Our California Adventure - May 2002
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Brian · 07-12-2002, 11:47 PM

Hey everyone!!!

Sorry it's taken me so long to get to this trip report! We really did have a great time, and would definitely encourage anyone to visit the expanded Disneyland Resort.

May 11-19, 2002
Anaheim/L.A. area - May 11-14
San Francisco area - May 15-19
Travelers - Brian, 22; My girlfriend Nicole, 21; and another couple

Saturday, May 11, 2002

We had to wake up early at our hotel room at the Philadelphia International Airport to catch our 8:00 am flight to Los Angeles. Everything went very smooth at the airport and on the flight, and we found ourselves at LAX right on time around 11:00 am.

One of our friends who traveled with us had family in the area so they met us at the airport. They offered to take us to Enterprise to get our car since LAX has no onsite rental cars, and we would have had to take the shuttle. Everything there went smooth as well, and we paid much less for the SUV there then we ever did for smaller cars in Orlando.

After having some lunch with everyone my girlfriend and I decided to head to Anaheim. The other couple was going to stay those few days with family as they didn't care so much to visit Disneyland. The traffic from L.A. to Anaheim was unbelievable, as rush hour traffic is in no ways confined to weekdays.

We finally arrived at the Anaheim Fairfield Marriott around 5:00 pm, and right away were pleasantly surprised by the location and size of the hotel. Looking across the street we could see Space Mountain in Tomorrowland. My girlfriend works for Marriott so we were able to get a great Associate's Rate, but the standard rates were under $100 which seems more than reasonable. The room was rather large and had a king bed and sofa bed.

We decided not to waste that first night sitting in the hotel since the parks would be open late due to it being Saturday. So we ran right over to California Adventure, which we found to be rather empty. This allowed us to get on several attractions before the Electrical Parade that night. We spent quite a bit of time in Paradise Pier, as there are many rides and the atmosphere is great. We grabbed a quick snack here before heading to the front of the park for the parade.

It was great to see the former Main Street Electrical Parade again, and then we ran over to Disneyland for the Believe fireworks that were only about 10 minutes from starting. As this was our first visit to Disneyland, we walked up and down Main Street to see all of the similarities and differences to the Magic Kingdom. The fireworks were great, and we both agreed that we even enjoyed them a little more than those in Florida.

A great feature of the expanded Disneyland Resort is Downtown Disney's close proximity to the parks. We couldn't believe just how large this new area was. We finally decided on Rainforest Cafe for a late night meal and drinks before heading back to the hotel, as we were both exhausted after the flight and parks.

Sunday, May 12, 2002

Today we could sleep in a little because we had no plans of hitting the parks but rather do some sightseeing in the city. We went to Millie's for breakfast, which is the restaurant that sits right in front of the Fairfield. We weren't overly impressed by the meal but it was definitely convenient.

After breakfast we drove back to L.A. to meet up with our friends. We spent most of that day driving up the Pacific Coast Highway (Route 1) and stopping here and there to enjoy the view of the Pacific Ocean. We then headed into Beverly Hills and Hollywood to see the tourist attractions, such as Mann's Chinese Theatre and the Walk of Fame. Even though we were often rushed for time we managed to enjoy ourselves, and headed back to Anaheim early as we wanted to be up early in the morning.

Monday, May 13, 2002

Today is the day we had planned for Disneyland. We decided to save time and wait to eat until we got in the park. We found some great pastries in the Bakery, and then headed off into Adventureland. We found most the lines to be rather short, so again we were able to hit lots of attractions in a short time. Unfortunately we also hit a time when rehabs were at an all-time high, as Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain, and It's a Small World were all closed. Fortunately all three of these are in similar form in Orlando, so it really wasn't as big a deal.

I was excited to ride Indiana Jones as I had heard so much about it. It turned out to be one of my favorite attractions there. It is similar to the ride system of Dinosaur at Animal Kingdom, but was unique as the ride has many variations to make it different every time. We stopped at Blue Bayou, one of only two table service restaurants at Disneyland, to make afternoon lunch reservations.

We then continued around the park, sometimes spending more time to enjoy the overall park than just the attractions themselves. I have been to WDW numerous times and spent a semester interning there so it was very interesting for me to see the differences and similarities. I am also a big fan of Walt Disney so it was great to finally see where it all started and where Walt actually walked.

The Blue Bayou was excellent, and I would consider it a must if you have never dined there. If you’ve been to WDW then just think of the restaurant in Mexico at Epcot, but just that it sits inside Pirates of the Caribbean instead. The atmosphere was incredible and the food even better. Definitely consider lunch here though, because dinner gets very pricey. I had the Monte Cristo, which was the most creative and tasty sandwich I’ve ever had. This ended up being one of our favorite meals of the entire vacation.

The rest of the afternoon was a little rushed, but we had the opportunity to enjoy some attractions in Fantasyland and Tomorrowland. We weren’t too concerned about hitting everything, as we had plans to return on Tuesday. We met up with our friends that evening for a game at Dodger Stadium, which was great after a day in the park.

Tuesday, May 14, 2002

Today we woke up early hoping to some of the attractions we had missed. With normal crowds you will need at least 2 full days to experience a majority of both parks, but it would be better to give yourself 3 or 4 days to really enjoy it. We knew that there was no way we could get to everything, so we decided to just relax and get to the things that we really wanted to see.

We started out at California Adventure where we headed straight back to Paradise Pier. We rode California Screamin’ a second time, as it had become one of our favorite attractions. The pure size and speed of the coaster may make some skip this ride, but this ride is amazingly smooth and a lot of fun. We were also sure to hit Soarin’ Over California a second time, in which you really do feel like you are flying over the entire state. Let’s just hope that WDW gets a version of the attraction in the future.

We then headed over to Disneyland, mostly to ride Indiana Jones a second time and also some of the rides we didn’t get to the day before. Today we had plans to meet up with our friends in the afternoon for a taping of the Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn, so again we had to cut the day short. Unfortunately we ended up arriving five minutes late due to L.A. traffic, and we were unable to enter the studio anyway. So we headed back to Anaheim, since our friends were staying at Fairfield so that we could get an early start for San Francisco in the morning.

We were so excited to take them across the street to Downtown Disney since they had not yet seen everything there. After a lot of debating we decided on ESPN Zone for dinner. This ended up being a great choice because the Lakers and Kings playoff game was on and the fans there were obviously very into the game.

As we walked back towards our hotel we found ourselves tempted by the huge letters spelling California in front of California Adventure. We all chose a letter to get photographed with, as our friend Doug decided to climb to the top of the “F”. While I would not recommend climbing the letters, they do make great picture spots. We ended up using an entire roll of film before getting back to our rooms for a good nights sleep.

Wednesday, May 15, 2002 – Sunday, May 19, 2002

Unfortunately today was the day we had to leave the Anaheim area, but we were excited to be on our way to San Francisco to stay with friends there. At first we gave the scenic PCH a try up the coast, as this is called the best drive in America. As the driver I quickly found out it can also be one of the longest drives. After enjoying some great views of the ocean I opted for Route 5, which takes you through the mountains. San Francisco is about a 4-5 hour drive from Los Angeles, but well worth the trip if you can allow enough time.

While in San Francisco we had the opportunity to hit many of the local landmarks and tourist destinations. On Thursday we drove through the Napa Valley, stopping at several wineries that our friends would recommend. On Friday we visited Fisherman’s Wharf, including a tour of Alcatraz. That night we caught a Giants game at their new stadium, which is beautiful. Just be sure to bring an extra sweatshirt for the city even in the summer, as the winds steadily blow throughout the day.

On Saturday we spent most of the day relaxing, but also had the opportunity to drive over the Golden Gate Bridge as well as stop at the park above it. This was truly an amazing sight, even with winds near 50 mph. On Sunday we had to be up early for the long drive back to L.A., where we were flying out of that afternoon.

Our California vacation was over, but we all felt we had done just about as much as we possibly could have in 9 days. If you have never been to Disneyland and are considering whether or not to take a trip there, I definitely recommend it. With the new park and Downtown Disney, this is finally a destination for a weeklong vacation. I have heard plenty of criticism of California Adventure, but I found that this is a great park for only being a year old. Just look at the Disney-MGM Studios when it opened and you can see how much a park sometimes needs to grow.

I hope you may find my trip report helpful, and I’d be glad to try to answer any additional questions you may have. Have a great trip!

Tara O'Hara · 07-13-2002, 07:05 AM

WooHoo! Loved your trip report! I can't wait to get out there in 0 years, 15 days, 16 hours, 58 minutes, 24 seconds!! [img]graemlins/love.gif[/img]

Tara