If you're going to road trip up the west coast, is it even worth it without stopping at Disneyland?? The sad part about this post is that it's already outdated! Star Wars Land opened the week we were here and they were only letting people in if they had tickets....which we weren't able to get. But, as it was still part of our road trip to Alaska, here we are. After leaving San Diego, we spent the night at our friends' house and left the next morning for Anaheim. Where We StayedI can't even count how many times I've been to Disneyland, but in our married life we've been three times and since having kids, we've been twice. Three years ago, we stayed on property, which we definitely recommend, however, this time we needed to be a little more budget conscious as we still had two more weeks of road trip left. We stayed at the La Quinta on Clementine St. We get reward points through them as well as a military discount. It was about a 10 minute walk to the park and I think it worked out pretty well! What We DidDisneyland, obviously!! First, and foremost, we arrived at the park and, SURPRISE! Grandma and Grandpa were there! It was so fun to surprise the kids with that, but so hard to keep the secret. Even as we were walking up, Hayden mentioned how she wished Grandma and Grandpa were there like "last time". It was probably the best part of the trip seeing that all unfold :) While planning our trip, we looked into the new FastPass system, MaxPass. With the FastPass system, you can essentially hold your place in line by visiting the FastPass kiosk at available rides with your park ticket. You use your ticket to get a FastPass, which gives you a time to come back and get in a shorter/faster line, usually an hour after you receive the FastPass. This service is free to use, however, you cannot have more than one FastPass out at a time. Disney MaxPass was a new service since we had last been to the park. It costs $15/day per ticket and gives you the ability to procure FastPasses through the mobile app instead of having to physically go to the kiosk. It also includes unlimited PhotoPass downloads, which is actually pretty cool. In the end, we decided to "pass" on the MaxPass ;) , at least for the first day and add it later on if we felt like it was worth it. In the end, we didn't end up adding it and we didn't feel like it took anything away from our trip. One tip: make use of the child swap if .you have kids not big enough to ride some of the rides. One adult will ask for the child swap at the beginning of the queue and after riding, the second adult can bring up to three passengers into the FastPass line. Don't forget, this can double up with actual FastPasses! So you can definitely get some mileage out of that. We also rode the Guardians of the Galaxy ride for the first time since it had been changed from Tower of Terror. I gotta be honest, I was skeptical, because Tower of Terror is the best! But the change was actually really fun and next time we go, Marvel Land should be up and running! What We AteWe've been to Disneyland enough to know where to get some good eats. These are our top 5 favorites in no particular order, except this first one. Because it's always at the top of the list :D Lunch at Cafe Orleans!! The Pommes Frites are finger lickin perfection. Come to think of it, one visit we just shared the fries for lunch haha. This trip though, Jon and I shared a Monte Cristo and an order of Pommes Frites. Drooling just thinking about it. #2 Out of all the Mickey treats, the beignets are my favorite. I just can't get behind the pretzels and when we tried the churro ice cream sandwich, is wasn't as good as it sounded. We had actually been to Disney World a few months prior to this visit and seeing as how you can't get the mickey beignets in the parks in Orlando, I was craving them! You can get these yummy little guys around the corner from Cafe Orleans at the Mint Julep Bar. #3 Another tasty treat that you can't exactly get at Disney World is the Grey Stuff. From Beauty and the Beast, in Lumière's song "Be Our Guest", you'll hear him invite Belle to "try the grey stuff, it's delicious! Don't believe me? Ask the dishes!" At Disney World, we were only able to find the grey stuff topped on a cupcake, so we definitely had to try it all on it's own when we were at Disneyland. You'll find this at the Red Rose Taverne, formally the Pinnochio-themed Village Haus Restaurant, and I gotta say, the Grey Stuff is better at Disneyland! Maybe it's just better off the cupcake. At any rate, the Red Rose Taverne is a really fun little place to stop and explore. The decor is interesting with murals and details honoring the original animated film but if you look closely, you'll also find the Mrs. Potts, Lumière and Cogsworth versions from the live-action film, which is kind of fun. Bonus: Our second day, we had breakfast at Flo's V8 Cafe. This is a counter service restaurant but it had a really cool atmosphere being right next to the Radiator Springs Racers. The American Breakfast, the Brioche French Toast, and the Chicken Tamale Breakfast...okay, well I'm pretty sure that's everything on the menu, but it was all so good! So you literally can't go wrong. #4 Another hit over in the Cars Land area was from the Cozy Cone Motel. Bacon Mac N' Cheese in a bread cone. Need I say more? We may or may not have gone back for a second serving. #5 It is our personal opinion that no visit to Disneyland is complete without a dole whip! And while the original pineapple dole whips are delicious (we definitely wouldn't turn one down...or didn't, I should say ;), the raspberry swirled dole whips at Tropical Hideaway in Adventureland are highly recommended by this family! We may have had two or three of those babies. Even if we weren't able to offer any insights on the new Star Wars Land, we still experienced a lot of personal firsts. In addition to everything else, we were able to see the updated castle! Super digging the new paint job. All in all, one could spend two days in Disneyland and be mostly content though we can't promise that a small part of you won't be wishing you could stay just a little longer! We made a lot of memories along our road trip, but I think this one was a highlight for the girls. Maybe it had something to do with Grandma and Grandpa ;) but getting to spend some quality time before moving farther away was such a good experience. Here it is, 5 months later and Colbie regularly plays pretend that she's going to Disneyland and I love it. But alas, like stated before, we had 2 more weeks of traveling to do! Our second night, we watched the fireworks from Grandma and Grandpa's hotel room before saying goodbye. The next morning we departed for our next stop, San Fransisco! Make sure to follow us on instagram for more of our day-to-day adventures! But until next time, get out and enjoy where you live!
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AuthorWe're just a military family enjoying where we live, one PCS at a time. Follow us as we explore our current home, South Carolina, and beyond. The world is our backyard. Archives
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