Highs and Lows Disneyland California, Hawaii & Hollywood Holiday

[leighlee]

I spent just over 2 weeks in California and Hawaii back in October 2013 and I just wanted to post the highs and lows of the trip.

General
Highs

• Staying in an airport hotel (Renaissance hotel - Heathrow) the night before flying to LA this gets me into the holiday spirit straight away.
• Flying Premium Economy with Virgin
• Pre booked Super Shuttles to and from LAX and it only cost £20.72 per trip for 2 people. This is a real bargain if you consider that the trip just from LAX to Anaheim took about 45 minutes. On all occasions everyone on the bus were being dropped in the same area so we didn't have to travel around for ages waiting to be dropped off.

Lows

• 11 hour flight from the UK. I know there's nothing we can do to change this but its just worth a grumble anyway.
• Coming home obviously.

Disneyland
Highs

• Weather everyday was sunny but not too hot that it got unbearable.
• Ramada Maingate - At The Park, Anaheim was a basic hotel but in a great location. It was only a 5 minute walk to Disneyland from our hotel.
• It was great having the 2 parks right across from each other rather than a bus ride away like in WDW.
• The food in Disney California Adventure Park was great. I recommend the Pacific Wharf Café for great soup in a bread bowl, Corn Dog Castle for a corn dog, The Lucky Fortune Cookery for great Asian food
• Earl of Sandwich in Downtown Disney was great as usual.
• Never having to wait more than 20 mins in the Soaring line and being able to pick up fast passes throughout the day as they never seemed to run out. We managed to get on Soaring 3 times in 1 day. I think that's just about impossible in Disneyworld. In fact I rode Soaring 3 times, Carsland 2 times and Toy Story Mania 1 time in the same day.
• Going on the Cars ride 7 times over 4 days (using the single rider line most of the time).
• Mickey's Halloween Party because queues for all rides except the Haunted Mansion were short and it was a chance to dress up and get loads of sweets (see lows as well).
• Cheese Cake Factory - this is the first time I have visited this restaurant and the cheesecake is delicious.
• Downtown Disney is right next to the parks so again a short walk rather than a bus ride away.
• Staying until closing time at least once at one of the parks which I've never done in WDW.
• Having Cars, Soaring and Toy Story Mania all in one park and managing to ride them all in 1 day is great.
• Going to Disneyland on the day we arrived. It was great to start the holiday that way rather than crash out in the hotel which is what I normally do after a long flight.

Lows

• The first time I visited Disneyland we didn't get there until 6pm on the day we arrived and it got dark pretty quickly. Trying to find our way around Disneyland in the dark when its the first time you have been was really hard. We kept getting lost and couldn't find the rides we wanted.
• Wasting alot of the chocolate from the Halloween Party as we were flying to Hawaii the next day and didn't want to risk going over the baggage limit (Yes I got that much)
• The additional cost for the Halloween Party as the only extra you get is the sweets so its quite expensive. Also valuable lesson learned – don’t go for all sweets available as you will never be able to eat them all so its just a waste
• Queuing for a Carsland fast pass - it takes ages and you may as well just get in the single riders queue which moves just a little bit slower than the fastpass queue itself but you don't have to wait 2 hours to use it.
• Usual story of 1 person saving space in the ride queue and 10 people pushing in. Hate it when that happens.
• Friday in the parks was too busy everywhere
• Gardenwalk was pretty empty so only worth going to if you like the Cheescake factory (ok not Disney but nearby).

Oahu Hawaii
Highs

• Weather was great. I think we had a couple of hours of rain on one day but other than that it was fantastic weather.
• Our hotel room was facing the beach and we could watch the sunset every evening. It was worth the extra cost for this view although saying that we got a good deal and it wasn't too much more than a view of Diamond Head.
• The Hotel was 10 meters away from the beach so it was really easy to get to each day
• Sun bathing every day. I don't usually do beach holidays so it was great to chill out in Hawaii
• Seeing Hawaii Five-0 filming. We just happened upon them filming a scene by the beach on our last day. It was great to get the opportunity to watch them film so we stuck around for 30 mins. Alex O'Loughlin is gorgeous.
• We did a 1 day tour around the island and it was a great way of seeing different places that I didn't get the chance to see on my first visit 10 years ago.
• On the bus tour we stopped off at a place that sold flavored Macadamia nuts I got the coffee and caramel flavours and they were yummy. They were so nice they didn't make it home.
• There was a burger place near our hotel that we went to and the food was fab. Sorry I've tried looking it up but I cant remember the name.

Lows

• The 6 hour flight from LA. It was a long flight and we had to travel early from LA so not one of my favourite days. Coming home I was sat next to someone trying to figure out my accent he went through New Zealand, Australia and Ireland before I had to take pity and tell him I was English. Its really strange as in Florida people know you are from England but no one could figure out our accents over there as its predominantly Japanese and Australian tourists over there.
• I managed to delete all my photos from Disneyland and most of Hawaii on my last day in Hawaii. Not my finest moment.
• The erosion of some of the beaches was pretty bad and made some of the areas look abit rubbish
• There were no waves when we went to North shore so didn't get to see any really great surfing.
• Travelers cheques are not as widely used in Hawaii so I ended up using cash and Credit Cards. If I visited again I wouldn't bother with TCs.

LA
Highs

• The Hop on Hop off bus tour was a great way to see LA (it doesn’t drop you off on Rodeo drive but it drops you within walking distance of everything you need to see)
• The weather was great although I think it was bordering on chilly for the locals
• The Universal VIP Tour. They provided breakfast and lunch which was lovely as well and it was easy to use the metro to get there.
• The Warner Brothers tour was good we spotted David Duchovney (for those that remember the X-Files) and got to check out the Hart of Dixie set. We also got to visit the Friends set and sit on the couch from Central Perk.
• The Stars Home Tours was interesting although I cant remember whose houses we saw. To be honest I thought it was good as we got to see areas we hadn't seen on the hop on hop off tour and I wasn't so bothered about whose houses we were seeing. We also took a trip up to a lookout point on Mulholland Drive which was cool.
• Sephora Shopping was great as usual, I spent way too much.
• Saw Robbie Laughlin filming Who Wore It Better while we were on the Hop on Hop Off Bus (this is a segment on E! News)
• Our hotel room was facing the Hollywood sign which was cool and again worth paying a little extra for
• We heard Katy Perry warm up at the Hollywood Bowl when we were up on Mulholland Drive on the Stars Home Tours.
• Saw the Bad Grandpa Film Premiere at Graumans Chinese Theatre and saw Johnny Knoxville.
• The LA traffic was no where near as bad as expected.
• Getting to walk up the stairs that the stars walk up for the Oscars.

Lows

• We didn't find many places to eat around Hollywood Boulevard where our hotel was
• The weather wasn’t great when we went to Santa Monica it was really smoggy so we didn't bother getting off the bus
• Again Travelers cheques weren't easy to use especially at Walgreens where I ended up signing the cheque when they told me they accepted them and then they couldn't key it in correctly so I had to use cash.
• When we went to the metro station to get tickets for our trip to Universal there was a guy hanging around that offered to help us get our tickets but then expected a tip luckily we realised what he was up to and managed to avoid him. I do hate that about America when people act like they are trying to help and then expect a tip.
• I thought we would see more celebs but other than David Duchovney and Johnny Knoxville we saw zip.

All in all I had a great holiday and I would definitely love to visit LA again so have plans for 2015 although that will delay my next visit to Disneyworld until 2016

[Guest]

Some great highs, sorry to hear about your lows! Thanks for sharing! I'd be gutted if I lost my pictures!

[LRMD]

Sounds great, thinking of doing San Diego, Hawaii and LA at some point. Where did you stay in Hawaii, my husband isn't keen as it looks so built up and high rise tower blocks in Honolulu! The hotels all look really nice though.

[lovedisney89]

Really interesting to hear your highs and lows. Glad you had a great time overall. Thanks for sharing your views.

[Twentyyears]

Thanks for sharing, those nuts sound fabulous. Not food obsessed whilst on a diet or anything but all the other points were good too

[purple myra]

Sounds like you had a fab time. Glad there weren't too many lows. We also stayed at the Ramada Maingate. Loved seeing and hearing TOT from our room door!

[CreakingStool]

Fantastic. Would love to go to Hawaii again some time. We went over 10 years ago and had a fantastic week. The flight is a bit of a shocker, I wasn't expecting such a long flight from San Francisco or such a big plane! Won a bottle of champers for guessing the half way time though

[Guest]

To be fair you get a bit more than chocolate at the Halloween party:

Monsters U Dance Party at Tomorrowland Terrace featuring Mike & Sulley in a spirited Monster Scare-Off.

Halloween Screams, a boo-tiful fireworks spectacular —exclusive viewing for Mickey’s Halloween Party Guests.

Special trick-or-treat stations with candy and healthy goodies.

Mickey's Costume Party Cavalcade, a Halloween parade presented for Party Guests.

Access to nearly all attractions, including all the Halloween-themed attractions such as Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy and Haunted Mansion Holiday.

Disney Villains encounters as they prowl the grounds.

Photo ops with popular Disney and Pixar Pals, and Disney Villains.

Dance parties with lively music, creepy crafts and activities for the whole family, and the chance to eat, drink and be (not so) scary throughout the party

[Twentyyears]

Originally Posted by geoffa

To be fair you get a bit more than chocolate at the Halloween party:

Monsters U Dance Party at Tomorrowland Terrace featuring Mike & Sulley in a spirited Monster Scare-Off.

Halloween Screams, a boo-tiful fireworks spectacular —exclusive viewing for Mickey’s Halloween Party Guests.

Special trick-or-treat stations with candy and healthy goodies.

Mickey's Costume Party Cavalcade, a Halloween parade presented for Party Guests.

Access to nearly all attractions, including all the Halloween-themed attractions such as Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy and Haunted Mansion Holiday.

Disney Villains encounters as they prowl the grounds.

Photo ops with popular Disney and Pixar Pals, and Disney Villains.

Dance parties with lively music, creepy crafts and activities for the whole family, and the chance to eat, drink and be (not so) scary throughout the party

See more...

Even more reasons to go back next year in October!

[leighlee]

Hi all

Thanks for your comments. Even the lows that I mentioned were not too bad and certainly did not spoil the holiday. I really can't wait to go back.

LRMD - we stayed at Aston Waikiki Beach Hotel which is at the Diamond Head end of Waikiki so is a bit quieter. I would highly recommend this hotel. Its just across the road from the beach. We got a great deal on an Ocean View Select room which had a great view of Waikiki and the beach and ocean. Sitting on the balcony every evening watching the sunset was an absolute pleasure. The only downside to this hotel was the swimming pool which was really small, but as you are so close to the beach its really not an issue.

Leighlee