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View Full Version : Happy Nine Month Anniversary, DCA! part I



tinkwest
07-07-2008, 11:49 AM
After MegaDisney's excellent Blast from the Past trip report, I thought I'd dig up one of my old reports and found this one from our first visit to the DLR after it's major overhaul. Enjoy!


Who: L(that’s me!), E (hubby), D(son/17), M(daughter/11)
What: Much needed vacation
When: November 5 - 10, 2001
Where: Disneyland Resort
Why: To get away from it all
How: By car, I-5.


After a particularly busy month of planning a school carnival, taking care of a sick teenager, packing up a 6th grader for camp, and also taking care of the everyday things like formatting/editing/distributing several newsletters, going to work, and keeping up with all household necessities - we were READY for a vacation.

Of course, this is exactly when L caught the bug and got sick! So, this report will be a bit different than originally planned as there was less time spent at the parks and more time spent studying the hotel wallpaper!


LODGING
Our family of four stayed at the Grand Californian Hotel. We are spoiled and like to stay on Disney property. Once we arrive and park our car, we never leave again until it is time to head home. Gives us more of a feeling of being away. Anyway.....we have stayed at the Disneyland Hotel about half a dozen times (have lost count), at least once in each tower, and have stayed at the Paradise Pier Hotel once (although at the time it was Disneyland Pacific Hotel), so we wanted to experience the newest member of the group and went with Grand Californian, even though we heard the rooms were a bit smaller than DLH.

We couldn’t have been happier with our selection. After about a 70 minute drive from San Diego we arrived and the Valet/Bell staff was very on top of things and got us unloaded quickly. We entered through the beautiful stained glass doors, hit the bathrooms, gawked at the vaulted ceiling in the lobby, and checked in. No lines to stand in on this Monday afternoon (about 1:00pm). We went to check out one of the rooms with a queen & a bunk bed, but our 17-year-old son is far from being small and he would have been very uncomfortable. So we went back to the front desk and they put us in a queen/queen.

Our room was great. We did not feel crowded at all. Plenty of closet space, a make-up mirror, blow dryer, & coffee maker in the vanity area, and a nice little balcony with a table and two chairs. We overlooked Downtown Disney. We were directly across from Haagen Dazs, with Wetzel’s Pretzels, Naples, Catal, and Department 56 within view. If we looked off to the left, we could see the top of Rainforest Café, ESPN Zone, & the Disneyland Hotel. We could see the monorail track also. And, a bonus, each night we had a front row seat on our balcony, for the “Believe...” firework show coming from Disneyland! We were surprised and delighted to find that every night our beds were turned down & chocolates were left for us on the night stand and every morning we received the local paper outside our door. The only thing on the minus side was that it was a bit of a hike from the elevators to our room, but being under-the-weather maybe just made it feel more so.

The lobby was beautiful and the second day we were there they decorated the 4-story-tall Christmas tree. What a project! Scissor lifts, ladders, and interior designers all over the place, but it turned out great. The fireplace area was cozy and the piano music just made it all seem so much more special. The little gift/sundries shop was as large as necessary, with World of Disney and other such stores so close by. The pools were fun (E&M tried out both pools and one of the jacuzzis) and it was nice that they stayed open until 9:00pm, giving guests another something to do after the parks closed.

We had hoped to eat at Napa Rose, but never got around to it or felt up to it. Ate at the Storytellers Café twice. Once for breakfast buffet and once for dinner. The buffet had a lot of selection, but the dinner menu could have had a few more choices in our opinion. All the food was good. The dining place at GCH that surprised us the most was White Water Snacks (think I got that right). Convenient, serve yourself, fairly priced (comparatively), tasty food, comfortable tables. Past the entrance to California Adventure, we wish we had tried it out earlier than our last day. We probably would have eaten there more often.

Altogether the GCH was gorgeous and relaxing. Just what we were looking for. So much so, that upon arrival we immediately extended our stay by one day. And it was so easy to access Disneyland, California Adventure, and Downtown Disney. We would definitely stay there again!


DOWNTOWN DISNEY
First thing we did after getting settled was check out Downtown Disney. Last time we were at Disneyland Resort we ate at Monorail Café (now the site of Starabilias if I’m not mistaken), so this was all new to us. We had dinner at House of Blues - EXCELLENT! Gumbo, Jambalaya, Ribs, Salads - all good. We had soup and sandwiches from La Brea Bakery & Jazz Kitchen up in our room one night. Rainforest Café is a favorite of ours in Las Vegas. The one in DTD was good as well. They were very busy there, but it did not cut down on the service. One night we stopped for ice cream at Haagen Dazs. Should have done that in the daytime when it wasn’t so cold!! Our favorite eatery in Downtown Disney? - Wetzel’s Pretzels! We loved the pretzel dogs and lemonade!

E&D went to a couple of movies at the AMC theaters. At first we thought, “Go to a movie?! At Disneyland?! You can do that at home!” But it really is a nice option, especially on nights when the parks close early. E, D,& M had fun playing air hockey, bowling, and other games at ESPN Zone (while L napped in the room!).

We checked out ALL the shops in DTD. We all like books, so went into Compass Books. D&M rolled their eyes when E&L ran into Illuminations (one of our favorites). The Lego Center & Starabilias were fun to browse in. D bought a watch at Mainspring. The kids both got candied apples from Marceline’s Confectionery. We saw them working furiously at the Build-A-Bear Workshop, night & day, but unfortunately they were opening about a week after our visit. And of course, we explored and made purchases at World of Disney.

We really like the Downtown Disney area and how it draws together Disneyland, California Adventure, Disneyland Hotel, etc. Good job, Disney.

Melanie
07-07-2008, 08:31 PM
Fun read, Linda! :mickey:

MegaDisney
07-08-2008, 03:16 AM
Yeah! Thanks for posting this! I have been reading old trip reports and articles from the ole Westside and this was a special treat!
:cloud9: