Disney's PCH Grill Beach Side Bonfire Dinner Buffet

 Date of Visit: October 21, 2015

With so many different things we love and always new things to try at the various quick service places around the parks, we very rarely do any table service restaurants at the Disney parks. We also usually end up grabbing dinner at the hotel (or making in our room when at DVC resort), though, because Mik tends to prefer to just do the parks in the morning/early afternoon. Since this hotel doesn't have a quick service option, we decided it was a good time to splurge and do a more table service dinner for once.

Mik tried the fish tacos, mac and cheese, fried chicken, deviled eggs, and shrimp alfredo pasta. He enjoyed everything, but his favorite was the fried chicken.

For dessert, he had to have the pumpkin cheesecake, which he said was the same or similar to the one he enjoyed at the French Market the day before. He also tried the vanilla bean dessert filled ice cream cone. His favorite thing, though, was dipping the house-made marshmallows (strawberry and plain) in the warm chocolate sauce from the S'more Bar.

While it is much pricier than what we tend to spend on a single meal at Disney, it was an enjoyable experience and it was worth doing. Mik particularly enjoyed that he could have just a little of a lot of different things. He also liked that it was one of the few buffet opportunities that did not include characters, which he's not a fan of. Only thing we didn't like was the carpet was very thick making it take a lot of effort to roll him through the seating area, which is why I only took him to see the buffet options once and on the way out he noticed he missed some things he would've gotten if it was easier to take him back to look.

Destination Info:
Disney's PCH Grill
Paradise Pier Hotel
1313 South Harbor Boulevard
Anaheim, CA 92802

Disneyland: Paint the Night Parade

 Date of Visit: October 21, 2015

We kept putting off see the Paint the Night parade the last two trips because we knew we still had another trip. This being our last Disneyland trip until probably the next D23 Expo, I insisted that we make sure to watch the parade this time. I know Mik usually doesn't like parades, but I remember him really enjoying when the  Electrical Parade was at California Adventure. Thus, I wouldn't let him talk me into seeing it by myself.

We knew we'd be in the parks at night the day we're doing the Halloween Party, but we wanted to enjoy the Halloween stuff instead, so we picked one of the few nights there wasn't a party during our stay. It also meant getting to see the parade at 7pm, which is much more appealing than the 8:45pm or later times to us.

We headed over to Disneyland from our hotel (Paradise Pier this time) around 5pm thinking we could leisurely get some dinner and/or snacks before staking out a spot. That wasn't exactly the case as already much of the front row spots were claimed. Of course, I knew people had been staking out spots really early for this parade, which is why we skipped it the last two trips, but the park was much less crowded than those trips and I didn't think getting a spot on Main Street would be as much of a problem this time.

Mik's main reason he was resistant to even see the parade was having to get a spot hours early. Thus, I agreed that we would still get the Pumpkin Twist he wanted before finding a spot. After that was successfully acquired barely before they closed, we did manage to get a good front spot right next to the reserved area on the square facing The Mad Hatter.

There is also a wheelchair seating area on the corner right where the parade route ends, but the area was still being used as a character greeting area and didn't get set up until about 30 minutes before the parade. We have used that spot for parades before and it is a good view if you get in the front, but it ended up being even more crowded than where we were and it would've been harder to end up with a front row spot there than what we did.

Overall we both really enjoyed the parade. Despite being reluctant to see it, Mik really did love it at least visually. The only thing he didn't like was that the spot we picked ended up being right under a speaker, so the sound bothered him more than usual. He still agreed it was a great spot otherwise, especially considering our options were limited. He especially liked that it ended up seeming easier to get out of the park after the parade than normal, although that did require us to roll off the curb rather than backtracking to a ramp.

Destination Info:
Disneyland
Paint the Night Parade
1313 South Harbor Boulevard
Anaheim, CA 92802

Hyatt Place Anaheim Resort/Convention Center

Date of Visit: May 16-24, 2015

When we lived in AZ we used to always use Mom's Hyatt points and stay at the Hyatt Regency Orange Country. Now that we have to fly we've tried out the Hilton and a Best Western since those are close enough to walk to the parks from. Last D23 Expo the Hilton worked awesome, but we wiped out Mom's points there and they seem to take longer to earn enough for stays compared to Hyatt, which is why she focuses on earning Hyatt points. Thus, we were very excited to see that Hyatt now had one at the convention center when looking at options for the D23 Expo this summer. Being able to use Hyatt points for the hotel also made it feasible to add a May trip this year and make even more use of our Premier annual passes.

I messed up on dates when booking the hotel, so I ended up with three separate reservations including two different ADA room types and one night that didn't let me choose an ADA room. Totally my fault in that I accidentally booked the dates I was originally planning the trip, but had actually ended up with an extra day on both ends in order to use mom's airline miles for the trip (yes, I even had finished booking that before the hotel). Thus, I was totally okay with our first night being in a non-ADA room as long as we were then moved to what I reserved the rest of the trip. However, the guy at check in talked with his manager and found an ADA room that we could use the whole stay if we just waited a few hours for it to be ready.

We ended up with a tub instead of roll-in shower as I mainly booked, but it had a shower seat and it was better than having to change rooms. Really just the extra space for wheelchair and grab bar is why we need the ADA rooms, although when possible the roll-in showers are convenient.

We ended up in what they called a King specialty room. I have no idea what that means, but we're assuming that is about it having bunk beds in the area with the corner sofa bed. Not having to pull out the sofa and still have two beds (well, actually three, but we only used two) was very convenient.

We have long loved Hyatt Places for not only the cheaper point cost, but it being like two rooms with the sitting area and the bed/beds area. This one worked out even better than the others we've stayed at because it really is two rooms with sliding doors that close between the two areas. This might also be a specialty room feature.

Another nice feature is that the blinds are controlled with a remote, which is something I've always wanted for home and now Mik understands why I think it'd be awesome. Of course, he also enjoyed that we each had a TV and it was DirecTV so he knew the channel numbers for his sports and other favs, which was a real treat for him now that we can't have DirecTV and we axed the not as good more expensive Comcast.

Overall we really enjoyed our stay at the Hyatt Place Anaheim Resort/Convention Center. The staff was always very friendly, attentive, and welcoming. And we actually did have to interact with them several times because our keycard kept getting demagnetized the first two days and we also mistakenly were charged for parking. The breakfast was as expected, although with food being one of Mik's favorite parts of Disney we mostly skipped it.

As much as we love this place, it's borderline far to walk to parks. Totally will be great for D23 Expo and would stay for other future trips, but the Hyatt House under construction even closer to Disneyland is an extremely appealing option once it opens this December. It'll probably be more points, but weighing that with being closer and having a kitchen may make it our pick for Disneyland when we can't use DVC for Grand Californian. Until then, though, the Hyatt Place is enjoyable and makes it possible we may be able to do Disneyland not just every other year for the Expo again, especially if we can snag mileage award tickets to/from Orange County with mom's miles, which doesn't seem to be easy without planning way in advance (6-9 months) and/or being extremely flexible (ex. flying up to Seattle to get to D.C. and 3 hour layovers). 

Hint/Shoutout to Mom: Keep traveling for work and racking up the American miles and Hyatt points, please. We love them almost as much as you!

Destination Info:
Hyatt Place Anaheim Resort/Convention Center

2035 S. Harbor Blvd.

Anaheim, CA 92802

Disneyland Diamond Celebration 24-Hour Event

Date of Visit: May 22, 2015

We didn’t actually last 24-hours, but we never planned to and actually Mik ended up lasting much longer than I expected. We left the hotel around 4:30am and Mik enjoyed his Diamond Mickey Rice Krispy treat that I had brought back for him a previous day.

 We were in line for security by 5am. It was much like the Expo, although the park was already opened so it actually was moving pretty smoothly by the time we got there. Once through security it was no line to get into Disneyland. We briefly stopped in the entrance plaza to get a photo of the diamond as the day before too many people were taking pictures when we tried and this time mostly people were rushing to get on to Main Street. Even stopping for some pictures we were on Main Street by 5:30am.

Main Street was a little crazy with it being wall to wall people back to the Emporium. Mostly people were not pushy, though, and the only real issue was that we got mixed in with the Emporium line. Once we figure out how to get out of that and then trying to get enough space to go at the right angle across the tracks it we ended up in a decent spot to wait for the park to open.

While we were around the corner from being able to see the fireworks go off over the Castle, we still got to enjoy the fireworks go off behind the train station and the shops on Main Street. Then it was the normal surge of crowd at park opening other than it was much farther backed up on Main Street. Still we got through and walk on to Buzz Lightyear within 10 minutes.

We just missed the wheelchair vehicle when we got to the front, so we actually had to wait to ride, but that’s pretty normal and actually had a nice conversation with the Cast Member since the ride was still empty and they didn’t have to direct people unloading much. As usual we went around twice. The second time we got stopped in the photo tunnel and I racked up one of my best scores.

After Buzz Lightyear, we wandered over to the Castle to get some photos with the 60th logo, which had been unveiled after we left the park the day before.

We then walked over to the Toontown Station and rode the Disneyland Railroad around the park once. I thought it was funny when we went by Autopia and Mik asked what that ride was. I guess it’s been awhile since we last took him on it.

After the train, it was not even 7:30am and Mik was already asking to go back to the hotel. We stopped for some breakfast in Fantasyland including a 24-hour event souvenir mug and then got a 60th bucket in Frontierland before he decided that we should brave the pin store line before leaving.

The line for the Little Green Men Store Command ended up reminding us of the D23 Expo. It certainly does seem crazy to stand in line for what ended up being five hours just to spend money. Honestly, I probably wouldn’t do it if Mik wasn’t interested in it. It’s just ends up being good quality time and certainly preferable than ending up back at the hotel after only a few hours in the park, which is what happens most days with Mik. About two hours into the wait they announced that they were out of the Being Up All Night Makes me Dopey pin, which is the pin Mik really wanted. We didn’t want to bail, though, because we had already waited so long and we knew there was still a decent amount of other pins to choose from even though we didn’t know exactly what they were.

In the end, though, when we got to the front they had the Dopey pins (restocked at some point?). This gave Mik enough motivation to stay in the parks for lunch before heading back to the hotel. At first we went to the nearby Tomorrowland Terrace, but after 15 minutes of the line going nowhere I bailed that idea and decided to find somewhere else with a line actually moving. We ended up at the healthy snack spot in Tomorrowland, which had no line and was actually a much better option all around for lunch for both of us. Also, picked up some Mickey pretzels at a nearby cart with very short line to carry back to hotel for a snack later.

After refueling and resting a little from standing in line for hours, we headed out of the park leaving around 1:45pm. The park was crowded at this point and apparently it closed for capacity not longer after that, but actually it was not as crazy as we thought (Buzz line was still only 20 minutes when we left and we’ve seen worse on spring break and summer trips) and it was the longest park day with Mik in years. Definitely glad we did it even if we did miss out on most of the special event stuff.

Destination Info:
Disneyland
1313 South Harbor Boulevard
Anaheim, CA 92802

Disneyland: Sleeping Beauty Castle Virtual Walkthrough Experience

Date of Visit: May 21, 2015


Mik wasn't interested in going on any rides this morning after two rounds of Buzz Lightyear. However, he still wanted to hang out in the parks long enough to get lunch. Thus, we wandered over to the castle for him to visit the dwarfs, which he likes doing and for once there wasn't some character hanging out over there and we got to really enjoy it including seeing the whole fountain show. Then I remember there was the accessible version of the castle walkthrough, which we've never done before.

The accessible experience is located in a room off to the left of the path through the castle when looking at the back of the castle. The room is decorated with things that fit the theme including a case of royal crowns, jewels, and trinkets and a royal seeming bench that you can watch the virtual walkthrough from.

The virtual walkthrough is a video that plays on loop. It is basically an animated version of going through the attraction and the story is read aloud as well as shown with captions on the screen. It is really well done and Mik thought it was good for what it was, but we only watched a little bit of it because he just isn't interested in Sleeping Beauty at all.

Destination Info:
Disneyland
1313 South Harbor Boulevard
Anaheim, CA 92802

Disneyland: Enchanted Tiki Tiki Realms at Disney Gallery

Date of Visit: August 12, 2013

The Disney Gallery is located next to The Disneyland Story and Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln exhibit/show area on Main Street. It is partly a store, as most of it is artwork for sale, but it also is a themed exhibit. The current exhibit called “Tiki Tiki Realms: Celebrating 50 Years of Enchantment,” which is about the Tiki Tiki Room attraction.

Mik enjoyed rolling around and viewing the different artwork and seeing the animatronics up close. Of course, his favorite, though, was the miniature collectibles they sell in the shop.

Destination Info:

Disney Gallery at Disneyland
1313 South Harbor Boulevard
Anaheim, CA 92802

Disneyland: Mickey’s Magical Map

 

Date of Visit: August 9, 2013

 

Mickey’s Magical Map is a musical show performed in the Fantasyland Theatre.  We arrived about 30 minutes before the show and were directed to wait at the bottom of the ramp that leads up to the restrooms by the theater.

 

About 20 minutes before the show they led us up to the top of the theater near the train station. This was kind of a hassle, since it leads through the area barely large enough for people to be waiting for their party using the restrooms.  I don’t get why they don’t juts direct you around the other way like when you go to the train station, as that area is much wider and is only crowded when the train just unloaded.

 

We were led down a ramp to select a spot in the flat bottom area of the theater right before they let everyone else into the theater.  Since it is not stadium style, we decided to take the last of the two spots in the front for wheelchairs, so our view would not end up blocked by someone in front of us.

I enjoyed the show, as it was a kind of interesting musical adventure featuring Apprentice Mickey and songs from a variety of Disney movies.  Being in front was good for the view, but Mik absolutely hated the loudness of the show, which did seem to partially have to do with them trumpeting right in front of us in parts and the speakers being right there for everything.  He did not really want to see it in the first place, so was quite annoyed with it in the end because besides fireworks it is the only thing we have done in a long time that has bothered him.

Destination Info:
Disneyland
1313 South Harbor Boulevard
Anaheim, CA 92802

Mickey's Halloween Party 2011 at Disneyland

Date of Visit: September 30, 2011

We cannot remember ever doing Disneyland during Halloweentime, although we must have, as we came for my 18th birthday back in 2005 and Mik's first Disneyland trip was my 10th birthday back in 1997.  I know the Haunted Mansion Holiday at least was a thing in 2005, but somehow we do not remember there being Halloween decor or anything and really only rode Haunted Mansion Holiday once before when we visited during Thanksgiving weekend once.

This year we decided to go to Disneyland for my birthday, since we seem to most times it falls on the weekend.  Plus, we wanted to get more use out of our Premier Passes.  It also worked out great as a chance to experience the Mickey's Halloween Party for our first time with the first date of it being last night.  Also, nice to get the tickets for that when we had Annual Passes, as we saved even on the ticket for Mom.

We went into Disneyland about 4 hours before the party.  Yeah, your supposed to only get in 3 hours before, but our tickets said the party started at 6pm (bought and printed when only for sale for Annual Passholders) and somewhere along the line it changed to a 7pm start time.  We had absolutely, no problem getting in right after 3pm, as we had planned for months to do.  Would have been nice if the party was at 6pm as we originally thought, though, as Mik did not appreciate having to waste 4 hours in Disneyland and me not wanting to wait 30 minutes to have to transfer him on Star Tours.  We did at least luck out and basically walk on to Haunted Mansion Holiday through and ride Buzz twice.


The main thing we did during the actual party was wait around for the parade to start at 8:30pm.  It was kind of cool, but Mik got tired by the end of it and we only ended up hitting one more trick or treat trail.  We hit a good one, though, as we went to the one the goes through the beginning of the Pirates of the Caribbean regular queue and Mik thought it was fun to go under the archway for once, since he has only ever been through the exit.  He kind of got into the trick or treating after that, but then heard the fireworks were about to start, so we hightailed it out of the park and to check for Grumpy clothing at World of Disney.


I liked Main Street lit up after dark with the green lit windows and the projections of spiderwebs on City Hall and the Train Depot.  The Mickey ghosts and pumpkins are the park were also cool lit up and of course the Mickey Pumpkin on Main Street.

Overall a fun evening, although, next time I would hit the trick or treating spots and skip the parade, so we could actually do more before leaving the park before fireworks.  I should have known we would not last past the fireworks, since we usually purposely leave the park before them.

Now to celebrate my birthday in Disneyland with Mik today.

Destination Info:
Disneyland
1313 South Harbor Boulevard
Anaheim, CA 92802

Disneyland: Mark Twain Riverboat

Date of Visit: August 22, 2011

With all the times we have visited Disneyland, neither Mik nor I could ever remember going on the Mark Twain Riverboat.  I probably did when I was little, but I really doubt we ever took Mik on it before.  Thus on this trip, Mik and I decided to finally go on it.  Of course, we were almost thwarted because when we went over to it first thing in the morning it was temporarily down.  Luckily, it was back up and going within a few hours and we did end up getting to try it out.


They had the wheelchairs load onto the boat first.  Note the boat is not level with the dock and they have you load on backwards.  When we got off they did not seem to care when we unloaded just that you also go backwards going off.  Definitely not a ride to go on when the tippers are on, as they certainly would have been in the way. but we usually leave them off when Mik is not wheeling himself anyways.


The ride around the Rivers of America on the Mark Twain is not all that exciting, but it is a relaxing break from walking around the park and gives a different look at the areas around the River including some parts you can only see from the boat rides (canoes, Columbia, Mark Twain).


Overall the Mark Twain Riverboat is not a bad ride, but you really cannot explore the boat and are stuck on the bottom level with the wheelchair.  One time around every once and a while might be worthwhile, but it would be much cooler if they worked out a way to get wheelchairs up on the Columbia.  Going around the Rivers of America on a pirate ship seems so much cooler!!


Destination Info:
Disneyland
1313 South Harbor Boulevard
Anaheim, CA 92802

Disneyland: Fantasmic Dessert Seating

Date of Visit: June 3, 2011

Mik has never wanted to see the Fantasmic show, but he is a foodie, so when I told him we could get reserved seats and a dessert platter to watch the show he decided to give it a try.  It certainly is not cheap at $60 a person, but you do get a chair and even if you do end up in the second or third row there is adequate room to shuffle chairs a little so you can see in between heads in the front row if they happen to be tall.

We got in line about 15 minutes before they started letting you choose seats.  It is kind of annoying that for the first showing you have to then go and wait for them to let in the area, especially with the area so congested and not much room for hanging around the ~15 minutes.


Mik sat in the front row (they took away the chair) and we sat behind him in the second row.  The view was not bad, but there was a pole in the way.  You would think if you are paying $60 for seating they would line the seating up so there was not such an obstructed view.  Not too big a deal, as you could still see pretty much everything.


The dessert tray is great.  Each person gets a box filled with various desserts along with cheese and crackers.  There were some little truffles, a little cheesecake with a Mickey chocolate, a cool cookie with a purple starry chocolate bottom, a brownie, grapes, Babybel cheese, crackers, and probably a few other things.  The lid is cool with the Fantasmic logo, but it does not stay on very well (the CMs are nice and told us this when handing them out to best avoid spills).

You also get drinks as part of the seating.  We all had hot chocolate, but they also had soda and coffee options.


I loved seeing the show and having a seat instead of having to stake out a spot early or standing long before and during the show.  It is also nice that it is not crowded with people smooshed together like the other areas can be.

We all enjoyed the show and even Mik said he would see it again, but only if we did the Dessert seating.  Certainly, not something we are going to splurge on for every Disneyland trip (i.e. not happening the other two trips planned this year), but it was totally worth it and I will definitely try to budget it in again sometime.  Mik just wished they had something like this for World of Color, although maybe before we do this again we will give the Ariel's Grotto package for that, although that still is not really anywhere near the same from what I have read.

We also ended up watching the fireworks from here.  The view is not that great, but you do still at least see Dumbo and Tinkerbell flying.  The trees around the seating blocked seeing much of the actual fireworks, but it was better than trying to get out of the park during the fireworks.

Photos by Kjersti
Text by Kjersti with Mik's wheelchair accessibility input

Destination Info:
Disneyland
1313 South Harbor Boulevard
Anaheim, CA 92802

Disneyland: Soundsational Parade

Date of Visit: June 3, 2011

Mik is not a fan of parades and I have never successfully gotten him to let us stake out a spot to see one until this last trip.  We had ended up leaving the park on the 2nd during the parade and he was surprised it was not all that loud.  Apparently, the main reason he does not like the parades is the noise.


On the 2nd we noticed the wheelchair viewing area on Main Street (outside shop near where the parade starts) was pretty much empty 20 minutes before the parade, so we got there about 30 minutes before parade time and had no problem getting a spot.  In fact, the area barely ended up filling the first row even with companions standing in front row.  That seems rather surprising, especially when it was the prime spot to be with the parade starting on the Main Street end that time.


I really enjoyed the parade, especially since Mary Poppins and the penguins from that movie were featured as the final part of the parade.  Mik has no real opinion of the parade other than it is surprisingly not that loud, as he ended up falling asleep before the parade and slept through it.

Photos by Kjersti
Text by Kjersti with Mik's wheelchair accessibility input

Destination Info:
Disneyland
1313 South Harbor Boulevard
Anaheim, CA 92802

Hyatt Regency Orange County - Accessible Room

Date of Visit: June 2-5, 2011

This trip was the 2nd time we have stayed at the Hyatt Regency Orange County.  Last time we stayed here was back in 2005 for my 18th birthday.  That time we had a 2 bedroom suite, although I think we booked lower and got upgraded due to Mom's Hyatt Passport status.  This time we used Hyatt Points for a regular room and at check in ended up upgraded to a one bedroom accessible suite because they noticed Mik was in a wheelchair when we checked in.  We do not usually bother about getting an accessible room, except on Disney Cruises, but it certainly was nice to have a roll in shower.

Mik was hesitant to use the roll in shower.  He is a creature of habit and hates bathing anywhere, but his own tub and bench.  However, the fold on bench in the roll in shower was way better than the set up he has at home.

Mik does not like handicap toilets, which of course this room has.  They are too tall for him, but he did appreciate having a bar at least on one side of the toilet, although not too helpful with it being on his right side and him being such a lefty and it still not being all that close to the toilet.  However, still better than a regular room, especially since overall it has more space for us to help him.

Mik enjoyed the couch because he could sit in the corner with his leg in front of him and be facing the television.  He also liked that you could pull down the blinds between the couch area and bedroom to block out the light from the other room.


My favorite feature of the hotel room was that they actually have a split trash can with a can for trash and one for recycling.  Totally love that you can recycle, especially since we often ended up with soda bottles we started at Disneyland and then finish after we got back to the hotel.  It is also nice that the rooms actually have mini fridges.


This is definitely one of our favorite Disneyland area hotels, although partly because we use Mom's points to stay free.  We already booked another trip to go for my birthday and stay there this October.  It works out good when we drive to Disneyland and we have our Premier Passes to park free at Disneyland, but if we had to pay to park at Disneyland (still have to pay to park every day at Hyatt) or fly it is not a good choice because it is just a tad too far to walk with all the walking you do in the parks and the shuttle can be inconvenient waiting around for and having to request the wheelchair one.

Photos by Kjersti
Text by Kjersti with Mik's wheelchair accessibility input

Destination Info:
Hyatt Regency Orange County
11999 Harbor Blvd
Garden Grove, CA 92840