A perennial question is: "Is Disney a fun destination for adults travelling without children?" This year we decided to find out. Over the years my better half & and I had been to Walt Disney World in Florida a number of times and had experienced much of what it offers. This trip would be to the original Disneyland in California, and a different experience. We travelled with friends A&J for this adventure, and wanted as carefree a trip as possible.
We decided to travel to Disneyland in mid-February, with the hope to escape winter weather, and have a warm weather window in Anaheim. As we four live in two different cities, we met at LAX, with flights arriving within an hour, then hopped the shuttle bus to the Disneyland Adventure Hotel. Disney was offering great rates to stay on site, and we found this hotel to be a great choice, as it was steps from Downtown Disney, and the Monorail, and a short walk from the two parks. Staying at the on-site hotel also granted us early access to one of the parks each day of our stay.
Subsequent to our check in we strolled through Downtown Disney, the public shopping and dining zone between the hotel and the parks. Disney's Grand Californian Hotel is also in this area, and provides more dining opportunities. We had an enjoyable late lunch at Catal Restaurant patio, and sampled some of California's fine microbrews, and spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around the Downtown Disney area, finishing up our evening by watching the fireworks show from the plaza between Disneyland Park And California Adventure.
Our 3 day Parkhopper pass granted us early access to one of the parks each day of our stay. We took full advantage of this opportunity. Monday morning we awoke early (still on Mountain Standard Time!) and sauntered to the gates of California Adventure, grabbing a Starbucks coffee along the way. Once granted entry, we followed the crowd to Carsland and were on Radiator Springs Racers in very short order. By the time we came out, the line had lengthened enormously, so we went on and caught the last day of Luigi's flying tires. By this time we were feeling peckish, so we wandered over to the Paradise Pier area, and had breakfast at The Pacific Wharf Cafe. We repeated this practice for the rest of our stay; the parks were quiet enough to get a few quick rides during the early hour, grab a Fast Pass for another ride, then have breakfast.
It seems that travelling to Disneyland in mid-February brings you to the park at an uncrowded time. Monday of our stay was President's Day, and somewhat busy, but the rest of the week was pleasant; there were enough folks moving around that there was a sense of excitement, but not so may that caused long lineups. We also felt the food choices had improved immensely from our previous trips to Disney parks. We watched the fireworks from Mainstream USA on this evening, and then wandered around Tomorrowland for a while before returning to our hotel.
Tuesday, we made advantage of early entry to Disneyland Park, with the goal of getting quickly on Space mountain. We had arrived to the gates a bit later, and those folks who entered California Adventure from the Grand Californian Hotel on Monday, were going us at Disneyland front gates this day, so the crowds were a bit bigger. As we walked up to Space Mountain, there were a number of folks returning already. Hmmmm.... When we arrived at the entrance, we were told the ride was undergoing testing, with an unknown opening time, thus the reason for all the downcast faces we saw previously. We moved off to the side to regroup and decide what to do next, only to see the next knot of arrivals to be waived on in. We scurried up to the gates, and rode the first run of the day! LESSON: sometimes it pays just to hang around. We again breakfasted after the first rides, this time on the Tomorrowland Terrace.
To be continued........