Planning for “The Happiest Place on Earth”: What I Learned

by Kristin Ford
AllEars® Staff Writer

Feature Article

This article appeared in the May 17, 2016 Issue #869 of ALL EARS® (ISSN: 1533-0753)

Last summer, my family and I took our first trip to Disneyland. Although my 11-year-old daughter and 13-year-old son have been going to Walt Disney World since they were babies because we live in Orlando and have annual passes, none of us had ever experienced Walt's first theme park. As such, I felt like a tourist all over again, trying to navigate and schedule our vacation to the West Coast. When I wrote in another AllEars feature about the plans I had in place before we left, several of you kindly asked me to describe afterward how my planning worked out. I did write a series of blog posts the month after my return, but I thought condensing that advice into a single story might be helpful for those who are in the process of planning now for the busy summer season.

ACCOMMODATIONS

I started my research by narrowing down where we would stay. As much as we would have loved to stay at one of the three Disney-owned hotels, we just could not justify the cost (on par with deluxe-level hotels at Walt Disney World) when we did not plan to use many of the amenities. As I mentioned before, we expected to be theme-park commandos — spending as much time in Disneyland and Disney California Adventure as possible and only using the hotel to sleep and shower.

We settled on the Howard Johnson Anaheim Hotel & Water Playground after reading excellent reviews online. It is a Good Neighbor Hotel, having received that designation based on amenities, service, decor, guest satisfaction, price and location. One of the biggest considerations for our family was being within walking distance of the parks because we did not plan to rent a car. We also needed to be able to come and go with ease because I have a knee injury and didn't know if I would need to take breaks at the hotel while the rest of my family stayed in the parks. It was indeed a short walk — just 10 minutes — so that worked out well.

Like many of the other Good Neighbor hotels, the Howard Johnson Anaheim is an older facility. However, despite the building's age, it was clean. In addition, we did have a decent view of the nightly fireworks at Disneyland Park from our balcony. The staff at the front desk was friendly and helpful, and the housekeeping staff was accommodating and pleasant. I had ordered some snacks and drinks from Amazon.com and had them shipped to the hotel, and the boxes were waiting when we got there. A bellhop helped us wrangle them up to our room.

If you prefer a new facility in the same price range and location, a Courtyard by Marriott was being built next door during our stay and has since opened. It even has Disney-themed rooms. Of course, you might do better on price if you are willing to stay farther away from the theme parks.

For the second half of our trip, we stayed at the Hilton Anaheim, which was adjacent to the convention center and a much farther walk to the theme parks. We made the switch because I was covering the D23 Expo for AllEars.Net and needed to be close. However, my family and I still planned to visit the parks at least one more day. My husband and kids walked, which took them about 30 minutes at a brisk pace. The Hilton Anaheim is a much bigger and newer hotel with restaurants, a food court, a Starbucks and more. Its pool was basic, but there was a kids' splash pad, two hot tubs and a grill and bar.

DINING

Although my family and I most often eat at counter-service restaurants during our day visits to Walt Disney World, we decided to book one table-service meal per day during our vacation at Disneyland. In doing so, our goals were to ensure excellent viewing for the nighttime entertainment with the dinner packages and to have a meal at each Disney-owned hotel so we would make time to see them.

The dinner packages were most definitely a splurge for us at more than $300 (including tax and tip) for a family of four "Disney adults," meaning our children are older than 9 years. However, we had no regrets afterward about spending the money on either experience.

At Disneyland park, we purchased a Fantasmic! dinner package and selected Blue Bayou as our restaurant. More details about the meal can be found in my blog post (see the link below), but suffice it to say, no one in our group had any complaints. The setting, service and food all were excellent! Unfortunately, this package is not currently available — Fantasmic! and all other Rivers of America attractions are on hiatus due to Star Wars land construction, not expected to return until 2017.

Our other dinner package was for the World of Color: Celebrate show at Disney California Adventure. Again, we chose the top-tier restaurant for a special dinner at Carthay Circle. The restaurant building is a reproduction of the now-demolished Carthay Circle Theatre, where Walt Disney's first feature-length film, "Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs," premiered in 1937.

Once again, we were able to make our dinner selections from a three-course, fixed menu for the dinner package. This time, however, the chef was Andrew Sutton, who also is the executive chef of the award-winning Napa Rose restaurant at Disney's Grand Californian Hotel & Spa and at the exclusive members-only Club 33 at Disneyland park. For this dinner, we all tried different entrees, and you can read about our reactions on my blog (link below). Hint: Our dessert was our favorite of the entire vacation!

Carthay Circle was the same price as Blue Bayou — $61 plus tax for adults — which we consider pricey for a family of four. Still, it did include our World of Color reserved premium viewing, which was located at the center of the production as promised. Most people stand for this show, and there seemed to be plenty of room for everyone. For us, the Carthay Circle dinner package was worth the splurge for our first-time experience at both the restaurant and the very popular show.

We also booked three character-dining experiences during our first trip to Disneyland: Storytellers Cafe, Ariel's Grotto and Goofy's Kitchen. Our strategy for character meals was to schedule a late breakfast at each. We did this because of the dinner packages booked for some nights and my family and I like breakfast food, so that was more appealing than lunch in many cases. As for the time, we opted for 11 to 11:30 a.m. reservations because we were aiming for a mid-day meal. We didn't want to take a break earlier in the morning when crowds are lightest in the parks.

The biggest downside to our plan was that we ended up being served lunch at one of the restaurants (Ariel's Grotto) and almost missed the characters at another (Storytellers Cafe) — despite my following the times listed for meal service for each restaurant. So, if you enjoy breakfast, I would recommend making reservations at these two restaurants a little earlier than we did.

Of the three character meals, our favorite was at Goofy's Kitchen at the Disneyland Hotel. Goofy is the host of a meal that is very similar to Chef Mickey's at the Contemporary Resort at Walt Disney World. Brunch is served until noon, which meant we could enjoy breakfast favorites (Mickey pancakes) as well as some heartier lunch dishes (Goofy's special peanut butter and jelly pizza) on the five stations. In between our trips to the buffet, various characters stopped by our table, including Pluto, Minnie Mouse and Chip 'n Dale. Brunch at Goofy's Kitchen costs $33 plus tax for adults and $17 plus tax for children ages 3 to 9.

We also enjoyed our meal at Storytellers' Cafe, which offers interactions with Chip 'n Dale, Kenai and Koda ("Brother Bear"), Meeko ("Pocohontas") and Terk ("Tarzan"). The breakfast buffet featured cooked-to-order omelets, Storyteller's Cafe famous caramel French toast, eggs Benedict, Mickey waffles, sausage, bacon, bagels and lox, seasonal fruit, and fresh-baked pastries. No one in our party left hungry! The Chip 'n Dale Critter Breakfast is $29.99 plus tax for adults and $14.99 plus tax for children ages 3 to 9.

The Little Mermaid is my daughter's favorite character, so we knew Ariel's Disney Princess Celebration at Ariel's Grotto in Disney California Adventure was a must-do for our family. This character meal was the most expensive of the three with a set price of $40 plus tax for adults ($19.99 for children ages 3 to 9) for a three-course meal. Honestly, the food was perfectly edible, but it was nothing outstanding, which left my husband and me feeling like we had overpaid for what we received. We consoled ourselves with the fact that our daughter loved everything about the meal — from meeting Ariel and the other Disney Princesses to the gorgeously detailed "under the sea" theme.

THE PARKS

Certainly the hotel stay and the food are two of the biggest expenses on a Disney Parks vacation. The other likely one is theme park tickets or passes. For our family, annual passes didn't make sense because it was a one-time visit. So, we focused on park-hoppers, knowing that going between Disneyland and Disney California Adventure was simple because of their proximity. You can move from one to the other just by crossing the esplanade — and you don't even have to go through the bag check each time. With a little online research, we found a travel agent offering a deal: buy four days, get one free.

Inside the parks, we found plenty to do for the five days. Like so many other visitors before us, we were wowed by Cars Land at Disney California Adventure. It is so detailed and immersive that it truly feels as if you are stepping into Radiator Springs. We loved just hanging out there. One of our favorite places to eat was Flo's V8 Cafe, not necessarily for the food, but because of the al fresco seating behind the restaurant that overlooks the majestic red rocks and canyons that form the backdrop for the Radiator Springs Racers attraction. Be sure to allow plenty of time to visit Cars Land — both during the day and at night. Seeing the area lighted at night is amazing and a totally different feel than the daytime experience. My family and I also really enjoyed stopping by the Cozy Cone Motel almost every day for a snack, usually a frozen drink or soft-serve ice cream, and soaking up the atmosphere.

Our visit coincided with Disneyland's 60th anniversary, which will be celebrated until September 5, 2016. The Diamond Celebration includes special entertainment and merchandise that definitely are worth checking out. Whatever you do, do not miss the Paint the Night parade at Disneyland park. It is amazing and worth a wait to have a great spot. (It is easier to find a spot for the second parade each night.) Sleeping Beauty Castle is decorated for the anniversary so be sure to get a photo there, as well as with the Fab Five characters who appear at the front of the park in Diamond Celebration outfits during the day.

My family and I pre-purchased a PhotoPass+ package for about $70 before our trip to Disneyland. Because the package included unlimited PhotoPass photos from the parks, characters, magic shots, dining and attractions, we stopped to take a lot of photos — enough to fill three CDs for that one price!

Unfortunately, Disneyland has now changed its PhotoPass+ package to just a one-day product for $39. There is no multi-day package; you have to purchase each day separately if you want each day's photos. You do not, however, have to pre-purchase PhotoPass+ One Day. You can still collect PhotoPass photos for free and decide at any point during the day in the parks — or at home for 45 days after the photo was claimed — to make the $39 purchase. Your photos will be delivered digitally rather than on a CD, and borders are no longer available for digital products. (You can have borders added at the PhotoPass stations in the parks and purchase prints if you want that look.)

Overall, we were happy with the choices we made in planning our first vacation to Disneyland. We did not have any major missteps, and we came home tired from squeezing in every last minute in the parks and happy that we did!

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RELATED LINKS
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Planning to Visit "The Happiest Place on Earth"

REVIEW: Disneyland's Blue Bayou Fantasmic! Dinner Package

REVIEW: Disneyland's Carthay Circle World of Color Dinner Package

Reviews of Disneyland's Most Popular Character Meals

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Kristin writes about Disney news from a parent's perspective, and her blog, "A Mom and the Magic," appears three times a week in AllEars.Net's Blog Central. You also can follow her adventures through the parks with her husband and two school-age children on Twitter and Instagram @Kristin_B_Ford.

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Editor's Note: This story/information was accurate when it was published. Please be sure to confirm all current rates, information and other details before planning your trip.