The Anabella Hotel-Disneyland Good Neighbor Hotel

Unlike Disney World, where there is a plethora of Disney owned hotels, Disneyland only has three, The Grand Californian, The Disneyland Hotel, and Paradise Pier.  To expand guest accommodations, Disneyland hands out seals of approval to surrounding Anaheim hotels thus making them "Good Neighbor Hotels."

Because of personal priorities, we decided to forgo an expensive fancy stay at one of the Disney owned hotels in favor of having two fancy dinners.

As stated in the previous post, we discovered that our credit card offered points that could be cashed in for free nights at several of the good neighbor hotels.  We did some research and chose The Anabella Hotel due to being a favorite of locals, and because as they say, location, location, location.

While researching for our trip,I found no information regarding what the parking rules were for Anabella guests, so after pulling into the parking lot, we made our way to the reception area in the hopes that we would be permitted to park at the hotel for the day.  I assumed parking would require some sort of parking pass, otherwise park guests looking to sponge some free parking would fill up the lot.

Although it isn't an official Disney Hotel, the staff member who greeted us at the reception area 

appeared to be held to the Disney standard of exceptional customer service. She was friendly, pleasant, and helpful. 

We explained that we had booked a room for the night, and inquired if it would be possible to leave our car in the hotel parking lot.  The staff member clicked away at her computer keys.

"We have a room ready now if you'd like to check in?"  

"Yes," we replied.  

After signing the obligatory paper work, and handing over our $15 per night parking fee, we were handed our room key and parking pass (we were able to leave the car there the following day too, so we never had to park in a Disney lot).

Having the ability to check into our room at 8:00 am was an amazing benefit, though if you book there, I wouldn't guarantee an early morning check-in.  It was nice that we could lug our stuff into the room, and get things settled without having to worry about it later when we were theme park tired.

We followed the reception worker's walking directions to the parks.  

After crossing the street, we strolled down a few tree lined blocks. We could see some of the back stage of California Adventure. Seeing a glimpse of where we would be spending our day intensified our excitement.  We then entered the Grand Californian Hotel,

made a left in the lobby,

and followed all of the people doing the same until we exited into Downtown Disneyland.  
Though smaller than the soon-to-be named Disney Springs in Orlando, Downtown Disneyland is a beautiful sight.  

Having to walk through the bright and colorful Downtown increases the fun and anticipation of going to the parks.

If we had more time, it would have been nice to sit and enjoy a cup of morning coffee, watching all of the eager park guests pass by. But alas, we wanted to get to California Adventure at park opening. 

We arrived at the entrance exactly on time.

After a marvelous day at California Adventure, we traversed the same path back to The Anabella.  In the evening, twinkle lights gave the tree lined path a romantic flair. 

No waiting in lines, no bus rides, no sitting in traffic, just a short pleasant walk back to our room, 

to fall promptly into bed.

Our room was spacious and clean, but a little worn. It seemed to be in need of some TLC.The shower dripped all night, as did the air conditioner. The bed was okay, but we were spoiled at this point by our bed at The Welk Resort, and I was looking forward to getting back to that cozy bed the following night.   

A first world problem, I know, but it was a slight inconvenience that there were no electrical outlets next to the bed.  I use my phone as my alarm clock, and was worried that with the sound of the rumbling air conditioner, we wouldn't be able to hear Lumpy Space Princess (who sings me awake)from across the room (it ended up being fine). 

The pool area looked nice, as did the restaurant area, but we didn't get to explore them fully as we were only there for one night.

It seems that with The Anabella Hotel, what you are really paying for is the location, and perhaps the friendly customer service.  A lot of locals rave about the hotel, but we left underwhelmed. It was perfectly fine since our stay was free. During the week they often offer some great deals that probably make it worth it, especially if you are only planning to stay for a night or two, but if I was going back to Anaheim for a full week (and we do plan to), I would look into upgrading to something a little nicer. 

Disneyland Intro-The Trip Within the Trip

Like most of our travels lately, our original plan was not to go to Disneyland.  Our plan was to go to San Diego, but when we realized that the Welk Resort was only an hour and a half from Anaheim, things progressed from should we? 

To, we must! 

So we left our resort on Monday morning, and set out for the trip within the trip, to Disneyland.

The Driving

We left Escondido at 6:00 am.  We thought that if we left early enough, we would avoid most of the rush hour work traffic.  Silly us. An immigration stop, and heavy traffic in general started to slow us down.

Then we discovered it, the carpool lane.  Since we had two people in our car, we shifted over to the hardly used lanes, swishing by all of the disgruntled rat racers.  Even better, the car pool lane had its own exit to Disneyland, so we weren't stressed or burdened by having to merge over several lanes to get to an exit.  We arrived in Anaheim over an hour before the parks opened.

We drove back to Escondido late Tuesday night, and encountered no traffic issues.

The Staying

We swayed back and forth during our planning over the decision to drive two days in a row from Escondido to Anaheim, or to spend the night at a hotel in Anaheim.  Once we discovered that we could use points from our credit card to procure a free night's stay at the Anabella Hotel, staying in Anaheim became the best option.

 It's a good tip for everyone. Check up on what your credit card points can get you, you might be surprised.

The 60th, Grad Night, and Kelly and Michael 

As we were booking our trip, we learned that the Friday of the week we were visiting California was the official kick-off of Disneyland's year long 60th Anniversary Celebration.  A Celebration that was kicking off with Disneyland being opened for 24 hours straight.

We thought about it. We even looked at how we could move around our itinerary so we would be in Disneyland Friday, but in the end we decided against it.  Since we've never been to Disneyland, we surmised that the 24 hour event would be crowded mass chaos, and we wouldn't get a true, authentic Disneyland experience. We probably wouldn't get to ride all of the attractions we wanted or eat at the places we wanted to eat at. Going at the beginning of the week still seemed the best option. 

We kept with our original plan, and ventured to Disneyland on Monday. To our delight, everything was already decked out in preparation for Friday, so although we didn't get any of the special 60th treats, merchandise, or shows/parades, we still got to see the decorations.

We took a moment in front of Walt's apartment to thank him for being imaginative and creating the places we love

It wasn't until after everything was booked that I learned that Monday night was high school grad night.  It was too late to switch days, so our strategy was to spend Monday at California Adventure and Tuesday at Disneyland Park. 

California Adventure was where the big party for the grads was going to be held from 10 pm-2 am. Given that the kids had passes for both parks for the whole day, it seemed logical that they would spend the day a Disneyland Park, then meander to California Adventure at night.  I guessed right. Grad night ended up not being as big of a deal as we thought it might be.

 I did feel a twinge of jealously as we watched everything being set up for the grads.  It looked like it was going to be an awesome time. I imagined that my senior year friends and I would have had a blast hanging out at a Disney Park until 2 am.  As it was, we didn't even get to go to Disney for our senior trip, we had to settle for Busch Gardens.

In conjunction with the 60th Anniversary kick-off, Kelly and Micheal were taping their show at Disneyland that week.  You could sign up on the show's website for a chance to get tickets.  It worked like a raffle. I threw our names in the hat just for the heck of it, and received an e-mail a few weeks later that we weren't chosen, but were on the list in case anyone canceled.  In hindsight, it was for the best. Sitting through the taping would have cost us precious park time.  It was still cool seeing everything being set up for the show, and I did get to see Kelly up close for a brief moment (more on that in another post).

We fell in love with Disneyland.  

As Shannon put it, it felt charming and intimate, and because we wore our 1st time visitor buttons, all of the friendly locals chatted with us. They wanted to make sure we were having an excellent time at their park.  

Our only regret was that two days was not enough time to adequately enjoy both parks, which only leaves one question,

When can we go back?

Brunch at Cody's-La Jolla

Because when you're on a trip, you can have breakfast and brunch, we stopped into Cody's, in La Jolla California.

Cody's is a very popular place for brunch in La Jolla. Being a party of two offered an advantage. Our name was called, and we were settled into our small two person table well ahead of the larger parties.

Cody's has a charming, hipster, beach cottage vibe.

We ordered a couple of fruity drinks, served in mason jars of course (I think it's some sort of hipster protocol),

and began perusing the menu.

Prior to our trip, I was listening to a discussion about chilaquiles on the Dis Unplugged Disneyland podcast.  I was hoping to try them at some point during our visit to California, so I was delighted to find them on the menu at Cody's.

Chilaquiles are tortilla chips that are cooked (simmered or sauteed) in a sauce. In this instance it was a spicy tomato sauce.  My chilaquiles were then covered with black beans, queso fresco, and creme fraiche. The whole thing was then topped with two eggs to make them brunchy.  It was quite yummy.  Two thumbs up for chilaquiles. 

Shannon got a beet and goat cheese salad with chicken. After empanadas and a doughnut for breakfast, he wanted something lighter for brunch. He said the salad was refreshing and exactly what he was hoping for. 

It was a nice, relaxing brunch, with a little view of the ocean and palm trees from the window. 

It was the kind of place that I wish I could fold up in my pocket and bring home with me, especially so that I could have chilaquiles whenever I wanted. 


Extra Note: That evening on the way home, we stopped for dinner at Brigantine Seafood. It was by far the worst meal of the trip with maybe one of the oddest servers we've ever had. I didn't think it warranted a whole post, but if you are in California I'd suggest avoiding Brigantine Seafood. 

Sunny Jim's Cave-La Jolla

I read up on Sunny Jim’s Cave before we left for our trip.  Many of the comments stated that it was an overrated tourist trap that was not worth the $5.00 per person entrance fee. Since it still seemed like a must- do in La Jolla, we took a walk to the cave store to judge for ourselves.

We handed over our ten bucks, and began the 145 stair decent. 

The climb down and back up again is not as bad as it sounds.  It is completely doable as long as you are free from any medical conditions that would make the stairs treacherous.

I disagree with all of the negative comments.  We loved the cave. It was a very cool, unique experience, at least for us New Jersey beach goers who aren’t accustomed to sea caves. I’m sure that the stairs, the lighting, and the deck at the bottom, require quite a bit of upkeep, upkeep that surely costs money, thus the entrance fee.

Our strategy was to get our $10.00 worth.  We lingered, admiring the amazing view, and taking a ton of pictures.

We enjoyed watching groups of kayakers paddle by.

  We remained while cycles of others came down, Clark Griswolded the view, snapped a picture or two (or for a few we snapped their pictures for them), and then climbed right back up the stairs. This was not a place to Clark Griswold, it required time to appreciate.  I’m not sure how long we lingered, but I still had a hard time ripping myself away when it finally seemed like it was time to move on.

I’m usually all about feeding my belly, but I also love to feed my eyes, and the cave was a delightful ocular snack. 

If I was in La Jolla, I would visit Sunny Jim’s Cave again.  I recommend it, but for goodness sake if you go, be sure to take some time to savor the view.

La Jolla-How Sundays Should Be

Sunday is a popular day in La Jolla.  

Since we were lucky enough to score a prime parking spot near the Open Aire Market, we left the car where it was, and took the shop and restaurant dotted few blocks walk to the beach.  As we descended the palm tree lined road, a vast expanse of blue rising before us, a man who was walking by exclaimed to his companion,

"This is how Sundays should be." 

There are many things that make La Jolla worthy of a day trip

Seals

La Jolla is home to a large seal population.  They lounge on the beaches,

and on a rock aptly named, Seal Rock.

Anyone who knows me well will know that this was a trip highlight.  We spent a lot of time seal watching.

They were super cute, as long as you kept a respectful distance. 

Me keeping a respectful distance

There were signs on all of the beaches reminding people that seals are wild animals and will bite you if you attempt to touch them. We watched one twenty-something looking girl try and try again to give a napping beach seal a hug.  As soon as she got too close, the seal would snap/lunge at her. She would scream and run away, only to try again.  A group of teens from a swim club were prepping for a practice.  One of the boys yelled down to the girl,

"Hey, you better stop, it's going to bite you!"  Another boy patted the first boy on the shoulder and said,

"Let her learn on her own."  

I have to admit there was a point where I started rooting for the seal, but eventually she did give up.  Totally dejected, the girl stomped away. She appeared personally offended. She just couldn't fathom why the seal did not want a hug.  

Gelato

Okay, so maybe people don't go to La Jolla specifically for the gelato, but they should.  

Bobboi Gelato uses organic, natural ingredients, many of them locally sourced.  The people working the counter were very cool and friendly, and were happy to chat about all of their flavors.  

Choosing a flavor proved difficult. They all sounded good.  Since we are suckers for a good salted caramel, we both got a scoop of the salted caramel. Shannon got a second scoop of pistachio, while I got banana rum as my second scoop.

It was great, creamy gelato. It was fresh and didn't taste like it was sitting around in a cooler all week. Sometimes a specific flavor can get a bit lost, or watered down by the milky part of the ice cream/gelato, but here, the flavors really stood out. I could pick out the rum from the banana, and the salt from the caramel.  We sat at an outdoor table, trying to slow down and savor. The view wasn't too shabby either.

Nature

If I ever came back to this section of California, I wouldn't mind staying/spending the week in La Jolla.  It is absolutely beautiful.  We loved seeing all of the palm tree dotted beach areas with their clear, blue water.

Artist painting the view

There's a nice trail that meanders along the cliffs. It offers plenty of opportunities to ooh and aah, and to take way too many pictures. 

There are benches dotted here and there along the trail so you can take a moment to soak in the spectacular scenery. 

Did I mention that it was beautiful? It was the kind of nature that almost feels unreal.  

Views

While we were taking in the view at one of the beaches, we overheard a woman chatting about another place to get fantastic views, Mount Soledad.  

It was a short ride from the beach area of La Jolla, and well worth a stop.  The mountain is home to a Veterans Memorial.

The top of the mountain presented gorgeous, sweeping views. We were fortunate that it was a blue sky, puffy cloud kind of day.

I loved La Jolla so much, if I was filthy-rich-tons-of-money, you might find me house hunting there.  

If you like the outdoors, beaches, nature trails, seals, and/or yummy gelato, La Jolla, California is a must do, especially on a Sunday. I wholeheartedly agree with the passing gentleman, La Jolla is how Sundays should be.