For the first time in like ever I'm going to Disneyland a Nov 14 TR... updated 8/17

[dolphingirl47]

That is amazing how close you got to the Hollywood sign and what a bonus that you got to drive by the Disney Studios. The hotel looks amazing. What a shame that the guide did not get the hint about dropping you about Downtown Disney.

Looks like I made the right decision that day to head to California Adventure. This was not overly busy. Looks like you have a successful shopping day though.

Corinna

 

[petals]

That is amazing how close you got to the Hollywood sign

That was one of the reason I booked this tour because they said they could get you closer than anyone else. If we were going to see the Hollywood sign we might as well do it properly like

and what a bonus that you got to drive by the Disney Studios.

Yeah the guide was great that way making sure we got in as much Disney stuff as possible and making sure I was camera ready to catch it all as well

The hotel looks amazing.

It really was. I think it's one of those things though like the castle at Christmas it looks amazing in pictures but a million times better when you're looking at it for yourself.

What a shame that the guide did not get the hint about dropping you about Downtown Disney.

I know. Momma really liked Trader Sam's and I think she wanted to go back there but neither of us had the energy to walk all the way there and back to the hotel after.

Looks like I made the right decision that day to head to California Adventure. This was not overly busy. Looks like you have a successful shopping day though.
Corinna

Yeah California Adventure was our quite park in California. We don't do the rollercoasters and we only missed a few things there the first day so it was a kind of chill day which was probably a good thing. We definately did alot of shopping but it was our last proper chance to spend alot of time in World of Disney and get everything we wanted to take home with us.

Sounds like the guide didn't know who he was either. LOL.

http://www.smokeybear.com/

Maybe not but environment, forest fires close enough lol! I love the website for him to cute!

 

[petals]

Day 9, part 2:

Once the Red Car Trolley Newsboys were done we headed to Off the Page for a bit of Vinylmation trading. I loved the store front:

We browsed around for a while looking at some of the merchandise before I did my trading:

Largely I hadn’t been impressed with what I had been getting out of the Vinylmation trading boxes in Disneyland and the fact there was only one in each park and one place in Downtown Disney that you could trade coupled with the fact you were only allowed one trade a day didn’t help the crappy trading there. However while we were browsing Off the page I spotted two guys trading vinyl’s into the boxes and they traded two in the I actually wanted so I discreetly watched what boxes they went into and then grabbed Momma handed her a vinyl and picked the two boxes that the guys had traded the cooler vinyl’s into and hey presto I finally had Vinylmation I actually liked from the trade boxes lol.. I know it was kind of cheating a little bit but still! Anyway after all the excitement of getting Vinyl’s I liked we headed to Turtle Talk with Crush:

Then into the Sorcerer’s Workshop:

And my favourite Beast Library. Beast is like one of my favourite characters so I loved this place:

There was books where you could answer a few questions Lumiere had for you and he would tell you what character you were most like.

This was one of the questions which gave us a giggle:

It’s a dodgy picture but this was my result was:

So I am most like Rapunzal:

Momma did it next and answered all the bad answers like she likes to eat nice people for lunch and she got:

We hung around Beast library to watch the special effects for a while, every so often it would go darker and Beast would roar and rip the painting:

Then the lights would come back on properly and the painting would be fixed, it was kind of cool:

We were going to go to Animation Academy but there was only two characters we were really interested in learning to draw so I asked the CM outside when they would be drawing those two and we said we would go back later in the day so next we headed to Radiator Springs:

I spotted Mater all decked out in his Christmas gear posing for photos so I hopped in line to get photos with him and took photos of everything else while I was waiting in line.

Once I left Mater I spotted another photopass photographer so stopped for some photos and when I turned around this guy was randomly driving down the street:

Next it was time for food so we decided to head into Flo’s to try the food in Radiator Springs; of course I took a tonne of pictures before I even got to the counter:

 

[petals]

Day 9, part 3:

So it was time for food and after taking a few pictures on the way in to Flo’s I finally got to the counter and the CM immediately won me over by calling me Princess! I got my food, a kids turkey sandwich and pasta on the side and went off into side area to sit down and take food pics:

Momma took ages getting her food. Apparently the server had difficulty understanding that she wanted a hot cup of water and some milk or something along those lines. Anyway I was finished eating by the time Momma got her food but she got the kids roast beef sandwich and mash potato on the side. I tried the potato and it was yum:

Once Momma was finished eating we decided to have a browse through the shops in Carsland. We had also seen a few people with different buttons from Carsland with the cars on them so we wanted to find out where we could get them and we also wanted to find out what time the lights came on in Carsland as it mentioned it on the park events list but only said “at dusk.” The first shop we went into was able to tell us that the lights come on around 4.30 ish and that the buttons come out in rotation so one ride or shop has them at a time and until they’re gone basically and that DJ Dance and Drive is the only one that has them all the time. I wandered around taking pictures of the decorations and stuff before we moved to the next shop:

Piston cups for all:

The next stop was Ramones and we were in luck with the buttons and got a Ramone button each before I wandered taking pictures in there:

They also told us there to try Radiator Springs racers and Luigi’s for other buttons as they had them during the week. We tried and they didn’t have any but I did take more pictures on our travels.

Next we tried the Cozy Cone area after having a gawk in the window at the Cozy cone motels gingerbread display:

Hidden Pixar character:

The Cozy Cones were all out of buttons as well! Next up it was time for DJ’s Dance and Drive show.

The show was a fun little show and I wanted to join in the dancing but only kids were invited! Momma asked a CM doing crowd control about the DJ buttons and he said he would have them later. So once DJ finished his show we wandered over to Paradise Pier:

They had put presents around the pier area to decorate it.

Since the Little Mermaid had a short wait time we decided to go on that again while we were there. While we were on the Little Mermaid the ride kept stopping and Sebastian kept making announcements to remain in our clam shells. I took a video of the ride this time so took pictures off the video:

After that we headed over towards Toy Story Midway Mania taking some pictures along the way:

I only noticed the star on top of the Gazebo has a Santa hat on it when I was editing the picture for this:

 

[dolphingirl47]

I am glad that you finally got a couple of Vinylmation that you liked in a trade. The Beast's library looks really neat. I think the portrait is the same that they have at Be Our Guest. How lucky that you managed to get a photo with Mater. He always eluded me.

Corinna

 

[petals]

I am glad that you finally got a couple of Vinylmation that you liked in a trade.

I was happy. The rest of the trip the trading had been pretty crappy. I think I only got one other out of 10 I had with me to trade that I was happy with.

The Beast's library looks really neat. I think the portrait is the same that they have at Be Our Guest.

It was cool but then Beauty and the Beast is one of my favourites so I'm going to say that anyway lol!

How lucky that you managed to get a photo with Mater. He always eluded me.

Corinna

Mater was cool in his Santa hat. I think my favourite was Big Red though.

I changed the double post above to another trip update just in case you miss it

 

[dolphingirl47]

I changed the double post above to another trip update just in case you miss it

Thanks for the heads up.

I love all the photos. Well done on getting a button. I had not spotted the santa hat on the star either.

Corinna

 

[petals]

Thanks for the heads up.

I love all the photos. Well done on getting a button. I had not spotted the santa hat on the star either.

Corinna

I literally only spotted that as I was editing. Have the picture 8 months and never spotted it lol!

 

[petals]

Day 9, part 4:

So we were wandering over towards Toy Story Mania. We did intend to ride it today but the wait time was 80 minutes so we decided to skip it. I did stop to take a quick picture of people going upside down on California Screamin though:

Then we decided to head back towards Carsland and on our way we met DJ again and that CM that Momma had asked earlier in the day about the DJ buttons before and he came right over and handed us two buttons because he said he never breaks a promise!

We took our time wandering into Carsland and stopped to watch the cars wiz by on Radiator Springs Racers for a while.

We sat outside Flo’s waiting for the lights to come on. We were expecting a show or something but it was literally like one minute they were off and next they were on:

Next we decided to go watch the Pixar Play parade again:

This pic is dodgy but I thought it was cool the way the fire kept going off on his hair:

Love the Aliens:

Once the parade was over Momma wanted to sit and chill for a while so she found a bench and I went and got photopass pictures by Walt Disney and the Christmas tree:

I spotted Pluto meeting people so hopped in line there and was eyeing up yummies in the shop windows while I waited:

Pluto was all done up in his Christmas gear including socks on his ears which was cute:

After that I went in to Trolley Treats to get a treat for Momma and I. So much choice:

On the way out of Trolley Treats I spotted Mickey Mouse done up in his Christmas gear so went to meet him:

My pen wouldn’t work for him. It was turned off and he couldn’t figure out how to turn it back on. The CM said it was a trick pen. I turned it on for him and all was well again! I was watching him after for a while and the guys from the Five and Dime band started playing music near by and he was dancing away to the music and then started grabbing random people and dancing with them. He was awesome! After that I went back to Momma and we sat having our treats watching the world go by. I had bought two cake pops and they were yum!

 

[jenseib]

MMM. I am so hungry right now and all those treats look amazing and I could eat 3 of each!

 

[dolphingirl47]

80 minutes is a lot. I don't think I have ever seen quite so long in California. Well done on getting to meet Mickey and Pluto and I am glad that you got the other set of buttons.

Corinna

 

[petals]

80 minutes is a lot. I don't think I have ever seen quite so long in California.

Yeah it was alot busier the second week we were there but then it was heading towards thanksgiving weekend and the parks were open until 11/12 at night so as the day went on the parks got busier and I wasn't about to waste 80 minutes waiting for one ride!

Well done on getting to meet Mickey and Pluto

Mickey Mouse was awesome. I loved how he was randomly dancing with people.

I am glad that you got the other set of buttons.

I was surprised he remembered us. Those CM's must see thousands of people a day like and we weren't going back intending to search for the button again we had kind of presumed he was just fobbing us off like. It was just pure chance we met DJ coming out of the "garage" on our way back to see the lights

MMM. I am so hungry right now and all those treats look amazing and I could eat 3 of each!

Anytime is a good time for Disney food but omg the best thing I ate all week has yet to come!

 

[petals]

Day 9, part 5:

Once we were finished our treats we headed to the Animation Academy. I loved all the old merchandise on the stage like the snowman bucket:

The first character we were learning to draw was Olaf. This was how he was meant to look:

I can’t really draw but this was my version:

Momma didn’t like hers so threw it in the bin after I took a pic that I’m not allowed share! We decided to hang around outside the Animation Academy and go to the next one we could get into as well. While we were waiting I popped out and took pictures of the windows of Off the page on my way. They had costumes from Once Upon a Time:

They also had a cute Christmas display with the nutcrackers in another window:

Back inside around the waiting area they were playing Disney songs and showing characters from each movie related to the song. I loved the little green men:

Soon it was time to go back to the Animation Academy and this time we were learning to draw Baymax. This is how he was meant to look:

This was mine:

Mine’s a bit lopsided looking! Anyway next we went to check out the Mad T Party. They were kind of a rock band based on the characters of Alice in Wonderland and a lot of drinking younger people around watching them. We didn’t stay there very long:

We wandered around the area for a bit and found where Muppet Vision would have been. It was closed for refurb or something when we there though:

We decided to go on Monsters INC again while we were beside it:

 

[dolphingirl47]

I think your drawings have come out rather well. I think I may have to try my hand at drawing Olaf in September.

Corinna

 

[petals]

I think your drawings have come out rather well. I think I may have to try my hand at drawing Olaf in September.

Corinna

Thanks. If you ask the CM outside Animation Academy he has a timetable of what character will be drawn when and he can tell you what time to come at for Olaf.

 

[petals]

Day 9, part 6:

After Monsters INC we were pretty much done in the park but we decided to stroll through some of the shops in search of the pressed pennies and to look at the decorations and of course the merchandise!

I need plates like this in my life:

As we left one of the shops I spotted Goofy out doing meet and greets so hopped into line to see him:

While I was waiting I was watching some yummy treats being made:

Soon Goofy was joined by a friend:

These two were hilarious together. Goofy kept coming up with poses for everyone’s photos and would fix Pluto into whatever pose he wanted everyone to do. When I got to them one of the CM’s spotted my first visit button and they got super excited about this and gave me a big group hug which the photopass photographer totally missed and I’m still raging over but aside from that Pluto kept petting me and kissing me and then when it came to photo time I had pigtails in my hair so Goofy got me to hold them out and him and Pluto held out their ears like so:

The CM said we must be all related because we all had long ears! Momma and I sat on a bench nearby watching Pluto and Goofy for a while because they were too funny to leave. Pluto didn’t stay for very long though and high-fived everyone as he went by:

After that we headed towards the exit taking pictures along the way:

Then it was time to say farewell for this year to Disney’s California Adventure:

We headed back to our hotel and some of the restaurants had put up Christmas decorations:

Back at our hotel this was a cool stained glass window they had that I finally remembered to take a picture of:

Once we were back in the room we packed up a bit before heading to bed before our last day in Disney.

 

[jenseib]

What a fun meet and greet with Pluto and Goofy. I think your Baymax is bette than the one it' supposed to look like!

 

[dolphingirl47]

Looks like you had a lot of fun with Goofy and Pluto. What a shame that the photographer missed the group hug.

Corinna

 

[petals]

What a fun meet and greet with Pluto and Goofy. I think your Baymax is bette than the one it' supposed to look like!

Thanks. I think one of his arms is longer than the other. They need to provide erasers at those things The meet and greet with Pluto and Goofy was awesome. They were hilarious!

Looks like you had a lot of fun with Goofy and Pluto. What a shame that the photographer missed the group hug.

Corinna

I know I was raging that he missed the group hug. It was to cute and first time it's happened in all my Disney trips!

 

[petals]

I booked this years holiday and I'm not going to Disney I'm going on a European sun holiday instead... There's always next year I guess!

Day 10, part 1:
Wednesday, 26th of November.

Got up bright and early at 6.30am for our last day in California boo hiss! Momma wasn’t coming out with me this morning as she wanted to go check out the Garden Walk Shops and get some shoes for herself so she had a lie in and once I was ready I headed off by myself but first I took some pictures around the hotel grounds as it was our last day there:

The pool area was still locked up so I had to take pictures through the fence:

As I wandered up the road I kept up my usual snapping:

This was a cute little sign shop along the way:

When I got to Disney I headed straight to Disneyland and was there on time for opening although they don’t have any special opening ceremony:

First I headed up to the train station to see if the Lilly Belle would be running that day and they told me to come back at 9.15 if I wanted to book it so I headed over to the Emporium to spend some of the last dollars and use another one of the 20% off vouchers we had. So many Minnie’s:

By the time I was finished in the Emporium it was nearly time to head back to the train station but first I went to meet Miss Minnie Mouse herself:

Main Street was bustling with different transportation that morning as well:

While I was taking pictures I had to take another one of the giant Christmas tree:

After that I went up to the train station and got in a short queue for tickets for the Lilly Belle. They only run it twice a day, I think the times were 11.30 and 12 and they only allow a maximum of 12 people on it at each time. I got a ticket for myself for 11.30 as I figured Momma wouldn’t be up to the park on time and I text her to tell her she didn’t need to come up until 12 so she could relax a bit just in case. Ticket in hand I headed back down the steps to meet some more characters. First up Donald Duck:

And then Pluto:

This was where they lost my photopass pictures! When I got home I had a photo of some guy and his two kids and they said they couldn’t find my Pluto pictures. I emailed them about a month or more later and they suddenly found them! Anyway after that I headed up Main Street through the shops admiring the Christmas decorations along the way:

Tribute to the Sherman Brothers:

Next I headed to Pixie Hollow. This was a super cute queue area with little statues of the fairies and little fairy houses and boats:

You could watch the Astro Orbitors from the queue as well:

Soon it was time to meet some fairies. First up was Tinkerbell. I can’t remember what we talked about possibly how far my flight was from Ireland but she looks a bit shocked in the pictures anyway:

Next I met a fairy I hadn’t seen before Silvermist: