Mom & Me Disneyland Pre-Trip Report
Disneyland & California Adventure
Dates: April 22-25, 2008
Cast of Characters:
Me (arriving from NYC)
My Mom (arriving from Washington State)
Resort: Candy Cane Inn (includes breakfast each day)
Tickets: Park Hoppers
Park Hours:
Disneyland (DL) 9a-10p each day
California Adventure (CA) 10a-8p each day
Background: Last year, we took a mother/daughter trip to the Mall of America in April and had a great time, so we thought maybe we could take another spring mother/daughter trip. This year, we chose Disneyland as the destination!
Tuesday, April 22
I will be leaving bright and early to get myself to the airport very early. My flight is scheduled to arrive around 11am. I am flying Virgin America for the first time and I’m excited to try a new airline but at the same time a little nervous to be trying something new. This airline says they have “mood lighting” in the cabin, tvs on each seat, and electrical outlets under the seats to charge electronics! This is very important to somebody who has a laptop with 2 hours of battery usage on a 6.5 hour flight!
My mother will be flying out of Washington on a very early flight. She has to layover and is supposed to arrive around 9:30a. Yes, she will get there more than an hour before me. She assures me she will NOT go to the parks without me.
I suspect we will actually enter the parks around 1pm, possibly later if my plane is delayed. (Out of JFK?!? Never!) I am planning to not check any luggage in an attempt to save some time.
We plan to go to Disneyland first. I want to stop at the Mad Hatter and get a pair of Mickey Ears to wear throughout the trip (or until I get annoyed with them). We will do attractions and enjoy the atmosphere until about 4-430ish when we will hop to CA to see the Pixar Play Parade at 5:15. After the parade we will eat dinner at Pacific Wharf (soup in a bread bowl). After dinner we will see how tired we are. We may stay at CA until close (8p) and then go to DTD for beignets at Ralph Brennan’s and some shopping (Basin). Or, we may stay at CA until 8p and then hop to DL until close there at 10p. Or, we may leave CA right after dinner and go to DTD then the hotel or go straight to the hotel.
Wednesday, April 23
We’re planning to go to DL at opening at 9a, do one or two rides (maybe Space Mountain and something else) then hop to CA as close to 10a (their opening) as possible. There is the Disney Visa meet and greet, and it’s only open until 11:30a. We’d like to do that if possible, along with some of the bigger rides like California Screamin’ and Soarin’.
Sometime between 12 and 2 we will head back to DL to catch either the 1p or 2:35p of Billy Hill and the Hillbillies, and combine this with lunch. After lunch, we plan to stay in DL and ride and enjoy what we can until the 7p Parade of Dreams. After the parade, we will eat at either Red Rockett’s or Pinocchio’s Village Haus.
After the parade and dinner, we will see how tired we are and either stick it out to the end (10p) or head back to the Candy Cane.
Thursday, April 24
This is a Magic Morning at DL, so we plan to get there for the 8a opening. We plan to do Nemo or Fantasyland during this extra hour. We will stay in DL enjoying the place until our 12n reservations at Carnation Café.
After lunch, we will hop to CA to catch the 1:55 showing of Aladdin. After Aladdin, we will either watch the Pixar Parade again, or do rides, or hop to DL, or …. We will see what we still have left on our “to do” list and play it by ear. We plan to eat dinner at Taste Pilot’s Grill.
Friday, April 25
We have the vouchers for Toontown Morning that we can use either on Wednesday or Friday, but since today is a Food & Wine Festival Day at CA, we think it will be busier than normal at CA. So, we plan to do CA on Wednesday and do the Toontown morning today. Toontown usually opens an hour after the park, but with TT mornings, it opens at 9 for people with a voucher. So, we will start in Toontown and then from there we will finish any unfinished business throughout the parks and DTD. We may hop to CA and check out the Food & Wine Festival, but it doesn’t really interest either one of us. As you may have noticed from our multiple CS meals, we are not into gourmet food.
This is the only day out of our four days that Fantasmic!, the Electrical Parade, and the Fireworks are showing. This is a double-edged sword. If they are not showing on the weeknights, then Disney does not expect huge crowds, which is nice. However, it means we are missing all three events because we are flying out on this day.
I’m assuming my mom will need to leave the DLR area at 1-2ish and I’ll need to leave around 5-6ish to get to the airport. We’ll be using Super Shuttle so I’m sure they’ll tell us the time to be ready.
I’m not making any promises, but I think I read somewhere that the Candy Cane Inn has complimentary internet access. If this is the case and I’m not a total zombie, I may be able to do daily, “live” trip reports with photos. If not, look for the reports sometime after April 25th.
