munchkinsmom
Mom to DD12 and DS9
- Joined
- Jul 28, 2005
Family: DH, DD-9, DS-7 and myself
When: July 24th through August 3rd 2010
Stayed where: Howard Johnson’s Anaheim, Two Queen Bed Suite in Building Two
Day One: Arrival, settled into our room, had dinner at Mimi’s Café
Day Two: Drove up to LA. Took in a afternoon baseball game at Dodger Stadium (LA won over the NY Mets). The drive up was not that bad since it was on a Sunday.
Day Three: Disney’s California Adventure (DD and DS rode California Screamin’ for the first time). Crowds were surprisingly light for July. Kids spent the evening swimming in the Hojo Garden Pool. DD experienced her first bee sting on her hand when she put her hand on the edge of the pool, not realizing that there was a bee right there.
Day Four: Leisurely morning spent waking up late, having breakfast in the room. DH and DS drove to Angels Stadium and watched an afternoon baseball game (Angels led most of the game, but the Red Sox pulled ahead at the end and won). DD and I did “Mommy and DD Time” at Disneyland.
Day Five: Drove up to Los Angeles (took two hours in traffic to travel 40 miles…yuck) and visited the La Brea Tar Pits, which was VERY interesting! We also stopped by the Grove Shopping Center to visit the American Girl Store. Met up with some friends who live in West LA and had dinner.
Day Six: Went to Knott’s Berry Farm for the day. Had lunch at Mrs. Knott’s Chicken Dinner Restaurant (YUM!!). We were pleasantly surprised with the park. The last time DH and I were there (13 years ago), we felt like it needed an update. Since Cedar Fair took over control, we feel they’ve done a good job improving it. There are SO many cool roller coasters, rides and shops. The lines were not long and everything is in close proximity to each other, so it’s not like you’re walking miles to get from one place to another. The food choices are, IMHO, better than Disneyland’s offerings. We were so happy w/ the trip, we used our tickets to upgrade to a season pass to return again later that week.
Day Seven: Went to Disneyland. DD and DS finally got up the courage to do Splash Mountain and had a GREAT time. DD and DS spent the evening in the pool with no bee encounters this around.
Day Eight: Another leisurely morning, with lunch in Fullerton at the Old Spaghetti Factory. We were initially going to do California Adventure afterwards, but then realized that our passes were blocked on that day. Instead, we drove to Long Beach for the afternoon and visited the Queen Mary. After checking out the pre-video for the “Ghosts and Legends” tour of the ship, which was included in the price of admission, DD and DS decided that they were not interested in doing it (neither was I, LOL!). Instead we took the time to visit the top side of the ship. DD and DS had fun running along the side decks and seeing the cut away models of the Titanic, Lusitania, Mauretania and the SS United States. DH’s favorite part was looking at the engine room. I enjoyed looking at the displays. We had a really nice time there. Kids had a evening swim in the pool.
Day Nine: Spent the day at Disney’s California Adventure.
Day Ten: We returned to Knott’s Berry Farm using our season passes. DH and I purchased these passes on Day Six of our trip. We decided to return to Knotts instead of going up to Universal Studios-Hollywood. We decided that Universal Studios would not be a good choice for our family for several reasons: 1) The two hour plus trip up to Hollywood was daunting and would eat up too much of our time; 2) Universal Studios appeared better suited for older kids and adults than our children, ages 7 and 9; 3) Our kids loved Knott’s and really wanted to return; 4) The season pass price was very reasonable, which was $69 each, although we only $59 each since we had a coupon. We now can return again later this year! Also, thumbs up to the Snoopy Ice Skating Show and Knott's Boysenberry Pie!
Day 11: Checked out of our wonderful, roomy and fabulous Two Queen Bed Suite at the Hojo (a big shout out to Loaiza, who kept our room in such wonderful shape during our trip). Had lunch at ESPN Zone, met up with my cousins who were visiting from Texas and drove up from San Diego, and spent the rest of the day at Disneyland.
When: July 24th through August 3rd 2010
Stayed where: Howard Johnson’s Anaheim, Two Queen Bed Suite in Building Two
Day One: Arrival, settled into our room, had dinner at Mimi’s Café
Day Two: Drove up to LA. Took in a afternoon baseball game at Dodger Stadium (LA won over the NY Mets). The drive up was not that bad since it was on a Sunday.
Day Three: Disney’s California Adventure (DD and DS rode California Screamin’ for the first time). Crowds were surprisingly light for July. Kids spent the evening swimming in the Hojo Garden Pool. DD experienced her first bee sting on her hand when she put her hand on the edge of the pool, not realizing that there was a bee right there.
Day Four: Leisurely morning spent waking up late, having breakfast in the room. DH and DS drove to Angels Stadium and watched an afternoon baseball game (Angels led most of the game, but the Red Sox pulled ahead at the end and won). DD and I did “Mommy and DD Time” at Disneyland.
Day Five: Drove up to Los Angeles (took two hours in traffic to travel 40 miles…yuck) and visited the La Brea Tar Pits, which was VERY interesting! We also stopped by the Grove Shopping Center to visit the American Girl Store. Met up with some friends who live in West LA and had dinner.
Day Six: Went to Knott’s Berry Farm for the day. Had lunch at Mrs. Knott’s Chicken Dinner Restaurant (YUM!!). We were pleasantly surprised with the park. The last time DH and I were there (13 years ago), we felt like it needed an update. Since Cedar Fair took over control, we feel they’ve done a good job improving it. There are SO many cool roller coasters, rides and shops. The lines were not long and everything is in close proximity to each other, so it’s not like you’re walking miles to get from one place to another. The food choices are, IMHO, better than Disneyland’s offerings. We were so happy w/ the trip, we used our tickets to upgrade to a season pass to return again later that week.
Day Seven: Went to Disneyland. DD and DS finally got up the courage to do Splash Mountain and had a GREAT time. DD and DS spent the evening in the pool with no bee encounters this around.
Day Eight: Another leisurely morning, with lunch in Fullerton at the Old Spaghetti Factory. We were initially going to do California Adventure afterwards, but then realized that our passes were blocked on that day. Instead, we drove to Long Beach for the afternoon and visited the Queen Mary. After checking out the pre-video for the “Ghosts and Legends” tour of the ship, which was included in the price of admission, DD and DS decided that they were not interested in doing it (neither was I, LOL!). Instead we took the time to visit the top side of the ship. DD and DS had fun running along the side decks and seeing the cut away models of the Titanic, Lusitania, Mauretania and the SS United States. DH’s favorite part was looking at the engine room. I enjoyed looking at the displays. We had a really nice time there. Kids had a evening swim in the pool.
Day Nine: Spent the day at Disney’s California Adventure.
Day Ten: We returned to Knott’s Berry Farm using our season passes. DH and I purchased these passes on Day Six of our trip. We decided to return to Knotts instead of going up to Universal Studios-Hollywood. We decided that Universal Studios would not be a good choice for our family for several reasons: 1) The two hour plus trip up to Hollywood was daunting and would eat up too much of our time; 2) Universal Studios appeared better suited for older kids and adults than our children, ages 7 and 9; 3) Our kids loved Knott’s and really wanted to return; 4) The season pass price was very reasonable, which was $69 each, although we only $59 each since we had a coupon. We now can return again later this year! Also, thumbs up to the Snoopy Ice Skating Show and Knott's Boysenberry Pie!
Day 11: Checked out of our wonderful, roomy and fabulous Two Queen Bed Suite at the Hojo (a big shout out to Loaiza, who kept our room in such wonderful shape during our trip). Had lunch at ESPN Zone, met up with my cousins who were visiting from Texas and drove up from San Diego, and spent the rest of the day at Disneyland.
