Our California Adventure... Take Two
After a very comfortable flight with United Airlines, we arrived into LAX. We hadn’t booked a transfer, instead opting for an Uber. To catch a ride share you first have to jump on a transfer bus to a designated pick-up point, once there you can order your ride share. Lyft usually works out cheaper.
We spent our first 4 nights at the Garland Hotel in North Hollywood. The hotel hasn't changed a lot in the last 12 years, it's still warm and welcoming with a sense of Hollywood glamour. Our room was very spacious and had lots of storage and only a short walk to the hotel pool and cafe. We ate at the hotel upon arrival and, although they had gluten free bread for the burgers and sandwiches, the fries were not gluten free.
The following morning, we ordered breakfast in our room before heading to the Hollywood Walk of Fame and Madame Tussauds. Here we ate at Hard Rock Cafe, which again had gluten free buns but not fries. I genuinely don’t understand why places don’t have separate friers, it would then make chips accessible to coeliacs, vegetarians and vegans - most people could then eat anywhere.
The next day we jumped on the complimentary trolley to Universal Studios Hollywood. The trolley runs once an hour but if it's full they will come back for you. We had paid for early entry to experience Super Nintendo World, which was well worth it. I did feel a bit disappointed that you need to pay $43 for a Power Up band to play the games, and if you don't play them, you aren't able to access one of the attractions. I was also surprised that NOTHING in Toads Cafe was Gluten Free. There are plenty of other places in Universal that have GF options including Krusty Burger, The Three Broomsticks and Jurassic Cafe. We spent two days at Universal Studios, thanks to the buy one day get one day free ticket so we managed to see everything including The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, Springfield, Minion Land and the Studio Tour. My eldest has autism so we obtained an IBCCES Accessibility Card which meant we could get a return time for rides and didn’t have to wait in queues. We didn't skip them, we just got to wait somewhere different for the duration of the queue time, which worked brilliantly for us. Disney has a similar, automated system called DAS.
After 4 nights in Hollywood, it was time to transfer to Anaheim but not before a trip to Warner Bros Studio Tour - a dream come true for my friends obsessed daughter. It was amazing to see the sets, THE fountain and to also access a soundstage for the TV series All American. At Central Perk, the only gluten free option they had was a hot dog and, although I wasn’t expecting much, it was delicious.
Unfortunately, we then experienced one of the not-so-great sides of LA - the traffic. Due to the time of day, our 1-hour journey took us over 2 hours, which did give us a chance to catch up on some sleep (jetlag was a killer!).
Upon arrival at the Sheraton Park Hotel at the Anaheim Resort, I thought we were at the wrong place! It had changed so much since our last visit that I honestly thought we were in the wrong hotel! A beautiful hotel with a great fitness room, swimming pool and shop. Only an 18-minute walk to Disneyland it was the perfect base for us. My ONLY complaint was the lack of storage. One hanging rail, 2 drawers and a shelf between the 4 of us - it just wasn’t enough and our room just looked a mess with piles of clothes everywhere. BUT it did have a view of Disneyland and we were able to watch the fireowrks from our balcony :)
We had a surprise planned for our girls - a night at THE Disneyland Hotel. We started with breakfast at Goofy's Kitchen, followed by a day at the pool! The hotel pool has monorail waterslides and a Steamboat Willy themed area! They had free water, snacks and popsicles plus a pool bar service. All pizzas, salads and sandwiches could be made gluten free. Once we managed to drag the girls out of the pool we changed and headed to Downtown Disney which is right next door. You walk through DTD to get to the park entrances which were opposite each other, which is so handy. Such an amazing hotel AND a wonderful location.
Next Morning - DISNEYLAND. I have been before, but it is still an amazing place to visit. As the only park that Walt built, it has a very special place in my heart, and I find it so magical. I was lucky enough to take part in Walt's Main Street Tour and I was the ONLY guest on it. So I took a VIP tour along Main Street with my lovely guide Nic who was so knowledgeable and told me all about the history of the park. The tour’s highlight is visiting Walt's apartment! Back in the early 1950's Walt decided that the 40-mile trip to and from Disneyland was getting too much so he had an apartment built above the firehouse. So much history in one building and a very special place for Disney geeks like me. I was a little disappointed by the gluten free offerings - I'm used to Walt Disney World and Disney Cruise Line that have a GF option at every restaurant, Disneyland wasn’t as good. The good thing is the mobile ordering via the app meant we could check where had gluten free options and if my 8 year old would eat them. She pretty much lived off fries and tater tots (she isn’t a burger or steak kinda gal) but she did try new things like gumbo and shrimps.
We spent four magical days in Disneyland and Disney's California Adventure but could have easily done another day or two. We had two character breakfasts, one VIP seating at Fantasmic and a dessert party for World of Color - we tried to cram as much in as possible and by the end of the 10 days had 2 very tired girls (and adults).
We will definitely be returning in a few years as Disney has lots planned for the 70th anniversary next year, including “Walt Disney - A Magical Life”, so we need to see all of that.
If you have ever fancied the west coast for a theme park rich trip, please get in touch - we can also add tickets to Six Flags and Knott's Berry Farm for extra thrills!!
