Disneyland or Bust: A Mother-Daughter Coastal Road Trip

[KatMark]

Lady and the Tramp, uttered by Tony

 

[pkondz]

Gotta be Tony from Lady and the Tramp.
Going back to read now.

 

[pkondz]

Aggghhhh! Missed it while I was typing!

 

[KatMark]

The Contest: First person to provide the movie title from which the chapter heading comes gets a point; two points if the character who utters the line is also identified. If the first person doesn’t name the character, the first poster to do so will get a point.

Current Standing:
Courtney (courtneybelle): 14 points
Jill (jedijill): 22 points
pkondz: 10 points
Megan (MonsterWDWmom): 2 points
Shannon (shan23877): 8 points
Lori (STLMickeyMom): 4 points
petals: 1 point
Rob (DisneyKid4Life): 4 points
Dugette: 6 points

"Now, here you are-a, the best a-spaghetti in a-town."​

Day 11G - Monday, 4 August 2014 - Disneyland Resort

When I last left off, we had just enjoyed the DCA parade. After it had ended, we kind of followed it around towards Paradise Pier. We had a reservation for dinner at the Wine Country Trattoria for their World of Color dinner. (For those who don't know, there are three restaurants in DCA - Wine Country, Ariel's Grotto, and Carthay Circle - that offer a World of Color (WOC) meal (lunch or dinner). For a fixed price, you get a three-course limited menu and then tickets for a preferred viewing spot for the nighttime World of Color spectacular!)

We arrived at Wine Country a little before our 6:00 reservation. It was kind of crowded at the hostess stand.

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Looks like the line for the Princess meals in Norway.
But it seemed to be parties without reservations who weren't interested in waiting, because they cleared out quickly. And we were soon sent upstairs.

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That's good to hear. And obviously Willow was like, "come on, mom...this way."

Here, we were greeted by another hostess and seated in a lovely open-air but well ventilated balcony area.

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I love outdoor restaurants (as long as there is some ventilation).

Willow was happy. Oops, forgot my ears, Mom!

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Take the picture again!

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Always a happy girl.

Menu pics for those who would like to figure out what they would eat if they were there!

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Oooh...I see things on the menu I would like.

Willow started with some very tasty bread.

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Love me some tasty bread.

I chose the Salad - arugula, fennel, red onion, spiced walnuts, and goat cheese with a fig-balsamic dressing - as my appetizer. It was tasty, of course.

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Willow was provided with some carrots and celery and dip. She promptly became Olaf.

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OLAF!!!!

We traded ears and had to make sure we could hear each other well enough.

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For her dinner, Willow had pizza.

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Oooh...that looks good. I hope it is better than Disney World pizza.

I had the Herb-Roasted Chicken Breast served with Broccolini, Caramelized Onions, Red Peppers and pasta with a White Wine Garlic Sauce. I have no idea why I chose this - I had been planning on the seafood pasta for a long time, and at the last minute, I chose this. It was fine, but I just don't find chicken interesting enough to waste a restaurant experience on. What was I doing?????

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Yes, Ronik, what were you thinking. The seafood pasta caught my eye immediately and was hoping to see a review of it.

We (and the table next to us) waited an incredibly long time for dessert (yeah - it was long enough that we started talking about it between tables. ). More hearing tests ensued.

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And then Willow was presented with a chocolate caramel tart.

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And I got a brownie.

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Why such a long wait? It didn't look that crowded. The brownie looks like of "bleh." No sauce, no ice cream????

We ate about half of our desserts before heading out - at almost 8:00.

Our meals at Wine Country were very good - I would definitely come here again.

Up Next: Day 11H

Good to know about Wine Country...I'll keep it in my Disneyland folder I've started.

 

[pkondz]

I was very relieved - I was a little concerned that she might actually be getting sick. Phew!

Ugh. Not what a parent wants while on vacation.
Heck, even when you're at home.

(ETA after posting this and my comments, I went over to Rob's TR and saw that you posted there as well. Sorry to hear about Willow not feeling well. Tell her I hope she starts feeling better real soon.)

We did talk about how this is very much a Disney thing - you can't expect to lose things and have shops anywhere just give you a new one

That's true. "Excuse me? Mister? I lost my Manolo Blahnik shoes, could I get a free pair to replace them?"

I'm so glad you have started a new TR! BTW, from whence hail the Buffoon titles of your TRs? You couldn't possibly know this about me, but that is one of my favorite descriptive words on earth - unfortunately, I find need to use it at work pretty much every day and often MANY times a day!

It comes from trying to figure out a title for my second TR.
The first one, I referenced Monty Python (although it's doubtful anyone made the connection).
For our European trip, I immediately thought of National Lampoon European Vacation.
I wanted to indicate that I wasn't from the U.S. in the title for context so switching National for Canadian was easy.
I briefly considered "International" but it made me sound like a spy or something, so... no.
Then I didn't want to use Lampoon, since it had nothing to do with me.
So I got introspective and said. "What one word best describes myself that sorta sounds like "Lampoon?""
Voila.
From then on, the title just stuck and I've been using it ever since.
If I ever write another TR, it'll probably be in the title somewhere.

Hilarious that it's one of your favorite words, though! What are the odds??

Just so you know, even before you posted this, I had ran over there to read and post.

I saw that! When I finish reading (and commenting) on your latest post, I'll head over there and comment on your comment.

Then my head will explode.

 

[pkondz]

For a fixed price, you get a three-course limited menu and then tickets for a preferred viewing spot for the nighttime World of Color spectacular!)

Oh! Geez, where's my head. For some reason I was thinking that it was a meal while watching WOC.
Of course it's for later.
Sheesh, I knew that.

Here, we were greeted by another hostess and seated in a lovely open-air but well ventilated balcony area.

i.e. Not too hot?

Willow was happy. Oops, forgot my ears, Mom!

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OMG! That picture cracks me up!
Willow! You're too cute!

Menu pics for those who would like to figure out what they would eat if they were there!

Okay, let's see if I guess your meal right. (At least it's what I would pick)
The salad.
Braised lamb
Panna Cotta

I chose the Salad

I'm one for one!

Willow was provided with some carrots and celery and dip. She promptly became Olaf.

Oh, Willow. You're so silly.

We traded ears and had to make sure we could hear each other well enough.

Good idea. If there's a defective set, just throw them out and you can replace them with free ones.

For her dinner, Willow had pizza.

Yup.
When Kay was eight, she subsisted on Mac 'n' cheese for an entire week.

I had the Herb-Roasted Chicken Breast

Dang. Swing and a miss. One for two.

I have no idea why I chose this - I had been planning on the seafood pasta for a long time, and at the last minute, I chose this. It was fine, but I just don't find chicken interesting enough to waste a restaurant experience on. What was I doing?????

Okay, I'm a bit relieved. I was sort of thinking the same thing.
The seafood pasta was a close second choice.

And I got a brownie.

I failed. One out of three. I feel so.... dissatisfied.

We ate about half of our desserts before heading out - at almost 8:00.

Two hours? Those desserts did take a while, didn't they!

Up Next: Day 11H

Can't wait! Thanks for the update!

 

[afwdwfan]

We ate about half of our desserts before heading out - at almost 8:00.

Our meals at Wine Country were very good - I would definitely come here again.

It looked like a nice place to eat. I think it was closed when we were there? It appeared to be pretty much abandoned anytime we went by there. Honestly though, there were so many refurbs going on, I only worried about the rides, so I didn't even research the restaurants that were closed. Maybe...

Anyway, I'm glad you enjoyed your dinner there. I think that would probably be my first choice for a WoC meal. Maybe Carthay Circle... I don't know. But 2 hours... wow, that's a long meal for 2 people!

 

[courtneybelle]

Hi Roni! That restaurant looks beautiful!

BAHAHAHA I LOVE Willow as Olaf!! That picture may be the highlight of my day thus far.

You know, I distinctly remember from your last WDW TR that you hate ordering chicken at restaurants…so yeah, I can't tell you what you were thinking either

How was Willow's tart? It looks great!

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

Look at me with 4 points. The benefit of being logged in right as you posted.

Have you eaten at Ariel's Gotto? I'm curious if it's a character meal and I'm too lazy to look it up. I do remember seeing that restaurant.

Haha, and there goes Willow running ahead, lol.

the "Forgot my ears" photo. Precious. Phew, crisis averted.

I'm sure you'll get there but I'm curious as to the benefit of this over a World of Color FP. Better spot I assume? I remember when I was there they offered a picnic lunch option, but I think it offered the same place as a FP did.

I just assumed it was a Hulk Hogan impression. Whatcha gonna do?

 

[RGirl]

Lady and the Tramp, uttered by Tony

Yay!!! Kathy makes the boards! 2 Points!

Gotta be Tony from Lady and the Tramp.
Going back to read now.

Aggghhhh! Missed it while I was typing!

Oops - not even a long intro as the culprit this time....

 

[RGirl]

Good to know about Wine Country...I'll keep it in my Disneyland folder I've started.

You should! We really enjoyed the food and atmosphere, despite the weirdly long wait - I have to think that was a fluke. We did the Carthay Circle WoC meal the last time - I think we both enjoyed this one more.

Ugh. Not what a parent wants while on vacation.
Heck, even when you're at home.

(ETA after posting this and my comments, I went over to Rob's TR and saw that you posted there as well. Sorry to hear about Willow not feeling well. Tell her I hope she starts feeling better real soon.)

Thank you. She was pretty sick this week - in fact, the doctor was concerned enough to treat her for whooping cough. Our little town has a HUGE outbreak of it going on right now. (Yes, Willow is vaccinated, but apparently it is still possible to get it - albeit in a hopefully milder form.) She is definitely on the mend, but the cough is AWFUL.

That's true. "Excuse me? Mister? I lost my Manolo Blahnik shoes, could I get a free pair to replace them?"

Right????? I was all, "Oh, it's so nice that she gets to experience the Disney Magic. But wait - is she going to think this is what the real world is like????? "

It comes from trying to figure out a title for my second TR.
The first one, I referenced Monty Python (although it's doubtful anyone made the connection).
For our European trip, I immediately thought of National Lampoon European Vacation.
I wanted to indicate that I wasn't from the U.S. in the title for context so switching National for Canadian was easy.
I briefly considered "International" but it made me sound like a spy or something, so... no.
Then I didn't want to use Lampoon, since it had nothing to do with me.
So I got introspective and said. "What one word best describes myself that sorta sounds like "Lampoon?""
Voila.
From then on, the title just stuck and I've been using it ever since.
If I ever write another TR, it'll probably be in the title somewhere.

Hilarious that it's one of your favorite words, though! What are the odds??

National Lampoon - Canadian Buffoon. I love it!

I wish you could watch me on the job for 8 hours or so - LOTS of buffoons.......

I saw that! When I finish reading (and commenting) on your latest post, I'll head over there and comment on your comment.

Then my head will explode.

Pretty much describes my DIS time.....

i.e. Not too hot?

Exactly! The temperature was perfect, but it seemed like we were outside. Kind of. It was really nice!

OMG! That picture cracks me up!
Willow! You're too cute!

I hope I can remember to show her your comments to this update - she will be thrilled!

Okay, let's see if I guess your meal right. (At least it's what I would pick)
The salad.
Braised lamb
Panna Cotta

Yeah - I SHOULD have chosen thusly.

I'm one for one!

Good idea. If there's a defective set, just throw them out and you can replace them with free ones.

Yup.
When Kay was eight, she subsisted on Mac 'n' cheese for an entire week.

Yeah, Willow's vacation eating is an embarrassment. Of course, mine is too. Seriously? Is it vacation if the eating isn't a little bad??

Dang. Swing and a miss. One for two.

*sigh*

Okay, I'm a bit relieved. I was sort of thinking the same thing.
The seafood pasta was a close second choice.

It's a huge mystery to me. I don't choose chicken in restaurants. I mean, chicken is fine, but it is sooooo boring. I don't know what possessed me.

I failed. One out of three. I feel so.... dissatisfied.

If it makes you feel any better, I wish I had made your choices.

AND I may have a new game for the cruise portion of our summer trip - Guess What They Ate!!!

Two hours? Those desserts did take a while, didn't they!

Oh, man! I was NOT kidding - it was a loooooong wait. But the food and atmosphere there were good enough that it didn't make me crazy. Or maybe I was just really happy to sit down for a while.

Can't wait! Thanks for the update!

Thank you so much for always reading along and commenting!

 

[pkondz]

Seriously? Is it vacation if the eating isn't a little bad??

Exactly!

AND I may have a new game for the cruise portion of our summer trip - Guess What They Ate!!!

On a cruise?
Guess What They Ate!!! Guess What They Kept Down!!!

 

[RGirl]

It looked like a nice place to eat. I think it was closed when we were there? It appeared to be pretty much abandoned anytime we went by there. Honestly though, there were so many refurbs going on, I only worried about the rides, so I didn't even research the restaurants that were closed. Maybe...

You know, I have no idea! I didn't pay any attention to restaurant closures either during our January trip - we weren't focused on TS dining that trip. That said, it is a great place to eat, and I think both Willow and I would recommend it for WoC dining were you to return again when WoC was going.

Anyway, I'm glad you enjoyed your dinner there. I think that would probably be my first choice for a WoC meal. Maybe Carthay Circle... I don't know. But 2 hours... wow, that's a long meal for 2 people!

We had done Carthay Circle the last time. It is very good too. Not to post a spoiler or anything, but for some completely inexplicable reason, the WoC viewing area for Wine Country is MUCH better than for Carthay Circle. It makes no sense at all, and maybe they have fixed it, but we were shocked when we got to the viewing area for Wine Country after having done Carthay Circle.

Hi Roni! That restaurant looks beautiful!

Hi Courtney!!!

Wine Country was such a pleasant environment. It was a little oasis from the craziness of the parks - kind of like HBD at DHS.

BAHAHAHA I LOVE Willow as Olaf!! That picture may be the highlight of my day thus far.

She is one goofy kiddo!

You know, I distinctly remember from your last WDW TR that you hate ordering chicken at restaurants…so yeah, I can't tell you what you were thinking either

Obviously, I completely lost my mind. I seriously have no idea what happened. That would be the last thing I would order in my right mind. I mean, it was fine - very good, but it was CHICKEN. How BORING!!!!!!

How was Willow's tart? It looks great!

I thought it looked really good too. She seemed to think it was good, but she felt a little sick later that night, and she 100% blamed it on that tart and swore she would never have it again. I have no idea....

Look at me with 4 points. The benefit of being logged in right as you posted.

Go Rob! Go Rob!!!

Have you eaten at Ariel's Gotto? I'm curious if it's a character meal and I'm too lazy to look it up. I do remember seeing that restaurant.

We have! We went there for Willow's 5th birthday. It is a princess meal during breakfast and lunch. No princesses at dinner, but they do offer a WoC menu then with a very good viewing area.

Haha, and there goes Willow running ahead, lol.

Always, Rob, always!

the "Forgot my ears" photo. Precious. Phew, crisis averted.

The child is hilarious!

I'm sure you'll get there but I'm curious as to the benefit of this over a World of Color FP. Better spot I assume? I remember when I was there they offered a picnic lunch option, but I think it offered the same place as a FP did.

So, I'm not sure where the FP WoC viewing area is. I do know that the restaurants have different areas, so I'm guessing that they are (at least should be, given the price) "better" areas than the FP areas. For me, it was a nice way to do a TS meal at a relatively okay cost with a little bonus. We did the Carthay Circle WoC meal on our preceding trip. So color me surprised when we went to find the Wine Country viewing area and it was way down near the water. Cathay Circle's viewing area had been way up at a top tier far from the water. At the end of the day, was one really better than the other? I don't think so, but it FELT like we were in a better place with Wine Country. I think they were about equal but probably only because we had gotten spots right at the railing at the Carthay Circle area, so there wasn't really anyone blocking us. I don't know - I'm not convinced that there's much of a different to any of the areas.

I just assumed it was a Hulk Hogan impression. Whatcha gonna do?

 

[RGirl]

Exactly!


On a cruise?
Guess What They Ate!!! Guess What They Kept Down!!!

OMG - I am laughing hard enough that I may not be able to keep my on-dry-land dinner down!!!

 

[Dugette]

How did she like it????

She liked Monsters, Inc. quite a bit, I think. Though she has been obsessed with monsters recently (before the movie), telling us they were hiding under our bed and such. But she does seem to think they are friendly monsters, so that's good.

Anyway, just got caught up on the last updates.

Glad that they were able to make some Disney magic and get Willow some Minnie ears!

That zoetrope things looks pretty cool. Izzy loves Toy Story, so I'm sure that and the Toy Story characters in the parade would be a big hit.

Glad you had a good time at the drawing class(es).

Dinner sounds nice. Love all the ear pictures. And Willow's dessert looks tasty!

 

[RGirl]

The Contest: First person to provide the movie title from which the chapter heading comes gets a point; two points if the character who utters the line is also identified. If the first person doesn’t name the character, the first poster to do so will get a point.

Current Standing:
Courtney (courtneybelle): 14 points
Jill (jedijill): 22 points
pkondz: 10 points
Megan (MonsterWDWmom): 2 points
Shannon (shan23877): 8 points
Lori (STLMickeyMom): 4 points
petals: 1 point
Rob (DisneyKid4Life): 4 points
Dugette: 6 points
Kathy (KatMark): 2 points

"Have faith in your dreams, and someday, your rainbow will come smiling through."​

Day 11H - Monday, 4 August 2014 - Disneyland Resort

After our dinner at Wine Country Trattoria, we decided to check and see if there was any chance that Donald was still greeting guests over in Paradise Pier. (Willow was wearing her Donald cupcake shirt and wanted to show him.) Of course, Donald was in for the night, so, since we were in the area, we thought we would wander over and check the TSMM wait time just on the off chance that it was doable. (We had limited time before we needed to get a spot for WOC.)

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Nope - wait time was 40 minutes. So Willow decided that we would ride the no-wait King Triton's Carousel.

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Willow was longingly eyeing this attraction, but she is still not tall enough.

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So the carousel would have to do!

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Our fish:

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Our neighbors:

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After our spin on the carousel, Willow really wanted to go check the wait time for ToT. I knew that this was going to be too long of a wait, and I'm not sure why I didn't just say no. Kind of dumb. We headed out though, and immediately stopped for some PP pics.

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The stand-by wait at ToT was 40 minutes, of course. I suggested that we head back over to Paradise Pier and do the Little Mermaid ride since there is never a wait for that (at least not in my experience), but we were so close to CarsLand that there was no convincing Willow not to wander over and check the wait time for the single rider line at RSR. I do LOVE CarsLand at night, so I didn't fight her too much on this.

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Unfortunately, the single rider line was at a 35-minute wait, and we just couldn't risk that given that we did need to get back and find a spot for WOC. So we decided to do Mater's ride since, as usual, there was no wait!

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No dancing, Willow!

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I disobeyed you!!!

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Up Next: Day 11H (cont.)

 

[courtneybelle]

Cinderella from...Cinderella!!

Going back to read!

 

[RGirl]

Day 11H - Monday, 4 August 2014 - Disneyland Resort (cont.)

It was about 8:30 at this point, so we headed back over to Paradise Pier where the WOC viewing is. We decided that we had time to squeeze in the Little Mermaid ride since there was (as usual) no wait.




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I so miss Ariel's cupcake hair.....

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We made a quick restroom stop and then went looking for the Wine Country viewing area. Turns out that Wine Country and Ariel's Grotto share a viewing spot quite close to the front. (Last time, we did the Carthay Circle WOC dining, and its viewing spot is way in the back - strange.) We found some steps to sit on while we waited for the show to start - it was about 9:00, and the show was scheduled for 9:45. The view was pretty nice!

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At some point, they started the Wheel of Doom - er, I mean Fun Wheel - game. This is a game that you play on your phone - you have to try to match the color sequence shown on the Wheel of Doom.

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The person in the crowd with the best score then gets to control the Wheel of Doom colors for a minute or so. It was fun, and this really made the time go by faster for us and everyone else, I think. Smart idea, Disney!

Soon, the show began, and it was spectacular. We LOVE this show. (There was a weird moment when everything went dead, including most of the lights in the area, but the show started back up again fairly quickly.) I got the best pics I could.... (Oh, for anyone who does not know, this show is a fountain show with scenes projected onto the water and music, of course.)

I find it very hard to get good pics of this show, but I did the best I could!

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Sure, she’s got everything….

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You’ve got a friend in me…

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Adventure is out there!

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A whole new world…

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RIP Genie

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Up Next: Day 11H (cont. again)

 

[RGirl]

Day 11H - Monday, 4 August 2014 - Disneyland Resort (cont. again)

I will ride, I will fly, chase the wind and touch the sky…

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Can you paint with all the colors of the wind?

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It’s a pirate’s life for me!

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Lots of love towards the end.

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After the show, we headed out through the GCH.

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And back to the Disneyland Hotel.

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We were back in our room at about 10:35 and getting to bed as fast as we could to be ready for another early morning.....

Up Next: Day 12A

 

[Dugette]

Love all the pics of the World of Color show! I've mostly seen pictures of the colorful fountains (which is great, of course), but I haven't seen many pics of the projection scenes, so those were really neat!