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View Full Version : The Good, the Bad and the Magical- DLR trip 2015



Mackflava99
09-25-2015, 02:37 PM
This is a Post trip report , i have been meaning to write it but i came home to some chaos so now that its settled down I am catching up.

In late August , my family ( me, my wife and our 16 year old twin girls) traveled to Anaheim for a long trip (16 days total) We have been to WDW many times but the last time i had been to DLR i was 6, so we were very anxious to visit.
It was our 20th anniversary trip so we wanted to make it special and I had saved alot to be able to do everything we had planned on.

Our plan was to stay at the Grand Californian as our base, but visit all over southern California. I got some very reasonable tickets ( 300$ round trip) and used mileage points to get us first class. So we were all set- We couldn't get all the days we wanted at grand Californian( we are DVC), so i used Marriott points for the first 2 days.
The flight was uneventful, it went very smooth, we actually got there 20 minutes early, Our rental car wasn't the best experience, Dollar only had one car left in our reservation size and it had been in an accident, so it had a big dent and smelled like someone had been smoking inside. The price i got was so good, that i really couldn't go elsewhere..so we decided to just deal with it. It actually was very nice and didn't give us any hassles. Dollar even credited us 200$ back for the issues.
Day 1 and 2 we spent in Huntington beach, we had a wonderful Marriott on the beach and it actually gave us 4 beach chairs, beach towels, a rolling cooler and a volleyball in our room for our use. We really loved the area, the beach was so fun, and there are alot of great restaurants. We had no expectations so it was just 2 great relaxing days. We swam, played volleyball ( my favorite sport) and got some great family time.
The next morning we packed up and went to the Grand Californian, it was only a 25 minute drive, closer than i expected.
Here is where there were some major differences. We went through a pretty sketchy part of Anaheim and out of the blue i saw giant Palm trees and a sign for DLR. There was a short road and the entrance to the GC was right there !! the entrance was so short, nothing like entering WDW and going under the arch. Plus i could see the California Adventure park from the street. That seemed very strange compared to what i was used to.
We pulled into the GC and the staff took our luggage, we went to check in and had a wonderful experience, the CM was named Jeremiah and he got us all set , even gave us autographed pictures from Minnie and Minnie for our anniversary. He outlined all the rides in the parks too, even helped explain which ones were different than WDW etc- the care and assistance he provided was top notch.
We got an awesome room, with a view of California Adventure right out our balcony. We had the 2 bedroom Vila with a giant kitchen. It was alot like the WL rooms but bigger , newer and it had 3 showers !! With 2 girls that is so helpful. Next we went back out to the grocery store and bought some breakfast food and bottled water for the trip. there was a store fairly close to the resort.
Then after we got back , we contemplated going to DTD but my wife's phone started acting up. It wouldn't accept or make calls or texts. We went to the local AT&T store and they determined that her sim card had gotten excess moisture due to heat? it must have happened on the beach. Anyway the entire process took 2 hours for her to get a replacement. At that point the day was shot.
We had dinner reservations at StoryTellers so we went directly there. I must say that the dinner was very good. I ate off the menu, and my family went to the buffet. But in both cases we were very impressed. The service was excellent and the atmosphere was wonderful. it was a great way to start out. It was a little expensive, but i had expected it to be.
Next we went to DTD , which was attached right to the hotel ( how cool is that?)
and then walked around the hotel to get a good idea of where everything is. It is a terrific hotel, great gym, the pool is ok ( not like BC) but the attention to detail is terrific. We also went up to the non villa area to see how that was and then went to the Villa private viewing area for World of Color. This was a great perk, it was not crowded and we could see the entire show. The music was piped in. Loved it!!!
Now i was chomping at the bit to go to Disneyland, but my wife had made reservations for us to go to the Warner brothers Studio Tour, so the next day we drove to take the tour. I was not really looking forward to it especially knowing i was so close to Disneyland. But I must say that the tour was awesome. It was a guided tour and it wasn't crowded, we got to see some active sets, toured around the different street scenes, got to sit on the Friends couch and Bilbo baggins table , plus just got to really see the insights on how the movies are made. The best part of the day was the fact we got to visit the Big Bang Theory set !!!! we saw the apartments, the hallway, the comic book store etc- totally cool!! they had just finished filming , so we didn't see any stars, but that didn't matter.
It was a great day, topped off by a tour of the Disneyland hotel which is also an awesome hotel, we ate at Steakhouse 55 and had a great meal.

Tomorrow- Our first visit to Disneyland:)

tinkwest
09-25-2015, 04:09 PM
What a great report! It sounds like a fun, relaxing start to your vacation. We used to always go to Huntington Beach in the summer when I was a kid.

Three showers for a family of four sounds pretty awesome! And to be able to watch World of Color - with music! - away from the crowds must have been fantastic. I love the Grand Californian.

Hope your days at the parks are filled with fun.

Arielfan98
09-28-2015, 12:10 AM
Sounds like a fun trip! I also went on the Warner Bros studio tour and it was so cool to be on the set of Friends and see the Pretty Little Liars set. It sounded like a fun trip and I second the Storyteller's Cafe review. The food there is great :thumbsup:

faline
09-28-2015, 07:53 AM
Nice start to your trip!!