square sink. Not the easiest thing to capture but the water knobs are cut in the silhouette of Mickey.




Another Mickey silhouette in the water control . Also, if you look closely the words are written in Walt script. Details. ((I will say, the water temperatur was really weird because when you adjusted it to the right temp coming out of the tub spigot then turned on the shower, the shower temp would be waaaaaay hotter than it should've been. I eventually got smart & compensated by setting the water to ice-cold so the shower would be warm. Not before I took a few showers running in & out of the water screeching "OuchOuchOuch", tho. ))




Just outside the bathroom (the bathroom door is just out of frame to the left) is a handy little vanity/prep area. Very convenient for multiple people to be getting ready to go.




Adjacent to the vanity/prep area is a nice size closet. No, we weren't concierge. Every room has 2 robes, a safe, and a pack-n-play in the closet.




Standing just inside the entry door, the dressing area & bathroom are off to my right, here's the room.




The carved magical headboard.




What's "magical" about that, you ask? Well, like a complete idiot I didn't take a video of it. It lights up and plays 'A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes'. Here's a video of it, not mine. Credit goes to BloodredRose84 who was much smarter than me and captured it.




Yes. I woke my teenagers with this each morning. Every night before we went to sleep we played it again. I would totally have that in my bedroom at home. I would. Wouldn't you???

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Opposite the 2 queen beds was the desk, tv, dresser, and fridge.




I can't believe I didn't get a picture of it but to the right of the tv/dresser/fridge piece there is a sofa that converts to a twin bed. There's also a few floor lamps by the window and a comfy chair. Then, there was our view! We booked a standard view but being on a high floor made it seem not so much like it was. Yes, we overlooked the front entry of the hotel & parking lot. But if you looked further out it was a full left to right view of mountains. If you looked right we could see Disneyland park.




The circle on the left is, I think, BTMRR. It could be Splash Mountain, tho. I'm not 100% sure. The circle on the right is definitely Matterhorn Mountain. Just outside the Matterhorn circle, look just to the lower left outside the red, and you'll see the top spire of Sleeping Beauty castle. Yep, it's not a giganto castle. More on that later.




After looking around the room we all looked at each other and....Let's GO!!!!

One of the BEST things about Disneyland is how convenient everything is. It's all right there at your fingertips! No waiting for buses. No boats. Nope. It's just a short walk to get anywhere. That said, we walked out the back doors of the Fantasy tower, turned left, and walked under the Sorcerer's hat...and POOF! You're in Downtown Disney!

 

[sweetpee_1993]

You'd think the first family trip for Disney fans out west we'd be chomping at the bit to get into the parks. Oh no. I was smarter than that. Disneyland's parks are largely locals parks. On the weekends they're significantly more busy than weekdays. Besides, Disneyland isn't the only thing out west worth seeing. We had a few things we wanted to do. So, we rented an SUV from the Alamo car rental place that's right there in Downtown Disney and set off in search of adventure. And lunch. We were starving!

For lunch we zipped into an extremely packed California favorite that we've heard so many people rave about: In-N-Out Burger!




One of the things we were sure to try was the not-on-the-menu, highly touted "Animal Fries".




Californians, you may want to skip the final assessment part here. I don't want you to hate me.

Either we went to a not-very-good In-N-Out location (that's plausible) or it's a lot of hype for nothing. The burgers were okay. Nothing exceptional. No mayo? Really? How do you eat a burger without mayo? Or fries? Now let us discuss the fries. How do you eat fries that have no taste? Or salt? The animal fries were edible because there was stuff on them to give them some taste but the fries themselves were like eating nothing. No taste. Tracey refused to eat his. Brian, not usually a fry guy anyway, wouldn't eat them. I ate a few then devoured the ones that had the animal goo on them. Chandler didn't eat many of the fries either. Verdict: In-N-Out isn't that great. ((Noteably, I tried Sprinkles cupcakes [they started out in CA & have a lot of hype] a few weeks before this trip and they weren't that swooft either.))


In-N-Out verdict reached unanimously, we proceeded on out to Huntington Beach. When I spotted this sign I had to take a few pictures. Pacific Coast Hwy! We were THERE! We saw this!!!! Not in pictures. Not on tv. Not in a movie. We SAW this!






As we headed south towards Newport I was totally taken with how different the surroundings were. Palm trees AND mountains in the distance. It was amaaaaaazing to me!




Then there were the super- exotic- Holy CRAP- cars we kept seeing. Not that big a deal to most people but when your 18 yro is a car guy, cars are a very veeeeery big deal. This one, he believes now, is a Rossion. I've never even heard of that one. LOL!

***edit***
It bugged Chandler that he wasn't certain about this car. After much studying and searching he has discovered this is, in fact, a Factory Five GTM. Factory Five produces various kit-type cars. Their GTM model is considered a "supercar" and, when tested by Car & Driver in 2007, proved faster from 0-60 than some pretty big boys such as Porsche Carrera GT, Lamborghini Murcielago, and Ferrari Enzo. A video of this exact same car that we saw (license plates match) can be seen HERE.




We drove thru Newport Beach on the Pacific Coast Hwy. There were Holy CRAP car dealerships all over the place. Holy CRAP cars aplenty. I didn't take any pictures yet just because I was kinda wow'd by it all, too.

Then we arrived at our destination: Crystal Cove State Park.

We parked the truck and followed the boardwalk path.






And this was what was waiting for us. I kid you not, I was speechless. I've never seen anything like this with my own eyes. It was like being in a dream. Truly. I have always dreamed of seeing something like this and here I am. It's real.




Looking down from the end of the boardwalk path was this area of tide pools. Apparently we nailed-it for timing because the tide was out. Incredible.




I think these shots may go on Tracey's desk.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

I think sometimes I just don't convey how poignant a moment something is. I had never been to the west coast. This is the first time Chandler, Brian, and I have ever physically seen the Pacific Ocean. It was like being in a dream. This is the Pacific Ocean. We've seen the Atlantic. We've seen the Caribbean. We've spent plenty of time in the Gulf of Mexico. This is a whole 'nother ballgame, people.

So we followed a dirt path that led downwards eventually bringing us to the beach below. Along the way I snapped this shot. That's not mud down there. It's rocks.




In the upper left is the path we just descended. The beach gives way to the rocks where the tide pools are.




But before I go exploring tide pools there's something I need to do. I had anticipated this moment for so long. It meant so much to me for whatever inexplicable reason I had built in my mind. I was going to touch the Pacific Ocean. I handed Tracey the camera, boots in hand I made my way cautiously to where the waves were washing up onto the sand. I think Tracey did a fabulous job of capturing this moment for me.










I *may* or *may not* have bit back some tears. And gasps. I touched the Pacific Ocean. I did. And, MAN! That frickin' water is COLD!!!! It's like ice water!!!!! This warm-blooded Southern girl is spoiled to the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Florida and south. The Gulf of Mexico is like bath water in later summer. The Pacific??? ICE!!!! Yikes!

I took back my camera and we started exploring a bit. Here's my guys. Handsome things even if Brian closed his eyes.




I still can't believe I was here.




I was looking to capture texture and depth here. I think I got it.




Just for @Disneyfalcon 's travelin' toes blog! Kelly's toes went to the tide pools at Crystal Cove State Park!




Tracey is such a gentleman. He carried my boots a while for me.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

See?! Toes 'n Tide Pools!




Then I entertained myself gettin' a little artsy after I set my boots down for a few minutes. Texas (transplant) meets the Pacific.




Ahhhh...so beautiful. If you get bored with this, I understand. I write my reports largely for my family. They'll enjoy seeing what I was so busy doing while we were there.






Brian with all the other tide poolers further beyond.




I do love my boots. I do. These Lucchese beauties are soooo comfy. I them so.




I forget what they were looking at.




The little black lumpies towards the bottom of the picture nestled in the rock are mollusks. And they were IN there!




Just when you think "Okay. I've seen it." You look up and it's another gasp.




Is this the beach? Or is this the moon???




We had such a good time checking out the tide pools. Touching the Pacific Ocean was an incredible moment. I'm so glad we took the time to do it. We'll definitely return. We made our way back to the stairs/trail back up. I took this shot from the bottom looking up. The stairs.




So weird with the low brush off to the sides.




This was back up at the top as we were getting back onto the boardwalk path. There was a hummingbird feasting on these tiny blooms. Tracey tried to get a picture. There's a blurry odd shape in the bottom right of this picture. That's the hummingbird. Still a good shot of the brush, tho.




Random cactus! Funny (& true!) story. Driving along on the first time we went to San Antonio maybe 5 years ago I eventually started noticing random cactus/cacti(?) growing off the side of the highway. I pointed it out with such excitement. I had discovered something! "Look! There's a cactus! Look! There's another one! LOOK!!!! It's cactus!!!!! Growing randomly!" Tracey looked at me like I'd lost my mind. "Duh? What's so special about that?" Well HELLO! The only time I had ever seen a cactus up until then was growing in a little pot in a kitchen window. It was COOL! Soooooo, random cactus!




Walking back to the parking lot.




Tracey, my darling sweetheart of a husband, even used the bottled water I had to wash off my footsies for me before we left. What an angel he is.

 

[Californian Elitist]

Woohoo, trip report! Definitely not offended about the In-N-Out thing. I've noticed it's not always popular with those who aren't Californian. They don't season their fries. They just cut them up and fry them. Always gotta put salt on them.

You took some beautiful shots.

 

[stillgoofy]

Loving your report so far (have enjoyed many of yours in the past) The Pacific looks awesome. Can't wait to hear about your DL adventures. Being WDW vets also, we have never been to DL. We're going in September for the first time after our DCL Alaskan cruise. Love to hear from other DL newbies.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

We stopped on the way back thru Newport Beach to grab something to drink at a gas station. As we were pulling back out onto PCH Chandler had a full-on kitten for me to get this picture of the car across the street. This, apparently, is a Porsche Carerra GT. According to the car guy: there were 1270 of these made between 2004 & 2007, cost half a million originally, and now you'd pay more like $400k - $800K. They're rare to find in the US. Also of note, this is the same type car Paul Walker died in last year. Ride around Newport with my kid. I'm telling you, it's a wild ride and constant rattle of information.




I tried and failed at getting a shot of the Ferrari dealership.




On the way back we stopped at a tiny half-a-Walmart in Huntington Beach. We stocked up on bottled water, sodas, and a few other things. We also stopped by the Sheraton on Harbor by the convention center to drop off some bottled water for @derelicte19 & @TiggerLuv18. Yes, people, there's perks to being my friend. I will do nice things for you because I <3 you.

All day when we were driving around it kinda freaked me out the way when stopped at a traffic light motorcycles will ride up to the light in between all the cars. The roads already seemed narrow. Or maybe the Ford Expedition is wider than I'm used to the Chevy Tahoe? Either way, it startled me every time. OH! And then every time we'd see a big motorcycle someone would inevitibly announce, "Look! A Laughing Devil!" Or "Look! Sin Mob!"

Back at the Disneyland Hotel, we valet parked the rental for the night at the bargain price of $22.

This is a little sitting area near the curb and entry to the Disneyland Hotel.




Mickey & Minnie statues to greet us.




We went upstairs, unpacked, settled in, and decided to lay down for a wee bit of a nap. It was only 5:30 pm on the west coast but back home it was 7:30 and we'd been up since early. And without a whole lot of sleep. So we thought we'd catch a quicky hour or so.

Chandler woke us up 4 hours later at 9:30. He was apologetic, said he was very hungry but didn't know where the food was. I promise you Tracey & I would've slept straight thru to morning.

We ran down to the onsite counter service place, Tangaroa Terrace. We just made it before the 10:00 closing. We ordered our food then sat down to wait. It's counter service because you order at the counter but they give you a number to put on your number holder on the table. Then, they bring out the food to you. On real plates. With real cutlery.

We were the only ones there and apologizing profusely to all the CMs at being the last inconvenience at the tail end of the night. We explained that we were jetlagged. I've never experienced THAT before. The CMs were so super duper nice going out of their way to make us feel at home. Not long after our food arrived the one lady who had been working the register came over to us to check on us. She also said she was about to close her register and wanted to be sure we had enough to eat before she did in case we might want something more.



Such service. Such kindness and consideration. No, we didn't want anything else but feeling cared for sure did make us feel right at home.

On our way back out to our room I snapped a picture of the water slide tower all lit up at night. The classic Disneyland sign is so cool! And the slides are monorails! Oh yes. We are HOME.




Instagrammed it! This one you can see where water falls from beneath the words on the sign. It's such a fun themed area and so pretty at night.




We returned to our room & I organized for an early morning tomorrow. I was in bed and falling right to sleep at 11:30.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Woohoo, trip report! Definitely not offended about the In-N-Out thing. I've noticed it's not always popular with those who aren't Californian. They don't season their fries. They just cut them up and fry them. Always gotta put salt on them.

You took some beautiful shots.

Oh I'm glad you're not offended! I was worried about that. No seasoning on things is quite foreign to us. We season the crap out of everything. It's how we eat. I was also really thrown by no mayo. The moment I heard it I had to really think about it because I don't even know what to do with that. LOL!

Thank you. I'm no photographer that's for sure. I have @fractal to thank for the camera recommend. It suits me perfectly.

Loving your report so far (have enjoyed many of yours in the past) The Pacific looks awesome. Can't wait to hear about your DL adventures. Being WDW vets also, we have never been to DL. We're going in September for the first time after our DCL Alaskan cruise. Love to hear from other DL newbies.

Thank you and I'm so glad you're going to join us again! Oh yes, the DL portion starts the next day bright and early. This was our first parks vacation in almost 3 years so it was a bit of an adjustment. Definitely glad we did it. There's a whole lotta magic in these west coast parks. And Walt's park. As a self-respecting Disney fan there's a certain homage that I felt I owed the park Walt built. So much history. It's like being in a holy place. Just you wait.

Ooooooh Alaska! Now there's a trip on our bucket list, too!

 

[sweetpee_1993]

So there's the start, y'all. Gonna be a slight pause before we move onto the actual Disneyland portion while I wait for the impending arrival of our Photopass CD. I ordered it last week and paid the upgraded express shipping. I expect it'll be here in the next few days. The pics are uploaded and ready to go. I have a few more videos to get situated then we'll be set to take off running. Until then, rest assured there's some good stuff to come. New friends, old friends, a visit to the most sobering yet magical of locales, sandblasting, lotsa laughs, quality time with the teens, and squeals of terror and/or delight. It's all gonna be right here. What do you expect? Go west they said. Well go west we did!

 

[Disneyfalcon]

Woo hoo!! So excited you started! And you started with toeses!! Yay!!

I loved your story of dipping your toes in the ocean. It's so sweet!

And yes, I would totally play that headboard every night if I had my own. And what better way to wake up?

I do love In-N-Out, but Stephen really could take it or leave it. As Tracey and I discussed though, their milkshakes are to die for.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Woo hoo!! So excited you started! And you started with toeses!! Yay!!

I loved your story of dipping your toes in the ocean. It's so sweet!

And yes, I would totally play that headboard every night if I had my own. And what better way to wake up?

I do love In-N-Out, but Stephen really could take it or leave it. As Tracey and I discussed though, their milkshakes are to die for.

I did get started! No move = faster trip report! I prob'ly should've been patient and waited for my Photopass CD to arrive. But since when am *I* patient?! That's right. Never. Aaaaaand NEVER. LOL! BTW, the SM shot from the ride with you wasn't on my card. Instead I got some other random family. You know what that means, right? Do-over! Hahahahahaha!!!!

Thank you. I know it's trivial at best to the rest of the world. Heck, it sounds fairly trivial and even leaning towards cliche to tell it. Dipping my toes in the Pacific Ocean was such a huge thing to me. I might as well have built a dust castle on the moon.

The headboard. Confession. The whole reason I was so in love with the idea of paying whatever it took to stay at the Disneyland Hotel for my first trip was for the headboard. And the faucet knobs on the sink & tub. Is that totally pathetic or what??? Mickey knew what he was doing when he put those things in during the recent refurb ~AND~ brought you awesome photog people out to tour and photograph them.

 

[TheMouseFan]

I can't wait to hear your take on Disneyland! That is where I want our next big trip to be, so I am excited to hear about your experiences!

 

[disney4life2008]

You'd think the first family trip for Disney fans out west we'd be chomping at the bit to get into the parks. Oh no. I was smarter than that. Disneyland's parks are largely locals parks. On the weekends they're significantly more busy than weekdays. Besides, Disneyland isn't the only thing out west worth seeing. We had a few things we wanted to do. So, we rented an SUV from the Alamo car rental place that's right there in Downtown Disney and set off in search of adventure. And lunch. We were starving!

For lunch we zipped into an extremely packed California favorite that we've heard so many people rave about: In-N-Out Burger!




One of the things we were sure to try was the not-on-the-menu, highly touted "Animal Fries".




Californians, you may want to skip the final assessment part here. I don't want you to hate me.

Either we went to a not-very-good In-N-Out location (that's plausible) or it's a lot of hype for nothing. The burgers were okay. Nothing exceptional. No mayo? Really? How do you eat a burger without mayo? Or fries? Now let us discuss the fries. How do you eat fries that have no taste? Or salt? The animal fries were edible because there was stuff on them to give them some taste but the fries themselves were like eating nothing. No taste. Tracey refused to eat his. Brian, not usually a fry guy anyway, wouldn't eat them. I ate a few then devoured the ones that had the animal goo on them. Chandler didn't eat many of the fries either. Verdict: In-N-Out isn't that great. ((Noteably, I tried Sprinkles cupcakes [they started out in CA & have a lot of hype] a few weeks before this trip and they weren't that swooft either.))


In-N-Out verdict reached unanimously, we proceeded on out to Huntington Beach. When I spotted this sign I had to take a few pictures. Pacific Coast Hwy! We were THERE! We saw this!!!! Not in pictures. Not on tv. Not in a movie. We SAW this!

In-N-Out Burger is hit or miss. To California residents - there is no comparison. It kind of ironic - NYC has this place called Shake Shack (which is there answer to In-N-Out). I have had both many many times. Shake Shack is ridiculously priced and disgusting. I, however, LOVE In-N-Out Burger. I prefer it over McDonalds when I am in Vegas or California. But it is a taste that takes time to get used to. I am sorry you did not enjoy it.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

I can't wait to hear your take on Disneyland! That is where I want our next big trip to be, so I am excited to hear about your experiences!

I can't wait to get started! If it's any indication of our final overall feelings about DL, Tracey & I already have plane tickets purchased to go back.

In-N-Out Burger is hit or miss. To California residents - there is no comparison. It kind of ironic - NYC has this place called Shake Shack (which is there answer to In-N-Out). I have had both many many times. Shake Shack is ridiculously priced and disgusting. I, however, LOVE In-N-Out Burger. I prefer it over McDonalds when I am in Vegas or California. But it is a taste that takes time to get used to. I am sorry you did not enjoy it.

See. Now I'd be willing to try In-N-Out one more time just to be sure it wasn't a crumby location on a bad day. Ya know? A few Californians we talked to during the trip told us stories of coming to Texas and being told they HAD to have Whataburger. No. Whataburger is good like better than McDonalds good but it's all fast food. Whataburger does have excellent hangover taquitos for breakfast. This is true. We compared In-N-Out to Five Guys. Five Guys isn't Texan but we have those here. Five Guys is waaaay better...... .....yeah, there's a whole story behind THAT sentence. Not exactly a good thing to say. Loudly. To strangers. In front of thousands of people.

McDonalds is good drunk food. Or hangover food. I wouldn't recommend that as legit food, for sure.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

visited a in n out in san fran for 1st time last year at the wharf and the line was ridiculously long

the other nicer places practically had no lines LOL

any ways i tried it to cross it off my bucket list and have to say...

i wasnt really impressed either

Oh good. So we weren't the only ones. Like I said, I'd try it again just to know we didn't catch an off location on an off day. The one we visited was so super tiny and ridiculously crowded. We bought our food then took it to the car to eat because there was NO available seating. At all.

 

[disney4life2008]

I can't wait to get started! If it's any indication of our final overall feelings about DL, Tracey & I already have plane tickets purchased to go back.




See. Now I'd be willing to try In-N-Out one more time just to be sure it wasn't a crumby location on a bad day. Ya know? A few Californians we talked to during the trip told us stories of coming to Texas and being told they HAD to have Whataburger. No. Whataburger is good like better than McDonalds good but it's all fast food. Whataburger does have excellent hangover taquitos for breakfast. This is true. We compared In-N-Out to Five Guys. Five Guys isn't Texan but we have those here. Five Guys is waaaay better...... .....yeah, there's a whole story behind THAT sentence. Not exactly a good thing to say. Loudly. To strangers. In front of thousands of people.

McDonalds is good drunk food. Or hangover food. I wouldn't recommend that as legit food, for sure.

I have went to Five Guys twice (once in NYC) and the other in Illinois. Both times I walked away feeling jipped. It is expensive and the burgers are not that great. Though, I love the peanuts, lol. The fries are very soggy. So IDK but everyone I know loves Five Guys.

 

[disney4life2008]

I can't wait to get started! If it's any indication of our final overall feelings about DL, Tracey & I already have plane tickets purchased to go back.

I think you had posted a few months back that you were sad many attractions were closed during your trip. Did this make traveling to to the resort bad or did you have a great time still?