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
Another item I wanted to check off our Disneyland bucket list was the matterhorn. My mom didn’t want to come as much as I tried to convince her it’d be ok haha.



Then we went on Pinocchio’s Daring Journey which was cute.




We walked back over to Pirates since it was closed every time we tried to get on and it was open now!



I think pirates is way cooler in Disneyland!

I had been stalking the riverboat because I heard that Louis from Princess and the Frog occasionally meets there. We had seen Tiana there earlier in the week but didn’t stop for a picture (I don’t know why) but every time we walked by, no Louis. Dr. Facilier was out though and nobody was waiting to meet him so we chatted with him for a few minutes.


Then of course more castle pictures :)






We had time before the showing of Mickey & the Magical map that we planned on going to, and when thinking about what we wanted to do—we both said go to Towntown. I loved Disney World's toontown so it was fun to see Disneyland's.


 
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samantha788

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Original Poster
The line wasn’t too long to meet Mickey, so we decided to wait. His house is deceivingly huge haha.






Minnie had a pretty long wait so we moved on.



Another Easter Egg and some more pictures before Mickey & The Magical Map.






I LOVE this show. I was so excited for my mom to see it too. The music is so good, the story is cute, and I love the variety of characters.











 
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samantha788

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Original Poster




The princess part is SO good. It’s all good, but you all have learned by now how much I love the princesses haha












After the show, we went for a loop on the monorail. Then we headed to the front of the park to find the gang in their 60th anniversary outfits.




Pluto and another pup!



Another thing on the bucket list was to meet the gang in their special diamond anniversary outfits. Every time we kept missing them though, and this being our last afternoon I was determined to sit out there until I saw them—especially Goofy. As we were standing there a character attendant said Goofy would be out in a few minutes but not sure where he’s heading so just follow him.
That’s exactly what we did. Then I literally open armed ran for a goofy hug hahaha. I love him, he’s the best and looked so handsome.:inlove::inlove:
My mom ended up telling him the same thing, she didn’t hear what I had said hahah.




 
cgersic

cgersic

Well-Known Member
samantha788 said:
Soon enough, Minnie came to say hi.


Then Eeyore! I was beyond excited to see Eeyore. He was full of hugs and so cuddly, I just wanted to stay with him all day haha. He came back over to us several times.



Then we had a second so went to get some food. The waffles were yummy.



Then Chip came over and my mom got into a fun little argument with him about who is chip and who is dale haha. It was really funny and the table next to us were chiming in and laughing too.





Then MAX! This is so exciting.


Captain Hook came next and was being nice then tried snatching my mom’s wedding band hahaha. He came back a few times too trying to get it.





Then Dale! It’s love hahaha.:inlove::inlove: He was full of hugs and kisses.





And lastly, Tigger! He’s so cute.



We only missed Pooh and the Fairy Godmother. Pooh had been in our room for a little bit but never came back and we saw the Fairy Godmother the other day so were okay moving on.
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You two are so cute!!! Looks like a really fun breakfast!
 
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samantha788

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Original Poster
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samantha788

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
After we saw Goofy, Minnie came out so we waited a couple minutes in her line too. We had a great talk, she loved my ears and I loved her dress and shoes. Her character attendant said I have to see the rest of her closet haha.






Earlier in the day, when passing through Fantasyland, I had asked the attendant if Anna & Elsa would be out later since I had seen them meeting here the other day. She smiled, and whispered 3:00. YAY. :D
It was that time, so we walked over there and were some of the first people in line. Mary Poppins casually walking by


Then time to see Anna & Elsa! They loved baby Sven so much haha. Then they wanted to see all my Alex & Ani bracelets and especially liked the one of them. When we went to take a picture, I put down my hand that had Sven in it, and they were like NO! Sven has to be in the picture! Hahaha.





We headed back up Main Street next to get a spot for the parade, not staring into the sun this time ;). While there we got to see the flag retreat. I have always wanted to see this in Disney World but never seem to find ourselves there at the right time, so it was really cool to see in Disneyland and the whole thing was very special.



Then another round of Mickey’s Soundsational Parade!!:D










 
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samantha788

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Original Poster
It was looking like we may get a pretty sunset so I wanted to go over to Paradise Pier to take some pictures. Along the way, we stopped at Tower of Terror to pick up a fastpass. Then walked through cars land which was so pretty with the sun setting.







The actual sunset wasn’t as nice as I was hoping, but while standing there taking pictures we got to see them turn on all the lights around Paradise Pier.




It was about 6:00 at this time and we hadn’t eaten since breakfast so decided to eat grab food from Lucky Fortune Cookery & Cocina Cucamonga Mexican Grill. Food was delicious!


Then it was time for my Tower of Terror fastpass. Mom will not go on this so I went alone :(


Even with the fastpass, the wait was REALLY long. And by this time you could tell parks were much more crowded. It was a Friday night, and my ride on Tower of Terror alone was enough to make me thankful that we were there on quiet weekdays. There was a family next to me with a young girl, she was scared since it was her first time on the ride, and the unnecessary yelling by the teenagers the entire way through the line wasn’t helping.:(
 
bee

bee

Well-Known Member
I don't know if it's your beautiful photography or it just is this way, but from this report Disneyland seems so much brighter than WDW. Either way I am so enjoying your report and it makes me want to get myself over to California for a DLR trip!! Glad you could have a lovely time with you mom.
 
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samantha788

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Original Poster
coachwnh said:
Great parade shots!!!! Loving your report!
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Thank you! If you can't tell, I LOVE parades. I'm glad the rest of my family does too :)

FlaggNL said:
Really love your report! Great to see so much from California!! And the quality of your pics is so great and nice!
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Thank you so much! Love getting to share from Disneyland for a change :)

fractal said:
Continuing to love the report!

Cool place for a bachelorette party - agree; DL Pirates > WDW Pirates - Matterhorn is so much fun.
Beautiful photography!
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Thank you! Such a compliment coming from you :) Still so much to learn!!
bee said:
I don't know if it's your beautiful photography or it just is this way, but from this report Disneyland seems so much brighter than WDW. Either way I am so enjoying your report and it makes me want to get myself over to California for a DLR trip!! Glad you could have a lovely time with you mom.
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I think the spring feeling definitely helped everything seem brighter! All the flowers and trees were in bloom making it even better coming from cold and frequently gloomy NYC haha. You definitely need to plan a trip! It's so worth it, and so much to see in southern Cali. I'll post some pictures from our last day driving around a few of the beaches soon, but would have loved a few extra days to really take it all in (although it is hard to pull yourself away from DLR ;) ) Thank you for reading!!
 
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samantha788

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Original Poster
We decided for our last night, we’d watch Paint the Night & the fireworks again. I was concerned about finding a spot since we didn’t line up early. We agreed that we didn’t really care where we were standing, if we saw something that looked like a good place, we’d stay there instead of searching all over. As soon as we walked in there was a family sitting on a bench and nobody was standing behind them. This worked out to be a perfect set up and spot to watch!












Just so cool!








 

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