California Dreamin (Part One)

We decided last year that while we LOVE going to Disney World in Florida we wanted to try something else for our family vacation…that something else was Disneyland Resort in California!!!!

We started off our trip on a rough note- Matt and I BOTH set our alarms the night before, however, we woke up to a phone call at 4:58 AM from the limo driver trying to find our house! We were supposed to be picked up at 5:00 AM!!! We felt like the McCalister’s from Home Alone! I don’t think any of us have ever moved that fast!!! We had everything packed except last minute things (chargers, toothbrushes, etc.) so everyone was dressed and in the car by 5:20 AM. Not too bad considering! Ha! They sent a stretch Hummer limo- the girls were excited about it, but still pretty tired….

We breezed through security at Midway, and were soon on our 4.5 hour flight to Orange County, California. The girls napped, played on their DS’s, colored, played Littlest Pet Shop, etc. Spencer was an angel! He slept most of the time, and only had to be changed twice. All in all it was pretty uneventful!
One major difference between Walt Disney World and Disneyland- there is no free transportation to your resort from the airport. We chose to pay for a bus service- “Disneyland Express”. It was very easy to find at the airport- and the man even had coupons for me to use! Total round trip for the 5 of us was $83 with the coupons. (Our return flight was to LAX- for those who are wondering )

We were the only family on the bus, and he took us right to the Howard Johnson Hotel. This was the first time we’ve stayed off property before. It was a “Good Neighbor” hotel, and just across the street from Disneyland. In fact you could see the Matterhorn from the parking lot!

Our room wasn’t ready when we arrived, so they held our bags for us and we went straight to Disneyland. Spencer was already dressed for this adventure! My friend Julie (who lives in Ohio) shared this adorable Mickey onesie and hat with him that her little guy one wore. Everyone thought he looked so sweet- and I must agree. ;0)

Going through the turnstiles at Disneyland is a ltitle different than at Disney World. They had you write your name on your tickets with a Sharpie marker- then every time you enter the park you have to show your ID. At Disney World you scan your ticket, and your fingerprint. It seems MUCH faster at Disney World, but I think part of the hold up was the writing of people’s names and those who weren’t ready with their IDs out.
Once we were in and soaking up the magic we walked right down Main Street USA. Sleeping Beauty castle is adorable- tiny, but adorable!


Skylar was demanding to ride “Pooh’s ride” so that is where we went first. Matt snapped this adorable picture of Spencer while we waited…

It was a cute ride- it seemed shorter than WDW’s, but I am not sure if that is actually the case. Our next stop was The Pirates of the Caribbean.

The line was only about 20 minutes and it moved very quickly. I LOVED DL’s version of this ride! I won’t spoil it for anyone who may want to compare for themselves, but it was very fun!!!
While we were waiting in line Skylar spotted the Columbia sailing around the Rivers of America. She thought it was a pirate ship and she HAD to ride it! So that is where we went next!

We had a nice little ride. Sami spotted Tom Sawyer Island which is a WDW favorite of hers, so we boarded a raft and off we went! Spencer fell asleep on the way over….


The girls (and Matt) had a blast just running around on the bridges and searching for treasure.

Hey we found it!

We spent almost two hours playing on the island! We were starting to get hungry and tired so we thought we should head back to the room. As we were leaving the parade was going on, so we stuck around to watch it.

When we got back to the room we ordered food from an Italian restaurant, and had it delivered. We got a family deal- a pizza, spaghetti, salad, bread, and Pepsi. All delivered right to us for $30. I didn’t think that was too bad. I can’t remember the name, but there was a flyer with various places that delivered. There were a lot of restaurants right by the hotel on your way to and from the parks, so it was nice to eat outside the parks sometimes.
We were all exhausted, so we fell right to sleep after that!