Our first visit to Disneyland with a stop in DC on the way. *Updated 8/22 with a very sad ending.
- Thread starter Jimmy Mouse
- Start date
Mercdesman
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Nov 4, 2022
Looks fun!
Jimmy Mouse
My other car is the Monorail
- Joined
- Sep 3, 2017
We booked through Viator
Jimmy Mouse
My other car is the Monorail
- Joined
- Sep 3, 2017
So after lunch at The Museum of Natural History, we call for a Lyft to take us to the Capital for our tour. We go to the office of Mike Collins. It was a long hallway! then we turned and the next one was just as long, then a 3rd one lol.
We went through security and were given a badge to go down this hallway..
Then back to the "Backstage" entrance to The Capital. It was very interesting and the tour felt very personal. We all really enjoyed it. Here are a few pics.
Continued ....
We went through security and were given a badge to go down this hallway..
Then back to the "Backstage" entrance to The Capital. It was very interesting and the tour felt very personal. We all really enjoyed it. Here are a few pics.
Continued ....
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Jimmy Mouse
My other car is the Monorail
- Joined
- Sep 3, 2017
After our tour of The Capital, we headed back to the hotel. We are all beat! Lots and lots of walking in DC. We head downstairs to The Quill Bar for dinner. This place is a seriously elevated bar.
These crab cakes were some of the best I have ever had!
Not bad for a "political" beer lol
And of course, dessert.
It's now time for a good nights sleep. Tomorrow our car will pick us up at 11:00am for our flight to Disneyland!!!!!
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Jimmy Mouse
My other car is the Monorail
- Joined
- Sep 3, 2017
It's Disneyland Day!!!
So I wake up super early for some reason so I take advantage of the quiet bathroom and get a shower and start packing. I try to make enough noise so everyone will wake up so we can go downstairs for breakfast. It does not work. My wife gets up and showers, I start packing and finally the girls get up. They did NOT want to take a shower but I told them I or anyone else does not want to smell them on a 5+ hour flight. All packed and picked up, we are in the Delta Sky lounge before we know it. It's now 12:40 and we are settled in just waiting on our flight. We are early but with 11:00am checkout and a 4:00pm flight, this was our best bet. We did think about going to another museum but where would we put our luggage?
The Sky Club has a great bar!
And a really good buffet!
After filling up and drinking a few too many, I get an alert from Delta. Our flight is delayed until 4:30. Ugh!
At 3:30 I get another alert. Delayed until 6:00 then right after that delayed until 6:34! Good thing we had comfy seats and plenty of food and drinks!
So after a loooong afternoon, we head down to the gate at 6:00. We could actually see our gate from the lounge and we tracked the plane to make sure it landed before we headed down. Once at the gate, the FA on duty was a rock star! She told everyone to gather around and pay attention. She lined us all up from military, this that needed assistance and first class with main cabin behind. She walked down the line and made sure everyone had their boarding pass out and only one carry on plus one personal item and told us we would be boarded in record time. She did so good! We were boarding the plane by 6:41 and settled in our seats by 6:49 with a drink in hand.
Continued .....
So I wake up super early for some reason so I take advantage of the quiet bathroom and get a shower and start packing. I try to make enough noise so everyone will wake up so we can go downstairs for breakfast. It does not work. My wife gets up and showers, I start packing and finally the girls get up. They did NOT want to take a shower but I told them I or anyone else does not want to smell them on a 5+ hour flight. All packed and picked up, we are in the Delta Sky lounge before we know it. It's now 12:40 and we are settled in just waiting on our flight. We are early but with 11:00am checkout and a 4:00pm flight, this was our best bet. We did think about going to another museum but where would we put our luggage?
The Sky Club has a great bar!
And a really good buffet!
After filling up and drinking a few too many, I get an alert from Delta. Our flight is delayed until 4:30. Ugh!
At 3:30 I get another alert. Delayed until 6:00 then right after that delayed until 6:34! Good thing we had comfy seats and plenty of food and drinks!
So after a loooong afternoon, we head down to the gate at 6:00. We could actually see our gate from the lounge and we tracked the plane to make sure it landed before we headed down. Once at the gate, the FA on duty was a rock star! She told everyone to gather around and pay attention. She lined us all up from military, this that needed assistance and first class with main cabin behind. She walked down the line and made sure everyone had their boarding pass out and only one carry on plus one personal item and told us we would be boarded in record time. She did so good! We were boarding the plane by 6:41 and settled in our seats by 6:49 with a drink in hand.
Continued .....
Jimmy Mouse
My other car is the Monorail
- Joined
- Sep 3, 2017
And were off! Takeoff was at 7:33.
The takeoff was really rough but they warned us it would be until we got some altitude. Then at 8:15 they served dinner. me, Ashley and Hollis had pre ordered the braised short rib. It was good for airplane food. Kendall ordered the burger. I should have ordered the burger. She wouldn't share lol
It was a long day so I didn't blame Kendall at all for taking a nap. She was tired.
I then kicked back and watched a movie.
Before we knew it, (actually it was a long flight) Here we are! Only 30 minutes to land at LAX!
So we landed, went to baggage claim and met our driver. He had us at the resort and we were in our room ready to settle in!
It was a long day and I was glad it came to an end. We all went straight to bed. Tomorrow will be an early day as we have breakfast reservations at Storybook something or another at 8:00am.
Next post, First day in the parks!
The takeoff was really rough but they warned us it would be until we got some altitude. Then at 8:15 they served dinner. me, Ashley and Hollis had pre ordered the braised short rib. It was good for airplane food. Kendall ordered the burger. I should have ordered the burger. She wouldn't share lol
It was a long day so I didn't blame Kendall at all for taking a nap. She was tired.
I then kicked back and watched a movie.
Before we knew it, (actually it was a long flight) Here we are! Only 30 minutes to land at LAX!
So we landed, went to baggage claim and met our driver. He had us at the resort and we were in our room ready to settle in!
It was a long day and I was glad it came to an end. We all went straight to bed. Tomorrow will be an early day as we have breakfast reservations at Storybook something or another at 8:00am.
Next post, First day in the parks!
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Jimmy Mouse
My other car is the Monorail
- Joined
- Sep 3, 2017
Thank you! They are pretty great
Jimmy Mouse
My other car is the Monorail
- Joined
- Sep 3, 2017
I was amazing for sure! Something we will never forget.
Jimmy Mouse
My other car is the Monorail
- Joined
- Sep 3, 2017
Here we go! Our very first trip to Disneyland! What to expect? How will it be? Will we like it as much as we love WDW? How will the people treat us? So many questions but only one way to find out! We are all up early and ready to go! So first, our room. We own DVC but we could only get 2 nights in a villa. Our first 2 nights are on the hotel side in a 2 queen room with only 1 bathroom! I did make sure to get up first lol. It's kinda a must when traveling with 3 girls. Anyway, we are all ready to go for breakfast and I had no argument from the girls when I told them to wake up. So all ready, we head down.
It's a character breakfast and when we walk in I'm like "Oh no! a buffet!" but it was actually very clean and very good! Storytellers is the name I believe. And yes, we were all rockin' our GotG opening g day shirts. Got to represent the East Coast!
oh yeah, It's my actually birthday! So I wore my pin and got a kiss on the head from Minnie lol.
The girls are so excited to hurry up and eat so we do and head to Disneyland! It's so much different than WDW. Walking through DTD to get to the parks reminds me of Universal Orlando. So a short walk and here we are!
I was so amazed that it just didn't feel as crowded as WDW. Main Street was so familiar yet so different.
The castle is so small!
Ashley said "Take a pic of the purple tree, I've never seen one like that". so I did.
First ride, Space Mountain! So we head that way and I am standing there in awe. What the heck is Star Tours doing here! It just seemed so weird lol.
Did I say it's not crowded?
So a little bit about my wife, Ashley. She is not a coaster person. She rides 7DMT for the girls. She rides Big Thunder because she likes it. She tolerated Guardians but she will not ride the big coasters at Universal and she hates hates hates Space Mountain at WDW. The girls begged her and we all told her it was different so she said Okay, just once.
Continued .....
It's a character breakfast and when we walk in I'm like "Oh no! a buffet!" but it was actually very clean and very good! Storytellers is the name I believe. And yes, we were all rockin' our GotG opening g day shirts. Got to represent the East Coast!
oh yeah, It's my actually birthday! So I wore my pin and got a kiss on the head from Minnie lol.
The girls are so excited to hurry up and eat so we do and head to Disneyland! It's so much different than WDW. Walking through DTD to get to the parks reminds me of Universal Orlando. So a short walk and here we are!
I was so amazed that it just didn't feel as crowded as WDW. Main Street was so familiar yet so different.
The castle is so small!
Ashley said "Take a pic of the purple tree, I've never seen one like that". so I did.
First ride, Space Mountain! So we head that way and I am standing there in awe. What the heck is Star Tours doing here! It just seemed so weird lol.
Did I say it's not crowded?
So a little bit about my wife, Ashley. She is not a coaster person. She rides 7DMT for the girls. She rides Big Thunder because she likes it. She tolerated Guardians but she will not ride the big coasters at Universal and she hates hates hates Space Mountain at WDW. The girls begged her and we all told her it was different so she said Okay, just once.
Continued .....
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Jimmy Mouse
My other car is the Monorail
- Joined
- Sep 3, 2017
The girls keep saying "I can't believe we are really here!" This trip was really a dream come true to them. They both have dreamt about this version of Space.
So, Ashley. My coaster hating wife actually said this was her kind of coaster! She said it was her favorite coaster she has ever rode! Personally I thought it was tame compared to the Orlando version but visually, way better than Florida.
After Space we just started walking and headed to our next LL. The girls and actually all of us enjoyed the Snow White ride.
Next was Mickey's toon town to see how this version of Mickey and Minnies was and it broke down right before we boarded.
So we headed towards The Matterhorn! And again, while in line, it broke down. Good thing is now we had 2 anytime LL passes. So on to BTMRR we go!
It was a good ride! I actually think it's better than WDW.
So we zig and zag and head towards Nemo. And there's that tiny castle again lol
Nemo! Kendall is so excited!
It was a good ride! Reminds me of 20,000 leagues under the sea with more comfortable seats.
Along the way around the park, we stopped in many stores and just soaked up the atmosphere. The girls wanted to ride Space Mountain again so we headed back that way. After we rode, I seen the photo op with Darth Vader. yes please! .... but what is he so skinny? lol
But wait .... there's a DVC lounge? Let's go!
Holy cow! This place is like 10 times bigger that the DVC lounge in Epcot! And 2 freestyle machines? Okay, no Oreo's or cheezits. We have dinner soon!
Continued ......
So, Ashley. My coaster hating wife actually said this was her kind of coaster! She said it was her favorite coaster she has ever rode! Personally I thought it was tame compared to the Orlando version but visually, way better than Florida.
After Space we just started walking and headed to our next LL. The girls and actually all of us enjoyed the Snow White ride.
Next was Mickey's toon town to see how this version of Mickey and Minnies was and it broke down right before we boarded.
So we headed towards The Matterhorn! And again, while in line, it broke down. Good thing is now we had 2 anytime LL passes. So on to BTMRR we go!
It was a good ride! I actually think it's better than WDW.
So we zig and zag and head towards Nemo. And there's that tiny castle again lol
Nemo! Kendall is so excited!
It was a good ride! Reminds me of 20,000 leagues under the sea with more comfortable seats.
Along the way around the park, we stopped in many stores and just soaked up the atmosphere. The girls wanted to ride Space Mountain again so we headed back that way. After we rode, I seen the photo op with Darth Vader. yes please! .... but what is he so skinny? lol
But wait .... there's a DVC lounge? Let's go!
Holy cow! This place is like 10 times bigger that the DVC lounge in Epcot! And 2 freestyle machines? Okay, no Oreo's or cheezits. We have dinner soon!
Continued ......
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Jimmy Mouse
My other car is the Monorail
- Joined
- Sep 3, 2017
So after we took a break, we head to dinner at Carnation Cafe. And it was good! I wasn't expecting much but it really was good! But man, This place is really really expensive, Actually we notice everything here is expensive but we won't let that put a damper on our vacation.
So after dinner, we decided to head towards DTD and walk the shops. We spent 6 hours in the park and though we didn't ride everything, we had a really good time and still had 2 more days. I didn't get any pics due to my phone about to die but we really like the fact that DTD is easy to navigate and not crowded like Disney Springs. After we retired to our room, we talked about our day and we all agreed on a few key things. I will list them with a comparison to WDW.
The staff.
Night and day difference. The CM's here seem to care just a little bit more and not once did we encounter a rude CM. Every CM we talked to was so nice! Like over the top nice. And helpful when we asked a question.
The rides.
Now as of this point, we only spent about 6 hours at Disneyland and haven't been to California Adventure yet but the condition of the rides are so much better here than WDW. Besides the 2 rides that went down, what we did ride are just plain nicer. The queue's are even nicer and cleaner.
The Park.
I like the fact that everything is so much closer together and the park was so clean! And when I say clean, I mean it was amazingly clean. We all noticed that. Even when we seen a child spill their popcorn all over the place, when we walked back through the same area 30 minutes later, it was all cleaned up. I cannot remember a time when WDW was even close to this.
So far, this trip is just plain amazing! I went in with low expectations and after our first day I was so happy to be here. I think the main difference is since Disneyland is more of a "Locals" park, they treat it better. Therefore it's just nicer.
Next post, first day at California Adventure!
So after dinner, we decided to head towards DTD and walk the shops. We spent 6 hours in the park and though we didn't ride everything, we had a really good time and still had 2 more days. I didn't get any pics due to my phone about to die but we really like the fact that DTD is easy to navigate and not crowded like Disney Springs. After we retired to our room, we talked about our day and we all agreed on a few key things. I will list them with a comparison to WDW.
The staff.
Night and day difference. The CM's here seem to care just a little bit more and not once did we encounter a rude CM. Every CM we talked to was so nice! Like over the top nice. And helpful when we asked a question.
The rides.
Now as of this point, we only spent about 6 hours at Disneyland and haven't been to California Adventure yet but the condition of the rides are so much better here than WDW. Besides the 2 rides that went down, what we did ride are just plain nicer. The queue's are even nicer and cleaner.
The Park.
I like the fact that everything is so much closer together and the park was so clean! And when I say clean, I mean it was amazingly clean. We all noticed that. Even when we seen a child spill their popcorn all over the place, when we walked back through the same area 30 minutes later, it was all cleaned up. I cannot remember a time when WDW was even close to this.
So far, this trip is just plain amazing! I went in with low expectations and after our first day I was so happy to be here. I think the main difference is since Disneyland is more of a "Locals" park, they treat it better. Therefore it's just nicer.
Next post, first day at California Adventure!
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Jimmy Mouse
My other car is the Monorail
- Joined
- Sep 3, 2017
Here we go! We really enjoyed Disneyland Park and today is California Adventure! And we slept in lol. But once we were all up, we had to pack because we are moving over to the DVC side today. We take all our luggage to bell services and are first to be seated for lunch at this poolside bar / restaurant at Grand Californian. I forgot the name lol.
Anyway, it's 11:00am and we're on vacation so which beer would I like to start my day!
And yes, 3 of us ordered Nachos
Kendall has to be the outcast but she shared.
So here we are. California Adventure and the girls are overly excited!
First ride, the ferris wheel and they insisted on the swinging ones.
That was actually a fun and sorta relaxing ride. Next ride, Incredicoaster! Now Kendall is not a huge coaster fan and mommy said nope, not gonna happen. To my surprise, Kendall actually wants to ride so off we go! I didn't get any pics but wow! It's not crazy fast but it's so smooth! We really liked it and Kendall was excited to ride again which we did!
I was ready to head to Cars Land to see if the racers were anything like test track but we had to take a detour.
Again, Mommy said "nope, no way" so I had to ride with them. I actually do not like swings but I tolerated it for my girls. It was like the average fair swing ride. Nothing special but fun never less.
We took our time walking around taking in the sights and finally made it to Cars Land and I almost forgot to take a pic!
Continued.......
Anyway, it's 11:00am and we're on vacation so which beer would I like to start my day!
And yes, 3 of us ordered Nachos
Kendall has to be the outcast but she shared.
So here we are. California Adventure and the girls are overly excited!
First ride, the ferris wheel and they insisted on the swinging ones.
That was actually a fun and sorta relaxing ride. Next ride, Incredicoaster! Now Kendall is not a huge coaster fan and mommy said nope, not gonna happen. To my surprise, Kendall actually wants to ride so off we go! I didn't get any pics but wow! It's not crazy fast but it's so smooth! We really liked it and Kendall was excited to ride again which we did!
I was ready to head to Cars Land to see if the racers were anything like test track but we had to take a detour.
Again, Mommy said "nope, no way" so I had to ride with them. I actually do not like swings but I tolerated it for my girls. It was like the average fair swing ride. Nothing special but fun never less.
We took our time walking around taking in the sights and finally made it to Cars Land and I almost forgot to take a pic!
Continued.......
Jimmy Mouse
My other car is the Monorail
- Joined
- Sep 3, 2017
And here we are at Radiator Springs Racers! 
Well ... a little disappointed. I mean the theming was awesome! Way better than Test Track but we kept waiting for the "Speed" that never came. Oh well, On to Junkyard Jamboree! (which I think slings you around a little harder that Alien Swirling Saucers).
We stopped at the Avengers show or whatever it is, It was good. We really wish WDW had things like this.
Next ride, Tower of Terror! I mean, Guardians of the Galaxy!
After Guardians, we watched the Spiderman show, grabbed a snack and walked back around till we ended up at Grizzly River Run. It was only me and Kendall. Ashley and Hollis didn't want to get wet. All I can say is the rafts are small! but compared to Kali at Animal Kingdom, I like this ride better. Not as good at Bluto's ride at universal but still pretty good.
So it's been a fun day but we decide to head back to the hotel which is easy since the entrance is right here and our room is ready so we head out.
Now this room is so much better than the other one. 2 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms! Just what a man needs when traveling with 3 girls!
And our view was awesome!
Continued .....
Well ... a little disappointed. I mean the theming was awesome! Way better than Test Track but we kept waiting for the "Speed" that never came. Oh well, On to Junkyard Jamboree! (which I think slings you around a little harder that Alien Swirling Saucers).
We stopped at the Avengers show or whatever it is, It was good. We really wish WDW had things like this.
Next ride, Tower of Terror! I mean, Guardians of the Galaxy!
After Guardians, we watched the Spiderman show, grabbed a snack and walked back around till we ended up at Grizzly River Run. It was only me and Kendall. Ashley and Hollis didn't want to get wet. All I can say is the rafts are small! but compared to Kali at Animal Kingdom, I like this ride better. Not as good at Bluto's ride at universal but still pretty good.
So it's been a fun day but we decide to head back to the hotel which is easy since the entrance is right here and our room is ready so we head out.
Now this room is so much better than the other one. 2 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms! Just what a man needs when traveling with 3 girls!
And our view was awesome!
Continued .....
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Jimmy Mouse
My other car is the Monorail
- Joined
- Sep 3, 2017
And the view after dark was even better!
So we ended up settling in, walking around the resort, did a little shopping and ended up ordering room service.
My thoughts of today compared to WDW.
I like Tower of Terror better as far as the theme goes but I really like the music playing on Guardians. It is a great ride.
Test track blows away Radiator Springs Racers when it comes to speed but Disneyland wins again for a better theme.
Overall park, again, Disneyland is just cleaner.
The CM's are friendlier and we had no bad interaction or witnessed any bad interactions with cast or guests.
We stopped in the DVC kiosk and talked about the Villas at Disneyland Hotel. We like it here.
Next post, last day with a visit to both parks.
So we ended up settling in, walking around the resort, did a little shopping and ended up ordering room service.
My thoughts of today compared to WDW.
I like Tower of Terror better as far as the theme goes but I really like the music playing on Guardians. It is a great ride.
Test track blows away Radiator Springs Racers when it comes to speed but Disneyland wins again for a better theme.
Overall park, again, Disneyland is just cleaner.
The CM's are friendlier and we had no bad interaction or witnessed any bad interactions with cast or guests.
We stopped in the DVC kiosk and talked about the Villas at Disneyland Hotel. We like it here.
Next post, last day with a visit to both parks.
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MinnieFan4ever
<a href="http://www.wdwinfo.com/dis-sponsor/" targ
- Joined
- Mar 8, 2003
What a great trip. There is something special about Disneyland for sure!
lovegrumpy
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 6, 2007
When my hubby was stationed in DC we would go in every weekend and explore. We loved living there.
Jimmy Mouse
My other car is the Monorail
- Joined
- Sep 3, 2017
Last park day today. We plan on hopping so we can ride all the rides we missed and repeat some of our favorites. We all showered the night before so we were all up early. We headed to Disneyland Park for breakfast at Carnation cafe.
We didn't linger too long after we ate so off we go to ride some rides! 1st ride was Buzz. Way way better that WDW version. Way better.
After Buzz we rode Space again then we headed over to Matterhorn. The girls were so excited to see it was open!
After matterhorn we headed back to Mickey's Toon Town and rode MMRR. Same at Florida just a little difference in the layout. After the Somba we went the opposite way and the end scene was backwards to HS.
Kendall wanted to drive so we headed over to Autopia which is just okay. I like WDW Tomorrowland Speedway better.
We then headed back to the lounge for a break. I really wish WDW had a large lounge for DVC like DL does. I can't count how many times the lounge at WDW is at capacity.
After the lounge the girls wanted to head over to California Adventure so we also did something that is never open at WDW. We rode the double decker buss to the front of the park! It was great!
So we say our goodbye's to DL park and head over to CA.
Continued ...
We didn't linger too long after we ate so off we go to ride some rides! 1st ride was Buzz. Way way better that WDW version. Way better.
After Buzz we rode Space again then we headed over to Matterhorn. The girls were so excited to see it was open!
After matterhorn we headed back to Mickey's Toon Town and rode MMRR. Same at Florida just a little difference in the layout. After the Somba we went the opposite way and the end scene was backwards to HS.
Kendall wanted to drive so we headed over to Autopia which is just okay. I like WDW Tomorrowland Speedway better.
We then headed back to the lounge for a break. I really wish WDW had a large lounge for DVC like DL does. I can't count how many times the lounge at WDW is at capacity.
After the lounge the girls wanted to head over to California Adventure so we also did something that is never open at WDW. We rode the double decker buss to the front of the park! It was great!
So we say our goodbye's to DL park and head over to CA.
Continued ...
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