MouseLover
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 6, 1999
Cast: Myself 37, mom to Kayla, DH 39; DD-8, grandma & grandpa
We flew into LAX and rented a Jeep Cherokee from Dollar. ($351 total for 10 days, returning to LAS).
Days 1-2-3 were spent touring the LA area. We visited my Aunt Sybil who lives in LA area. We went to Redondo Beach/Pier, Hollywood, Mann's & Kodak theaters, Beverly Hills, near Malibu Beach. We spent a day at Magic Mountain. Magic Mtn was clean, pretty, and we encountered no teenager problems. X was the most awesome coaster I've ever been on, but it did pop my neck and I had a lot of neck pain for a day or so. We stayed at the Holiday Inn Express by MM -- recommend this hotel. Very nice & clean, but front desk was rude.
Day 3/pm. Arrived at Hojo, checked in & went to Downtown Disney. Redeemed ESPN vouchers, played games and had supper.
HOWARD JOHNSON: All requests were met. We had two connecting rooms in Bldg. 4, facing the pool. This area was very quiet. Each room had the extra sink, 2 double beds, and an additional small room with a rollaway bed (which we didn't use). The rooms were spotless. They were kept that way our entire trip. The pool area and bathrooms were also kept spotless. Every morning at 6am the staff was cleaning the pool and lounge chairs. The grounds are really beautiful and the entire staff was friendly. The walk took us exactly 7 minutes to the shuttle dropoff area. Mimi's Cafe was across the street. We ate there several times and enjoyed it. We would definitely recommend the Hojo and stay there again. We could watch the monorail and the fireworks from outside our room.
We ate at Mimi's, McDonald's, and Denny's, and at DD: Rainforest Cafe and Tortilla Jo's.
We spent 3 days hopping between Disneyland and California Adventure. We loved Soarin' and Indiana Jones. We also loved the Aladdin show. The Genie was great! Lines were not terribly long, but the park seemed crowded -- a lot of people walking around. We saw the electric parade, day parade, Fantasmic. Fantasmic is better at WDW and Pirates is definitely better at DL. The DL castle is certainly beautiful, even though it is small in comparison to WDW. The special crowns are a nice touch. We rode everything we wanted and we rode our favorites several times. Wish Space Mtn. would have been open. There didn't seem to be a lot of characters around. Maybe we just missed most of them. We had a wonderful trip. It was really neat to be in the original Magic Kingdom.
The last part of our trip was spent driving to Vegas and spending 4 nights at New York, New York. This hotel was nice, but our room was small despite being an "upgraded" room. We were not fond of the decor and the staff ranged from indifferent to rude. We would not stay there again. We chose it because of its location for walking to other casinos. Next time we will stay at Excalibur or Flamingo.
Disney was the best part of course!
LA traffic: Not as bad as we expected. Just 12+ lanes of bumper to bumper traffic. The exits were clearly marked ahead of time and almost every one exited to the right.
LA weather: We love your weather!! We have come home to 94 degrees/94% humidity. We are now looking forward to fall.
We flew into LAX and rented a Jeep Cherokee from Dollar. ($351 total for 10 days, returning to LAS).
Days 1-2-3 were spent touring the LA area. We visited my Aunt Sybil who lives in LA area. We went to Redondo Beach/Pier, Hollywood, Mann's & Kodak theaters, Beverly Hills, near Malibu Beach. We spent a day at Magic Mountain. Magic Mtn was clean, pretty, and we encountered no teenager problems. X was the most awesome coaster I've ever been on, but it did pop my neck and I had a lot of neck pain for a day or so. We stayed at the Holiday Inn Express by MM -- recommend this hotel. Very nice & clean, but front desk was rude.
Day 3/pm. Arrived at Hojo, checked in & went to Downtown Disney. Redeemed ESPN vouchers, played games and had supper.
HOWARD JOHNSON: All requests were met. We had two connecting rooms in Bldg. 4, facing the pool. This area was very quiet. Each room had the extra sink, 2 double beds, and an additional small room with a rollaway bed (which we didn't use). The rooms were spotless. They were kept that way our entire trip. The pool area and bathrooms were also kept spotless. Every morning at 6am the staff was cleaning the pool and lounge chairs. The grounds are really beautiful and the entire staff was friendly. The walk took us exactly 7 minutes to the shuttle dropoff area. Mimi's Cafe was across the street. We ate there several times and enjoyed it. We would definitely recommend the Hojo and stay there again. We could watch the monorail and the fireworks from outside our room.
We ate at Mimi's, McDonald's, and Denny's, and at DD: Rainforest Cafe and Tortilla Jo's.
We spent 3 days hopping between Disneyland and California Adventure. We loved Soarin' and Indiana Jones. We also loved the Aladdin show. The Genie was great! Lines were not terribly long, but the park seemed crowded -- a lot of people walking around. We saw the electric parade, day parade, Fantasmic. Fantasmic is better at WDW and Pirates is definitely better at DL. The DL castle is certainly beautiful, even though it is small in comparison to WDW. The special crowns are a nice touch. We rode everything we wanted and we rode our favorites several times. Wish Space Mtn. would have been open. There didn't seem to be a lot of characters around. Maybe we just missed most of them. We had a wonderful trip. It was really neat to be in the original Magic Kingdom.
The last part of our trip was spent driving to Vegas and spending 4 nights at New York, New York. This hotel was nice, but our room was small despite being an "upgraded" room. We were not fond of the decor and the staff ranged from indifferent to rude. We would not stay there again. We chose it because of its location for walking to other casinos. Next time we will stay at Excalibur or Flamingo.
Disney was the best part of course!
LA traffic: Not as bad as we expected. Just 12+ lanes of bumper to bumper traffic. The exits were clearly marked ahead of time and almost every one exited to the right.
LA weather: We love your weather!! We have come home to 94 degrees/94% humidity. We are now looking forward to fall.
