2025 February - Disneyland - Lunar New Year

Resort:

The Disney Grand Californian Resort

The resort is adjacent to California Adventure Park (with direct park access) and is an 8-minute walk to Disneyland Park. We would typically go through security (to enter the security bubble) from the hotel at 7 AM and get in line to rope drop at the park with early access for resort guests.

The hotel is a little dated, but there is no shortage of Disney magic…the service is excellent! We had an issue with a park ticket and the hotel took care of it in minutes.

The restaurants were amazing, with fantastic food and service. Be sure to make a reservation, as they book up quickly. The GCH Craftsman Bar was one of our favorite spots for dinner and drinks.

Note: The pool area is currently under construction, but the temperatures were still a little cool…so we were not planning to use those facilities during our visit. There was a bit of noise during the day…so we avoided sitting in the outdoor areas when construction was active.

Disneyland Grand Californian Standard View Room - 4747

The room is great. The room was very comfortable, with lots of seating and storage, it also included a beverage cooler. Our room was very quiet and clean. We did have a balcony, but not much of a view.

DISNEYLAND GRAND CALIFORNIAN RESORT ROOM

California Adventure Park:

We loved California Adventure Park. Our favorite rides were Radiator Springs Racers and Goofy's Flight School. (Although, Goofy's Flight School seemed to shut down several times throughout the day during our visit.). The food selection is amazing. We would start at Disneyland Park and hop parks around dinner time to enjoy the variety of food service options. Don't miss Pym's Test Kitchen on the Avengers Campus. If you can time it right, try to get an outdoor table during one of the Avengers shows. We also went during the Lunar New Year Celebration and purchased the Sip n Savor pass to enjoy even more culturally inspired dishes from China, Vietnam, and Korea. (more about that below)

Recommendation: Highly recommend it!

Disneyland Park:

There is something extra magical about the original Disney park. Characters are everywhere! And not just at formal meet and greets (like at WDW), but just walking the park and visiting with guests. We loved Space Mountian (even more than the WDW version), Indiana Jones Adventure, and the Matterhorn Bobsleds. We loved visiting Mickey's Toontown...it was so full of magic and color! We enjoyed quick service meals for lunch at the Red Rose Tavern. We found the service was fast, the selection was good, and it was centrally located. We even got a surprise visit from Gaston!

Recommendation: Highly recommend it!

Additional Fun:

• Lunar New Year Celebration (at California Adventure Park) We visited the park in February during the Lunar New Year Celebration. The park was filled with various festivities, entertainment, characters in special attire, and lots of delicious culinary options. We loved all of the festival decor and entertainment that was spread out throughout the park. We purchased the sip-n-savor pass to get 6 snack-size portions of various festival dishes. Our favorite was the Bahn Mi. The sip-n-savor pass. was a great way to sample several different foods.

  Recommendation: Highly recommend it!

  
  

• Lightning Lane Premier Pass (LLPP). We went during a holiday weekend and knew it would be crowded, so we purchased the Lightning Lane Premier Pass for each day we were at the park to ensure that we were able to ride all of the popular rides at least one time. Overall, we found the Lightning Lane Premier Pass was worth the cost during peak park days. The only downside is that you can only use it once per ride, so the cost per ride is high and we still waited in standby for subsequent rides.

Recommendation: Recommend (at least for peak travel dates)

• Storytellers Cafe Character Breakfast This was a great experience! We entered the park early for our breakfast seating. We checked in on the app and were seated right away. The service was quick with our drink order and provided instructions on the buffet breakfast. The food was the standard Disney breakfast buffet, but it was well stocked and organized As always, we thoroughly enjoyed our Mickey Waffles! We loved the magical touches that were incorporated into the restaurant decor. The characters included Mickey, Minnie, Chip, Dale, and Pluto (all in their adventure attire). The characters spent ample time at each table and interacted with all of the guests.

Recommendation: Recommend

Notes/Recommendations:

Dad

• If you buy the LLPP, plan on park hopping to maximize the value of your investment. Take advantage of the single unscheduled lightning lane access at both parks before going in a standby line. Also, if you rope drop or find a short standby line, then save your LLPP for a second ride when the lines get longer :)

Mom

• At California Adventure Park, Sonoma Terrace and Medocino Terrance have a great wine selection! Great place to take a quick break and enjoy a nice glass of wine.

Tween

• At Disneyland, try the grey stuff at Red Rose Tavern...it really is delicious!

• Did you know that the Matterhorn Bobsleds are different on each side? On your second ride, as a cast member if you can ride the other side. (I liked the standby side the best.)
  

Until next time...