Trip Report The “lets count the ways Land is greater than World” as seen through the eyes of the #noobsfromgeorgia.

Whelp, this may be a record start of a TR for me. I’m sitting in LAX right now waiting to board and doing my best to put off grading the 30 term papers I need to have done by Monday so why not start this report! There is no true PTR to reference for this trip other than the breadcrumbs I dropped over in the Deja Vu TR. The lowdown is as follows:
The crew: DW, DD, and Myself

Lodging: 1 night at Paradise Pier and 4 nights at The Grand Californian.
The plan: 2 days at Disneyland and 2 days at California Adventure in the following order CS/DL/CA/DL

Despite the title, I promise this wont be a dump on WDW TR but it was hard to ignore the things that DL does so dang well. That said, lets do this.

This journey starts with a night at the Holiday Inn & Suites Atlanta Airport-North. We’ve stayed here once before for a Disney trip and had a great experience. What is nice about this place is you get to park your car for the length of the trip just for staying the night at the hotel and they shuttle you to and from the airport. This is especially nice when you have an early flight, which we did. The accommodations are nice enough and serve the purpose.

We let yelp help us find dinner and found a fantastic taco stand located in a hole-in-the-wall in the bad side of town. Worth it!

As I said before we had to fly out at 06:13 which meant we had to get up early. Andrew W.K woke us up at 04:10 so we could get down to the lobby for the 4:40 shuttle. This was still better than the 3:00 wakeup call we would have had to do if we drove straight from home!

My naive mind had me thinking we would be the only folks at Atlanta’s Hartsfield–Action-Jackson- Atlanta International Airport and Spaceport. Yeah, it was hopping!

We had a mild wait to get through security and were soon enjoying some bagels at our gate with 30ish minutes to spare.

This was our first time flying American and I would absolutely fly them again! The complementary in-flight movies/TV on demand for laptops and iDevices was appreciated and every row had charges to plug your devise in! We got seated and I immediately had to embarrass the kid before watching The Avengers: Half Ya’ll Gonna Die.

 

[Swissmiss]

Just to be clear: Voltron is the third most beautiful thing after your wife and DD, right?

 

[lostpro9het]

Starting to really feel the length of our day we decided to find a place to relax a bit. Where better to relax than Trader Sam's? They had a beautiful fireplace setting just off the deck but we opted to enjoy our drinks on the deck. They had nice comfy couches that we were able to relax in.

We went with one grownup drink and one kid friendly drink. The adults shared the Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Rum

The kid went with the Skipper Sipper

Pretty accurate I'd say

While we relaxed we noticed a local had come and stretched out near us. He was a cutie but eventually got escorted off property by a CM.

If I hadn't mentioned it yet, the weather was fan-frickin-tastic this week! We had highs of around 70 each day and never broke a sweat. What was hilarious were the locals. Looking at them you would have figured a foot of snow on the ground and sub freezing temps. I wore shorts and a t-shirt every day and every day we saw people actually dressed like this, it was pretty funny:

This should be good... once you’ve tasted DL.. it’s hard to put it down

I know! The biggest thing is seeing how well things can be done and knowing they are not being done at WDW. Its as if WDW is saying: "sure we could do it better but why bother when the minimum is good enough for you Orlando folk?"

Just to be clear: Voltron is the third most beautiful thing after your wife and DD, right?

You know it! I ain't the smartest but I know a great thing when I see it.

 

[flynnibus]

Cali prices are painful... but the trip is worth it. Especially since you got to stay in gch (which knocks off most of the negatives my wife has about dl- leaving the bubble)

 

[Ariel1986]

Since the price of the sandwich has jumped $.50 in just a year I'm curious how much longer before we see the $10 ice cream sandwich in WDW. They are darn good, though!


Thanks for following along!
Having done PP and VGC I'm not sure how we could do DLH on future trip as we liked VGC so much. I enjoy having a balcony and really appreciated the private entrance into CA.

Yes that’s true we do miss a balcony. And that entrance is awesome- we use it anyway!

 

[imahistorygeek]

One thing I'm glad we didn't notice, until we landed, was the ice on the wing. I'm pretty sure this would have freaked out the DW even though I'm sure it was perfectly safe. I'll be honest, LAX was a breeze to navigate and get out of compared to ATL. We were quickly off the plan and waiting on our driver at the stand.

I didn't notice it and I'm glad I didn't. I know it's fine, but not something I want to see. I was able to relax on this flight and work on an essay that was due this Saturday. I paid for wifi and it worked better than our home wifi, so I was happy with the service.

Man, what a great experience at LAX. When I was asking for airport recs, a lot of people were saying don't fly into LAX if you have another choice. We did have other choices, ONT, LGB, and SNA, but those were all one-stops with our chosen airlines. We could have changed our flight to one of these for free due to the wildfires, but stayed with LAX. It was a breeze in and a breeze out. We're used to fairly long TSA lines in ATL and riding a train to our terminal. Maybe we just got lucky like we did with the LA traffic. Whatever the case, I'll take it.

I can't wait to hear more! I'm glad your flight was smooth. Super Shuttle is really the way to go when flying in to LAX (or SNA) their app is super easy to use, and it's a great way for them to communicate with you as well. We will be using them in a couple of weeks when we fly down ourselves.

When I was comparing our transportation options for DLR from LAX, I considered Disneyland Express, but didn't like having to stop at multiple hotels. It was nice being able to be picked up in a convenient spot for us. I liked having a direct route from LAX to DLR. With tip for 3 people it was less than $90 one-way. I also appreciated being dropped off at the Southwest terminal for our flight back to ATL.

It's funny that you mentioned the price difference of the churro ice cream sandwich, as I was shocked to see it was quite a bit cheaper at WDW in your earlier report. I'm a DL local, but still haven't bitten the bullet and paid $10 for it out here, so when I saw it was $7 there I immediately put it on my list of snacks to get on my upcoming trip!

I thought the price of the churro ice cream sandwich was high at DD. I just wanted a regular churro, so I thought to just get those at the parks. WDW folks who like churros - DL and CA churros put WDW churros to shame. Churro carts are everywhere. Every one I had was fresh and warm and a fun flavor. I'm not sure I'll ever be able to eat a WDW churro again.

For dessert the DD wanted some ice cream from Salt & Straw. The DD had plans of getting the Lucky Charms based Pots of Gold & Rainbows blend but decided against it after tasting it. Ultimately the ladies each went with a scoop of the Chocolate Gooey Brownie which was excellent.

We both went with a kid's portion, which was $5/scoop. It's about 1/2 cup of ice cream. I don't eat a lot of ice cream, so it was the perfect amount. It was super rich and tasty. DD said the lucky charm flavor was not good.

Ahh be still my beating heart Disneyland! It’s so awesome. It really has it’s own magic.I’m enjoying reading from inside WDW!

Yes, it does! It's a whole different vibe than WDW.

This should be good... once you’ve tasted DL.. it’s hard to put it down

This is 100% correct. I had it in my mind that it couldn't possibly surpass WDW, but I was very wrong.

 

[lostpro9het]

After our drinks we decided to explore a little more. We still needed to find Steakhouse 55 since we had an ADR there later this evening. We walked over to the convention center and found the restaurant as well as Goofy's Kitchen.

Goofy's had a cute Christmas tree out front too.

Still no room text I decided we should go check out the VGC since I wasn't sure how much time we would have later to take a relaxed tour of the grounds. We grabbed a coupe pics before leaving DLH.

Cali prices are painful... but the trip is worth it. Especially since you got to stay in gch (which knocks off most of the negatives my wife has about dl- leaving the bubble)

IMO, the prices were not terrible compared to WDW but we also rented points for VGC and stayed there for 4 nights for less than $2000. We also got our tickets from a broker and were able to get a 10-20% discount on all our food courtesy of our DVC card. The DW did a great job of sourcing some excellent airfare too. What was ridiculously priced was rack rate for PP. Other than the great view we ended up having, those rooms were essential value rooms.

Yes that’s true we do miss a balcony. And that entrance is awesome- we use it anyway!

It was so nice having that shortcut at the end of a long day!

 

[flynnibus]

Other than the great view we ended up having, those rooms were essential value rooms.

Yes I cringed when I read you were staying at PP... balanced out by saying you got vgc... otherwise I thought your trip may have been tainted

250/night sounds killer... how did you land that?

 

[lostpro9het]

Yes I cringed when I read you were staying at PP... balanced out by saying you got vgc... otherwise I thought your trip may have been tainted

250/night sounds killer... how did you land that?

Bah! That was a typo on my part my apologies. It was less than $2000 for the 4 nights. We rented points for the trip, 110 points. Yes, PP was more a mater of convenience for transferring our luggage from our first night hotel to VGC. We wont do it again, IMO. I think we would stay off property for the first night or try harder to get a full week at VGC.

 

[LadyBelle]

We stopped in at the Lego store along the way where I saw the third most beautiful thing I had ever laid eyes on. If ya’ll are curious as to what to get me for Christmas this year I give you the third most beautiful thing in the world

OMG. I now need to amend my Christmas List.....

 

[lostpro9het]

So we made our way across the street, from PP, to the GC. Two things were under construction/refurb during our trip; the first was the front entrance and the second was the pool bar, thankfully neither detracted from our stay. There is an obvious Wilderness Lodge vibe going on here and at first look I thought we were transported to Orlando. The lobby was hopping and folks were eagerly taking all things in. There is a subtle smell of artificial orange as you enter the lobby. I called it "The Tang" scent as it reminded me of a fake orange drink. The original Soarin scent was a a far better orange smell but still it was nice associating a scent with the lobby like the WDW resorts. Both the Christmas tree and gingerbread house were up. There was also a piano resting near the tree but no one playing it, yet. The had a stand set up adjacent to the gingerbread house selling all sorts of holiday themed treats and drinks.

OMG. I now need to amend my Christmas List.....

I know, right! My fingers are crossed ;-)

 

[Megbutnotmegan]

We gave my brother that Vultron this summer for his 34th birthday. It now takes up space in his tiny NYC apartment. I feel bad for his wife but honestly it brings him so much joy that even she doesn’t seem that upset about it. I hope someone makes your Christmas wish come true!

 

[lostpro9het]

So it was closing in on 3:00 and still no text. We decided to head back over to the PP to check on the room. My concern was we received no "your room is not ready yet" text like we normally do when checking into a WDW resort as sort of a confirmation that they got your phone number correct. When we returned to PP we checked out the gift shop first and picked up the resort pin and a bottle of "Disney" wine. When I asked the CM about the different wines they had and if they were twist tops or cork she informed me it wouldn't matter since they provide complimentary corkscrews with every wine purchase!

So I went to the front desk after the gift shop and once again things were hopping but at least this time they had plenty of CMs manning the counter. I was quickly assisted by a CM who said our assigned room was not ready but he saw 8 other rooms in the same classification that were ready and asked if I wanted one of those, heck yes I do! The CM typed away for a bit more then said we we're good to go on the 9th floor. As we made our way to the elevators we noticed 2 things; one was their signage for which park had magic hours that day and the second was the elevator assignment kiosks. These kiosks were used to tell you which elevator to get on after selecting which floor you were going to. When you entered the elevator you would see why this was necessary, no floor buttons! Its a simple idea that I really liked and it made using the elevators even easier.

A short ride later and we were turning on room 912. Again, it was weird using a card to enter the room, another thing we had not had to do on propety since around 2013/14.

 

[lostpro9het]

As I eluded to before, the room was on par with a value room. The theming was cute but the amenities were "meh". The room was in need of a refurb, IMO, but clean. It was interesting to see that at one point the you could open the windows! Disney had installed some makeshift locks on the windows that clearly didn't belong. The only redeeming quality of our room was the view! It would have been nice to have a balcony to relax on and enjoy the view we had.

 

[lostpro9het]

So we settled in to the room and the ladies were BEAT! They opted to take a nap before dinner but for whatever reason I got my second wind and couldn't rest. I decided to walk to the closest convenience store to pick up up some water and snacks for us during the week. What I didn't realize was the closest shop would be a mile and a half away. No worries, there was a sidewalk from PP all the way to the 7-11 and I got to get a couple unique pictures too.

Shortly after I returned the ladies started waking and began getting ready for dinner. Another adjustment for us was how quickly it got dark out. This picture was taken around 6:00.

After the ladies were all done up we made for Steakhouse 55 but not before exploring DLH a little more. They had some wonderful murals up and some interesting lighting.

just sayin..and copyin and pastin...

Here's some good news for worried parents whose small children have ingested a LEGO (or two). A new study by pediatric researchers has concluded that the toy should re-emerge in their poo within a couple of days. They know this because their test subjects voluntarily swallowed LEGO figurine heads and monitored how long it took to retrieve them.

https://arstechnica.com/science/201...s-for-legos-to-pass-through-the-body-science/

 

[Tuvalu]

This was our Paradise Pier room in March 2013.....yeah, it seems nothing has been updated in the last 5+ years (except the beach ball!)

We were also on the 9th floor and had a similar view.

Watching World of Color from our room was awesome.....the bedbugs were not.

 

[Kiwiduck]

I too have laughed at Californians rugged up against the cold on what to me is beautiful warm day!

I have flown into LAX every time I’ve gone to Disneyland (because I have no other option) and have never found it worse than any other airport and my Disneyland express has always arrived at the resort in around 40 minutes! Doesn’t seem much different to the magical express.

My last 2 trips have been to the world but your enthusiasm is making me super keen to head back to Disneyland soon!

 

[Tuvalu]

wait ..bed bugs?? please explain

I left PP covered in bites....at first I thought mosquito, but no.....bedbug.
My fault for not checking the mattress!

 

[lostpro9het]

We continued to explore the DLH lobby/entrance. It was pretty beautiful at night.

As you enter the lobby from the car drop off you are greeted by a huge vintage mural of Disneyland. What is neat about this mural is the "animations" that take place on the mural. The use of lights behind the mural add a bit of magic.

We made our way over to Steakhouse 55 for our ADR and passed this retro scene along the way.

As we arrived our table wasn't ready just yet so we were asked to wait in the lounge to be called.

The lounge was pretty swank and the 18 hours of being awake had me acting up a bit. I was sitting on a fancy lounger and my inner Costanza was raging to be released #serenitynow! I promise I was quite sober just wicked tired at this point.

 

[CaliKris]

Growing up in So Cal with DL as my home park, I am SO happy to hear that you loved DLR. It really is a special place. Funny enough, we stayed at Paradise Pier on Thursday (Thanksgiving) and Friday night. We had not stayed there in at least 15 years and felt it hadn't changed much. LOL! We ate at Steakhouse 55 on Friday night. Great choice! I must say it was in the low 50's at 7am for EMH and it did get cold at night. I may or may not have worn my down jacket.

The parks were super crowded on Black Friday, but with the use of MaxPass we were able to ride everything we wanted. I am interested to read how you navigated the parks.

So, LAX and traffic in LA is a nightmare. I think you got really, really lucky.

I feel that DL>MK, but WDW>DLR. I am interested to read the rest of your report!

 

[lostpro9het]

We were soon seated in a nice booth overlooking the main dining area. All along the walls of the restaurant are pictures of celebrities. We were seated under these two. I'm not old enough to know who they are, however.

We were introduced to our service team and presented with bread and our drinks, just water tonight as the beer list was less than good. The bread was excellent and we made the mistake of taking seconds.

Tonight we decided to make up our own family style dinner. We asked for them to bring out the filet, bone in rib-eye, truffle mac&cheese, green beans, and brussels sprouts. They ended up cutting the rib-eye in half and delivering it on two plates.

The food was very good and better than LeCel, on par with Shula's, but fell short of a Yachtsman experience. The mac&cheese might have been the best side. The sprouts themselves could have been better but the citrus/pomegranate glaze they used didn't jive with the sprouts, IMO. Thanks to that second round of bread we struggled to finish the sides and really felt like we over did it. This made answering the dessert question easy despite really wanting to try the 24 layer cake. Apparently our service team didn't appreciate our situation and decided that since it was Mickey's 90th we should celebrate and they brought us out a dessert anyway!

At first glance this looked like one of the cheaper desserts they give you to celebrate something at WDW or on DCL. Looks are deceiving! This guy was 100% quality chocolate ganache on a bed of solid chocolate. It was so rich and good. We felt obligated to enjoy the gesture and did our best to eat what we could. We requested our bill and, yup, got another DVC discount here as well! We waddled our way back to PP and now had been up over 20 hours. We were ready for bed! We had an early wake up call tomorrow for 07:00 extra magic hours at CA!

The parks were super crowded on Black Friday, but with the use of MaxPass we were able to ride everything we wanted. I am interested to read how you navigated the parks.

I think you would be proud of how we did!

So, LAX and traffic in LA is a nightmare. I think you got really, really lucky.

I think we really did too, twice. Both to and from LAX was around 40 minutes or less.

I feel that DL>MK, but WDW>DLR. I am interested to read the rest of your report!

Great point to clarify, it iss easy to jumble DL and DLR. I agree with your first assessment but think the second is more subjective. When all is said and done I was going to close with a breakdown of where I think DL and DLR do it better, or worse.