A Heat Wave, some Blips, and some Roundabout Waze: A First Time DLR/CA Trip Report 8/25-9/3! (UPDATED AND CONCLUDED 11/22)

[BroadwayHermione5]

Hi all,



BroadwayHermione5 here! Been on the boards for a while but only started realizing the value of PTR's and trip reports over the past year.


While this can sometimes cause issues depending on different peoples experience and opinions, I also appreciate the honesty 99.999999999% of the time (the other 0.11111111111% I turn into Bob Gaudio in Jersey Boys "I'm the one Italian in a hundred that doesn't get involved in all the drama.")

I also want to shout out to all you West Coast Dissers! Seriously every question I have asked or checked out in other peoples threads, you are all on top of it, and I do appreciate it.

Some basic introductions: I am what was once called a "childless millenial" who just had a big birthday this year (said age was frequently discussed in a certain musical that had a very well received- and rightfully so- film adaptation last fall starring one of the neighborhood friendly spidermen). I don't like to use my real name as I am, as evidenced by my username, in the entertainment industry! So on top of being a big old nerd-especially about broadway-I know a lot about what is going on. Plus I tend to respect my parents privacy as one is not on social media at all and the other is very private on social media.


My parents have been going to WDW together since their honeymoon *39* years ago, with myself and the rest of the family eventually tagging along. HOWEVER, this is a return trip for my mom as she lived in CA for some time as a teen, and she did get to go to Disneyland way back in the day when only the park and hotel stood. This however is my dad and I's first time to the west coast parks (and my first time to the west coast in general). She will hopefully be meeting up with a few friends while there. While I do have friends (and not just actors and writers I known a couple of biologists and doctors) out there, I don't know if I will have time to see them (plus in a ironic twist my closest friend out there is actually coming back to the east coast for a wedding while we are there-chaotic timing am I right?). We do have some family in the Bay Area, but we won't have time to visit them as we are mainly staying in the Anaheim/LA area.

This was also kind of a spur of the moment trip-well not fully spur of the moment-but if you read my UOR/WDW report from last year you will know we were supposed to go to London in 2020....when Italy started getting hit with Covid we had a slight change of plans....to a land and sea (how naive were we ?!?) and then it eventually turned into a UOR/WDW 2021 trip. We were not intending on heading back down to world until 2023 but clearly the universe had other plans. So we decided we would head to London this year, but unfortunately with the pandemic still ongoing and with the unfortunate events going on in Europe, even though we are fully vaccinated and boosted, we decided to remain in the states. While the Smoky Mountains (one day I will get to Dollywood I promise Dolly!), Hawaii and other trips were considered, we ultimately decided we wanted to head to California, and thus this trip came about!


Come along and join us as we experience the west coast parks, visit some film sets (besides me being in the industry my parents are huge film buffs! I was watching stuff I probably shouldn't have been watching at the age I was watching them), and other fun things!


Come along as I start this PTR that will most likely become a Trip Report unless I decide to actually make it two separate things lol! And don't be afraid to offer suggestions-we are renting a car so we are welcoming everything we could (also while we are at it anyone know of mini golf in the area?)


Enjoy!

BH5

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

Alright now that introductions are out of the way, time for the actual PTR and how we are doing this budgeting as much as possible.

Now until my actual trip report I am going to keep some things private, once we are home I tend to post more. So while i won't go into full detail here, when the trip report comes, you will get more details.


Usually for WDW we fly from our local airport, not one of the big guys. We are doing the same this trip. Granted this means layovers both going to CA and coming home, but its worth the peace of mind to be home in little to no time then arrive and find a car or relying on someone to come get us and traffic causing issues. We also are not flying JetBlue either way. We found flights through Expedia and were able to save some more money by flying into SNA as opposed to LAX.

We are also using carry ons only. Now I am ngl I am a little leary on this. I tried carry ons only for me last year for WDW. I am someone who will wear the same shorts a couple of times before washing but everything else I need fresh and clean. My mom has no issue doing laundry on vacation so for her and my dad this actually might be a breeze in terms of their packing. But we figured we would rather do this than anything else. Given the chaos lately with luggage I am happy that this is the route we are going. I also won't be packing as many ears or my interactive wand so that will save some room !

We also really lucked out with employee discount sites via my parents. We always get our universal tickets and BG tickets through these sites, and this year was no exception. Universal, WB Tour and Knotts (with an added bonus of a weekday ticket which we took advantage of and planned that way) were all done through discount sites. While we were a little sad we couldn't get discount tickets for the Academy Awards Museum through there, we soon found out why: CA must have some weird rule about what qualifies the age of a "senior" ticket and my parents lucked out that their tickets were under $20....in LA.....for a museum.
We did book the hotel and DLR tickets through Disney (good neighbor hotel on Harbour a coworker of my dad recommended and was very happy we went with) plus e are getting the gift card because of Costco membership (speaking of which anyone know how we access that?)

The big thing was a car. I had been team rent a car from minute one, but with gas prices rising and everything else my parents were worried and figured we would Uber. Most of my friends told me Uber can be a catch 22 out there, and after pricing it out, they accepted defeat and started the process of finding discounts when one of their coworkers mentioned a rental car discount through one of their sites. Not only did we get an excellent deal on a car, but given we are flying into SNA, it was already a couple hundred dollars cheaper to rent from there than LAX.

We have discovered through talking to friends, neighbors, coworkers, and online that while DLR is a resort, it is far less complicated than WDW in many facets. It also is shockingly cheaper. We love Boardwalk and POR, but even POR would've been more expensive for a package than this. Even doing for fun math with the Grand Californian, it still wound up being about a grand cheaper than our stay at Boardwalk last year. While we are grateful we can afford to stay where we stay in Florida, we also recognize what is going on right now, and also just want to save some money. Who doesn't love saving money?!? We are the people who find discounts on theatre and concert tickets, we have a coin jar for gas/uber/extra emergency fund money. We already feel more relaxed then we would have been at WDW (and btw even using unlimited express at UOR last September was not necessary. All theme parks just get rid of jump the line systems unless it's a ride like ROTR where you are afraid of breakdowns and just use virtual queue. I don't mind waking up to attempt a virtual queue. But Standby was always way less then advertised minus a couple HHN houses and Fop, and even those were only off by about 10 minutes).

Speaking of jump the line, we did 3 day park hoppers to DLR with photopass and genie plus added on (which honestly wdw should've kept/incorporated that into their genie plus strategy. I am all for figuring out ways to fix the system and not have an overload of things but then combine it with photopass). I am a little concerned about figuring out Genie plus in general let alone in two parks I do not know but it is what it is and plus DLR is open way later than WDW so we consider that a win.

I shall start going day by day soon-we still are over a month out from the trip!

Thanks again for following along

BH5

 

[BadPinkTink]

Im just back, so I can't wait to read your report and see the parks from a first timers viewpoint

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

Im just back, so I can't wait to read your report and see the parks from a first timers viewpoint

We are very excited! Especially with all the different things.


We are slightly sad Monsters Inc will be closed when we go (huge Monster Inc and University fans in this household!) and that we will just be getting the chance to see the Nightmare before xmas overlay, but we are super excited!

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

I am going to jump on and apologize for any spelling or grammar mistakes. I type fast. I try and go back and fix! Looking forward to all of you following along!

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

I'm back!!!!!!
And we are officially just over a month out! Started contacting some friends of mine and hopefully we will be able to meet for dinner!

So let's get start shall we? (yes I heard that in Mike Wazowski's voice as I was typing it......told you we are monsters fans!)

ARRIVAL DAY:

We discovered back in 2019 we liked flying out on a Thursday-didn't matter what time-so that we could have a nice relaxing time. So we are doing that again.

We have an early flight out of our local airport, then a layover, and then we should be in SNA around lunchtime (well PST lunchtime....my east coast self is definitely gonna be hungry and in need of a nap......I have gone to Europe so I know how to combat jet leg going ahead of time but not going back in time.......very wibbly wobbly timey whimey stuff.)

Because we are only doing carryons-it should be very easy going from our gate to the rental car.

We then do not know if we will get to the hotel first or go shopping for breakfast necessities and other things first.....but either way we do know we are probably all going to need a nap.


Later that night we might meander over to DTD at some point even if its for a sweet treat and to get our bearings.


Also we just found out the matterhorn will be down when we are there so we are hoping the monsters inc refurb will be quick because of it!


Going to continue tomorrow or Monday!


BH5

 

[shosh1530]

Looking forward to hearing all the planning and then reading about actual trip when it gets here!

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

Looking forward to hearing all the planning and then reading about actual trip when it gets here!

Thank you for coming along!

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

Alright everyone we are officially less than a month out! Getting excited!!!!

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

ALRIGHT I am back and ready to continue with the PTR!



My apologies for the delay after the less than a month post-between work, the trip planning, having to get a new car, birthdays, other family things, previously scheduled plans I am all over the place!


So we left off on the travel day meaning the next day will be Friday (our first Friday there). We decided to try and get all the LA area stuff done early in the trip so we can stay in Anaheim towards the end.

Today will be the day we visit Universal! We are so excited to see the working backlot (yes it is considered working even with the tours-and a bunch of influencers I follow did the VIP tour and couldn't see stuff due to filming). We are also excited to see the differences between here and Florida. We know some things are the same, and some things are done differently (for example Simpsons fast food Blvd has two levels to eat in) but we are excited.


My mom due to severe arthritis AND previous foot injury often rents scooters but she doesn't know when she is going to want to use it so most likely we will be renting one for here to help her along (as a note the newer the scooter the faster it will go. I learned that lesson the hard way last year when I went to go get the scooter so my parents can relax and I came barreling out the alley by Despicable me and pretty much didn't brake quick enough and mildly bumped the sidewalk near Fallon. We also learned Disney controls the speed of their rentable scooters....and me trying to back out by Sci Fi and moving peoples strollers as least suspicious as possible turned into Austin Powers trying to 3 point turn the construction vehicle and getting stuck...though I did not get stuck lol. I will hopefully not have to rescue any scooters from behind strollers this trip and hopefully will not almost crash one either. One of the few times my dad regrets not having his camera ready!)

Since trying Antojito's and BigFire at UOR last fall we have become huge fans of both. Sadly the latter is not on the west coast, but the former is! We plan on heading there for dinner and then grabbing voodoo donuts on our way out as well. (I want my OPB donut so bad lol).

After that back to Anaheim.


We are a little worried traffic wise, and we did not do Express Pass as we found we really didn't need them last year or for the rides we would've used them on they didn't accept them (casually side eyes to Hagrid and Velocicoaster). Approximately one hour with no traffic. Pray for us!



I'll keep updating soon but as an FYI might not be as frequent for the next week and a half ish as work picks up!


As always thanks for following along!


BH5

 

[Sarahyardley]

I am looking forward to your report! I hope things are going well, thanks for all the updates!

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

I am looking forward to your report! I hope things are going well, thanks for all the updates!

Thank you! So far so good with the new car! Hope all is well with you too!

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

So mild update: I don’t really Disney bound. I wear shirts and dresses that are from a certain IP or franchise, but I more or less don’t like to bound. I’d rather wear ears that are from somewhere, Well I had some Torrid Cash to spend and a white dress casually caught my eye. Somewhat tea length, halter style top, eyelet fabric. I thought “Hey I have a red sash somewhere and my Mary Poppins ears maybe I should give bounding a try!” Dress came last night and fits like a glove! Can’t wait for my first Disneybound to be my first day at Disneyland!

 

[roflclaw]

Here and excited to see your trip!!

Well I had some Torrid Cash to spend

They always know how to throw just enough extra "free" cash at you to make you spend 40 minutes flipping through page after page under the guise of 'I'm just looking...' and then suddenly you're adding something else to your cart because you're only 20 dollars away from the next level of redemption.. don't ask me how I know

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

Here and excited to see your trip!!



They always know how to throw just enough extra "free" cash at you to make you spend 40 minutes flipping through page after page under the guise of 'I'm just looking...' and then suddenly you're adding something else to your cart because you're only 20 dollars away from the next level of redemption.. don't ask me how I know

Thanks for following along!




And yes I have officially decided they have a sixth sense with that sort of thing

 

[CeCe0906]

So mild update: I don’t really Disney bound. I wear shirts and dresses that are from a certain IP or franchise, but I more or less don’t like to bound. I’d rather wear ears that are from somewhere, Well I had some Torrid Cash to spend and a white dress casually caught my eye. Somewhat tea length, halter style top, eyelet fabric. I thought “Hey I have a red sash somewhere and my Mary Poppins ears maybe I should give bounding a try!” Dress came last night and fits like a glove! Can’t wait for my first Disneybound to be my first day at Disneyland!

Sounds cute! An FYI, an article I saw recently had somebody turned away because of the way her halter top tied in the back. It's "on the internet" so who knows, but apparently there's a dress code issue with clothes that tie?

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

Sounds cute! An FYI, an article I saw recently had somebody turned away because of the way her halter top tied in the back. It's "on the internet" so who knows, but apparently there's a dress code issue with clothes that tie?

Thankfully its a button up in the back at the top (meaning back is fully covered minus the tiny keyhole at the top-I hope that makes sense) that doesn't have any ties-only the sash and I can easily fix that with a belt loop and some safety pins haha! I cannot believe though that people are doing this to get free stuff! I have always made sure if I have anything that could be tied be it a belt or what that not only is it tied secure, but that there won't be any oppsie moments!


Here is the dress: https://www.torrid.com/product/halt...let-white/16751015.html#q=white+dress&start=3


I know I call. it the halter style but thats also me there is probably a better way to describe it!

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

I'm back!!!!!!!

Plus between a crazy work schedule this week on top of meetings for my theatre company and other pre-planned things i figured I would continue before giving you a dry spell!

My friend also recently just got back from visiting family in CA and did the big FUNKP store so I messaged him to find out info because my dad now wants his own Funko!



Our Saturday plans are the definition of our cinema and tv loving (and me being in the entertainment industry) dreams!

We start with the Warner Bros Studio Tour in the morning and then the Academy Awards museum in the afternoon. As you know from one of the earlier posts, we were able to get discounts for WB through employee discount sites and my parents lucked out with deals at the AA Museum because seniors are 55+!


WB is a big deal, especially to this Friends and Big Bang Theory loving household, as well as all the movies! We are so excited we've been singing the animaniacs theme since we booked the tickets! As a general note, due to SAG AFTRA and tech unions, we will have to wear masks at certain points of the tour. I knew this and given I still mask everywhere I can, I don't mind at all. My guess is that this will be in the actual sound stages.


The AAMPAS museum is also a huge deal. Especially for yours truly because of the Wizard of Oz exhibit that ends in September. Plus, after seeing it on this years awards ceremony telecast, we were struck by how much was in there. We are not doing the extra add ons as we just want to see the awards and film memorabilia.


Then it is a night doing whatever we please in Southern California!

Anyone have any suggestions where to eat or see, We would greatly appreciate it!


BH5

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

I am back after a very long week at work! Thank you to all those who have no joined us-I shall be back to PTRing soon!

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

Hi all,


Getting back to it! Thanks for your patience-work was insanely busy last week on top pf a plethora of other things and I ended up at a friends Saturday and didn't even use my phone most of the day it was refreshing!


So now this leads us to our Sunday and Monday portion of the trip.

We do not have anything planned for these days! This very rarely happens. In terms of Monday, we did get our Knott's tickets as weekday tickets and while we have that scheduled for Thursday, we could change to Monday if needed!

My mom lived in CA for some time as a kid and is trying to meet up with friends. As previously mentioned I am also trying to meet up with friends haha! Hopefully we can!

We do have some ideas, like the funko pop store to create your own, or going to a beach, maybe chilling at the hotel and then roaming DTD in the afternoon, but we genuinely don't know what we are doing. When we do a rest day on vacation its usually one of the water parks, and since there are none really out there we might just actually relax instead of go go go!

If anyone has any suggestions we will gladly take them!


Until next time (which will be the start of the house of mouse portion)!

BH5