An August 2019 (kind of) Solo TR! Updated 3/3!

[momtohms]

Enjoying your trip report! Looks like a fun time!

Aww thank you! It was such a fun trip

 

[momtohms]

Part 24: Island Exploration

Neither my parents, nor I, had ever been over to Tom Sawyer’s Island before this trip. Since we had a little bit of time left before we could use our Splash Mountain passes we went exploring!

A raft had just left to take a group over there when we showed up, so we had a little wait while the other raft returned and unloaded passengers. We ended up riding over with a group of High School students participating in a Disney program that I am now blanking on the name of (pretty sure it was the YES - youth education series, though). I’d never heard of it before, but they had a guide with them and it looked like a cool opportunity!

Pics from our island adventure!

Watching the Columbia sail by from our raft (or from the loading area for our raft)


Rushing waters. Haha


Treehouse


Abandoned boat


Cool bridge


Watching the Mark Twain pass by


Another abandoned looking ship (this one reminded me of Eric’s ship from The Little Mermaid a bit, or maybe one of the Pirates of the Caribbean ships?)


We explored in a bunch of the little caves too, I didn’t get a ton of pics because of the lightning - but here’s a few that turned out okay!






After we’d made our way around most of the island and ended back up by the raft loading area, they were loading another group to go back over it the other side. We hurried to get on, and made our way back over to Critter Country! Our Splash Mountain return window was almost ready

Next Up: A Sunny Disney Afternoon

 

[StarlitNight05]

I know what you mean about those eggs at Flo's. I agree -- they are definitely powdered. It gave me such a terrible upset stomach! Never again! If my group is eating breakfast there, I'm getting the banana french toast for sure.

 

[momtohms]

I promise I haven’t forgotten about this! It’s been a busy month of adjusting back to the school schedule, getting started in all the girls’ activities, and all that jazz. I’m hoping to get a couple of updates posted over the weekend at least!

 

[momtohms]

I know what you mean about those eggs at Flo's. I agree -- they are definitely powdered. It gave me such a terrible upset stomach! Never again! If my group is eating breakfast there, I'm getting the banana french toast for sure.

Ooh that Banana French toast always looks so good, but I have yet to actually get it! Next time I go for sure!

 

[momtohms]

Part 25: A Sunny Disney Afternoon!

Another item on my bucket list for this trip was to walk the “secret path” and watch people riding splash Mountain. It’s probably not really a secret, it’s a little walkway just past the Harbor Galley and it takes you to some more seating and a viewing spot where you can see the logs come past right after the drop on Splash. I didn’t get any pics, but it was a fun spot to kill a few minutes and see the range of reactions (and levels of drench, haha) that people have!

When it was time for our Fast Pass return window, we headed over to Splash and got in line! I knew we were heading over to DCA that afternoon, so I booked an Incredicoaster MaxPass right after I scanned in for Splash.

I’m used to riding this single rider it as a party of one fast pass user (and usually ending up toward the back). This time, they put us in the front three spots and being the generous daughter that I am - I took the very front

I surprisingly didn’t get as wet as I was anticipating, but it was so much fun to be up front! It was even more hilarious when we got to the photo screens though. I was busy getting my phone out of the ziplock so I could take a pic of the screen to have the photo pass number and I hear my parents go “Oh my gosh, Christie, you have to look at it!”

They say a picture says a thousand words!


So maybe I managed to block out both of my parents with one hand. Lol!

We were ready for a snack after and decided to head over to Tropical Hideaway for some Dole Whips! All three of us decided on the same thing: a Pineapple & Raspberry swirl! So good!


While we enjoyed our treats and a little break to dry off, we made some plans for the afternoon! The Dapper Dans were a must see for all of us, and they had a show coming up on Main Street - so we planned for that first. Then we would head over to DCA to see the Pixarmonic Orchestra. My Incredicoaster FP window opened at this point, so I quickly hopped on the app and was able to grab a RSR pass for later that evening.

After finishing our Dole Whips, we headed to Main Street to scope out where the Dans would be and wait for their performance! We waited about half way down Main Street near a couple of areas where I’d seen them perform in the past. They came out right before showtime and saw us waiting, and directed us to the front of the Disney Clothiers, Ltd. shop! Before they started their performance, they chatted with us for a bit as more people showed up. It was a lot of fun! We stayed for the whole set and they put on a great show





We headed over to DCA after, I had about 15-20 minutes left to use my Incredicoaster pass so I headed there. My parents went to get seats for the Pixarmonic showing and I would meet them there after!

Incredicoaster ride pic!


As I was heading off the ride and over to where my parents were, I noticed the line for Jessie’s Critter Carousel was pretty short so I hopped in that real quick. It ended up being a slightly longer wait than I thought because I didn’t get right on, but it was still under 10 minutes.

I was one of the first ones on, so I quickly grabbed a backwards skunk! Haha! I couldn’t get a good pic of myself on the skunk, but I did grab a shot looking ahead


By the time I made it over to my parents, the Pixarmonic show should have already started - but there was nobody on the stage. My parents were still there waiting on me, and we found out that they had cancelled that particular time for that day. Such a bummer! Especially now that they’ve completely cancelled the show.

We decided to do some more rides on the pier, and went to the Silly Symphony Swings first. It had a 15 minute wait, which turned into more like a 20-25 minute wait. During the ride that was going on while we were waiting, something happened that caused an alarm to go off - so they had to stop it mid-ride, bring it back down, check everything over, and the restart it. We heard it was from someone unbuckling during the ride, but I don’t know if that was what happened for sure.

It did give me a chance to take some cool pics of the Incredicoaster from the line though!




After our turn on the Silly Symphony Swings (no unbuckled seats or alarms for us, lol) we walked over and walked right on to the Golden Zephyr!

Next up we headed over to Cars Land and went single rider on RSR! I ended up in the same car as my Mom, and we raced the car my Dad was in I can’t remember for sure, but I’m pretty sure he won.

Ride Pic


Coming up: Driving & Dining

 

[hootey]

Great Pictures, thanks for sharing!

 

[VandVsmama]

I'm only through page 1 of your TR so far, but it's great! Love the pics of New Orleans Square early in the morning when it's so empty!

 

[momtohms]

Great Pictures, thanks for sharing!

Thanks! You’re very welcome, thank you for reading

 

[momtohms]

I'm only through page 1 of your TR so far, but it's great! Love the pics of New Orleans Square early in the morning when it's so empty!

Thank you! I love early mornings in the parks for the low crowds, totally worth getting up for

 

[VandVsmama]

Thank you! I love early mornings in the parks for the low crowds, totally worth getting up for

I totally agree! My kids now say, "When we're at Disneyland, you don't sleep in." And it's because of pictures like yours first thing in the morning. It's magical!

 

[momtohms]

Part 26: Driving & Dining

We had enough time to squeeze in another ride before dinner, so over to Mater’s we went! It was nearly a walk on, but I had enough time to grab a couple pics while waiting in the queue.





My parents rode together, and I spent the ride trying to take a cute picture of them. Haha!


We headed over to the pier and did a little shopping at the store across from Lamplight Lounge (Knick’s Knacks). When it was just before our reservation time, we checked in and were given a buzzer and told it shouldn’t be too long of a wait.

It ended up being around 5-10 minutes later that the buzzer went off, and we returned to the host stand to get our seats. They took us downstairs and showed us to three stools at the bar. My parents and I were all really disappointed about this, we had planned for this to be our one nice sit down meal of the trip and we really didn’t want to sit at a bar counter. We asked if we could get moved to a table, but they said we’d have to go back upstairs and wait and they didn’t know how long it would be since they were crowded. So we decided to just stay, since we were hungry and had evening plans.

They were really good about my Mom’s dairy allergy, but initially they thought we all had the allergy and had given us all the allergy menus. After we got that sorted and my Dad and I got the regular menus things got better I ordered the Open Ocean cocktail and the lobster nachos, My Dad got the Salmon PLT, and I believe my Mom got a salad.

Hanging glasses above our seats


A couple of drink pics, it was so pretty and tasted delicious!




The famous lobster nachos!

I did not enjoy these as much as I did the last time I had them when it was still the Cove Bar. Though I can’t entirely fault the restaurant. I don’t like sour cream at all, but I didn’t remember the crema they used on it being too overwhelming - so I didn’t request they leave it off. I absolutely should have though, they put SO much on it was drowning the chips and the taste dominated. I wasn’t able to eat the bottom half because it was just a gross soggy mess. The lobster and chips on top were great though.

All in all, I’d probably go back - but will definitely request an actual table and skip the crema!

Next up: Sh Boom! Sh Boom!

 

[momtohms]

Part 27: Sh Boom! Sh Boom!

The neon lighting ceremony right around sunset in Cars Land is my Dad’s favorite part of the parks, so naturally it was a must for our trip!

I had made our Lamplight Lounge reservation early enough that we had plenty of time after to wander back over to Cars Land and find a good spot to watch.

Sun setting over Radiator Springs


I love how the cast members pass out little flags and dance with the kiddos in the middle of the road!


Loving all the neon! So fun!






After the lights were on, my Dad and I hopped in line for Luigi’s!



This is another ride that is so much fun at night! I love these overhead strands of lights with the flags


Some on the ride pictures






The create post function has been so glitchy for me lately (part of the reason for the long time between updates!) I finally got all the pics in and some text with it, but I have no idea if it’s going to look good once I hit post. Apologies if the format is all wonky!

Coming up next, Part 28: A Colorful End to Day Two!

Had to share a quick bit of exciting news: it looks like a trip for DH and I to Disneyland for our anniversary and my birthday next summer is officially in the works! DH wasn’t totally sold on the idea when I first brought it up (His first question was “didn’t you just go?!” And I was all “Yes, that doesn’t count. When did YOU last go?” Lol!) But I think it was the Imagineering Story on Disney+ that convinced him that a kid free trip to enjoy all the new things he hasn’t gotten to see yet would be a ton of fun. There should also be some new things for me to see too - ROTR for sure, and hopefully the first phase of Avengers Campus will have opened also. Yay!

 

[momtohms]

Part 28: A Colorful End to Day Two!

Long time, no post. Again. I’m hoping my next updates will be more frequent though so I can get this done before I leave for my next trip! Just over 5 months to go!

After riding Luigi’s with my Dad, he met back up with my Mom so they could head over to World of Color to wait for seats - while I headed to RSR to use the Fastpass I had booked earlier. I absolutely love this ride at night! Apologies to the person that I Mike Wazoski’d behind me. Lol!


Once I was off the ride, I had a text from my parents that they had found a spot. It didn’t take too long to find them once I got to our assigned viewing area, thankfully. They were off to the left side but right at a railing, so while it wasn’t a straight on view - it also wasn’t behind anyone either.

During the show, my phone starts vibrating and I look down to see an incoming video chat request from one of my girls. So, I answered it and flipped the camera around towards the show for them to watch. They thought it was so cool to watch it live with me! I didn’t video chat the whole time, so once it had finished I called back and we chatted a bit more as I walked towards the exit of DCA too. I love technology

A few pics I took during the show when I wasn’t video chatting with my girls:









My parents decided to call it a night after that, and headed back to our room. My night, however, was far from over!

I hurried back over to Disneyland, and they were either just wrapping up the parade or getting ready to start the fireworks (now it’s been too long and my details are fuzzy!) Either way, I decided that I would try and get over to Astro Orbiter and ride that during the fireworks. On the way over, I grabbed a FP for BTMRR on my ohone

Unfortunately, getting through Main Street during that end of parade chaos is anything but efficient. By the time I made it into Tomorrowland, the fireworks show was well underway. Astro Orbiters didn’t have a huge line, but it’s a slow loader so I just barely missed getting to ride during the show. It wasn’t a bad view from the queue though.

After Astro Orbiters, I went and rode Space Mountain. I’m pretty sure I went Single Rider here, and ended up in the front row. Holy wind in the face. Haha!


My notes say I rode BTMRR twice after this, and again with the fuzzy details - but I either got there and noticed the super short standby wait and rode it standby then used my FP. OR I used my FP and got off and noticed a short standby and rode it again. Either way, I rode it twice and it was awesome. Lol!

By this time, I was hungry and places were starting to close down for the night. The Mint Julep Bar was still taking mobile orders, so I ordered a bag of beignets and then headed over to pick them up.

Nothing like powdery deliciousness to finish off a great day!


The beignets didn’t actually finish off my day, because as I ate them while walking back through Adventureland towards Main Street - the Jungle Cruise was calling.

It was a walk on, and my skipper for this evening was so adorable. She had the 40s style rolled hairstyle, and even did that same accent like the ride announcer for the Golden Zephyr. I’m probably completely butchering this description, but think 30s/40s East Coast maybe? Anyway she was great and totally into the character!

After the boat came back to dock, the park was pretty much closing down except for the Main Street shops. I browsed through a few of them on my way out and then it was back to the hotel to sleep!

Up Next: Part 29! I’ll come up with a title once I review what I did again ;-)


In unrelated to this trip, but totally related to my next trip news: Hotel is booked! Yay! First part of our trip is planned, the rest can come a bit later though. So excited!

 

[momtohms]

Part 29: Day Two Overview!

Time in Parks: Over 16 hours! 7am to sometime after 11pm (parks closed at 11, but I stayed and shopped on Main Street for a bit!)

Total Steps: 30,766

Total Miles: 12.48

Total Attractions: 28 (duplicates: Jungle Cruise x2, RSR x2, and BTMRR x3)

Total MaxPasses Used: 9

Wrap Up Thoughts: A slightly slower paced day than the one before, haha! I spent almost all of it with my parents, which was so fun. Sat down at a table (or counter) to eat all three meals, explored Tom Sawyer’s Island for the first time, enjoyed watching the neon lights coming on in Cars Land, and watched an amazing WOC show!

Up Next: First person on Emotion Whirlwind on 8/21/2019? Me!

 

[momtohms]

Part 30: Another EARLY DCA Morning!

We’ve reached Day 3! Yay!

Started off the day bright and early for another EMH at DCA.

All dressed and ready to go, repping my Dad’s favorite character: the Toy Story alien! According to the time on my phone, I took this pic at 6:24am So early, but SO worth it!


My mom opted to sleep in, so it was just my Dad and I for the morning. Instead of using the GCH entrance to the parks like we did on our first day, we went into Downtown Disney and picked up some Starbucks on our way to the front gates.

There wasn’t too much of a line up when we arrived about 15 minutes before EMH began, and they started letting us in around 5 minutes early I want to say.


First on the agenda was booking my first Max Pass of the day for Guardians, and then we headed straight to Soarin’ to get in the standby line.

From Soarin’ it was over to Pixar Pier to ride TSMM



Hello Jessie!



Once we had finished up on TSMM, I decided to standby Incredicoaster. My Dad isn’t a fan of the intense rides, so he waited nearby until I was done.

Ride Pic


By this point it was about 15 minutes until the park opened for everyone else, and until my GOTG Pass would be ready. We decided to head over to Emotional Whirlwind and wait until it opened since we hadn’t ridden it yet.


Selfies with Disgust


There wasn’t a ton to do while we waited, so I took pics of the various character statues around the



Continued in Part 31: First One on the Ride!

 

[momtohms]

Part 31: First One on the Ride!

The waiting for Emotional Whirlwind photo shoot continues!





A few others started to show up right before 8am, so we took our place at the front of the line! It was kind of fun getting to be the first person on a ride that day!



Still waiting, and watching the Incredicoaster fly by above us!


A CM came and let us start boarding right at 8am, and we were able to pick our own bucket. Naturally, I had to choose the rainbow unicorn (my youngest daughter is unicorn obsessed).

The only on the ride pic I took because it was over so fast! I don’t remember it being such a short ride when it was Flik’s Flyers. It was a cute ride though, not one I would go out of my way to do - but definitely worth doing once!



Grabbed a pic of the Rainbow Unicorn on the side as we exited the ride!


After that whirlwind of emotion, my Dad headed over to DL to grab breakfast (well second breakfast, Starbucks wasn’t enough, haha) and walk around and I headed to GOTG to use my Max Pass! It was also time to make a new Max Pass selection, so I booked one for Matterhorn since I was planning to head over to DL after GOTG. The Matterhorn Fast passes had been going pretty quickly due to it only running on one side, but I lucked out and got one with a pretty close return time. Yay!

A couple of exterior shots as I headed towards Guardians.




This time the song was “Give Up The Funk”, which I’m pretty sure was new to me.

All smiles for this one! The more I rode GOTG on this trip, the more I loved it. Its SUCH a fun ride!



Coming up! Part 32: Matterhorn and Macarons and More!

 

[momtohms]

Part 32: Matterhorn, Macarons, and More!

After another thrilling breakout, it was time to hustle over to DL and use my Matterhorn FP!

My Dad was already over in DL walking around, so I texted him to arrange meeting back up once I finished my ride. He was waiting for me when I got off, and let me know that my Mom was up and wanted to know where to meet us. Since my Dad had to get some work done the day before and didn’t get to ride Jungle Cruise & Pirates with my Mom and I, that’s where we decided to head next!

Passing behind the partners statue on our way to Adventureland! To steal an incredibly cheesy joke I read somewhere once....Ladies and Gentlemen! The backside of Walter!


I’ll turn in what was left of my cool person status now ;-)

I had to make a quick stop at Jolly Holiday for a snack, and grabbed this delicious raspberry macaron.


As I was standing just outside Jolly Holiday eating the above deliciousness, my Mom walked right past my Dad and I on her way to the Jungle Cruise (our meeting spot) and totally didn’t see us. It was a pretty funny moment!

On the Jungle Cruise! And the real backside of water!


Next up was Pirates, no pics from this one this time though.

Continuing the boat theme, we were off to Small World!


I got my second of these for the trip to carry through the line. Haha!


A couple exterior ride pics:




and a couple I shot at the end:




Stopping here for now because it’s a good place to break up the pics I have for that morning. I’ll update soon!

Coming up: Part 33 - title TBA (most of the time I come up with these pretty easily, but this next part of the day is stumping me at the moment, ha!)

 

[momtohms]

Part 33: Autopia and a Few of my Favorite Things!

After Small World, it was over to Tomorrowland to ride Autopia!


Standby was around 20-25 minutes, and the line moved pretty quickly. I’m glad we didn’t have to wait out in the full sun too much!

Cars, cars, and more cars


When we got up to the front we were assigned our numbers and waited for our turn to go!


I tried to take some on the ride pics while driving but it wasn’t too successful. Plus, I’m always afraid I am going to be THAT person who manages to drive their Autopia car off the tracks - so I like to pay attention. Lol!

The one that did turn out!


After the ride, my parents headed off to do their own thing and I made a BTMRR MaxPass that I would be able to use by the time I made the trek across the park.

First up though? A little snack! I can’t believe it took me until the third day to get one of my favorites. I took my Mickey Pretzel & Cheese to one of the tables near the Mark Twain dock and enjoyed the shade and sights and sounds while I ate.


Then it was off for yet another ride on BTMRR! This never gets old. I love the view of Galaxy’s Edge from the top too


Once I was off the ride, I pulled up the app to book another MaxPass. With the weather really starting to warm up, I checked GRR and grabbed a pass that had a return time about an hour from then. Since I wanted to go change at the hotel before I rode, I headed there next.

As I left Frontierland, I could hear the sounds of the Disneyland Band playing in front of the castle. I had to stop for a bit and watch, and I am so glad I did because the best thing ever happened! My favorite Disney song of all time is “Be Our Guest” and they started playing it just after I joined the crowd watching the show. And to make it more magical? Belle and the Beast showed up and did a dance. I got a lot of it on video, but also got some pics too. Pure Disney Magic!






These are the moments that make trips to Disneyland so special.

My GRR return time was fast approaching, so I headed up Main Street towards the exit. However, I had to make just one more stop for a must try treat that I had been hearing SO much about:

Behold! Churro Toffee!


I completely get the hype! It was delicious! I had planned to just eat a tiny bit and save the rest for later, but I couldn’t stop eating it and finished the whole thing before I made it back to the hotel. No regrets! Ha!

Coming next: Part 34! A Water Filled Afternoon!

 

[momtohms]

Part 34: A Water Filled Afternoon!

I made a quick stop back at the hotel room (via a little downtown Disney shopping) and changed into a different tank top, workout shorts, and flip flops before heading through the GCH entrance into DCA. It was already well into my fastpass window, so I scanned in and then made another MaxPass to do GOTG a little later on.

After my first ride through of GRR, I didn’t get quite wet enough to cool off (ha!) And decided to ask if they were allowing single riders. They were, so I went not once but twice more and suffice it to say - I was thoroughly cooled off.

I couldn’t tell you what ride through I took these on, but enjoy a couple GRR pics!




After that second time as a single rider (and third ride in a row total), my Guardians FP window was open and I needed to dry off a bit before I got there. So I took a leisurely stroll towards the Hollywood Backlot area, trying to stay in the sun as much as I could. Haha!

They were doing the Guardians Dance Party with Star Lord, Gamora, and Groot when I got there, so I had to stop and enjoy that for a few minutes!


When it finished, I started heading towards the FP entrance for Guardians and ended up almost running right into Gamora. We had a really fun interaction when she noticed my shirt (I was wearing my “There’s Nothing a Little Starbucks & Disney Can’t Fix” tank. I had to explain what Starbucks and coffee were, I think I may have converted a new fan. Lol!

On the ride I got my favorite song of the six they rotate: “I Want You Back” by the Jackson 5! It was the song we got the very first time we rode back on our family trip in 2017, and I had been hoping to get it again this trip. Score!


From Guardians, I made a FP for Soarin to use later in the day and then decided to head over to Pixar Pier and finally try the Pixar Parfait!

I placed a mobile order while walking that direction, and it was ready to go when I arrived. The standby line to order was huge, all I can say is God Bless mobile order. Lol!



It melted really quickly so I had to eat it fast, but it was perfectly refreshing for such a hot day! I loved the lemon soft serve part especially, the blue icee was just alright. Next time I think I’ll just get the lemon on it’s own.

According to my notes I cancelled my Soarin’ FP and picked up an Incredicoaster one here, not really sure why I did that though? Downside of finishing trip reports so late, I forget details!

Before my Incredicoaster return time, I went over and rode the Silly Symphony Swings. However, when I got off and started to head back to the Incredicoaster I noticed my MaxPass was now an all experience pass. After asking a CM working at the entrance to the Incredicoaster when they thought it would be back up, they said it was down for heat related reasons. I’d never heard of that happening before, and it was only around the mid 80s or so. Anyway, I took that as a sign that the hotel pool was calling my name and headed back to the GCH.

After changing into my swimsuit in our hotel room, I met up with my mom down at the pool where she had been enjoying a relaxing afternoon. I had texted her that I was coming and she was able to find us two pool chairs in a shaded area which was nice.

So relaxing!


The pool area was pretty crowded but not insane, but the concrete in the sun was HOT. I tried to walk around check out all the pools (and the slide) without flip flops on. Lol. BIG MISTAKE. Back to relaxing on my chair it was! Though I did manage to snag a late night Matterhorn MaxPass, so that was a win (they had been gone earlier on, so I lucked out with someone dropping one)

Unlike my Mom and probably lots of other people who like to relax for hours on vacation - I get too antsy to sit for long periods of time. So after about 45 minutes, I was ready to hit the parks again. I made quick stop back to the hotel room to change once again, and I was on my way once more!

I hit up WOD on my way to the gates to do more shopping & browsing, but I was also getting hungry and had a very specific idea in mind for dinner!

Once inside the Disneyland gates, I made a bee line for the Little Red Wagon and voila!


I had recently learned that you can ask for the corn dogs by themselves without the chips or apples, and it saves a little bit of money! It was just the right amount of food so I could also save a little bit of room for dessert.

Obviously I had to get one of these to match the shirt I wore most of that day!


Twinning!


This was such a yummy macaron! I loved the filling especially! After I finished my treat, I was able to book another MP so I grabbed one for BTMRR that had an immediate return time and headed that way.

Part 35 (and title) coming soon! I think I only have 2 more parts for Day 3, just trying to figure out where to split the post up