We just returned from a great vacation. We arrived at the Embassy Suites, which was an absolutely fine hotel, took their shuttle to the Disneyland resort area to begin our adventure. I was able to get half price 2 day park hopper tickets with our dependent military id's (no orders), which I was quite happy about. We started in DCA and focused on the highlights. By evening we made thw switch to Disneyland and continued until closing. The last time we were in Disneyland was 16 years ago. There was a major labor dispute and the cast members attitudes reflected their dissatisfaction at the time. The Disneyland we saw this year was that of the Magic Kingdom in Florida of 20 years ago. Cast members had happy smiling faces and couldn't do enough for you. We were approached several times, spontaneously, and asked if we were having a good time. The park is noticibly very clean; again, at cleanliness levels that exceed those in Florida. The last time we went on WDW's Splash Mountain, the walls of the queue area were literally covered in chewing gum. There was so much gum on the walls that the safest place for your hands was in your pockets. Although the DL Splash Mountain was closed, the queue that was comparable was that for Indiana Jones. Absolutely no gum to be found anywhere. We did notice cleaners cleaning the gum off of other locations but it looks like it is a problem that they constantly address. Another noticible difference are the facades. There are many places in WDW, where it is apparent that the facade is hiding a building containing the attractions. No where is this apparent in DL. The buildings are contructed to give the impression that the are the same in the unseen areas as in the "seen" areas. We also liked the "hills" of the autopia. The best thing is however, they have kept Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. I have always loved Toad so this was a thrill for me, to see it again. There is only "one side" to Toad as opposed to the two sides that once existed in WDW. Pirates of the Carribean is also a better attraction here; two drops instead of one and as typical of every attraction through out DL, a little more attention to detail. Interestingly and historically, Pirates has always been a major attraction in DL and there is always a wait. Conversely, Pirates in WDW is pretty much a walk through and walk on, except during the very busy seasons. The Jungle Cruise is typically a very long wait in WDW but in DL, we waited no more than five minutes. Different tastes for different coasts? Our second day we spent at DCA and DL and the third day we hit Universal Studios. There is a strong impression of Universal being an actually working studio, which it is, rather than "just a theme park". One gets the very big and correct impression that Universal Fla. is much more a theme park. Again, we loved it. Easy access to the attractions, no big lines or waits and in a day, we covered the whole thing. The remainder of our vacation was spent in the San Diego area. Absolutely loved San Diego. Its a great city with a lot of cultural and recreational advantages but that is another story.
My Southern California Adventure.
- Thread starter DawnCt
- Start date
Annie&Hallie'sMom
<font color=deeppink>Things turn out best for peop
- Joined
- Oct 26, 2001
Thanks for sharing Dawn. I really enjoyed reading about your trek to DL. Some day I'll have to try the other coast as well.
goofyfordisney
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 1, 2001
Hi Dawn,
Thanks for the great trip report--I'm glad that you had a nice visit! I wanted to know how you feel you did with the amount of days spent in each place. Did you feel you had enough time in each place?
We had a lot of fun comparing WDW and DL when we went to WDW this past November. The kids liked DL much better than MK overall.
We are really looking forward to our trip in June!
Sue
Thanks for the great trip report--I'm glad that you had a nice visit! I wanted to know how you feel you did with the amount of days spent in each place. Did you feel you had enough time in each place?
We had a lot of fun comparing WDW and DL when we went to WDW this past November. The kids liked DL much better than MK overall.
We are really looking forward to our trip in June!
Sue
I really felt that two full days at Disneyland and DCA were enough if you have experienced Disney as many times as we have, between Fla. and DL. We returned on our last day in California before we left for LAX to do some shopping. We were going to go into DL but there were lengthy lines just for tickets and to enter the park so we didn't feel that it would be cost effective for the time we arrived. We went to see Scorpion King instead. Not my type of movie but the kids liked it. Now to fill you in on San Diego.
I absolutely loved San Diego, it's a great city and my overall impression is this is a city with wonderfully friendly people who are proud of what they have. They should be. En route to San Diego, we detoured to Escondido and spent the day at Wild Animal Park. It was a cloudy day, and it had just stopped raining when we got out of the car. This was actually perfect weather to see the animals. Many like those kind of days and don't run and seek shelter from the sun. Also, many of the "babies" haven't experienced a lot of rain so they are like kids who see the first snow of the year. The train tour is a must, although I my son, niece and nephew aren't crazy about tours, it is the only way to do it. You get a good sense of the layout and can return to visit those exhibits that are most interesting. We left WAP around three and drove directly to the Hotel Del Coronado. This is a classic hotel built in 1882 with a wonderful and colorful history. We didn't eat there but we enjoyed the pool, the location and rented a surrey type bike and drove down Ocean Blvd. admiring the real estate. Any house here would be fine with me. On our third day in San Diego we checked out of the Del early in the morning and headed to Sea World. The morning started out a bit nippy but quickly warmed up. The crowds were certainly managable and we went from show to show without a wait, saw all of the exhibits that we were interested in and left the park around 4 pm to check into the Marriott Resort and Marina on Harbor Blvd. The room is pretty standard for a 4 star hotel, the lobby was huge and the pool area impressive. Most impressive was the location; a four block walk to theGas Lamp district and it overlooked the Marina. Our dining activities took us to places that interest young teens, we ate at Hennesseys, (buy one burger, get the other free on Tuesdays) and we went back on Wednesday to celebrate thier grand opening. They had a free appetizer bar and the kids loaded up on chicken wings, terriyaki chicken, shrimp, etc, etc. We paid only for drinks. Quite a bargain. We had dessert at the Hard Rock cafe and bought a tee shirt at Hooters. The next day we visited the San Diego Zoo which has earned its title as the best zoo in the world. We had seen plenty of hooved animals at WAP so we focused on bears, reptiles, primates and cats, with a few warthogs and other exotic animals thrown in. Again, a tour is essential here. We were able to leave around 2 pm and head for Old Town for lunch. This is a very quaint, fun place to spend the afternoon with the main attraction for us being the restaurants. We had a great meal at Casa di Pico. To be continued.....
I absolutely loved San Diego, it's a great city and my overall impression is this is a city with wonderfully friendly people who are proud of what they have. They should be. En route to San Diego, we detoured to Escondido and spent the day at Wild Animal Park. It was a cloudy day, and it had just stopped raining when we got out of the car. This was actually perfect weather to see the animals. Many like those kind of days and don't run and seek shelter from the sun. Also, many of the "babies" haven't experienced a lot of rain so they are like kids who see the first snow of the year. The train tour is a must, although I my son, niece and nephew aren't crazy about tours, it is the only way to do it. You get a good sense of the layout and can return to visit those exhibits that are most interesting. We left WAP around three and drove directly to the Hotel Del Coronado. This is a classic hotel built in 1882 with a wonderful and colorful history. We didn't eat there but we enjoyed the pool, the location and rented a surrey type bike and drove down Ocean Blvd. admiring the real estate. Any house here would be fine with me. On our third day in San Diego we checked out of the Del early in the morning and headed to Sea World. The morning started out a bit nippy but quickly warmed up. The crowds were certainly managable and we went from show to show without a wait, saw all of the exhibits that we were interested in and left the park around 4 pm to check into the Marriott Resort and Marina on Harbor Blvd. The room is pretty standard for a 4 star hotel, the lobby was huge and the pool area impressive. Most impressive was the location; a four block walk to theGas Lamp district and it overlooked the Marina. Our dining activities took us to places that interest young teens, we ate at Hennesseys, (buy one burger, get the other free on Tuesdays) and we went back on Wednesday to celebrate thier grand opening. They had a free appetizer bar and the kids loaded up on chicken wings, terriyaki chicken, shrimp, etc, etc. We paid only for drinks. Quite a bargain. We had dessert at the Hard Rock cafe and bought a tee shirt at Hooters. The next day we visited the San Diego Zoo which has earned its title as the best zoo in the world. We had seen plenty of hooved animals at WAP so we focused on bears, reptiles, primates and cats, with a few warthogs and other exotic animals thrown in. Again, a tour is essential here. We were able to leave around 2 pm and head for Old Town for lunch. This is a very quaint, fun place to spend the afternoon with the main attraction for us being the restaurants. We had a great meal at Casa di Pico. To be continued.....
After we left Old Town we drove further north on Rte. 5 and drove down the coast from La Jolla. Again, there is some wonderful scenery here and gorgeous real estate. I could be happy in La Jolla! We parked along the coast at the scenic spots and counted over 100 California Seals just sunning themselves. They must eat a LOT OF FISH! a bit smelly. Our last day in San Diego was reserved for surfing, my 14 year old DS Patrick had learned to surf in Kauai so he was sure that he would retain his skills and be able to surf in San Diego. We rented a wet suit and an 8 ft. board for $15. (that is the size that would fit in the car) and headed to a surfing park. It didn't take long for him to figure out that the surfing was a bit different here and he had troule getting up. I was told by the surf shop to anticipate this and to look out for Rusty the surf intructor. Luckily for Patrick he had room in his group lesson and for $35 he provided a longer board and excellent instructions. Patrick was riding in on the first wave he caught. He stuck to the 3 footers and left the bigger 7 to 8 ft. swells to the Kahunas but we were able to call him "Surfer Dude" for the day. Surfing here is not doable without a wet suit. I had trouble walking in the water past my ankles. Also, a wet suit prevents that board rash that you can get from rubbing against the board. Our last day we checked out of the hotel, drove to Anaheim and left for LAX at 7:30 pm for the flight home. In all, a great trip. I should interject here that three of us took turns with a viral syndrome that lasted 24 to 36 hours. Headache, sore throat, abdominal pain, etc. We didn't let it slow us down however, despite the whines from my nephew who was ready to stay in bed for two days. I told him that he could be sick in the car, sick at the beach, sick in a restaurant while he watched us eat, sick anywhere except in the hotel room watching tv. When the sympathy wasn't available, he made a startlingly quick recovery.
We parked along the coast at the scenic spots and counted over 100 California Seals just sunning themselves. They must eat a LOT OF FISH! a bit smelly. Our last day in San Diego was reserved for surfing, my 14 year old DS Patrick had learned to surf in Kauai so he was sure that he would retain his skills and be able to surf in San Diego. We rented a wet suit and an 8 ft. board for $15. (that is the size that would fit in the car) and headed to a surfing park. It didn't take long for him to figure out that the surfing was a bit different here and he had troule getting up. I was told by the surf shop to anticipate this and to look out for Rusty the surf intructor. Luckily for Patrick he had room in his group lesson and for $35 he provided a longer board and excellent instructions. Patrick was riding in on the first wave he caught. He stuck to the 3 footers and left the bigger 7 to 8 ft. swells to the Kahunas but we were able to call him "Surfer Dude" for the day. Surfing here is not doable without a wet suit. I had trouble walking in the water past my ankles. Also, a wet suit prevents that board rash that you can get from rubbing against the board. Our last day we checked out of the hotel, drove to Anaheim and left for LAX at 7:30 pm for the flight home. In all, a great trip. I should interject here that three of us took turns with a viral syndrome that lasted 24 to 36 hours. Headache, sore throat, abdominal pain, etc. We didn't let it slow us down however, despite the whines from my nephew who was ready to stay in bed for two days. I told him that he could be sick in the car, sick at the beach, sick in a restaurant while he watched us eat, sick anywhere except in the hotel room watching tv. When the sympathy wasn't available, he made a startlingly quick recovery.Thank you so much, Dawn! Oh, now I am wishing we had more than three days in San Diego!!! We are planning to have one half day to see La Jolla and the seals, plus a day to meet friends at Legoland and a day at SD Zoo. We will see Sea World in Orlando next year, so we decided to skip it this year. Waaaahhh. GREAT trip report!!!
Cara
Cara
Cara, We saw La Jolla after we left Old Town and after we left the zoo, so that can be pretty much all in one day. We decided ahead of time which animals we wanted to see at the zoo. Having been to Wild Animal Park, we didn't need to see hooves again.
Is Legoland really important to you. From what I hear, unless you have very young children who are absolutely stuck on Legoland, that it isn't the best place to spend a day. I could be wrong however.
Is Legoland really important to you. From what I hear, unless you have very young children who are absolutely stuck on Legoland, that it isn't the best place to spend a day. I could be wrong however.
I am not stuck on Legoland, but we have friends in the area who have annual passes. Their seven-year-old DS has sold my seven-year-old DD on spending the day there, LOL. The good thing about the park seems to be that she could ride all of rides there. Hmmmm. I would probably rather go to Sea World myself, even though we will be seeing the one in Orlando at some point. Thanks for the tip about seeing LaJolla after the zoo!
Cara
Cara
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