~*2 weeks in Southern California PTR, May/June 2011*~ About This Page:

[marriedtoeeyore]

Excited Adventurers: DH, 44, Myself (older than DH, in my late 40's) DD, 18 and DS, 15.

May 26, Thursday~Travel Day!

Depart from Anchorage International Airport at 12:30a, arrive at SNA at 9:34a. It's a long flight, with a stopover in Seattle. Since we aren't renting a car, and we're heading to San Diego, we will be taking a shuttle or cab to the Amtrak station! It's approximately a 2-2.5 hour trip. We arrive at the Santa Fe station downtown at about 2p. We'll take a cab to our hotel, it should be about $25 for all of us. Originally, I had us booked in Old Town, at the OT Holiday Inn Express. Then for some reason, after reading trip reviews on TA, I got a wild hair and decided to book us at the Glorietta Bay Inn on Coronado Island! Can't wait for this....the last time we were in SD, we toured the island with the Old Town tour trolley, and loved it, and said we would stay there the next time we went...it's quiet, relaxing, serene, has a lot of history, and we will be staying right across from the world famous Coronado Beach! We don't have to pay the high cost of staying at the Hotel Del, and yet we will still enjoy the amenities! www.gloriettabayinn.com


May 27-29, Friday-Sunday~San Diego

We don't have a set plan yet, but thinking Seaworld, Zoo, and of course, the beach. We might rent a car for only one day. We can take a ferry across to downtown, and from there, we can catch the MTS public transportation trolley, to wherever they go, or we can take the Old Town trolley tour again from Coronado, it's about $30 pp for an all day, hop-on, hop-off tour.

May 30, Monday~Memorial Day, back to Anaheim

Check out and take a cab to the train station again to head back to Anaheim. We arrive in Anaheim around 2p. Take a shuttle/cab to our hotel, I'm having a hard time with deciding which one. We have a res at the BW Park Place Inn right now, although we normally stay at the Fairfield Inn. I found out they are in the process of refurbing all their rooms, saw pics, they look adorable! Last year we stayed for 2 nights at the Paradise Pier concierge level, we loved it, and I'm kind of thinking we may do that again, they just came out with a special deal, so I'm tempted! Still not sure if we would stay the first 2 nights, then move offsite for the remaining 4 nights, or vice versa. I'd like to get 6 day park tickets, (depending on what type of deal they have going, have been monitoring it closely) and if that's the case, we would probably head to the parks after checking into our hotel. Traditionally, we ride Soarin' first! It would be fun to have dinner at Downtown Disney and then see the new Pirate's 4 movie! Looking forward to this! We normally eat at Rain Forest, but any ideas for other places??
May 31, Tuesday~First Full day at DL!!

Wake up early, walk through the pearly gates of DL and bombard Fantasyland on MM! I'm pretty sure this is an MM day. At some point, I'd love to have a nice lunch/dinner to celebrate our 20th anniversary (after the fact, it's in April) as long as it's just the two of us!

June 1, Wednesday

Park hopping! We will most likely have breakfast at Goofy's Kitchen this morning, since we've never eaten there, and I've been dying to! I want to ride POTC, HM, Splash, Winnie the Poo, Jungle Cruise, Tiki Room, and as much as we can do in DL~! I also want to do things I missed the last 2 times, which I can't believe I did!

June 2, Thursday, Grad Night

Most likely go to Universal Studios this day, just to break up the routine, and also because this is Grad Night, and the park closes earlier this day! If we do this, between the driving there and a full day at the park and the drive back, we won't be doing DL at all, maybe dinner at Anaheim Gardenwalk, and strolling around the parks if we have any more energy after a full day out!

June 3-4, Friday and Saturday, Opening day for Star Tours & Little Mermaid!

We may move to the Paradise Pier for 2 nights during the opening of the new rides, since we would have the advantage of the private entrance to DCA, not sure if this is when to do it, and stay offsite for the first 4 nights, still pondering this. Any suggestions are welcome! We also stayed at the PP last year, and loved it! We stayed in concierge, and would like to do it again, it's so handy to have the breakfast & evening goodies available, as well as the bottled water, juice, sodas, wine & beer, and a nice place to get away to! The staff are very attentive & we get to use their services if we want special reservations for anything! We haven't seen WOC, so we may get the picnic meals to get the automatic viewing passes...

Have any of you that have stayed at the PP able to see the WOC from your room? Just wondering...I'm not a huge fan of crowds, and if I could see it from there, I may just be as happy as a clam!

June 5-6, Sunday and Monday Heading to Coastal California with Amtrak!

I am very excited about this part of the trip! After checking out, we'll grab a cab or shuttle to the Amtrak station (again) for an early departure, at 8a we head for San Luis Obispo! I booked a hotel that has suites in SLO, it sounded really nice by the sounds of the reviews on TA, and the price is definately right! We will be staying there for 2 nights. I figured the first day we get there, we'll wander around downtown and just relax after our hectic Anaheim schedule. We reserved a car for Monday, and plan on getting up early, and after eating breakfast that the hotel provides, heading up the coast towards Hearst Castle! Haven't been there in years, and my family has never been, so I'm stoked! Not quite sure what else we will do that day, I assume just soak in the beautiful area, drive around and enjoy the sights. Apparently there are some seals sunning themselves on a beach that we may see.

June 7, Tuesday

Check out, grab the shuttle back to the train station, head back to Anaheim, and get there around dinnertime. We won't be able to do anything other than probably check into our hotel (made them for the Ayres hotel, but we loved the Embassy Suites South last year, if anyone has any experience at the Ayres, please let me know??) have dinner and then relax for the evening.

June 8-9, Wednesday and Thursday

Will use last Disney ticket one of the days, this will be a last chance to enjoy the parks and do things that we missed the first 5 days! We've never done this, but I think it would be nice! Not sure what we will do the other day, possibly just hang by the pool, or take one of those buses to the beaches that allow you to jump off and on, this might be nice...just a leisurely day at the ocean. Last year we did 2 really neat tours, one was very relaxing, the other was an all day, hectic but FUN day including the VIP tour at Warner Brothers studios! Either one is highly recommended!!

June 10, Friday Heading Home

I'm sure we will be ready to leave by this time, but it's always bittersweet because we leave all the fun of Southern California behind knowing we won't be there for a while again! Especially this time, since we'll have been 3 times in 3 years, I think we may do WDW next time or maybe even Hawaii for a change. Oh well, we'll be back, and there will be more changes, such as the completed Carsland!

I got really good airfare deals on Alaska Airlines, including using miles for a free ticket, one companion fare ($160 r/t!) $100 off using miles on another one, and we only had to pay "full" (it was a good deal too)for our last one. We also have some Disney Reward dollars to use towards the park tickets or whatever. We use our Disney Visa card to get discounts on meals in the park, souvenir/clothes purchases, as well as other perks! Not to mention, how adorable the cards are!! For Christmas, along with the surprise to the kids that we are heading to DL, we all got Disney gift cards, so they will come in handy for sure!!

Hope you enjoyed this PTR, I'll have to update it as things may change somewhat...nothings set in stone yet except for the flight dates, and Amtrak to San Diego. I just need to decide for once and for all where we will be staying in Anaheim before we move to the PP. Stay tuned for our Magical Journey!