"Does this ride have drops?" March 2015 TR *NEW* 1/17 COMPLETE - Final Thoughts

[khertz]

Day 3 Continued: Monday March 2nd

Of course, DS always takes longer to eat than the two of us. So once DH finished his food, he ran off to use the RSR FP he had picked up earlier in the day while I stayed behind with DS.

DL-03-165 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


DL-03-191 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


DL-03-167 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


DL-03-168 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


DL-03-169 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


DL-03-171 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


DL-03-172 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


DL-03-173 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


DL-03-176 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


DL-03-178 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


DL-03-179 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


DL-03-181 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


DL-03-182 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


DL-03-183 by disneymom1024, on Flick


DL-03-184 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


DL-03-185 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


DL-03-187 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


DL-03-188 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


DL-03-190 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

We met up with him in Cars Land, and we made our way out slowly while DH took some pictures of all of it lit up at night.

DL-03-192 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


DL-03-193 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


DL-03-194 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


DL-03-195 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


DL-03-196 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


DL-03-197 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


DL-03-198 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


DL-03-199 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


DL-03-203 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


DL-03-204 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

Then we were ready to exit the park. On the way to the bus stop, DS spotted the Miles From Tomorrowland poster that DH had taken a picture of the night before and of course, wanted his picture taken with it.

DL-03-205 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

We got right onto a bus (in fact, we never waited more than 5 minutes for one the whole week, they really just keep coming back to back) and we were definitely beat after a whole day in the park with no break.

DL-03-206 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

The park hours on weekdays kind of messed with us. Because they opened late (10 am) and closed fairly early, it was just too hard to justify leaving during the day for a break, which made for some exhausting days. But it was also a nice tradeoff not having to rush around in the morning to make rope drop. It was tough on me because I was still struggling with some pregnancy fatigue. And DS did okay, but ideally he would have been better during the day with a nap, but he is well past the age of being able to fall asleep in the stroller. It’s definitely different visiting DL in the offseason compared to WDW !

We got to bed earlier that night, which was a good thing because we had an early breakfast with Goofy coming up the next morning!


UP NEXT: Goofy's Kitchen

 

[marDgreen88]

The Pixar parade looks so stinking cute! We surprisingly never saw it but now I'm wishing we had! It looks a lot better than the Pixar parade they used to have at DHS!

Cars Land at night is so beautiful! Okay let's be real, it's beautiful all the time. Those pictures are great!

 

[afwdwfan]

But really, who can leave when running into a Disney parade?! Since we had stumbled across it and hadn’t really planned on making time for it any other day, we decided to grab a spot and watch. It was a really fun parade with a catchy song that I still overhear DS singing to himself sometimes while he is playing.

I'm disappointed that we never got to see this parade. It really does look like a lot of fun. I'm glad you decided to stick around for it!

We headed to Paradise Garden Grill, where DS was acting super silly while waiting for DH to get our food.

And thankfully, he looks like he's in a better mood!

We met up with him in Cars Land, and we made our way out slowly while DH took some pictures of all of it lit up at night.

No better way to end a day in DCA than strolling through Carsland after dark.

The park hours on weekdays kind of messed with us. Because they opened late (10 am) and closed fairly early, it was just too hard to justify leaving during the day for a break, which made for some exhausting days. But it was also a nice tradeoff not having to rush around in the morning to make rope drop.

I do kind of like not having to get to RD so early. That was a nice change of pace, although it felt kind of weird just sitting around the room in the morning with time to kill before we had to go!

We got to bed earlier that night, which was a good thing because we had an early breakfast with Goofy coming up the next morning!

And that's the other nice thing about the shorter hours. You can stay in the park until it closes and still get to bed at an early hour!

 

[missangelalexis]

I'm sorry DS wouldn't take a picture with Oswald, but you and DH look so cute with him!

Yay for finding popcorn!

I love that DS loved the monsters inc ride so much and that he kept quoting it! But I'm sorry his antics put a damper on things

I'm glad you were able to catch the parade! It's so cute!

LOVE DH's pics of CarsLand at night!

 

[hokieinpa]

The Pixar parade looks like so much fun! The boys would love that - all of their favorite characters! If they added in Dusty Crophopper, it would be perfection!

Those acrobats on the Toy Story float are pretty cool!

Great pictures of Cars Land at night!

It seems like a different touring style for DL - glad DS (and you!) did well without a nap!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

That parade looks pretty fun! Though not sure how many of the characters my kids would recognize as not sure if they have seen Bugs Life or even the Incredibles

Cars Land at night is so cool looking!

Those days with no breaks are tough and tiring but like you said, hard to take the time out with the relatively short park hours ... I was surprised to see how long the park hours are this October when we go compared to last year

 

[Dugette]

That parade looks fantastic! My kind-of parade - especially with my favorite green aliens in it!

Gorgeous pictures of Radiator Springs Racers and Carsland at night!

 

[khertz]

The Pixar parade looks so stinking cute! We surprisingly never saw it but now I'm wishing we had! It looks a lot better than the Pixar parade they used to have at DHS!

Cars Land at night is so beautiful! Okay let's be real, it's beautiful all the time. Those pictures are great!

It was a lot of fun! I'm glad we kind of ran into it because we had not planned to make time for it otherwise.

Cars Land is just fantastic. You think it looks so great during the day, and then BAM the lights come on at night and it's even better!

I'm disappointed that we never got to see this parade. It really does look like a lot of fun. I'm glad you decided to stick around for it!

It was definitely fun and I'm glad we stayed to watch it too. It wasn't something we had worked into our plan, so it was a nice bonus.

And thankfully, he looks like he's in a better mood!

He was a lot more whiny and ornery on this trip than usual, but he still had his good moments!

No better way to end a day in DCA than strolling through Carsland after dark.

I totally agree with this.

I do kind of like not having to get to RD so early. That was a nice change of pace, although it felt kind of weird just sitting around the room in the morning with time to kill before we had to go!

I know! Some mornings we were just so fidgety waiting to get ready and leave. DS still woke us up so early every morning that it was like we had TOO MUCH time to kill! But it was definitely nice not feeling like we had to rush around every morning.

And that's the other nice thing about the shorter hours. You can stay in the park until it closes and still get to bed at an early hour!

And being pregnant, this was a total blessing in disguise. I was so exhausted by the end of the night that being home and in bed by 10 pm was amazing!

I'm sorry DS wouldn't take a picture with Oswald, but you and DH look so cute with him!

Yay for finding popcorn!

I love that DS loved the monsters inc ride so much and that he kept quoting it! But I'm sorry his antics put a damper on things

I'm glad you were able to catch the parade! It's so cute!

LOVE DH's pics of CarsLand at night!

Thanks! Oswald is sooo adorable!

He was so cranky at times that it definitely put a damper on some parts of the trip. While it definitely wasn't our best and greatest Disney parks experience, we still had a great time.

The parade was great and a nice bonus since we hadn't planned on seeing it.

 

[khertz]

The Pixar parade looks like so much fun! The boys would love that - all of their favorite characters! If they added in Dusty Crophopper, it would be perfection!

Those acrobats on the Toy Story float are pretty cool!

Great pictures of Cars Land at night!

It seems like a different touring style for DL - glad DS (and you!) did well without a nap!

I totally agree about Dusty! I didn't even think of that, but it would be a great addition. DS is a huge Planes fan too!

The Toy Story floats were by far the best because of those acrobats. They were so fun to watch!

DL touring and planning is almost the polar opposite of WDW. It was a nice change of pace for once to not start our days so early and end them so late, all while still being at the parks pretty much from opening until closing.

That parade looks pretty fun! Though not sure how many of the characters my kids would recognize as not sure if they have seen Bugs Life or even the Incredibles

Cars Land at night is so cool looking!

Those days with no breaks are tough and tiring but like you said, hard to take the time out with the relatively short park hours ... I was surprised to see how long the park hours are this October when we go compared to last year

You should definitely have them at least see Bug's Life before your trip, if for nothing else but for Bug's Land. Besides the parade, there is no real representation of the Incredibles in the park.

Cars Land at night is a must do, even if it's just to walk down the street and take in the atmosphere!

It's definitely not worth taking a break when the park hours are so short, but at least we didn't have super early mornings and late late nights either. So it all worked out in the end.

That parade looks fantastic! My kind-of parade - especially with my favorite green aliens in it!

Gorgeous pictures of Radiator Springs Racers and Carsland at night!

The parade is a lot of fun! The music is super catchy too. We were singing it for the rest of the trip.

Thanks! It's hard to take a bad picture of Cars Land, day or night!

 

[khertz]

Day 4: Tuesday March 3rd

The next morning, DS had us up bright and early at 6:30 am. But today, we had reason to be up and moving early in the day so it wasn’t that big of a deal. We had breakfast with Goofy to get to! So we started getting dressed and then headed out the door to the Disneyland Hotel.

DL 04 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

Our breakfast was scheduled for 8 am and we made it to the hotel just a little before then.

DL 04-001 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


DL 04-002 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


DL 04-003 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


DL 04-004 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

It took us a few minutes to orient ourselves and figure out where to go, but soon enough we had made it to our destination, Goofy’s Kitchen.

DL 04-005 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


DL 04-006 by disneymom1024, on Flickr
DS doing some racing while I checked us in for our meal.


DL 04-007 by disneymom1024, on Flickr
​

Once we had checked in, we got in line to have our picture taken with Goofy while we waited for our table to be ready. Immediately, DS started acting nervous. If you have followed our TRs for any length of time, you will know this is totally unlike him! He has loved character meets since our first trip with him when he was a year old, and the only one that has ever made him a little nervous was Beast, but that’s understandable. This trip was a different story. He was very hit or miss when it came to characters. Sometimes he was fine, sometimes he said he was scared, and sometimes he just didn’t want to be bothered because he would rather be riding something. This time, he had decided he was too scared.

DL 04-008 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

Once I finally had him convinced to go up for a picture, he wouldn’t go alone and insisted that I hold him.

DL 04-009 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

Then we convinced DH to join in on the fun.

DL 04-011 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


DL 04-012 by disneymom1024, on Flickr
Passing the time while we waited to be seated​

We didn’t wait long, and it was less than 10 minutes before we were brought to our table next to a window overlooking the pool. Before we could even think about going to get any food, Minnie Mouse came by! DS was still acting scared and only agreed to take a picture with her if I held him.

DL 04-013 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


DL 04-015 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

After Minnie left, DS was whining that he was hungry so I went to the buffet to get him a plate of food. While I was gone, the next character came by, so I missed out on this meet with Chip.

DL 04-016 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


DL 04-018 by disneymom1024, on Flickr
Apparently he had gotten over his fear in the past 5 minutes??


DL 04-019 by disneymom1024, on Flickr
This is not the first time the terrible lighting from those windows will strike!


DL 04-020 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


DL 04-021 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

The characters just kept coming, so before he had time to eat any of the food I brought, Dale was there.

DL 04-022 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


DL 04-024 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


DL 04-026 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

Then I wanted to join in on the character fun!

DL 04-030 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

Immediately after that came Pluto!

DL 04-031 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


DL 04-033 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


DL 04-036 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


DL 04-038 by disneymom1024, on Flickr
Pluto getting in a good head lick​

Did you notice anything strange? DH and I haven’t even gone up for our food yet! The characters all came so fast and furious that it wasn’t until we had met them all that we had a chance to take turns checking out the buffet.

Because this is billed as a character brunch, not really a breakfast, they had TONS of items to choose from. There was all your typical breakfast fare, plus they had lunch foods like pizza, chicken nuggets, hot dogs, salad, and pasta, and a whole section of really amazing desserts. I went up first, but when DH went he took the camera.

DL 04-039 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


DL 04-040 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


DL 04-041 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


DL 04-042 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


DL 04-043 by disneymom1024, on Flickr
Oh yeah, and SOFT SERVE ICE CREAM!


DL 04-044 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


DL 04-045 by disneymom1024, on Flickr
DH’s soft serve creation​

Continued in next post...

 

[khertz]

Day 4 Continued: Tuesday March 3rd

As we were enjoying the dessert part of our meal, both chipmunks made their way over to us again for some more photos.

DL 04-046 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


DL 04-048 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


DL 04-047 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


DL 04-051 by disneymom1024, on Flickr
I’m not sure why Dale felt the need to pick up a dirty napkin and put it on DS’s head, but I sure appreciated having to pick the crumbs out of his hair after!


DL 04-052 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


DL 04-054 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

Overall, we absolutely LOVED this character meal! Once DS warmed up, we had some really great character interactions. So many times at character meals in WDW we have found ourselves sitting around long after we have finished eating waiting for one more character to make the rounds. In some cases, we have just left without meeting one of them! But here we were able to meet them all quickly, and even met the chipmunks twice. Plus, the food was excellent. There were so many things to choose from that even this pregnant lady couldn’t find room to try all of the things that looked good to me! We all ate very well, even DS who usually picks at his food and doesn’t eat much.

We finished eating around 9 and started making our way out of the hotel. But it’s kind of impossible to just walk through there without stopping to admire all of the little details going on around you!

DL 04-055 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


DL 04-056 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


DL 04-057 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


DL 04-058 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


DL 04-059 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


DL 04-060 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


DL 04-061 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


DL 04-062 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


DL 04-063 by disneymom1https://www.flickr.com/photos/100655747@N03/024, on Flickr
Of course we couldn’t pass this up without one more chance for DS to hop inside!


DL 04-064 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


DL 04-065 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

Finally, we were ready to head over to the parks for some fun!

UP NEXT: Rootin' Tootin' Shootin'!

 

[ALEXandFAB]

LOVE the photos!

 

[marDgreen88]

Aww, sounds like a great meal! I'm glad Paxton decided he wasn't scared of the characters after all!

The brunch is definitely cool. It was so bizarre eating a meal at 7:45 am and having hot dogs as an option though. But I was not mad at the cookies! Hahaha.

Ohhh how I miss the beautiful Disneyland Hotel!!!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Looks like such a fun character breakfast, excuse me, brunch! I had read kinda hit-or-miss things about this meal, but sounds like you really enjoyed it!

Love all the details in the DLH - all those paintings/sketches of the park areas are so cool!

 

[missangelalexis]

Sounds like a great breakfast! I can't believe how fast the characters came around. So fun that you got to meet Chip & Dale twice. I'm glad DS warmed up to the characters, the pictures are so cute!

I have to say, I love that DH had ice cream for breakfast! What an assortment of food they offer.

Love the pics of the resort. I wish we were able to explore it during our time there. Another trip!

 

[hokieinpa]

What a fun breakfast! Lots of fun character interactions after DS got over his early fears.

The food does look good! Brunch is a really good meal for us because there is something to make everyone happy - even ice cream!

Love the decor at the Disneyland Hotel - those umbrellas on the ceiling are really neat.

​

Just wanted to say that DS looks like such a big guy here!

 

[rdkeim]

As always, enjoying reading about your DL trip! Love the Goofy's Kitchen pictures - looks like DS was being very cooperative once he going. Especially like the pictures with Chip and Dale - two of my favorites!

 

[Imagineer5]

ALl caught up!! Phew!! I love the pictures you posted of a little Paxton in Toontown - so cute to compare to now esp since I was reading your TR's back then too! Sorry he was being a little bum at DL, it is almost how Aria acts when we then discover she has a fever or something like that. That must have been really annoying though and I don't blame you guys for being irritated!! Also, I wanted to comment on bringing him through the rides despite his behavior in lines. I am so tired of reading about other people commenting on "those parents" who do that - when you KNOW your kid will LOVE the ride! (or at least will be fine afterwards even if they decide not to ride again). Sometimes you just have to push a little bit.

Glad he loved Monster's Inc - that is one of my fave DL only rides!

I am surprised at the characters at Goofy's. It's been a while now (well, it was May 2014) but we also had some random princesses come over, and I think baloo and some other odd balls along with regulars. It was a totally mix mash of characters, maybe they have done away with that? IDK.

Anyway looking forward to reading more, of course!

 

[afwdwfan]

Sometimes he was fine, sometimes he said he was scared, and sometimes he just didn’t want to be bothered because he would rather be riding something. This time, he had decided he was too scared.

Oh no! I can kind of see Goofy maybe being scary like the Beast since he is so big though.

Once I finally had him convinced to go up for a picture, he wouldn’t go alone and insisted that I hold him.

At least he let you hold him for a picture. And he smiled!

DS was still acting scared and only agreed to take a picture with her if I held him.

This could be a long character meal...

Apparently he had gotten over his fear in the past 5 minutes??

Well, his mama wasn't there to hold him so he had to suck it up and be a big boy.

Because this is billed as a character brunch, not really a breakfast, they had TONS of items to choose from. There was all your typical breakfast fare, plus they had lunch foods like pizza, chicken nuggets, hot dogs, salad, and pasta, and a whole section of really amazing desserts. I went up first, but when DH went he took the camera.

Wow... if you played it right you could get breakfast... take your time meeting the characters 2 or 3 times... and then grab lunch!

Oh yeah, and SOFT SERVE ICE CREAM!

The dessert staple of any good buffet.

I’m not sure why Dale felt the need to pick up a dirty napkin and put it on DS’s head, but I sure appreciated having to pick the crumbs out of his hair after!

I guess it is the same reason that they want you to swing around your napkin at Chef Mickey's.

 

[skier_pete]

Nice. Love exploring the DLH. Would love to stay there someday but just way out of our price range. We had breakfast at Steakhouse 55 which was just awesome. Also explored the resort and found the BTMRR in the Frontierland tower, which is really cool. Did you get to see that??