Joysnote
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Dec 11, 2005
Disneyland February trip
Dates: February 17-19, 2024
Cast: Joy, dh Lynn, Joy’s sister Julie, her dh Ken, met up with Kirstin and my bio mom Alice along the way.
Method: Flying in and out of Long beach then use Lyft car services
Hotel: Tropicana Inn & Suites book package with tickets with Walt Disney Travel company.
Details:
Saturday February 17, 2024. We had to get up at 4 am to make our 6:30 flight from DAL to LNG. We have about 40-minute drive with no traffic at this time of morning on a Saturday We parked in closest lot A and had about 20 minute to get through security which is long for this airport as it is the smaller one with only Southwest. We had boarding group A and just about 15 minutes before it was called.
We landed on time in Las Vegas for our layover but we had to go over 2 terminals, we could only figure we had to walk it so that took about 20 minutes of our 50 minute layover but we did find about 15 minutes to play in an airport casino. We both lost, I lost $5 and Lynn lost $20. This short flight to Long Beach was not full and we had the same crew as our flight from Dallas. This time we had no one in the middle seat
We landed about 9:45 and our bags came quickly, and we ordered a Lyft that got us just before 10 am. We got to our hotel across the street from Disneyland by about 10:38 and dropped bags and did check in. Then headed to Disney’s California Adventure. We went through bag check and turnstiles and in park by 11 am local time so not bad.
We had genie plus already loaded when we bought our room and ticket package. My sister Julie and Ken drove over from Scottsdale, AZ on Friday night and had a hotel father down the street so they were ubering over. We bought an ILL for Radiator Springs and made the first Genie plus for Monster’s Inc. We did Phiharmmagic first , then rode our LL for Monster’s and met up with my sister after, they just got in park. We all did Turtle Talk together. Then it was our time for Radiator Springs, sadly much of the time we were off on our ride times since we all did not get to the parks at same time and at Disneyland you have to scan in before you make Lightening Lanes.
We had a great ride on Radiator Springs and great to by pass the 2 hour line, well worth the extra $52 This is probably favorite ride at DCA. Next, we had our ADRs, at Carthay Circle for lunch at 1:40 pm. This is my all time favorite dining at any Disney location. We had a nice lunch, I had the pear goat cheese salad & flite mignon skewers, both apps for my lunch and ice tea.
After lunch, Julie and & rode their radiator springs, I think before they did their Guardians of Galaxy and webslingers. We went to Avengers Academy and did our Guardian of Galaxy, we love this version and the web slingers and also watched the Spider man show and a bit of Dr. Strange. Nest, it was time for all of our Soarin, we finally got back on the same schedule.
Then the guys went to Starbucks, while Julie and I set around the fountain and saw the Mulan Chinese New Year show. All the food booths for that looked good too but we already ate. It was about 6:30 pm by now and we all decided we did everything we wanted and started heading back to to our hotels. We had to stop and get our suitcase and room key in lobby. We were in what they call a suite because it has a full kitchen in a separate room, then bedroom everyone would sleep in same room with 2 queens and a chair thing that makes a twin. Everything was very clean and updated. So, I would recommend it. Julie & Ken were at the Sheridan much farther away about 2 miles down the road, all of the close hotels were full when they booked, but they just used Uber.
I think I was asleep quickly by 7:30 pm, it had been a super long day, up since 2 am local time.
Sunday February 18, 2024: We woke up on and off a bit but got up at 6 am to get ready for Disneyland. It opens at 8 am today. We left the room about 7:25 and walked across the street and through bag check and then we entered Disneyland!!
We got in just before 8 am by time we walked down Main Street and got our castle pictures the park opened and I had made Genie Plus for Space mtn and we were waiting to buy ILL for Rise once my sister arrived so we could ride same time. Hoping we would be able to meet up.
Lynn and I loved rode Star Tours first, we had 3 all new sequences for us, so that was awesome and how unlikely to happen? We met Kirstin, a friend I met from DIS boards many years ago who is local, outside and all did Buzz together, I rode with Kristin and she directed me and I got my best score ever, LOL We beat Lynn!!! Then we went to Space Mountain together and all rode with Genie plus. Lynn had not done this version in DL in long time so he loved it, since it is so much better than WDW’s. We will have to come sometime in May so he can do the Star Wars version, I didn’t realize he has never done that one. I have a few times but he isn’t always able to come with me so I will have to be sure he does it next time. We said our good byes to Kristin and my sister texted they were in park so we all made Genie plus for Smugglers run and headed that way. Lynn and I shared green milk, it gave me a brain freeze though, ugh and found Julie & Ken. Of course, when we all went in to buy Rise we got an hour earlier than theirs and we can’t modify these but it sort of worked out.
Next, it was time for our LL for Smugglers. We had a great time on Smuggler’s Run, it was just the 4 of us. The guys were up front as pilots and Jule and I were the gunners. . We had a 10:40 breakfast ADR at Plaza Inn with Minnie and they got a POTC immediate after smugglers, so we exchanged log ins for our MDEs and Ken & Julie will ride our Rise and then we will ride theirs after our breakfast, well first we have Genie Plus for POTC on our way to Rise.
Lynn and I checked in at Plaza Inn and had our picture with Minnie, and by now it was 11 am after all of that, they told us buffet closes at 11:30 and character should come around through noon. I was very disappointed with food. Lynn got us 2 veggies omelets while I waited at table, they were both runny, ugh. Most of the other food at buffet had pork so I could not eat any of it but they had waffles and French toast which I just don’t ever eat since full of carbs and white flour. I found yogurt and fruit, but it was sweetened vanilla yogurt and I added blueberries. I did eat that but I don’t ever eat sweetened yogurt either just plain yogurt, so it was not good to me, too sweet, but at least I got something and found some other fruit and some potatoes. I did not feel like worth $50 per person. Sadly, not even all the characters came by. We saw them at other tables. So I guess getting a late ADR was a bad idea? There are no servers it is all serve yourself cafeteria style Had my omelet been cooked and I could have eaten it would have been a better breakfast for me. Lynn was happy enough; he ate the scrambled eggs with ham etc and had some bacon etc.
After breakfast we rode our Pirate of the Caribbean with LL and of course love, love, love this version. Next up we did Rise with IAS LL and of course another awesome ride. So detailed in the story on this as always.
We met back up with Julie & Ken, did some shopping, I had to get a droid chip for a friend here, and got a Grogu shoulder for our daughter loves Mandalorian. Then it was time for our 1:50 Oga’s ADR. I think the guys had alcoholic drinks, and Julie and I had the Tarine Tea. We enjoyed ourselves there. Ken & Lynn are huge Star Wars fans.
Our next LL was for Small World, so we all went over there and rode that, I do like seeing the Disney charters in this version. Then next up is Big Thunder Mountain Rail Road, This is always better version than WDW. Then we parted ways again, Julie & Ken were leaving since they had to drive back to Arizona and go back to work on Monday. We said our goodbyes and had a nice visit.
Lynn & I headed into Toon Town. We have Genie plus for Mickey Minnie Runway Railway so did that first. Then we grabbed a cheese pizza at Daisy’s diner and had a dinner and waited for time for our Roger’s Rabbit car toon spin. I don’t think I have ridden this literally since the 1990’s. I tried a few times last year, but it goes down a lot. We had fun and memories of riding with the kids. It is about 7:30 by now, & decided we had done all the rides we wanted, all the LL’s were for very late now. We headed towards Mian Street and stopped at the stores on way out. I wanted to buy a couple things and get my sister a birthday gift. We got back to Tropicana hotel just after 8 pm to turn in. I feel like we did all of our favorites, had a fun time visiting too with Kirstin and Julie & Ken. Just love being inside Disneyland, it is always my favorite park.
Monday February 19, 2024
We woke up on and off, but got up at 6 am to get ready etc. We were meeting my mom about 8 am at the IHOP just down from our hotel for breakfast. We had a nice time visiting and breakfast there. Then Lynn and I headed into Downtown Disney because we forget to ever get our free lanyards and pins that came with our package, but we could also get them at World of Disney, so we did that and then headed back to the room real quick to finish packing up to be out by 11 am check out. We went out front and ordered a Lyft to the newly reopened Disney Hotel Pixar Peir, I have a noon ADR for Great Maple restaurant. It was about 5 minute ride because you have to make a whole loop around the blocks to get to that side of Disneyland resort.
We enjoyed going around and seeing all of the Pixar stuff. We stayed in this hotel many times with kids growing up in the 90’s and early 2000’s when it was Paradise Peir hotel, but Pixar Place Hotel is very nice and so up-to-date. The Great Maple is the old PCH grill but all new and updated looks so different. I had 2 apps again, the broccoli soup and the macaroni cheese app, Both were amazingly good, we thought this restaurant was excellent. Lynn had the ribeye dip. And I gave him half my mac n cheese it was large for an appetizer portion.
It was 1 pm now so we quickly asked for check and I ordered a Lyft because we have about 30 minute ride to Long Beach airport. The driver arrived by 1:10 pm and we got to the airport drop by 1:45. This airport is tiny so were at our gate by 2 pm. We unfortunately forgot to check in with Southwest on time yesterday while we were in Disneyland, so we had to pay an extra $50 each to get A boarding, we got A 5 and 6 so well worth the extra $100 not to be in C because this was a completely full flight. Lynn sat in window room 5 and I was in Aisle, and we had a very small woman sat in middle. It was about 2-hour flight back to Dallas. We landed about 8 pm, waited for bags, got car and were home just after 9 pm.
Final Thoughts: It was a very fast trip, but so much fun. I love this about Disneyland being so compact you can do everything and don’t need a bunch of time. Lynn only had to use one vacation day and we got to visit with family plus do Disney!
Thanks for reading!
Joy
Dates: February 17-19, 2024
Cast: Joy, dh Lynn, Joy’s sister Julie, her dh Ken, met up with Kirstin and my bio mom Alice along the way.
Method: Flying in and out of Long beach then use Lyft car services
Hotel: Tropicana Inn & Suites book package with tickets with Walt Disney Travel company.
Details:
Saturday February 17, 2024. We had to get up at 4 am to make our 6:30 flight from DAL to LNG. We have about 40-minute drive with no traffic at this time of morning on a Saturday We parked in closest lot A and had about 20 minute to get through security which is long for this airport as it is the smaller one with only Southwest. We had boarding group A and just about 15 minutes before it was called.
We landed on time in Las Vegas for our layover but we had to go over 2 terminals, we could only figure we had to walk it so that took about 20 minutes of our 50 minute layover but we did find about 15 minutes to play in an airport casino. We both lost, I lost $5 and Lynn lost $20. This short flight to Long Beach was not full and we had the same crew as our flight from Dallas. This time we had no one in the middle seat
We landed about 9:45 and our bags came quickly, and we ordered a Lyft that got us just before 10 am. We got to our hotel across the street from Disneyland by about 10:38 and dropped bags and did check in. Then headed to Disney’s California Adventure. We went through bag check and turnstiles and in park by 11 am local time so not bad.
We had genie plus already loaded when we bought our room and ticket package. My sister Julie and Ken drove over from Scottsdale, AZ on Friday night and had a hotel father down the street so they were ubering over. We bought an ILL for Radiator Springs and made the first Genie plus for Monster’s Inc. We did Phiharmmagic first , then rode our LL for Monster’s and met up with my sister after, they just got in park. We all did Turtle Talk together. Then it was our time for Radiator Springs, sadly much of the time we were off on our ride times since we all did not get to the parks at same time and at Disneyland you have to scan in before you make Lightening Lanes.
We had a great ride on Radiator Springs and great to by pass the 2 hour line, well worth the extra $52 This is probably favorite ride at DCA. Next, we had our ADRs, at Carthay Circle for lunch at 1:40 pm. This is my all time favorite dining at any Disney location. We had a nice lunch, I had the pear goat cheese salad & flite mignon skewers, both apps for my lunch and ice tea.
After lunch, Julie and & rode their radiator springs, I think before they did their Guardians of Galaxy and webslingers. We went to Avengers Academy and did our Guardian of Galaxy, we love this version and the web slingers and also watched the Spider man show and a bit of Dr. Strange. Nest, it was time for all of our Soarin, we finally got back on the same schedule.
Then the guys went to Starbucks, while Julie and I set around the fountain and saw the Mulan Chinese New Year show. All the food booths for that looked good too but we already ate. It was about 6:30 pm by now and we all decided we did everything we wanted and started heading back to to our hotels. We had to stop and get our suitcase and room key in lobby. We were in what they call a suite because it has a full kitchen in a separate room, then bedroom everyone would sleep in same room with 2 queens and a chair thing that makes a twin. Everything was very clean and updated. So, I would recommend it. Julie & Ken were at the Sheridan much farther away about 2 miles down the road, all of the close hotels were full when they booked, but they just used Uber.
I think I was asleep quickly by 7:30 pm, it had been a super long day, up since 2 am local time.
Sunday February 18, 2024: We woke up on and off a bit but got up at 6 am to get ready for Disneyland. It opens at 8 am today. We left the room about 7:25 and walked across the street and through bag check and then we entered Disneyland!!
We got in just before 8 am by time we walked down Main Street and got our castle pictures the park opened and I had made Genie Plus for Space mtn and we were waiting to buy ILL for Rise once my sister arrived so we could ride same time. Hoping we would be able to meet up.
Lynn and I loved rode Star Tours first, we had 3 all new sequences for us, so that was awesome and how unlikely to happen? We met Kirstin, a friend I met from DIS boards many years ago who is local, outside and all did Buzz together, I rode with Kristin and she directed me and I got my best score ever, LOL We beat Lynn!!! Then we went to Space Mountain together and all rode with Genie plus. Lynn had not done this version in DL in long time so he loved it, since it is so much better than WDW’s. We will have to come sometime in May so he can do the Star Wars version, I didn’t realize he has never done that one. I have a few times but he isn’t always able to come with me so I will have to be sure he does it next time. We said our good byes to Kristin and my sister texted they were in park so we all made Genie plus for Smugglers run and headed that way. Lynn and I shared green milk, it gave me a brain freeze though, ugh and found Julie & Ken. Of course, when we all went in to buy Rise we got an hour earlier than theirs and we can’t modify these but it sort of worked out.
Next, it was time for our LL for Smugglers. We had a great time on Smuggler’s Run, it was just the 4 of us. The guys were up front as pilots and Jule and I were the gunners. . We had a 10:40 breakfast ADR at Plaza Inn with Minnie and they got a POTC immediate after smugglers, so we exchanged log ins for our MDEs and Ken & Julie will ride our Rise and then we will ride theirs after our breakfast, well first we have Genie Plus for POTC on our way to Rise.
Lynn and I checked in at Plaza Inn and had our picture with Minnie, and by now it was 11 am after all of that, they told us buffet closes at 11:30 and character should come around through noon. I was very disappointed with food. Lynn got us 2 veggies omelets while I waited at table, they were both runny, ugh. Most of the other food at buffet had pork so I could not eat any of it but they had waffles and French toast which I just don’t ever eat since full of carbs and white flour. I found yogurt and fruit, but it was sweetened vanilla yogurt and I added blueberries. I did eat that but I don’t ever eat sweetened yogurt either just plain yogurt, so it was not good to me, too sweet, but at least I got something and found some other fruit and some potatoes. I did not feel like worth $50 per person. Sadly, not even all the characters came by. We saw them at other tables. So I guess getting a late ADR was a bad idea? There are no servers it is all serve yourself cafeteria style Had my omelet been cooked and I could have eaten it would have been a better breakfast for me. Lynn was happy enough; he ate the scrambled eggs with ham etc and had some bacon etc.
After breakfast we rode our Pirate of the Caribbean with LL and of course love, love, love this version. Next up we did Rise with IAS LL and of course another awesome ride. So detailed in the story on this as always.
We met back up with Julie & Ken, did some shopping, I had to get a droid chip for a friend here, and got a Grogu shoulder for our daughter loves Mandalorian. Then it was time for our 1:50 Oga’s ADR. I think the guys had alcoholic drinks, and Julie and I had the Tarine Tea. We enjoyed ourselves there. Ken & Lynn are huge Star Wars fans.
Our next LL was for Small World, so we all went over there and rode that, I do like seeing the Disney charters in this version. Then next up is Big Thunder Mountain Rail Road, This is always better version than WDW. Then we parted ways again, Julie & Ken were leaving since they had to drive back to Arizona and go back to work on Monday. We said our goodbyes and had a nice visit.
Lynn & I headed into Toon Town. We have Genie plus for Mickey Minnie Runway Railway so did that first. Then we grabbed a cheese pizza at Daisy’s diner and had a dinner and waited for time for our Roger’s Rabbit car toon spin. I don’t think I have ridden this literally since the 1990’s. I tried a few times last year, but it goes down a lot. We had fun and memories of riding with the kids. It is about 7:30 by now, & decided we had done all the rides we wanted, all the LL’s were for very late now. We headed towards Mian Street and stopped at the stores on way out. I wanted to buy a couple things and get my sister a birthday gift. We got back to Tropicana hotel just after 8 pm to turn in. I feel like we did all of our favorites, had a fun time visiting too with Kirstin and Julie & Ken. Just love being inside Disneyland, it is always my favorite park.
Monday February 19, 2024
We woke up on and off, but got up at 6 am to get ready etc. We were meeting my mom about 8 am at the IHOP just down from our hotel for breakfast. We had a nice time visiting and breakfast there. Then Lynn and I headed into Downtown Disney because we forget to ever get our free lanyards and pins that came with our package, but we could also get them at World of Disney, so we did that and then headed back to the room real quick to finish packing up to be out by 11 am check out. We went out front and ordered a Lyft to the newly reopened Disney Hotel Pixar Peir, I have a noon ADR for Great Maple restaurant. It was about 5 minute ride because you have to make a whole loop around the blocks to get to that side of Disneyland resort.
We enjoyed going around and seeing all of the Pixar stuff. We stayed in this hotel many times with kids growing up in the 90’s and early 2000’s when it was Paradise Peir hotel, but Pixar Place Hotel is very nice and so up-to-date. The Great Maple is the old PCH grill but all new and updated looks so different. I had 2 apps again, the broccoli soup and the macaroni cheese app, Both were amazingly good, we thought this restaurant was excellent. Lynn had the ribeye dip. And I gave him half my mac n cheese it was large for an appetizer portion.
It was 1 pm now so we quickly asked for check and I ordered a Lyft because we have about 30 minute ride to Long Beach airport. The driver arrived by 1:10 pm and we got to the airport drop by 1:45. This airport is tiny so were at our gate by 2 pm. We unfortunately forgot to check in with Southwest on time yesterday while we were in Disneyland, so we had to pay an extra $50 each to get A boarding, we got A 5 and 6 so well worth the extra $100 not to be in C because this was a completely full flight. Lynn sat in window room 5 and I was in Aisle, and we had a very small woman sat in middle. It was about 2-hour flight back to Dallas. We landed about 8 pm, waited for bags, got car and were home just after 9 pm.
Final Thoughts: It was a very fast trip, but so much fun. I love this about Disneyland being so compact you can do everything and don’t need a bunch of time. Lynn only had to use one vacation day and we got to visit with family plus do Disney!
Thanks for reading!
Joy
