Forever Young: A Disneyland Trip 50 Years in the Making COMPLETED 1/16/16 About This Page:

[Terrio]

Great TR! Seeing all of your photos and reading about your adventure made me feel like I was there. I hope to get to DL one of these years. Thanks for "taking" us with you!

[Coop]

Cathay Circle sounds absolutely fabulous! Your travel day sounds taxing though. Thank you for the report! You always have fun, interesting TRs.

[lindawdw]

I enjoyed hearing about your dinner with Heather at the Cathay Circle restaurant! Your meals looked delicious So nice of Heather to share her discount with you too! Your character breakfast looked yummy too! I can't begin to tell you how much I enjoyed reading along with your trip report!!! It was so exciting seeing it through your eyes since it was your first visit!!! I've only been there three times but there has been enough time in between each trip that it always felt new to me! I can't wait to see Cars Land on our upcoming trip I'm so sad that this report has come to an end but I'm very excited to read about your upcoming WDW trip Thanks again for sharing your vacation with us as I can only imagine the work that goes into writing this for us. Looking forward to hearing your final thoughts!

[Cam22]

Originally Posted by SuperDave

You timed your photos so fell with the door closing and glad the CM waited for you!

I had to be patient, and then I also set my camera to click several rapid photos. And it worked!

Originally Posted by twins4me

Love Storytellers Cafe! My favorite breakfast at DLR. So glad you enjoyed the meal and your time in California. We've been lucky enough to experience DLR twice now and I always feel the itch to return ��

Storyteller's Cafe on the last morning may become a tradition. Such a wonderful finish to our first trip.

[wheezie]

So sad that it's over. I have thoroughly enjoyed your TR, and I can't wait to read your final thoughts.

[KimmyAnn1147]

Yay! Thanks for sharing the trip with us. I have enjoyed getting to know you both a bit more through this TR. You both seem to have enjoyed yourselves so much. Glad you got to visit the Original!

[Cam22]

Originally Posted by wheezie

So sad that it's over. I have thoroughly enjoyed your TR, and I can't wait to read your final thoughts.

I'm still working on those final thoughts, but hopefully, soon.

Originally Posted by KimmyAnn1147

Yay! Thanks for sharing the trip with us. I have enjoyed getting to know you both a bit more through this TR. You both seem to have enjoyed yourselves so much. Glad you got to visit the Original!

Luke and I did have such a wonderful first visit to the Original!

[SharonK0527]

I have so enjoyed this TR! I followed along from the beginning and it's been such a joy to hear all about the trip after all that planning. I'm so glad you and Luke had such a wonderful time on your first visit to DLR. Everything looked wonderful from your room to your meals to your photos and souvenirs.

Can't wait for your next trip so I can follow along with that one too!

[Cam22]

Originally Posted by SharonK0527

I have so enjoyed this TR! I followed along from the beginning and it's been such a joy to hear all about the trip after all that planning. I'm so glad you and Luke had such a wonderful time on your first visit to DLR. Everything looked wonderful from your room to your meals to your photos and souvenirs.

Can't wait for your next trip so I can follow along with that one too!

Thanks so much for reading along! It's been fun to relive the trip and I enjoyed reading all your comments.

[Huntermom]

Sounds like you indeed had a magical trip to DL. I personally prefer DL to WDW but the cross country trip makes a quick trip not particularly doable.

[Cam22]

Originally Posted by Huntermom

Sounds like you indeed had a magical trip to DL. I personally prefer DL to WDW but the cross country trip makes a quick trip not particularly doable.

We did have so much magic on this trip. I too like a lot about DL that WDW just doesn't have, but flights are a definite drawback to the cost.

[Cam22]

Final Thoughts

I’ve been struggling for a couple of days now on just how to organize my thoughts about one of our best Disney trips, so special because it was our first time to the original, West Coast version. With all my apprehensions prior to the trip followed by a bit of frustration in getting the dining reservations, especially the dining show packages, I was unsure of what my reaction was going to be once we arrived. We wouldn’t be entering a park for the first time until the day after our arrival, so I hoped that wouldn’t further delay my excitement. Another part of me couldn’t imagine not loving the park that Walt built and that as a kid I had wanted to visit every time I watched World of Color on TV. As most of you already know because I’ve repeated it over and over. I fell in love with Disneyland from the moment the Disneyland Express drove onto the property, and that love just grew with each new experience, whether attraction, show, or dinner. Meeting PassPorters (Jeannie, Tricia, Roger, and Katie) for whom this is their home park gave us depth to this happiest place on Earth. We planned this trip as a once and done, but it is absolutely just the beginning. Luke says three years before we go back, but I’m working on the possibility of going back at Christmas time in 2017. If it works, Cheryl and I might be able to meet for the first time. So let me see if I can give my thoughts a little organization.

Transportation: Out of necessity we drove to Orlando last December 2014 prior to our Disney Caribbean cruise. As we drove, Luke commented that if driving to Orlando proved to be good for us, we could save all our SWA rewards points to make our flights to LAX much more affordable. We both agree for now driving to Orlando is more appealing and cheaper for us. So we drove down last May, and so Luke put all our points toward the flights, and we only paid $212 and change for the airfare there and back. To do that we were a little cheap and chose the flights with layovers rather than the direct flights. We flew out of Louisville mid-morning, had a short layover of around 30 minutes at Denver, and then arrived at DLR mid-afternoon after an almost two hour bus ride. We were glad we’d factor in plenty of time on the bus ride from LAX to Anaheim because we were amazed at the traffic. Since we had no park plans and we’d book a dinner ressie for a few hours after we expected to arrive, the travel arrangements were very doable.
The trip home was much longer and was quite tiring. We left DLR around 10:00 AM PDT and didn’t arrive home until just minutes after midnight the next day. Our flight left LAX at a little after 1:00 PM PDT, landed for an hour and a half layover at Chicago Midway after dark, and then coasted into Louisville around 10:45 PM EDT. After that we still had the hour and a half to two hour drive home. At Midway Luke told me, “Never again!” From now on we will only fly direct from Louisville or Nashville to Los Angeles.

Resort: As the Disneyland Express dropped us off, we couldn’t believe we were the only ones fortunate to be staying at the Grand Californian. Driving up to the drop off, we both knew immediately that we would love our stay here because it reminded us so much of Wilderness Lodge and Animal Kingdom Lodge. The soaring lobby is stunning and cozy simultaneously. The cast members we interacted with at the front desk, gift shop, and restaurant were friendly and were ideal Disney folks. Our one-bedroom villa was spacious and the Craftsman style décor was warm and cozy. The location of our room was as far as you could get from the elevators on that side but the DVC wing is not as huge as most at WDW, so it didn’t seem far. We did like been back out of the way where it was nice and quiet. Our view from the balconies was mainly trees as we were on the second floor, but we could see just a bit of Paradise Pier at California Adventure. The only thing we might change in the future is to see about getting a room on an upper floor. Two thumbs up for the Grand Californian!

Dining: We loved every one of our choices, and would return to all of them on future trips. Tortilla Joe’s was everything we love about Mexican dining. The atmosphere and staff made it a very friendly place. Both our dishes were exactly what we hoped. In fact my salad is still one of my favorite meals of the trip. Café Orleans had the Cajun/Creole dishes that suited both of us, hot and spicy for Luke and a ginormous Monte Cristo for me. For the World of Color package, we chose Wine Country Trattoria and were quite pleased with the prix fixe menu. Having a designated area for viewing WoC was definitely an advantage. I loved being that close, even if it meant getting wet. On Friday evening after our first day in the heat wave, we dined at Ralph Brennan’s. My meal was excellent, but the heat had sapped my energy and my appetite, so this restaurant would probably rank as lowest on my list. For the Fantasmic! package, we opted for Blue Bayou, the one restaurant that almost everyone we knew kept recommending. We were not disappointed either. Once again the prix fixe menu had selections that suited both of us. The special viewing area along with the cushions for the seating made this a perfect deal. Who could not enjoy dining with Pirates of the Caribbean in view, too? The piece de resistance was Carthay Circle, fine dining at its Disney best, and a super sweet birthday present to Luke from Heather. I’m ready to eat here again tomorrow. Too bad I’m on the other side of the country again. Our final meal was breakfast at Storyteller’s Café with Chip and Dale plus friends. The buffet had quite a variety of both hot and cold breakfast goodies. I’m thinking a final breakfast here might need to be a tradition.

Special Events/Attractions: We didn’t realize until we had already decided on this trip that Disneyland would be celebrating its 60th anniversary. But as soon as we knew, we kept checking out all the park additions, merchandise, and events. The Paint the Night parade is my favorite nighttime parade ever, pushing SpectroMagic to second. No others even compare! The parade is high energy with a cool and unannoying musical score. The lights on floats and cast members alike are marvelous. My only regret is that we only managed to see it once, but the number of Halloween parties while we were there precluded us seeing it more than once. Speaking of Halloween, we attended Mickey’s Halloween Party on our first park day. For us, it was comparable to MNSHHP. The Halloween fireworks are just as stunning as Hallowishes. That is also the night we saw Paint the Night parade, both of which had me hyped up after a long day. We also still have a small bowl of candy left from our haul at the party. World of Color was by far my favorite nighttime show. I wept, laughed, danced, lift my face to the spray, and basically, felt like a five-year old girl again. Inside I will be forever young. Again my only regret was that we only managed to see this once. The heat forced us to retreat indoors the remainder of the evenings we had available. But I could hear it from our bedroom sliding glass doors every night. Fantasmic! at DL is so much better than WDW’s version. I was in awe as the Columbia sailed into view and the fire breathing dragon is sooo scary. I was very thankful that we could still see the Disneyland Forever fireworks from our dining package seating area or we’d have missed them this trip. These are just stunning, and made me as happy as Wishes always does. The snow falling during the Frozen segment is priceless and brought out my inner five-year old again.
60th Anniversary Merchandise: We were a little disappointed here, having to search for quite some time before we found a Christmas ornament and never finding any apparel that we were interesting in. I did bring home a cute reusable bag that reminds me every time we shop that we got to be a part of this milestone. My favorite item though is my 60th anniversary blue castle Pandora charm.

Parks and Attractions: In many ways the Disneyland and Disney World are alike, but there are differences. The most noticeable is the short distance between the two parks. I thought I had a grasp of this from reading trip reports, the PassPorter for DLR, and other articles. But I marveled the first time I walked onto the plaza between the two and realized I’d only need a couple of minutes to walk from one to the other. We still managed to walk about 7 – 8 miles a day, but some of that may be due to walking from the resort to the parks. At the end of the first few days, I found myself trying to remember where the bus stops were. Then I’d remember my feet would get me where I needed to go. Several of the rides have their own personality at DLR, and I found that I liked Autopia (think Tomorrowland Speedway), BTMMR, Space Mountain, and Haunted Mansion so much better there. The Holiday Haunted Mansion with the Nightmare before Christmas was my favorite, and we got to ride it three times. Soarin’ is another one that is quite similar, but the screen at DCA has already been upgraded so it looked so much better. Tower of Terror is nearly identical, and I simply love them both. Other attractions are exclusive to DLR, and I found myself often wishing WDW had a version of these. I have missed the submarines at WDW since we returned in 1997, and they were gone. Nemo brought back such a wonderful memory. The Matterhorn is a classic and an innovator, but quite rough. With that said, I might be willing to do it again, just once. The Aladdin show, which is sadly leaving, was much more Broadway than anything at WDW. But my favorite ride by far was Cars Land, which has some similarity to Test Track, but goes way beyond that attraction. We hoped for two rides and exceeded that with five. The whole area is themed to make guests feel that they have entered Radiator Springs. This is done so well that I have high expectations for Pandora, Star Wars Land, and Toy Story Land. This is Disney at its very BEST!

We read and were told beforehand that DLR resort could be easily done in three days. I’m not sure if it is our age or the heat or a combination of both, but we visited the two parks over five days and still left quite a bit undone. We didn’t rush from one thing to another, but tried to savor each part of the trip. We know now that we’ll stay a little longer, maybe one or two days, and only visit the parks on week days. Weekend crowds when we were there were incredibly huge, so we couldn’t accomplish nearly as much as we had on Wednesday through Friday.

I have gotten teary eyed over the course of this update, remembering how much fun and magic and wonder I felt while there. Disneyland was all I’d ever dreamed it would be plus more than I could have imagined. Thank you all for allowing me to relive it one more time. I’ve got one more chance to relive it as I’ve just begun working on our scrapbook for this trip. The time has come now to say goodbye (until the next trip report)!

[SuperDave]

Such a great synopsis of your trip and just love the way you write! Those skills as an English teach certainly did not go to waste as you get to multi-task on this forum!

I enjoyed your TR so much and hope to experience DL for the first time shortly. What bothers me is the planning you had to do with the ADRs and is not exactly like WDW and playing the waiting game! I'm a planner like you and just like to get things over and done with! This is what perturbs me!

You had some great meals with Tortilla Joes and Orleans Cafe (is that the name?)
and others. A great hotel in the GC decked out for Halloween and so many attractions and experiences under your belt! Too bad the heat was so unbearable at times as I know Cheryl experienced the same thing, just prior to you!

I'm hoping to eventually visit here and as one who has 11 WDW trips under their belt and one to DLP, it's probably about time! What do you think? Perhaps, 2017, but we'll see and definitely want to avoid that heat! Will definitely be asking and taking tips for a DL trip planning!

[Cam22]

Originally Posted by SuperDave

Such a great synopsis of your trip and just love the way you write! Those skills as an English teach certainly did not go to waste as you get to multi-task on this forum!

I enjoyed your TR so much and hope to experience DL for the first time shortly. What bothers me is the planning you had to do with the ADRs and is not exactly like WDW and playing the waiting game! I'm a planner like you and just like to get things over and done with! This is what perturbs me!

You had some great meals with Tortilla Joes and Orleans Cafe (is that the name?)
and others. A great hotel in the GC decked out for Halloween and so many attractions and experiences under your belt! Too bad the heat was so unbearable at times as I know Cheryl experienced the same thing, just prior to you!

I'm hoping to eventually visit here and as one who has 11 WDW trips under their belt and one to DLP, it's probably about time! What do you think? Perhaps, 2017, but we'll see and definitely want to avoid that heat!

for joining in! The planning is quite different from WDW, and like you, I like to have all my plans mapped out early. But everything eventually worked out and once we were there it was all enjoyment.

You definitely need to see the original and 2017 could be a great year!

[SuperDave]

Well...not just joining in as I've been on your TR all along!

The DL planning will be a different game as opposed to WDW and will definitely get myself a PP DL book for this, which I think makes sense, plus hanging out on the DL planning forums and asking for suggestions and guidance to those like you, who have the experience!

This year it's Epcot F&W Wine Festival for me for the first time and looking forward to it!