Today was our last day all together in California. B had to head back for work and the girls and I decided to do a quick few days at Disney. This worked out surprisingly well, because I could work from the hotel at night and had a few extra days and well, B doesn’t really like Disney. 

We all grabbed lunch at the Auld Dubliner in Long Beach before dropping B off at the Long Beach airport. Whenever flying in to LA in the future we are definitely going to be using the Long Beach airport. 10 minutes after we dropped him off we received a text from B that he was comfortably sitting at his gate waiting for his plane. Added bonus that there was no traffic getting him there. All around great airport find. 

It was around 2 pm when we got to Anaheim and got checked in to our hotel. In the past I have sworn I would never stay off site again, but I found a pretty amazing deal just blocks from the entrance. The hotel was only $89 a night and a few minutes of walking to the park. We couldn’t really beat that deal especially since we spent so very little time in our hotel room each day. 

I also skipped the hopper passes for the parks. We’ve always enjoyed that but with only 2 days at the park I decided to just buy a 2 day 1-park pass and focus on one park each day. That saved us well over $100 each day too. I’m tellin’ ya, it’s like Disney is paying me to play there (insert incredibly dramatic eyeroll here!). 

Our first afternoon/evening we didn’t go to the parks but spent our time exploring Downtown Disney. I expected to go for about two hours and grab dinner and then head back to our hotel for a goodnight sleep before our big day at the park tomorrow. The girls absolutely loved Downtown Disney and we ended up spending about 6 hours there! There was a lot to see and do and they were definitely getting in the Disney spirit. 

We stopped for an afternoon snack at Tortilla Joe’s and enjoyed some guacamole and smoothies. 

Next stop was the Lego store. The girls picked out tons of kits they want to purchase when they get home. They are big time into legos right now. 

We stopped for just a smell of the sweet treats at the Sprinkles store. 

The girls had their eyes on some Disney treats at Marceline’s Confectionery. Annabelle got a rice crispy treat and Gwyneth got a cake pop. They both had their eyes on some caramel apples that are sold in the park only…so they are pretty excited for those. 

I had offered to buy them ears for our stay as a souvenir and they used their own money to buy stuffed animals. I thought it was kind of silly, but they sure do love those things. I think they may be appreciated even more because they used their very own money for them. 

Seriously, these girls just make me happy!

We got one of the last reservations of the night for a Character Dining experience at the Disneyland Hotel. We didn’t plan on doing any of these in the park so it was a fun little indulgence. Let me tell ya one little hang up…kids are priced 10 and up at Disney. Annabelle’s meal went from around $20 to about $45. That’s a whole lotta nonsense right there because everyone knows our little G can eat her weight at a buffet and Annabelle has way more discriminating tastes. That was truly my only (pricey) annoyance for the day and you gotta be prepared for Disney pricing. 

The girls left downtown Disney with full tummies and happy hearts. Our walk back to the hotel wasn’t bad at all, but we were all worn out and ready for a big day in the parks tomorrow!