After watching "Confessions of a Retired Disney Princess" I had the urge to visit Disneyland. I love traveling, but hate the hassle of driving, parking, and sitting in gridlock. So we visited Orange County car-free using bicycles and the Metrolink train. We brought our dog on the long weekend vacation, using a Pet Gear 3-in-1 carrier. We took the OC line to ARTIC, the multimodal transit hub in Anaheim. It was less than 3 miles to our hotel, which was easy to travel by bicycle. We walked through Downtown Disney three times for free, and I was even able to take my dog through security with no problems. I didn't see any Disney Princesses, but I did see the Monorail go by a few times (which, by the way, you can't board without a valid park pass).The only downside of this trip was a disruption to Metrolink and Amtrak service due to a gas leak on Sunday when we were on our way home. Luckily, with the help of the LA County Bike Map and Google Maps directions, we biked our way through Anaheim and Cerritos along Ball Rd, which had intermittent bike lanes. As we approached El Dorado Park, there was even a protected bike lane. We got on the San Gabriel River Trail, which we love because it has lots of green parks with restrooms and free water. At the Whitter Narrows we got on the Rio Hondo bike path to El Monte Metrolink Station. Even though we got home pretty late, we still made it (35 miles of biking). Although a gas leak is something we could not have predicted, it did force us to follow through on something we had been wanting to do for awhile, which is to find Metrolink train lines that intersect the Rio Hondo/San Gabriel River Trail.
We missed the Viva SGV! event and the Los Angeles River Ride, and I didn't see the fireworks over the Sleeping Beauty Castle, but we still had a great car-free weekend at Disneyland.
