Day 1 – August 12th, 2015 – Part 1
Safe Drive to Long Beach and then to Anaheim
It is time for the first day of the 4th Annual D23 Expo trip to Anaheim. This is the fourth D23 Expo (2009, 2011, & 2013). I have attended all four while DAF is attending for the third time. This was all about the D23 Expo along with enjoy the first two days at the Disneyland Resort so DAF could see the 60th Diamond Celebration. She was excited to go down to the Expo and the DLR. I won’t be writing up a lot during the days at the DLR since this is all about the D23 Expo. But I will post pictures and talk somethings about our days at the DLR. This D23 Expo is going to be a very interesting one where there will be some new things added to the event like the StorePass for the three big stores at the Expo (Dream Store, Mickey’s of Glendale and Disney Store). StagePass is back after debuting in 2011 and more vendors and exhibits are added to the Expo. This was also the first time that the D23 Expo is not using the D23 Arena but using Hall D23 or Hall D at the Anaheim Convention Center.
Also during the trip, I rented a Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 telephoto lens for the D23 Expo trip. I was excited to rent this lens for the trip in which I have rented the Nikon 70-200mm f/4 lens during the May trip with DAW. I was satisfy with the lens that this time I wanted to try the 2.8 for the D23 Expo trip which I will need for the dark presentations at the D23 Expo. Plus it will be perfect to use during the DLR trip as well.
Now let’s get to the trip report.
It was around 7am in the morning where I was picked up by DAF. This is our usual time when we leave Sacramento to SoCal. But we had to make a stop on the way before we got to Anaheim that afternoon.
When we packed all of our stuff in the car, we started on our journey to SoCal, but first we had to stop at my grandmother’s house in Livingston. It is nice to see her when we go down to SoCal.
Before we head on over to the Anaheim, we made a quick stop on the way over to LB to meet up with Alison.
After we left her place, we head on over to Anaheim. Our hotel during the trip was the Best Western Stovall’s. I have stayed at BW Stovall’s a lot of times in the past which the rates can be quick cheap when staying across the street from the DLR. We chose this place since it is about a 5 minute walk to the Anaheim Convention Center and a 12 minute walk to the turnstiles at the DLR.
We got to BW Stovall’s a little late that afternoon around 4pm since we had to make a quick stop on the way and traffic was bad in SoCal as expected. We were able to check-in when we got there and our room was close to the lobby and by Katella Ave.
Once we got settled in, we rested up a little bit until it was time to head on over to the DLR and go see the 8:50pm Paint the Night parade. For the readers who have followed my previous trip reports, I had to wait 2 & 4 hours just for a spot on Main Street to watch the first PtN parade during the May trips. This time, I expected that the waiting time to get a good spot on MS was about 2 hours until the parade started at 8:50pm.
When we got our bags all set, it was time to head on over to the DLR that night. We walked from BW Stovall’s all the way to the DLR.
We walked through the Grand California Hotel since it is the quickest way to cut through the hotel and head on over to Downtown Disney. Also Sleeping Beauty Castle cake was still in the lobby at the GCH. I got to see the cake during the July trip during the Anime Expo trip.
It took about 12 minutes to get from BW Stovall’s to the entrance of DL turnstiles. Also when I was walking on in the park, I tried the new Disneyland App which my DL AP was in the system. This is another good way to use the App if you don’t want to take your AP out of your wallet, pouch, etc. During the trip when I upgraded my Premium AP to the Premier for the Walt Disney World trip in October, I can’t use the DL App with my Premier AP. I talked to customer service and they said that the Premier isn’t incorporated in the DL App but they will do so in the near future.
The first thing we did was head on in DL so we can get a spot on Main Street to watch the 8:50pm Paint the Night parade.
We were able to get a spot on Main Street between the Coke Corner and Penny Arcade on Main Street. There were already people waiting on the sidewalk around 6:30pm that night. I was not disappointed that we didn’t get a curbside spot for the PtN at 8:50pm which we were able to stand for the parade. DAF had no problem with that and standing up for the parade as long as she could see it.
This was DAF first time seeing the new parade where I have seen it 3 times at one spot since May.
When we got settled in we didn’t have dinner yet, so we decided to have dinner at the Plaza Inn. I got the food to go instead of sitting at the Plaza Inn since we were waiting on MS to watch parade that night.
I only just got the Plaza Chicken since we both shard the plate that night.
While we were waiting around on MS, I used the f/2.8 lens to see what is the difference in the quality from the f/4 that I used during the late May trip with DAW. The 2.8 was quite heavy over the f/4 but the sharpness was quite impressive.
After waiting for almost 2 and a half hours, the 8:50pm Paint the Night parade started to come all the way from It’s a Small World Plaza to Main Street. We had to wait another 15 minutes until the parade made its way on over to MS.
