Family of 7 Goes to DLR 2/4-2/10/18 *update 9/9* - “Final Thoughts”

[Canadian Harmony]

BTMRR at night is probably my favourite ride ever! I took my kids on a night run and they loved it too. I was so happy that I could share my love of something fun like that with my kids.

We missed F! on our trip, but we're definitely going to make time for it next year when we go back. I love your photos - very nice!

And short ride lines on Pirates makes it all worth it, especially as the last ride of the day!

Those shirts are awesome! Any details on where you got them made?

 

[BrerMama]

I'm not sure what I think about that Fantasmic dinner. I wasn't too excited about the menu and your photos may have reinforced that a bit, but I'm so glad you enjoyed the meal and had great seats. I've decided F! is a must do on our trip (but I think we'll go with River Belle).

I loved reading your day "to the left" of the hub. Sounds like a great day!

 

[RedHotMama]

LOVED your Fantasmic! video!

Thanks! It was just a happy accident that I pushed the wrong button. But I'm glad I let it keep running. I've decided I want to take more videos on our next trip.

Wow! I love your hand made shirts and trip journals! They look so professional! Thanks for sharing your lovely report, it's giving me the bit of Disneyland I needed!

Thank you! I really enjoy making custom stuff. The kids are already coming up with shirt ideas to make for our next trip.

Those shirts are awesome! Any details on where you got them made?

Thank you so much! I designed them in Photoshop and Illustrator. Then I cut Heat Transfer Vinyl with my cutting machine and heat pressed the vinyl to the shirts. My husband bought me the cutting machine for my birthday before our last trip 5 years so and it has been the best present ever!

I'm not sure what I think about that Fantasmic dinner. I

I know. It really wasn't great. Probably the second to worst meal of the trip. But with a family our size it really is our best option for good seating at F! So we'll probably do it again next time. If it were just my husband and I, I think we'd try Blue Bayou.

 

[mnmrmustard]

Yay for fellow guests of the Desert Palms Hotel & Suites – sorry you didn’t get a park view. We too traveled on a Sunday but braved the parks anyways due to it being the only day Fantasmic! was running the week we were there.

Those construction walls are crazy, I had no idea they had come up! Good choice with the Adventureland start! Good rides and nice meet and greet with Moana. Nice that HM was walk on! How weird that the pictures of Tigger and Pooh flaked out – darned technology!

Good call with the portable charger, I brought a big block charger that does with my laptop and a USB hub so when we stopped for meals we could all plug in our phones.

Yay for stopping at the petrified tree! I love me some Disney history!

Nice dinner and cool that you did the dining package, we tried it for the first time ourselves and learned an important lesson about getting there earlier than we did. Great pics from Fantasmic!

Nice set of rides after the show. What a great first day!

 

[RedHotMama]

Yay for fellow guests of the Desert Palms Hotel & Suites – sorry you didn’t get a park view.

It would have been amazing to get a park view. But we all really liked the hotel. We'll be back. The combination of great price, good location, enough space/beds for all of us, and free parking and breakfast makes Desert Palms hard to beat!

Good choice with the Adventureland start! Good rides and nice meet and greet with Moana.

I love the left side of the park so much! I think the theming is the best there.

Yay for stopping at the petrified tree! I love me some Disney history!

I do enjoy history! And my kids are good about appreciating it, too. We try to learn a little history everywhere we travel.

Thanks for reading along!

 

[RedHotMama]

Tuesday Morning 2/6 California Adventure! “Life is a highway”

I had a hard time waking up at 6:30 to shower before the rest of the family got up. My throat was a little sore, and I was congested. But I felt much better after a hot shower. I would have to try not to yell so much today. (Yeah, right.)

P (20mos) likes to cuddle all day, but especially in the mornings!

Breakfast at the hotel had biscuits and gravy, which were good. We were going to sit outside again this morning, but there wasn’t a table that could fit a highchair, so we went inside that day.

We left the hotel 10 minutes late again today. We ran into a friend in a dance group we’re with outside the hotel. (Hi, Jenna!) They were staying there with 30 of their family!

J (12)’s ankle was still bothering him, so we went slower than we would have. We still were through security and in a fairly short line by 9:15 (10am opening).

Each morning after getting in line, we’d drop our hydration packs, and a few of us at time would move far away from people to get sunscreened. We wasted no time getting that done this morning.

It's a good thing, too, because they opened the gates 6 minutes early! By 9:25 we were in. I quickly purchased MaxPass and booked Radiator Springs Racers for 10:40. We would spend the morning in Cars Land!

At rope drop, S (3) saw the waterfall behind Grizzly Peak and wanted to go look at it right away! So J and I took him over. It really is incredible what Disney can create from nothing. The kids were amazed that Disney *made* the mountain and waterfall.

S "signed" "I love you" to me. Sweetie.

While waiting at rope drop, a Cast Member was handing out maps featuring Mulan and the Lunar New Year celebration. The CM told us he’d see us over at Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree.

Once we were let in (I love Cars Land!), T (Dad), E (14), J, N (7), and S went for Mater's "tractor" ride. (Feel free to listen to this Cars Land soundtrack during today’s installment to get in the mood.)

I took P in the stroller to get World of Color FastPasses by the Little Mermaid ride. (You can’t get show FPs with MaxPass.) It was nice to have a few times in the trip where I left the family and got to walk around on my own (well, usually with the stroller, but P is so chill).

There were very helpful Cast Members there giving instructions, so the line moved quickly and I had these babies at 10:05.

When we got back to Cars Land, the family was just gathering at the front of Mater’s ride. And there was Mater himself on the street! People were starting to form a line and we jumped in at 10:09. It was just a few minutes before it was our turn.

There wasn’t a PhotoPass photographer, but Mater’s “helper” took our photo, and did a great job.

While S got freshened up, P walked down Route 66. He’s a fairly new walker. But like most babies, he is very independent and doesn’t like to be directed or guided. He didn’t even care when Mater drove by and was disgruntled when we kept him from getting run over.

I LOVE this photo SO much!!!

Then Lightning McQueen came down the street! That car is so cool. We headed over to the Cozy Cone where they were setting up his meet and greet. We waited only a short time and met Lightning at 10:25.

And here was our first PhotoPass photographer! Here are his photos:

I wish I had taken that silly burp cloth off my shoulder. Sheesh. #MomLife

Lightning’s assistant noticed the reflection in J’s sunglasses and got this super cool shot.

I love the theming in Cars Land! Absolutely perfect!

Then the rest of the family rode Mater's again. (Hey, that lady has a stroller just like ours.)

E was given this red card to wear through the line. I think T said that it was for CMs to time how long the line was. I believe I’ve heard of a Facebook group that gets really excited about being selected to carry the red card and posts their photos when they’re chosen. But I’m not in that group.

The boys are in the beginning of this video, the girls show up near the end, then the boys are back again.

While they were riding the tractors, our FastPass window opened for Racers, so I booked T and E FPs for Guardians of the Galaxy.

P was content to sit back and watch the world. Sometimes it is really, really convenient to have a laid-back baby. Like when they can’t do rides at DL.

 

[RedHotMama]

Tuesday Morning 2/6 California Adventure! “Life is a highway” Part 2

At 10:55, E, J, N, and I went to use our FastPasses for Radiator Springs Racers! The standby line was pretty long by then but it only took us 10 minutes to get through the FP line. We ran into a family I went to church with when I was little. (Hi, Adair family!) It was N’s first time on RSR, but after the day before, I knew not to be worried about her!

Of course, N loved it like the rest of us! (Poor thing almost always had her face covered in these ride photos.)

The ride is spectacular! It is not surprising to me at all that it is the most expensive theme park ride to ever be built. (Over $1 billion.) Radiator Springs Racers is perfection. The scenery for the ride, which acts as a backdrop for all of Cars Land is beyond impressive. It is breathtaking. I love each of the ride’s three parts: (Spoiler Alert!) First, you take an easy, relaxing drive through the outdoor scenery and past the waterfall, to the music that McQueen and Sally drove to in the movie. Next, you are brought inside to a dark-ride-type part of the ride. But it feels more open and spacious than most dark rides. It represents nighttime in Radiator Springs and things pick up when you almost run into Mack, and then get chased by Frank. Inside, you also drive through town. Then the moment comes where your car either gets new tires at Luigi’s or a paint job at Ramone’s. Finally, you’re ready to race! You’re paired with another car full of riders and you’re sent back outside. It is wonderful if you can experience this both at day and night. The racing part is fast and fun, with ups and downs and turns. The ride feels very complete with a clear storyline, amazing imagery, and a thrilling ride. Here’s the soundtrack for RSR.

Meanwhile, T had the little boys, and S got to meet Red -twice! The second time, no one else was there, so the Cast Member gave S a "tour" of Red (the hoses, the ladder, his bell).

Next, T rode with J and N on Racers using the Rider Switch.

While they raced, E took S on Luigi's Rollickin’ Roadsters, and I freshened up P.

The 2nd Racers group met us at Luigi’s and at 11:45, we all got on while E stayed with P. She swung the stroller in circles for him like the dancing cars. It was a 15 minute wait for us.

N and I wanted a car that looked like Flo.

It was time for T and E to use their Guardians of the Galaxy FP! (And I booked us more FPs to do RSR again, but during twilight!) At some point while in Cars Land, I asked a Cast Member what time they would be turning on the neon. They told me around 5:30,and I made a note. We’d ride RSR again, then be on the street for the neon. I couldn’t wait for “Shboom”!

During the Guardians queue, E was chosen to be a helper. She had to copy what the Cast Member mimed, and everyone clapped for her. It was silly.

They're in the top left.

They had double FPs to do it twice, but E’s stomach wasn't ready for it again right away. I think T was relieved. E thought she would want to ride again later in the day, but ended up deciding not to. She said she wanted to ride again later that week.

On their way back, E got to high-five Star Lord.

While they were gone, the rest of us took a restroom break, and walked around the back of Cars Land, through Pacific Wharf to check out Pacific Bay where the World of Color viewing area would be that evening.

N wanted to sit in the stroller, and S wanted to walk. I told N she was lucky J was such a nice brother. I wouldn’t have pushed her. J said, “Yeah, I’m a good brother.” lol

I love that area!!!

Next, we meet back up with T and E at Flo’s Diner for lunch.

 

[limace]

Such great pictures-makes me excited for our trip. Carsland is so amazing-whenever folks come out from WDW and only have a day at DL and get advice to just do DL that day and skip DCA, I wince-you can't come all this way and miss this amazing land.

I do think it was the whole DCA renovation that cost a billion plus, not just RSR, but I could have that wrong.

 

[RedHotMama]

Such great pictures-makes me excited for our trip. Carsland is so amazing-whenever folks come out from WDW and only have a day at DL and get advice to just do DL that day and skip DCA, I wince-you can't come all this way and miss this amazing land.

I do think it was the whole DCA renovation that cost a billion plus, not just RSR, but I could have that wrong.

I agree. Cars Land is not to be missed!

 

[BrerMama]

Looks like you had a fun morning! I'm dying to spend some quality time in Cars Land. It was being built on our last trip, so we've never done it, and I do enjoy the Cars movies.

 

[Canadian Harmony]

Awesome photos! Racers is probably my favourite ride in DCA.

OH, and I'm a member of the Facebook group who gets excited

 

[mnmrmustard]

I too enjoyed the biscuits and gravy mornings at the Desert Palms. Huzzah for getting down there and thru the gates in good time!

No better way to start the day than in Radiator Springs! Cool guidemaps, my DD would have loved to have had one of those.

Thank you for the Cars Land Soundtrack to listen to while I went thru your adventure!!!!! I am sooo going to steal that for my TR!!!!

Awesome shot of the family with Mater, your shirts look fantastic. And I agree on that one shot of P walking down Route 66, awesome happiness. And that shot of Lightning in J’s sunglasses was epic! Poor N getting her face covered on her Racer. But I so agree on how cool RSR is. Nice that T was able take the boys on that special tour of Red while you were racing.

I loved some of the random pictures you took. There are just so many details in that land. Nice that E was chosen to be a helper, the look on the CM’s face is classic! And high-fiving Star Lord after the ride – BONUS!

You guys have done so much and it isn’t even lunch time! Can’t wait to see more

 

[Zarina_Stardust]

Look's like you guys had a great morning. I can't wait to see Carsland in person and love the theming from what I see in your pictures.

My youngest was a late walker and has only been at it about a month. He has that independent "I want to do my own thing with no help" attitude too!

 

[RedHotMama]

Looks like you had a fun morning! I'm dying to spend some quality time in Cars Land. It was being built on our last trip, so we've never done it, and I do enjoy the Cars movies.

I really like the Cars movies, too, especially the first one. And I think even people who have never seen the movies could appreciate the incredible theming in Cars Land.

OH, and I'm a member of the Facebook group who gets excited

Lol! You're probably how I heard about it!

I too enjoyed the biscuits and gravy mornings at the Desert Palms.

Yeah... I'm wanting some right now! For some reason that's one meal I don't make very often, so I really appreciate it when it's available.

Thank you for the Cars Land Soundtrack to listen to while I went thru your adventure!!!!! I am sooo going to steal that for my TR!!!!

Thank you! I hope you do!

I can't wait to see Carsland in person and love the theming from what I see in your pictures.

You will not be disappointed!!

 

[RedHotMama]

Tuesday Afternoon 2/6 California Adventure! “Flashback, Animation adventure, Shboom!”

It was about 12:40 when T and E (14) got to Flo’s after riding Guardians. They saw a PhotoPass photographer and got a few taken.

We met up, and T took the little guys in the stroller to get a table. The older kids came with me to order and help carry the food. There was this cute mini jukebox on the counter and I got to explain to N (7) what a jukebox is and how they work. I thought all the music played in Flo’s was from the Motorama Girls, the group Flo was with before she settled down with Ramone. But I haven’t been able to find a soundtrack online, and it may have just been a collection of girls groups from that era. If anyone has a link to a Flo’s V8 Cafe soundtrack, please share!

Lunch at Flo's V8 Cafe was so good!!! One of my favorite meals of the week for sure.

E and I shared the Spit-fired Rotisserie Quarter Chicken. It was absolutely delicious! The chicken was so tender and had so much flavor! I wanted to chew the last of the meat off the bones, but I resisted. E loved it, too. This pic makes it look like a small amount, but this is my ½ share of the plate, and it was filling.

T and J (12) shared the Roast Beef and Cheddar sandwich. This is J’s portion. He liked the sandwich, but thought the coleslaw was too strong. He thought it had too much raw onion. He doesn't like onion much.

The younger three kids had Macaroni and Cheese. N said it was extra cheesy and super duper delicious. Everyone really enjoyed their meal.

P (20mos) was asleep when we got there. When he woke up, he wouldn't eat much, but he loved the music and looking at the Motorama Girls on the wall.

Again, perfect theming. Notice the huge rear-view mirror, the chandelier, the cushy bench seats found in cars back in the day.

T went back to get the family some dessert. Apple Cheddar and Chocolate Mud Pies. They were good, but I thought my meal was even better. N didn’t care for the apple.

When checking our booked FPs on the app, I realized our twilight RSR FastPasses were gone! T had accidently deleted them when he deleted the GOTG FPs that he and E decided not to use. I was able to book more FPs to ride Racers a little later, after dark. Just beware when releasing FPs on the app. It can be a little tricky.

T had liked having the PhotoPass photographer take his and E’s pic before coming into the restaurant and he wanted to get some shots with the family. We went out and found a photographer and only waited a few minutes to get ours done. P and S (3) were both being difficult.

Now we were ready to move into Hollywoodland!

One thing we knew we must do in Hollywoodland was attend a session (or a few!) of the Animation Academy. I ran inside the Animation Building to snap a pic of the day’s schedule. It was now 2pm and we wanted to hit the Disney Jr Dance Party at 2:15. We’d try to be back by 3pm to draw Sally.

When we (meaning me and the trail of kids that followed me in) came out of the building, T told us we had just missed Sophia passing! N, who loves Sophia the First, and I dashed after her and N caught a hug. I didn’t notice, but after we turned to leave, Jack the Neverland Pirate sneaked up behind Sophia to scare her.

Then we saw another Photopass photographer taking pics in front of the trolley. S was still feeling like a bit of a pill as far as posing for photos. But you can’t tell in the pic.

Then we headed over to the Disney Junior Dance Party.

 

[RedHotMama]

Tuesday Afternoon 2/6 California Adventure! “Flashback, Animation adventure, Shboom!” Part 2


***Memory Flashback***

When E was just about to turn one year old, we went to Disney World for the first time. My husband and I had never been to a Disney park together. I had a conference in Orlando and we added a week of WDW onto it. While there, we watched what was then called the Playhouse Disney show. We hadn’t seen any of the Playhouse Disney channel tv shows, but knew who some of the characters were. Our baby girl LOVED it! And so we did, too!

Bear in the Big Blue House was completely new to us and blew us away (with his cha-cha-cha)! We bought his soundtrack, and the show and the CD became fast favorites in our house.

Three years later we had added another little one and were back in WDW. (The place we had stayed at had given us a special deal if we came back.) This time we knew we had to watch the Playhouse Disney show and loved it again.

***End of flashback.***


We waited in a shaded outdoor queue for the Disney Junior Dance Party for maybe five minutes before being let into a huge room. And wow! Did it feel like a party! There was dance music, and flashing lights, and a Mickey head disco ball! It felt like fun as soon as you entered.

N joined some other kids dancing in front of the stage. T took a seat on the benches to the side. The rest of us sat on the floor.

True to his nature, S just sat and observed the craziness.

Then it was time for the show to start.

The characters would show up on the screen, and then they would do something magical and they would come out in real life on stage.

P kept walking all over, and trying to get away from us. There was a young dad in front of us and P and a baby girl kept trying to climb up his back! Crazy kids! The grandmother of the little girl and I kept pulling them off of him and we tried to set up blockades so the kids couldn’t wander too far. P just loved all the music and fun.

Early on S said "P really likes this!" I asked him if he liked it. "No," he said. I really think he did though. He just didn't want to participate.

N was up front dancing with the other kids the whole time.

There were fun moments when bubbles, or fall leaves, or streamers would fall from the ceiling and the kids would go wild.

The climax of the show was when Mickey and Minnie showed up! P scrambled away so quickly to try to get to them. T got a pic where you can see me pulling him back.

While we were watching the show, the time came that I could book another FastPass. So I used MaxPass to get some for Soarin’. And there’s the one I booked for a nighttime ride on RSR. You can also see that my battery was getting dangerously low. We had forgotten to charge our phones during lunch.

The show got out at 2:45 and we went back to the Animation building to catch the class on how to draw Sally from The Nightmare Before Christmas. I love Sally! I’d like to dress as her for Halloween sometime. And maybe Disneybound her at the parks. T had taken my phone to charge it, so I didn’t get any photos from the class! He was charging his phone at the same time, so didn’t get any photos either. Soon after our animation class, another Disney animator was teaching how to draw Baymax from Big Hero Six. That movie is also a popular one with us, and E, especially, loves Baymax. So we hung around and went into that class, too.

The older three kids begged to do another one, but T and I were ready to be done with it. P and S had been pretty good and patient during the two classes, but we weren’t up for wrangling them through another 15-20 minutes while trying not to disturb the other students, or the instructor.

Plus, our FastPasses for Soarin’ Around the World were ready! Soon after we left the Animation building J realized he left his hydration pack in the drawing class. It was right where he’d left it, and we moved on to Soarin’.



... And a few weeks later, when J was looking through his trip journal, he found this!

An Animator must have seen J’s hydration pack that was left behind. Maybe they were looking for identification. But when they found the trip journal, they turned to the Animation Academy page (they must have seen the Table of Contents in the front?). And in just a few quick moments, they left J a surprise to find, and put the journal back. I love Disney animators and cast members!



I really, really, really loved Soarin’ Over California and I miss it so much! The images and smells of the pine trees and the orange groves I knew I was going to miss. I went into the ride knowing I wouldn’t love it as much as my Californian ride, but still looking forward to experiencing this one.

It was true. I didn’t love it nearly as much as Soarin’ Over California. Though I did like it. I just really wish they had left the ride alone at California Adventure (hello, it totally fit the theme!!) and had only changed it at Epcot (hello, the new one totally fit the theme over there!!). It would have given people just one more reason to visit both parks, to experience both versions of the ride. Oh well. If only I were in charge.

E really loved the memorabilia in the Soarin’ queue. It showcases different historical pilots and their accomplishments. She got distracted looking at it and we had to call to her to catch up a couple of times.

After I took the older kids, T took E and J again with the Rider Switch. While waiting for them, the rest of us noticed a show just ending with Mickey Mouse and Trolley Boys over on Buena Vista Street. Mickey was leaving in the trolley into Hollywoodland and N, S, P, and I chased after him. We followed him all the way past Guardians where he disappeared behind a gate.

T, E, and J, got out of Soarin. At this point, we really needed some Mickey bars! I had promised the kids that we would have ice cream everyday on our trip. But we had missed having Dole Whips the day before. We were just too busy doing other things. Today, we must get our Mickey bars!

J chose to get a Mickey ice cream sandwich instead.

Did you see my trick? I had learned (probably here on the boards) to slide a plastic lid from a soda cup up the stick to catch drips. So I had brought those in my bag of tricks. They worked pretty well.

We had walked down Hollywoodland to the Monsters Inc ride, planning to ride after we were finished. But we noticed the time and were afraid we'd miss "Shboom", so instead of getting on the ride, we walked to Cars Land instead.

 

[RedHotMama]

Tuesday Afternoon 2/6 California Adventure! “Flashback, Animation adventure, Shboom!” Part 3

It was already twilight when we got to Cars Land, and we were so glad we hadn’t missed the neon coming on.

While we stood waiting at the corner of Route 66 and Cross Street, Lighting McQueen, and then Mater, drove by.

Right around 5:30, the “Shboom” song started playing and the neon came on. It was very cool!

My video is kind of lame, but here it is. At the end of the video, I was asking J to take over recording on my camera so I could dance with their dad. He tried, but he didn’t know how my camera works, so it didn’t happen.

Afterwards, our Racers FPs weren’t ready yet, so we went back to Monsters. I got a very unattractive photo of Star Lord on the way. But his boombox is cool.

After Monsters Inc, we headed back to Cars Land (Are we obsessed? Yes.) for dinner at the Cozy Cone and to ride Radiator Springs Racers in the dark! And that will come in the Tuesday Evening installment...

 

[BrerMama]

The neon lighting looks so cool. Its definitely on my list for May (as well as so many other things...) Looks like you're having lots of fun!

 

[Zarina_Stardust]

... And a few weeks later, when J was looking through his trip journal, he found this!

An Animator must have seen J’s hydration pack that was left behind. Maybe they were looking for identification. But when they found the trip journal, they turned to the Animation Academy page (they must have seen the Table of Contents in the front?). And in just a few quick moments, they left J a surprise to find, and put the journal back. I love Disney animators and cast members!

This is so awesome! Love that they left this surprise for you guys!

Did you see my trick? I had learned (probably here on the boards) to slide a plastic lid from a soda cup up the stick to catch drips. So I had brought those in my bag of tricks. They worked pretty well.

Ummm... brilliant! I'll have to remember this because my kids love popsicles and ice cream bars but make a huge mess!

 

[MickeyReeds]

We've just planned a trip to Disneyland for June! It's been 5 years since we've been. I'm enjoying your detailed trip report!