LA, Disneyland, San Diego trip report * complete*

[HappyGrape]

Part 1 - LA
Part 2 - San Diego
Part 3 - DisneyLand

Part 1

Santa Monica Pier & beach & shopping. Loved it! I wish we had another half day for it. Best place to leave my husband for an hour breakfast and enjoy some shopping too, particularly if you are yoga active wear as Lululemon, athelta, alo yoga

There are so many movie scenes under the pier, I had to take a photo!

Tasty egg white omelette

and little less healthy option

great spot for brunch at boulevard (st monica)

Venice Beach - we loved it. I always enjoy taking a walk around there and people watching. There was body building competition at Muscle beach and the boys loved watching the skaters and street dancers. People complain that is old looking and we didn't actually go for sun tanning or swimming - just walk around but I love how lively and colorful it is.


Hollywood - I don't feel the need to visit again but as it was DS first time we did it. So busy around there. I don't find it as interesting location to be honest.

Hollywood sign behind DS, visible from the Chinese theater where the Oscars are held. Look for the spot if you don't plan to head to closer location for photo op. If you buy something, even if it's just cup of coffee you can get your parking ticket validated and pay much lower rate for few hours

Science museum - really good! With ticket for one of the short IMAX movies you get access to the space shuttle and most of the areas are free access, very reasonable day. All areas are very interactive and there many happy kids around exploring! We were sad we didn't have second day or at least the full day there and is highlight of the trip for my son

Getty Center - great view of LA and again one location we wished we had more time for. Well worth spending few hours

Other notes on LA

Traffic is so bad and it seem to be bad at any time of the day. Carpool lanes help little. It felt that even driving to something 3 miles away takes forever

Heat wave was not fun

Food was good or very good everywhere we ate. I felt even the supermarket trip to get fruit was much more reasonable and better quality compared to our last Orlando trip. We had one special meal only - 15 course Chef's menu at Scratch Bar & Kitchen in Encino. We paid 500 usd for 3 adults with few drinks each and it was interesting experience but wouldn't travel to there if I am not staying in the area. I had better meals in LA but as we were with kids the rest of our meals were all family suitable locations and I found both prices and quality of food to be good. Most table service meals with tip and one or two drinks for adult and 1 child were about 80 to 100usd, and about 40 for QS type of locations. At the other end of the price range we also did quick visit to PINKS hot dogs for first time, huge portions good for sharing.

Pinks is famous hot dog chain in LA. I don't think I will be doing it every trip but glad I tried it

Parking cost add up a lot and most locations charge per day even if you only spend 30 minutes there. We parked at Venice beach for 20usd early in the morning. We came back to pick up the car few hours later and they were asking for 40 usd for same parking spot, same daily fee. It was ok as I had reasonable daily budget but something to plan for

We always love our time in LA! We were invited on 4th of July bbq with about 20 kid and they had water fights, movie outdoors and it was so much fun.

My husband asked for a trip to Camarillo outlets. Much quieter and easier to get around compared to the outlets in Orlando, however I am just not big fan of outlet shopping. I find going to regular stores, they always seem to have some offers without the hour drive each way and it's much quicker and more enjoyable to find things. We only spend about an hour there and my son liked it best. If you enjoy outlet shopping, worth considering.

 

[HappyGrape]

healthy breakfast at I-Hop. Not the best to be honest but the pancakes aren't that good at that location either and it's good to have the option. We haven't been to I Hop before and my son was keen on trying it

love adding chilli flakes and lime on my fruit and buying huge box of fruit is tradition for me at Venice Beach

DS watching the skaters. He was not keen on leaving Venice Beach at all!

chilling out watching the street dancers at Venice Beach

at the Science Museum. I can't speak of this place highly enought. The movie theater is Real IMAX and huge screen. Even the quick service pizza was so good and spending some time to let kids explore - a must do. I regret not allocating more time to it. The simulator ride can make you feel little nauseous. They also had various hurricane and other simulators. Seeing real space shuttle is cool too

view from Getty. Parking is paid (15 before 3, 10 after). The train up to the center free, and the exhibitions free. There are nice gardens, outdoor music and place to get some food & coffee and also interactive kids area. Smaller but fun for under 10s

 

[HappyGrape]

LA Traffic. It is insane!

the 15 course meal at Scratch Bar LA

a mexican meal or two are must for us in south california trip

 

[BadPinkTink]

great photos, ahhh the LA traffic, lol, thats an experience in itself.

 

[jcc0621]

Glad to Hear about Santa Monica. It is on our plan for our August Trip after our Whale Watch Tour in Newport Beach. We should get there about Noon or so, and have the rest of the day. They close at 11pm according to their website. How as parking there? Hard to find close?

 

[HappyGrape]

we found parking easy and close, but we arrived very early in the morning. For some reason I am thinking 12 usd per day but can't recall for sure. It was less than what we paid at Venice beach and easier to find

 

[jcc0621]

we found parking easy and close, but we arrived very early in the morning. For some reason I am thinking 12 usd per day but can't recall for sure. It was less than what we paid at Venice beach and easier to find

I don't mind walking, but I don't want to spend a lot of time looking for parking. Thanks!

 

[jessrose18]

following along...

 

[HappyGrape]

San Diego - day 1

This part of the trip could have been better to be honest. 1st DH insisted we travel all in one car, meaning we had to drop part of the group to legoland and pick them up, we couldn't leave as early as we would have either and we really had only few hour in San Diego during the day & dinner in downtown in the evening.

We had some time at Mission Beach - very busy, and walked across Mission Bay quieter and fun to see locals playing games and having picnics. We also took walk around Belmont Park.

San Diego is very pretty. Pictures can't capture how beautiful this city is

Mission Bay

I did not realize my son is wearing the Irish colors until he said it's a choice he made on purpose that day!

Mission Beach

we had some tasty pizza and shaved ice cream for lunch. Very reasonably priced food. I found it little cheaper than LA.

We went to pick up our friends from Legoland and checked in at the hotel after Mission beach visit. We stayed in two bedroomed apartment at Residence Inn by Merriot at Mission Bay. I would stay there again. We booked with ebookers. The only other fee was 16 usd per night parking. Breakfast was included and good. My son loved the waffle maker. There was also fruit, pastries and some hot items too. Beds were comfortable, we used swimming pool once and they had some inflatable left for all to use. There is happy hour with free bites to eat and some drinks but we did not participate. Staff were polite, having full kitchen can be really helpful for longer trip. Looking for 2 bedroom property limited our choices but it all worked well in the end and having breakfast and swimming pool was good.

 

[HappyGrape]

San Diego Day 2!


Breakfast at the hotel was great and the boys had so many waffles! They were super happy making them. It's great to feed them well before we start the day.

We got up early and found parking near the old town for free. The hop on hop off tour starts there. We took one of the first trolleys at cost of about 105 usd from memory for 2 adults one child. We did nearly the full route, getting off Little Italy, the stop before last stop Old Town

From there we walked back along the tour route by Embarcadero Marina to Seaport Village and picked up the trolley again at Marriott Marquis and Marina. This was such a lovely walk. Did you know that the Seaport Village is designed by Disney Imagineers? It is such a lovely spot to explore and so much Disney like! We had lovely lunch and one of the cafes overlooking USS Midway Museum! You can easily walk to downtown too, if travelling without kids.

I highly recommending taking this walk, it's the most beautiful city I have been and most of this walk is along the sea and very scenic! We sat for about 30 minutes at the seaport village, I think I felt more Disney there than in Downtown Disney Anaheim. It's really pretty!

We took the trolley and hopped off at Coronado island. The 5 year old was very tired, but he was holding it well considering all the walking in the heat. Didn't at all complain at any point of the day! I was impressed. He was hungry so him, his Dad, my dh and ds sat for some mexican near the trolley stop. I walked around the beach and the hotel, took some photos and we all took the trolley back to old town. I was little sad my DS and DH won't be able to do the walk around the beach, but DH was happy being with his friend. The food was very good, I had few bites of DS meal when I came back from my walk but sadly I don't recall the name.

]

The trolley was great way to spend a day! We took one of the last trolleys back at it was about 16:30. Time flies and operating hours aren't that long. If planning to do it, start early to be able to get most of it as it takes time to get from one place to another

After Coronado we arrived at old town, where the car was parked. Everyone but me were fed, kids were jumping up and down asking to go for a swim, and I knew once we are back at the hotel this will be it for the day. I had some quick food in old town, and honestly it was the only really disappointing meal of the trip. (fish tacos!) It was really bad, I didn't eat the food. Old town is cute, but not as much to do in it I was imagining it to be honest.

We went back at the hotel and took kids for a swim. They were so happy! We were all happy with the day

Next time we are in San Diego I need more time!

Coronado is beautiful and I would love beach day or two there. Out of the beaches we visited, it was the one that appealed to me most. San Diego exceeded my expectations and I dream for full week there in the future.

Next post San Diego Zoo

 

[HappyGrape]

San Diego Zoo

We arrived early and found parking easy. Parking was free. We had tickets purchased ahead and I recommend doing this if it's busy time as there were long waits for tickets. 3rd of July apparently was one of the busiest days of the year. It was also very hot. We did the bus tour first and there was good 30 minutes wait to get on it. There is one non stop tour and one with 4 stops hop and and off which we used later, and both are included in the tickets. The non stop tour was narrated and very good.

My DH said the zoo was underwhelming but honestly it was hot and busy and most animals were hiding. Perhaps different time of the year would be better. I let the kids decide what we do - meaning we end up doing the short 4D movie ice age (additional cost) and exploring few areas few times instead of the full park. I bought them some stretchy snake toys when we entered the park and they were more entertained with them than anything we sow in the zoo - great way to keep them entertained while waiting for things. I found prices inside reasonable, DH had to buy hat, I bought some cute jewelry for my niece.

We had fun day. I think we went in the zoo before 10 and we left at 3, had lunch, we sow good few animals without trying to see it all. The boys were after bears - as you can see from the pictures. Doing the bus tour first thing was good plan too.

Is it worth seeing - yes. Is it a must, not for me. We have good zoo in Dublin and we were members for years. It's not as big as San Diego, but if going for 4 days I would skip it next time. 5 or more I would consider it.

Lunch. I think I managed to take picture of every vegetable I ate and I missed all of the not so healthy stuff! I promise I did better job at Disneyland and have pictures off food that will make my doctor cry! Deep fried sandwiches and all

We passed by the panda section 3 times in hope to see them but this is as much as we managed to see. The wait to see them was 40 minutes the third time if you want front view... 40 minutes and they were not visible at all! We walked as we are leaving the second and third time and had a brief look on our way out, glad we didn't wait for front row view.

Next - Disneyland!

 

[HappyGrape]

Arrival, Downtown Disney and Day 1 Disneyland Park

We arrived at Best Western Park Place Inn the night before, checked in and explored Downtown Disney for hour or two. Quick look around the shops. The streets aren't very wide and it was very busy. We had look around Hotel Grand California but somehow didn't agree on where to eat or drink and came out to Downtown Disney fairly quickly. We had bite at Jazz Kitchens Express. Food was good but I am not fan of the biegnets. DS had cupcake in Sprinkles and rated it as just ok.

We had 2 queen beds suite for the first night and kind & sofa bed for the remaining nights, meaning when we checked out in the morning our room was not available until 3. There is additional parking fee of 10 a night and no other charges on location. King size suite bed was very comfortable, the room looked renovated/new. It was much nicer than I expected it to be. The distance to the park is superb - you cross the street and you are there! Breakfast was ok to be honest. For some reason DS loved it. There were bananas, oranges and apples as fruit every day, fruit yogurts (no natural for some reason). Scrambled egg, potatoes, either pancakes or french toast sticks coming out of big cheap pre made boxes , ham or sausage patties. Pastries, bagels, bread. DH and DS were very happy with it as they loved the cinnamon donuts. Breakfast starts at 6:30, great for early morning start as parks are open at 8 during the summer. If we ever go back I will look to stay there again due to location and quality of rooms and price. You can't leave the car before 13 am on check in but can leave it parked until 15:00 on check out day. This can be bit of a pain too! The Disney car park for day visitors is further from the parks than the hotel

Day 1 in DisneyLand Park

Boy did we over do it today!

AM visit
1. Peter Pan's Flight
2. Alice in Wonderland
3. "It's a Small World"
4. Matterhorn Bobsleds (it's fun)
5. Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters
6. Space Mountain with fp. So much better than Orlando and Paris. Loved it
7. Star Wars fp
8. Big Thunder Mountain Railroad fp

Early lunch at Cafe Orleans. I opted for salad and I felt little hard done by! It was good salad but the famous monte cristo sandwitch, witch is basically ham and cheese in deep fried bread so sweet - it may as well be a donut. It was sooo good! It sounds so wrong, but it taste so good. DH was happy to share. The parmesan fries were aslo very good and DS was happy with his meal too. Mint Julip is popular drink and was excellent in the heat. They refilled cups regulary. Like you have one sip, someone comes up to refill! Booking was for 1130, the time they officially open. However we went earlier and were seated at 11. The meal was very good and we made reservation for our next day in this park too

DH and DS food

I found prices reasonable for TS restaurant

9. The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
10. Snow White's Scary Adventures
11. Pinocchio's Daring Journey
12. Sleeping Beauty Castle Walkthrough
13. Splash Mountain fp (prefer MK version)
14. Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Forbidden Eye fp

Snacks at Bengali cafe - somewhat healthy snack, they were tasty

I had this daily! Mango slices with tajin spices (hot) and lime! I bought few of the spices from the shops to take home, lovely combination

Left the park for rest at 3. Checked in to the room we will be staying until the rest of the trip and had few hours rest

Splash mountain was down earlier and it's the only ride it took over 20 min to experience

PM visit

The castle is so small... I knew it's small but I was still shocked how tiny it is

Rancho del Zacolo dinner

It was ok, I like Pecco Bills at MK much better. I wouldn't return probably

15. Jungle Cruise
16. Mr. Toad's Wild Ride
17. Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin. fp
18. Mickey's House
19. Minnie's House
20. Goofy's Playhouse

Mickey Toontown - of not waiting for character meet they can be done with very short wait, it's only the character meets that make the wait long.

My family hated me by the end of the day! DH said I am done with Disney DS was crying for a swim. And around lunch time it's busy and HOT! Mornings are great but once it's 11 it gets so hard to walk around.

Not having a room to rest in between 12 and 15:00 was a pain to be honest, and doing so much small attractions that the guys aren't mad about wasn't that great plan either.

I personally enjoyed doing it all, but I don't think Roger Rabit, Tod's rate highly on my son's and dh priority list

 

[HappyGrape]

notes on fast pass

Many attractions are available for immediate fast past. Example Haunted Mansion waiting time 30 minutes, fast pass availability right now. Meaning you can pull fast pass, and pull another one straight away! One thing I forgot is that you can take fast pass as soon as the window for your fast pass open or 2 hours, whichever is sooner. This worked less well in the other park as headliners as cars land are hours ahead but worked so well in Disneyland

Another thing - wifi in the parks is very poor! Wifi spots are marked on the map, and I didn't notice this until day 3. It would have saved some walking in the heat and the crowds as splash was down and we walked to it twice

Another thing is if you have fast pass and the ride is down during the window

It becomes a fast pass for any time for same attraction, so you can return later.
Or you can use it in any other ride any other time and still pull other fast passes. The exception is guardians of the galaxy and radiator springs at California adventure, not sure about any exceptions in Disneyland Park as we didn't have to use it.

Rides were down a lot, with pirates of the Caribbean not having fp, being down multiple times and always having 30+ minutes wait

They are changing the fast pass system now, and the fast pass is only reminder. You scan the ticket at entrance. Meaning you can't give your fast pass to anyone else. Also the parks are linked, all fast passes apart from World of Colour are now linked - you can't pull in one park and go to the other pull another, unless it's your time to do so.

 

[HappyGrape]

California Adventure Day 1

We did

1. Radiator Springs Racers
2. Junkyard Jamboree
Picked up RSR fp for later that morning
3. Luigi's Rollickin' Roadsters
4. Golden Zephyr
5. Goofy's Sky School
6. The Little Mermaid ~ Ariel's Undersea Adventure (FP)
7. Toy Story Midway Mania!(FP)
8 Mickey's Fun Wheel - Non Swinging
9. Soarin' Around the World (FP for radiator springs, as it was down)

At some point before leaving the park we pulled fp for RS for late afternoon


I left the guys at our hotel for a swim and break and returned to Disneyland park to do Haunted Mansion. This is one attraction my son refuses to do!


We came back to use our fast passes for Radiator Spring

10. Monsters, Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue!
11. Radiator Springs Racers with fp.

RS broke down, again and we had to be rescued out. For some reason - my son loved this part. Lucky it was near the end of the ride and we got to experience it twice this day.

We used the morning fp for RSR at Soaring as it turned to anytime fp for any attraction as it ws down during our fp windwow. CM were very helpful explaining things!

Food
I refused to eat at the hotel as I had my eye on cinnamon banana toast at Flo's and it was to die for!

Lunch at Pacific Wharf. Great trick is to ask for the salad or soup with the bread on the side! It's huge, and great to share without being soft and soggy. Recommend

The guys shared Mickey pants ice cream. I didn't participate, but they looked supper happy with it and I love having the mickey pants bowl to take home!

funny pic form the waiting line for Monsters, Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue!

Bag of calories? Sugar, fat, salt? Yes sir, I will have some of that! haha.

We had dinner at cocina cucamonga and didn't love it. It was ok, but at least favorite meal of the day.

We loved everything about this park. Carsland theme is so good! A lot more space and more chilled out vibe compared to Disneyland park.

We had fast pass for WOC, but we all felt ready to call it a day and go to bed!

Few photopass pictures. Our family in front - me with my minie mouse theme dress!

 

[HappyGrape]

Disneyland Park - day 3 of our Disney trip, 2nd day

We took it much easier today. We really wanted to do pirates of the Caribbean, however it was down all the time! We went back and forward to check, before we figuring out that there are wifi spots marked on the map.

From memory we did Thunder Mountain few times, Star Wars, Space Mountain and the Tiki Riki Room and DS did Tarzan's treehouse

We stopped for coffee and some mango with tajin spice. I had this every day! While waiting for DH to come out with the coffees, and while having the coffee - about 20 to 30 minutes I observed a lady, clearly into her fitness having a photo session of piece of watermelon she purchased. She moved it around 100 different locations and angles. After about 10 minutes, her husband took over and was taking photos of her with the piece of watermelon for another 10 minutes... Oh man... I honestly take one or two pics and move on. lol. It was fun, but little sad to watch. JUST EAT IT!

One of our photopass photos.

Lunch at familiar place

No salads for me this time!

We had some left over which I packed in a cup for later. We really enjoyed this location - Cafe Orleans. Great place to sit outside, relax, people watch, excellent food and service. If we return to Disneyland we will return there again. We had the tasty Mint Julep again and with unlimited refills and much bigger than qs portions this is excellent value meal.

However, having had one and half the monte cristo sandwich is enough for years! It is great, but such heavy meal.

I gave dole whips another chance, after trying the float in 2013 and hating it! Well how wrong was I! This was so refreshing.

We had some downtime after lunch and went back BWPPI for swim & rest. The swimming pool is so tiny, however we had it for ourselves few of the days

We decided to go to Trader Sam's and Downtown Disney in the evening

Honestly - I was very disappointed. The food was average or below. The drinks were below average. The service not great either, not that they were bad - it felt very disorganized. I wonder if it is better at WDW?

My son bought himself a lego, DH sunglasses. This, my sons hat and one enchanted rose cup were the only things we bought in our 5 day stay

We dropped by Disneyland Park and did the Pirates of the Carribean 35 minutes wait but I really wanted to do it! It is much better than the ride at MK. It was the only ride we waited for the 5 days, so we didn't mind too much.

This was much more enjoyable day. I was sad that my family doesn't want to do the small attractions anymore, but happy that we are all happy.

 

[HappyGrape]

Day 4 in Disneyland, second and last day at Disney's California Adventure

We did

1.Radiator Springs Racers
2.Radiator Springs Racers

Picked up fp for 8 to 9 and as my new window was open I doubled! Meaning I stayed 1 minute and pulled second fp for RSR starting at 8:05


3.Grizzly River Run
4.Grizzly River Run
5.Grizzly River Run

I can't recall if we did GRR 3 or 4 times. I think it was cold for locals to do it, and we did it without getting off. It's AMAZING! We laughed so much. It's one of the happy memories that will live forever in my heart. The CM just asked - do you want to stay! And we were like YEAH! It was so much fun!

We were so wet, but dried quickly after and look around the superhero area. Did superhero test. ME and DS are Iron Man. DH black widow. he did the test twice, haha - and he was her twice!

6. Photos with black widow

I went to get fp for guardians of the galaxy

7. Me only California screaming single rider 6.
7. DH and DS did toy story
8. Goofy Flying School with fp
9. Golden Zephyr

11:00 lunch at garden grill - great choice. Both me and DH asked for extra skewer at additional cost. DS had some pasta for the place near by and loved it. Common sitting area for few QS locations make it easy to please different preferences. You can ask for all sauces if they ask which one you want!

Picked up fp for RS for 5:30
The guys had ghirardelli ice cream
Back for rest and swim at the hotel by 12: 30

The hotel is so near. I decided to go for a walk myself and pick up fp for Soarin. As our tickets were activated for the day in this park, I was able to get fp for 3 of us. I checked the app and new the time would suit us


For our PM visit we had
10. 3:30 FP for Soarin (we were back in the park at 16:00)
11. 4:30 FP for Guardians of the Galaxy Mission Breakout!
12. 5:30 FP for Radiator Spring Racers

DS and DH don't like the drop and didn't do Guardians of Galaxy ride. I wanted to hate it, but honestly - it's awesome! That doesn't mean I don't love Tower of Terror. I like both. DS enjoyed the dance party. He didn't take part but enjoyed watching it

After this we had some drinks and few appetizers at Wine Country at Alfresco Tasting Terrace. You can get good selection of wines at the Wine Terrace QS type of location, but we fancied sitting down for awhile. DS had pizza and said it was ok.

Followed by drinks & food at Cove bar. Cove bar always seem to have at least 20 minutes wait

Cover bar

The famous lobster nachos. I love cheese and I love lobster but wasn't a fan of the mixture

Fab view and great food to share/drinks.

Recommended!

On our way out I wanted to try make your own ice cream bar at Calabelle's. I went for mixed berry sorbet, black chocolate cover and dip in blue raspberry bursts! This was so crazy and delicios - you have to try it! A must for me. I was sad it's our last day at this park - I would have had it daily

We left the park on high note, but also sad. We all loved Disney's California adventure.

 

[HappyGrape]

And our last day in DisneyLand

We left our bags in the car. Most of our luggage was in LA, and I took things as passports with me. We checked out, had quick breakfast and decided to go to Disneyland Park for last day

At the gate DH was chatting with american family. Father and teen boy and girl. The mother was on teacher conference. They were regular WDW goers but this was their first Disneyland Day. I said that we will only spend few hours in the park, hitting Space mountain, Matterhorn and 4 or 5 times Thunder Mountain with in the first 1.5 hours. The guy asked politely if he can follow us as he hopes to achieve the same.

I have to say I was little nervous about not delivering what I said to do but it was great fun to have bigger group I can rush around the park. While rushing form one attraction to the next I was ahead with the 2 boys and the girl and DH and the father were few steps behind. The father said to DH -"Your wife is awesome! She knows how to do theme parks. I wish my wife was more like yours! "

DH sadly didn't share the enthusiasm, he said they get little tired. Him and DS.

I can't get over how cool and better Space Mountain in California is. I don't like the Paris or WDW version, and was shocked how much we loved it!

We did all as we planned in the first 1.5 hours, and it was great fun. We decided that this is us done for the vacation and DS asked for another Star Wars to finish of the rides for the day. We did it and were done with rides by 10 am. (Park opens at 8).

We went to specific park on days without early morning hour every day and never used our own early morning hour that came with the tickets.

Lunch was at French Market at New Orleans Square. DS had the french dip sandwitch - huge. DH had something in bread bowl, I don't remember what but was also big portion. I ordered Jambalaya which was also the more expensive item and it was tiny! The plate look nearly empty and I asked if this is adult portion. Honestly, you are better spending 5 more and eating at nearby Cafe Orleans. The CM felt guilty and brought me more food and agreed that this specific item the serving is very small, but that's what they are told to do. I was little embarrassed to be honest but they won't let me leave without extra food.

This is the meal including the top up after my complain

My little bunny was tired

On the way we picked up some treats at Jolly Holiday Bakery Cafe - all delicious. My husband had same pineapple upside down every day we visited Disneyland Park, but I didn't take photo or try it!

I picked up enchanted rose cup for present on my way out of the park, but end up keeping it for myself!

Our parks are WDW Parks but Disneyland made place in our hearts! We had great time, apart form day 1 which I take responsibly for

Disneyland park is crazy busy after 11 but you can do multiple rides without waiting even during the week of 4th of July first two hours. Old fast pass worked great. They don't have the space, and don't have as many cast members as WDW at all. We didn't have much interaction with them. When we did, they were super polite.

Disney California adventure was our favorite park
Grizzly River Run and Radiator Springs rides as well as Space Mountain at DisneyLand Park

Make your own ice cream favorite snack, Monte Cristo Sandwitch and parm chips with mint julep as drink meal.

Photo pass was not great. It was ok, but the photos were not as good as WDW

We spend about 240 a day on food.

we tried good few snacks as corn and enchiladas in the parks, I didn't take photos of everything


We love WDW but hope to return to West Coast too in future. I need more time in San Diego and I find it hard to believe we won't visit Disneyland again. Full day in the science museum and some time to explore small beach towns on the way. My husband votes West Cost any time. Me and DS want both!

I hope you enjoyed reading my messy trip report!

See Ya Real Soon

 

[HappyGrape]

Special thanks to @HydroGuy, the moderators of Disneyland and West Coast Forum, and all other forum participants who made our planning more fun and our vacation even more amazing!