Thank you to everyone who offered advice and insight about our weekend trip to Disneyland. We had such a great time and it would not have been possible without such an amazing group of folks to help support and guide us.
We arrived to LAX on Friday evening and took a Lyft to our hotel, which was about $40 and 45-minutes. We wound up staying at the Quality Inn & Suites - Anaheim Resort. I kept checking the hotel rates every few days and we were able to get a double room well within our price range. This was a huge relief because I could not justify spending more for a short weekend trip when we have so many other vacations planned over the next year. The hotel was about a 10-minute walk to Disneyland and we didn't have a need for a shuttle once. The rooms were clean and the refrigerator/microwave combo was a nice convenience.
I was very worried about the crowds given that it was a holiday weekend and there were Run Disney events. I checked the crowd forecaster website and it predicted it would be packed. So we were pleasantly surprised to find that it was alright and not as crowded as we expected. The line at Starbucks in the morning was the longest line the entire weekend and we ordered our drinks through the app. It may have been the run events that contributed to the crowds in Starbucks because the races were just finishing.
We decided to do California Adventure on Saturday and Disneyland on Sunday because we didn't have Magic Morning access and we wanted to rope drop so that we could do as many rides as possible before the afternoon crowds. We also purchased the Max Pass and that was incredibly convenient. We entered CAP at about 8:30am and we were able to get our first fast pass for Radiator Springs Racers about 2 minutes after going through the turnstiles. We rode everything we wanted and had breakfast and cocktails by 1pm. We explored the park and holiday decor until our late lunch reservations at Carthay Circle. The ceviche and freshly made plantain chips were hands down the best offerings on the menu. We spent a couple hours at ESPN zone so that my husband could watch some college football and ended the night with our favorite rides (Soarin', Toy Story Midway Mania) and a plate of lobster nachos at the Cove Bar.
Sunday morning we were up early again and had our first pass (for Space Mountain) by 8:30am although the park didn't open until 9am. We were able to get all of the major rides done in the morning again, but this time without being able to sit down and eat. We were able to get on Peter Pan after a 20-minute wait and walked directly on to Matterhorn without a fast pass at one point. Someone previously mentioned in a trip report that they did not notice the boulder during the Indiana Jones ride. I was expecting it given that was what I most remembered from riding as a kid and it didn't show up on our ride either, which was weird. Maybe a malfunction of the special effects, but still a fun ride. We had reservations at Carnation Cafe for a late lunch, but wound up just getting a small kids meal to share because we had already indulged in corn dogs. For dinner we were able to walk up and get a table at Blue Bayou for dinner immediately. That was a nice dining experience, but the food did not compare to Carthay Circle.
We noticed on both days that using the Max Pass actually allowed for an earlier return time. For instance, we walked by Haunted Mansion at 10:10am and the digital sign posted a return time of 12:30pm for paper fast passes. When we were eligible to pull another fast pass through the app about 20 minutes later, we received a return time of 11:00am. It was awesome! I would highly recommend Max Pass for a couple or group of adults who want to utilize the fast pass system, but don't want to be running around the parks pulling fast passes.
Given we only had a weekend and left straight from work and returned back to work, it was a wonderfully magical couple days. Now to Nuevo Vallarta for beach and sun in a couple of weeks.