DISNEYLAND + LA, CALIFORNIA
The Grand Legacy at the Park hotel we chose for this trip was less than a five-minute walk to the gates of Disneyland. It was very convenient and relatively low cost. The location of the hotel far outweighed anything else. It’s the kind of hotel where you want to wear shoes the whole time (especially in the shower) and not open your suitcase. We wouldn’t recommend the motel vibe-y Grand Legacy for anything other than the location.
MaxPass scheduled to us through another hotel guest we met at the pool. They explained it as a mobile fast pass booking, but it does so much more than that. A max pass costs $10/day/person and enables you to book all your fast passes from your phone, check on ride wait times, and book restaurant reservations. As the day progresses (from our experience), you’re able to book fast passes closer together. This feature is fantastic because it eliminates the race around the park to book fast passes and enables you to hold more than one at a time if you’ve booked one for later in the day. We kept waiting for rides at a minimum this way. We would recommend bringing a raincoat on every trip but especially Disneyland, because, on the rare occasion that it rains, you’ll end up with an empty park and the option to ride Big Thundy 8 times in a row.
We made our way up to Santa Monica for Valentine’s Day after Disneyland. We wanted to be near the beach, so we stayed at the Fairmont Miramar in Santa Monica. We walked the Santa Monica Pier, rented bikes, and rode up and down the beach. We explored Rodeo Drive, checking out all the shops and looking at all the “influencers” with their impromptu photoshoots. We ate at 208 Rodeo, which was a cute little restaurant just behind Tiffany & Co, and the food was terrific. We will revisit next time.
At the Fairmont, there’s a fantastic restaurant called The Fig, with absolutely beautiful garden décor, and they have an excellent brunch menu. The Bungalow is a cool bar at the Fairmont, a beachy chill bar. Another spot that we enjoyed was the Sonoma Wine Garden; it’s a cool rooftop restaurant with great wine. We used Uber to get to Hollywood and walked the Hollywood Walk of Fame, touristy and dirty but fun to see. We went to a 70’s bar around there called Good Times at Davie Waynes. The entrance was a fridge door. Urban Lights was a neat stop, too, best to go late to avoid crowds. We loved our LA portion, and we barely scraped the surface, but we have every intention of returning.
