Our 3rd Annual Holiday Trip to DL in November - November 22nd - 25th, 2013 Post #3416

[MarbleBob]

Cool!!!! Thanks so much for sharing that information, it's exactly the kind of stuff that I was hoping for

 

[mvf-m11c]

Day 1 – June 28, 2013 – Part 2​

On the last update, my aunt, cousin Chris, DM and I got to SoCal around 6am in the morning after driving most of the night. We were able to get our room that morning which was a shocker to all of us. We had breakfast at IHOP before we entered the park that morning. After finishing breakfast, we head on over to the DLR. Before we went in the park, we stopped to get an ECV for my aunt. Then we head on over to DCA that morning. Chris and I rode Soarin while my aunt and DM got FP’s for World of Color. Now we are riding the Little Mermaid ride. Let’s get back to the Little Mermaid ride where I have left off.

We are back riding the Little Mermaid Ariel’s Undersea Adventure. I have ridden the Little Mermaid ride ever since it opened in 2011. This was Chris and DM first time riding it while my aunt rode it back in January. The ride had a few changes over the first two years which the last picture of Ariel where she is dancing during the “Under the Sea” scene of the ride. Originally her hair was a cone spiral where the updated one is way better than the cone hair style.

Here is a picture of the cone hair style when I rode the Little Mermaid ride before the ride was open in mid June.

Now back with more pictures of the Little Mermaid ride during the June trip.

Flotsam and Jetsam still on top of the cave

Ursula

Ariel and Eric during the “Kiss the Girl” scene

Almost at the end of the ride

Sebastian and King Triton

Ariel and Eric

Can’t forget about Scuttle at the end of the ride

When we got off the Little Mermaid ride, we got the ECV and since we were in Paradise Pier, we head on over to see what Toy Story Midway Mania wait time was. I didn’t check my iPhone to see if it was busy or not but I would have guessed that it was going to be busy that morning.

Chris and DM were impressed with the new look of PP and the viewing area where we will see World of Color that night. When they looked at California Screamin, they asked what happened to the Mickey shape ear look where today it just shows a round circle and saying Paradise Pier. The Mickey shape ears was taken down after the PP refurbishment in 2010. They liked the Mickey shape ears on CS and it doesn’t look the same as it used to be.

After looking at CS and Mickey’s Fun Wheel of Doom (which is really called Mickey’s Fun Wheel but on the threads we call it MFWoD by Sherry), we head on over towards the other side of PP to see what the wait times and possibly go on one of the rides that Chris has on her list which is CS and TSMM.

When we got to CS, the wait time was already at 30 minutes. There was no way Chris and I would wait that long for the ride. But just when we were about to pass the ride, DM told us that she got us FP for CS. I asked her how she got them, then I realized that when she got the FP’s for WoC she went on over towards PP to get FP’s for Chris and me. I was surprised and glad that we can go on CS that Chris has on her list. Chris and I used the FP’s for CS and the two of us went on the ride while my aunt and DM waited for us. We hand them our bags and camera equipment so I wouldn’t have to worry about it while riding CS.

When we got on CS, we only had to wait 5 minutes to get on the ride and we were at the back of the yellow train. I didn’t have my DSLR camera to get the picture of us during the ride, so I used my iPhone to get a picture of it. Chris loves riding CS ever since it opened in 2001 as being one of the original rides at DCA and hasn’t change one bit except for the Mickey Ears during the inversion area.

You can barely see Chris and me in the picture.

After we rode CS and met up with my aunt and DM, we walked down the backside of PP to see what other rides to do that day. When we passed by TSMM, the wait time was already at 45 minutes. So we weren’t planning on waiting that long to ride TSMM. We plan on riding it on Sunday before we leave that day.

We were now passing by the Games of Boardwalk where it wasn’t that busy that morning while around CS and TSMM were quite busy.

We passed by Mickey’s Fun Wheel of Doom and I thought that we should go on it but the wait time for the swinging and non-swinging were quite long that morning at 10 minutes and 20 minutes. So we just skipped it since my aunt doesn’t like Ferris Wheel rides.

Now at the area around the Paradise Pier restaurants (Boardwalk Pizza & Pasta and Paradise Garden Grill) which rides like Silly Symphony Swings, Jumpin’ Jellyfish and Goofy’s Sky School was in the area. Chris asked me if Mulholland Madness was still there and I told her that it was converted from MM to GSS since 2011.

When we were in that area, she wanted to go on that ride and the two of us went on GSS while my aunt and DM waited for us until we got off.

The wait time was only 10 minutes so we waited in the standby queue to ride it. While we were in the queue, we talked about the theme change from Mulholland Madness to Goofy’s Sky School. The theme was way better over MM. We had fun riding GSS where it was a short ride.

When we met up with my aunt and DM, we saw most of Paradise Pier and started to head on over towards Cars Land. My aunt has been looking forward to go back to CL since the January trip. It is not for the rides but it is the food. I will get to that later on why she was so excited to be back at CL. We left PP and heading on over to CL.

The day was really nice where it was around in the low 80s that morning. The weather was nice while it wasn’t back home in Sacramento where we heard it was in the 90s that morning. That was just crazy that it was already 90 degrees back home.

I got up ahead of them and got a picture of them while we were walking towards CL from PP.

We are almost at CL and I can tell that Chris and DM were excited to see CL for the first time. Chris older sister have been to CL and she told them about how great it is. This was going to be excited for the two of them and my aunt was excited to get a certain food at CL.

That will be it for this post and I will have the next update of we have done that morning at Cars land.

 

[disneykiwi]

Bret

Loving this new report - your photos are amazing, having just been where you went is bringing back so many happy memories and makes me wish I was there again.

It just shows the difference of having a good camera and knowing what you are doing as our pictures are no where near as good as yours

Its been great, espeically the Fantasmic ones in your previous trip - was able to see heaps more than I could see where we watched the show from - still loved it but its amazing the details we missed that we now see in your photos

I have been able to show the family your photos so they can see better what we went to. So thats wonderful and thank you so much.

It looks like your family are really enjoying being back there.

We were booked into the BWPPI on our trip but there was a problem and they had overbooked so we were moved to BWAI - which was very nice but I was disappointed about not staying at the BWPPI after hearing how much you like it.

Take care

 

[PrincessInOz]

Lovely shots, Bret.

Looks like another great day and you're braver than me. CS is one of those rides that I'm happy to look at....from the bridge.

 

[mvf-m11c]

Cool!!!! Thanks so much for sharing that information, it's exactly the kind of stuff that I was hoping for

Glad the information about Little Tokyo will help you for your upcoming trip.

Bret

Loving this new report - your photos are amazing, having just been where you went is bringing back so many happy memories and makes me wish I was there again.

It just shows the difference of having a good camera and knowing what you are doing as our pictures are no where near as good as yours

Its been great, espeically the Fantasmic ones in your previous trip - was able to see heaps more than I could see where we watched the show from - still loved it but its amazing the details we missed that we now see in your photos

I have been able to show the family your photos so they can see better what we went to. So thats wonderful and thank you so much.

It looks like your family are really enjoying being back there.

We were booked into the BWPPI on our trip but there was a problem and they had overbooked so we were moved to BWAI - which was very nice but I was disappointed about not staying at the BWPPI after hearing how much you like it.

Take care

Hi Toni,

Glad that you are enjoying the June trip report. It just begun and the best part of the trip is yet to come. The pictures are always bringing me back a lot of memories and I want to go back.

My Nikon D5100 is a good camera and it does a good job on the pictures. I think my pictures are nice for an average photographer and some of them are getting better and better overtime. I remember that one DISer told me that it doesn't matter how much you put in a camera and it all depends on the photographer. You can even get great pictures with a point and shoot camera and I have seen great pictures on the boards.

F! is a great show and I was fortunate to get good pictures from that night.

Nice to hear that you show your family my photos from my trips and they can see what it feels like when they walk at the parks. That's why I like taking pictures of the trails that I walked when I am at the park to remember the times where I walked and what I did during the trip so I can write up my trip report and tell where we went and done that day.

My family is having a great time that morning at DCA and it is only the beginning of the trip.

I'm sorry that BWPPI was overbooked and you weren't able to stay there. BWAI is a very nice hotel which is just a couple of buildings down from BWPPI. I have stayed at BWAI a lot because there are times when the price for BWPPI was way more than BWAI and it was cheaper to stay at BWAI over BWPPI. You can't be the location at BWPPI which is right at the crosswalk and it is the closest non-Disney hotel to the DLR.

Thank you and glad that you are enjoying the trip report.

Lovely shots, Bret.

Looks like another great day and you're braver than me. CS is one of those rides that I'm happy to look at....from the bridge.

Thank you PiO. When I looked at the Little Mermaid pictures, they weren't as good like the one's that I took during the January trip. I used the 18-105mm lens during the ride and some of them turned out nice while some of them turned out blurry. I did left the filter on the lens when I took the pictures during the ride. Maybe I should have taken it off since we were in a dark ride. But overall the pictures were okay and not my best one's that I have took on the LM ride. Next time, I will do it differently with settings while using the 18-105mm lens.

Mostly I would not ride CS when I am at the parks but I was brave enough to go on the ride with Chris. At least CS is low intense than Rock n Roller Coaster at DHS where it has three inversions. I do enjoy looking at CS from the bridge especially with the launching area of the ride.


The next post will be up shortly.

 

[mvf-m11c]

Day 1 – June 28, 2013 – Part 3​

On our last update, we were all at Paradise Pier riding the Little Mermaid Ariel’s Undersea Adventure plus Chris and I got to ride California Screamin and Goofy’s Sky School. It was a nice day at Disney California Adventure where it was a sunny day. It was a shame that we couldn’t ride Toy Story Midway Mania that morning since the ride wait time was over 40 minutes. Now we just left Paradise Pier and now heading on over towards Cars Land. Everyone in my group is so excited to see the new land which is over one year old.

We are now approaching Cars Land after being most of the morning at Paradise Pier. I know that Chris and DM will love the new land that was added last year during the DCA expansion plan ever since 2007. They asked me what was used to be at Cars Land before and I told them that it was originally the Lion King parking lot. My aunt was getting excited to come back to Cars Land and try a specific food that she wanted to eat.

We entered CL or Radiator Springs which is after the town from the Movie “Cars” & “Cars 2”, Chris and DM were so amazed of how the buildings look exactly like from the movies. We walked down towards RS and see that it was semi busy that morning.

I told them that maybe Radiator Springs Racers wait time would not be that long and maybe we could wait for as less as 30 minutes to get on the ride. So the four of us head on down to see the wait time for RSR and see if we can get on with little wait time.

Over at the Cozy Cone Motel, I saw that the cone fountain was not running but it is all painted up really nicely. The last time I saw the fountain was when the paint was peeling off the fountain. It is nice to see that Team Disney Anaheim is taking care of Cars Land in less than a year.

When we passed by Town Hall and head on the right hand side towards RSR, the wait time was over 60 minutes that morning. So we knew that we weren’t willing to wait that long to ride RSR. So we skipped the ride and decided to leave Cars Land. My aunt told me that she will get her food later that day since it was early and we had a big breakfast at IHOP that morning.

Over at Luigi’s Flying Tires, the wait time was over 30 minutes. They were interested about LFT and I told them that the ride was inspired by an old Disneyland attraction in the 60s called “The Flying Saucers”. My aunt remembered hearing that ride a long time ago since I have told her about it since the January trip. We weren’t able to go on LFT in January and maybe we can get on it during this trip.

It is so neat to look at Flo’s V8 Café sign especially at night

We went through the backside of exiting Cars Land towards Pacific Wharf. I love going through this side when you can see Radiator Springs Racers mountains.

We were now in Pacific Wharf and since we were in this land, we went on over towards Boudin Bakery Tour. Chris asked me if Mission Tortilla was still at Pacific Wharf. Unfortunately I told them that it is now gone and it was replaced with Ghirardelli Soda Fountain and Chocolate Shop. They were sad to hear that it was gone and they were glad that Ghirardelli is now in the parks since they like chocolate.

We went into Boudin Bakery Tour and we learned how they make the bread. We got a couple of samples before we entered the building. We had a little snack that day thanks to the bread samples from Boudin Bakery.

After leaving Boudin Bakery, and we were close to A Bug’s Land, my aunt and Chris wanted to see “It’s Tough to be a Bug”. We saw that show during the January trip so Chris and DM wanted to see that show. So we head on over towards ABL to see ITtbaB.

While walking down, we can tell that the park was getting a little busy that afternoon with more and more people coming in the park. It was also getting a little warmer that morning.

We got to It’s Tough to be a Bug and we went down to see the show. Since it was getting a little warm that morning, it was a good idea to take a little break by going into an A/C building that day. We didn’t have to wait that long to get into the building which we only had to wait 5 minutes. Chris and DM were having a great time including my aunt. I was glad that we are having a great first day at DL together.

The show was the same like the last time we saw it in January. But this time, we got the effects from the seats while sitting in the backside since my aunt had the ECV. I do get annoyed by the seats when the show concludes when the bugs are leaving before the people.

After getting outside, they wanted to go ride Monster’s Inc. This is one of the rides that Chris wants to do and with this ride the wait time is not that bad. Mostly Monster’s Inc. is a walk on and I assumed that it was going to be a walk-on even during the summertime. At first it wasn’t a big mistake to ride Monster’s Inc if the movie Monsters University didn’t come out.

So we head on over towards Hollywood Land to ride Monster’s Inc. the FP’s for RSR were already gone when we passed by the FP sign.

Just when we entered Buena Vista Street, the show Red Car News Boys was just concluding at BVS while Mickey was in the Red Car Trolley. Chris got so excited to see the talking Mickey in the Red Car Trolley.

While the Red Car Trolley with Mickey is going down Hollywood Land, we were going down the street towards Hollywood Land to ride Monster’s Inc.

The four of us head on over towards Monster’s Inc on the left hand side going straight right at Mad T Party. HL wasn’t that busy at that time and I had a hunch that it wasn’t going to be busy to ride Monster’s Inc. Mad T Party is still in DCA and it has been here for over a year replacing ElecTRONica as the last nighttime event at DCA.

When we got to the Monster’s Inc. ride there were quite a number of people going through the queue. I looked at the wait time and it was already at 20 minutes. I was shocked to see the wait time for Monsters Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue! at 20 minutes. I mostly got on the ride with less than a minute and now it is 20 minutes. It just shows you when a movie is based on the ride, most of the people would go on the ride and experience it. This was a big mistake that I have ever done during the trip of waiting to get on a ride where I could easily get on instantly during a different time of the year. But they wanted to go on the ride since we were in the area. So I just went along with it and we all went on Monster’s Inc.

Just when we were about to go through the queue to Monster’s Inc, Chris saw a very interesting stroller right at the front entrance. When we looked at the stroller, it looked like a Jungle Cruise boat. I was so amazed at the JC stroller for a kid. She was wondering if someone went through all the trouble to make it or there is somewhere that sells it. I would guess that it was a customized stroller. That was the neatest stroller that I have ever seen.

We entered the queue for Monster’s Inc. and what I have feared of going on this ride is that we were still outside instead of inside the ride. This is the first time seeing the queue for Monster’s Inc. so busy. It is nice that it is busy but it wasn’t good for us to wait in that queue where we could just walk up and get on the ride.

While we were in the queue, we talked of what to do for the rest of the afternoon until we head on back to the room to rest up and later come back for dinner at Ariel’s Grotto and see the 9pm show of World of Color.

Monorail Mark VII Orange passing by DCA on it’s way to the Downtown Disney station.

Everyone is having a great time even though we were in the queue for Monster’s Inc which is taking some time to go through.

That’s it for this post from DCA and Monster’s Inc. and I will have more from DCA that Friday.

 

[PrincessInOz]

I'm not a fan of the Monsters Inc ride; but I guess the movie has drummed up much more interest in it than before. Hard to believe it's over 10 years since it came out.

 

[tksbaskets]

Great update Bret!
You and your family are having a great day. So special to be able to share DL/DCA with family. You've done so much already. I loved your pictures especially of Cars Land. I too think the Jungle Cruise stroller is the best stroller I've ever seen.

We've always just walked right onto the Monsters, Inc. ride. I give you credit for standing in line. I certainly wouldn't have. (of course my family would be back in Paradise Pier waiting in line for TSMM )

I am sure you enjoyed your rest having started so early in the morning. Looking forward to hearing more.

TK

 

[mvf-m11c]

I'm not a fan of the Monsters Inc ride; but I guess the movie has drummed up much more interest in it than before. Hard to believe it's over 10 years since it came out.

Monster Inc. is a nice ride but I would never wait that long for that ride ever. But my family wanted to ride it while we were in the area and it was nice to discuss our strategies for the day. There is no question that the movie drummed the ride up where I would never imagine that the wait time would be over 20 minutes. Monsters University is a great movie and it helped get more guests to ride it.

Great update Bret!
You and your family are having a great day. So special to be able to share DL/DCA with family. You've done so much already. I loved your pictures especially of Cars Land. I too think the Jungle Cruise stroller is the best stroller I've ever seen.

We've always just walked right onto the Monsters, Inc. ride. I give you credit for standing in line. I certainly wouldn't have. (of course my family would be back in Paradise Pier waiting in line for TSMM )

I am sure you enjoyed your rest having started so early in the morning. Looking forward to hearing more.

TK

Thank you TK

We are all having a great time and we did a lot of rides during a busy summertime. It wasn't that busy as I have thought during the trip. I would say that the hot weather drove the locals away and just the tourists. So it made our trip very nice. Everyone enjoyed CL and it would have been nice to go on some of the rides but the wait times were just a little too long. the JC stroller was very neat.

I do the same thing and passed by Monster's Inc. when I am in Hollywood Land. I would never imagine that I would have to wait that long to get onto Monster's Inc. It was for DM, Chris and my aunt and I had no problem waiting in the queue with them. I know that you and your family would be in PP to ride TSMM all day. The wait time for TSMM during our visit was likea usual day at 40 minutes on average.

We all had a great morning and still have the afternoon to go and the nighttime.


The next post will be up shortly.

 

[mvf-m11c]

Day 1 – June 28, 2013 – Part 4​

On our last update, the four of us went through Cars Land that morning and they were all impressed with the newest land to Disney California Adventure. Even though we didn’t go on any rides at CL at that time, they were impressed with the new land. We got to watch It’s Tough to be a Bug and the Boudin Bakery Tour. Now we are in the queue of Monster’s Inc. Mike and Sulley to the Rescue which I have never expected to see a long wait time to get on the ride while I have got on that ride instantly. Now let’s get back to the trip report and back at Monster’s Inc.

We are now in the queue of Monster’s Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue. This was the first time I ever have to wait in a long line to get on the ride. Mostly it is a walk-on during anytime during the day (okay maybe not during super busy days). Ever since the movie Monsters University came out and the DLR promoting the movie a lot around the resort it doesn’t surprise me that the ride is now popular.

While we were I the queue for the ride, we were talking what we should do next. DM told Chris and me that she has FP’s for Grizzly River Run. I was surprised to hear that she actually got GRR FP’s tickets and we were wondering where she got them. She told us that she got them when we were riding California Screamin. I should have known that she went to GRR and get FP’s since Chris wants to ride GRR during the trip. So Chris and I will be able to ride GRR that day. I didn’t want to go on GRR but it was for her and I didn’t want her to go alone.

It took about 15 minutes to get into the building which was quite a long time to get into Monster’s Inc. The queue for Monster’s Inc. is always fun to go through.

Snacks anyone?

We finally got to the loading area and my DA parked the ECV on the left hand side.

During the ride, I used my DSLR to take some pictures with the 18-105mm lens. Mostly I would use the 35mm lens for the dark rides but I kept testing the lens to see how it turns out. Here are pictures from Monster’s Inc. that day.

Celia Mae and Mike Wazowski

Sully and Boo

Sushi anyone?

Sully, Boo and Mike

It’s time to go to work?

Mike is losing his mind over something

Where is Randall going?

There is Randall!!!

There is Boo’s door

Looks like Randall is going after the door as well

They found the door

Roz at the end of the ride

After we got off Monster’s Inc., Chris and I head on over towards Grizzly River Run to use our FP’s. While my aunt and DM were in Hollywood Land, they decided to head on over towards the Hyperion Theater to watch the 12:45pm show of Disney’s Aladdin – A Musical Spectacular. Since we have time, they will save our seats while Chris and I ride GRR.

Chris and I head on over to GRR while my aunt and DM head on over to the Hyperion Theater. I didn’t bring my DSLR or iPhone since we know for sure that we will get wet on GRR. So we left all of our stuff with my aunt and DM while we head on over to GRR.

I mostly never ride GRR when I am at DCA since it is a ride where you can get wet no matter what if you get lucky. I haven’t rode GRR ever since the ride was part of the original rides since it opened in 2001. So it has been over 10 years since I have ridden GRR. Chris told me that she has never got wet while riding GRR. I was a little surprised to hear from her that she never got really wet on GRR. She told me that she has never and hopes to get wet on GRR.

The weather was picking up that afternoon and it was a good time to get a little wet on GRR. I was hoping that I don’t get drenched where I am leaving a trail of water. I have seen people get drenched on GRR and leaving a trail of water.

We walked all the way from Hollywood Land to Grizzly Peak and it was around 12:15pm when we got over to GRR. The standby wait time for GRR was over an hour while when we got over to the FP queue, there was a line form on the outside close to the entrance of the Rushin’ River Outfitters store. This was going to be a long time to get on the ride or a short time.

We only had to wait about 10 minutes to get on GRR through the FP queue and it was not as bad as I have thought. The two of us boarded GRR and Chris was on the outside. She wanted to be on the outside so she can get wet while I was in the middle of the row. We were paired with a nice family and asked us where we were from. One of the families was from Australia and one from Arizona. That was neat that one of the families that was riding with us on GRR was from another country.

During the ride on GRR, everyone on the ride got wet. I believe Chris got wet the most since there were times during the ride and drops that the edge of the raft got water and got her wet. I got wet a few times but not like her where she got wet. Even though I don’t like getting wet, it was nice to get wet a little since it was getting a little warmer that day. I would have gotten pictures of us wet but I left all my equipment with my aunt and DM.

When we exited GRR, we only had 15 minutes to get back to Hollywood Land and meet up with my aunt and DM to see the 12:45pm show of Aladdin the Musical Spectacular. It was a short time to get back to Hollywood Land and have to go through the queue to meet up with them.

Fortunately, we got to the Hyperion Theater with about 5 minutes to go until the 12:45pm show. My aunt and DM were already in the building and we couldn’t contact them since we don’t have our phones. So we waited in the queue to wait for them until DM came out from the Orchestra area. Since my aunt was using the ECV, she was able to get good seats in the Orchestra area. So we met up with DM and got seats close to the middle of the stage.

I didn’t take too many pictures of the show since I wanted to enjoy watching it instead o taking pictures since I haven’t seen the show in a few years ago. The show is great like always but the best part is where the Genie doing a lot of joking during the show. That what makes the show so great is because of the Genie.

Here are some pictures that I took during the 12:45pm show of Aladdin the Musical Spectacular

After the show was over, the four of us headed on out of the ride and the next ride that DM told us to ride was the Tower of Terror since we were in the area. I was kind of surprised to hear that we are riding the ToT next and she told us that we got FP’s for the ride. Once again, DM is on top of being the FP runner and getting FP’s for another ride that Chris wants to ride.

So the four of us headed on over towards the ToT after leaving the Hyperion Theater.

When we were now back outside, everyone needed to use the restroom so we head on over towards the restroom right at the backside of the Hyperion Theater.

While walking down, the meet & greet area for Monsters University was busy as well as a small stand where they sell Monsters University merchandise.

While everyone used the restroom, I waited with the ECV and looked at the FP’s for Tower of Teror and it was just about 8 minutes until the FP’s expire. So we had just enough time to ride the ToT before the FP’s expire and the wait time that I looked on Mousewait was at 40 minute wait. That was a long wait time to ride ToT.

When everyone came out of the bathroom, we head on over towards the ToT to ride it. We only had two FP’s and my aunt and DM didn’t want to ride it so the Chris and I rode it while they waited for us outside. But they told us that they will head on over to Cars Land to get a snack that afternoon. My aunt wanted to go on over to CL to get her food that day. She has been telling me for weeks that she can’t wait to go back to CL to get that specific food at CL.

So my aunt and DM went on over to CL while Chris and I rode ToT. We only had to wait for 10 minutes to get on ToT which the only wait time was when we had to go through the queue inside the Hollywood Hotel. We didn’t bring our bags or equipment since my aunt had the ECV. I did get a bad habit of letting my aunt carried my bag on the ECV. But with all the equipment that I had in my bag it was a little heavy.

When we got off the ride, Chris and I had a great time riding the ToT. Even though I didn’t have my DSLR, we did bring our phones so we were able to get a picture.

As soon we got off the ToT, we head on over to A Bug’s Land and towards Cars Land. We met up with my aunt and DB and they were at the Cozy Cone Motel area. If you have guessed Chili Cone Queso you are correct. My aunt has been looking forward to coming back to CL to have a Chili Cone Queso. DM also got the same thing. Chris got to eat some from DM while I had some from my aunt. The Chili Cone Queso was very nice where it had beef chili, cheddar cheese and corn chips in the bread cone.

We stayed in CL for a while and we enjoyed the Chili Cone Queso. Just as when we are about to leave CL and do something else that day, across from the Cozy Cone Motel Luigi’s Flying Tires didn’t have anyone on the ride. We were wondering what was happening at that time. A lot of the people that were in the queue were asked to leave the queue and they were not letting any guests to go through the queue.

LFT was quiet at that time and I would have guess there was a malfunction on the ride.

After we were done with the Chili Cone Queso, we left CL and now back at ABL from the backside. This is it for this post and I will have more from DCA that afternoon.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Nice to have seats saved for you at Aladdin. ToT is one ride I'll never get on. Is the Chili Cone Queso good?

 

[tksbaskets]

Your pictures from Aladdin were great! You should post them on the Picture of the Day threat

I liked your ride picture from the TOT too.

Did you leave a trail of water from GRR to Hollywood land?

TK

 

[mvf-m11c]

Nice to have seats saved for you at Aladdin. ToT is one ride I'll never get on. Is the Chili Cone Queso good?

Chris and I were lucky that my aunt and DM saved some good spots for Aladdin. Since my aunt had the ECV, the CM's saved two reserved seats right next to my aunt.

I mostly don't ride the ToT when I am at DCA and already this year alone that I have ridden it twice.

The Chili Cone Queso is nice but the cone bread is really good.

Your pictures from Aladdin were great! You should post them on the Picture of the Day threat

I liked your ride picture from the TOT too.

Did you leave a trail of water from GRR to Hollywood land?

TK

Thank you PiO. I'll remember to post them on the Picture of the Day thread.

The photo looked good since I was trying to get the pose right during the ride on ToT.

I didn't leave a trail of water. The only part of my body that was wet was my shorts. When we got to the Hyperion Theater, we were almost dried after the show was over.


The next post will be up shortly. I haven't been on the threads the last few days since I was working a major tournament at my job. It was just an awful weekend where I didn't enjoy working this weekend. At least I was able to write up my latest update from the June trip report.

 

[mvf-m11c]

Day 1 – June 28, 2013 – Part 5​

On our last update, we finally got on Monster’s Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue which took almost 20 minutes to get on the ride where it is mostly a walk-on. We had fun going on Monster’s Inc. and after the ride, Chris and I went on over to Grizzly River Run. I didn’t want to go on the ride but I did it for Chris. We did get wet on the ride while she got a little soaked. Than we head on over back to Hollywood Land to watch Aladdin the Musical Spectacular at the 12:45pm show where we met up with my aunt and DB. We got to ride the Tower of Terror after Aladdin. Then we head on over to Cars Land to have lunch. We had Chili Cone Queso at the Cozy Cone Motel where my aunt has been looking forward to it since she had it back in January. Now back to the trip report.

We just have finished out lunch at the Cozy Cone Motel and we started to go to our next destination was to head on back to Best Western Park Place Inn where we are staying during the trip and take our afternoon nap. I really needed to take a nap since I was driving that morning all the way to Anaheim. My aunt needed it too while Chris and DM could use a nap after a nice day at the parks. The weather was getting a little warmer at that time so it was a perfect time to head on back to the room and rest up for the nighttime.

We walked on out of Cars Land and heading on over towards BVS. But when we got closer to BVS, the Pixar Parade was running and we were close to the back of the parade. So it took us awhile to get on out of DCA. The parade was not a priority for us during the trip but I wanted to see the Pixar parade with the Monster’s University in the parade. I will have another chance to see it when I go in August if I do have time.

When the parade passed the Carthay Circle Theater, we started to walk on out of DCA. But before we left the park, we stopped at the Elias & Company store to buy some merchandise before we left the park. It was a good time to get some stuff so we wouldn’t have to buy a lot at night.

At the Elias & Company Store as well as the Los Feliz Five & Dime store, we bought a few merchandise before we left DCA that afternoon. I bought the Glow with the Show Ears for Chris and DM. I did buy GwtS ears for my aunt, her DBF and DD3 during the January trip and they were amazed with the ears. So my aunt and I thought it would be great to get the GwtS ears for Chris and DM. Since we are seeing the nighttime shows at DCA & DL, it would be perfect to use during the nighttime. We also bought a Disneyland Mickey backpack which had the classic Mickey when we purchased a specific amount at the store. Chris really like the backpack and I just bought enough at the Elias & Co. store. The backpack costs $20 with the purchase of $40 or more. The ears cost about $25 with tax without the AP discount. So they were about $20 bucks with the AP discount. I bought 2 ears and the backpack when we were in the store.

When we purchased our merchandise at the Elias & Co & Los Feliz Five & Dime stores, we head on out of DCA and now were back at the Esplanade. But before we left the DLR, we had to drop off the ECV at the Wheelchair & ECV rental right by DL. It only took a few minutes until we head on back to the hotel to rest up for that night.

We left around 3pm and got back to the room around 3:10pm. We had to walk all the way at the back of BWPPI which was quite a long walk. Everyone had a great time for the first 6 hours in the park and we did quite a lot of rides and shows. We were all glad to be back at the room to rest up so we can enjoy the parks that night.

When we got to the room, Chris crashed in her bed immediately. I did the same thing on the couch which I was out immediately. My aunt told me later when I got up around 4:45pm that I was knocked out. It just shows that I really needed the rest after driving a lot that Thursday morning to Anaheim. I had about an hour and a half rest just like everyone when we got back to the room. My aunt and DM also rested up while we were in the room.

It was around 5pm when we were all awaked and we took showers and got dressed for that night. It was a nice day where we didn’t have to bring sweaters or jackets that night. That’s why I like about going in the summertime where you don’t have to wear a lot of clothes where it feels like in the 60s and 70s at night.

We packed all of our stuff for the nighttime at DCA where we will be seeing World of Color at the 9pm show. I packed my bag with all my camera and video equipment and brought the tripod so I can videotape WoC. I always bring my tripod for the nighttime shows by using the video camera or the camera.

We left around 5:15pm and we head on over back at the Esplanade so we can get my aunt ECV. It took a while for my aunt to get the ECV and luckily we weren’t going towards DL where the line was close to the monorail beam.

When she got the ECV, we head on over towards DCA. There is barely a line over at DCA to get into the park. It was a good thing that we were able to go in DCA with little wait time unlike DL where it was a little busy to get into the park.

When we went through the turnstiles at DCA, we were now back at BVS and we started to walk down the streets on over to Ariel’s Grotto for dinner.

My aunt and I have ate at AG back during the January trip. But the only difference between AG back in January and June is that the World of Color dining package was back. Since last summer towards our visit, DCA stopped the World of Color dining package for AG replacing it with the Carthay Circle Restaurant. Wine Country Trattoria and the CCR were the only places to get a FP’s for WoC instead of getting a FP at GRR. DCA returned the dining package for AG this summer and it was nice to have the option so we can get FP’s for WoC. We also got WoC FP’s that Friday morning just in case we didn’t get a good spot to watch WoC in the dining area.

We walked through BVS and I got a few pictures while we were walking on over towards AG. The park was not that busy during that time of the day which was expected where DL is quite busy around that time of the day before 6pm. All of BVS was all decorated with the Patriotic colors which was less than a week until 4th of July.

Los Felize Five & Dime store

We walked all the way until we got to Paradise Pier where Ariel’s Grotto is located in DCA. It wasn’t too long ago that my aunt and I ate at AG for dinner.

It was a little busy going up the bridge to PP and AG.

It is so amazing to see Mickey’s Fun Wheel and California Screamin from the bridge heading to PP.

The viewing area was not ready for WoC that night but it will be later.

We finally got to Ariel’s Grotto for dinner that night. I never imagined that I would eat at AG again especially the WoC dining package since it was taken off last year and reappeared during the summertime. My aunt will be eating at AG for the 2nd time. Chris and DM have told us that they have eaten at AG before and were excited to try the food.

Our reservation was at 6pm so we got to AG around 5:50pm which was 10 minutes early. After checking in, we only had to wait 2 minutes outside to get seated. That was really quick to get into AG that day since there was barely anyone in the lobby area.

When we were seated, we were almost at the back of the inside part of the restaurant. Chris and DM said that the inside dining room looks a little different when they ate at AG. The room is very nice decorated with the Little Mermaid theme. During the nighttime dinner, there were no princesses which is just like the WoC dining package where they don’t get princesses. During the January trip with my aunt, we got princesses where DD3 was so excited. This time, we didn’t get the princesses but we did get FP’s for WoC in the dining viewing area.

We knew what we wanted since we looked at the menu online to see what we will want. When we ordered our food, the first course came out. It was an antipasti tower which had three plates of different choices.

Prosciutto, Dried Fruit Pieces, Manchego Cheese, and Chef's-blend of Marinated Olives

Sourdough Pull-apart Flower

Shrimp and Lobster Salad, Mixed Greens Salad served with Ariel's Grotto House Vinaigrette

Fresh Fruit, Baby Carrots, Celery Sticks, String Cheese, and "Jewels of the Sea" Fruit Gelatin

While we were eating the appetizer antipasti tower, I took a few pictures of the décor in the dining room

Our food came out really quickly and it was dinner time.

I got the Herb-Crusted Chicken Breast served with Cheddar-herb mashed potatoes and medley of seasonal vegetables. I wanted to try something different instead of getting a meat dish.

My aunt got the Cioppino which had Lobster Tail, Scallops, Sustainable Fish, Green-lip Mussels, Shrimp, and Bilbao Chorizo in a Fire-roasted Tomato Broth.

Chris got the Santa Maria-style Tri-tip with slow roasted and smoked over red oakwood. Served with Cheddar-herb mashed potatoes and a medley of seasonal vegetables.

Lastly DM got the fish dished served over wild rice pilaf topped with a sweet & spicy pineapple chutney with a medley of seasonal vegetables.

When we ate, we all shared each other plates to try all the different food that we ordered that day. The herb crusted chicken was nice along with the tri-tip. My aunt told me that the Cioppino dish was not as good as the time when she had it back in January. It was a little bland and spicy. I had a taste of it and it was spicy.

After we finished out dinner plates, it was time for dessert and the dessert was nice which had Lava Cake, Mini Cookies, Assorted Petite Cupcakes, and fresh Berries.

The dessert looks like the same when we ate at AG back in January. Since we are doing the WoC dining package, they would do a special dessert plate to finished the meal. But the dessert plate looked like the same and it was good.

We stayed at AG for a while since we plan on getting to the viewing area early so we all can get a good spot. We talked about doing the WoC dining FP instead of the blue FP’s that we got this morning. I haven’t done the dining viewing area in quite some time that it would be nice to try another spot instead of the blue spot that I am so used to being at.

When we were finished, we started to leave AG and head back to PP. Just when we paid the bill, our CM waitress gave us four FP's for the 9pm WoC show. We all had a great time at AG for dinner. My aunt was not happy of the Cioppino not being good during the January trip. We all tried each other different plates and the one that we all liked the most was DM plate. It was nice to have dinner at AG and getting WoC dining FP's.

We now exited AG and back at PP. It was around 7:30pm and there was 30 minutes until the CM’s let the guests in the viewing area for the 9pm WoC show. So we head on over towards the viewing area close to the Little Mermaid ride. The day was really where it was going to be very nice to watch WoC.

This will be it for this post and I will have more when we watch WoC that night.

 

[PrincessInOz]

The food looks great at AG.

One other thing about hitting the parks in summer.....long daylight hours and lazy evenings out and about. Your pictures show how bright it is; even at 6 pm at night.

 

[tksbaskets]

Your dinner looked tasty! Sounds like you all needed a power nap after driving so far and having an active day at the park.

Did your family think the AG was worth the price?

TK

 

[Sherry E]

Bret --

I haven't been able to follow along with your TR lately. I've been super busy, but also the pictures you've been posting are much larger than they used to be and it takes so long for the pages to load on my PC. I'm guessing that either no one else has that same problem or no one mentions it, so it might just be on this end. I do know that some other forums have photo size limits so I am guessing that this kind of problem happens to someone else out there in cyberspace, but maybe not here on this board. So I've had to miss out on a lot of things here, but I'm sure you've posted some great shots from your many adventures and that everyone is enjoying them! And you are close to page 200! You're going to hit page 250 in no time!

In fact, in a recent thread started by a new DLR visitor, I mentioned your TR thread and the fact that you had just recently done the Disney Studio tour (the OP was interested in doing a WB tour, but I suggested Disney). The last I heard I think the OP had located your thread and was going to look it over to find your tour photos and recap.

Anyway, I just wanted to tell you that the Theme Week Countdown in the Christmas Superthread begins on Monday, August 5th and ends on Monday, November 4th this year. I am starting it 3 weeks earlier than I normally do, and ending it 1 week earlier than I normally do. There will be 20 themes in total (13 weekly themes, 6 mini-daily themes and the final Miscellaneous/Holiday Cornucopia theme).

There will be two $25 Disney Gift Cards up for grabs -- one for a randomly drawn winner who posts photos (whether it's one photo or 20 photos or whatever) and one for someone in the non-photo group who has to write down code words, figure out a song and be the first to name the correct answer.

You will notice, as the Countdown rolls along, that I reworked some themes -- combining things that were not combined before, or separating themes that used to be combined into single themes. I also added in some things -- a couple of brand new themes, as well as some themes I wanted to use last year but didn't. Hopefully you will be surprised at some of what I've come up with!

I will give you a hint for one of the upcoming themes: Keep those old NOS light canopy photos handy! We must never forget the long lost light canopy!

 

[mvf-m11c]

The food looks great at AG.

One other thing about hitting the parks in summer.....long daylight hours and lazy evenings out and about. Your pictures show how bright it is; even at 6 pm at night.

The food at AG was nice. But my aunt cioppino that she had that day was not as good as the one back in January. I enjoyed my dinner that day.

That's another great time to go during the summertime where there is a lot of sunlight. There are times when I like to go to the DLR when it is dark like fall where it is nice to see the parks all light up at night.

Your dinner looked tasty! Sounds like you all needed a power nap after driving so far and having an active day at the park.

Did your family think the AG was worth the price?

TK

The dinner was great and my aunt was hoping that the cioppino that she had that night would be better than the January trip. In her words that it wasn't as great as January. We all needed a power nap especially me during that day where I drove part of the night.

AG WoC price is expensive at $41.99 without the AP and it was a good thing that I had the AP so we can save some money. I would say that it is a very expensive dinner and the quality is nice not through the roof. My aunt thought the price was high without having the princesses but it was all about the location for WoC. I knew that Chris and DM were grateful that we did AG that day and got WoC dining FPs which help them see the show in a great spot. I will tell you that on the next update.

Bret --

I haven't been able to follow along with your TR lately. I've been super busy, but also the pictures you've been posting are much larger than they used to be and it takes so long for the pages to load on my PC. I'm guessing that either no one else has that same problem or no one mentions it, so it might just be on this end. I do know that some other forums have photo size limits so I am guessing that this kind of problem happens to someone else out there in cyberspace, but maybe not here on this board. So I've had to miss out on a lot of things here, but I'm sure you've posted some great shots from your many adventures and that everyone is enjoying them! And you are close to page 200! You're going to hit page 250 in no time!

In fact, in a recent thread started by a new DLR visitor, I mentioned your TR thread and the fact that you had just recently done the Disney Studio tour (the OP was interested in doing a WB tour, but I suggested Disney). The last I heard I think the OP had located your thread and was going to look it over to find your tour photos and recap.

Anyway, I just wanted to tell you that the Theme Week Countdown in the Christmas Superthread begins on Monday, August 5th and ends on Monday, November 4th this year. I am starting it 3 weeks earlier than I normally do, and ending it 1 week earlier than I normally do. There will be 20 themes in total (13 weekly themes, 6 mini-daily themes and the final Miscellaneous/Holiday Cornucopia theme).

There will be two $25 Disney Gift Cards up for grabs -- one for a randomly drawn winner who posts photos (whether it's one photo or 20 photos or whatever) and one for someone in the non-photo group who has to write down code words, figure out a song and be the first to name the correct answer.

You will notice, as the Countdown rolls along, that I reworked some themes -- combining things that were not combined before, or separating themes that used to be combined into single themes. I also added in some things -- a couple of brand new themes, as well as some themes I wanted to use last year but didn't. Hopefully you will be surprised at some of what I've come up with!

I will give you a hint for one of the upcoming themes: Keep those old NOS light canopy photos handy! We must never forget the long lost light canopy!

I know that you are busy with work and on your superthreads. I thought about changing the sizes of the pictures for you since you have that computer problem loading the pictures. I did enjoy the May trip with my DA when we went to the WD Studios in Burbank during the D23 tour. This year has been so fun already since I got to enjoy it with family and friends which is different from my past trips. I can't believe the thread is already close to 200 pages and it will be a matter of time when it reaches 250 and this thread will be closed.

I will be ready on Monday, August 4th for the Theme Week Countdown in the Christmas Superthread. This will be fun with more themes before the start of the Holiday season.

We can't forget about the NOS light canopy in the alley where it has changed over the years. It would be nice if they brought those back for this upcoming season.

 

[mvf-m11c]

Day 1 – June 28, 2013 – Part 6​

On our last update, we took a break that afternoon and came back later that day around 6pm for dinner at Ariel’s Grotto. It was nice to have dinner at AG that night and see WoC. We have now finished dinner and are heading on over towards Paradise Pier viewing area for the 1st show of WoC. Now back to the trip report.

We finished dinner at AG, we head on over to the viewing area at Paradise Pier right by the Little Mermaid ride. I wanted to make sure that everyone especially Chris and DM that they got a great spot to watch WoC.

I have been a World of Color fan ever since the show started in the summer of 2010 and have watched the show every time I come to the DLR. This time is a little different since I haven’t done the dining area for the show in a very long time. I haven’t done the dining viewing area since 2010 when I watched the show for the 2nd time. Before we got to the DLR, I have been checking the World of Color Superthread a lot of what is the updated viewing area for the dining viewing area for AG and it hasn’t been updated for quite some time. So I had to go with my instincts and talk to the CM’s at the viewing area to find out what areas are for the AG dining spots.

When we got to the center of the area where it is the location for all the dining areas and talked to a couple of CM’s of which is where the viewing area will be. We talked to one CM and told us that the 2nd railing right close to the circle area was part of the dining viewing area. I was glad that the 2nd railing in the center area was part of the dining viewing area when we ate at AG was part of it. We were all stationed right outside the center area waiting to get ready to head on in the viewing area for the 1st show of WoC.

But we couldn’t bring the ECV in that area since they don’t allow it. So we had an option of being in the handicapped section which doesn’t have great views or be at the back of the viewing area. My aunt told me that we will try the spot close to the middle in the handicapped section. Chris and DM would head on over towards that area so they can watch the show at a great spot while my aunt and I watch the show from the handicapped area. My aunt told me to go with them but I didn’t want to leave her by herself. So I stayed with her for the show and since I had my equipment with me, it would get wet in that area.

It was around 8pm and the CM’s started to let the guests into the viewing area. Chris and DM went towards the railing on the 2nd level in the middle and my aunt and I were in the handicapped section right close to the center of the viewing area.

When I looked at the chart, it is not the best spot or good spots to watch the show from but overall it was very nice location. I also noticed that it was close to the bushes which means that the garden fountains will be shooting in that area. I have seen a lot of garden fountains around the viewing area played during the show and hope that my aunt doesn’t get splashed from the fountains.

While my aunt and I waited until the show started, the whole area started to fill up quickly. It was a nice night where it was going to be fun to watch WoC. It has been a long time since I have seen the show from a different angle instead of the blue fire hydrant spot that I always watch it from. The last time I have seen the show from a different spot was in the yellow section in 2011 when my aunt and I attended the D23 Expo in August. That was the day that HydroGuy joined us that night and after WoC, we head on over to DL to watch the 2nd show of Fantasmic! at 10:30 and got great spots.

Now it was 9pm and the show was starting. Here are pictures of the 9pm World of Color show from the handicapped section with my aunt. Chris and DM were in one of the prime spots to watch WoC and glad that they will be able to see it in a great spot.

I have used the 18-105mm lens with my DSLR instead of the 35mm lens to see how the pictures turned out.

It is nice to see those quotes from Walt Disney during the show “Every child is blessed with a vivid imagination"

The Little Mermaid scene

That’s it for this post and I will have more from the 9pm show of World of Color.

 

[tksbaskets]

Your pictures came out great with your different lens!