Hi honey, I'm home!
We returned last night after a trip to my brother's home on the central California coast, and 3 nights at the Candy Cane Inn and 2 days at DL and CA! We had a wonderful trip.
Cast: Me 35, DH 38, DD 3 1/2, DS 2 and my DMom 67 who was making her first trip to DL in 15 years. My DS11 is on a trip with his dad fishing, swimming and doing all the things he loves to do in Maine. We missed him a lot.
We loaded up the family Truckster on the 31st and drove the 5 hours to my brothers. We had a great stay there. He has two kids that are 4 and 1 so grandma got some quality grandchild time. We played on the beach, walked along the embarcadero, went to the park and went to the saddest aquarium in the world, lol. Our stay was too short, but we left feeling pretty excited about our next stop.
Day 1:
On Tuesday the 2nd, we left for Anaheim. When we got to LA, instead of taking 5 down to DL, we took the 215 to the 57 to Ball Rd, per my best friend's advise. Although it looked like we went way out of our way on a map, it was the same travel time, and the freeways were a lot less crowded, making for a less stressfrul trip. I love a good carpool lane!!
We arrived at the Candy Cane Inn at 1pm, and our premium room was ready. It is a large room with 2 very comfy queen beds, an armoire, a night stand with drawers, a small closet with iron and board, a table with 2 chairs, a fridge, coffeemaker and microwave. The bonus with this room is the floorspace. Plenty of room for another luggage stand, two strollers and a pack and play without falling all over eachother.
The motel is a nice, clean quiet place in our experience. The staff is very friendly, the grounds are lovely and the room was immaculate.
After we unloaded the van, we decided to catch the shuttle bus and head to the Rainforest Cafe at DTD. Once we arrived, we had about a 15 minute wait before we were seated. I had only eaten at a RC in Las Vegas, and that was several years ago. I ordered the Cobb salad, and it was big enough for 5 people! DM had the fish and chips, DH had the chicken fried chicken and the kiddies had mac and cheese.
We left happy and full and wandered around the book store (Compass Books?) and the Disneyland Hotel. It was late afternoon and we decided it was time for a swim! So we walked back to the shuttle stop and returned to the CC.
After our swim and baths we had a bite to eat in the room, and I tried to settle the kids for bed. They were still awake at 9:25
so I took them out of bed (we are on vacation, afterall!), and we went up to the second floor of the hotel to watch the fireworks! They thought it was great, and went to sleep quickly afterwards--dreaming of fireworks and Mickey Mouse
A link to my photos will follow later tonight, as will our two days in the parks!!