Second All in One Disneyland TR Thread - Guardians of the Galaxy Mission: Breakout Review 5/30-6/2

[tksbaskets]

WOW you packed a lot into a 1/2 day at the parks. Great that you were able to see your friends perform at DCA. What a treat to be sure! We often stop to see the performers.

Hope you get to go to DL before August.

Merry Christmas Bret,
TK

 

[franandaj]

I thought I posted here a couple days ago, but I guess it got caught up in the lost posts. I had said that I was glad I didn't read about your Jingle Cruise before I went on it with Jenny and family. I didn't know what to expect and so it was really great to see first hand. Your pictures brought back fun memories of the ride with them.

I'm so glad you were able to make our concert and thanks for sending me the video. I'm always so happy when my friends can make it to a performance. I have been blessed to have friends at the past two concerts now!

I haven't had a chance to post your video anywhere and not sure I will. I love having it as a record of our performance, but we have a bittersweet relationship with the band now. While we poured our lives into it for a long time, some big changes have come along and we will probably still play there for a long time, but we won't be putting our hearts and souls into it as we once did. Nor will we be emptying our pocketbooks!

I love being able to listen to the performance though, I think it was one of our better ones. If I can figure out how to split the tracks into individual ones, I may put them up on my TR once I finish.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Merry Christmas Bret.

Great pictures of the Band!

 

[Leshaface]

I had never paid any attention before to the wreaths near IASW. That is so cool, thanks for taking pictures of those! They're beautiful.

Soarin' is definitely one of my favorites. I didn't get a chance to ride it in July or October. Bummer that I couldn't ride it one last time, but excited for the changes that are about to happen.

As sad as it is, LFT needs to be something else. That ride was just not fun (for us) and too much work. And once you figured out how to get it going, it would end. I'm sure Disney knows they need to come up with something fantastic to make up for it!

Oooh that mac and cheese with bacon looks delish! I always forget to visit the Cones for snacks.

Such a fun report! Your take fabulous pictures and look forward to hearing about your future trips. Hopefully you'll be able to make it to WDW in 2015

 

[mvf-m11c]

WOW you packed a lot into a 1/2 day at the parks. Great that you were able to see your friends perform at DCA. What a treat to be sure! We often stop to see the performers.

Hope you get to go to DL before August.

Merry Christmas Bret,
TK

We did quite a lot that Sunday morning to the afternoon. Luckily the parks were not that crowded that morning due to all the guests that were there for the Avenger’s Marathon that morning and went back to the room to rest up after a long morning. It was nice to see Alison and Fran perform at DCA that afternoon. They were great that afternoon.

We will go sometimes these next few months but not this month since all my days are all about work or coaching basketball.

I thought I posted here a couple days ago, but I guess it got caught up in the lost posts. I had said that I was glad I didn't read about your Jingle Cruise before I went on it with Jenny and family. I didn't know what to expect and so it was really great to see first hand. Your pictures brought back fun memories of the ride with them.

I'm so glad you were able to make our concert and thanks for sending me the video. I'm always so happy when my friends can make it to a performance. I have been blessed to have friends at the past two concerts now!

I haven't had a chance to post your video anywhere and not sure I will. I love having it as a record of our performance, but we have a bittersweet relationship with the band now. While we poured our lives into it for a long time, some big changes have come along and we will probably still play there for a long time, but we won't be putting our hearts and souls into it as we once did. Nor will we be emptying our pocketbooks!

I love being able to listen to the performance though, I think it was one of our better ones. If I can figure out how to split the tracks into individual ones, I may put them up on my TR once I finish.

That made sense of not seeing or reading my posts about Jingle Cruise since you want to see it first hand and be all surprised. That is great that you were able to ride it with Jenny and her family. It was nice new addition to Jingle Cruise to make it more of a Christmas theme ride during the holiday season.

Your welcome and glad that you have enjoyed the video that I videotaped that afternoon. We enjoyed your performance that afternoon and maybe one day when we are back in SoCal, we can see another one.

Your friends on the boards will enjoy your performance back in November and it will be great if you can post the video of your performance.

Merry Christmas Bret.

Great pictures of the Band!

Thank you PiO. It was nice to see Alison and Fran perform that afternoon until we left that day and back home to Sactown.

I had never paid any attention before to the wreaths near IASW. That is so cool, thanks for taking pictures of those! They're beautiful.

Soarin' is definitely one of my favorites. I didn't get a chance to ride it in July or October. Bummer that I couldn't ride it one last time, but excited for the changes that are about to happen.

As sad as it is, LFT needs to be something else. That ride was just not fun (for us) and too much work. And once you figured out how to get it going, it would end. I'm sure Disney knows they need to come up with something fantastic to make up for it!

Oooh that mac and cheese with bacon looks delish! I always forget to visit the Cones for snacks.

Such a fun report! Your take fabulous pictures and look forward to hearing about your future trips. Hopefully you'll be able to make it to WDW in 2015

The wreaths at IASW Plaza are so amazing to look at which represents each different country.

Soarin is one of our favorite rides at DCA and it will be sad when it will be down until mid May. I wonder what the new version will be like? I’m sorry that you weren’t able to ride Soarin during your trips and hope you are able to ride the new version when it opens later this year.

It was nice to ride LFT when it opened in 2012. As you said that it needs to be something else since it doesn’t get the huge amount of crowds unless it is one of the rides with the shortest wait times. You might have enjoyed LFT when they had the beach balls for the first few months until Disney took away the beach balls. It will be very interesting to see what Disney will do with LFT since it will be down for most of the year.

The mac and cheese cone was very good and it is a nice addition to the Cozy Cone Motel.

Thank you Alicia. We always enjoy the holiday season at the DLR which is by far our favorite time of the year to visit. The photos have improved over the years with new equipment and all the books and tips that I have gotten in that time which helps out a lot. I am still continuing to improve my photography this year which new equipment will be part of it.

We are most likely to be going back to WDW this year sometime in October. I would mostly would choose November/December during the holiday season at WDW but I am busy with my basketball season in November/December where it is not an option. We are working on what dates to go in October and see what rates are for airlines. Right now nothing is set yet and it will be a while until we find that good rates.

 

[mvf-m11c]

Here is an update of what is going on with the upcoming future DL trip reports. I could have gone last week with Cousin Chris and her family to the DLR but with basketball season at it's fullest this month and December, I wasn't able to go with them. But they had an excellent time during the slow season which a lot of rides were closed for refurbishment and the holiday decorations were taken down.

As for my upcoming trips, DAW (not DAF) has been busy lately with work and taking care of her aunts and uncles told me that it is time to get away from all that and go back to the Happiest Place on Earth. Recently, I have been looking online for good flight deals for the WDW trip in October and found on Southwest Airlines website that there is a special Wanna Get Away deal from Sac to OC for $49 one way which is a great deal. I told DAW and she was happy to hear that since she doesn't like to drive from Sac to Anaheim. I mostly like to drive to SoCal but it would be nice to fly again down to OC. We talked about a couple of future DL trips since she has the Premium AP that she renewed in June and only has used it once in September 2014 trip. So she needs to get a couple of trips out of the way to make up for the price of the PAP.

As for the dates, we have chosen as our first trip which will be on March 8th to 10th which is Sunday to Tuesday. The rates for the prices of SWA were high on Friday and Sunday. So when we looked closely, Sunday going to OC was great and we will be able to see the fireworks on Sunday during our trip. We were able to get a room at the Best Western Park Place Inn for that visit.

Also during the trip, DAW have been talking with her friend DM that went with us during the January 2013 trip along with DD4 who was 2 when she went to her first trip to the DLR will be going along with us during the trip. DD4 mom will not be joining us since she is working but DD4 will be coming along with DAW and me during the March trip. We were a little surprised that DM would let DD4 go with us during this trip in which DD4 has asked DM if she could go back with us one day since the January 2013 trip. I can understand why DM doesn't want DD4 to go with DAW and me since she is still a young child. But DM decided that it was okay this time. But she could change her mind at the last second so until the day comes, that will tell the tale. For now, we don't have a plan except for the flight and hotel we are staying. We will have to find a good ticket price for DD4 since we both have AP's. DD4 have told DAW and me that she is excited to go back to the DLR and she told us that she wants to see Anna and Elsa. So it looks like we will have to plan on seeing Anna and Elsa during the trip which they are now in DCA. This will be a good opportunity to see the Frozen Fun event at Hollywood Land.

The second trip that DAW and I have talked about was close to when her AP is about to expire in June. We talk about a June trip but she doesn't want to go during the summertime as well as the high summer crowds. We looked at the dates and the one that she was thinking about is going after Memorial Day weekend. We looked at the dates and chose a date on May 30th to June 1st. Which is a week after Memorial Day weekend. Once again, we took advantage of the SWA deal to OC for $49 one way and back at the same price. We also got BWPPI as our place to stay for our visit. This time it will just be the two of us instead of DD4 since we like to relax at the Happiest Place on Earth. This will also be a perfect trip for the two of us since we will be able to see the new 60th anniversary firework show at DL a couple of weeks before the rides that are down from January to May and the new firework show. I was also thinking of want to go during May 15th for the opening but we chose to go later which is okay.

We will be looking forward to going back to the DLR these next few months and don't be surprised if I do try to make a last second trip to the DLR these next few months.

 

[PrincessInOz]

I'm totally envious!

 

[tksbaskets]

It sounds like you have some wonderful Disney trips coming up. I'd love to go to DL for the 60th celebration. I'll look forward to seeing it through your trip reports!

 

[Leshaface]

I definitely wouldn't pass up $49 one way tickets from SAC to OC For that, i'd definitely rather fly than drive.

Awesome that you have a few more trips planned to DLR!

Any dates yet for WDW? I totally get you about sports. DH is a Varsity Assistant coach for Baseball, so we don't do much from Jan-May. He also used to coach football as well which took up Summer through November, so traveling was difficult.

 

[mvf-m11c]

I'm totally envious!

Thanks PiO. Since DAW is not planning on renewing her AP (unless she decides during the trip but I don't expect it) and it is nice to go back with DD4 for the March trip and to be able to go just in time for the 60th anniversary.

It sounds like you have some wonderful Disney trips coming up. I'd love to go to DL for the 60th celebration. I'll look forward to seeing it through your trip reports!

Thanks TK. There are a lot of trips that are still in the planning stage from the WDW trip and multiple trips to the DLR including the 60 anniversary, D23 Expo, & holiday season.

I definitely wouldn't pass up $49 one way tickets from SAC to OC For that, i'd definitely rather fly than drive.

Awesome that you have a few more trips planned to DLR!

Any dates yet for WDW? I totally get you about sports. DH is a Varsity Assistant coach for Baseball, so we don't do much from Jan-May. He also used to coach football as well which took up Summer through November, so traveling was difficult.

Can't beat the price of $49 one way from Sac to OC and it would be nice once in a change to fly instead of drive. But I always like driving to SoCal especially with all the different stuff I bring with me. I will have to be creative of what to bring and not to bring when flying. It has been a while since I flown to OC and to the DLR.

Thanks Alicia. I got to get my value worth of my AP and this one was well worth it.

Right now, my family and I are thinking of going in October somewhere around the 16th to the 23rd for 8 days. I wanted to go back during the holiday season but our times don't work out since my basketball season is the busiest in December and they can't go in November. I am still planning on going in November with DAF like we usually do every year. It will be nice to go back during the Halloween season and F&W Festival where we have enjoyed it back during the 2012 trip.

Just as you said that coaching sport teams is a big commitment and takes a lot of time. Luckily for me since the games are on the weekdays and some on the weekends (mostly tournaments), we were able to go during some parts of the season. There are other trips that I want to go down from now to May but my AAU work is going to prevent that on the weekends. So I am still going back on everyday to see what is the best time to go back down to SoCal.

 

[mvf-m11c]

I will be going on a quick trip to Anaheim in less than 3 weeks with DAF and my dad. We will be there on the 22nd to 23rd. It is a really quick trip in which we will only be there for a couple of days in SoCal. This will be a great opportunity to go for a couple of days at the DLR with the Frozen Fun happening at DCA. I won't be writing a trip report for this trip but I will be able to post some pictures and talk about the Frozen Fun. It has been years since I have been to the DLR in February.

It won't be too long until I return in early March with DAW and DD4. We haven't told DD4 that she will be going with DAW and I to the DLR. This will be a very nice surprise for DD4.

 

[PrincessInOz]

That's good work, Bret. Enjoy!

 

[franandaj]

Just and FYI, they are in full swing of getting ready for the 60th Anniversary. I couldn't believe how many things are closed down. I'm going to do a small update on my Cruise TR about our stay for the last two days and I'll try and remember everything that was down for rehab when I'm working on that. It was CRAZY how much wasn't available!

 

[rentayenta]

Subbing so I can get emails. Going back to catch up now.


I hope we'll get to meet up and that one of our trips overlaps.

 

[mvf-m11c]

That's good work, Bret. Enjoy!

Thanks PiO. Even though it is during the off-season with all the refurbishments going on, I like to go when it is quiet (even though it isn't quiet anymore during the off-season at the DLR) but it will be weird to see all the walls up for the 60th anniversary.

Just and FYI, they are in full swing of getting ready for the 60th Anniversary. I couldn't believe how many things are closed down. I'm going to do a small update on my Cruise TR about our stay for the last two days and I'll try and remember everything that was down for rehab when I'm working on that. It was CRAZY how much wasn't available!

Thank you for the information Alison. Hope you and Fran had a great time at the DLR these last couple of days. It will be weird to see all the the rides and shows all down for the refurbishment these next couple of months before the 60th anniversary starts in May. At least Disney is getting everything ready in May for the 60th anniversary. I am all excited and can't wait any longer to see all the new nighttime events and updated rides. I will be looking forward to reading your trip. It won't be too long until I see what it will be like in late February.

Subbing so I can get emails. Going back to catch up now.


I hope we'll get to meet up and that one of our trips overlaps.

Thank you Jenny.

I'm hoping that we will be able to meet up one day during our trips. You might be surprise if I can make a last second trip that will overlaps your trip.

 

[ACDSNY]

That's great you were able to get in on the SWA sale, I love when they run the $49 specials. I was able to move my LAX flight in May to SNA last week.

 

[PrincessInOz]

I will be going on a quick trip to Anaheim in less than 3 weeks with DAF and my dad. We will be there on the 22nd to 23rd. It is a really quick trip in which we will only be there for a couple of days in SoCal. This will be a great opportunity to go for a couple of days at the DLR with the Frozen Fun happening at DCA. I won't be writing a trip report for this trip but I will be able to post some pictures and talk about the Frozen Fun. It has been years since I have been to the DLR in February.

It won't be too long until I return in early March with DAW and DD4. We haven't told DD4 that she will be going with DAW and I to the DLR. This will be a very nice surprise for DD4.

Safe travels, Bret. Look forward to reading all about it when you return.

 

[mvf-m11c]

That's great you were able to get in on the SWA sale, I love when they run the $49 specials. I was able to move my LAX flight in May to SNA last week.

It was great to get the good deals on SWA for $49. That is great news to hear that you were also able to get the good deal for your trip in May.

Safe travels, Bret. Look forward to reading all about it when you return.

Thank you PiO. We had a fun day today even though it did rain hard around 9pm tonight. But we were able to do quite a lot in just about 5 hours in the parks.


Here is a quick update from the trip today. When we got to SoCal, we head on first to eat at California Fish Grill in Cypress. I like to eat at the California Fish Grill when I am in SoCal. Those are times with my DB and his GF. This time, I went with DAF which she was impressed with the restaurant.

After eating at the California Fish Grill, we head straight on over to our hotel at Best Western Raffles Inn & Suites on Harbor Blvd. This was the first time staying at BWRI&S which we were able to get a good deal for about $70 a night.

We didn't head on over to the parks until 4pm which we were a little tired that day from driving from Sac to Anaheim. It was a little wet that afternoon which we knew that it was going to rain later that night so we were prepared for the rainy day at the parks.


We went in DCA for a few minutes. We were able to get FP's for the Frozen Sing Along show at 7:15pm that night and we came back later that day to see the show.


We didn't stay too long in DCA since we head on over to the ESPN Zone for dinner that night. For the regular DISers that have follow my trip reports know that DAF and I love eating at the ESPN Zone every time we are here at the DLR.


After dinner, we head straight on back to DCA to see the 7:15pm Frozen Sing Along show. We had to use the FP's that night which we didn't have to wait that long to get in the Muppets 3D Vision building which is decorated with the Frozen theme.






We were singing along the popular songs from Frozen








After the Sing Along, it started to rain again. Luckily we had rain gear with us that night so we were able to walk around the parks. After that, we went in Olaf Snow Fest for a while.




We were able to see the preview of the movie "Cinderella" at A Bug's Theatre.


After being in DCA, we head straight on over to DL that night to see Fantasy in the Sky fireworks and I was able to get some pictures until the fireworks start at 9:15pm.


It was wet that night while a lot of the outside rides were closed that night like the Tea Cups and AiW.


We were able to see Fantasy in the Sky fireworks that night which I haven't seen that firework show in years.




Just when the fireworks was over, it started to rain like crazy that night and I was able to take some pictures with my camera on the tripod and standing outside taking pictures in the rain.










We left around 10pm that night and back to BWRI&S that night. I will have more pictures uploaded when I get back but you can check out my pictures from this trip on my flickr link below.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Beautiful, Bret.

Looks like perfect photo-taking weather!!

 

[franandaj]

Wow! That place emptied out quick. We were home watching the Oscars. Not that we'd seen any of the movies other than Into the Woods. But we were happy just to not be outside in the rain!