4 days, 3 dudes, 2 parks, 1 trip report!

[BostonJP]

Overall this TR encompasses about 4 days including travel from Boston to Los Angeles and back. I have been trying to get to California to see my dear grandparents for some time, and a planned trip in April 2015 fell through due to work obligations.

In early May my wife took my 8 year old ("T") to WDW for a runDisney event. My 4 year old ("G") was very upset that he couldn't go with them, so we started planning our own trip - I'll see my great grandparents for the first time since 2008, my sons would meet them for the first time ever, and since we'll be in Southern California anyway, let's hit up Disneyland while we're there.


DAY 1 - SATURDAY

We flew out of Boston early and landed in Los Angeles at 2:30. This gave us plenty of time to get the car and head out to Riverside to rest up before our 6:30 dinner reservations with my grandmother, aunt and cousin who live in Riverside, and another cousin who flew down from San Francisco for the night. Dinner was at Las Campanas at the Mission Inn, which was excellent (though a bit costly for Mexican food).

G posing with the decor at Las Campanas:



DAY 2 - SUNDAY

Sunday was all about hanging out with my family and seeing my grandfather for the first time since 2008. He is 96 years old and lives in a nursing home. He had a long and fascinating life - served in the Air Force in World War 2 and had five children in the Boston area before retiring in California.

We spent about an hour and a half with him and the rest of the day at my grandmother and aunt's house. Honestly, I think the boys would have been perfectly content to spend the whole trip in that pool! However, after a few hours of swimming and lunch, we loaded back up into the car and headed out to Anaheim to check into the Disneyland Hotel.

On the way, we couldn't pass up the opportunity to spoil our appetite at a southern California culinary staple:



The Disneyland Hotel is wonderful. Even after swimming for hours in Riverside, the boys were right back in the pool and the water slides. For dinner, I met with an old friend from college who I hadn't seen since our graduation in 2001; however by 9 PM both kids were pooped from all the swimming and socializing so we went to bed ready for our 8 AM EMH.

 

[BostonJP]

DAY 3 - MONDAY - DISNEY DAY!

In my first thread here on DISboards I learned that my trip coincided with Rosh Hashanah, and my one planned day at Disney fell on a day that many So. California school districts were out of session. This was also the most ambitious day I had planned - start at California Adventure, Paint the Night at Disneyland, and try to squeeze in as many rides and a mid-afternoon nap in between. Would it be possible with the added school holiday crowds?

We started by taking advantage of our Extra Magic Hour at CA and riding RSR. I was blown away at how perfectly Cars Land captured the setting of the film. G was elated to see Lightning McQueen sitting in front of the fire house as the early morning crowd snaked through the streets of Radiator Springs. He looked like I did when I met my favorite actor from Breaking Bad.



RSR is outstanding. Seriously. I read from others here that it’s a great experience but I was still blown away. While T was excited to ride, I thought it would be too scary for G – boy, was I wrong! G loved it and wanted to do it again right away, but it was just too fast for his 8 year old brother. We decided to explore the rest of the park and decide about our second round of RSR later (not knowing just how busy the park was about to become!).

After riding Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree and realizing that ITTBAB was closed for renovations, the boys’ age difference became more pronounced. T wanted to ride Ariel’s Undersea Adventure, but G remembered the scary imagery (Ursula) from Florida and didn’t want to see her again. He wanted to ride Mickey’s fun wheel, but T was too afraid of heights. Right when I thought we found a happy middle ground – Grizzly River – it was discovered that G is about an inch too short to ride.

He wasn’t too short for Soarin’, however, but he was terrified. The higher and faster the video, the more he screamed. I was impressed and T also liked it, but for G’s sake, I wanted it to be over! He was overwhelmed and it was time to take a break. It was already 11AM by this time, so we decided to grab some Fastpasses for another spin on RSR before leaving the park, but the FP was scheduled for 3:30-4:30.

After a short trip back to the hotel and lunch, we took the Disneyland monorail from DTD into Tomorrowland. From there we hit several other rides the kids wanted – Nemo’s submarines, and Star Tours for T, a huge Star Wars fan. By this time the park was mobbed though, and we still needed to keep our 3:30 RSR fastpasses in mind. No Disney trip is complete without meeting Mickey and Minnie though, so off to Mickey’s ToonTown we went.




By the time we left Mickey we were already into our Fastpass window. We made the mad dash from ToonTown to Cars Land in about 20 minutes and got in line. T didn’t want to ride so they let him sit at the gas pump by the exit while G and I rode.



Once again, some more disagreement and three pooped boys, so I didn’t want to press it. We walked back through DTD to do some souvenir shopping and back to the hotel to relax in the pool.

We had dinner at Earl of Sandwich and relaxed in the room for a bit before making our last push. We again rode the monorail from DTD to Tomorrowland so we could find our spot for the Paint the Night parade and fireworks. As the monorail approached the Tomorrowland station, the ride’s narrator alerted me that I was way wrong on my times – I thought the parade was at closer 8 and the fireworks at 8:30. No, 8:45 and 9:30! G was literally off on my lap; there’s no way we would last two more hours. I apologized to T but said we just couldn’t do it. We rode the monorail back to DTD, went back to the room, and packed up what we could before tomorrow’s departure.


DAY 4 - TUESDAY

Our return to Boston was long but largely uneventful. We left early and took our time traveling from Anaheim to LAX in a heavy rainstorm. Due to the traffic on the freeways, Google Maps kept me primarily on back roads, so we got a nice view of some of Los Angeles’ not-so-nice neighborhoods like Compton and Inglewood.

We landed back in Boston shortly after midnight and were back in my car at around 1. G slept for the last few hours of our flight and did not wake up, so I had to carry him off the plane and onto the shuttle back to my car.

 

[BostonJP]

A COUPLE STRAY OBSERVATIONS

• I was unprepared for just how many rides there are at Disneyland. I've been to WDW several times in the last few years, and even going from MK to DL is amazing. It seems like there is another ride queue around every single corner.
  
  
• A busy day at DL is also nothing like a busy day at WDW. The park was very busy while I was there, but at no point did I just want to throw in the towel like I've done when Magic Kingdom is too crowded. As busy as it was, I never waited more than 30 minutes for a ride.
  
  
• The next time I visit, ideally I will spend no less than 3 days in the parks, and I will not go solo with my kids either. As busy as the day was I feel like a lot of opportunity was lost due to the kids' disagreements regarding the rides.
  
  
• While riding on the monorail and seeing the hotels on the other side of the property, I'm kind of jealous how much closer they are to the parks. I'm wondering if that extra magic hour is really worth the added expense of staying on property.
  
  
• Los Angeles drivers are MUCH more courteous than Boston drivers.
  
  
• Next trip I'm also considering flying direct and preferably into John Wayne if it's not too expensive. Between the traffic and layovers I probably lost at least 10-12 hours.
  
  
• I can't wait to go back!

 

[ADLFAN]

Great trip report!

I loved your observations about LA drivers! I also thought everyone drove awesome, much nicer than up here in Seattle! Even if they're faster!

We are lucky that we have 2 major airlines flying directly to SNA, that airport is so easy to get in and out of! We have never had to wait in a line for security even!

Isn't Cars Land awesome!? It's just like the movie came to life, I cannot imagine seeing that as a kid! I think it will be even better once the replacement for Luigi's is up and running.

Have fun planning that next trip!

 

[BostonJP]

Thanks for reading! I am jealous that you can go direct into SNA - I looked online and realized there are no direct flights into John Wayne Airport from any of the airports in my region. Looks like it will have to be LAX again next time!