Duffy Lover
What?!?!? No!
- Joined
- Sep 21, 2011
Hi folks! This past summer my little family of four entered new territory - our first ever family vacation. Now don't get me wrong, we've been on vacation before, but always with extended family. Always. So here's a brief, one post overview of our amazing DLR side trip amidst an epic, two-week California road trip...
I cherish the trips I’ve taken with my extended family, and in fact many of them wouldn’t have happened if it weren’t for the generosity of my parents. But this trip was something special. Because family is so important to us, we have spent the last 10 years of our lives going to see family in Michigan, or meeting family somewhere, but never taking our own vacations- just the four of us. As we made our way up the amazing CA coast, we worked in three days at Disneyland!! Here are the details:
Cast: Me, my DH Caz, Eme (DD age 9) and Clara (DD 6 at the time)
When: July 18 - July 21, 2016
Where: Howard Johnson (HJ) on Harvard Blvd.
Why: Our first ever, just us vacation
In addition to this being our first ever family vacation, it was also our first time to DLR. We selected the HJ for both their ratings, proximity to DLR and for sentimental reasons. Papa and Buszia went on their honeymoon to DLR way back in 1971, and stayed at the HJ. So that sealed the deal. We got there the night before our first foray into DL, checked out the room and headed to DTD:
After that, the girls crashed hard, and Caz and I chilled on the balcony, sipping adult beverages and watched the Disneyland Forever fireworks. It was amazing. We got up bright and early the next morning (ROPE DROP!!) and made it into the park around 8:15… It was so cozy and homey. We were in Walt’s Park!!!
Clara was a little nervous about BTMRR - don’t worry - she loved it!!
The drop on Splash, not so much... Her face is priceless, though.
It was a great day. Hot and crowded, though. But that was to be expected. We had delicious snacks:
And went home for an afternoon rest and swim, and then we had our special event… We splurged on a Blue Bayou Paint the Night package. It was so worth it!!
We didn’t have to wait all evening for seats and the parade was amazing:
Sorry for the blurriness!
I am so hoping this parade will be at MK by this summer… Crossing my fingers! We then moved our way up Main Street USA and made it about halfway to watch the Disneyland Forever fireworks:
I still prefer wishes, though these were still amazing and made me cry. The next day we went to DCA. This may be my most favorite Disney park EVER. It was the most magical day. We had found our groove, no one was cranky, the weather was spectacular. It was the best Disney Day EVER.
The girls didn’t want to stick around for World of Color (no worries- next time!). It really was the most perfect day. With rope drop and old school FP we got to do everything. Just amazing! Our final day dawned once again bright and sunny. We originally planned to stay past dinner, but we were hot and tired so we left around 2 pm. No worries - we had our fill.
Here are two of the full size Photopass pics we bought:
We wrapped it up by heading to the Disneyland Hotel. Part of why we left early was because the monorail was down due to heat. We were going to ride it to the DH, and then back, but since it was down we went with just finishing there. We checked out the original Trader Sam’s:
The girls loved it (even though they look less enthusiastic here). I like the Grog Grotto in the Poly better… Anyways, Caz my gem of a husband, took one for the team and walked back to the HJ to get our car and pick us up at the Disneyland Hotel. The girls and I took in the grounds and then chilled in the lobby.
Goofy was excited to play with the girls, but they were rather indifferent, they’ve tangled with Goofy many times before!
And then we were done. Sigh. What a good three days!!
Thanks for reading folks!
I cherish the trips I’ve taken with my extended family, and in fact many of them wouldn’t have happened if it weren’t for the generosity of my parents. But this trip was something special. Because family is so important to us, we have spent the last 10 years of our lives going to see family in Michigan, or meeting family somewhere, but never taking our own vacations- just the four of us. As we made our way up the amazing CA coast, we worked in three days at Disneyland!! Here are the details:
Cast: Me, my DH Caz, Eme (DD age 9) and Clara (DD 6 at the time)
When: July 18 - July 21, 2016
Where: Howard Johnson (HJ) on Harvard Blvd.
Why: Our first ever, just us vacation
In addition to this being our first ever family vacation, it was also our first time to DLR. We selected the HJ for both their ratings, proximity to DLR and for sentimental reasons. Papa and Buszia went on their honeymoon to DLR way back in 1971, and stayed at the HJ. So that sealed the deal. We got there the night before our first foray into DL, checked out the room and headed to DTD:
After that, the girls crashed hard, and Caz and I chilled on the balcony, sipping adult beverages and watched the Disneyland Forever fireworks. It was amazing. We got up bright and early the next morning (ROPE DROP!!) and made it into the park around 8:15… It was so cozy and homey. We were in Walt’s Park!!!
Clara was a little nervous about BTMRR - don’t worry - she loved it!!
The drop on Splash, not so much... Her face is priceless, though.
It was a great day. Hot and crowded, though. But that was to be expected. We had delicious snacks:
And went home for an afternoon rest and swim, and then we had our special event… We splurged on a Blue Bayou Paint the Night package. It was so worth it!!
We didn’t have to wait all evening for seats and the parade was amazing:
Sorry for the blurriness!
I am so hoping this parade will be at MK by this summer… Crossing my fingers! We then moved our way up Main Street USA and made it about halfway to watch the Disneyland Forever fireworks:
I still prefer wishes, though these were still amazing and made me cry. The next day we went to DCA. This may be my most favorite Disney park EVER. It was the most magical day. We had found our groove, no one was cranky, the weather was spectacular. It was the best Disney Day EVER.
The girls didn’t want to stick around for World of Color (no worries- next time!). It really was the most perfect day. With rope drop and old school FP we got to do everything. Just amazing! Our final day dawned once again bright and sunny. We originally planned to stay past dinner, but we were hot and tired so we left around 2 pm. No worries - we had our fill.
Here are two of the full size Photopass pics we bought:
We wrapped it up by heading to the Disneyland Hotel. Part of why we left early was because the monorail was down due to heat. We were going to ride it to the DH, and then back, but since it was down we went with just finishing there. We checked out the original Trader Sam’s:
The girls loved it (even though they look less enthusiastic here). I like the Grog Grotto in the Poly better… Anyways, Caz my gem of a husband, took one for the team and walked back to the HJ to get our car and pick us up at the Disneyland Hotel. The girls and I took in the grounds and then chilled in the lobby.
Goofy was excited to play with the girls, but they were rather indifferent, they’ve tangled with Goofy many times before!
And then we were done. Sigh. What a good three days!!
Thanks for reading folks!
