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Thread: DLR - Grand Californian - July 10-14, 2010

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    Thumbs up DLR - Grand Californian - July 10-14, 2010

    Travel dates: July 10-14, 2010
    Travel method: family car
    Resort: Disneyland
    Accommodations: Grand Californian - view room
    Ages Represented in Group: Two adults (40 & 38) and three kids (17, 12, 10)
    Disney Resort Experience Represented in Group: first time for two youngest
    Comments: A-plus-plus!

    I wanted to post a quick report about our trip to Disneyland last week (July 10th through the 14th). After years of being defeated by unexpected costs (car repairs, etc) we finally, FINALLY bit the bullet and made reservations for the Grand Californian; we had originally planned to take the train and stay nearby, then planned to fly and stay nearby, but eventually decided to drive (from Canby, Oregon) and put the $ we saved driving into staying on resort... and we are sure glad we did!

    It is a two-day drive straight down I-5 (970 miles) from Canby to Disneyland - our kids are now older (17, 12 and 10) so they travel much better than they did a few years ago. That, plus a DVD player in the car, made for a pleasant trip.

    We checked in to a view room on the 4th floor of the Grand Californian, and were very impressed. Very nice room, and above excellent service. This may be due to our not being used to the level of hotel of the Grand Californian, but whatever the reason we were consistently impressed with how helpful, attentive and quick to respond the staff were! Our room overlooked Paradise Pier in general, and Mulholland Madness in particular, and afforded us a decent view (from the side) of World of Color. It was great that the hotel is RIGHT between the two parks - leave one entrance to the hotel and you're at Grizzly River Run in DCA, leave another entrance to the hotel and you're at Downtown Disney a short walk to the monorail. That plus three swimming pools and a consistently chilly lobby made us happy campers!

    As for the parks - I should say first that my wife hadn't been to Disneyland since 1987, I had not been since 1990, and my younger two kids (12 and 10) had never been... only my oldest daughter, soon to be a senior, has been recently for a band trip. That being said, with the exception of California Adventure, most of Disneyland is pretty much the same as it was when I was there in 1990, or at least seemed to be.

    We arrived our first evening at 5PM, having gotten out of the car, checked in and high-tailed it to Disneyland. We gravitated to Tomorrowland and were surprised to see only a 10-minute wait for Star Tours (which was great!), and similarly short waits for Astro Blasters, Matterhorn, and Big Thunder Mountain. We saw a few long lines for rides we wanted to try that night (most notably Space Mountain) but figured we had time. Ate at Rancho Del Zocalo, which was also terrific... we asked for my daughter's dish dairy-free and they made a special batch of enchilada sauce, just in case it had dairy in it... how's that for attentive service? We watched Fantasmic during the second show, fighting some mighty crowds, but it was amazing... I wasn't prepared for how good it'd be.

    For our second day (first full day) we did the Magic Morning thing and hit Tomorrowland for short waits for Space Mountain, Astro Orbitor and Finding Nemo and Autopia, Matterhorn & Star Tours again, then managed to pretty much do most of Fantasyland before lunch of hot dogs in Toon Town. Again, not a single long wait for a ride (15 minutes max). After lunch it was on to the other side of the park, where we finally rode Indiana Jones (our consensus pick for best ride in the park), the RiverBoat, Pirates, Haunted Mansion, then on to dinner at Hungry Bear Restaurant, followed by the fireworks from Main Street. Took a break to go back to the hotel to swim.

    Monday was our day for our character meal, so it was off to California Adventure... again with the short wait times! We were one of the first couple groups to make it onto Soarin', which was waaaay better than I thought it would be (despite the rave reviews I'd read), and we pretty much mowed through all of the park but Paradise Pier, Grizzly Peak and Bugs Land before lunch (very short waits for rides like Twilight Zone). Too long before our 2:10 lunch, we toured the tortilla and bread factories to hold us over. Ariel's Grotto was very nice - great service and characters, as was the case throughout our five days, and the food was great. We were on our second loaf of the great sourdough bread and asked for a box for the leftovers, and the box came with (yep) another whole loaf of bread! Yeehaw! By the end of the night we'd done Grizzly River Run and every ride on the pier except for Toy Story Mania and Jumpin Jellyfish, in time for World of Color, which was even better than Fantasmic!

    Two days left and we had very little left in either park that we hadn't done yet. Luckily, it was MLB All Star day, so we went to see the parade while we waited for some family from S. California to meet us at the park. It got waaay too hot, and the parade took waaaay too long (not Disney's fault, since it was a parade of MLB all-stars) but we eventually met up with family, rode a couple rides, then went to Rainforest Cafe for "lunch" at 4:00. The wait wasn't too long, but it seemed like it was because we had waited so long. I was sooooo hungry, but decided to order an appetizer for an entree and barely finished it - BIG portions at the Rainforest Cafe in Downtown Disney, and it has lots of interesting scenery. Tuesday was the only day we didn't see a show, but since we were with family who were there for one day and wanted to ride Indiana Jones, we did face one of only three long waits in line - 45 minutes after dark... but it was OK, since it gave us a chance to catch up with folks we hadn't seen in a year or so.

    For our last day we wanted to cross off everything else we hadn't done/wanted to do again, see the Aladdin show at DCA, and let the kids pick their favorite show to watch again... and I wanted to try some of the foods I had read about. Our bucket list included Splash Mountain (third longest wait of the trip in line at 35 minutes w/o fastpass), Screamin', Twilight Zone, Toy Story Mania (longest wait at 50 minutes but sooooo awesome!), Thunder Mountain, Indy for the third time (with fastpass), and the Tiki Room, before our last ride of Astro Orbitor, my youngest's favorite. It also afforded me a chance to have Pizza Oom Mow Mow (which was a'ight) a turkey leg from a Frontierland cart (which was great) and gumbo in a bread bowl from Royal Street Veranda (which was good and enough to share w/my wife). The kids picked Fantasmic for a repeat viewing, this time from a better spot.

    The next morning we checked out and headed back north, satisfied that we had squeezed most the juice out of our five days at Disney!

    Some final thoughts:

    ***Character encounters were plentiful, but we didn't really try to get pics with them (except at Ariel's Grotto) until the last day. Sometimes the lines were long, but not for some of the more odd characters, like Gepetto and Cruella deVille. Overall I wish we'd have thought to try harder for pics with them days before. The staff at the Main Street info booth was extremely helpful in finding out when/where characters would be.

    ***Lots of opportunities for collectors - in addition to collecting pics with characters, we could have collected pins (for lanyards) but didn't - they were everywhere, but I did sort of fall into collecting pressed coins, buying them everwhere I found them - it wasn't until I learned that I could spend $100+ on them that I decided I needed to level off, and came home with 15 or so.

    ***After everyone telling me how hard it'd be to do Disneyland in the heart of July, it was remarkably easy... helped especially by the fact that the park is open for 16 hours a day.

    Feel free to let me know if you have any questions about my "short" note.

    -Patrick Brennan
    Canby, Oregon


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  3. #2

    Great trip report! Sounds like a wonderful trip, Patrick!

    Siggy aka Jill

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    It was a good day! Malcon10t's Avatar
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    Sounds like you had a great time! Glad you were able to get everything in!

    Planning 3 trips at once...

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    Thumbs up

    Wow!! So glad to hear you had a great time. Did your younger kids think the parks were amazing. I remember in 2006 we took our then 4 and 6 year old kids were just in awe (their first visit). The look on their faces was priceless.

    We have not been in almost 2 years also. This year there is enough money to purchase 4 Deluxe AP's and a cheap hotel across the street from the park. Wish we could do early morning stuff but that is alright. Glad we can even go and get AP's.

    Many Happy Disney's

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  6. #5

    Patrick Thanks for this wonderful report. My family mom 58, hubby 43, sister in-law 41, myself 39 and our son 8yrs. Are traveling to DL in OCT from Beaverton OR, we will also be making the LONG drive south. Can you tell me about your drive? How many stops did you all make and appox how many hours did it take? We estimate leaving about 6 on Thur and Arriving in Universal Studios about 11am on Fri, what do you think is this do able?

     

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    Scruffy-looking nerf herder DisneyIndy's Avatar
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    Great trip report! Sounds like you guys had an awesome time. Glad you and your family enjoyed your trip!

    If adventure has a name, it must be Indiana Jones ... and Disneyland

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    It was a good day! Malcon10t's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by valorycabrera1971 View Post
    We estimate leaving about 6 on Thur and Arriving in Universal Studios about 11am on Fri, what do you think is this do able?
    6am or pm? I think if you are leaving at 6pm, you are cutting it short. That is only 17 hours, and you would need to average 65mph at all times. I think you need to add a couple hours for break time. You are going to arrive exhausted.

    HOWEVER, if you are leaving at 6am, and stop after 12 hours to sleep (Santa Nella would be a good place to stop), you could be up the next morning and be there before 11.
    Planning 3 trips at once...

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    Waiting impatiently for next trip quackinup's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Malcon10t View Post
    HOWEVER, if you are leaving at 6am, and stop after 12 hours to sleep (Santa Nella would be a good place to stop), you could be up the next morning and be there before 11.
    I agree with Santa Nella. I always enjoy my stops there when driving down fron Oregon. Especially nice if you are a fan of pea soup!
    Zip-a-dee-doo-dah!
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  10. #9

    We have done this multiple times (drive from Oregon, that is) and we like to drive 12 hours the first day and then have a short drive in (2 to 2 1/2 hours depending on time of day) and hit the parks early on the second day of our trip. 12 hours from Salem puts us at Lost Hills, where we usually stay at the Motel 6. (A little icky, but serviceable for our need of just a bed).

    We are doing this again in September. However, for some reason the Lost Hills Motel 6 was really expensive, so we are trying the Motel 6 in Button Willow this time. (It CANNOT be any worse, so that is ok )

    When we leave, we do the same thing. We do the park all day and then drvie back over the Grapevine and sleep. (Same hotel as the way down.)

    I prefer this as it makes the trip a "one day" trip instead of a "two day" trip. Our youngest is 8 and tolerates it just fine. He did this for the first time at age 2, but he is a very easy traveller in general.

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  11. #10

    We would be leaving 6pm on Thur and arriving in Universal studios around 11am on Fri to play for the day and then leave there around 5pm and check in @ Worldmark Anaheim around 6ish go to bed early and have magic morning Sat for my son's 8th Birthday(it really is his bday)
    I was thinking stop would be 30 min in Eugene, OR, 30 min in Ashland, OR ,1 hour for Breakfast in Woodland, CA, 30 min Huron CA. This info is based on YAHOO maps. It says total drive time is 16 hours and that’s from our address in Beaverton to Worldmark Anaheim. We will be taking turns driving and sleeping, so we should be fine, with 4 adults.

     

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    At home in the hills candles71's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by valorycabrera1971 View Post
    We would be leaving 6pm on Thur and arriving in Universal studios around 11am on Fri to play for the day and then leave there around 5pm and check in @ Worldmark Anaheim around 6ish go to bed early and have magic morning Sat for my son's 8th Birthday(it really is his bday)
    I was thinking stop would be 30 min in Eugene, OR, 30 min in Ashland, OR ,1 hour for Breakfast in Woodland, CA, 30 min Huron CA. This info is based on YAHOO maps. It says total drive time is 16 hours and thats from our address in Beaverton to Worldmark Anaheim. We will be taking turns driving and sleeping, so we should be fine, with 4 adults.
    Beautiful property! But you will NOT make it from Universal to Anaheim in one hour on a friday night! If you left Universal around 7 it would only be about an hour but at 5. Nope, not gonna happen! We go to Universal every trip. They usually close at 6. Hang out in the GardenWalk, get dinner even, it will help.


    I really enjoyed your report, Thank you.

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    Quote Originally Posted by valorycabrera1971 View Post
    We would be leaving 6pm on Thur and arriving in Universal studios around 11am on Fri to play for the day and then leave there around 5pm and check in @ Worldmark Anaheim around 6ish go to bed early and have magic morning Sat for my son's 8th Birthday(it really is his bday)
    I was thinking stop would be 30 min in Eugene, OR, 30 min in Ashland, OR ,1 hour for Breakfast in Woodland, CA, 30 min Huron CA. This info is based on YAHOO maps. It says total drive time is 16 hours and thats from our address in Beaverton to Worldmark Anaheim. We will be taking turns driving and sleeping, so we should be fine, with 4 adults.
    Thanks for the message - as for the drive to CA, we decided to split it into two halves, and decided to just play by ear where to stop. Left @ 9AM on Friday th 9th, stopped for lunch in the park in Ashland (where we also refueled), then got back in the car for the climb over the Siskiyous (pass level 4300 feet or so).

    We ate dinner in Woodland (just north of Sacramento) at In'n'Out Burger (and refueling again). By then it was about 6PM, so we drove thru Sacramento, looking for helpful signs about where to stop and stay, and there were no helpful signs AT ALL on I-5, so we ended up going through to Stockton and stayed there. Stockton isn't the nicest city - lots of graffiti on street signs, but we got a room at the La Quinta for $62 for the night, which came with continental breakfast.

    Next day it was back in the car by 9:30, for the long, very hot drive thru the California desert. You'll likely need to stop for gas somewhere along the route - and gas is pretty spendy out there in the desert - but after that stop for gas and a stop at a rest area for lunch we made it the rest of the way to L.A. You do need to pass through the "grapevine", which is another steep climb to 4,100 feet, but then you come down and quickly encounter L.A. traffic (and get a great highway view of Six Flags Magic Mountain on the right hand side). We arrived at Disneyland at about 4:30 PM.

    Drive back was similar, tho we spent the night in Redding instead of Stockton, thereby shortening the trip on the last day.

    Hope you have a good trip! You can probably make it through in one day if you have two drivers - it is a pretty bleak and hypnotic drive through the desert... but we did consider doing it in one day; eventually we decided against it because we were going to have four add'l days at the resort, so we figured five hours the first day was OK... and with the short lines on the rides it was just right.

  14. #13
    It was a good day! Malcon10t's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Cyberkang View Post
    Next day it was back in the car by 9:30, for the long, very hot drive thru the California desert. You'll likely need to stop for gas somewhere along the route - and gas is pretty spendy out there in the desert -
    I hate to tell you this, but the valley you drove through is not the desert! Before you hit the Grapevine, you head east on 58 to head out to Barstow, or in LA, head towards Riverside. But the valley isn't the desert, its all farmland.

    But, yes, it gets warm (we were in the 90-100s when you were passing through) but the desert areas were in the 110-115 at that time.

    If you check californiagasprices.com you can find gas prices for your trip down. Flying J in Lodi (between Stockton and Sacramento) usually has decent prices. Also, check for Costco's on your way down, they usually have good prices (if you are a member.) Also, Arcos usually have the lower priced gas. I-5 doesn't have a lot of stops really. I would skip staying in Stockton, but there are a couple nice motels (and new) in Lathrop, which is just a few miles south of Stockton.
    Planning 3 trips at once...

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    Quote Originally Posted by Cyberkang View Post
    Stockton isn't the nicest city - lots of graffiti on street signs, but we got a room at the La Quinta for $62 for the night, which came with continental breakfast.
    I went to school in Stockton at the CSU satellite campus. I was scared enough driving outside the campus gates, staying over night is brave. It's like the Compton of the Valley.

    Don't get me wrong, there's nice people there, but it can be eerie at night.
    You drank my weights?!? ~MDM

  16. #15
    Quote Originally Posted by candles71 View Post
    Beautiful property! But you will NOT make it from Universal to Anaheim in one hour on a friday night! If you left Universal around 7 it would only be about an hour but at 5. Nope, not gonna happen! We go to Universal every trip. They usually close at 6. Hang out in the GardenWalk, get dinner even, it will help.


    I really enjoyed your report, Thank you.
    Thanks, I will then stay and eat @ Bubba Gumps in the CityWalk and then leave around 6:30ish.
     

  17. #16
    At home in the hills candles71's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by valorycabrera1971 View Post
    Thanks, I will then stay and eat @ Bubba Gumps in the CityWalk and then leave around 6:30ish.
    Citywalk/Gardenwalk..... The Gardenwalk is actually right by the Worldmark Anaheim. Bubbagumps looks like fun. There should be music right outside the restaurant on Friday night.

  18. #17
    It was a good day! Malcon10t's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by candles71 View Post
    Citywalk/Gardenwalk..... The Gardenwalk is actually right by the Worldmark Anaheim. Bubbagumps looks like fun. There should be music right outside the restaurant on Friday night.
    I think they are going to stay at the Citywalk by Universal and wait out the rush hour traffic. Better to eat dinner there, relax, and have a shorter drive, than try and get back and be stuck in 2-3 hours of Friday night traffic.
    Planning 3 trips at once...

  19. #18
    At home in the hills candles71's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Malcon10t View Post
    I think they are going to stay at the Citywalk by Universal and wait out the rush hour traffic. Better to eat dinner there, relax, and have a shorter drive, than try and get back and be stuck in 2-3 hours of Friday night traffic.
    I know but when she quoted me I realized I had put Gardenwalk where Citywalk should have been.......

  20. #19
    Quote Originally Posted by candles71 View Post
    Citywalk/Gardenwalk..... The Gardenwalk is actually right by the Worldmark Anaheim. Bubbagumps looks like fun. There should be music right outside the restaurant on Friday night.
    yes, thanks the Bubba Gumps in the Citywalk, since you suggested that we eat dinner there and not try and drive to the resort @ 5pm. I wanted to try the Gardenwalk Bubbagumps, but I guess the Citywalk will work to.
     

  21. #20
    At home in the hills candles71's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by valorycabrera1971 View Post
    yes, thanks the Bubba Gumps in the Citywalk, since you suggested that we eat dinner there and not try and drive to the resort @ 5pm. I wanted to try the Gardenwalk Bubbagumps, but I guess the Citywalk will work to.
    Oh, and I was thinking, driving down I% you want to take the Disney Way/Gene Autry exit. This is the one past Disneyland drive and past Harbor, when you get to the bottom of the ramp at the stop light go straight and into the hotel there (I don't recall which one it is) but vere to the left just a smidge and you are on the right street to come right to Worldmark. You feel like your in the parking lot of that first hotel but it becomes a side street, Worldmark is on the right at the end of it, just before you get to Katella.

  22. #21
    It was a good day! Malcon10t's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by candles71 View Post
    Oh, and I was thinking, driving down I% you want to take the Disney Way/Gene Autry exit. This is the one past Disneyland drive and past Harbor, when you get to the bottom of the ramp at the stop light go straight and into the hotel there (I don't recall which one it is) but vere to the left just a smidge and you are on the right street to come right to Worldmark. You feel like your in the parking lot of that first hotel but it becomes a side street, Worldmark is on the right at the end of it, just before you get to Katella.
    Good idea! The motel on the left is Motel 6 (you are driving through their parking lot) and the one on the right is Residence Inn.
    Planning 3 trips at once...

  23. #22
    At home in the hills candles71's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Malcon10t View Post
    Good idea! The motel on the left is Motel 6 (you are driving through their parking lot) and the one on the right is Residence Inn.
    I figured you'd know. We (DH and I) had gotten off this exit by accident, in December 08, and didn't quite know where we were I have built in GPS so we weren't worried, just had never been this way before. This is how we found the brand new Worldmark, that we didn't know existed, so when we were gifted with this resort on our bargain basement/last minute trip this last April, I knew right where to go. Leaving Mickey and friends we'd go DL Dr to Katella and then had to u-turn at 7-11 to get to Worldmark.

  24. #23
    Quote Originally Posted by candles71 View Post
    Oh, and I was thinking, driving down I% you want to take the Disney Way/Gene Autry exit. This is the one past Disneyland drive and past Harbor, when you get to the bottom of the ramp at the stop light go straight and into the hotel there (I don't recall which one it is) but vere to the left just a smidge and you are on the right street to come right to Worldmark. You feel like your in the parking lot of that first hotel but it becomes a side street, Worldmark is on the right at the end of it, just before you get to Katella.
    Oh Thanks! Since this is my familys 1st trip I wanted to take a exit that has the big grand disneyland sign's. I want everyone to get the full feeling of Disneyland joy, we we get off the freeway, Is Disney Way the best exit to take for this? I belive this was the exit I took in 2004 and I wanted to share that same feeling with everyone else.
     

  25. #24
    It was a good day! Malcon10t's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by valorycabrera1971 View Post
    Oh Thanks! Since this is my familys 1st trip I wanted to take a exit that has the big grand disneyland sign's. I want everyone to get the full feeling of Disneyland joy, we we get off the freeway, Is Disney Way the best exit to take for this? I belive this was the exit I took in 2004 and I wanted to share that same feeling with everyone else.
    I think that Disneyland sign is gone. But Disney Way exit isn't going to give you this effect. If that is what you want, I would probably exit Harbor Bl, they you will drive down along side Disneyland and with the Monorail. It also has the entrance with a sign to the parking lot. And you can see Tower of Terror. This gives you some idea of what you might see. (Drag the yellow person down onto Harbor.)

    Or get off at Disneyland Dr, but don't think there is anything really special there, other than directional signs to the parking.
    Planning 3 trips at once...

  26. #25

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    Quote Originally Posted by Malcon10t View Post
    I think that Disneyland sign is gone. But Disney Way exit isn't going to give you this effect. If that is what you want, I would probably exit Harbor Bl, they you will drive down along side Disneyland and with the Monorail. It also has the entrance with a sign to the parking lot. And you can see Tower of Terror. This gives you some idea of what you might see. (Drag the yellow person down onto Harbor.)

    Or get off at Disneyland Dr, but don't think there is anything really special there, other than directional signs to the parking.
    Thanks, per this it does appear that getting off Disney Way is what I want, @ the end of Disney Way is the large sign and you see Tower of Terror right in front of you.
     

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