Trip Report 3 Days in Disneyland and 3,000 pictures later...A March Trip Report!

Hello Disney friends! :)
I really did started with 3,000 pictures after this trip haha, but dwindled a lot down so you won't have to sit through all of that :)

This trip report is a little overdue, but I still wanted to share our Disneyland trip with everyone.

This trip came together since I knew I would be in LA for work at the end of February and wanted to see all the 60th anniversary celebrations. I extended my trip through the rest of the week and my mom flew out to join me! I had been to Disneyland for a couple of day trips when I was in LA for work the last two years…I’d spend my couple of hours of down time in the park ;) My mom hasn’t been since she was a teenager!
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We fit a lot into our 3 days in the park, despite my poor mom being so sick with a fever the whole trip. She was a trooper! This toned down our pace, but still we checked a lot off our Disneyland to-do list, which included MANY parades, lots of characters and soooo many pictures:):):)

Tuesday- March 1
My mom wasn’t flying in until late Tuesday night, so after I finished my work stuff in LA, I headed down to Anaheim to check into our hotel and do some sightseeing. It was so tempting to run right to Disneyland but I held back to wait for my mom hah.

We stayed at the Holiday Inn Anaheim Resort Area. It took us forever to decide where we would stay. I really wanted to stay at the Disneyland Hotel, spent one night there before and fell in love, but really couldn’t justify the cost for this trip. There are so many surrounding hotels to choose from, it’s overwhelming. Eventually the price of the Holiday Inn caught our attention and the reviews were all positive so we decided to go for it. I can’t say enough great things about the hotel. The room was big and the beds were SO comfortable. I said I wanted to put a motor on it and ride it around Disneyland so I didn’t have to get up. The hotel also has a bus to the parks. Since we’re so used to taking the buses when we’re at Disney World, this didn’t bother us.
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Also, as soon as I walked into our room to drop my stuff off I freaked out when I noticed you could see EVERYTHING from the room! The backside of cars land, mickey’s fun wheel, the Tower of Terror, Paradise Pier Hotel & Disneyland Hotel, and just the very tip of Sleeping Beauty castle. That was a nice surprise and was a better view than any hotel I’ve had in Disney world!! I have pictures of the view later…

I was so anxious to get out so quickly changed and hopped in my car so I could get to watch the sunset in a place I’ve always wanted to go…Laguna Beach. It was beautiful!

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After taking in the sunset, I took my time and headed off to pick up my mom. Next up- day 1 at Disneyland!
 
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samantha788

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Original Poster
Wednesday-March 2

The park hours are so different than Disney World! This worked in my mom’s favor with her not feeling well. This day the park opened at 10am.




We took our time taking pictures and taking in all the sights of Main Street. It was so pretty with all the flowers blooming and the castle shimmering.







Our first stop…big thunder mountain with a whopping 5-minute wait!

I was so glad the timing of this trip happened to be a perfect time to visit in relation to crowds. It really wasn’t bad at all and we never waited too long for anything.








Big Thunder Mountain was fun! Here is where they have one of the fences up for star wars land. This is where Big Thunder Ranch used to be.


One of my favorite memories from my other time in Disneyland was here and the goats. I LOVE goats. I would have one as a pet if I could. So to get to play with the goats in Disneyland was really the coolest thing ever.
These were from last year-


He put his hoof on my knee and we became best friends.
 
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samantha788

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Original Poster
As we were walking around I spotted this easter egg. Not knowing until later that day, that it was the first day of the easter egg hunt around the park hah!


We wanted to go to pirates, my mom was anxious since I talked it up so much, but it was closed, so we moved on to the Haunted Mansion. After the Haunted Mansion we made our way to Critter Country and went on Pooh’s ride which was SO fun. I really loved it so much haha.









Pirates was still closed so I casually walked my mom over to fantasyland so we could say hi to the princesses! ;)



Cinderella <3




Belle is my mom’s favorite.



When we were walking out to check out the times of the Frozen & Tangled shows at Fantasy Faire, Anna & Elsa walked out and through Fantasyland. It’s so cool how the characters just walk around!!

 
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samantha788

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Original Poster
We were getting a little hungry and had some time before the next Frozen show, so a dole whip float is an appropriate lunch time snack!



Does it get any better?!



As we were walking back over to Fantasy Faire, we ran into the marching band!




Pluto and Goofy...:D


Time for Frozen! It's super cute and funny.








:inlove:




After Frozen it was time to meet my other favorites..Rapunzel and Flynn!

 
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samantha788

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Original Poster
Then we stopped for some pics by the castle as we made our way over to It’s A Small World.
I gave mom that Disneyland 60 Dooney wristlet for Christmas:)


We were taking a selfie, and this young eager couple was super nice and offered to take pictures for us. They were so sweet and on their honeymoon. Then I looked at the pictures and the top of the castle is missing in each one haha. I always laugh when that happens although kinda annoying too, but I do appreciate the pictures they took, they came out very nice!






Onto It’s a Small World. This was AWESOME. The outside alone is gorgeous. And we loved spotting all the characters inside!














 
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samantha788

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Original Poster
After It’s a Small World we stopped for a few more full castle photos hah before picking a spot to watch Mickey’s Soundsational Parade.
It was such a beautiful day!






We were waiting for the parade sitting in the sun and it felt SO nice. Wasn’t too warm, just felt good soaking up the sun. A welcome change from a NJ winter :)





All was good until we realized the direction the parade was coming from would mean looking right into the sun:facepalm: The only other times I’ve seen this parade it came from the castle, up main street, so the sun wouldn’t have been an issue. Well, not today hah. :banghead:









The princess float is so pretty!





 
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samantha788

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Original Poster












Bert pointed to my shirt and said he liked the color and that we match :)
This is a fun parade! My mom enjoyed it too and we both agreed we’d have to watch it again, not staring into the sun.


After the parade we headed back to the royal theatre for Tangled! I was so happy when I read this was coming back since I hadn’t gotten to see it before.
Like Frozen, the show was really cute and funny!








 
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samantha788

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Original Poster






I really love the shows they do here. They're simple and it's nice that the characters are there to tell the story along with the help of the other two guys, who are hilarious and play all the other roles!


When the show was over we noticed Anna & Elsa were meeting in fantasyland! The line was already cut off but we made a mental note for another day.
We ran into the Fairy Godmother and had a little time to kill before our dinner reservation. We both asked each other what we wanted to do and at the same time said “ride the carousel!”:p




Every time my mom tried to get my picture the horse was high, there were a series of deleted unflattering pictures haha.




After that funny ride, it was a good time to head over to our early dinner reservation at Blue Bayou!

 
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samantha788

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Original Poster
For Christmas, I made my mom a certificate for the Paint the Night dining package here. The restaurant was one I wanted to try, and knew she would like. And the bonus of reserved seating for Paint the Night was something I couldn’t pass up. Mom’s not big on crowds and after reading so much about people staking out spots hours in advance I was worried so this ended up being the perfect solution!

When we walked in, I noticed so many people with light up screens and thought goodness, why are there so many people on their ipads? Then when we opened our menus, it was the menus that were lit up!:rolleyes: So clever and made it way easier since it was so dark in there.




We both ordered the same thing- Gumbo and the Surf & Turf. We LOVED it. We still cant stop talking about how good everything was and the whole ambience was really neat too – despite sitting next to the kitchen hah.




As good as the dinner was, It was expensive. I’d like to come back to Blue Bayou, I know my dad and sister would love it too but I’m not sure we’d do the Paint the Night dining package. As nice as the reserved seating ended up being, later on in the report you’ll see we had no trouble getting good spots twice for the parade on another day (at least for a relatively quiet week).


When we left the restaurant the sun was just beginning to set and we stopped to take some pictures of the pretty hub!







Can never have enough castle & hub pictures :happy:

We had some more time before we could get our parade spots, so ventured into tomorrowland. This is where all the crowds were!! It was packed.



We ended up going on Buzz Lightyears Astro Blasters and had a blast :p I always do terrible on these rides, but ours was stopped for a little while so I just stayed on one target—and still ended up with a lousy score hahah.
 
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samantha788

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Original Poster
Then it was time for PAINT THE NIGHT! Since hearing that this parade was coming to Disneyland, I was dying to see it. It was the one thing I wanted to see on this trip more than anything and being minutes away from getting to was the best feeling.
The reserved seating was about 2/3 of the way back on main street and really wasn't crowded at all. We arrived right when they opened the ropes to the reserved section and ended up comfortably sitting on the curb. This alone made the dining package worth it!


FINALLY! Time to see Paint the Night for the first time :) I somehow had held off on watching videos of the parade but had seen some pictures and knew the floats, and when it was all put together in front of me...AMAZING!


This screen was so awesome, the colors are so vibrant and the animations are really cool!






Mack totally blew me away! A million times cooler than I anticipated. Even after seeing pictures, I didn't realize that it's all strings of lights. Maybe just a detail I hadn't picked up on..but in person was SO cool.








Ariel's float was so bright and fun!







BELLE! oh my goodness.:inlove::inlove::inlove:

 
Juneau Biscuits

Juneau Biscuits

Well-Known Member
Great trip report and fantastic photos! Looks like you and your mom had a blast. I'll be going to DLR in July to catch the tale end of the 60th anniversary celebration, so your report gives me a good idea of what to expect. Really looking forward to the Paint the Night parade. Thanks for sharing!
 
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samantha788

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Original Poster
ajrwdwgirl said:
Great trip report. I love the hub at Disneyland in the spring with those pretty pink trees. It also looks like you and your mom were having a great time together!
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Thank you so much! We definitely did. Can't beat the hub in the spring :)

Juneau Biscuits said:
Great trip report and fantastic photos! Looks like you and your mom had a blast. I'll be going to DLR in July to catch the tale end of the 60th anniversary celebration, so your report gives me a good idea of what to expect. Really looking forward to the Paint the Night parade. Thanks for sharing!
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Thank you so much! You will LOVE paint the night! So glad you'll be able to catch the 60th anniversary festivities. Definitely made the trip feel more special :)

WDWDarling said:
Loving your report! Trying to sell the DH on a Disneyland trip and your wonderful pictures are definitely helping :D.
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Hahaha, thank you! MANY more pictures to come, hoping they help even more!!
 
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samantha788

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Original Poster
Ah! So sorry for the lack of updates lately :( Emily (my best friend from my food and wine trip report) got married last weekend!!! And then this past week I drove from NJ to Colorado to move my sister out to Denver. Trying to get everything done before I go to Disney World on FRIDAY (!!!!) for my other friend’s bachelorette party! So much going on!

But first, back to Disneyland!

As soon as Paint the Night was over I wanted to watch it again! But since that wasn't an option, we made our way into Main Street to watch the fireworks.

It was so hard, and kind of annoying, to get a decent picture with the castle- everything in front of me was just a bunch of heads hah. The fireworks were neat though but what made it all cooler was the projections on main street!













By the time the fireworks ended, it was 8:00 and the park was closed. Mom was such a trooper not feeling well on day one so instead of lingering around, we hurried to the bus, made it back to the hotel and passed out!


 

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