I Wouldn't Normally Do This Kind of Thing… ABD Disney, Backstage, Disneyland Resort May 2020 Pre-Trip Report!

Spencer Wright

Constantly craving a zebra dome...
Joined
Jul 31, 2017
Welcome to my Adventures by Disney/Disneyland Pre-Trip Report!!

My name is Spencer Wright and have booked my first trip to Disneyland and California from May 17th-22nd (adult exclusive).
First a little about myself! I turned 30 in November :hmghost:and decided it was finally time to visit California and Hollywood. Disney was a huge part of my childhood, and my family started visiting WDW when I was 12. I also love Old Hollywood and classic film, especially reading the biographies of the stars of the era. For me ‘Old Hollywood’ means the period from about 1915 to the early 50’s. Besides Disney and Old Hollywood, I also love cats (I have three) and have taken more of an interest in exercise. For 2020, I am making quarterly fitness goals, in order to take getting into shape seriously. The current goal for period ending March 31st is to complete 50 burpees in a row (including push-up); and ten pull-ups in a row.

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(above: my sister and I on our most recent WDW Trip)


So, onto the trip! For 2020 I deiced it was finally time to get out to Los Angeles and Disneyland but was not really sure how to go about it. I live right outside of South Philadelphia, therefore many potential travel companions are dissuaded to visit DLR due to the expense and logistics compared to WDW. And a solo trip to DLR (at least for a first visit) was not sitting right with me. As a side note, I do tend to be quite tight fisted with my funds, so the prospect of heading out west was rather daunting. Also, while I am perfectly comfortable with cities and populated areas, Los Angeles looks like a nightmare to navigate logistically, and I am intimated by the thought of visiting the city.

But then another appealing option emerged. About a month ago I was listening to the
Dreams Unlimited Travel show, and they were talking about the Adventures By Disney Backstage Magic trip, and something clicked in my brain and decided I was going to do it.

And fortunately, my father agreed so I have a travel buddy!!

If you are reading this you probably have an idea what these trips cost, but I do firmly believe it’s more than worth the money. Something about that episode convinced me to be spontaneous and sensibly extravagant. Now obviously there isn’t much planning to do, since the tour is planned, but there is still some.

I do currently have flights booked direct from Philadelphia to LAX, coming in the day before the Adventure, and leaving the day after the Adventure is complete. Since we have park tickets for that full-day, we agreed it would foolish to squander that opportunity. Via the very strong recommendations of the Legacy Disneyland Podcast, I booked the Candy Cane Inn.

I have a couple of questions:


-For the night before the Adventure begins, is there anything you might recommend we do or not do? We are scheduled to arrive at 11:50am PST, and am wondering if I should just book a room at a hotel near LAX, or in Hollywood and go straight to the Loews the next day?

-Obviously, a lot of the time at Disneyland is ‘booked’ or arrangements are made, but what should we generally expect in terms of weather and crowds that time of year? (I know better than to ask questions about crowds and weather but am anyway)

I certainly invite you to follow me along as I plan this Adventure, and strongly encourage you to provide any feedback/tips/criticism that may be of use as we plan our first trip out to the West Coast!!


The next steps are planning out our ‘pre-night’, keeping it up the gym so I look and feel good, and exploring the details of the itinerary.

 
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I am excited to follow your posts here. I'm currently thinking about doing either the Backstage Magic or the Disneyland Southern California Escape.

Are there certain things you are interested in doing in the LA area before your adventure? Do you want to visit the beach - do some shopping - visit any sites?
 
I am excited to follow your posts here. I'm currently thinking about doing either the Backstage Magic or the Disneyland Southern California Escape.

Are there certain things you are interested in doing in the LA area before your adventure? Do you want to visit the beach - do some shopping - visit any sites?

Thank you for following! We are arriving the day before at about 11am PST, and staying at the Loew's the night before the adventure (where the trip starts).

So as of now, I am not really sure what we will do. I am thinking of heading to Griffith Park, and maybe hike around the Hollywood sign. I have never seen the Pacific Ocean, but since we will be in Hollywood we'll probably stay in that area.

Generally with travel, I don't concern myself with shopping too much. Since I live in Southeastern PA, so much shopping is readily available.

So I am researching what to do the day before!
 





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