Disney with Three Generations

Grandma and Grandpa wanted to take all the grand kids, four boys ranging from ages 4 to 12, on a grandparent vacation they wouldn't forget. It was my job as the family travel expert (aka, the one who travels most and has the fastest Internet connection) to make sure it was memorable from the beginning to the end. By taking the time to do as much Internet research as humanly possible on the resort, parks, rentals, and optional activities, we were able to have a vacation the kids will always remember - without the bills we could never forget.

One of our most memorable moments was when grandma and the kids were all driving the cars in Autopia. Grandma has collected the Chevron Cars ever since it’s inception over 13 years ago. Every one of the boys has spent hours on the floor playing cars with grandma. To see all of them actually driving the cars was fantastic. One of the boys even went so far as to spend some of his limited souvenir cash on one of the novelty hats to remember the occasion.

It was also quite a treat to see how the kids interacted with each other and the grandparents on this trip. Usually grandma is fairly remote and reserved, but she let her fun side take the lead on this trip and was more often than not the instigator of silliness! The Toon Town area of Disneyland was the perfect place for this to come out. The kids also talked grandma into doing her first loop-de-loop roller coaster ride. It was fun to hear her giggle and scream for the entire ride. My dad and I, the coaster fanatics of the family, were laughing so hard that we almost couldn't climb out when we got back to the station.

Quick Tips:

There were a few trips that made planning this trip easier:

• Don't be tied to just one website. Using a combination of RCI, Travelocity, Orbitz and Expedia gave us the absolute best possible deal.
• The Entertainment Book is your friend. We found coupons for everything, from airline tickets to restaurants, that helped lower the cost.
• Take advantage of free offers - and you may have to ask an employee if there are any! Disney employees are trained to answer every question honestly but not offer advice.
• Read the fine print. On our Park Hopper passes there was teeny, tiny print telling us that we could get free game passes at ESPN Zone. This way we didn't have to pay for game tokens.
• Don't be afraid to plan, plan, plan. By doing some research, we discovered which days would have the longest hours and the fewest people.
• Use FastPass to your advantage. Just hop in line if it is less than the wait for the FastPass time.

Best Way To Get Around:

We had a large group, ranging from eight people up to ten people when additional family visited. We decided to rent two cars instead of a van that seated eight because it was less expensive. If you have a smaller group, use Super Shuttle to get from the airport to the condo for round-trip, then the timeshare's Disney shuttle for per person per day. Parking at Disney for per car per day way less expensive for us in the long run.

If you are visiting during mild weather, have good walking shoes and the stamina to walk the park, as well as to and from the park, since the condo is within a 15-minute walking distance to the parking lot shuttle. The front gate is only another 5 minutes away.

Best Things Nearby:
The Disneyland resort properties were nearby, and it was within driving distance of several other major attractions, including Universal Studios, Knott's Berry Farm, Magic Mountain, Legoland USA, and more.

Best Things About the Resort:


Resort Experience:
Grandma and grandpa wanted to take the grandkids to Disneyland on a budget. Our best find was the Peacock Suites. We didn't exchange a week, but rather we paid per night. For the incredibly low price of $167 per night, we received a high-capacity two-bedroom suite that slept eight people. Another nice feature was the continental breakfast. Fresh fruit, juice, coffee, cereal, toast, pastries, and milk rounded out their menu. Our only complaint was the lack of protein, which was easily remedied with a visit 7 blocks down to Von's grocery store. With the addition of yogurt and cheese in the dorm-size fridge, we were able to start our day well-fed.

Another benefit is how close it is to Disneyland. Since we had eight people, it was more economical for us to drive and pay $9 parking for two cars. However, if our group had been smaller, we would have opted for the shuttle to Disneyland. The staff was very helpful with special requests. It has a nice family pool and two spas. You could hardly tell a major road was just on the other side of the wall.

During our visit, only two things were a challenge. Our room was on the side adjacent to an industrial laundry operation, so from 2am through the morning, we heard the high-pitched whine of the washers Monday through Friday. Bring your earplugs! Our other trial was parking. The lot is exceedingly small, and it was very difficult to park the compact rentals we had. If we did successfully park, we had to squish out after dropping off any passengers. This is not a luxury condo by any means, but it is a fantastic place to sleep and shower in between visits to the amusement parks.

• Unit Type: 2 Bedroom
• Activities: Good
• Amenities: Good
• Unit Satisfaction: Good
• Family Friendliness: Good
• Service: Very Good

For an adventure-filled dining experience for the kids to remember, we couldn't have found a better place to start off the week than Rainforest Cafe. Though not cheap by any means, it helped keep the vacation fun, new, and exciting.

You begin your adventure by leaving your name at the elephant podium. If you have any flexibility at all, I highly recommend eating here for lunch or before/after the high traffic dinner hours of 5:30 to 8pm; otherwise, you may wait up to 90 minutes for seating. Since we were visiting during the off-season for Disneyland, we had no trouble seating all eight members of our party immediately for dinner on the second floor. After passing through the HUGE tropical-fish tank arch, we were off to our own little grotto table with a fantastic view of the elephants.

To say they keep up with the Disney ability to create atmosphere could be an understatement. Like clockwork, the thunderstorms came through the restaurant every half-hour. The bar area has a wide variety of animal hiney stools. The various animatronic animals - snakes, elephants, gorillas, etc. - were a fun diversion while waiting for our food. With so much to look at, our only problem was getting the kids to look at the menu.

Since I have previously visited four other Rainforest Cafe locations (Seattle, Las Vegas, and the two at Disney World), I already knew I would be ordering the Rasta Pasta. Yum! The portions are GIGANTIC, so we planned our orders accordingly. Since we were headed back to the condo for the night, we all ordered our own meals so we could save half for the next day's lunch in our condo's dorm fridge. The salads are a full dinner in themselves, so my mom enjoyed the China Island Chicken Salad. The kids' menu featured the usual suspects – mac n’ cheese, hot dogs, burgers - with the addition of other fantastic choices, such as individual pizzas, popcorn shrimp, and fish n' chips. No one left hungry.

I've always enjoyed visiting Rainforest Cafe and look forward to visiting the next one on another adventure. For more information and to find other locations, visit Rainforest Cafe on the Web.

With more than 50 rides and attractions, we were looking forward to our visit to Legoland. It was about an hour's drive from Anaheim straight down I-5. Since we purchased our tickets on the Internet before our arrival, we only had to stop by the guest services booth near the entrance.

We ultimately decided to break our group up into two parties. The older kids went to ride the physically interactive rides, such as the Kid Power Towers and the Sky Cruiser, which had pedals.

The group with the 4-year-old did time in Fun Town at the Duplo Playtown playground--like a park, only built of Legos!

This trip was well worth the visit for our group, as we all either grew up playing with Legos or were growing up playing with Legos at the time! I'm afraid that, if we'd had any teenagers, they may have been bored. For the price, a beautiful drive down the coast to get there, and the slower-paced, more interactive exhibits, it was a nice change of pace and well worth the visit.