We just returned yesterday from Disneyland and San Francisco--we had a very nice time. It was kind of a complicated--we had a large (37 person) graduation party for my daughter in San Francisco, since she graduated high school in November. We live in Seattle, so a trip to Disneyland followed by a party in our old city planned remotely was kind of
We stayed at the Del Sol Inn, which was not fancy, but was clean, quiet and had some nice amenities. We loved the fresh baked cookies, and the nice pool deck. We ate lunch there--it was lovely and quiet. We also liked the fridge and microwave, and, of course, the proximity to the park. The disabled-accessible room was quite good; although it wouldn't be suitable for someone who was totally mobility impaired. For the price, it was a terrific deal.
Everything at the Disneyland Resort went beautifully. We rode the Radiator Springs Racers twice during our 5-day trip to Disneyland, and we kicked it off the night before our friend's ticket was valid with a trip to Goofy's Kitchen, and we hit the Surf's Up! Breakfast the morning before we headed off to San Francisco.
Overall, I have to agree with some other posters--while we had great interactions with the characters we saw at Goofy's Kitchen, it lacked something without the games and dancing for the children. Surf's Up! on the other hand, was great. In the middle of the week, we also hit the last seating at Storyteller's Cafe, and that was great too. Meeko came over and did a little dance with the graduate. We got a lot of time with both Meeko at Storyteller's and Stitch at the PCH.
I was amazed--somebody remembered our family from last Christmas, when my husband brought out his origami spaceships. They still remember the "Spaceship Guy," even a year later.
My daughter (16) loved decorating cookies as much as the little kids did--I stopped being able to do it a few years ago, and she admitted that she missed it. We really enjoyed the little show at the BBQ, and the Christmas makeover.
We also really liked seeing Santa in the department store in California Adventure, and the 3-D Prep & Landing show. We were really glad to see what a makeover both parks received for the holiday. Everybody in our party (16-55) had a great time.
Our friend (55), traveling with us, blew one of the dwarves a kiss during the Christmas Parade, and he made a "call me" sign with his hands, which left all of us in stitches.
The worst part of our whole trip was heading to San Francisco on United through SNA. We were traveling with two mobility scooters, and the front agent decided to consult with the hazmat team with regards to our sealed, tippable, FAA-certified mobility
scooter battery--I have been traveling with a mobility scooter for many years (although always with Alaska), and have never had such a miserable check-in. It took us more than an hour to get checked in and through security. By the time we got through, we were all in a bad mood and very tired. We got some food from Ruby's Diner (which we miss, since it pulled out of WA), and started to feel more human. We boarded just fine, and got off the airplane--no scooters.
It turned out they had taken them to baggage claim, and it took 20 minutes to bring out scooters back to us. Then I called our hotel, and after being assured that the airport shuttle was "fully wheelchair accessible", found that it wasn't, and sent the rest of my family ahead. After waiting half an hour for the shuttle that was to be there in 15 minutes, it took the driver several tries to load my scooter, and he clearly did not know how to operate the lift, much less safely. After another 5 tries to unload me, I rolled into the hotel lobby, rolled up to the lift and saw a sign "Contact Front Desk for assistance". The front desk was up five steps and back from the lift.
After all of this, I had had it, and, with less grace than I should have displayed, I yelled "FRONT DESK!!!! I NEED ASSISTANCE!!!!", since that was the only way I would be able to do it. After that, things went better with the hotel (and slightly better with the shuttle).
The time at Disneyland and the party went off without a hitch, and they were the important things. Now we're waiting for an Early Action envelope to come from one of the colleges to which my daughter applied.
Hope everyone has a great Christmas, and for all those yet to start their trips, have a great time!