"You're Going to Disneyland? That's in Florida Right?" UPDATED 11/13 Final Chapter :D

[disneyshakeygirl]

On the way to the hotel we passed the line for the D23 expo… it was about 12 blocks long! Glad I wasn’t going there.
This girl had a really good Jasmine costume! Don’t you think??



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The girl in the Jasmine costume is named Traci Hines! She's quite well known amongst the Disney community, she's super nice

 

[wiigirl]

Awesome update...great pics!

 

[Tiggerrn2]

Loved the updates!! Sad that they took out the single rider line at TSM. But at least the line wasn't bad. Probably with CarsLand it isn't that busy over there any more.

 

[kastoney]

Awesome report so far. I haven't been since 07 so u are bringing back lots of memories. Loved your Ferris wheel pic. I've never been brave enough to ride. Can't wait to hear more.

 

[Credit Man]

Enjoying your report. In your first Donald pic the life perservers look like Mickey ears. I am sure that does not make Donald happy.

 

[Mjp935]

Chapter 14: Dancin’ with Disney

So as I left you last time my mom and I had heard something in the distance!
So like people do when they hear strange music we followed it!
I don’t know if anyone knows about this but in Hollywood Land they have this dance party called “Dancin’ with Disney”!



Isn’t this sooo cool!!!
Some of the characters even let me get selfies!!!



The first one I ran into was Clarabelle Cow! I hadn’t met her since Long Lost Friends week at Disney World!
I then moved on to talk to one of my favorite people Cruella for the first time ever! I waited for a few minutes because she was swatting bubbles!







Then I got my selfie!



Ms. Devil was very polite (surprisingly)…
Chip and Dale’s girl Clarice was next!


She is usually performing at the Acorn Club, so I had never met her!

I then attempted to get the stepsisters!





I got Anastasia, I then went over to get Drizella and Anastasia put her hand on my shoulder and said, “You don’t want hers, she will break your mirror”

SIDE NOTE: When I take selfies, I tell the character that it is my magic mirror! I mean it can be used as a mirror and it’s pretty magical!
Now back to your regularly scheduled program!

So I moved on! And Daisy had just been banished from the stage by the sisters!





I helped Marie console Daisy and got a quick selfie with each!





It was really funny because they played Single Ladies for the stepsisters!
After they got off the stage I ran to the sisters and got my selfie with Drizella!



Some other characters I saw there but I couldn’t get a selfie with were Lilo, Stitch, Captain Hook and Mr. Smee.

After that we decided to head over to my favorite building, well the one at DHS, the animation building! And it was amazing, can’t wait for the next update can you??

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[Aburns8]

Great character interaction!

 

[Mjp935]

Chapter 15: The Magic of Disney Animation!

So you know WDWs animation building, right? Its nice there is an art gallery, you can see Ralph, Mickey and the Incredibles there, and there is the Animation Academy! Other than that its average! Although I love it!

Well step back because DLs is completely different!
Here is the main room!









Those were all huge projection screens that changed and they played music from the movies! I happened to take pictures during the Mulan section!
There are four sections:

First was obviously the Animation Academy!



Next was Turtle Talk with Crush!



After that we had Character Close Up



We went in there, they just had displays about Disney animation! And this&



I am so excited for Frozen to come out!!!

The final section is Sorcerers Workshop!



DHS has this too! This was just a fancy name for the What character are you? quiz and the activity where they dub your voice in for a characters!
Naturally we went in!
This area had three rooms! The first was where you could make a flip book and see the magic mirror!







Peter Pan was there too see??



The second room was the coolest!!!
This is what the portrait looked like when I walked in!



I decided to participate in this activity!
This section was the What character are you?
There was this book where Lumiere led you through the quiz!



I bet you are all wondering who I got!?



SCAR!?!?! Really??? Am I that evil??



Last time I checked Scar didnt live happily ever after& thats where I will leave that!

Anyways when I looked up the room had changed!



It was dark and scary and there was the tear across the portrait that everyone remembers from the movie!



The rose was also different! It was loosing petals!





So sad&
Although when the final petal was just about to fall I heard Belle say I love you!
When that happened the room magically was restored!!







It was super cool!
The last room was Ursulas Lair, where she will take your voice and put it in a scene from your favorite Disney movie!
There wasnt any terminals open so we couldnt do it! And it was way too dark under the sea to take pictures!
It was almost time to do some drawing!

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[dznybound]

Great day today....updates from both you and Jess!

I love reading your report. Being from CA, I've been to DL and DCA many times. However, I've never been to the Dancing with Disney Dance Party. I will have to check it out next time....looks like you had a great time!

 

[Mjp935]

Chapter 16: Drawing Miss Daisy and Dancin With Disney pt. 2



So at 4:30 there was a new Animation Academy session! So my mom and I lined up!
When we got into the room the first thing I noticed was that it held a lot more people that DHSs!
The other thing I noticed is that it looked like the theater that you can watch the Mushu movie in DHS!





So we were, as I am sure you got from the title, drawing Daisy Duck!
Here is my drawing:



Here is my moms:



I thought they both looked good! What do you think??
My mom didnt like hers!
After we got out of our class we decided to head back to Dancin with Disney to see if maybe some different friends had come out! I mean I am sure Cruella has better things to do with her life, like chasing those puppies!
When we returned I was right!
This time we had The Big Bad Wolf, Genie, Terk and Timon!



I am not really sure what TBBW is doing!



Genie is in shock!
As selfies go I got three out of the four!
First I got Genie



Then I got two with TBBW



He is licking my face, gross!



and Finally, Terk!!



So at this point it was time to head towards our first ADR!
On our way out of DCA& thats right it isnt in the park& we saw one of those small shows I mentioned earlier drive by!







The woman is singing!
She was really good! I love those shows!!!
Next is our reservation at&

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[LisaKeys]

OK, so flash back to May of this year (or at least it is for Jess's dis/report lol) and you are heading home with your Dad. Here I sit crying at the thought of you leaving WDW. Then, Jess mentions that you have a DL report! YAY. Just finished all of your posts, and am looking forward to more! Hoping you were able to see the colors at night.
Read you soon!

 

[mmeb144]

Thanks for doing this! I'm really enjoying your story about visiting the zoo and DL. My family likes to stop and watch the entertainers, too. I usually don't take selfies, though it looks like I should start.

 

[stimmons]

Hey Mark! I just subbed and can't wait to read the rest of your report! I also have a question for you. When you were doing you DCP, who was your favorite "friend" to spend time with? (I'm talking the furry ones...)

 

[Mjp935]

Chapter 17: Dining with Character

So when I left you last I was on my way out of DCA, and on my way to Dinner at an undisclosed location!
Here is a little hint!



We had to pass under this to get to our reservation!



and walk past this!
Anyone know where we are going yet??
Still stumped?
Here is another hint!









That is what the area outside of the restaurant looks like!
Well for those of you who have never been to Disneyland there is a really cool character dining experience at the Disneyland Hotel called&



It is very similar to Chef Mickeys!
Character Dining works differently in DL& rather than knowing the characters ahead of time it is a super surprise!
We will get to that later!

Here are some more pictures of Goofys Kitchen!!























I bet yall cant wait to see what wonderful friends I meet and what delicious delights we devour!

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[DisneyKid4Life]

OK Mark, you promised you were going to wait to post updates until you got home. Not that I'm complaining of course.

That "Dancin' with Disney" looks amazing. That def wasn't there last year. Kinda like Characterpalooza with all the rare characters. Very cool.

In fact, there's clearly a TON of new doings which may necessitate a second visit to the west coast.

Thanks so much for your real time reporting!!

 

[ShellieB]

I was very excited to stumble on your report this morning! I have been to WDW about 20 times...and never made it to DL! I love seeing what they have through your eyes...and I love the selfies! We are excited meet Sofia on our February trip...my son and daughter are slightly obsessed! Actually, that was who my daughter was dressed up as when we ran into you in the Emporium

 

[Mjp935]

I was very excited to stumble on your report this morning! I have been to WDW about 20 times...and never made it to DL! I love seeing what they have through your eyes...and I love the selfies! We are excited meet Sofia on our February trip...my son and daughter are slightly obsessed! Actually, that was who my daughter was dressed up as when we ran into you in the Emporium

Thanks for reading!!! I am so happy you get to return in Feb! I will be back in October!

Thanks


Mark

 

[flyergrad09]

Yeaaaaah Disneyland!

My one and only trip to DL was in 2010, so it's so cool to see everything that's changed since then. Like The Little Mermaid ride was under construction, and the posters in the Animation Building were for Tangled (crazy, right?!?) and aaah I need to go back someday!

We never did character dining, so I had no clue that it's random who comes out during your meal. I kinda like that... I hope you get some good characters!

 

[Mjp935]

Chapter 18: Dining with Character pt. 2

So when we got there 45 minutes early we checked in& I mean it couldnt hurt could it?
Then we met our first character! Goofy was doing pictures and autographs outside the restaurant!





I missed my Goof! I hadnt seen him since the second last day of my College Program!! So seeing him was great!

Then we went to go sit down and wait for them to call us, but before we even got out of Goofys exit a waitress said Mark for two? and I was like yeah and she took us to our table!
Talk about quick service!
After our waitress got our drink orders we quickly got our first plates (its a buffet)&

This was mine:



That my friend is Mac and Cheese pizza, Mac and Cheese, and PBJ pizza!
Everything was sooooo good especially the PBJ pizza!

My moms plate:



She got a chef salad with balsamic vinaigrette and candied pecans, shrimp and a five-bean salad!! So healthy!!
When we got back there was a friend in our section! She quickly came over to our table!





And of course the selfie!



She didnt buy the magic mirror idea, she insisted that it must be an invention that Maurice made!
After Belle made her way to the next table I was able to take a few bites, then another royal lady visited us!





And she liked my magic mirror!



We had a little more time to eat this time!
We even got our second plates!
Here is mine:



That would be freshly sliced steak, chicken nuggets, pork pot stickers and a dinner roll!

My moms:



She had mixed veggies, more shrimp, and pasta with veggies! Again so healthy!
While on that plate we were visited by some more friends!





Minnie!!!! I missed her so much!



Then we were visited by&





Pluto!!! This was a great character dining!!!!



I then decided to get a 3rd plate!



That would be ribs and mashed potatoes! The ribs were so tender and amazing!!! They fell right off the bone!
We were almost done eating and we still had two more friends to meet!!!
Can you believe it! That makes 7 characters!
We shall see who else will show up!

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[DisneyDreamerMN]

Joining in on this great TR! I am currently planning a DL trip or January so I am happy Jess mentioned your report. I will also be at WDW Columbus Day week! If I see you, I will say hi!