MNtwinsplus1mom
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Aug 2, 2011
My family just returned from our first (amazing) trip to Disneyland. We are so thankful for the help we received from all of you who share your insight and experience on the DISboards. I often am more of a lurker than a commenter, but have read here regularly and appreciate everyone who takes the time to ask questions and share their wisdom.
We also had the happy opportunity to receive help planning our trip from the amazing DIS Unplugged Disneyland Edition podcast team. For anyone who has not listened, I highly recommend the show to anyone who loves Disneyland or is considering a first visit. (That should account for everyone, right?) I started out as a DIS Unplugged Orlando show listener, but was intrigued by their love of Disneyland and special shows and videos focusing on the park, so I checked out the Disneyland podcast and enjoyed it right away. Each week, Tom, Michael, Mary Jo, Nancy & Tony record two shows, a Disneyland (& Southern California) News show and a second show about a specific topic (for example, topics covered have included hotel reviews, ideas for dining on a budget, other activities to do near Anaheim, & Disneyland's history). Anyway... they sometimes help a listener out with planning an upcoming trip to Disneyland, and I was recently one of the listeners who received help from them. Their advice really helped to make our trip the success it was. We adored Walt's original park and look forward to our next visit.
A few quick introductions: I'm Karin. My sweet husband is Jeff. We have three boys: Sam is the oldest (14), and his twin brothers are Kevin & Benji (11). Jeff went to Disneyland once years ago, so long ago he doesn't really remember it. The rest of us had never gone, and the kids had never visited California at all. I had only gone to San Diego once for work.
Day 1. April 13th (Wednesday)
After a short night of sleep, we awoke happily to our alarms on Wednesday. We took a cab to the airport for our 11:35am flight to LAX. Once we got through security, we picked up lunch at the food court, made the obligatory pre-flight Caribou (coffee shop) run, and walked to our gate. We enjoyed our smooth flight, during which the twins played games and Jeff worked on one of his presentations. (It was his conference in Anaheim that provided the excuse for the whole trip.) Sam and I watched the movie Ant Man, but I unfortunately slept through most of it due to our marathon packing session the night before. We landed at 1:40pm and made our way to baggage claim, where we were greeted by the welcome sight of our driver (from Lansky Transportation; I highly recommend them!) who was holding a sign with our name on it. (Fun!) He collected our bags and led us to the Suburban parked nearby that would take us to Anaheim. On our way there, we stopped at a grocery store called Ralph’s, where we bought a 24-pack of water, juice boxes, breakfast food, and snacks.
Benji on our way out of the airport, all ready for Disney fun:
At 3pm, we arrived at the Anaheim Marriott, which is located two blocks from Disneyland. This hotel had been reviewed on the podcast, which was nice, so I knew just what to expect, right down to the carpet. We selected the hotel because it was next to the convention that Jeff would be busy attending for our first several days. He's so sweet to me and was willing to stay at other places that cater more to families (with bunk beds, free breakfasts, etc.), but we wanted to be nice to him. He was cheerfully letting us all tag along on what could have been a simple work trip, after all.
After checking into the hotel, we enjoyed a zippy elevator ride to our pool-view room on the 11th floor. The elevators are unique at the hotel: we would type in our floor number on a keypad, and in short order it would respond with the elevator number we should board, and the corresponding elevator would take us up to it in a flash. The room we booked was a “Deluxe Double” room, which was described on the hotel’s website as a larger guest room (365 square feet) with a balcony and two double beds.
After we settled into the room and the rollaway that we had requested arrived, I took the boys for a swim while Jeff did some work. The pool was nice, with an interesting half-covered layout:
The only problem was that the water was fairly cold, so after a while we just cuddled up with towels and relaxed.
After our swim, we returned to the room and changed for dinner. We’d been looking forward to trying Roscoe’s Chicken and Waffles, which was a short walk from our hotel.
We saw this on the way near another hotel:
Most of us selected the classic chicken and waffles. The place came highly recommended by the podcast team. And others.
We all loved our meals.
Love, love the chicken and waffles combination. A close-up, because it's sooooo good:
Sam & I first had chicken and waffles in 2014 at the Polynesian’s quick service restaurant, but it was different there: spicy chicken, lettuce, & ranch dressing, on top of two small Belgian waffles with syrup. We loved it, so I make it for him for a special treat sometimes. We both enjoy it, but the rest of our family thinks we're crazy.
The Roscoe's version was adored by all. Kevin was especially fond of Roscoe’s and vigorously and repeatedly pleaded for a return visit.
The twins and I found room for dessert afterward, at Joe’s Italian Ice. Kevin and Benji ordered strawberry and tangerine, respectively. I chose the peanut butter cup flavor, and it was spectacular.
We then walked back to the hotel and went to bed. Our bodies were still operating on Central Standard Time, so we were tired. Also, we wanted to be able to wake up early to arrive at Disneyland for Rope Drop. Oh, and of course Jeff had the conference to attend! He would have a presentation to do every day, so had a lot to do while we were busy playing.
Next time: Our first day at Disneyland!
We also had the happy opportunity to receive help planning our trip from the amazing DIS Unplugged Disneyland Edition podcast team. For anyone who has not listened, I highly recommend the show to anyone who loves Disneyland or is considering a first visit. (That should account for everyone, right?) I started out as a DIS Unplugged Orlando show listener, but was intrigued by their love of Disneyland and special shows and videos focusing on the park, so I checked out the Disneyland podcast and enjoyed it right away. Each week, Tom, Michael, Mary Jo, Nancy & Tony record two shows, a Disneyland (& Southern California) News show and a second show about a specific topic (for example, topics covered have included hotel reviews, ideas for dining on a budget, other activities to do near Anaheim, & Disneyland's history). Anyway... they sometimes help a listener out with planning an upcoming trip to Disneyland, and I was recently one of the listeners who received help from them. Their advice really helped to make our trip the success it was. We adored Walt's original park and look forward to our next visit.
A few quick introductions: I'm Karin. My sweet husband is Jeff. We have three boys: Sam is the oldest (14), and his twin brothers are Kevin & Benji (11). Jeff went to Disneyland once years ago, so long ago he doesn't really remember it. The rest of us had never gone, and the kids had never visited California at all. I had only gone to San Diego once for work.
Day 1. April 13th (Wednesday)
After a short night of sleep, we awoke happily to our alarms on Wednesday. We took a cab to the airport for our 11:35am flight to LAX. Once we got through security, we picked up lunch at the food court, made the obligatory pre-flight Caribou (coffee shop) run, and walked to our gate. We enjoyed our smooth flight, during which the twins played games and Jeff worked on one of his presentations. (It was his conference in Anaheim that provided the excuse for the whole trip.) Sam and I watched the movie Ant Man, but I unfortunately slept through most of it due to our marathon packing session the night before. We landed at 1:40pm and made our way to baggage claim, where we were greeted by the welcome sight of our driver (from Lansky Transportation; I highly recommend them!) who was holding a sign with our name on it. (Fun!) He collected our bags and led us to the Suburban parked nearby that would take us to Anaheim. On our way there, we stopped at a grocery store called Ralph’s, where we bought a 24-pack of water, juice boxes, breakfast food, and snacks.
Benji on our way out of the airport, all ready for Disney fun:
At 3pm, we arrived at the Anaheim Marriott, which is located two blocks from Disneyland. This hotel had been reviewed on the podcast, which was nice, so I knew just what to expect, right down to the carpet. We selected the hotel because it was next to the convention that Jeff would be busy attending for our first several days. He's so sweet to me and was willing to stay at other places that cater more to families (with bunk beds, free breakfasts, etc.), but we wanted to be nice to him. He was cheerfully letting us all tag along on what could have been a simple work trip, after all.
After checking into the hotel, we enjoyed a zippy elevator ride to our pool-view room on the 11th floor. The elevators are unique at the hotel: we would type in our floor number on a keypad, and in short order it would respond with the elevator number we should board, and the corresponding elevator would take us up to it in a flash. The room we booked was a “Deluxe Double” room, which was described on the hotel’s website as a larger guest room (365 square feet) with a balcony and two double beds.
After we settled into the room and the rollaway that we had requested arrived, I took the boys for a swim while Jeff did some work. The pool was nice, with an interesting half-covered layout:
The only problem was that the water was fairly cold, so after a while we just cuddled up with towels and relaxed.
After our swim, we returned to the room and changed for dinner. We’d been looking forward to trying Roscoe’s Chicken and Waffles, which was a short walk from our hotel.
We saw this on the way near another hotel:
Most of us selected the classic chicken and waffles. The place came highly recommended by the podcast team. And others.
We all loved our meals.
Love, love the chicken and waffles combination. A close-up, because it's sooooo good:
Sam & I first had chicken and waffles in 2014 at the Polynesian’s quick service restaurant, but it was different there: spicy chicken, lettuce, & ranch dressing, on top of two small Belgian waffles with syrup. We loved it, so I make it for him for a special treat sometimes. We both enjoy it, but the rest of our family thinks we're crazy.
The Roscoe's version was adored by all. Kevin was especially fond of Roscoe’s and vigorously and repeatedly pleaded for a return visit.
The twins and I found room for dessert afterward, at Joe’s Italian Ice. Kevin and Benji ordered strawberry and tangerine, respectively. I chose the peanut butter cup flavor, and it was spectacular.
We then walked back to the hotel and went to bed. Our bodies were still operating on Central Standard Time, so we were tired. Also, we wanted to be able to wake up early to arrive at Disneyland for Rope Drop. Oh, and of course Jeff had the conference to attend! He would have a presentation to do every day, so had a lot to do while we were busy playing.
Next time: Our first day at Disneyland!
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