Southern California – 2019 11 – Drive to Anaheim and DTD

Libby · 1 Jun 21, 02:35 PM

I’ve been an absolute failure with this trip report and nearly 2 years on I can’t find my trip notes. So … I’m going to continue with some photos and things I remember. Sorry the next entries will be very brief, but I hope you enjoy the photos.

Southern California – 2019 11 – Drive to Anaheim and DTD
Saturday August 17th 2019

We packed up and then headed down for a later breakfast. Being a Saturday it was very busy in the breakfast area. Our last included breakfast and we intended to fill up to tide us over to a late lunch or snack.

We checked out and then collected our car from the valet and headed up the I5 towards Anaheim. On the map it looked as though we might have views of the ocean, but in reality we were on the wrong side of the road and rail tracks to be able to see anything. All that coffee at breakfast meant we needed a quick comfort break. At the rest stop we were finally able to see the ocean. It was quite beautiful (if you ignored the busy road!)

On the way we spotted an interestingly packed van.

Even with a stop it only took a couple of hours to reach the Paradise Pier Hotel.

We had wrestled with the decision to keep the car as there is an Alamo depot on site. But on balance decided the convenience and the good rate we’d had via Virgin to book the car in the UK meant we’d pay the parking fee and keep the car. (Can’t remember what the parking fee was but I think it was about half what we’d just paid in San Diego.)

The hotel had a room ready for us so we settled in before going off to explore our hotel, the Grand Californian which was just across the road and beyond.

We were staying 4 nights but only had a 3 day park pass, so this afternoon would be visiting Down Town Disney (doesn’t that sound good?) and watching the fireworks from the roof terrace of our hotel.

We loved the feel of the Disneyland Resort and it brought back memories of our first time to WDW in 1998, before free dining or fast passes, when the end of August was fairly quiet and we’d only join queues of 20 minutes or less and still did all we wanted to!

Our hotel had a small cinema area for kiddies.

And strange lifts where outside the lifts you key in the floor and you are told which lift to use. (I prefer not to use glass lifts so had a 1 in 4 chance of riding with my eyes shut!)

We window shopped.

Saw an artist at work.

Grabbed a snack.

And generally took in the atmosphere.
We were a little concerned by this sign.

The fireworks were some way away but the hotel piped the music out to our viewing platform, so it was enjoyable.

In the evening we ate at the small bar restaurant (the main restaurant at Paradise Pier is for character dining.)
I’m so glad we’d made this the last stop of our trip.
Tomorrow we’re planning an early start with an Extra Magic Hour at California Adventure.

Mortimer Mouse · 11 Jun 21, 08:55 AM

Coming 'home' to Disney is just such a warm and comfortable feeling, isn't it.

1 Jun 21, 02:35 PM	#1
	1 Jun 21, 02:35 PM Libby Imagineer
Libby Imagineer Join Date: Nov 03	Southern California – 2019 11 – Drive to Anaheim and DTD I’ve been an absolute failure with this trip report and nearly 2 years on I can’t find my trip notes. So … I’m going to continue with some photos and things I remember. Sorry the next entries will be very brief, but I hope you enjoy the photos. Southern California – 2019 11 – Drive to Anaheim and DTD Saturday August 17th 2019 We packed up and then headed down for a later breakfast. Being a Saturday it was very busy in the breakfast area. Our last included breakfast and we intended to fill up to tide us over to a late lunch or snack. We checked out and then collected our car from the valet and headed up the I5 towards Anaheim. On the map it looked as though we might have views of the ocean, but in reality we were on the wrong side of the road and rail tracks to be able to see anything. All that coffee at breakfast meant we needed a quick comfort break. At the rest stop we were finally able to see the ocean. It was quite beautiful (if you ignored the busy road!) On the way we spotted an interestingly packed van. Even with a stop it only took a couple of hours to reach the Paradise Pier Hotel. We had wrestled with the decision to keep the car as there is an Alamo depot on site. But on balance decided the convenience and the good rate we’d had via Virgin to book the car in the UK meant we’d pay the parking fee and keep the car. (Can’t remember what the parking fee was but I think it was about half what we’d just paid in San Diego.) The hotel had a room ready for us so we settled in before going off to explore our hotel, the Grand Californian which was just across the road and beyond. We were staying 4 nights but only had a 3 day park pass, so this afternoon would be visiting Down Town Disney (doesn’t that sound good?) and watching the fireworks from the roof terrace of our hotel. We loved the feel of the Disneyland Resort and it brought back memories of our first time to WDW in 1998, before free dining or fast passes, when the end of August was fairly quiet and we’d only join queues of 20 minutes or less and still did all we wanted to! Our hotel had a small cinema area for kiddies. And strange lifts where outside the lifts you key in the floor and you are told which lift to use. (I prefer not to use glass lifts so had a 1 in 4 chance of riding with my eyes shut!) We window shopped. Saw an artist at work. Grabbed a snack. And generally took in the atmosphere. We were a little concerned by this sign. The fireworks were some way away but the hotel piped the music out to our viewing platform, so it was enjoyable. In the evening we ate at the small bar restaurant (the main restaurant at Paradise Pier is for character dining.) I’m so glad we’d made this the last stop of our trip. Tomorrow we’re planning an early start with an Extra Magic Hour at California Adventure.