A few reviews from our Santa Monica/Disneyland trip
May 18th, 2011, 01:23 PM
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A few reviews from our Santa Monica/Disneyland trip
My husband, almost 5 year-old daughter and I spent a long weekend in the L.A. area this past weekend. We spent Friday and Satruday nights in Santa Monica. I lived here for a year about ten years ago, and it was nice to be back. We stayed at the Fairmont Miramar. It was fantastic. We had an ocean view suite in the older tower. The suite had a sitting area with pull out couch, a separate bedroom with king bed, and a very nice bathroom.
The purpose of the trip was to celebrate our daughter's upcoming 5th birthday. The hotel knew this, and really went all out for her. Maybe they do this anyway, but it was nice. First, they delivered a cake to the room on Friday afternoon. And then while we were out Friday evening, they left a little robe for her and spelled her name in little colored sponges on the edge of the bath. Not a big expense, but huge for her!
We ate dinner the first night at Madame chu chu on Main street in Santa Monica. The food was very good. The wine was so-so. My husband's glass was strangely warm. Since the walk there was enough for our kid, we took the big blue bus back. These are great buses and only $1 a person. And, since dd was still 4, she was free!
Saturday morning, dd and I took the bus over to Montana Ave to have breakfast at the Blue plate. It was a cute place. The waitress had a hard time getting my oatmeal order right (came with the wrong stuff), but everything tasted fine.
The pool area at the Fairmont is really nice. The pool is warm and they have pool toys for kids. It is very peaceful and hard to imagine you are so close to the hustle and bustle of the city. We spent a lot of time at the pool. In fact, I had visions of visiting the Getty, but we never took the car out.
We had dinner Saturday night at the Border Grill, a favorite of my husband. We met some friends. It really isn't a great place for conversation since it so loud, but the food was good. Our daughter also really enjoyed the performers on 3rd street.
Sunday we went to the farmer's market on main and had lunch. The food was great and it was fun listening to the band and hanging out with the crowds. We also got some fruit to bring to Disney.
We drove on Sunday to Disneyland. We stayed at the Disneyland hotel. I debated on this one since it is currently under construction, but was having a hard time springing the $500/night for the grand california hotel. In the end it wasn't the construction that bothered us. They told us the construction was only from 9am-7pm, so we wouldn't need to worry about noise other times. HA. Our room overlooked downtown Disney and both nights there was a band pretty close to the hotel that sounded like they were in our room. Even with our ipad, and both phones playing water sounds, we couldn't drown out the noise. And it went fairly late, like 11 or so. Our kid crashed right away, but it was harder for us. Seems like a very strange design flaw to put the band stage so close to the hotel. Or, maybe they should have spent more on better soundproofing in the remodel.
We had a good time at Disney. I am not a Disney person, in the sense that I haven't been there since I was a kid, and wouldn't go if I didn't have my own kid. But, I was impressed with how well they run things. We did the princess lunch and it was great for our daughter. It was raining our last day, and we had gotten out of the hotel before we noticed (snuck out so husband could sleep). It was really early since the park opened for magic morning at 8. I ended up getting us into a character breakfast as a walk in. I was more than happy to pay the $39 for the two of us to have an hour out of the rain. It was also great to see so many characters without having to line up and wait. From our limited 3 day experience there, I would say it was really good we got to the gates as the park was opening on Monday morning. We got to do a bunch of the little kid rides in fantasy land without waiting at all. We also found very little waiting over in the california adventure park when we there on Monday and again on Tuesday.
Overall it was a great trip! I can even imagine going to Disney again sometime. But, for me it would be a complete waste to go when it might be crowded. Standing in line for more than 20-30 minutes for something kind of ruins the experience.
The purpose of the trip was to celebrate our daughter's upcoming 5th birthday. The hotel knew this, and really went all out for her. Maybe they do this anyway, but it was nice. First, they delivered a cake to the room on Friday afternoon. And then while we were out Friday evening, they left a little robe for her and spelled her name in little colored sponges on the edge of the bath. Not a big expense, but huge for her!
We ate dinner the first night at Madame chu chu on Main street in Santa Monica. The food was very good. The wine was so-so. My husband's glass was strangely warm. Since the walk there was enough for our kid, we took the big blue bus back. These are great buses and only $1 a person. And, since dd was still 4, she was free!
Saturday morning, dd and I took the bus over to Montana Ave to have breakfast at the Blue plate. It was a cute place. The waitress had a hard time getting my oatmeal order right (came with the wrong stuff), but everything tasted fine.
The pool area at the Fairmont is really nice. The pool is warm and they have pool toys for kids. It is very peaceful and hard to imagine you are so close to the hustle and bustle of the city. We spent a lot of time at the pool. In fact, I had visions of visiting the Getty, but we never took the car out.
We had dinner Saturday night at the Border Grill, a favorite of my husband. We met some friends. It really isn't a great place for conversation since it so loud, but the food was good. Our daughter also really enjoyed the performers on 3rd street.
Sunday we went to the farmer's market on main and had lunch. The food was great and it was fun listening to the band and hanging out with the crowds. We also got some fruit to bring to Disney.
We drove on Sunday to Disneyland. We stayed at the Disneyland hotel. I debated on this one since it is currently under construction, but was having a hard time springing the $500/night for the grand california hotel. In the end it wasn't the construction that bothered us. They told us the construction was only from 9am-7pm, so we wouldn't need to worry about noise other times. HA. Our room overlooked downtown Disney and both nights there was a band pretty close to the hotel that sounded like they were in our room. Even with our ipad, and both phones playing water sounds, we couldn't drown out the noise. And it went fairly late, like 11 or so. Our kid crashed right away, but it was harder for us. Seems like a very strange design flaw to put the band stage so close to the hotel. Or, maybe they should have spent more on better soundproofing in the remodel.
We had a good time at Disney. I am not a Disney person, in the sense that I haven't been there since I was a kid, and wouldn't go if I didn't have my own kid. But, I was impressed with how well they run things. We did the princess lunch and it was great for our daughter. It was raining our last day, and we had gotten out of the hotel before we noticed (snuck out so husband could sleep). It was really early since the park opened for magic morning at 8. I ended up getting us into a character breakfast as a walk in. I was more than happy to pay the $39 for the two of us to have an hour out of the rain. It was also great to see so many characters without having to line up and wait. From our limited 3 day experience there, I would say it was really good we got to the gates as the park was opening on Monday morning. We got to do a bunch of the little kid rides in fantasy land without waiting at all. We also found very little waiting over in the california adventure park when we there on Monday and again on Tuesday.
Overall it was a great trip! I can even imagine going to Disney again sometime. But, for me it would be a complete waste to go when it might be crowded. Standing in line for more than 20-30 minutes for something kind of ruins the experience.
May 18th, 2011, 02:38 PM
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Good trip report; thanks for sharing.
We went in March with our 7 year old daughter. Like you, I'm not much of Disney person, and I didn't think I'd like it. But it was fun, and the park is so well run. We're also considering going back sometime which I didn't expect. We also didn't have to wait in many lines, either, and that made it a much more enjoyable experience.
We went in March with our 7 year old daughter. Like you, I'm not much of Disney person, and I didn't think I'd like it. But it was fun, and the park is so well run. We're also considering going back sometime which I didn't expect. We also didn't have to wait in many lines, either, and that made it a much more enjoyable experience.
May 19th, 2011, 12:13 PM
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I really enjoyed reading your trip report. Sounds like you did a lot in a short period of time, yet it also sounded very relaxing.
I'm like you, not a Disney person, but we have two kids, ages 5 1/2 and 4, so will probably be doing that sometime sooner than later.
I'm like you, not a Disney person, but we have two kids, ages 5 1/2 and 4, so will probably be doing that sometime sooner than later.
May 19th, 2011, 01:31 PM
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We used to live about 30 minutes away from Disney and would go on a whim often when our kids were little. (When the prices were waaaaaaaaay cheaper). It seems that even the threat of rain would scare off a bunch of people. Short lines for everything. Seems it was the best time to go. The likelihood of it raining all day in CA are slim to none. Hardly ever happens so you usually had good weather for majority of the day. Glad you had a good time. Still can't bring myself to pay the price for the Disney properties. Usually stay a few miles away..cheap cheap cheap.
May 19th, 2011, 03:00 PM
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Talking about rain and Disneyland reminds me of the time years ago when we joined my brother and his family in Florida for a trip to Disney World. We woke up the morning of our planned long day at DW to very dark skies, but my niece and nephew would have none of delaying our plans due to weather. We got to the park entry gates at the very moment when, with a very loud crack of thunder, the skies just opened up and it started to just POUR. Instantly, the crowds dashed into all of the shops nearby to get rain ponchos and suddenly the entire park was filled with hundreds, eventually thousands, of people in identical yellow ponchos with Mickey Mouse on the back. It's pretty hard to keep track of your family or companions on a normal day in amusement park crowds, but just imagine how much worse it was when everyone looked alike! It rained very steadily, as is typical for Florida in the summertime, all day, so the ponchos hardly ever came off, and it was a real effort to keep everyone together. We all laugh about it every time we look at the photos, with all the Mickey Mouse Poncho Clones!
May 19th, 2011, 03:09 PM
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If we were to go again, we would stay off site. I had a hard time figuring out how much of a hassle it would be to get to the park and how much walking my daughter could handle, and whether we would want to head back for a rest, or not. In the end, she did better than we did. It was really nice to not be a stroller pusher.
The problem with the rain is that they closed a bunch of the rides. I am not sure if it was for safety reasons, or to try to save with the dimished crowds. Either way, it wasn't that much quicker to get to the things we wanted to do. Maybe it would have been better if we had stayed the whole day, when things cleared up, but the crowds were still down.
Speaking of rain ponchos... we bought them too! But, they are clear. It is true, almost everyone had the same thing on. We had rain jackets, but I wanted something to cover my daughter's backside when she sat. Unfortunately for me, even though I am small, with a backpack under the poncho, it was hard to get it also under my butt!
The problem with the rain is that they closed a bunch of the rides. I am not sure if it was for safety reasons, or to try to save with the dimished crowds. Either way, it wasn't that much quicker to get to the things we wanted to do. Maybe it would have been better if we had stayed the whole day, when things cleared up, but the crowds were still down.
Speaking of rain ponchos... we bought them too! But, they are clear. It is true, almost everyone had the same thing on. We had rain jackets, but I wanted something to cover my daughter's backside when she sat. Unfortunately for me, even though I am small, with a backpack under the poncho, it was hard to get it also under my butt!
Jun 18th, 2012, 09:23 AM
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Thanks for the report. We head to LA in route to Hawaii this summer. We have three days and three nights in LA. A number of people have been trying to talk us into spending only one day at Disney with our 8 yr-old and 13 yr-old and opt for a day or so in Santa Monica. Your report sheds some light on why they make this suggestion.
Jun 18th, 2012, 02:16 PM
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The beauty of the off park hotels is the ART (Anaheim Resort Transit) that travels between just a couple of resorts and the park. You only need to remember the number of your bus to make sure you board the correct one. You buy an all day ticket (maybe $3 or $6?) and you can go back and forth between your hotel and the park. They drop you off super close to the turnstiles.
Aug 2nd, 2012, 09:04 AM
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Having just returned from Disneyland, I tell people I did not want to go and would be fine with never going back but I am glad that I did go. Those that say the park is run well are spot on. It is very well staffed with very polite people focused on making sure visitors are having fun and it is very clean and well put together..
