A Day at the Walt Disney Studios and Archives and Disneyland - 5/3/13 to 5/5/13 #2854

[mvf-m11c]

Here are some pics from Monday night.

[tksbaskets]

Great pictures Bret!

[Sherry E]

I love those first 2 photos (the fireworks shots) at the top of this page, Bret! Awesome!

The food all looks good. Even though I am mad at WCT for getting rid of their meatball sandwiches, the spaghetti looks yummy!

Did you hear the news? There's a Candlelight Processional happening for 20 nights - yes, 20 nights instead of 2 - in December this year at DLR. From December 1 - December 20, and AP holders will be able to see the shows from 12/3 - 12/20. There will also be dinner packages! Yay! I want to see the CP for once in my life (hopefully the AP holders will not have to pay, or at least not pay a crazy amount)!

[mvf-m11c]

Originally Posted by tksbaskets

Great pictures Bret!

Thank you TK.

Originally Posted by Sherry E

I love those first 2 photos (the fireworks shots) at the top of this page, Bret! Awesome!

The food all looks good. Even though I am mad at WCT for getting rid of their meatball sandwiches, the spaghetti looks yummy!

Did you hear the news? There's a Candlelight Processional happening for 20 nights - yes, 20 nights instead of 2 - in December this year at DLR. From December 1 - December 20, and AP holders will be able to see the shows from 12/3 - 12/20. There will also be dinner packages! Yay! I want to see the CP for once in my life (hopefully the AP holders will not have to pay, or at least not pay a crazy amount)!

Thank you Sherry. Some of the firework pics were nice that night while most of them were bad. I was suppose to put my DSLR camera on the tripod that night, but I forgot to bring my remote control for my camera. I was disappointed that I didn't get pics of the firework trails, but I did get to use my video camera that night. We had fun yesterday at DL and DCA which we did Dakota of rides that day. My DB and his GF enjoyed WoC a lot.

The food was great yesterday at Flo's v8 Cafe and WCT. My DB said that the turkey at Flo's was a little dry without the sauce. I thought it was okay without the sauce. But he has his own taste of food as well as me. the spaghetti was very nice that night which I got while my DB had the shrimp scampi and his GF had the fried foods

I just learned about the CP happening for 20 nights by reading your post. Since I was at the parks and updating my TR, I didn't get to read about it. That is so exciting that DL is doing multiple days for the CP just like at EPCOT where they have a lot of days for the CP. too bad that i won't get a chance to see it since my trip is in mid November thanks to my basketball season. That would be awesome to see the CP at DL for all those years, but hopefully I will be able to go be back to DL in mid December next year. Thank you for the information Sherry about the CP at DL.

[PrincessInOz]

Nice pics Bret. Sorry you forgot the remote.

[Sherry E]

Originally Posted by mvf-m11c

Thank you TK.




Thank you Sherry. Some of the firework pics were nice that night while most of them were bad. I was suppose to put my DSLR camera on the tripod that night, but I forgot to bring my remote control for my camera. I was disappointed that I didn't get pics of the firework trails, but I did get to use my video camera that night. We had fun yesterday at DL and DCA which we did Dakota of rides that day. My DB and his GF enjoyed WoC a lot.

The food was great yesterday at Flo's v8 Cafe and WCT. My DB said that the turkey at Flo's was a little dry without the sauce. I thought it was okay without the sauce. But he has his own taste of food as well as me. the spaghetti was very nice that night which I got while my DB had the shrimp scampi and his GF had the fried foods

I just learned about the CP happening for 20 nights by reading your post. Since I was at the parks and updating my TR, I didn't get to read about it. That is so exciting that DL is doing multiple days for the CP just like at EPCOT where they have a lot of days for the CP. too bad that i won't get a chance to see it since my trip is in mid November thanks to my basketball season. That would be awesome to see the CP at DL for all those years, but hopefully I will be able to go be back to DL in mid December next year. Thank you for the information Sherry about the CP at DL.

You know, I must admit that when I first saw the Disney Parks Blog entry about the CP, I was thinking "Twenty nights? That's a huge leap from only 2 nights!" I would have thought that maybe they'd bump it up to 10 nights or something. Doesn't it seem like a really big stretch for DLR? To me, it makes sense to have many, many CP nights at WDW because WDW is such a huge resort, and everything is 'bigger' there. There are many places for people to go if they are not interested in the CP.

DLR, however, only consists of 2 parks, DTD and 3 hotels. Holding a CP for 20 nights in December at DLR seems like a bit much to me. The crowds may very well end up being ridiculous.

I am assuming that Disney - or specifically, TDA - is really banking on luring people into DCA this holiday season, to kind of spread out the crowds. They would have to have something holiday-ish in DCA (more so than before) to keep the holiday visitors satisfied if they don't want to stay in DL and get caught in CP crowds. They need something new in DCA to keep people in the holiday spirit.

And I guess that's where Cars Land and Buena Vista Street will come into play. Those themed decorations and newly relocated Christmas tree we keep hearing about will probably be the things that Disney expects will get people over to that park. I don't think they will be doing a full holiday version of World of Color yet. Sooner or later they should be starting the TSMM holiday overlay (with Mr. Potato Head singing Christmas songs) that was hinted at when TSMM first opened, but who knows when that is coming?

In any case, you might be better off not seeing the CP this year and waiting until next year. Since this is the first year DLR is attempting so many CP nights and setting it up so that AP holders can see it on 18 of those nights, and then offering dinner packages and all of that too, it's kind of an experiment. After this year they may decide that 20 nights is too much. Also, we will get lots of reports on how the CP is affecting crowds in both parks and there may be a clear idea of which nights are worse. That will help you plan for next year!

[usnuzuloose]

Those are awesome pictures! I really love the castle and the colors! Thanks for sharing!

[franandaj]

Hi,
I'm all caught up again! You must be on your way home (or already there) by now. I hope you enjoyed your trip! Sorry the weather did not cooperate! I've been hiding in the house with the AC running!

Looking forward to more great pictures! I need some lunch, maybe I'll have some spaghetti! "laughing:

[rentayenta]

Originally Posted by mvf-m11c

Thank you Jenny.


On my way back home to Sacramento after having lunch at California Fish Grill restaurant in Cypress. It is a seafood restaurant which my DB and his GF choose since they have ate at one in Irvine. It was very nice restaurant and the food was good.

I'm from Long Beach but lived in Cypress from Kinder to HS graduation and then returned to the LBC for college and fun. Where in Cypress is the Fish Grill?

[mvf-m11c]

Originally Posted by PrincessInOz

Nice pics Bret. Sorry you forgot the remote.

Thank you PiO. It's no problem, I will do the firework trail on my next trip to WDW.

Originally Posted by Sherry E

You know, I must admit that when I first saw the Disney Parks Blog entry about the CP, I was thinking "Twenty nights? That's a huge leap from only 2 nights!" I would have thought that maybe they'd bump it up to 10 nights or something. Doesn't it seem like a really big stretch for DLR? To me, it makes sense to have many, many CP nights at WDW because WDW is such a huge resort, and everything is 'bigger' there. There are many places for people to go if they are not interested in the CP.

DLR, however, only consists of 2 parks, DTD and 3 hotels. Holding a CP for 20 nights in December at DLR seems like a bit much to me. The crowds may very well end up being ridiculous.

I am assuming that Disney - or specifically, TDA - is really banking on luring people into DCA this holiday season, to kind of spread out the crowds. They would have to have something holiday-ish in DCA (more so than before) to keep the holiday visitors satisfied if they don't want to stay in DL and get caught in CP crowds. They need something new in DCA to keep people in the holiday spirit.

And I guess that's where Cars Land and Buena Vista Street will come into play. Those themed decorations and newly relocated Christmas tree we keep hearing about will probably be the things that Disney expects will get people over to that park. I don't think they will be doing a full holiday version of World of Color yet. Sooner or later they should be starting the TSMM holiday overlay (with Mr. Potato Head singing Christmas songs) that was hinted at when TSMM first opened, but who knows when that is coming?

In any case, you might be better off not seeing the CP this year and waiting until next year. Since this is the first year DLR is attempting so many CP nights and setting it up so that AP holders can see it on 18 of those nights, and then offering dinner packages and all of that too, it's kind of an experiment. After this year they may decide that 20 nights is too much. Also, we will get lots of reports on how the CP is affecting crowds in both parks and there may be a clear idea of which nights are worse. That will help you plan for next year!

I said that same thing too about the CP extending to twenty nights. That does seems like a lot of nights at DL for the CP. I thought at least a week would be enough for DL since it is not WDW where they have two months of the CP at EPCOT. It does make sense for WDW to have many CP, but for DL it doesn't make sense to have 20 when you it only have 2 a year at DL. It will be very interesting to see how this will work out.

Every year at DL, the CP does draw a lot of crowds. That is a lot of days to have a CP at DL. The crowds will be high to watch the CP and would they still have the CP stage on MS station like they do have every year?

I would assume that TDA is trying to lure a lot of people to DCA during the Holiday season if they are going to have 20 days for the CP. It will be very interesting to see what TDA will come up with for DCA to lure the guests to go to DCA instead of DL during the CP.

My guess is the same thing with CL and BVS. While both lands are new, they want to make it more interesting to come back during the Holiday season. I can't wait to see what kind of decorations they will have for BVS and CL. It will be very nice if they have a WoC Holiday version, but I am guessing that it will be the same with that small segment for WoC during the Holiday season.

At first I was not happy of not seeing the CP, but after thinking about it is a good idea to wait until next year to see how it goes so I won't go in a blind.

Thank you for the info Sherry.

Originally Posted by usnuzuloose

Those are awesome pictures! I really love the castle and the colors! Thanks for sharing!

Thank you Jo.

Originally Posted by franandaj

Hi,
I'm all caught up again! You must be on your way home (or already there) by now. I hope you enjoyed your trip! Sorry the weather did not cooperate! I've been hiding in the house with the AC running!

Looking forward to more great pictures! I need some lunch, maybe I'll have some spaghetti! "laughing:

I am now home reading through some threads while I was gone. I will read the rest of your Destination-D trip this past weekend. I did enjoy the trip and got to do all the things that I wanted to see and ride. The weather was really nice during this. Mostly in August the last couple of years I have to SoCal it has been very hot than this past trip.

Thank you Alison.

Originally Posted by rentayenta

I'm from Long Beach but lived in Cypress from Kinder to HS graduation and then returned to the LBC for college and fun. Where in Cypress is the Fish Grill?

My DB and his GF went to the California Fish Grill in Cypress. It is about 20 minutes away from the DLR. Here is the address: 10569 Valley View Street

[PrincessInOz]

Your timing is awesome, Bret.

We get to enjoy this 3 day TR of yours and then we get to enjoy your time at WDW.

[mvf-m11c]

Day 1 – August 13, 2012– Part 1

After two months of waiting to go back to the DLR to see the rest of Cars Land and Buena Vista Street as well as the revamped Matterhorn, it is now time to go back to Cars Land along with my DB and his GF for the first time to see the new lands.

This will be my DB and his GF first time back to the DLR since they attended MHP in 2010. They were really excited to see the new lands at DCA as well as going on some of the rides that they have enjoyed in the past.

We left Sacramento Monday morning around 6:30am and head on over to my grandmother’s house in Livingston which is about 10 minutes away from Merced. It takes an hour and a half to drive to my grandmother’s house. I always go to my grandmother’s house in Livingston on the way over to SoCal. The town is right on highway 99. Sometimes I have gone on highway 5 to SoCal, but I like to drive on 99 since I am used to driving down on that highway than highway 5. I know that highway 5 is way faster than 99, but there are more towns on the way from 99 than 5.

We stopped in for a short visit and left around 9am and on our way to SoCal. But before we head straight to Anaheim, we had to make one stop to LA to my dad’s friend office. I am talking about my dad’s friend who he and his family went with my family to WDW last year. My dad asked me to drop off some stuff for him so we had to make on stop before we got to Anaheim.

My DB and I switched off a couple of times during the trip down to SoCal so we won’t have any accidents. I could have driven straight to LA if I wanted too, but it was easier if we just switch off while we are fresh.

We stopped just one time to get gas at Burbank at Costo where I usually stop to get gas. Since I brought the TSX, I had to get Premium fuel and it was not cheap in Burbank. It was about $4.20 I believed when we filled up.

After fueling up at Costo, we head on over to my dad’s friend office which is on the east side of LA so we had to drive out further away from Anaheim. It took about 1 hour to get from Burbank to my dad’s friend office and we dropped the stuff at his place. Then we head on over to Anaheim.

It took about 45 minutes to get from the east side of LA over to Anaheim and we got in around 3pm. We were staying at BWAI which I have stayed a lot of times in the past with my DA. I just recently stayed at BWAI during my June trip with my DA during the CL/BVS preview. So it was nice to stay at the same hotel that I had stayed in the past. I was hoping to stay at BWPPI during the trip, but the prices were about $30 difference from BWAI and BWPPI.

Our room was ready when we got check-in around 3pm. Luckily for us we were on the bottom floor and we were a few rooms away from the lobby. I was happy that our room was close to Harbor Blvd than those other times that we had to walk a long ways to Harbor Blvd.

We relaxed in the room for quite a bit until we were hungry. Since my DB and his GF didn’t have multiple day PH tickets, they want to go to DTD to look at the restaurants and see what is good to eat. So we head on out of the room around 4pm and on our way to DTD. This was also my first time to try out the Nikkon lens as well as the density filter. I was so excited to use both of them during the trip.

When we left the room, it was about in the low 90s that afternoon and there were barely any people out on Harbor Blvd.


DL entrance sign on Harbor Blvd


We passed through the esplanade and see that it wasn’t that busy heading on over to DCA. Since it is almost the end of the summertime at the DLR, the esplanade wasn’t that bad as I have planned it.


Now we passed through the esplanade and over to DTD.


Now we were in DTD and it was quiet as well. There were the new CL banners which I didn’t see on my last trip in June which was neat to see while promoting the new land.




La Brea Bakery sign




Passing the WoD store






While we walked down towards DTD, my DB and his GF looked at Ralph’s Brennan Jazz Kitchen and asked what kind of food they serve there. I said creole food which is New Orleans style food. They wanted to try Jazz Kitchen so we head on over to that restaurant. I haven’t eaten at RBJK in almost a long time when DTD first opened in 2001. So I was looking forward to eating at RBJK. When I first thought about RBJK, I thought about Kim’s TR in June that they ate at RBJK during their trip and I thought this would be a great place to have lunch while there is barely anyone inside the restaurant.



It was still lunch time when we went to the restaurant.


When we got to the check-in counter, there was barely anyone in the restaurant and were seated instantly. Here are some pics of the restaurant from that day. We got to eat inside and I was considering eating outside. But it was still warm that day and they wanted to be in a A/C room.







Umbrellas on the ceiling


They were very impressed with the piano.


The menu




A light fixture inside the restaurant.


Our meals finally arrived and now it was time to have lunch. I didn’t want to eat heavy since it was almost close to dinner so I had the Gumbo Ya-Ya as my lunch. My DB had the Cheese Steak Po-Boy while his GF V had the Popcorn Calamari. Both V and I didn’t have big meals that day, but we did share each other plates. The gumbo was really nice and it was kind of salty. The calamari was nice and the breading was a little soft. The cheese steak was great and the Cajun fries were also very nice.







We were in the restaurant for about an hour until we were finished and about to do other things around DTD.

That is it for this post and I will have more later on from DTD.

[rentayenta]

Nice update! We've been to RB once. I don't know that we'll go back. Some of us loved our meals. Others? Not so much. DH wasn't a fan at all. He had the gumbo and said it was too salty.

You take great photos!

[usnuzuloose]

Wonderful pictures! I love the piano, and the umbrella's! The food looks great.

[ACDSNY]

You're making me hungry! I can't believe we haven't tried Ralph’s Brennan Jazz Kitchen yet, might need to on our Sept trip.