We Are Heading West…For the First Time! A July/August 2023 PTR (**Updated 6/25/23**)

[cstorm65]

We Are Heading West…For the First Time!

Welcome back everyone or welcome to those who haven’t read one of our past trip reports before. We have a pretty big collection of TRIP REPORTS here on the Disboards, but this one is going to be a first for us! This trip in late July will be our first time to head west, to Disneyland! We are Disney World veterans, having been on nine trips over the past twelve or so years. The other thing about our trips is that they are typically pretty long. My wife and I are both in education, so we like to take advantage of summer breaks and take nice long trips where we can slow down a bit and enjoy our time! I currently have a trip report going from our JULY 2021 TRIP. I also have one in the queue from June of 2022, so plenty of updates to come from Disney World. But, this is our first time to California and Disneyland and I am going to need all of the help I can get!

The one thing that will be different for us on this trip is that it will be short compared to our Disney World trips. We are already taking a 10 day trip in late June where we are doing a 7 day Eastern Caribbean cruise on Royal Caribbean. Our oldest son has been begging to go to Los Angeles though. He thinks he’s going to see all of these famous people just walking the streets and he wants to go to Disneyland. So, we were able to put together this week-long trip in Southern California. I’ll share more about the plans we do have coming up as we are splitting our time seeing So-Cal as well as some time at Disneyland. So, please chime in with any suggestions that you all may have!!

Let’s start with some introductions:

Introductions

I will start by introducing myself, I’m Jon.

I am a high school football coach and athletic director and love the “day job” I get to do every day. I’ve been teaching and coaching at the same school for sixteen years and just finished my sixth season as the head football coach. Anyway, I honestly think I have the best job in the world. Being able to make a positive impact on kids every day is something I love doing. It certainly has its challenges, but overall I wouldn’t want to be doing anything else. I also started as a travel agent about eleven years ago as a side hustle. That business has grown into something I never thought it would. We have agents across the United States and just became an independent agency in the last couple of years. I don’t sell much anymore myself directly, I just do all of the “behind the scenes” administrative stuff to support our agents. Anyways, here are my favorites:

Favorite Character: Goofy
Favorite Ride: Rise of the Resistance
Favorite Show: Festival of the Lion King
Favorite Movie: The Lion King
Favorite Restaurant: ‘Ohana

Now for my best friend and wife, April.

April loves our family vacations as well as almost any time we get to spend together. We have developed a love for Disney and vacationing together and it is something she cherishes. She is a school psychologist by day and an incredible mother and wife by night. She works in the same school district I do and so we get to see each other every day, which really is nice. I mean I can walk to her office or either of our kids classrooms in five minutes or less without ever going outside! How awesome is that? She loves her job working with kids as well and she is awesome at it. She also is an assistant basketball coach for our school and at the time I’m writing this they just won a State Championship!!! Woo woo!

Favorite Character: Ariel
Favorite Ride: Rock 'n Roller Coaster
Favorite Show: Festival of the Lion King
Favorite Movie: Little Mermaid
Favorite Restaurant: Whispering Canyon Cafe (Breakfast!)

Next up is DS11, Braxton.

He has just turned 11 at the time I'm writing this and I’m sure all of you with kids know how fast they grow up! He loves sports and playing outside with his friends. He plays football, basketball and runs track. He also still enjoys Disney stuff and going to the parks, although he might not tell you that since he thinks he’s a little older than he actually is! Anyway, he is an awesome kid and is now a great big brother. He wants to go to Los Angeles because he thinks he's going to see someone famous! We shall see son, we shall see!

Favorite Character: Mickey
Favorite Ride: Rise of the Resistance
Favorite Show: Jammitor’s
Favorite Movie: Star Wars
Favorite Restaurant: Garden Grill

Finally, the one who keeps things lively, DS7, Brooks.

Brooks is an incredibly sweet little boy who LOVES his mommy, but man is he awnry, opinionated, and LOUD! He is now seven years old in real life and let me tell you, for being a little guy, he has the biggest voice! He loves playing with his brother and he is also quite the fan of dancing! He loves Mickey and even has a stuffed animal that he sleeps with every night. Anyways, we are looking forward to seeing the different things he enjoys on this trip as he’s a little older.

Favorite Character: Mickey
Favorite Ride: “Roller Coasters”
Favorite Show: Jammitor’s
Favorite Movie: Cat in the Hat
Favorite Restaurant: Anywhere with Mac ‘n Cheese

Well, that’s who we are. Stand by for our Itinerary.

Up Next: The Itinerary​

 

[cstorm65]

TABLE OF CONTENTS

The Itinerary
Day 1 Plans
Day 2 Plans
Day 3 Plans
Day 4 Plans
Day 5 Plans
Day 6 & 7 Plans
Day 8 Plans​

 

[AusAnnie]

Great introduction Jon. We are possibly heading to Disneyland in August, so I'm interested to follow along with your planning and read everyone's suggestions.

 

[cstorm65]

Great introduction Jon. We are possibly heading to Disneyland in August, so I'm interested to follow along with your planning and read everyone's suggestions.

Thanks for reading along!! Hope you all have a great trip and that we can both pick up some helpful tips!

 

[cstorm65]

The Itinerary

Well, let’s get to planning a Disneyland. What do you say? Please, please, please chime in with your thoughts on things as we are total Disneyland newbies! So, here is the rough overview of what we have planned right now. I think I’ll come back and do each day at a time a little more in depth to get everyone’s thoughts.

Day 1
Fly to Anaheim, John Wayne Airport (8:45 AM Arrival)
Rent Car & Drive to San Diego
HOTEL: We are staying these first two nights at the San Diego Mission Bay Resort.
ACTIVITY: San Diego Zoo

Day 2
Spend the day relaxing at the resort. We are going to take it pretty slow while here and enjoy the beach and pools.

Day 3
Drive from San Diego to Anaheim with stops along the way.
ACTIVITY - La Jolla Shores Beach or Point Mencinger for April
ACTIVITY - Hollywood for Braxton
ACTIVITY - Griffith Observatory for Brooks
HOTEL: We need a one night hotel here. Still debating where to stay. We are wanting to go to Disneyland the next morning, so probably somewhere in Anaheim.

Day 4
Disneyland Park & California Adventure
HOTEL: Check in at the Disneyland Hotel for four nights.
Fireworks / Fantasmic at Disneyland Park

Day 5
Disneyland Park & California Adventure
Rest Night at Disneyland Hotel

Day 6
Disneyland Park & California Adventure
World of Color in Evening

Day 7
Disneyland Park & California Adventure

Day 8
Downtown Disney
Head to Airport at around 1:00 PM
Fly Home at around 4:00 PM

I’ll be back with some more detailed plans for each day!

Up Next: Disneyland Trip - Day 1 Plans​

 

[foolish_mortals]

Day 1 and Day 3 will be brutal driving days.

Since you aren’t flying in to San Diego Airport that is a 90min drive without traffic. If you change this I would but I know how airfares can be. In the summer there is a decent amount of traffic going to San Diego in the morning for beaches. After picking up the rental and traffic earliest I see you getting to the zoo is 12pm and most of the animals are active in the morning and are resting from around 11am-4pm. Can you switch Day 1 and Day 2 so you can get to the zoo in the morning when the animals are more active?

If you’re trying to kill time before check in maybe do La Jolla shores or Sunset Cliffs that day so you don’t have to do it on Day 3.

Your Day 3 is a lot. La Jolla Shores can eat up time since finding parking will be brutal. Then you have to pass Anaheim to get to Hollywood and Griffith. Driving and finding parking will eat a good 4 hours of your day on a good traffic day. My the deity of your choice take mercy on you if it’s a weekday and you get stuck in morning or evening commute.

If you want to go celebrity hunting there are celebrity home bus tours that leave from Hollywood. Paramount and WB both give studio tours so I would recommend looking into that. I think you would be better served getting a hotel in Hollywood mostly because your boys seem really interested in that area. I also think you will be exhausted after driving up there and doing activities to and that it would take the pressure off of “we have to leave here soon to get to Anaheim”

 

[bennifer]

If it were me, I'd fly into San Diego if you can change your flight just for the convenience of being close to the zoo. I think day 3 will be fine, just busy. I would stay in LA that night, though. Don't drive back to Anaheim.

I will comment on the Mission Bay Resort. I had booked this for our trip last year, but after reading a lot of reviews and discussing it here on the DIS, I changed it to Town & Country. Apparently the water in that area can get to toxic levels and "they" don't recommend a lot of water activities. If you are looking for a beachy day, you should look at places on Coronado Island. We chose T&C because we didn't want beach time. We went to the USS Midway, Torrey Pines, the zoo, and a museum in Balboa Park. We also drove to Coronado Island and it's beautiful.

 

[IanDLBZF from MCMagic]

You should consider flying into San Diego on day 1, and then just Amtrak up from San Diego to Anaheim on Day 3. It'll save you on gas and overnight parking costs at Disneyland Hotel.

 

[cstorm65]

Great feedback from you all...thanks so much! What would everyone think of these changes. Flying to San Diego is not really an option. We have a rental car for these three days and will turn it in the night we check in at Disneyland to avoid parking fees there. I've read some reviews on Mission Bay Resort and taken you all's thoughts I don't think we are going to pay the $400+tax per night to stay there. If we did that is why we wanted Day 2 open to just enjoy the resort. But I also understand us needing to do the zoo on Day 2. I found another hotel option for almost half the price of Mission Bay Resort, let me know if any of you know anything about the Hyatt Regency La Jolla.

Day 1
Fly to Anaheim, John Wayne Airport (8:45 AM Arrival)
Rent Car & Drive to San Diego

HOTEL: Hyatt Regency La Jolla
ACTIVITY - La Jolla Shores Beach or Point Mencinger for April

Day 2
ACTIVITY: San Diego Zoo

Day 3
Drive from San Diego to Anaheim with stops along the way. What time of day should we take off here? It will be a week day. We aren't super concerned with spending much time in Hollywood, Braxton is just dying to see it. Also, not sold on Griffith Observatory, just thought it would be cool if we could make it happen.

ACTIVITY - Hollywood for Braxton
ACTIVITY - Griffith Observatory for Brooks

HOTEL: We need a one night hotel here. Still debating where to stay. We are wanting to go to Disneyland the next morning, so probably somewhere in Anaheim.

 

[bennifer]

I completely understand not being able to fly into San Diego and I think this is a great plan! I haven't heard anything about the Hyatt Regency La Jolla, so obviously I had to go look. It looks awesome! I'm very happy you decided to change hotels. I think you'll be much happier here.

I also understand wanting to stay in Anaheim. I would check out Best Western Plus Inn and Suites. It's literally across the street from DL, good price, free parking, and really good reviews. I had this booked until I talked myself into DLH, where I really wanted to stay for our first trip!

 

[foolish_mortals]

I am also relieved that you’re not staying in Mission Bay. The water quality is…questionable…as part of the bay was a toxic waste landfill site in the 1950s. In all fairness it was located where Sea World is but it’s also why Sea World doesn’t have a hotel. Hyatt Regency La Jolla is a solid choice since you have a car. I had family stay there and they liked it but they didn’t have a car so we’re annoyed with there not being much nearby.

If you have to choose one, choose the Griffith Observatory. Do you know where in Hollywood you’re thinking of going? Hollywood Blvd (the Walk of Fame that tourists think of) is for lack of a better word, a dump. I dislike taking visitors down there and they usually are ready to cut the visit short after a few minutes. I recommend doing a studio tour, StarLine tour, seeing a movie at El Capitan or TCL Chinese Theater rather than just walking around.

 

[bennifer]

When I was planning our original CA trip, my son was going to be 11, too. It was postponed until he was 13 because of Covid. I completely understand the 10-11 yr boy wanting to see "Hollywood". Heck, I wanted to as well. We did go to the Walk of Fame and it was disappointing, but I think at 11, my son would have liked it better than he did at 13. His best moment for the half hour that we were there was going into Hard Rock to buy a tshirt for himself and a matching one for his older brother! Do I think you should still go? Yes, but don't plan on a lot of time there unless you are touring the Dolby theater or the Chinese Theater or catching a movie. And don't forget, you can see the Hollywood sign from the observatory! IMO, it was the best view.

 

[cstorm65]

I completely understand not being able to fly into San Diego and I think this is a great plan! I haven't heard anything about the Hyatt Regency La Jolla, so obviously I had to go look. It looks awesome! I'm very happy you decided to change hotels. I think you'll be much happier here.

I also understand wanting to stay in Anaheim. I would check out Best Western Plus Inn and Suites. It's literally across the street from DL, good price, free parking, and really good reviews. I had this booked until I talked myself into DLH, where I really wanted to stay for our first trip!

Thanks for the tip on the Best Western. I've been trying to get San Diego taken care of, so I haven't even looked at the night we have in Anaheim before Disneyland, but I will check this out!

I am also relieved that you’re not staying in Mission Bay. The water quality is…questionable…as part of the bay was a toxic waste landfill site in the 1950s. In all fairness it was located where Sea World is but it’s also why Sea World doesn’t have a hotel. Hyatt Regency La Jolla is a solid choice since you have a car. I had family stay there and they liked it but they didn’t have a car so we’re annoyed with there not being much nearby.

If you have to choose one, choose the Griffith Observatory. Do you know where in Hollywood you’re thinking of going? Hollywood Blvd (the Walk of Fame that tourists think of) is for lack of a better word, a dump. I dislike taking visitors down there and they usually are ready to cut the visit short after a few minutes. I recommend doing a studio tour, StarLine tour, seeing a movie at El Capitan or TCL Chinese Theater rather than just walking around.

I am so thankful for everyone's thoughts here about Mission Bay. I think where we are now booked will be great! Braxton wants to see Hollywood Blvd, but I think it is a 30 minute stop for us max. We know there's not much there, but he's going to want us to "prove" that to him! haha

When I was planning our original CA trip, my son was going to be 11, too. It was postponed until he was 13 because of Covid. I completely understand the 10-11 yr boy wanting to see "Hollywood". Heck, I wanted to as well. We did go to the Walk of Fame and it was disappointing, but I think at 11, my son would have liked it better than he did at 13. His best moment for the half hour that we were there was going into Hard Rock to buy a tshirt for himself and a matching one for his older brother! Do I think you should still go? Yes, but don't plan on a lot of time there unless you are touring the Dolby theater or the Chinese Theater or catching a movie. And don't forget, you can see the Hollywood sign from the observatory! IMO, it was the best view.

I think that is exactly what we will do. Spent 30 minutes, go to Hard Rock, and then head over the the Observatory. I think both boys will really enjoy that.

 

[cstorm65]

Summer Trip - Day 1 Plans

Alright, I think I am ready to dive into day by day plans and get you all’s thoughts. I already feel so much better about things after the advice you all have given us. I was worried about a few things in our original plan and even found a few things to change that I wasn’t worried about. So, here are the plans.

We fly out super early from Oklahoma City and get to John Wayne Airport at around 9:00 AM. We do have to stop in Dallas for a plane change, but it's a pretty quick layover. I was so happy when doing flights that John Wayne came up as a cheaper option than LAX!

We have a rental car that we will pick up once we are at LAX and we will be keeping it until we get back to Disneyland in a few days. We plan to pick that up and get straight on the road to the San Diego area. We hope to be at our hotel at around 11:00 AM in La Jolla. This was a change you all helped us with. We had been booked at the San Diego Mission Bay Resort, but you all mentioned the problems with water quality in the bay and other things, so we changed to the Hyatt Regency in La Jolla. We saved about $200 in the process as the Hyatt was cheaper to begin with. Anyway, we are excited about this hotel now and April was really looking forward to seeing some things in La Jolla, so this works out well.

Our plan is to just spend the rest of this day seeing the La Jolla area and visiting the stuff the hotel has to offer. Does anyone have recommendations on beach areas in La Jolla for the boys to swim? We aren’t opposed to going down to Coronado Island as well. I think that’s just 20 minutes or so into San Diego, but we will probably want to enjoy the beach a little bit this day.

Also, does anyone have good places to eat in La Jolla for dinner. We probably don’t want anything to fancy with the boys with us, but would love to hear if anyone knows anywhere that would be really good.

I also like this plan better than our original because we can get in bed at a decent hour. After an early travel morning we will be ready for that. That will do it for day one. I’d love to hear any thoughts you all have to make it even better!

Up Next: Day 2 Plans​

 

[bennifer]

First, your boys are so cute! Those smiles!!!

Ok back to business. Your plans are making me want to go back to California right now! I have no solid suggestions for beach time except maybe Torrey Pines Beach. I loved the Torrey Pines area, but we didn't get to the beach, except to look at it while we drove by. We had brunch at The Cottage in La Jolla and it was delicious. The menu for dinner looks great, as well

 

[disny_luvr]

I have no advice as I’ve never been to CA, but I’m following along in hopes of learning some things for our first CA trip and Disneyland visit next summer.

Thanks for all the tips, everyone! I’m looking forward to reading more.

 

[cstorm65]

First, your boys are so cute! Those smiles!!!

Ok back to business. Your plans are making me want to go back to California right now! I have no solid suggestions for beach time except maybe Torrey Pines Beach. I loved the Torrey Pines area, but we didn't get to the beach, except to look at it while we drove by. We had brunch at The Cottage in La Jolla and it was delicious. The menu for dinner looks great, as well

We are so excited about California, had planned on doing it a few years ago, but then COVID! Thanks for that dining suggestion! We will definitely keep that place on our list!!

I have no advice as I’ve never been to CA, but I’m following along in hopes of learning some things for our first CA trip and Disneyland visit next summer.

Thanks for all the tips, everyone! I’m looking forward to reading more.

Thanks for reading along! Everyone's tips have helped so much already!

 

[cstorm65]

Summer Trip - Day 2 Plans

On to planning day 2 and this day will be pretty simple for right now, but I am open to any suggestions people have regarding what we want to do this day. Our plan is to head in and go to the San Diego Zoo this morning. We really thought about all of the attractions to do in San Diego, but we feel like this is probably the thing we should experience.

We also know the importance of getting there when they open so the animals are more active. What I have no idea on is what do we need to do first when they open. I know there are tram tours and things like that, but I am not sure which ones to prioritize, so if anyone has suggestions please feel free to share them. They are open from 9 AM to 9 PM on the day we are going to be there. We are seasoned theme park visitors, but we are by no means the people who want to be there for all 12 hours in a row. We may spend morning to 4-5pm and head out. Or are there things going on the evening hours that we should go until lunch. Go take a break and then return in the evening.

Again, we are staying in La Jolla which I think is 20 minutes away or so pending traffic. Again, we have no idea what we are doing here, so any help is much appreciated!

We don’t really have any other plans this day other than to hang at the pool in the afternoon or evening. If there are any interesting and good places in San Diego to eat that the kids would enjoy, we would be open to those ideas too! Sorry not much to this update other than to plead with you if you have knowledge of San Diego to help us out!! haha

Also, I didn't have any pics to add about the update, so I'll just throw in what Brooks and April are doing today. They went over to the Women's College Softball World Series which is about 15 minutes away. Brooks has loved watching softball on TV the last few weeks and really wanted to do this. So, they are having a great time while Braxton has basketball practice to prepare for his tournament this weekend!

Up Next: Summer Trip - Day 3 Plans​

 

[bennifer]

The zoo is very nice! We aren't huge zoo people, so I don't know if our experience is "normal". We arrived around 9:30 and were completely done by 1, even eating a light lunch there. Balboa Park, where the zoo is located, is huge and has a ton of museums and gardens. We choose the History of Us Museum to add to our day. I found it much more interesting than my husband and son, who liked it but they were done within an hour. I think we all would have liked the air & space museum better, but we were going to the USS Midway the next day. So my advice is to look at all Balboa Park has to offer in case you're done at the zoo but still want to do something. Or plan on the zoo in the morning, and do a tour of the USS Midway in the afternoon. The Midway was a highlight of San Diego for all of us, especially our son.

 

[krybandt]

Great feedback from you all...thanks so much! What would everyone think of these changes. Flying to San Diego is not really an option. We have a rental car for these three days and will turn it in the night we check in at Disneyland to avoid parking fees there. I've read some reviews on Mission Bay Resort and taken you all's thoughts I don't think we are going to pay the $400+tax per night to stay there. If we did that is why we wanted Day 2 open to just enjoy the resort. But I also understand us needing to do the zoo on Day 2. I found another hotel option for almost half the price of Mission Bay Resort, let me know if any of you know anything about the Hyatt Regency La Jolla.

Day 1
Fly to Anaheim, John Wayne Airport (8:45 AM Arrival)
Rent Car & Drive to San Diego

HOTEL: Hyatt Regency La Jolla
ACTIVITY - La Jolla Shores Beach or Point Mencinger for April

Day 2
ACTIVITY: San Diego Zoo

Day 3
Drive from San Diego to Anaheim with stops along the way. What time of day should we take off here? It will be a week day. We aren't super concerned with spending much time in Hollywood, Braxton is just dying to see it. Also, not sold on Griffith Observatory, just thought it would be cool if we could make it happen.

ACTIVITY - Hollywood for Braxton
ACTIVITY - Griffith Observatory for Brooks

HOTEL: We need a one night hotel here. Still debating where to stay. We are wanting to go to Disneyland the next morning, so probably somewhere in Anaheim.

There are at least two tour companies that have good reviews and go to LA sites with pick up in Anaheim (Day In LA tours and Anaheim Tour Co.). That could be an option if you stay in Anaheim the whole time after San Diego and don’t want the hassle of driving and parking in LA. They are usually all day tours and do include Griffith Observatory and Hollywood Walk of Fame, etc.