Trip Report If March was a Whirlwind-July was a Tiny Tornado!

Hello All!
We've been back from our Disneyland quick trip for a few weeks and I decided to quit being lazy and get this mini report started!

I decided on somewhat short notice that if we wanted to get a little adventuring in before Ariel, now self declared Aurora, started back to school the second week of August we needed to get a hustle on.
So on short notice, Aleisha, Elsa (still loyal), Aurora and I were headed south to Anaheim!

When-an overnighter July 28th to the 29th.
Lodging-For some reason there are many names for this place. Best Western Plus, and or Park Place Inn and Mini Suites. Boy do I miss staying on Disney property.

So follow along if you would like to hear about our merry mini adventure!

 

[MickeyCB]

Oh my goodness, what a sweet (and short!) trip! Elsa sitting next to the real Aurora on her dress had me melting, and then the new story about the marker - amazing stretch from one to the other! I have a feeling that once I finally make it to Disneyland I may feel the same way since I've grown up on WDW and love it so much. Pretty sure I wouldn't be able to afford to stay on property there, and that would be hard for me (I think). Thank you for taking the time to do the report and it's so nice to see your faces again

Thank you for following along and she's one of these sweet and salty types!
The good news is there are plenty of hotels outside of the parks and a lot of bloggers who have reviewed them for quality, safety (location), etc.

 

[fractal]

Thanks for the report! DL is a different animal than WDW for sure. You never get that "Disney bubble" feel you do in Orlando, but I love the history and all the attractions jammed into two parks that you can literally walk from one to the other.

Japan would be awesome! Hope you get there.

 

[Songbird76]

I think you will find Disneyland will grow on you. I had been to DL multiple times growing up and through my 20s and preferred its size to WDW when I first started going to WDW. And then I was a bit meh with DLP in the begging and looked at it as a “fix” in between my WDW trips and over the years I’ve grown to love it (and appreciate that I can go for a day or two and not be exhausted when I leave).

Thanks for bringing us along on your trip!

This is how I feel about DLP. We've only been there once, but it just isn't the same. The food isn't as good and not as special....none of the really themed things like 50s prime time, or whispering canyon, etc...the fun stuff with antics. And while the Pirates attraction is infinitely better in DLP, they don't have Soarin' which is one of my favorites. I think it they had better food options and a soarin' ride, I could quite happily make it a substitute.

When you go there for short trips, do you stay on property? I have wanted to go to WDW for my 50th birthday for ages, but that's next December, and it's not safe to travel to the US right now. So that's not going to happen, and I'm probably going to have to make do with going to DLP instead. I'm just wondering where we should stay.

 

[Songbird76]

She keeps us on our toes for sure!
I was just face timing the girls, they were sitting at their craft table, and she looked at me, smiled and took a red magic marker and drew on her face!
So quick! Her mom grabbed for it, but only after she has (a blessedly water based) large reg circle on her face!

If I remember correctly, wasn't Aurora quite a handful when she was smaller, too? Climbing was a particular problem, wasn't it?

 

[Swissmiss]

When you go there for short trips, do you stay on property?

In fact, I just got back last night from a weekend trip. No, I rarely stay on property; I just can’t seem to justify the price. I usually have an AP, so don’t need the tickets that are included in a stay on property and I often don’t need the number of days’ tickets either (we usually arrive in the evening after the parks are closed for the day). I have priced out my non Disney hotel plus purchasing tickets separately and it almost always comes out cheaper.

We usually stay at Relais Spa Val d’Europe - all the rooms have kitchenettes and they have a concierge navette to the parks and back - you simply call from the drop off point when you want to go back to the hotel and they send someone to pick you up. And if you join their website you get 10% off the published room price. I have stayed at many other off property hotels but since finding this one (by chance) we usually don’t go anywhere else.

I spent my 50th at DLP

 

[Swissmiss]

The food isn't as good

I should have added that the other advantage of staying in Val d’Europe is there are some good restaurants.