A Solo Adventure Down to the Land of Magic!-Updated 6/5!!

[Disneydreamsdancer]

Thanks!! I'm glad you've been enjoying! It's been so so so nice to have a couple of solo trips in which I can realy sit and I almost wanna say "analyze" things involving performers, as it's definitely something I want to do, and then I know what I need to be able to do to get there! Haha!

Thanks! Characters just make the trip, and I tend to have some hilarious moments (so far, more in WDW than DLR, but!) it does feel a little weird sometimes when I'm solo and in line by myself for characters and everyone else in line has a small child with them, but it's still awesome!!a

HA I know what you mean, when you are one of the only adults without a lil kid in the character line, sometimes I feel almost guilty for keeping the kids from their character 30 seconds longer than if I wasnt in the line but then I think, 'hey we're all just here to enjoy our disney experience'

I've never auditioned for DLR, but i'd love to! I went to a costume character audition for DLRP back in London but I wasnt best suited to it, dancing is my strength and we didnt get to do a movement routine. I always keep checking the audition calendar though to see if any auditions happen during my trips! Its great to hear about your audition experiences

 

[katt789]

I had just finished paying my tribute to all nations, but mostly America (also known as the Muppet Vision 3D) and it was nearing time for lunch. I hadn’t eaten a big breakfast for this reason, my lunch was a little early (I wanna say like, 11:45ish) so I headed over that way! Where to? Ariel’s Grotto of course!

I was a little hesitant about doing a character meal by myself, but had a lot of encouragement from others to just do it, and thought, sure why not?! I checked in and within a couple of minutes I was told to head down the stairs for my picture with Ariel. Now is where there was a bit of confusion, the lady taking the papers for the picture was all “Do you want all 3 of you, one with just the princess, or?” thinking that I was with the people behind me, and I had to explain to her about 10 times that I was alone! Ugh. When she finally got the picture that I was alone, she seemed weirded out. Whatevs, my vacation! Haha. Then it was time to meet the Princess of the hour!

Verdict: she was meh. She wasn’t very chatty, she was nice enough, and not put off that I was alone, but wasn’t the greatest. My first not-so-good experience with an Ariel. *sad face* I was then quickly escorted into my seat, which was in the back, right against the wall in a row of tables. I had a couple of minutes to look over the menu before the waiter got there, although I was pretty sure I already knew what I wanted, I ordered an ice tea to start, and soon the appetizers came out.

It was an “Antipasti Tower” which included: salami, marinated mozzarella, string cheese, tomatoes, gherkins, olives, red pepper bracelets, and watermelon, chilled veggies with pesto & ranch dips & jewels of the sea fruit gelatin, along with a mixed green salad on the bottom. I found the appetizer to be a little blah, I munched on the veggies, and devoured the string cheese (gotta love that stuff) and ate most of the salad. But I knew I had a ton of food coming so I had to save some room. There was also a basket of bread and butter for me to munch on too.

It was great! The nice crispy on the outside with the nice light fluffy inside, I definitely thought that the other two dips in the tray were for the bread, but now that I have typed the description for the tower I realize they were for the veggies….derp…

Then the Princesses starting coming around, Cinderella was up first, she was sweet, very nice, I started to take the picture with my phone and she suggested that the woman at the table next to us take the picture for us. Yay.

And now, the next 2 pictures are the pictures that 100% made this meal worth it, I hadn’t really been having the greatest time flying solo down in DLR, which I seriously found odd. I mean, it’s so close to LA, and in much more of a residential area that I figured they would be more used to solo travelers, but I seemed to be getting the rough end of the stick at points. The people involved in this meal were no exception, it just seemed that they were all put off by the fact that I was alone. Now, up next, was Princess Aurora, I had yet to meet one that I really liked. And this one, blew my mind.

She came right up, not hesitant at all to jump in and say hello, she didn’t ask where my prince or friend was, she just jumped right into it, asked me what my name was, said that it was lovely to meet me. We exchanged a little chitter chatter and numerous hugs before grabbing the picture, in which she made sure that we were facing the window so the light wouldn’t black us out coming from behind us, and with another hug and words of encouragement, she was off to visit the next table. FADSNLDFNG. This girl is amazing, I have yet to write to Disney about the experience, but it is on my list of things to do. She’s all over tumblr in pictures, and from what I can tell, she also “friends” with Mary Poppins on the occasional day. Guh, I just can’t rant about her enough, she’s so incredible. Next up:

I got the Santa Maria-style Tri-Tip. “Slow roasted over rock salt and smoked with red Oakwood served with cheddar-herb mashed potatoes and a medley of seasonal vegetables” Oh. My. God. It was ah-may-zing! Better than the beef dish at CRT’s, it was super juicy & tender and flavorful and awesome, it was definitely worth the price. If you’re headed down to DLR and thinking about going to the grotto, definitely get this! More Princesses came around next!

Obviously neither of them compared to Aurora. Seriously, that is one girl who takes her job seriously, she’s not a girl in a dress, she is Aurora, and DLR is her home, with her castle. I made the observation during this meal that, due to previous knowledge, I know that if you are hired as a face character (princess, Tink, Alice) at DLR you only do that job, so you think they’d automatically be 10 times better, and it’d be so much more competitive to get in to. However, most of the princesses were just “a girl in a costume” that I found, where as I’ve had such amazing experiences at WDW where if you’re hired on, you’ll end up doing a bit of everything. It also felt like the Princesses were just in a hurry to get through everyone and finish out the meal. Some desserts came out next:

Desserts included: Sea horse lava cake, chocolate-chip strips, smore chocolate bites, and white chocolate conch shell and fresh berries. The lava cake had clearly been either over cooked, or sitting under a heat lamp for a bit too long, as the inside of it wasn’t really “lava-ey” it was kinda all solid. It was really good otherwise, and the brownies were amazing! While I waited for my bill, I took a picture of the restaurant interior.

At the end of the meal, I found out drinks were included: WIN! (also, just a funny note; I had forgotten that in the states, and ice tea is literally, iced tea, so I had to add some sugar into it to make it taste good haha) I was in & out of lunch in under an hour, and even managed to get an annual pass discount! Heck yes!!

 

[Merida]

The fireworks look amazing! I've heard that Christmas show is even better, so I really can't wait to see that.

Your Aurora was so pretty! Very natural-looking - I wish that more of the princesses would vary the poses instead of doing the pointed-toe-hands-out one. idk, I just think it would be neat! And I feel like very few of the princesses actually have the personality where they would do a "princess" pose.

You know, I've been thinking about it and I think the only solo trip I'd take would be strictly photography-centric. Because they DO ask everywhere about party-size and where's your friends, etc., etc. and it just really reenforces your solo-ness! (The whole 'where's your prince' really grinds my gears too, but I figure they have to say that.)

Your '1 week and 1 day' ticker is staring me in the face right now - sooo lucky!

 

[kaoden39]

Hi! I am just joining in now. Isn't New Orleans Square amazing? It is my favorite place in the park hands down.


Roz is great in Monsters Inc. When my husband and I were there in February for our second honeymoon Roz told me, "watch out for that young man you are with. I don't trust him." And she told him, "young man, I've got my eyes on you."



Cruella is great fun. Another great character interaction to watch is the Mad Hatter, Alice, Tweedle Dee, Tweedle Dum and the Queens of Hearts playing musical chairs with kids in the the Coca Cola Refreshment Center. Some of the best "face" characters I had visited with are in Pixie Hollow. My teenage daughters really loved Terrance. He was pole dancing when we saw him.

 

[katt789]

The fireworks look amazing! I've heard that Christmas show is even better, so I really can't wait to see that.

Your Aurora was so pretty! Very natural-looking - I wish that more of the princesses would vary the poses instead of doing the pointed-toe-hands-out one. idk, I just think it would be neat! And I feel like very few of the princesses actually have the personality where they would do a "princess" pose.

You know, I've been thinking about it and I think the only solo trip I'd take would be strictly photography-centric. Because they DO ask everywhere about party-size and where's your friends, etc., etc. and it just really reenforces your solo-ness! (The whole 'where's your prince' really grinds my gears too, but I figure they have to say that.)

Your '1 week and 1 day' ticker is staring me in the face right now - sooo lucky!

They were just so great! I would love to go back during holidays to see the differences too! Ah! Aurora was so great! And she was so pretty! Loved her! And yeah, it really is, I feel like the pose is just the "go to" thing so everyone does it. There have been times when Sylvia & I asked them to do the "brandi pose" with us, and they've been totally down, but there are other times where they would be all "I'd much rather do this" weird.

A solo trip can be awesome, I had quite the great time in WDW, occasionally I was asked where my prince was (which seriously irks me, like, that question could turn SO awkward, what if I had just found my prince in some other princesses arms? I feel like that question just is really uncalled for) when i went with a group of 2 guys & 2 girls the "are these your princes" question was much more reasonable. Hahah! SOOOOO CLOOOSE! I'm so pumped!

Hi! I am just joining in now. Isn't New Orleans Square amazing? It is my favorite place in the park hands down.


Roz is great in Monsters Inc. When my husband and I were there in February for our second honeymoon Roz told me, "watch out for that young man you are with. I don't trust him." And she told him, "young man, I've got my eyes on you."



Cruella is great fun. Another great character interaction to watch is the Mad Hatter, Alice, Tweedle Dee, Tweedle Dum and the Queens of Hearts playing musical chairs with kids in the the Coca Cola Refreshment Center. Some of the best "face" characters I had visited with are in Pixie Hollow. My teenage daughters really loved Terrance. He was pole dancing when we saw him.

Glad to see you're here! And yes, it really is the greatest part of the park! I would have loved to see that!! I've seen a bunch of stuff on you tube and it's just so great!!

 

[dara00]

hey, just catching up! After you try rnr, you should try california screamin. I heard they are similar, just cal. screamin is outside! I went on it twice in the single rider line there and loved it! (I normally don't like upside down roller coasters but I do like those 2). too bad you didn't get good attention for being alone, but glad aurora was cool with it!

 

[katt789]

hey, just catching up! After you try rnr, you should try california screamin. I heard they are similar, just cal. screamin is outside! I went on it twice in the single rider line there and loved it! (I normally don't like upside down roller coasters but I do like those 2). too bad you didn't get good attention for being alone, but glad aurora was cool with it!

I have plans to head back to DLR in Oct with a friend, so I'll definitely be trying it then, although I'll be riding it alone as Nick doesn't do coasters haha. It's all good, Aurora & the food honestly made the experience so much better!

 

[Bethannk511]

Oh I'm so happy to have found this TR!! I just recently became a travel agent (Disney specialist!!) and have been contemplating a DLR trip at the end of June (you know, for research purposes *cough cough*) No one seems to want to go (too broke, too afraid of flying that far, too boring ) so I'm thinking of going solo!!! I want to also hit up US and SW too.

Thanks for this awesome report!! Subbing and can't wait to hear more!

 

[kaoden39]

Oh I'm so happy to have found this TR!! I just recently became a travel agent (Disney specialist!!) and have been contemplating a DLR trip at the end of June (you know, for research purposes *cough cough*) No one seems to want to go (too broke, too afraid of flying that far, too boring ) so I'm thinking of going solo!!! I want to also hit up US and SW too.

Thanks for this awesome report!! Subbing and can't wait to hear more!

You should check out Knott's Berry Farm too. It is real close to Disneyland and it would be good from research point of view.

 

[katt789]

Hey friends! Just wanted to jump in and say that I will be MIA for the next week or so as I'm currently at the AIRPORT and waiting to embark on our next adventure down to WDW for a week! YAYAYYA! So, there will be no posting, but new adventures to come!!

 

[katt789]

Oh I'm so happy to have found this TR!! I just recently became a travel agent (Disney specialist!!) and have been contemplating a DLR trip at the end of June (you know, for research purposes *cough cough*) No one seems to want to go (too broke, too afraid of flying that far, too boring ) so I'm thinking of going solo!!! I want to also hit up US and SW too.

Thanks for this awesome report!! Subbing and can't wait to hear more!

That's awesome! Definitely something I would love to do! A solo trip is totally wicked too, DLR isn't as awesome as WDW solo (at least from my experience) but it's still a great vacation. Solo is a great idea when no one else wants/can go, and when you just need some time away from the real world!

Thanks for enjoying! I'm glad you like it!

 

[katt789]

I feel bad it's been SO LONG since I've updated, I just haven't been committed to writing these past few weeks, but at least I've got the good excuse of a WDW trip, right?! It was an awesome trip, and you can read about it in my signature (a year of PTR/TRs) although I am waiting for the photopass cd to come in before I officially start posting updates on it. AND now, on with the DLR show!

I had just left lunch with the Princesses, and figured that I should probably explore the side of the park that I hadn't done yet! So I headed off along Paradise Pier, I found that it was a lot like WDW's Boardwalk, not a whole lot of rides, but some games to play for prizes, and shops, and food. They also had a kids version of ToT, Jellyfish Drop? Something like that, where you just didn't drop nearly as far or fast, seemed cool for kids.

Oh California Screamin, how I should have gone on you!

Along the otherside of the Pier, the green army men were out playing on some durms, having some dance partays!

I finished my circle around Paradise Pier, and was right next to the Ariel's Undersea Adventures, so you can guess what I went on next, right?! Haha

Light fixtures, if there's one thing Disney has taught me, it's look up!

*swoon* there's my prince of choice (if we're going strictly by the movies that is, he's also great in person, but I have to say that meet & greet Naveen really has won me over haha)

Careful! There's no dancing on this ride!

Rumour has it that they're getting rid of her "ice cream" hair!

Kiss the Girl!

And they live happily ever after! Sigh...also, can we talk about how Ariel's wedding dress is just ridiculous!?

Aaaaand with that, I'm at my picture max for this post, so I'm going to have to stop there, I apologise that the updates have been so sparse on this TR, photobucket is also being a pain in the butt for me, that doesn't help! Hope you're all having a magical day!

 

[IheartDDuck]

You had a great meal for sure at Ariel's Grotto. We ate there a few years ago and it was really good. Definitely want to go back if I make it there next year as planned.

You didn't go on California Screamin'? For shame!

I am so excited for Ariel's Undersea Adventure! So adorable.

 

[shan23877]

Sounds like a nice lunch! Is the pricing on par with CRT? Hooray for a great Aurora! I'm sorry that some CMs give you a hard time about being solo. Disney is so good at so many things, seems like that should be one of them.

 

[katt789]

You had a great meal for sure at Ariel's Grotto. We ate there a few years ago and it was really good. Definitely want to go back if I make it there next year as planned.

You didn't go on California Screamin'? For shame!

I am so excited for Ariel's Undersea Adventure! So adorable.

It really is a good resturant, and for character dining, it's pretty decent, I did enjoy it. I'm headed back to DLR in Oct, and it will most likely be on the list of things to do! Gah! I didn't do it as I was holding out for RnR first, (and you'll just have to tune into Aprils TR if that happened or not! Hahah)

I'm so excited! Fingers crossed it's all opened in November!

Sounds like a nice lunch! Is the pricing on par with CRT? Hooray for a great Aurora! I'm sorry that some CMs give you a hard time about being solo. Disney is so good at so many things, seems like that should be one of them.

It was really good!! I feel like the pricing is around $40.00 for everything for an adult, which I believe is $20 cheaper than CRT? I would assume it was cheaper since it's not in the castle haha. Disney is so amazing with so many things, and usually (and especially in WDW) they were totally awesome with solo travellers, but DLR just seemed off.

Also, completely off topic, BUT YOU'RE BACK!! Can't wait for the TR to start! It sucks that we didn't really time any meetings, but the brief one was awesome too! Haha! Hope the rest of your trip was great!

 

[shan23877]

It was really good!! I feel like the pricing is around $40.00 for everything for an adult, which I believe is $20 cheaper than CRT? I would assume it was cheaper since it's not in the castle haha. Disney is so amazing with so many things, and usually (and especially in WDW) they were totally awesome with solo travellers, but DLR just seemed off.

Also, completely off topic, BUT YOU'RE BACK!! Can't wait for the TR to start! It sucks that we didn't really time any meetings, but the brief one was awesome too! Haha! Hope the rest of your trip was great!

It was so nice to meet you in person even if it was brief! I'm glad we got to chat for a few minutes though. The TR should start pretty soon. Ordered the PP CD yesterday, so I want to give it a few days before I get it rolling. I'll definitely let you know when i do though!

You'll be writing a TR too right? It'll be lots of fun to hear what you guys were doing at the same parks at the same time we were there!

 

[katt789]

It was so nice to meet you in person even if it was brief! I'm glad we got to chat for a few minutes though. The TR should start pretty soon. Ordered the PP CD yesterday, so I want to give it a few days before I get it rolling. I'll definitely let you know when i do though!

You'll be writing a TR too right? It'll be lots of fun to hear what you guys were doing at the same parks at the same time we were there!

Haha ya! I have to say, Maddie is even more adorable in person! I have the TR kind of planning out already, I'm waiting on the photopass (I ordered on the 28th, so it should be here soon) and then I'll start, I just have to go through my own pics before then. I'm sure we have lots of crossing paths! You were at the first FOTLK showing of the day, right? I'm sure we saw you on your way out when we were on our way in! So excited to read about it!

 

[Sereina]

I just went through and read through your whole trip so far and I'm really enjoying it! It's interesting hearing your comparisons of DLR to WDW. I've been to DLR quite a few times, but never WDW (mostly because it's so far). Can't wait to read about the rest of your trip.

 

[katt789]

Where I left off I was doing what I do best, wandering! And what's to come, but more of that! (I seriously felt like I was wandering in circles so so much on this trip, there was just so much stuff to look at!) I left the Undersea Adventure, and headed into a land of Bugs to explore!

For any WDW vets, I can really only compare it to Dinoland, an area that is clearly meant for little kids, and has a "carnival" feel to it. It's super cute, and like, the "swings" ride they have is all like, match boxes and stuff. I feel like I definitely would have spent more time here if I had a child. Haha.

Bugs Land dumped me out right by Tower of Terror, so I was sure to grab a fast pass for that, and then checked my watch, there was still plenty of time before the Aladdin show, I could check on Turtle Talk, that's always entertaining? Well, off to the Art of Animation I go!

You know you're in Disney when this is what you see walking in the door. Inside they had a couple of diplays up about different things, including a demostration on how they animated Toy Story.

There was no Turtle Talk starting up right away, and there wasn't much else going on in the building, so I decided I'd just jump in line for Aladdin early.

It was about half an hour before the show started, and where I was lined up had me sitting in the rows that were closest to the stage, so I was okay with that. I played some Diner Dash on my phone while I waited for the doors to open.

There were some things I liked, and some things I didn't when it came down to it with this show. I noticed that everyone who was in it, except for the Magic Carpet was miced, and singing, meaning it must be tricker to cast (for those of you who don't know, over at DHS in WDW, the Beauty and the Beast show only has Belle & Gaston miced, everyone else is a stictly dancer mouthing along)

I definitely noticed that I could do the magic carpet's role though, and made a mental note to watch for that audition! In terms of the show itself, at first, I was kind of bored by it, it was longer than the stage shows in parks I was used to, and the costuming and stuff was more like a Broadway show that was adapted from Aladdin, rather than being "Disney's Aladdin" (anyone confused? Well, if you look at the B&tB show in WDW, they all look & sound just like the characters, and the costuming is done the same as it is in the parks, and looks fantastic. Look at the broadway musical of it, and things just look a little off, especially with costuming...so that is how I felt this one looked)

However, there was one saving point that made me go "I'll come back JUST for this" and if you've seen the show, I bet you know what I'm talking about...did you guess the Genie? Well you guessed right! He was HILARIOUS! I'm talking, he must have been allowed a little bit of leeway with improving to include stuff from recent events, and it was fantastic. When he first appears, and Aladdin's asking who he is, his response was "Who am I? Who am I? I'm Angelina Jolie's leg at the Oscars, who do you think I am?!" But the point that got me a little too hard, (one of those moments when you're dying laughing at no one around you gets the actual joke and is all "woowww...weirdo") was when he said

"A dollar makes me holler honey boo boo child"

I'm not kidding... (if you watch a lot of trashy reality tv, you might get that one)
I died, right there, that was the moment that really turned me around on this show, the Genie was incredible, the rest only okay, but he was great enough that I would go back just for him.

With the show done & over with, and me smiling from my Genie references, I headed out of the theatre, and figured it was time for my ToT fast pass to get used.

Considering that was the wait time when I got back out, I figured I may as well ride it again, right?!

I seriously think I might have Tower of Terror-ed myself OUT on this trip! Now that I had accomplished most everything over in DCA, I decided that now would be a good time for a nice afternoon break, so I wandered back over the my hotel. It really was nice to be staying so close to property, park hopping and midday breaks are so much easier when it's a 5 minute walk from the door of the hotel to the door of the park!

 

[katt789]

I just went through and read through your whole trip so far and I'm really enjoying it! It's interesting hearing your comparisons of DLR to WDW. I've been to DLR quite a few times, but never WDW (mostly because it's so far). Can't wait to read about the rest of your trip.

Yay! I'm glad you're enjoying it and here to read along. I did enjoy making the comparaisions, I honestly feel like then people know what to expect, and I just like doing it. If I hadn't read about the no lap bars on Splash, I would have freaked haha.

WDW is my home park, I was there (as an adult) first, and just love it so much, there's so many different things, heck, both the parks are super far for me, but I'll take them any day over home here haha.