Well, we went to Disneyland...
 

...and it was absolutely fun!

Who: Myself, Husband, and 7 year old daughter

When: March 2, 2011 through March 5, 2011

Where: Disneyland and California Adventures

Why: I found a deal.

In January, I was looking for something to do in March. We live in Montana, and we've had temps dropping below zero since the second week of November. It's been a long winter. I knew by March, we would want to get out of MT, even if it was just for a few days, so I started pricing different options. New York City was looking promising, but we started to worry about poor weather in NYC, especially since we've had so much "poor weather." On a whim, I checked for Disneyland deals.

I found a package through Allegiant Air (our only direct flight option out of MT) for $530 total. It included three airline tickets and three nights lodging. It was too good to pass up. Plus, our departure date was our daughter's seventh birthday, and, wow, what a great birthday surprise, right? So I booked it.

I have to admit, our expectations for the trip were low. I didn't really want to go to Disneyland. I figured it was too commercialized and too expensive and too fake. Plus, our daughter isn't very interested in anything Disney related. (I promise that it's not because we're the type of parents who have deprived her of the movies). ;) She just really doesn't like the movies or the princesses; however, she'd faint if she got to meet a character from Little House on the Prairie. (There's currently a Playmobil figurine representing Mrs. Olsen duct taped to our stair railing for being mean to Laura). Nice, eh? Anyway, I wasn't sure how much she'd care about seeing the Disney characters or going to Disneyland since she's never expressed much interest in the movies or the characters.

Well, she loved Disneyland. She loved it so much she could barely stand to stop for ice cream much less any thing else. To quote the daughter, "This is the place where dreams come true, and it's true! They come true here!"

More to follow....

We left on our daughter's birthday. She was excited and thrilled to find out she was going to Disneyland, and one of her aunts bought her special birthday Mouse ears to wear on the plane.

We flew out of Missoula, MT which is a three hour drive for us. When we left it was 0 degrees outside. Winter here is long and it sucks. But the nice thing about driving when it's that cold is that the roads aren't icy, and we made good time to Missoula. We did some shopping and had dinner for before going to the airport to catch our flight. If you're ever in Missoula, The Red Bird is a great place for dinner and some wine pre-flight. ;)

We landed at LAX around 9 pm, and we caught the Disney Express Bus to our hotel in Anaheim. It takes about 45 minutes to ride the bus from LAX to Anaheim. We stayed at the Jolly Roger Hotel.

The Jolly Roger Hotel is in a great location. It takes less than 10 minutes to walk to the Park entrance. It's close to 7-11 and other shops for picking up sunscreen or snacks. The bathrooms have been completely updated (new bathtubs, toilets, sinks, countertops, tile, etc.). It is also very old, noisy, and the rooms are tiny. Our room was spotless. And I know it was a good deal for the price we paid, but it's still not a very nice hotel. Of course, we hardly spent any time in our room, but I like having a little nicer place to stay. Also, there was no refrigerator, and that would have been nice. You can rent refrigerators, but there really isn't any space to put one in your room.

Overall, the room was sufficient. If we go back, I'll stay at the Ramada or Fairfield Inn which has an even better location directly across the street from the entrance.

Kureiff

Loving this. We just took a break from this neverending Minnesota winter in Orange County. Stayed in Laguna Beach for most of the week but did spend a day at Disney. We stayed at the Residence Inn which had a HUGE room but was showing signs of wear. Luckily, we were NEVER in the room as we were always at the parks.

I thought my kids were too cool for Disney (these days, my 7,7 and 8 year old boys pronounce everything as "lame") but they LOVED it. I mean LOVED it. When we were getting on Toy Story Mania for the 3rd or 4th time (they were obsessed), my 8 year old turned to us and said "I am so happy. I have never, in my whole life, been this happy." It was very fun to hear and made waiting in that line well worth it (that and the photo of my 75 year old, immigrant father in law in his 3D glasses manning his TSM gun ready to play).

My name is Birdie and I still love Disney. Pirates of the Caribbean, Tiki Birds, Haunted Mansion...I love it all.

What fun! That sure does sound like a great deal too! Can't wait to hear more about the trip:)

What a treat for your daughter on her birthday. I love her remarks!

Glad you enjoyed your trip. Although, I'm sure just about anyone at any age would. I like Disney and think they do things right. It can be a little crowded occasionally, but we like it. We have been to World 3 times, 1 disney cruise, and disneyland 1 time. Enjoyed all of them and they all are different. You can find deals on the cruise through the year, if you do some shopping on that. Maybe, you might consider that sometime.

Do tell us about the park. I hope you had a Monte Cristo Sandwich.

Glad you had such a good time. Your daughter's comments are so sweet.

Tai tai, yes, she was so happy and so excited to be there. It was fun to watch her have so much fun. :)

We woke up early Thursday morning and fed the kiddo a pop tart because it was all she could take the time to eat. We purchased the 2 day Park Hopper tickets and bus tickets from the front desk, and then we started for the bus stop. The daughter was too anxious to wait for the bus so we walked to the park entrance (about a 10 minute walk from the hotel).

I misread the opening time when I was checking the Disneyland website, so we arrived an hour too early at the park. We went to Downtown Disney and picked up coffee at Panera and browsed one of the Disney stores until the park opened.

We got into Disneyland right when it opened; we were standing in such a long line waiting to get in, but Disney is impressive when it comes to efficiently moving people. We were in line less than five minutes.

We did the Jungle Cruise first, and Kate was just in awe the entire time. It's a silly ride, but it's fun and she loved it. We did Indiana Jones next. The daughter did not like it. We worked our way through the park hitting Pirates of the Caribbean and Thunder Mountain (a big hit with the seven year old!).

The lines were short all day, and thanks to our seven year old general who was adamant that we keep moving, "No stopping! Let's go!," we were able to do every roller coaster in Disney and all the main rides by 3 pm. Our daughter loved being there, and she wanted to see and do everything!

My husband and I were hungry and tried, and from noon on we tried to get her to stop and eat some lunch, but she wanted to keep going. "Let's go!" "What ride is next?" We finally bribed her with ice cream at 2 pm. She stopped long enough to eat half an ice cream sandwich, and then she wanted to get over to Space Mountain. We complained that we were hungry. She said, "Get a pretzel. You can eat while we walk." So we walked and split a pretzel.

After Space Mountain (another daughter fave), we went to California Adventure and we rode the Grizzly River Run (probably the daughter's favorite ride of the trip -- wear a rain coat unless you're seven and don't mind wearing wet underwear for a few hours). We also rode the ferris wheel and stopped to check out some of the other rides. Kate was two inches too short for Screamin' California. She was disappointed; I was relieved. While walking over the bridge to the pier, we ran into acquaintances from home confirming that it truly is a small world. ;)

My husband and I were still hungry and tired after being marched through Disneyland and California Adventures, so we staged a coup and made our daughter stop for dinner around 5:30 pm. We ate at the Wine Country Trattoria in California Adventures. (Let me just note that I love that California Adventures is not a dry park like Disneyland.)

The restaurant offers a fixed price menu, and if you order the fixed price menu, you also receive a Fast Pass for the show, The World of Color. We did the fixed price menu ($40/adult and $20/child). The food was okay. Salad and soup were both excellent. My husband had lamb, and it was salty. I had halibut, and both it and the sides were very salty. Our daughter had spaghetti and marinara (her favorite). We also had two glasses of prosecco and a bottle of rose. The prosecco and rose were excellent. Dinner was around $200.

After dinner, we needed to get going again. We rode a few more rides in California Adventures (loved It's Tough to be a Bug), stopped for two more glasses of prosecco to drink while waiting for The World of Color to begin, and we used the Fast Pass to secure a good spot for World of Color. It was a good show...combination water fountain and laser show.

We left the park when it was closing around 9 pm, and our daughter skipped and hopped park benches all the way to our bus. Who is this child? Why does she have so much energy after being in the park for 12 hours?

We rode the bus back to the hotel, crawled in bed, and she was asleep before I could get all the way through reading her a chapter in her book.

Spirobulldog, no Monte Cristo. We meant to get one for lunch on Thursday, but our daughter didn't want to stop to eat lunch. I've heard they're excellent! :)

I enjoyed reading your info. Ive been to Disneyworld many times but never to Disneyland.Might have to go there one day.Ive heard so much nice stuff about the park.

gatlinburg, I've never been to Disneyworld, and this was my second time at Disney (the first was when I was 10 years old). It's a fun park. :)

We let the daughter sleep in on Friday, (we were also grateful for the extra sleep), and then we caught the bus to the Park around 9:30 am.

We went directly to California Adventures so we could get in line for Soarin' Over California as it was one of the only big rides we didn't get to ride the previous day. We waited 20 minutes in line for the ride. Again, Disney moves people so efficiently, and even the waiting isn't bad when you have a miniature flight museum to check out while you're standing in line.

Next up...The Tower of Terror. I refused to go. Kate was determined to go with her Dad. This was not a favorite ride, and she later claimed that her Dad grabbed her hand and pulled her into the line...so not true. She says she won't be riding this one ever again, "Or at least not until I'm maybe 12." ;)

We did a few more easy rides after the Tower of Terror to dull the shock of that experience. Then we did The Grizzly River Run again. I'm big advocate for the rain coat on this ride, but the daughter refused to wear one as she, "Wanted to get soaked!" (she ended up completely drenched).

We opted for lunch at Uva Bar in Downtown Disney because it had outside seating and the weather was beautiful...72 degrees, sunny, and no wind. I sent my co-workers a picture of us drinking champagne in the sun. Not nice, I know, considering it was 11 degrees at home. We had calamari, Prince Edward mussels, and another order of spaghetti for the daughter, plus, a bottle of champagne. (I wish I could drink champagne for lunch while sitting in the sun every single day). Lunch came to around $90.

After lunch, we did more rides in Disney (more Matterhorn! more Thunder Mountain!). We convinced the daughter to take a break at 4:30. She hopped and skipped to the bus, and then we rested for an hour and ordered pizza to eat in the room. We were back at the park at 6 pm for more rides (even more Matterhorn! More Thunder Mountain!).

We stayed for the fireworks show (it was wonderful!), and ice cream from the Gibson Girl Ice Cream Parlor (not so wonderful). We made it back to the room around 11 pm. And the kiddo was out within minutes of falling into bed.

What a wonderful trip report.
What a fabulous trip experience! To find out that you are going to Disneyland and then whisked away immediately?! The stuff kiddo dreams are made of :-)
Happy Birthday Miss K! ((g))

Well, she loved Disneyland. She loved it so much she could barely stand to stop for ice cream much less any thing else.

as those "Little House" people get divorced!

Glad she had a wonderful trip and parents who were willing to put their own interests second.

Sounds like a great vacation. I have 2 teenagers both 17yrs old and I guess we need to make a trip out there before they run off to college and forget about us,lol
Its so nice to read positive things on places.Glad you had a good time.

"My name is Birdie and I still love Disney. Pirates of the Caribbean, Tiki Birds, Haunted Mansion...I love it all."

My name is lantana and I still love Disney, too!
I've been to Walt Disney World more times than I care to admit ;)

Peter Pan's Flight, Indy Speedway, Toy Story Mania, World Showcase... ♥

GREAT trip report kureiff! So glad Disneyland was a pleasant surprise for you.

Too cute: "She says she won't be riding this one ever again, 'Or at least not until I'm maybe 12.'"

Saturday morning, we slept in, checked out of the hotel, caught the bus back to LAX, and landed in Missoula Saturday evening. We drove back home on Sunday morning...back to snow, wind, below zero weather at night, warming to 5 or so doing the day. :(

My overall impression of Disneyland is that no one does a better job at theme parks than Disney. The park was immaculate. The bathrooms were always cleaned and well-stocked. The lines moved quickly, and they are very accommodating of families and groups wanting to ride together. The park employees are helpful and knowledgeable. The whole thing is so well-run, and that's impressive.

Amusement parks really aren't my thing, and I don't care to go back on my own. But, oh, it's hard to describe how absolutely magical the whole thing was for my daughter. She loved it! And we loved watching her run around and experience everything. Disneyland through the eyes of a seven year old was magical for all three of us.

I was asking my daughter why she liked some of the activities in California Adventures so much; activities like the river rafting, squirrel walk, rock climbing, etc. because we do those things at home and they're real. She's been rock climbing outdoors on real rocks with a rope and harness. We white water raft in the summers. It's not a ride; it's real. Well, she said that we don't have roller coasters at home, and that's certainly true. We don't. ;) We also don't have temps in the 70's in March at home, either.

The seven year old's favorite rides: Thunder Mountain, Matterhorn, Grizzly River Run, Space Mountain, and "Little Town in the Big City" (we finally figured out she meant It's a Small World). :)

Disneyland is commercialized (and the larger rides exit directly into a themed gift shop which is annoying). It is expensive ($4 for and ice cream sandwich). It is fake. But it's also fun. And I'm glad we went.

I'm a senior Aussie, and after reading your joyous report, Kureiff, I think I'll take a day out of our forthcoming trip to go back to Disneyland! I've been before, three times, and always enjoyed it - DH, who grew up in Germany, has no such affection for the place. I think it's because all the old Disney songs are so familiar to me.

kureiff, after reading your report and telling about how very excited your daughter was, I am not anxious to go back to Disneyland again. We live close by but haven't been there in several years. I think I will get my hubby to go there in the next few weeks. Weather is great this time of year and it will be fun. I am so glad your daughter had a ball. I remember taking my nephews there a few years ago and they loved everything also. They also loved getting wet on the river rafting ride.