We're back from DisneyLand! Trip Report DONE! *Day 3 Part A and Part B Added*

Trip Report - Getting there & Our Hotel:

We left early Monday morning. The goal was to be there by 2:00 pm, and spend the day checking out both parks and finalizing our plans for Tuesday and Wednesday that evening.

Well, that plan went by the wayside, as we got out the door by 4:45 am and were at our room by 11:00 am!

Let's start our report with the hotel....

We stayed at the DisneyLand Hotel:

The property consists of 3 towers that form the shape of a large "C" around the pool area. We were in the Adventurer Tower, which is the middle tower. I had upgraded to an upper level room, and then Joe upgraded again to a Theme Park View room. Surprise! This was our view:

The far back right is Paradise Pier Hotel and California Adventure. California Screaming is to the left, and to the left of the palm trees is The Grand Californian, with the Tower of Terror sticking up behind it.

Further to the left is Downtown Disney:

We thought the hotel and the rooms were very nice. It was clean, comfortable and conveniently located at the outskirts of Downtown Disney. You have to walk through DTD to get to the park entrances (unless you decide to go through the Grand Californian, which will put you directly inside DCA).

One of my favorite room features was the headboard " it had a wonderful engraved Castle scene, which lights up!! With a flick of a light switch, it lights up with fireworks! A little musical ditty plays when you first turn them on, then just the lights display. Loved it!

The room also had some nice Disney features and hidden Mickeys:

The bathroom also had some special surprises.....not quite as nice as Mr. Hub's bathroom, but very nicely done!

I loved the artwork on the wall too " very nostalgic:

When we wandered through the hotel, over by the Convention Center and Steakhouse 55 was a very large wall art piece with tons and tons of Disney Memorabilia. Old tickets, games, clocks, pictures....it was something to take in! I wish I had the camera with me then but I didn't.

So with us all checked in and the suitcases tossed in the room, it was time to get going!

Earl of Sandwich is the first thing we ran into when we entered DTD from our hotel. EoS is a relatively new addition to DL, and we were hungry, so we stopped for some nourishment. EoS never disappoints. It was sooo good " hot, fresh and fast. We both had the Ham & Swiss:

We ended up eating here 3 times....and each time was just as good as the first. YAY for EoS!!!

Next up - Day 1 and Disney California Adventure!

Day 1 - Monday, March 4, Disney's California Adventure:

As I mentioned above, our original plan was to get to the Resort by 2:00 " but since we left early, we got there around 11:00! Woo!

We decided to take advantage of the nice weather and light crowds, and do as much of CA Adventure as possible. And I am pleased to report, we did all the major attractions on my list that first day!

It was about Noon by the time we made it to the entrance, and we whizzed right through the bag check and ticket booth.

The first thing we noted was that the ticket processing to get into the park is a bit different here. No inserting card and finger on the top. One person took our tickets and scanned them with a hand-help device, then gave them to another person who scanned them at the turnstill.

I will say here that we left the park after a few hours to return to the hotel, and then came back to DCA. It was at this point that they told us they had to take our picture. So the CM whipped out her cellphone and took my picture so they could tie it to my key. And they do check it, because several times after when I entered either park, they would comment on my ears in the picture

Once we got into the park, we decided to hang a right into Condor Flats:

...and get a FastPass for Soarin':

...and then walk through Grizzly Peak for a World of Color FastPass for that evening. I'm glad we decided not to do the World of Color picnic/FastPass reservation " given the crowd level, there was no need for it, and at $15.99 per picnic pack, it was a pricey proposition. Plan B was that if we could not get a FP, we would order the picnic for Wednesday and see it then. But with Monday forecasted as the least cold evening of the 3, we were glad to be able to get the FP for that night.

With that secured, we walked over to Paradise Pier " home of California Screamin', Mickey's Fun Wheel, TSM, and a few other fun things.

We noted that the line for California Screaming was only a 15 minute wait. So we hopped in line, and rode our first DCA ride!

Impression: LOVED IT! This is a great classic coaster, and was a world of fun! Totally enjoyed it. An element of Rock N Roller Coaster with the take-off, and it was a lot smoother than I was expecting. I highly recommend this one if you are at DL!!

Next we went over to Toy Story Mania, and again, the line was only 15-20 minutes (no FP available on this one). I scored a 166,600! Joe was about 144,000.

From here we headed over to Hollywood Land and ride Monster's Inc. Unlike WDW, Monster's Inc. is an actual ride in DL. We thought it was a fun adventure. Here are a few pics from the queue and the ride:

After Monsters, Inc. we headed over to Tower of Terror.

I liked how the sign went form this:

...to this:

It was just a 15 minute wait, so we just went on standby. We thought the drops were basically the same as the WDW version, though the view when the doors opened to the outside was not as panoramic as at WDW. And the drop caught me off-guard. I'll leave it at that so as not to spoil it for anyone

By now it was time for our Soarin' FP window, so we headed back over there. What we saw was not what we wanted to see....a line! A BIG line!

We noted the stand-by wait time was at 75 minutes, and there was nobody in line. After waiting about 10 minutes, a person behind us went up to the FP Return line CM and asked what was going on.

She returned to tell us all that they were down to just 1 theater, and the wait time for FP was 40 minutes. Ack! And they were turning away people coming to the standby line.

The good news is that after about 15 minutes, they announced the second theater was back up and running, and we were on the ride in about 25 minutes.

Next it was time to check out CarsLand!!

We checked out the Cozy Cone Motel:

Found a talking Firetruck:

...and I had my picture taken in with a statue of Stanley, the founder....

When we got there, we noted that the wait for Radiator Springs Racers was at 60 minutes. I normally don't wait for anything that long, but it was such a nice sunny day, and we were in no hurry, so we decided to go ahead and wait it out.

It was also funny to see that they had Cast Members wandering through the queue selling Popcorn, Cotton Candy, Pop, and other food stuffs.

I wanted a Green car like this one:

...and we got a Green car! And our car won the race. Woo!

Impression: Fun, but I would not spend an hour in line again for it, and personally liked Test Track a little better. But if I were a kid, I would probably like this better.

I'll talk more about the Madness of the Morning Rush to RSR in my post for our last day " Holy Cow that is something to behold!!! And avoid if at all possible!

We grabbed dinner at Cocina Cucamonga Mexican Grill " was pretty good. I had the Carne Asada and Chicken Tamale - Marinated and Grilled Beef cooked to perfection served with a Chicken Tamale and warm flour tortillas. $11.99; and Joe had the Soft Tacos Monterrey - Beef, Chicken or Roasted Vegetables with seared peppers and onions, topped with cheese served in warm flour tortillas. $10.99.

We wondered around the park a little bit, and by about 7:30 we bought some caramel popcorn (really yummy!!) and headed over to the FastPass entrance for World of Color " we had the Blue section, which we thought was perfect. " far enough back that we would not get wet, but a clear shot forward to see everything.

And yes, I picked up a pair of World of Color ears that glow with the show! I'd post a pic but both the camera and the ears are in transit (we're moving apartments this weekend)

World of Color started promptly at 8:15. And what a show!!!! Absolutely loved it. The show was about 20-25 minutes, incorporated water mist projections and lots of color! Mickey's Fun Wheel also gets into the color action during the show. Joe says my ears were going crazy. This makes me happy

And with that, we called it a night and headed back to the room for the evening. We were pleased that we got as much done at DCA on the first day " this would allow us to take a much more relaxed approach on Wednesday!

Most excellently! I've been wearing this brand and model for years, and decided I had to look snazzy for DL, so I ordered me a nice new white pair a few weeks before we left and broke them in.