I mentioned that I was taking my babe on a surprise trip for his birthday...now it is no longer a secret. He spent his birthday weekend at the happiest place on earth...Disneyland! He told me that Las Vegas was his first guess and Disneyland second.
Remember in a previous blog post, all I told him was to "be at the airport at 5:45pm"? Little did he know but I was going to meet him at the airport too! Yes, I took a long detour to fly from Sacramento to Orange County. (mileage run addicts would approve) It got a bit nerve-wracking when he didn't respond to my texts until 6:10pm. He was delayed due to traffic. I was very worried since the flight was about to start boarding at 6:20pm, with doors closing at 6:40pm. But I didn't completely freak out as I normally do, as I noticed there was another flight out to Orange County an hour later. I texted him the confirmation number and what gate to be at. Thankfully he made it to the gate by 6:15pm. I was hiding behind a pillar and then saw him getting money out of an ATM. I ran up and stuck my finger in his back and said "Stick 'em up!" He smiled...he wasn't too surprised to see me. Apparently I had given away enough information that he suspected that I would be at the airport too.
We arrive in Orange County around 8pm, got the rental car, and headed over to Disneyland. I park in Downtown Disney as parking is free for 3 hours and $6/hour for the 4th and 5th hour, so the most I'd pay is $6. So many people in Downtown Disney! Lots of live music going on. We get to the monorail, but it is closed because of the impending fireworks show, so we walk all the way to the Disneyland main gate. I took advantage of the $149 3-day hopper deal going on; it's like 3 days for 2. You print out the tickets at home and show them to the cast member at the gate. They scan the bar code and out pops a hopper pass, no problems, pretty efficient. We make it in time for the Dreams fireworks display. Then we walked onto Splash Mountain (no wait! gee wonder why!), and got pretty soaked. Probably not a good idea at night, but the weather wasn't too cold. The ride picture was bad quality, but I stole a snapshot of it anyway. (Babe prefers to remain unpictured so all you'll see is me throughout this trip report) We made it for a couple more rides - Haunted Mansion, Star Tours, and Buzz Lightyear. We were pretty tired, so we left at around 11:40pm (which also included a stop at the pretzel store in Downtown Disney), just under the 3 hour mark. Note, Disneyland closed at midnight! What is this madness? Why not ONE MORE RIDE? Hard-core Disney fans would be shocked, as well as budget-conscious people, as I "wasted" one day of the 3-day hopper just for 3 hours! My goodness.
I had used Priceline and got the Doubletree Hotel Anaheim-Orange County for $46/night plus tax, which was a great deal since the going rate was around $169. At first, I was worried about how far away the hotel was from the main drag, but as you will read, it exceeded my expectations, despite having to pay a $13/day self-parking fee. This hotel is coincidentally right across from where my brother Allen works, the UC Irvine Medical Center. When he is on call, he uses a room at this same hotel!
At check-in, I was surprised to learn that my PL reservation was for two beds, since normally it's just one bed. As luck would have it, the desk clerk worked her magic and got us a king room on the 18th floor; we were supposed to have been on the 9th floor. (I should have a separate tally for every time I say "as luck would have it". Megan says I am a lucky person.) We also got a couple of the famous Doubletree chocolate chip cookies with walnuts; they give you these at check-in. They are warm and gooey, sooooo good. I'd stay at the hotel just for the cookies!
We had to stick our room key into a slot above the elevator keypad to be able to push the 18th floor, la-dee-dah. The floor was very quiet, and I was very glad we were not on the 9th floor, as there were 5 busloads of teenagers on fieldtrips to Disneyland and they seemed to be staying on the lower floors. Some of them were running around the lobby in wet swimwear and riding elevators up and down.
The room was huge, bed was comfortable and had luxurious pillows and duvet, though the thread count was lower than I'd liked. (I have sensitive skin, so I can tell the difference!) The toiletries were Neutrogena brand. Plush white towels. They had a 4-cup coffee maker with Wolfgang Puck coffee and a fridge to store your own food, which was a nice touch, even though we didn't use it. And a cute "Sweet Dreams" pillow. Time to go to bed. I make sure the curtains are closed so my brother can't spy on us from across the street. :P
I had used Priceline and got the Doubletree Hotel Anaheim-Orange County for $46/night plus tax, which was a great deal since the going rate was around $169. At first, I was worried about how far away the hotel was from the main drag, but as you will read, it exceeded my expectations, despite having to pay a $13/day self-parking fee. This hotel is coincidentally right across from where my brother Allen works, the UC Irvine Medical Center. When he is on call, he uses a room at this same hotel!
We had to stick our room key into a slot above the elevator keypad to be able to push the 18th floor, la-dee-dah. The floor was very quiet, and I was very glad we were not on the 9th floor, as there were 5 busloads of teenagers on fieldtrips to Disneyland and they seemed to be staying on the lower floors. Some of them were running around the lobby in wet swimwear and riding elevators up and down.
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