I have said many times that I am not as big of a Disneyland fan as I am a Walt Disney World fan. After our last vacation to California, 5 years ago, I was completely disappointed in Disneyland and what it offered verses Walt Disney World. But there were some major differences last time we went as well. The group I went with, days in the park and where we stayed. While staying at my parents does in fact help to save money, this time we decided to spend a couple of nights at Disneyland and to stay in one of the Disney resorts not a good neighbor hotel. At first we had reservations for the Disneyland hotel, but I found using the hotel only offer at the Grand Californian was only going to cost an extra $30 per room per night. So switched resorts. The Grand Californian is located in a prime spot, with a private entrance straight into Disney’s California Adventure park, that also opens 30 early for resorts patrons.
The resort was ok, I was not too impressed with the service, we checked in at 9am and after complaining got our first room at 4pm and our second room after 5pm. The kids room didn’t have AC for the duration of our stay as well. The rooms were nice, I liked having the balcony, and room service was fast and delicious. The resort had a typical Disney gift shop, but lacked one of the things I love most about Walt Disney World Resorts, the food court/commissary area. I would have really like a resort refillable mug and a beverage bar to use for our three days. But staying at Disneyland did make more of a Disney experience like WDW. Our next visits we will do it again, stay a couple nights at my parents and a couple nights at Disney. It does help bring that Disney experience full circle.
As for our overall experience, I made the choice to not take our stroller along, thinking I would just rent one while there. This was a mistake on my part. The stroller it’s self was great, the staff at the stroller place was great as well. But, and I mean BUT a few things that would have been helpful to know prior to our trip:
- There is only ONE stroller rental location, in front of the exit to the Disneyland park – when you are staying at a resort that is attached to the center part of California Adventure, that is quite a walk for a stroller…
- You can NOT take the stroller outside of the parks – what that means – it can not even go inside the Disneyland Resorts or Downtown Disney and lastly
- They will not “save” your stroller for you when you want to run to your room for a bit. Nope not at all, not even if you are pregnant and have a sick infant. You have to park your stroller and pray hard that they stroller people do not come around and take it. I will say that after two days of our stroller being taken we smartened up and started taking one of the strollers that was sitting there waiting to be grabbed by the stroller people instead of walking through one park and out to the other one in order to get a new stroller. But next time, we will definitely be bringing our stroller with us.
I didn’t get to ride any “real” rides while we were there, due to being pregnant and Carson. But I had a great time with the rides we rode, and with the site seeing we did. The kids for the most part split up from us and went and rode the good rides, Pat went a few times with them, when I forced him to. I think he felt bad that I couldn’t ride anything. Becca stayed with Carson and me the majority of the time, but she isn’t really into the thrill rides. (note, when Carson and Baby R are a little older and we head back to either Walt Disney World or Disneyland, Becca will DEFINITELY being going with us, so I can ride the fun stuff with Patrick).
We did get to ride the new Little Mermaid – Ariel’s Undersea Adventure twice. When you stay at one of the Disneyland resorts you get hotel fast passes that can be used for non fast pass rides, and we also had a guest assistance card. Because of these two things, we were able to bypass the 2+ hour long line and get on it in less than 10 minutes each time. I will say this, if we wouldn’t have had those passes and I waited in line for that ride, I would have been greatly disappointed. It wasn’t as great as I thought it would be. It was cute, Carson liked it, and I am sure we will do it again when we go back. But it isn’t one of the top ten rides if you ask me, or my family.
Carson discovered King Triton’s Carousel though, he LOVED it! We were able to ride it multiple times in a row as the line was really really short. And the location, well that couldn’t have been more perfect, the rest of the crew could jump on California Screamin while Carson and I rode the carousel. Every one was happy! But to make the location even better, as soon as they were done on California Screamin and Carson on King Triton’s Carousel, we could just walk over to the next ride – one of my families favorites from Walt Disney World – Toy Story Mania. Carson sat in my lap while we rode, and I have to say I didn’t do too bad one handed while holding a baby. We totally missed all the playhouse Disney stuff though. I am really bummed that I didn’t get over there with Carson this trip, but there is always next time.
Disneyland was great as well. We caught the new parade Mickey’s Soundsational Parade, I will upload the video to YouTube later. But let me just say WE LOVED IT!!!! All of us, including the teenagers. I am so glad we saw it, usually we don’t do the parades, but decided that Carson might like it, so we decided to try one, and wow I will definitely be adding the Parades to our Walt Disney World itineraries in the future.
As for me and my preference, I still prefer Walt Disney World for several reasons:
- value – I feel you get more bang for your buck
- Meal Plans – the dining plans really help save you money
- More to do – 4 theme parks, 2 water parks, Downtown Disney, Boardwalk and more
- I feel it is more “Magical”
But, I am definitely a bigger Disneyland fan than I was before this trip. It is a smaller park on all fronts, which allows for you to see more with less walking, which is nice when you are pregnant and carrying an 11 month old. There is a lot to do there in the parks, just not as many recreational/relaxing activities.
We will have to plan a longer to trip to California next visit, and make it not during summer time. The crowds were worse there than we see in July at Walt Disney World.
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