Day 1: Pool time and Downtown Disney

We arrived in Sunny California around noon or so, I think. It took a little while to get our luggage and get to the Super Shuttle check in. I have mixed feelings about Super Shuttle. The price was decent, I guess- ran us about $75 I think for the four of us. I looked into private car service, but it was almost double with tip. And since our hotel was right across the street from Disneyland, we decided not to get our rental car until after the DL portion was done. We had to save every penny we could, remember? ;) We were the first ones in the van, but had to make 4-5 other stops around LAX to pick up other passengers. But the saving grace was that we were dropped at our hotel first. We checked in and got right in our suits. The pool was small, but sufficient. It was clean and hardly anyone was there any day we decided to swim. The kids had a blast and we actually had a hard time getting them to leave so we could check out DTD.

Walking into Disneyland is definitely different than WDW. The sign isn't all that big. I imagine you could drive right by and not even realize you had passed The Happiest Place on Earth.

There's quite a walk between the entrance and the plaza where the park entrances are, but it's pretty.  Kids thought the Mickey bench was cool :)

We walked around, checking things out. Some was similar to DTD in Orlando, like World of Disney and the Lego Store. But they had some really cool things there that DTD in WDW doesn't have- like Belle and Beast and a really cool mural behind Woody and Buzz. Plus the Magic Carpet too! Soo cool!

We had dinner at Earl of Sandwich. It's been a real long time since we've eaten at the one in WDW, so I really can't compare them. But it was tasty :)

We walked around some more. Lots of stores. Not as many restaurants. We ended up having dinner there 2 other nights. Once at ESPN Zone, which we've never eaten at in WDW. It was just okay. Pretty pricey though. And we ate at Napolini another day. Pizza and salad. It was pretty good. A decent counter meal.

Our last night we went to DTD one last time. The kids were hell bent on doing Build a Bear and Ridemakrz. (With their own money.)

And we decided to do one of the hand painted signs with our last name. Each letter is a character. VERY cute. But of course, when we got back to the hotel and actually looked at it, our name was spelled wrong :( So hubby ran back. We had no time in the morning to go back. We had to pick up our rental car at 8:30 and get on the road. We were heading to Vegas for the weekend. But they were great and made him a new one right then and there.

So overall, day 1 and DTD in general were nice. Not as much going on there as DTD in WDW, but it was fun. :)