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)

[Raeven]

When we went to Cali the Aquarium of the Pacific was one of the potential day trips on our list! (We didnt end up going because we mostly spent time in San Diego & Anaheim. But I was curious about it!) Also why is hotel wifi so awful?

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

When we went to Cali the Aquarium of the Pacific was one of the potential day trips on our list! (We didnt end up going because we mostly spent time in San Diego & Anaheim. But I was curious about it!) Also why is hotel wifi so awful?

Hotel wifi is always a problem! are you in the path of Ian or are you good? Please stay safe if you are!


As I mentioned in a previous comment, it’s not a full day experience, but it was a nice little excursion. Plus you can make a full day out of it if you want to shop or go to the beach. And it’s very easy to get to from Anaheim.

We were looking into both the San Diego or Los Angeles Zoo, but LA had reservation requirements (that wasn’t the issue it was the it needed to be done beforehand) and by the time we left breakfast to get to San Diego in time to enjoy the zoo during operating hours would’ve been very rushed as it closed at 5 and is about 2 hours away.


I’d love to go to San Diego and other areas of LA next time (we totally forgot about Paramount and Henson Studios as well as various other things).

 

[Raeven]

Hotel wifi is always a problem! are you in the path of Ian or are you good? Please stay safe if you are!


As I mentioned in a previous comment, it’s not a full day experience, but it was a nice little excursion. Plus you can make a full day out of it if you want to shop or go to the beach. And it’s very easy to get to from Anaheim.

We were looking into both the San Diego or Los Angeles Zoo, but LA had reservation requirements (that wasn’t the issue it was the it needed to be done beforehand) and by the time we left breakfast to get to San Diego in time to enjoy the zoo during operating hours would’ve been very rushed as it closed at 5 and is about 2 hours away.


I’d love to go to San Diego and other areas of LA next time (we totally forgot about Paramount and Henson Studios as well as various other things).

Nope we live in NY so we’re not in the path.

Yeah our problem was there was so much to see we couldn’t get to everything. So we didn’t end up spending a lot of time in LA (just went for a day trip). We did the first weekend in San Diego and then moved to Anaheim the next week.

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

Nope we live in NY so we’re not in the path.

Yeah our problem was there was so much to see we couldn’t get to everything. So we didn’t end up spending a lot of time in LA (just went for a day trip). We did the first weekend in San Diego and then moved to Anaheim the next week.

Ok good. I saw hotel and thought you were still away!

While we feel we could’ve cut a day from the trip, it is very easy to do a lot of things at once so long as you schedule them well.

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

Day 6 Part 1: August 30th: DISNEYLAND!!!!!


Again my apologies-life has gotten in the way! I also figured for the DLR days I would split it into a couple parts so I don’t forget anything!

We were up early, but didn’t rope drop this day

Once we woke up, we got ready and had breakfast at Panera. We then joined the throng of humans heading towards the Harbor Boulevard entrance area. It felt like crossing a street in Manhattan!





We headed straight to the Disneyland side where my mom rented an ECV and got us our respective pins (1st time for dad and I, birthday for me, anniversary for them and they gave us Honorary Citizen pins).


(No I didn’t get my name out on it though many a lovely CM asked if I wanted to!)

For this first day my pins wound up on my dress and sash (my Mary Poppins Disney bound went beautifully), but my parents put them on their lanyards. By the end of the day that’s where mine ended up as well (plus I got an Ultimate Disney Princess Celebration one as well while at Red Rose later in the day so I had to lol).

We headed in and went straight to the windows on Main Street and straight to pictures in front of the pumpkin and the partners statue.



My god is Sleeping Beauty Castle SMALL! It was like we thought something was missing or wrong haha! But we were here and Cast Members were pointing out everything to us, from Walt’s apartment to everything in between.





We immediately decided to head towards Adventureland and straight for Indiana Jones. Now you may remember we bought memory maker which Genie plus is attached to. Well we ended up finding out at Indiana my mom could’ve qualified for DAS. They gave us a return time and we went to Jungle Cruise right next door which was posted 15, ended up being 20 as it went up as we joined.

We had a really great Skipper (Abby) and got off to an alert for our Indiana Jones return time being ready via the app. Indiana Jones is infinitely better than Dinosaur in AK. That was so much fun! (When we ride Dinosaur for the first time in *20 years* last fall we all said if it was another 20 we’d be ok with that and clearly I put something into the universe sorry Dinoland!)

We then headed to Pirates and got a return time. While waiting we headed over to see if we could see any of HMH as we were days from opening. We had been trying to get reservations for Blue Bayou, and while my dad went to get popcorn and water (also why doesn’t DLR do refillable popcorn buckets? That was so weird!) I heard the CM telling humans Blue Bayou had no more walk up reservations available for lunch and to try again sometime after 1 pm. I asked about dinner and he said to try the walk up list but to be in New Orleans Square. By that time my dad returned with popcorn, and the DAS alert went off for Pirates.


Didn’t realize how crooked this was when I took it lol.

Yes we will admit you are all correct. DLR pirates is better than WDW by a long shot. But you all didn’t tell us there were two drops!

We were totally enamored but also getting hungry. It was nearing 11:30, and our bodies still weren’t adjusted (my parents, as we learned last fall, also get crankier the hotter they get, so food was imminent). Dad suggested Hungry Bear Cafe and we were pleasantly surprised. My mom had a burger, my dad the grilled chicken salad and me the spicy chicken sandwich. One of these days I’ll get them to try something in Batuu or elsewhere.


I need this in my home. Even a smaller version for the entrance to the kitchen.

But honestly Hungry Bear was a success and someplace I’d recommend. That spicy chicken sandwich was great (and indeed somewhat spicy). And also proof DLR understands quick service is essential.

If Hungry Bear is sacrificed for Tiana’s restaurant, I won’t be sad. It was great food but at the same time I can see it’s past it’s prime and is large enough to incorporate a restaurant.

This is where I’ll leave off for today! I’ll try not to have such a long space between posts!

 

[Camilo]

Abby was our skipper as well. She was great!!!!

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

Abby was our skipper as well. She was great!!!!

Loved her so much!

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

Day 6 Part 2: August 30th: DISNEYLAND!!!!!



We then headed to Batuu. We decided to brave the 65 minute standby for ROTR (speaking of which can WDW get on this wait time? I felt the same way when USH had a 20 minute wait for Minions. Florida needs to do something better in regards to these long wait times). Actual wait was somewhere between 55 and 60.



And once again worth it. God we love this ride!

We then headed to Smugglers Run. Now you might remember from last years trip report we got evac’d from it due to a fire alarm right before we boarded. So we wanted to ride especially since my mom had never done so and my dad and I wanted to try and reclaim our glory with our failed piloting in 2019.



It was here we really honed in on how lightning lane and fastpass always had weird number regulations with people at the merge point. It was like that with fastpass, but this is so different. And once again I stand by my fact that standby only and virtual queues in some situations are in fact the best. But we can’t always get what we want.


Anyway we get in, my dad and I are given pilot, my mom a gunner, two women (I believe were sisters) a gunner and engineer and a single rider man as the other engineer. It’s a shame they don’t give us the cards anymore or time to explore like in 2019. Maybe they do in WDW but here not so much. Very rushed through the area where you used to be able to take pictures near the chessboard. A victim of Covid that’s on the sadder side.

Then came another blip. I am all for my fellow fans getting excited, but if someone has never ridden before (like my mom and the two women with us) DON’T TELL US HOW TO FLY. Granted my dad and I did infinitely better piloting, but it was infuriating being told what to do by someone other than Hando or Chewbacca. It took the fun out of it. So please, if it actually involves operating the ride, don’t ruin it for everyone else. This isn’t like reciting the HM spiel. I have being negative about a trip but it was jarring. I then felt bad for the guy as he said we were genuinely a better group and that he has always been engineer or gunner, but it didn’t change the fact ours and others ride experience was ruined. So please give others a chance.

We decided to exit out of Batuu and we finally saw some roaming characters! We saw Chewbacca while in the SR queue, but we finally saw Stormtroopers and Kylo Ren wandering. It was so good to see that again.


This is Chewbacca when we were one line for MFSR.

We decided to head out and find some place to sit and relax. Red Rose Tavern was the perfect fit. I ran inside to get everyone water and my dad wanted a cold brew. It was while waiting at the counter a CM came up to all the women and gave us the free princess celebration pins.


We sat and enjoyed our waters (and I got a taste of the cold brew it was good).

And by that time we were off! We hit up Pinocchio and got a return time for Mr. Toad. We tried to get on Peter Pan as it was right there but they had just gone down. So we waited in the shade before the latter rides return time hit. I seriously need to rewatch both films. While Pinocchio I knew enough about, Mr. Toad confused me. Plus that last room is so freaking humid omg.



Peter Pan was still down so we decided to head towards Storybook Canals. We got a quick return time and decided to go to the bathroom and refill the popcorn. By that time our return time had passed (these were quick return times btw), and we got on the canal boat.


It was cool to see all the different models, but we were shocked at how quick it went by haha

We then decided to hit up IASM due to the five minute wait. This is also superior to its WDW version. And not because of the added Disney characters either. It’s so brilliantly done and crafted and different and the facade is gorgeous in person. While waiting to get off the boat we saw the clock go off. It was brilliant.



By that time we decided to head back towards Blue Bayou in order to test our walk up. We gave up after about a half hour (imho no big loss as I did not want to eat there due to limited menu options) and we went in search of food. We wound up at Plaza Inn. Sadly my mom couldn’t get the pot roast as she is allergic to red wine and it’s cooked in red wine, and had we known the chicken plate was that big we would’ve split it and got extra mashed potatoes. Everything was hot and fresh once again proving quick service at DLR is excellent. Sadly no photos as I was insanely hungry.

We then hit up Star Tours (where we had to hold because someone had an accident prior to take off and it needed to be cleaned) and we went over to Buzz’s Astro Orbiter. The CM here excelled at the merge point and got everyone through as quickly and safely as possible. For a posted 25 minute it was barely 15. I was doing abysmally until we got stopped in the final room and just went for it with everything. We exited and figured we’d get some window shopping in the stores on Main Street before heading out.



It’s so sad to see the peoplemover just sitting there I wish they would do something with Tomorrowland in DLR. Where can I sign something asking to bring back the People Mover?

After browsing and making notes for later in the week, we decided against park hopping and headed back to shower and sleep.



It was a beautiful first day at Disneyland!

 

[Camilo]

I miss the People Mover at WDW, didn't even know it existed in DL. I remember taking my kids when they were little as a "nap ride".

We are NOT Star Wars fan, but OMG, we loved ROTR. Best ride ever for me, although some people say
Avatar at WDW is better. To be determined, we haven't been to WDW since before the pandemic....

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

I miss the People Mover at WDW, didn't even know it existed in DL. I remember taking my kids when they were little as a "nap ride".

We are NOT Star Wars fan, but OMG, we loved ROTR. Best ride ever for me, although some people say
Avatar at WDW is better. To be determined, we haven't been to WDW since before the pandemic....

People mover is still in existence in Florida! Just gets renamed often!

And yep. It’s just sitting there. Sadly.

So I’m not the biggest fan, but I am enough of a fan to severely appreciate them(plus it has some of my fave actors in the world involved and Binary Sunset aka Luke’s Theme will always be one of John Williams best!) ROTR is a feat of epicness! Even my mom who sometimes doesn’t like chaotic rides loves it! My dad is always obsessed with seeing how things work and pointing things out!

While I love FoP and it is a feat of imagineering and tech genius, for me ROTR is better because I’m not the biggest Avatar fan AND it’s a mix of dark meets screen meets new tech.

 

[Cid315]

I may have missed it, but what hotel did you stay at? And your thoughts on the hotel? Thank you

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

I may have missed it, but what hotel did you stay at? And your thoughts on the hotel? Thank you

Hi! Thanks for joining! This started as a PTR so I don’t blame you for missing it-I ramble lol!


Fairfield Marriott Inn on Harbor Blvd. the Panera is in front of it. Right in between the Camelot Inn and Courtyard Marriott. And right across the street from Tomorrowland. Only downside was the size of the pool.

We liked it. Very clean and friendly staff. Close proximity to the park and various restaurants. Right off the highway exit.

 

[Raeven]

.

 

[StarlitNight05]

Enjoying the trip report so far! Sounds like you all had a blast. We are returning to Disneyland next month after a (gasp) 3 year hiatus! I feel like I'm going in as a newbie though, since so much has changed. Heck, there wasn't even an Avengers Campus last time we were there!

I know you're not through the report yet, but what were your favorite food items or restaurants? I'm driving myself crazy trying to figure out what I want to order...there's not enough time for all that I want to eat, so I'm trying to narrow it down

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

I agree! I'm not a big fan of IASW at WDW, but I was blown away by DL's version.

Agreed! Its one of my moms favorites and knowing the first time she saw it was in DL makes so much sense as to why now!

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

Enjoying the trip report so far! Sounds like you all had a blast. We are returning to Disneyland next month after a (gasp) 3 year hiatus! I feel like I'm going in as a newbie though, since so much has changed. Heck, there wasn't even an Avengers Campus last time we were there!

I know you're not through the report yet, but what were your favorite food items or restaurants? I'm driving myself crazy trying to figure out what I want to order...there's not enough time for all that I want to eat, so I'm trying to narrow it down

Thank you!


So we LOVED both breakfast and lunch at Pym's test Kitchen in Avengers Campus! We also lucked out (like really lucked out) with a walk up reservation to Carthay Circle Lounge and it is worth every penny- I'm not there yet but get the cheese board and chicken meatballs! Also the kids portions there re insanely bigger than i thought they would be! Carnation Cafe for Breakfast was great!
LOVED our dinner's at Naples and Ralph Brennan's Jazz Kitchen in DTD (if you cant get Blue Bayou-RBJK is a much better bet!)

Plaza Inn and Hungry Bear as I said were both excellent!

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

Hi all!

I swear I have not forgotten about you but everything just got so chaotic! Hope to be back to trip reporting soon!


BH5

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

Day 7 Part 1: August 31st-CALIFORNIA ADVENTURE


I am so sorry to keep you all waiting. Between work getting hectic, personal life getting hectic, and having a lot of events and pre planned things pop up I have fallen behind!

Anyhoo on to the post!


We were up early and ready to rope drop! We decided to get breakfast in the park so off we headed to get my mom to ECV rental and across the way. One of the best things about ECV rentals in DLR is you can take them on property so if you park hop you can just cruise across the way unlike WDW where you have to leave one and get another one at the next park unless you rent from an outside party.



We head in and get some pictures taken and get some conflicting info about breakfast. One CM told us both Flos and Pyms was open, while another thankfully told us to double check and only Pyms was open. We decided to hit that and all of Avengers Campus up. While waiting for rope drop we were told Guardians wasn’t opening with the park (somewhat normal-CA is due to heat and FL due to storms) and we headed on our way. We went right into Pyms.





My dad got a Cold Brew, my mom an orange juice I believe and me the Proton punch and we split the Calculated Breakfast and the CinnaPym French toast. Everything was excellent. By the time we got out, the heat was starting to be felt, and Spider-Man had just gone down.

So we decided to head to Cars Land. We took some photos outside Avengers Campus and Cars Land and headed on to Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree which honestly is one of the cutest little rides we’ve ever been on.



We then decided to Brave the 65 minute Radiator Springs Racers wait and I don’t think we waited 45. What a brilliant ride! It was absolutely amazing.


I want this for my home. Actually all the Halloween decor here is easily doable for a home lol.

We then decided to head towards the Pacific Wharf area. We did the bakery tour which was more of a walkthrough but hey free bread!




Then we got drinks at Ghiradelli’s which hit the spot but word to the wise they don’t accept Disney Gift Cards. DLR does have some cons to WDW and that was one of them. We experienced more now with that gift card than we ever did in Florida.


My concoction. I forget what it’s called but you pick three squares and they put it in the vanilla shake. Absolutely refreshing and delicious.



In terms of Pacific Wharf being redone to San Fransokyo: BRING IT! It will connect everything so much better and give some much needed representation to BH6!

Also if you are ever looking for clean bathrooms Pacific Wharf is where it’s at!

I’m going to leave it off here as today was the start of the heatwave and chaos reigned….and we cannot thank maintenance CMs enough.

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

Day 7 Part 2: August 31st-CALIFORNIA ADVENTURE


I’m back!!!!! I’m going to try and do better especially since it’s almost Halloween and I might have another trip coming up (Virginia) so I’m trying to get this out there!

Anyway continue BBG where we left off, we then ventured into Pixar Pier and the heat was starting to be felt.


I want this for my home.


I also want this for my home.

This area is extremely well themed!


We went onto TSMM (we love that ride) and then my dad and I decided to brace the Ferris wheel of chaos-I mean the fun wheel. Humans of the world I am here to tell you three things: 1) Stay hydrated in the heat. 2) Maybe not to the chaotic side if you don’t think you can handle it 3) Maintenance and Custodial Workers do not get paid enough. What started as a ten minute wait turned into a hold because one of the moving gondolas had to get a thorough cleaning. I mean complete with a toothbrush in the cage section. They started up again only to discover two more cars needed cleaning and shut the ride down. Again maintenance workers don’t get paid enough.

Needless to say my parents were getting angry (remember last years trip report in regards to them getting HANGRY as well-well that was also part of the problem here plus the heat was getting to them). My dad and I headed for the silly swings and as he went to put his down he got a small cut on his hand. He went off to clean it out while I rode (btw I don’t know how I ever liked those things as a kid! That was terrifying).

But did they get water or snacks while I was riding? No. This might come off as petty, and my dad was handling the cut on his hand, but still I was getting frustrated as it seemed lessons were not learned. So I got them to sit near the area they were setting up for Plaza de Familia while I got water. I had to reiterate that rides don’t open with parks all the time and that they need to get food soon. And that this happens EVERYWHERE. I think a lot of people don’t realize this, and I do want to reiterate that here. Anyway they sat and got hydrated while I went on goofys sky school (cute crazy mouse coaster, and bless the single rider line).


Plaza de Familia is gorgeous. I love that the SoCal parks embrace the Latinx culture. And I also love Dante.


We headed towards Little Mermaid which as always is cute (and that was the first time we never stopped on the ride-WDW we always stop for a hot minute at least once). We then decided to find popcorn and head towards Soarin’. We ended up leaving Soarin because everyone including myself was getting overheated and so many fellow humans were giving us suggestions for our next DLR visit that we will use (we had a cooling towel and it was wet but as I said in the PTR portion you west coast Dissers are seriously so sweet. Florida we have humidity and more indoor queues and rides and we were not used to it).

I managed to snag a walk up for Carthay Circle Lounge because we needed food and a cool place to sit. While waiting we saw Goofy and the band who’s name escapes me now. I love the character interaction and all the entertainment here and makes me sad for the Florida parks.

The man, the myth, the legend himself: Goofy!

We were called rather quickly and headed in. We decided against alcohol due to the heat and just got Iced Teas and for me a Shirley Temple. We decided on the cheese plate to start, which was the only picture of food I got from here!


Said cheese plate was excellent, and then we decided to split the kids Quesadilla, the Moroccan Roasted Chicken Meatballs, the Chilled Shrimp and the Strozzapretti Pasta.


Do NOT sleep on Carthay Circle Lounge. I regret not getting pictures because this food was DIVINE! Even for a tapas style lounge, kids will be filled as that quesadilla and other kids meals we saw being bought out was plentiful. The pasta was perfect, the chilled shrimp fantastic and those chicken meatballs. We got the Tziko on the side but those Meatballs omg. I wish we got a second plate. They were so freaking good. And honestly was cheaper than we thought it would be. Don’t sleep on the lounge and if you can’t get reservations for the actual restaurant try here. Don’t knock the walk up list either.


I’ll leave you here for today, with a picture I absolutely love that is outside the Carthay Circle building bathrooms.

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

Day 7 Part 3: August 31st-CALIFORNIA ADVENTURE


Told you I’d try and be back sooner and yet I still failed! Work has been absolutely insane and everyone I’ve spoken to said Monday was bizarre like we were all in the Twilight Zone!

Anyhoo let’s continue on shall we?

After feeling refreshed and stuffed with exquisite food, we headed back to Soarin and got on within 20 minutes of a posted 35.


We then headed over towards Philharmagic. We loved the new Coco scene!

We then braved across the way to the Animation Academy. We drew Daisy Duck! I somehow had the best one, my dad looked like a bear and my mom an alien lololololol. We had a great time and are mad we never hop the Rafiki planet watch train to do the animation class up there! Definitely going to attempt that next fall with the whole family!


A close up of my creation!

While waiting in line for Animation Academy I snagged a lightning lane for Guardians at 5:30! By the time we finished everything and had bathroom trips, it was approaching 4:15. Web Slingers was at a 30 minute wait so we rushed over there. It was a fairly accurate wait time and we had fun! Gave me a much needed workout.


We then just took a moment to sit and explore. The Doctor Strange show was finishing up. At 5:20 we headed over to Guardians where Starlord had just started a dance off show. It was cute and different.

A picture from my exploration of Avengers Campus!

We got there early so I could ask about ECV protocols and how to exactly do Lightning Lane because I only had the phone (another thing WDW had over DLR during our trip: MAGIC BANDS. God I missed just using my worst and everyone using their own wrist and not me being the one everyone relied on/holding up the line. I’m so happy you all got them because it’s about time!).

5:30 hit and we were off. My dad and I love ToT and my mom we finally got on last year. Throughout this first time we kept saying “that’s very ToT, that’s just that with paint” lol. The Rocket animatronic is amazing though.


We saw the yeti and got on.


I often heard people say that the CA ToT never lived up to its WDW counterpart and that Guardians was an improvement. I wholeheartedly agree after riding it! We got Burnin’ Love for our song and it was so much fun! We dropped more than we ever do in ToT and had a genuinely fun time. I love how they use music and can’t wait to ride Cosmic Rewind in EPCOT because of that!

After that we decided to head out into DTD and find food as well as shop around some more.


When we went to Splittsville we walked by Ralph Brennan’s Jazz Kitchen and glanced at the menu and said we would come back. Well we immediately got seated-at literally 5:45 PM on a Wednesday right before a holiday weekend. Friends: if you can’t get Blue Bayou reservations do not fret because this is worth it! Far more of a selection and it was so good! I only got a picture of my Cat 5 Hurricane!


Giving the UOR bead tree a run for its money!


The Cat 5 Hurricane


Again I regret not getting more pictures! My parents had mint juleps that they said were very good. My mom and I split the Caesar salad and my dad had the gumbo as an appetizer. For dinner my mom had a perfectly medium burger, my dad had shrimp and grits and I had the blackened chicken Mac and cheese with no caramelized onions. Now the real reason I’m mad I didn’t get a picture is because said Mac and cheese looked more like penne a la vodka when it was set down. But let me tell you: I could eat this every night. It was so freaking good. The chicken had an amazing spice, the bacon was crisp, sun dried tomatoes fresh. Arugula perfectly wilting in the heat of the sauce. The Parmesan they put on top perfectly melted. I loved it so much. We ordered the banana Foster beignets for dessert sans powdered sugar (it’s just a really lush sauce no bananas or nuts get put over the beignets which we actually liked better). And our waitress also gave me actual beignets for my bday. These were POFQ/NOLA level beignets. We were 3 for 3 on perfect meals today. Sadly they didn’t accept the Disney Gift Card (which happened out there a lot more than it does in Florida) but it still was not bad for what we had in terms of price. I highly recommend you go there especially if you want Blue Bayou but can’t get reservations.


Love this tree right outside the restaurant!

While we didn’t have an early day the next day, it was after 7 and we were stuffed, sunburnt even with sunscreen, and tried from the events of the day. We grabbed the ECV, drove to the rental area outside DL and then walked across the street.





We then showered and headed to bed.