Short (But Sweet) Visits
This is the first installment of our
May 2018 Disneyland Trip Report. In Part 1, we will outline two quick trips to the
Disneyland Resort. I had time one evening between work functions and then Sarah and I went to see the fireworks! In Part 2, we will talk about our trials and tribulations on a busy Friday night which included a gaggle of awkward teenagers attending Grad Night. As a part of that report, we will share some tips for people attending during a Grad Night. In Part 3, we showed up for rope drop at Disneyland and we stayed long enough to experience most of our favorite aspects of both parks. We remembered why we continually deprive ourselves of sleep to get to the parks early. Part 4 will cover a shorter day at California Adventure where we ran out of steam embarrassingly quickly. Read on and enjoy!
May 3rd
For those who have not been following the Intentional Mouse for very long (or practical people who are not invested so deeply in our personal lives) Sarah and I both work in higher education. That means that the first week of May is the craziest week of our professional careers. I was shocked that we were able to get away while I was assisting 2600 students move out of the residence halls and apartments.
Fortunately, my institution (unknowingly and unintentionally) presented me with a perfect opportunity to sneak away for a few hours to my happy place! I had spoken during my February 2018 Disneyland Trip Report that I was not very experienced touring by myself. There are positives and negatives to solo-touring, but I was determined to make as much of this short trip as possible. This was a great opportunity to partake in the all the attractions that Sarah doesn’t enjoy!
I arrived at the front gates after parking in Downtown Disney. Before anyone yells at me: I know, I am not supposed to park in that lot and then visit the parks. I figured since I would be spending less than 3 hours in the parks, I was probably alright.
After I walked through the turnstiles, I wandered back to Frontierland. I would bemoan how crowded the park was for a Thursday during school for most of Orange County, but I have already beaten that dead horse in other trip reports. I have resigned myself to realizing the reality that Disneyland is the thing to do for Southern Californians. That means that there is no longer an off-night or an off-season. (See, look! I still beat the dead horse)
When I arrived at Frontierland I wanted to take some pictures for an upcoming restaurant review of Rancho Del Zocalo. I wandered around the restaurant and snapped pictures as I went.
The next stop on the agenda was Haunted Mansion. I will be honest, this is not an attraction that Sarah does not want to do. Haunted Mansion just happened to be the only attraction with realistic Fastpass times. I walked around the queue and arrived at the Fastpass distribution area. This has to be one of the least well-known areas at Disneyland. I have been in this area several times and I am yet to see another person occupy this space. I decided to take advantage by taking pictures!
After I was done, I decided to walk back towards Main Street, USA. It was time to do something that I would never do with Sarah: Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln. You have to understand, I have always been a big (History) nerd. I took all the available AP History courses in high school and at one point I even thought about majoring in History. I clearly decided to go with something more practical and useful for everyday life (Biblical Studies).
Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln has always held a special place in my heart. My mom instilled a deep love of this attraction from a young age (shoutout to Robin here!) and I have fond memories of sitting in the theater. This adoration has only grown since I have learned the historical significance of this attraction.
For those who are unaware, the Audio-Animatronic Mr. Lincoln was originally presented by Walt Disney at the 1964 New York World’s Fair. Mr. Lincoln then moved to Disneyland in 1965 and has taken up residence on Main Street ever since. I really enjoy the show, but I also really like wandering the entry hall and watching the preshow.
After I was done getting my daily dose of patriotism, it was time to go use my Fastpass for Haunted Mansion. I quickly moved through the outdoor queue and entered the haunted room that actually stretches (actual fact: it does not stretch, it is an elevator). Once we entered the portrait room, the adventure truly began. We heard the unwelcomed news that the attraction was not operating. This always presents a difficult decision perfectly summarized by The Clash: do I stay or do I go now? I decided that I had 20 minutes to wait and then I would need to leave. Low and behold, exactly 19 minutes later the ride resumed normal operation.
I greeted the 999 happy haunts and then exited the park. I needed to validate my parking so I decided to get dinner for Sarah and I at the Taqueria at Tortilla Jo’s. Sarah and I love this place and I am looking forward to reviewing it in the future! Look out for it!
My nachos were delicious and made me very happy as I drove back up the 5 towards my evening work engagement.
May 10th
The next week Sarah and I decided to spend the small fortune for her to drive our Ford Escape the 30 miles from our apartment to Disneyland. Seriously, what’s up with the high price of gas?! We decided we would do dinner and fireworks and that would be a fun use of a Thursday night. I arrived and then waited for Sarah to get into the park.
By the time she arrived, the Pixar Play Parade was starting. For those unfamiliar, this is a “new” parade at Disneyland that is running for Pixar Fest. I call it “new” because it is the same parade that moved through the streets of California Adventure starting in March 2008, but they added a few new elements. The song was so ingrained in my Disney brain that I still remembered the chorus by the time the parade returned, even though I had not seen the parade since 2014.
While we watched the parade, we toiled back and forth about what we wanted to eat. For a while, we were going to eat at the Paradise Garden Grill at Disney California Adventure. Then we decided maybe it would be good to have Plaza Inn at Disneyland. Weirdly, we decided to settle for Redd Rockett’s Pizza Port (which currently sports an Aliens from Toy Story overlay).
The first observation we made was the menu actually looked very appealing. I really liked the sound of the Green Alien Pasta and Sarah aggressively desired the Count-Down Chicken Fusilli. When we arrived, the dining room and serving areas were incredibly crowded and noisy. It was slightly overwhelming wandering around and trying to get our food.
After I finally was able to order and pay, I walked out to the not-so-secret dining area between the restaurant and Space Mountain. This was the right choice. Not only is this dining area covered, but it is also significantly quieter than the indoor seating or the patio in front of the eatery. That was really surprising, being that it is directly next to one of the busiest walkways at Disneyland (the ramp to Space Mountain).
We sat down and tried our food. Unsurprisingly for anyone who regularly reads the blog, Sarah ordered the better dish. Her pasta was cooked correctly and her sauce was really flavorful. Her chicken was good and the entire thing just worked.
I cannot say the same about my pesto pasta. It was possibly the worst pasta I have ever eaten. Sarah and I are not snobby about food, but this dish completely lacked any form of flavor. The only slight attempt at flavor came from canned bacon bits that were spread across the top.
After I recovered from my bland meal, we decided to visit Fantasyland to spin round and round in circles. Our first spin was in a teacup on Mad Tea Party. Surprisingly, this is becoming a mainstay in our Disney Parks touring. I could not have said that a year ago, but here we are! We spun round and round as I snapped fun long(ish)-exposure shots.
Our next centripetal adventure came in the form of Dumbo the Flying Elephant. Disneyland’s iteration of this attraction had just reopened after an extended absence. Even though Sarah and I both cherish this ride, I believe the Walt Disney World version is far better. I love that at the Magic Kingdom the queue is creative and fun for kids. If I were a child (or if I was schlepping them around in the heat) I would ride Dumbo on repeat. The queue is a quality excuse to sit in glorious air conditioning. The fact that there are twice as many ride vehicles is another advantage for the Floridian version.
We jumped in our flying elephant and Sarah controlled us as we spun around and around and went up and down. That is really the reason why we love this attraction. Sarah just wants to control Dumbo to fly up and down. It really entertains her, which entertains me!
After we touched back down, we decided to go grab a spot for Together Forever - A Pixar Nighttime Spectacular. Sarah is very particular about our fireworks viewing spot, which results in us arriving over an hour early for most firework shows. We have to be dead-center and preferably between Main Street and the castle.
Disneyland (and this particular show) present an interesting challenge for guests. At WDW, Cinderella’s Castle is large enough to see all the projections from just about anywhere on Main Street. At Disneyland, the castle is much smaller so it can be more difficult to see the projections on Sleeping Beauty’s Castle. Together Forever also has elements that may dictate your desired viewing location. I don’t want to spoil it since the show is still relatively new, but (
hot tip:) find a way to stand on Main Street. There are elements that make that the most desired viewing location. Sarah disagrees, but she also wants to sit directly next to Cinderella’s Castle at WDW.
Now that we have all that settled, time for another Intentional Mouse rant! Most seasoned Disney Parks fans will resound whole-heartedly with this sentiment, so I feel justified in my crankiness. If you don’t want to listen to my rant, feel free to scroll down to the picture below! I do, however, think it is worth reading. (For what that is worth
)
Ok, disclaimer out of the way. This rant is brought to you by: people who are the worst! This nighttime spectacular experience was definitely in our top-3 worst guest experiences of all time. When you consider we have been touring parks together for over 10 years, don’t take that lightly. There were two major culprits: kids on shoulders guy and intrusive Facetime lady.
The first person was by far the worst. I especially detest when people put their kids on their shoulders. I totally understand that you want to give your kids the best viewing opportunity as possible. It is also logical that children are much shorter than adults and cannot see if they are standing on the ground. There is an easy fix to that, though. If you hold your child normally on your hip, they can see most (usually all) of the show. This particular offense was made much worse by the fact that not only was this child on his dad’s shoulders, but he was also wearing a Sorcerer Mickey hat. That meant that between the dad, the kid, and the hat, they were roughly 150 feet tall and completely ruined the experience for anyone within 20 feet of them.
The second offender (Facetime lady) was not nearly as bad, but still very annoying. I don’t have a problem with recording shows on your phone. I am a Disney Parks photographer, I completely understand the desire to hold onto cherished memories digitally. However, this lady was SO EXTRA.
Similarly to placing kids on your shoulders, there is no need to hold your phone 3 feet above your head shouting “CAN YOU SEE IT???” over and over as loudly as possible. You can still see the entire show on your phone if you place it in front of your face. I have done it! Facetime lady doubles-down on annoying in that she ruins every one of my pictures I take of the shows. As you can see from the photo below, I have the ghostly figure of the child on the left side of my photo and the annoying streaks of her full-brightness cell phone on the right. I did a decent job of getting rid of it, but they will never go away.
Ok, rant over! I will end this trip report there and remind you to check back later!
