devores 382 Posted April 23, 2013 Report Share Posted April 23, 2013 If the site was up last week, you might have noticed I have been absent. The reason for the absence would be our last minute decision to take a trip. I normally do not do trip reports because my life is a trip report. But this trip warrants a report. It all started during spring break. We both worked major hours during that two weeks and were both burnt out. We jokingly talked about taking a vacation, even just a small one, to get away. What a better way to get away than a trip to California? So I jumped online and a few reservations latter, we were booked for an extended weekend at Disneyland. We were going to where it all started to see Walt's dream for ourselves. I have been before as I lived here for a few years, but that was 15 years ago. The wife had never been. We left on the 19th of April early in the morning as we wanted to have time to still do something when we arrived. The flight to California was uneventful with a slightly longer than expected layover in Dallas and we arrived around 1pm Cali time. By 2pm we were checked in to our. We had chosen Disney's Paradise Pier as our home away from home. I would have rather drug the house over, but because this was a short weekend trip, we opted to stay in a hotel. The hotel is themed after a boardwalk pier and overlooks California Adventures theme park. Everything has a beachy theme to it. This was the view from our room. That is the resort pool below. We were on the 13th floor and the pool is on the roof of the 3rd floor. The parking lot you see is the theme park/dtd parking lots. We were exhausted as we both worked until 1am then were at the airport by 5am. So what did we do when we got into the room? We showered and headed to the Magic Kingdom. What else? The Disneyland resort area is not like Disney World. Everything is within walking distance. To get to the Magic Kingdom, we walk across the street (Disney Drive) to the Grand Californian Resort and then through the lobby to DTD. Then we walk through DTD to the entrance of the Magic Kingdom. Directly across from the Magic Kingdom is California Adventures. The whole walk took about 5 mins. But that's only because we stopped to take in all of the sites. To give you an idea: The yellow square is our resort, Disney's Paradise Pier. The green box is Disney's Grand Californian. The blue is the Disneyland Resort. The red line is the DTD area. You can make out the Magic Kingdom and California Adventures. The first day was supposed to be a scouting mission. Get our bearings and the lay of the land. You note the words supposed to be. It didn't turn out that way. Those who read along on Facebook know what happened (but lets not spoil it for those who do not know). BradyBzLyn...Mo 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mouseketab.....Carol 1,261 Posted April 23, 2013 Report Share Posted April 23, 2013 Can't wait to read more!!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
momof3kids-Yvonne 594 Posted April 23, 2013 Report Share Posted April 23, 2013 Looking forward to your report! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BuckeyeFortMama 43 Posted April 23, 2013 Report Share Posted April 23, 2013 Cool! A Disneyland Trip Report Can't wait to hear more! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Beckers 1,136 Posted April 23, 2013 Report Share Posted April 23, 2013 Oh a surprise Disneyland trip! I'm in! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
disney4dan 68 Posted April 23, 2013 Report Share Posted April 23, 2013 Woo Hoo! I'm in on page 1. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
alexwyattmommy 181 Posted April 23, 2013 Report Share Posted April 23, 2013 A report from someplace I've only dreamed about. I am totally in. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547 Posted April 23, 2013 Report Share Posted April 23, 2013 I'm in too! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DaveInTN 3,247 Posted April 23, 2013 Report Share Posted April 23, 2013 I'm in too! The closest I've ever come to DL is driving past it while working in Orange County. I'm looking forward to seeing your experiences from inside the gates. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
nutters4wdw......Amy 5 Posted April 23, 2013 Report Share Posted April 23, 2013 I'm in! I haven't been to DL since I was a kid, and we won't discuss how long ago that was. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GaDawgFan.....Kelly 799 Posted April 23, 2013 Report Share Posted April 23, 2013 Very cool! I'm in! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
AC in A2......Aaron 693 Posted April 23, 2013 Report Share Posted April 23, 2013 Sweet!I am in! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tri-Circle-D 2,059 Posted April 23, 2013 Report Share Posted April 23, 2013 I'm in on page one! Best line in this report, so far: I normally do not do trip reports because my life is a trip report. Thanks for the map. It's hard for me to grasp how compact Disneyland is. Was the Paradise Pier hotel built by Disney? Or is it a hotel they bought and refurbished? It looks nice, but it doesn't have that "Disney" look to it. That pool definitely doesn't look very "Disney." TCD Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mouseketab.....Carol 1,261 Posted April 23, 2013 Report Share Posted April 23, 2013 Bought and refurbished. The only hotel out there "built" by Disney is the Grand Californian Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tri-Circle-D 2,059 Posted April 23, 2013 Report Share Posted April 23, 2013 Bought and refurbished. The only hotel out there "built" by Disney is the Grand Californian Thanks. What about the Disneyland Hotel? They didn't build that either? TCD Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mouseketab.....Carol 1,261 Posted April 23, 2013 Report Share Posted April 23, 2013 Google is our friend, nope wasn't built by Disney http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disneyland_Hotel_(California) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tri-Circle-D 2,059 Posted April 23, 2013 Report Share Posted April 23, 2013 Google is our friend, nope wasn't built by Disney http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disneyland_Hotel_(California) Google? What's that? I thought we were just supposed to ask dumb questions here and someone will answer them. Even if they have been asked a hundred times before. Isn't that how this works? J/K BTW-thanks for the link. I am surprised Walt didn't think to build his own hotel. But, I guess even he didn't anticipate what a phenomenon Disneyland would become. TCD Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DaveInTN 3,247 Posted April 23, 2013 Report Share Posted April 23, 2013 BTW-thanks for the link. I am surprised Walt didn't think to build his own hotel. But, I guess even he didn't anticipate what a phenomenon Disneyland would become. TCD I guess that's another example of the "lessons learned" between the building of DL and the planning for the Florida Project. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mouseketab.....Carol 1,261 Posted April 23, 2013 Report Share Posted April 23, 2013 That was the main reason he fought so hard to get all that land in FL, all the buildup (most of it tacky) right up to the fences at Disneyland. Although as Dave will probably state, in recent years a lot of that has been cleaned up and revitalized and staying offsite at DL is NOT a problem. There are many, many reasonably priced hotels within easy walking distance to the Disneyland resort gates. When I went, I stayed at a Super 8 on Katella, and had the Disneyland/California Adventure gates within a 15 minute walk and had a mall complex right next door that had some really good restaurants (California Pizza Kitchen, Bubba Gumps, PF Changs, etc.) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023 Posted April 23, 2013 Report Share Posted April 23, 2013 Hey am I actually in on page 1 of a trip report? It's a miracle! Saw your pics on FB and had to hear "the rest of the story." And can I just say that I love that you took a break from your jobs working spring break at WDW by going to Disneyland for a weekend?! Brilliant! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Total Joker ... TJ 203 Posted April 23, 2013 Report Share Posted April 23, 2013 I'm in... :popcorn: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Grumpy and Grandma 739 Posted April 23, 2013 Report Share Posted April 23, 2013 Way to go Dave. This will be fun to follow since we are hoping to head there next May. Last time we were there was 1977. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Big Kahuna aka John 71 Posted April 23, 2013 Report Share Posted April 23, 2013 Dave I'm here now..... Tell me what happened to the recon mission? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
devores 382 Posted April 24, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 24, 2013 DISCLAIMER: I suck at responding to every response. I can never remember the max number of quote blocks and I loose track of who I responded to and all that. So Im not gonna pretend. Lets just say that I read every response and am glad everyone is on board. BradyBzLyn...Mo 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Katman1356...Jason 1,140 Posted April 24, 2013 Report Share Posted April 24, 2013 Count me in. I loved Disneyland when we went a couple of years ago. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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