Day 5: San Jose, CA to Disneyland Resort | Total Time: 7 hours | Total Distance: 400 miles
We arrived at the Disneyland Hotel today. Except for Laura, who stayed here as a child, none of us had been here before. Having plenty of relatives in the area always meant I never stayed in a hotel when visiting southern California as a child. This trip was going to be different because Grandma wanted to make it special for the grandkids on their first visit to Disneyland. Sold!
Our drive from San Jose took about 7 hours along the 101 route. Normally, we take the I-5 via 152 but due to 3 hour delays from road construction, we opted for the scenic coastal 101 route. Along the drive, I was reminded of the many cities my band played (Morgan Hill, Gilroy, Ventura, Isla Vista, and Santa Barbara) and how I hadn’t been through some of these towns since 1999 or 2000. It was a great trip down memory lane.
Disneyland, Disneyland Hotel, Downtown Disney, California Adventure….it’s all the same to our kids. They were freakin’ excited to be driving down the street that led the Disneyland Hotel parking lot for goodness sake. It eventually all leads to Cars Land or Pirates of the Caribbean at some point during our stay. That’s all that matter.
Everything we did this evening has been exciting for them. This includes the hotel suite, view of the pool from the hotel suite, seeing Goofy in the hotel lobby, visiting Trader Sam’s, walking into Legoland at Downtown Disney, Uncle Mark purchasing Mickey Mouse Ears balloons, visiting with my cousin Rich, his wife Katie and their children (all around the same age), and, what I feel is the highlight, having the bed headboard play music while the lights twinkle. We did that last one a lot before bed.
The kids are ready for tomorrow. We have a pass to get in the gate 1 hour early. We’ll be up at 6am and at the front gate to California Adventure at 7am so the kids will get an opportunity to enjoy Cars Land with few crowds.
