As I mentioned earlier this month, I turned 30 on June 12th. For the past 4.5 years, we have been saving for a vacation to take to celebrate both my 30th birthday and to make up the 30th birthday that my husband didn’t really get to celebrate (he turned 30 months after his father passed away in 2008). After very little discussion, we both decided we wanted to go to Disneyland (we are a Disney loving family after all!).
Before leaving for the trip, I gathered up all the information that I could about Disneyland. I hate to wait in line, so I armed myself with the knowledge of when to ride what and made a plan for each day we spent in the parks. I also made a ton of notes (that I will be sharing with you in the near future).
Disneyland only allows guests to purchase a 5 day ticket and since we were spending 7 days in Anaheim, we decided to spend the majority of the nights in an off-site resort. But before transferring to the Peacock Suites, we checked into Paradise Pier, one of the Disneyland hotels located on property.
We arrived at Disneyland around 8 pm at night (local time). The kids had NO IDEA that we were going to Disneyland. They thought we were just driving by the parks on our way to a blogging conference. They were so surprised when they finally figured out that we were checking into Paradise Pier. They both said “Mommy? Know what we are thinking? We are thinking that we are going to Disneyland!”. When I told them that they were right, they both squealed with delight.
When we checked into Paradise Pier, they surprised us with the honor of being Family of the Day for the resort. We were so overwhelmed with this Magical Moment. They upgraded our room to a Theme Park view room and gave us balloons and a souvenir picture.
When we checked into the room, we found chocolate covered Mickey Mouse Rice Krispy treats waiting on us. The room was beautiful and it had an magnificent view of California Adventures and the World of Color. We arrived in the room just in time to watch World of Color and the fireworks from the big picture window that faced the theme parks.
The room was beautiful. I loved the theming and the big beach ball pillows were a hit with the kids. The room was very spacious and the beds were comfortable. It reminded me a lot of the Beach Club resort that we stayed in at Walt Disney World.
Would we stay at Paradise Pier again? Maybe. We enjoyed our stay, but if we were only planning on being at Disneyland for 5 nights, we would probably skip the Disneyland hotels all together and stay off-site. I really didn’t see a big benefit in staying on property besides the Early Entry.
All Disneyland hotel guests are allowed to use Early Entry on each morning of their stay.
Early Entry at Disneyland Parks is on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. The downside to those staying at Disneyland hotels is that off-site resort guests that bought a 3 day or longer ticket also get one Early Entry during the length of their stay. So while it is nice to get into the Disneyland parks an hour early, you are also entering with those that stayed off-site too so they tend to be busier (but this is a great perk for those that stay off-site!).
Early Entry at California Adventures is on Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Only those staying at Disneyland hotels are able to enter the park which is a great perk for those that love Cars Land.
We used Early Entry on Sunday, June 9th. I’ll tell you about that later but it was awesome!
I hope you enjoyed the first day of our Disneyland trip reports.
Catch up on all of my Disneyland Trip Reports.
Haley says
Will you be including a review/pictures of the Peacock Suites? We have reservations for Oct 1-5, 2013.
TinaM says
Sounds like you two have planned an amazing 30th!! Have a ball!
Denise-Scrapmouse says
Happy belated birthday! So glad to hear you guys liked Disneyland. Can’t wait to hear more about your trip.
Kristin of Couponing to Disney says
Thanks! :)
Shonna says
We have been three times in the past 2 years. First time we stayed at PPH, second time at GCH and then at the HoJo (Howard Johnsons) on our third visit. IMO PPH was closer then GCH because GCH is so big that by the time you walk from your room to the lobby, you an easily have walked from PPH to GCH. Unless we got a super great deal, we probably would not stay onsite again. The HoJo was very close and we had a park view room at the HoJo so we saw the fireworks every single night.
Starla says
HAPPY BIRTHDAY Kristen & hubby!!!
I’m so glad you had a great trip, and what a fun surprise for the kids!!!