Trip Report Never Grow Up…Disneyland 2022

Hi All! Long time, no trip reports! As in - it’s been over a decade (I think?) since I’ve written one! I’ve really enjoyed the Besties Disneyland report and thought I’d share a little bit of my trip out to DL.
My trip almost (but not quite!) over lapped with the Besties.
When: President’s Day Weekend 18-20 February 2022
Who: Myself and my 18 year old son - who graduates from high school this year (can’t believe it!)

A photo of my son on his first trip to WDW in 2008:

(Honey I shrunk the kids playground anyone?)

And here he is now (with me - so hello everyone!):

He grew Just a little bit! But, no matter how tall he gets - here’s hoping he always has room in his heart for a little bit of Disney magic!

A little bit about me/ us. As mentioned -Our first WDW trip was in 2008. My in laws took us and put us up at the Poly. I really wasn’t looking forward to the trip - I thought it would be cheesy and I wouldn’t like it. Well, joke was on me because despite it being Easter weekend and the parks being absolutely packed, we LOVED everything about WDW. Then I found these boards and the wonderful agents at Kingdom Konsultants (shout out to Marie who planned not one but two trips for my crazy extended family over the years!) - and the trips started being booked and haven’t really stopped since!
At times we’ve been AP holders, at other times we’ve only gone once or twice a year. As my kids have gotten older, my daughter still loves all things Disney but my husband and my son have wanted to focus on other trips to other destinations.

That’s why this trip was so special - my husband and my son travel together for fishing and sport events, etc and my daughter and I have done a solo trip to WDW - so when my son agreed to go with me to DL I jumped at the chance!

We had been to DL one other time when we drove Route 66. A side by side of my son from that trip and this one:

 

[erstwo]

Day 1: 18 February

We were on the early flight out of town. I checked us in late, so we were in different rows on the plane.

I posted these on the DL forum for someone asking about Uber from LAX. I usually have business north of LA when I fly in, so usually I rent a car. I found the process of getting to my Uber no more difficult than getting to my rental car.
I guess if I was flying into Ohare in January I’d dislike this bus/ waiting area/ pick up set up. But with the weather usually so nice in LA, it didn’t bother me at all.

 

[erstwo]

Our Uber ride was a short(?) 45 minute drive (I felt like that was amazing time!) to our hotel - the Suncoast Park Hotel Anaheim - Tapestry Collection by Hilton (is that a name or what??). Evidently it is a former Country Inn and Suites that was completely remodeled.

We breezed in about 10 am and checked in, stored our luggage and we were off to the parks!
——

Our park reservation for this day was for California Adventure. When my son was little he LOVED Cars (or Cars cars - as we called them ). So I wanted as much Radiator Spring time as possible on this trip.

Anna and Elsa were out!

I thought this was such a fun ‘COVID’ photo set up! Loved seeing this first thing.

We were hungry so we set off on a mission to find some lunch!

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Always fun to see Disneyland reports!

 

[erstwo]

Always fun to see Disneyland reports!

Thank you! Disneyland really is such a special place!

 

[erstwo]

Day 1: continued

We took a right at (what I think is called?) Carthay Circle - towards Smokejumpers Grill.
Side note: I guess Smokejumpers is named this for the firefighters? I kept meaning to look around at the theming to confirm but they were still gatekeeping the doors for mobile orders/ keep crowds down so I never got to confirm. Too bad because I’ve worked on arial/ aviation firefighting platforms before and I would have loved to see that occupation addressed in Disney theming! (Had to come back to add: evidently I was wrong. I did briefly go inside because I have some photos of the interior! It was the end of the trip and I must have been exhausted because I have no memory of this! )

Anyway - we mobile ordered and my son went inside for pick up.

I believe he got the spicy chicken sandwich and I got the grilled chicken salad. I really enjoyed my salad and the chicken was good - better than WDW quality but I will say again, I really, really wish the chicken could be served hot on top of the salad!

We booked a LL for Soarin while we waited for our food.

Ears are on - it’s go time!

We had time to burn before our LL so we wandered towards Pixar Pier.

At first we were headed for Incredicoaster but the mid day waits had hit and I think it was nearly 2 hours. So we wandered farther.

Inside Out was down our whole trip. Bummer.

We settled on this for our first ride of the trip. Ha! It was a beautiful, fun way to see the Pixar part of the park though!

 

[erstwo]

We still had about an hour to kill before our LL so we slowly wandered.
We saw Jessie on our way back! (I tried very hard not to elbow any small children out of the way for this photo!

My son was hungry and ready for ‘second lunch’. So while he ordered the bulgogi tacos (or maybe quesadillas??). I felt that I really ‘needed’ a Jack Jack num num

My favorite shadow:

 

[fractal]

Checking in for another Disneyland report!

 

[TheMouseFan]

Yay! Another DL report! I WILL make it out there one day!! But until then, I'll just enjoy everyone else's trips!

 

[erstwo]

Checking in for another Disneyland report!

Glad to have you!

Yay! Another DL report! I WILL make it out there one day!! But until then, I'll just enjoy everyone else's trips!

You will! And when you go, you’ll be so glad you did - I know I was! The distance seems daunting but it’s so worth it for the experience.

 

[erstwo]

Day 1 continued:
My son’s mobile order was ready but he’s a big kid and doesn’t need me to sit with him to eat (or so I thought) so I did some window shopping while he got his food and ate.

Really loved both of these shirts. Dory and Doug are my spirit animals- but decided against purchasing.
This photo is time stamped 1:21 and Pacific Wharf was PACKED.

Oddly enough - I don’t remember a ton from our 2015 Disneyland trip. I remember more about Disneyland Paris in 2017 when I was seriously jet lagged, than I do our two park days in California.
What I do remember clearly was how different DL was than WDW. And by different, I mean a day at DL was, by far, way more relaxed than any day I’d ever had at WDW - pool days and Downtown Disney/ Disney Springs days at my WDW resort included.
We were there in June of 2015 and I don’t know if summer is/ was a low time for DL back then or what, but my overall memory if that trip is more of a ‘feeling’. It wasn’t maddeningly rushed like it can sometimes be in Florida and my favorite part was how families would bring blankets and put them down on the curbs of Main Street or betweeen the planters at the World of Color viewing area and have some dinner and then -about 10 minutes before the parade or fireworks- they would throw away their trash, fold up their blankets and everyone would calmly fill in the space - little kids towards the front so everyone could see.
It was the best/ weirdest/ calmest thing. I remember wondering why it couldn’t be that way at WDW. Different culture in California? Different climate- Is it the heat in Florida that makes some folks crazy? Anyway - to this trip- we definitely experienced the press of the crowds and a lack of calmness at lunch this day!
In fact, I should have gone with my son to pick up his food so I could have found a table for him while he was getting his food.
He finally did find a table only to have a mom come over when he was about halfway through his food and tell him her son (who was sort of sitting off the corner of the table in a chair that might - or might not- have gone ‘with’ the table was saving that table for them and my son needed to leave. Frustrated by the lack of places to sit (even the tops of the trash cans were occupied ). He threw away about half of his food.
I felt so bad once I joined him and heard what happened.
But he was excited for Soarin and so was I. We headed that way.

Max was out - entertaining lots of kids by fishing with a rubber chicken - but I just missed capturing him in the photo above.

We arrived at Soarin and saw a long line. Walked right past it only to discover it was the Lighting Lane line. . The photo above is when we’re about 2/3 through the outdoor portion of the line
It moved pretty quickly though and we were on the ride in about 10-15 minutes.

We enjoyed the ride but there was definitely some damage to the screen in the middle towards the bottom. My son (who makes friends wherever he goes) had chatted up out fellow row sitters and the lady next to him on our ride actually mentioned the damage several times to him during the ride.
Oh well. Stil a cool experience.
When we exited, this group was performing and they were awesome! So much talent in one group. Wish I had even 1/10th of that!

At this point the Hilton app said our room was ready.
My son was exhausted from the early flight and I needed to change my shoes. So we headed out of the park to walk back to our hotel.
More to come on Day 1!

 

[amjt660]

Great to see another DLR report

Glad that you had some one on one time with your son at Disney

It was the best/ weirdest/ calmest thing. I remember wondering what it couldn’t be that way at WDW. Different culture in California? Different climate- Is it the heat in Florida that makes some folks crazy?

I think the major difference is the park guests
WDW is primarily a tourist park and the guests have a set amount of days in the parks so that do not want to miss anything
DLR is primarily a locals park - who come on a regular basis - so if they miss a ride today they will just get it next time

Following along

Max

 

[erstwo]

Great to see another DLR report

Glad that you had some one on one time with your son at Disney



I think the major difference is the park guests
WDW is primarily a tourist park and the guests have a set amount of days in the parks so that do not want to miss anything
DLR is primarily a locals park - who come on a regular basis - so if they miss a ride today they will just get it next time

Following along

Max

Agreed! With all the hotels just outside of the DL gates, it’s tempting to think there are just as many tourists at DL as WDW, but I’m sure the number of hotel rooms in Anaheim pale in comparison to the number in the area in and around WDW in Orlando.

 

[Darstarr]

….makes my heart go pitter patter.

Here

 

[erstwo]

Day 1 - still ()
Horace was entertaining these kids as we left the park. They were giggling at everything Horace did and it was honestly so joyful and adorable. What a great character interaction for these kids and their families!

On Google maps, it looked like our hotel was quite a distance from the DL gates. In reality- it was a rather short walk. I would compare it to walking from the International Gateway at Epcot to the Swan or Dolphin.
This is the view of the hotel in the distance. And right behind me, and to my left, was the entrance to DL and DCA.

Our room:

It took me a while to find a hotel for this trip. Our last trip we stayed at the Embassy Suites Anaheim. But it’s a good distance to the parks from there and I wanted something closer. There were so many mixed reviews about the hotels close enough to walk. This one was the only one that had consistently good reviews about cleanliness, etc. We were really happy with our stay. It was very clean. No daily room service, but I’ve come to expect that in these pandemic times.
It was easy enough to get new towels by either stopping by the front desk or calling down and having someone bring them up. Staff was friendly. I would definitely stay here again.
My son was very tired and wanted a nap. I’m not really a nap person but my feet were really hurting, so changed my shoes and headed back to DCA.
Oddly, my feet didn’t feel that much better in my comfortable shoes. I kept wondering why I was still in so much pain, but it wouldn’t be until the next day when I would discover that I actually had a huge blister on my little toe on my right foot. And I wasn’t doing it any favors by continuing to walk on it.

Oh well, I started with an activity I knew my son would not enjoy. Shopping. I walked through the shops at the front of the park, and saw a few things I thought my daughter might like and sent her some pictures.

Then I decided I would just continue exploring. When we entered the park earlier that day, we turned right towards Soarin’. This time I turned left.

I saw Philharmagic and decided to rest my sore feet for a moment and watch the updated movie.
Loved the waiting area for Philharmagic at DL! WDW always seems so cramped and weirdly configured. This was nice and spacious. I’ve since read, that it’s so big because this is a reused space.

I liked the Coco addition, it’s nice to have something new and it was well done, but I didn’t love it. I LOVE Coco and the meaning of the movie but it’s something about the skeletons that is a little jarring for me (for some reason, the skeletons didn’t bother me in the movie - just somehow they did in Philharmagic??) and the song they chose wasn’t my favorite Coco song by any means. Am I the only one?
Anyway, my silly rant about Coco aside (sorry yall!). I will say the WDW Philharmagic is much better. The separation of the screens during the panoramic scenes just isn’t the same as the effect you get at WDW. All in all though - enjoyed getting to see it and compare the theaters!
(ETA - I forgot to talk about how incredible the CM was at Philharmagic! He was so funny! He ad-libbed along to the preshow, for example when Goofy (in audio form) was stomping around “getting ready for the show,” and the audience hears him accidentally step on a cat- the CM picked up the microphone and exclaimed, ‘I didn’t know we had a cat!’ Lots of dad jokes like that and they made me laugh. It was great)
When I exited the theater I found myself in a weird kind of area that was a little bit old Hollywood themed but also had a large metal building that houses a huge Avengers campus gift shop. I headed in there to look and see what they had inside.

I haven’t seen any of the Avengers movies, but I know a few things through Pop culture. Like who Iron man is, that sort of thing. My daughter just finished watching all of the movies in order. So I took some more merchandise photos for her.

 

[erstwo]

Day 1 - (still )
After the Avengers store, I was staring to feel my early morning wake up so I headed toward Starbucks.

Loved the theming of this Starbucks. The photos of the Silver Lake Sisters were just too cute and glamorous.
Taking my coffee and my snack to go - I headed back towards Pixar Pier for my LL reservation.

I was ready to take on Incredicoaster. I’m a bit of a nervous coaster rider so I wasn’t sure how I would like it. As a single rider, I was paired with a nice young guy. I asked him what he thought of the ride as we loaded and had our harness check but he hardly said two words to me.
Oh well - off we went and I really loved the ride! Although you can’t tell from my face. . In my defense, I didn’t know where the camera was.

I also don’t have a photo pass copy of this photo because I didn’t know yet that you get your photos by entering in the number at the top of the photo onto your Disney app. So I cut off the number when I made my photo. Oh well - if there are any I’m glad to not have a high def copy of - it’s definitely this one!
It was getting dark but my son wasn’t answering the phone and our dinner reservation wasn’t until 8:50, so I continued on solo - heading for the Silly Swings because I knew my son had no interest in riding them.
On my way, I saw Jessie’s Critter carousel had a 15 minute wait. So I got in line.

There were so many kids in line that I ended up sitting with another mom on the bench - which was just as well since I was wearing a dress and I didn’t think any of the critters had side saddles.
Next, I went to the Ferris Wheel because the wait time for the stationary cabs said 20 minutes.

I ended up waiting almost 40 minutes. Bummer.
But the views were great!

I finally got in touch with my son who was getting ready to head back to the park.
I continued my circle and went to my LL for Gooofy’s Sky School.
No photos but I really enjoyed this ride! Again, as a single rider, I was paired with someone. This time it was a CM in a pantsuit - management?- who was on the ride to look for a lost hat.
We didn’t find it, but she had a good time laughing at my shock on the sharp curves and I had a good time talking to her.
Next up: We discover the HearthStone Lounge at the Grand Californian and try our only Table Service Reservation: Storytellers Cafe.

 

[cgersic]

I am seriously digging the Disneyland trip report rush we've been getting lately!! I haven't been but I realllly need to! Enjoying your report.

 

[erstwo]

….makes my heart go pitter patter.

Here

Glad to have you!

I am seriously digging the Disneyland trip report rush we've been getting lately!! I haven't been but I realllly need to! Enjoying your report.

I know! There are so many of us who have been or are going. But I’m loving it too. So fun to learn more about what the west coast offers. I kept seeing things in the Besties trip report that I missed, i guess now I’ll ‘have’ to go back so I can experience them.

 

[MickeyCB]

In a little late but enjoying your trip report!

 

[erstwo]

In a little late but enjoying your trip report!

Thank you! Glad you are here!