**Official August 2016 Check In Thread**

[cinder-ellah]

We returned last night from our 5 day Disneymoon trip. We arrived late Sunday and stayed at the Grand Californian. We had an amazing view of California Adventure. Goofy's Sky School was right outside our window. We watched a little bit of World of Color from the back side when we checked into our room, but decided to wait until the Dessert Party on Tuesday to see the rest.

We headed to Downtown Disney to look for a late dinner and ended up at Trader Sam's. The place was busy, but we lucked out because a table became available just as we walked in the door. I was excited that I was able to get one of the Trader Sam's mugs with my Shipwreck on the Rocks. We had a Pu Pu platter to share and thought it was quite tasty.

We did rope drop every day and especially loved rope drop at CA. At CA, we never headed for Radiator Springs Racers, instead focused on the other attractions. We usually were able to do 4 to 5 attractions in the first hour. This usually included riding Screaming' twice. We then took a nap break in the early afternoon and then headed back into the parks till closing. We loved park hopping back and forth between the parks.

Disneyland Highlights:

Hyperspace Mountain - Loved how they integrated the Star Wars theme into the attraction

Star Tours - Still love how this ride is entertaining and enjoyable after all these years. We rode it 3 times and saw 3 different versions.

Big Thunder Mountain Rail Road - I noticed the improvements made since the last refurbishment. I tried the "Goat Trick", and it worked for me.

Jolly Holiday Bakery - We LOVED the raspberry macaron. I had 3 of them. We did notice they usually did not appear until later in the afternoon.

Blue Bayou - Loved the setting. The food was a lot better than I was expecting. We definitely would eat there again.

Donald Duck- I Disney Bound one morning with my Royal Blue suit and red bow tie. I was able to get an amazing picture with Donald Duck.

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California Adventure Highlights:

Soarin' Over the World - WOW! The refurbishment of the screens is amazing. During my last visit, the screens were showing their years of wear and tear. This time, the image was crisp and clear. The new film is breath taking and we loved the new scents. We definitely suggest asking to sit in the top row. One time, I was top row center.

Caricature Artists- We had an artist draw us with the bodies of our respectful favorite characters (Ursula & Donald Duck). A little pricey, but we have an amazing drawing we totally love.

Tower of Terror - This is my all time favorite ride. I love the theming, the drop, etc. It was my last ride of our trip. I am sad to see it be rethemed as Guardians of the Galaxy, but I am excited that they will be adding the random drop sequence.

Frozen Show- Definitely worth seeing even though it does take a big part of the park day. Standing in line for fast passes, standing in line before the show and the show itself. We have season tickets to the touring Broadway shows in Seattle, and both agreed this was better than some of the shows we have seen here in Seattle. They have some very talented performers. We both thought Olaf was a perfect fit for the role.

Corn Dog Castle - We both agree it has some of the best corn dogs ever.


Other important highlights:

Napa Rose Chef's Counter- We loved it. We had Chef Gloria and the food was amazing. Definitely worth the $100 price. We plan to do it again our next trip.

Grand Californian DCA Entrance- We loved using it when it was to our advantage. There were times we avoided it because it was faster to go through Downtown Disney.


Some final thoughts:

Pin Trading- Trading is more of a thing at Walt Disney World. I was able to trade for some new Donald Duck pins that I didn't have yet. We still enjoyed checking out the Pin Boards in the stores.

Cast Members- We had some great interactions with some cast members. We meet one that has worked for Disney for 25 years and another one whose last day was our last day there after 35 years. Lots of congratulations from them through out the week. We wore "Happily Ever After" buttons every day. We got a lot of congratulations (even from other guests ) when we wore our Just Married t-shirts. Some cast members were never unfriendly, just would not get a response from them when you said good morning or hello.

Crowds - It was busy, but very manageable. We never waited more than 20 minutes for a ride. The longest wait we saw was 75 minutes for Radiator Springs Racers.

Theming - Disney still is the master at theming. It always amazes me at the amount of detail that goes into attractions. We did notice some wear and tear and sadly even graffiti (people carving initials in the bamboo in the Indy queue).

Overall, it was an amazing trip. We make it to Disney every 3 to 5 years. So next trip, Star Wars land should be open. We are excited for that.

Fabulous picture of you and Donald !

 

[bcwife76]

All packed and ready to go! Leaving later this afternoon, dropping our dog at the kennel and continuing on to the airport where we will stay overnight before flying out early tomorrow morning!!!! Thanks August trippers, it's been a blast! Will update when we get back

 

[cinder-ellah]

All packed and ready to go! Leaving later this afternoon, dropping our dog at the kennel and continuing on to the airport where we will stay overnight before flying out early tomorrow morning!!!! Thanks August trippers, it's been a blast! Will update when we get back

Wishing you a fantastic, magical time !

 

[bcwife76]

Well I know it's now September and we've all completed our trips (sad) but I just wanted to give a quick update on our trip since we returned last night.

-stayed at HOJO (our first time at this particular hotel) and thought it was great! Will definitely consider booking there again for future trips
-LA traffic SUCKS.......not that we aren't used to it (we've driven down to LA several times as well, this time we flew and rented a car)
-Did Universal on Tuesday, splurged for front row parking because my youngest DD and I both got car sick and felt like poop when we arrived. Felt better once we were there, did so many rides, multiple times!
-It was HOOOOOOT!!! But the crowds were low! We got SO much done in the parks!!! On DCA day we rode Cars twice (probably could've done a third time), Soarin' 3 times (LOVE the new Soarin!) as well as so many other rides. Had lunch at Carthay Circle, excellent service, yummy food. Highly recommend those biscuits! Did the WOC Dessert party, fantastic!!! Excellent service, the food was yummy, the drinks were yummy, the view was to die for. Fabulous day!
-Thursday we did Disneyland, had breakfast at Rainforest Cafe then took the monorail into the park, best idea!!! Park crowds again were quite low. Longest line was Peter Pan so we got in it right away, 40 minutes. Everything else was low. Did Matterhorn twice in a row as we were 'pixie dusted' for a second go round without having to get out! BTMR twice. Pirates 4 times!! Indiana Jones twice (both with fastpasses). Lunch at Aladdin's to get the preferred viewing for PTN. Dinner at Cafe Orleans (just 'ok' but loved the beignets for dessert!). PTN preferred viewing was outstanding!!!!! Amazing parade!!! Fireworks unfortunately cancelled due to wind, we closed out the night on Astro Orbitors, fantastic view at night!! A perfect ending to our trip!! My 8 year old cried on the way out "I miss the parks already!!!!" Which we were not expecting from her lol She's excited to learn we are going back in Feb 2018 (and going to WDW, even if only for one day, in Jan 2017!)

Oh Disneyland, how I love thee!!!!