Family Road Trip to Disneyland, 12/2007

Before we began our first L.A. road trip, I wasn't sure how HanHan would handle the long car ride, so I packed everything I could think of to entertain and feed her for 6 hours.  By the time we left the house, I had a cooler full of drinks, 2 bags of food  and many toys.   Luckily, the day was nice so HanHan was in a good mood to start with.

After a couple of hours of munching and playing, we stopped at a McDonald's by Hwy 5 to get gas and recharge.  As usual, HanHan ordered a hamburger Happy Meal.  Surprisingly, HanHan picked a scary Bionicle toy (Kalmah) over Strawberry Shortcake.  I was in shock!  My gentle little HanHan had turned to the DARK side?  Well, as with all her toys, she lost interest after the first few days so the dark side had a short lifespan of exactly one day...

After lunch we continued our trip southward.  HanHan was able to take a nap for 1 - 1.5 hours, and we managed to arrive at the hotel just before she was about to get really cranky.  The Marriott had a nice hotel lobby and friendly staff, so our check-in process was quite pleasant.  The Anaheim Marriott was about 2 miles from Disneyland so traveling by shuttle to the park was a must (especially with a 4-year-old).  We therefore purchased the shuttle tickets at the front desk to ensure a speedy start to Disneyland the next morning.   All in all, I enjoyed our stay at the Marriott with one exception - self parking was $20/day, yikes! 

Since we wanted to save our energy for Disneyland the next day, we decided to dine close by.  We quickly spotted Cafe Del Sol by the lobby and decided to give it a try.   Although we ordered simple food items - a sandwich and a salad (HanHan had the kid's buffet with mac 'n' cheese, hash browns and chicken nuggets) - the quality was good.   After dinner, we met Santa at the lobby and HanHan enjoyed a sugar cookie that she dressed up with green sprinkles.  What a lovely way to end our first day near Disneyland.