Glynis4
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Oct 6, 2016
We are back from our very first Disneyland vacation - it went by so fast and I can't believe it's already over. We had such a fantastic time and I hope we'll be able to go back one day!
Our family:
Me, DH, DD5, & DD2
Our journey to California started out a bit eventful - it was the first big snowfall of the year in our city so it took us twice as long to get to the airport as it should have. So we were a bit worried we were gonna miss our flight, and rushing through the airport, and we decided that DH would take our double stroller to oversized baggage while I took the kids up to the security line. Well, DD5 lost her balance on the escalator and fell backwards down it. My hands were full with the carry on luggage and DD2, but luckily there was a man a dozen steps behind us that stopped her from falling any further. Needless to say, DD5 was a bit traumatized and crying, and I was a bit worried she had injured her arm, but she was very brave and we all got through security and her arm started feeling better. She ended up having some gashes to the back of one leg, but it didn’t slow her down at all and was all healed up by the end of our trip. Very thankful that she wasn’t seriously hurt. We ended up sitting on the plane for a long while before taking off, so by the time we arrived at our first stop, we had just enough time to go through customs and get to our gate before boarding our next flight. And this was our plane: !!!
I was definitely the one most excited about it lol. The flight was uneventful and we got into LAX a few minutes early (just after 4pm). We were aiming to catch the 4:30 Disneyland Resort Express bus and I was super nervous about the possibility of it not showing up or being really late. We were out on the centre island waiting for it by 4:20, and at exactly 4:30 it pulled up . This was at Terminal 2. Those 10 mins standing waiting for it were the longest 10 minutes ever though! There were tv’s and a washroom on the bus, so it was perfect for the kids.
DD5 relaxing on the bus:
The only downside was that we were travelling in rush hour traffic, so it took about 1 1/2 hours to get to DLR. And then there were 3 families to drop off before us (1 family at each of the DLR hotels), so it was another half hour before we got to our hotel. Plus a bit of a wait to collect the bus fare. It ended up being close to 7pm when we got to our hotel (HOJO). Such a long time on the bus after a full day of flying. But it was cheap and comfortable .
We had room 2-307 at the HOJO. The tower overlooking the pool, 2 queens. The carpet was in need of being replaced, but the beds were super comfy, large bathroom, fridge & microwave. It was perfectly fine for our needs. Unfortunately our double stroller wouldn't fit through the room door (it fits through standard sized doors, but maybe hotel room doors are smaller?? or maybe doors were just narrower in general back when the hotel was built) - anyways, that was a pain, packing/unpacking the stroller outside the room so we could fold it up to take it in/out. We had never travelled with the double stroller before so didn't even think it might be a problem! Luckily we were kinda in the back of the hotel so the hallway wasn't busy.
View from our balcony (we had a fireworks view too, which was unexpected!):
We had groceries delivered to the hotel from Vons, and they were there waiting for us when we checked in. Awesome! We hadn't had supper so we snacked on some veggies and bagels and called it a night.
Next up, our first step into Disneyland
Our family:
Me, DH, DD5, & DD2
Our journey to California started out a bit eventful - it was the first big snowfall of the year in our city so it took us twice as long to get to the airport as it should have. So we were a bit worried we were gonna miss our flight, and rushing through the airport, and we decided that DH would take our double stroller to oversized baggage while I took the kids up to the security line. Well, DD5 lost her balance on the escalator and fell backwards down it. My hands were full with the carry on luggage and DD2, but luckily there was a man a dozen steps behind us that stopped her from falling any further. Needless to say, DD5 was a bit traumatized and crying, and I was a bit worried she had injured her arm, but she was very brave and we all got through security and her arm started feeling better. She ended up having some gashes to the back of one leg, but it didn’t slow her down at all and was all healed up by the end of our trip. Very thankful that she wasn’t seriously hurt. We ended up sitting on the plane for a long while before taking off, so by the time we arrived at our first stop, we had just enough time to go through customs and get to our gate before boarding our next flight. And this was our plane: !!!
I was definitely the one most excited about it lol. The flight was uneventful and we got into LAX a few minutes early (just after 4pm). We were aiming to catch the 4:30 Disneyland Resort Express bus and I was super nervous about the possibility of it not showing up or being really late. We were out on the centre island waiting for it by 4:20, and at exactly 4:30 it pulled up . This was at Terminal 2. Those 10 mins standing waiting for it were the longest 10 minutes ever though! There were tv’s and a washroom on the bus, so it was perfect for the kids.
DD5 relaxing on the bus:
The only downside was that we were travelling in rush hour traffic, so it took about 1 1/2 hours to get to DLR. And then there were 3 families to drop off before us (1 family at each of the DLR hotels), so it was another half hour before we got to our hotel. Plus a bit of a wait to collect the bus fare. It ended up being close to 7pm when we got to our hotel (HOJO). Such a long time on the bus after a full day of flying. But it was cheap and comfortable .
We had room 2-307 at the HOJO. The tower overlooking the pool, 2 queens. The carpet was in need of being replaced, but the beds were super comfy, large bathroom, fridge & microwave. It was perfectly fine for our needs. Unfortunately our double stroller wouldn't fit through the room door (it fits through standard sized doors, but maybe hotel room doors are smaller?? or maybe doors were just narrower in general back when the hotel was built) - anyways, that was a pain, packing/unpacking the stroller outside the room so we could fold it up to take it in/out. We had never travelled with the double stroller before so didn't even think it might be a problem! Luckily we were kinda in the back of the hotel so the hallway wasn't busy.
View from our balcony (we had a fireworks view too, which was unexpected!):
We had groceries delivered to the hotel from Vons, and they were there waiting for us when we checked in. Awesome! We hadn't had supper so we snacked on some veggies and bagels and called it a night.
Next up, our first step into Disneyland