"I Think I Might Be a Disneyland Person!" - Feb. 2016 ~ Updated 2/19/21: TR Complete!!!

[Leshaface]

This is your current TR right? Subbed now but I thought I was already Ugh, DIS problems.

I won't comment too much, but I read all your updates on this last page.

That is one thing I love about the paper FP's is finding some on the ground! Sucks for the person that lost it, but yay for me

Aren't those Tigger Tails so so good? I actually made some for DS's 2nd (maybe 3rd? How old is he?? ) and they were equally as delicious!

Uh, the line at the crosswalk the next morning?! I've never, ever, ever, in all my years of staying at Harbor hotels seen this type of craziness before! I would honestly feel so defeated, but glad you persevered!

Oooh that "pair of dice' drink looks really refreshing.

It's been entirely too long since i've visited DLR. Okay just kidding. Went to check and it was May of last year Not even a year but it feels like FOREVERRRRR!

 

[BWCSH]

Those are amazing pictures! Don't wish this age away too quickly...by the next trip here, she probably won't fully buy into the magic of characters. Those other options will surely still be around in a year...or two...or three. How amazing that she got to experience the Disney magic at this age...when the characters are very obviously real to her! Thank you for sharing!

 

[Dugette]

This is your current TR right?

It is! I know, I know, 2 years old and a few more trips to cover since, but I'll finish it! I'm gearing up to hopefully get going again soon. Catching up on the TRs I'm reading first. 2017 was a tough, tough year for me and I feel like we might be past the worst now and I'll have time and energy to get going again on here...I miss it so much!

 

[Leshaface]

Oh no, I hope all is okay? And I totally feel you. The last half of 2017 was just not good for me/us either and all my favorite hobbies took a back seat. But this year i'm really trying to focus on myself and get back to doing the things I enjoy the most like reading, gardening, and of course, DIS'ing. Hope you can find your groove again too

 

[FantasiaMagic]

I Dugette! It's been a while since I've been on the DIS, but I'm slowly coming back and catching up on my TR reading. I'm loving hearing about your trip to DL. I hope to get there one day...

 

[LifeIsTinkIsLife]

I haven't got caught up with all the updates but I just wanted to say I'm joining in! My DH and I are taking our daughter for her first visit for her second birthday so it's fun to read your report with your toddler. She is too cute!! I am definitely going to be checking out your Aulani report as well, I'm a huge Hawaii fan.

 

[Dugette]

Hey, good news, I'm still here!

Life has been all out of whack for a while, but I'm really, really, really trying to get a groove going where I have the time/energy/focus to get back on here and finish these TRs that are piling up. I've only caught up on reading a few TRs and I want to get to more, but I think this is a "put on your own oxygen mask first" kind-of thing and I'm going to try to get this puppy updated.

In travel updates, we went to France last month and it was amazing. We were lucky enough to meet up with DIS-friends Alicia (@amazingact21 ) and family at Disneyland Paris and had a fantastic time! And someday, probably in the distant future, I'll get to doing a TR about it (she probably will much sooner!)

Also, do you remember like waaaaaay back when, in the intro to this TR, I was talking about how much I longed to go back to Disneyland? Well, because I've taken just shy of forever to write this, we ARE going back to Disneyland...in a month!!! So super excited to take Izzy back now that she is crazy tall and can ride nearly everything. Last fall, when I took her to our local amusement park, she just barely made the 44" requirement and when I took her recently, she breezed by 46" requirements without a second glance - I didn't realize she'd grown THAT much! So, even Indiana Jones is a family ride for us this time around - no single rider wackiness needed! And she finally will get to ride Radiator Springs Racers! She is still a thrill ride junkie, so I think she will LOVE it!

Hope you all are doing well!

And enjoy a few photos from France for bearing with me.

 

[Dugette]

Dining at the Blue Bayou

Once we hopped back into Disneyland, our first stop was Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln. Izzy was pretty well-behaved (for a toddler), which was a relief. She was a little noisy during the video in the waiting area, but calmed down quickly after that when we went inside the theater. A few pics from the waiting area:







We probably enjoyed it, though neither of us can remember anything about it 2+ years later. Perhaps it will need a revisit next month?

After the show, it was imperative that we grant Izzy’s never-ending requests for the Mad Tea Party :





We had a fun time and Izzy was happy to have her spinning wish fulfilled. Then we had to book it over to Blue Bayou to check in right on time for our 4:10pm ADR. We asked for a waterside table and told them we’d be fine with an extra long wait to accommodate that. They quoted us about 45 minutes and sent us away with a buzzer. Dug ran to the restroom while Izzy slurped up whatever was left in the Pear of Dice cup:



We hung out across from the restaurant to wait:



Dug explored a bit and found Club 33:



And he returned just in time to go inside, as the buzzer went off quickly and we barely had a wait at all:



We were seated at 4:25pm, only 15 minutes after check-in and asking for waterside, which we did get:



View looking back to non-waterside part of restaurant:



Looking out at the waterway:



We were right at the edge of the waterside seating, next to the kitchen entrance, so there was a lot of walk-by traffic behind us:



We moved our chairs around to get out of the pathway more and it was okay. I’m sure there are better waterside views, but ours was decent and the ambiance was pleasant. We’re planning on going back again next month!

Dug and Izzy, ready to dine:



Cool lighting:



I guess Izzy brought in the popcorn bucket as an appetizer?



There were a couple of drinks we’d heard were good and had free refills, but our waitress said that the Louisiana Lemonade was not included with the Paint the Night package we had because it had a “mandatory glow cube.” So, instead of getting one of each to share, we both got the Mint Juleps and enjoyed them and the free refills:



More ambiance:



Izzy had some milk to drink and then we all enjoyed some bread and butter (Izzy still lists butter as her second favorite food to this day – first is quesadillas):





The kids appetizer for Izzy was veggies and dip:



I had the gumbo, which was good:



And Dug enjoyed the shrimp cocktail:



For my main, I got the filet:



Dug got the Surf and Turf:



Pretty sure we both enjoyed our food.

Izzy had the kids mac and cheese, but really didn’t eat much – must have filled up on popcorn:



Oh, my notes say that she liked her grapes. And that I tried her mac and cheese and it was just so-so.

We decided to try different desserts and sample each-other's choices (all meals came with them because we had the package). I had the chocolate hazelnut cake and they put a birthday candle in it:



Dug had the fruit tart and they gave him a candle too (it was relatively close to both of our birthdays):



And Izzy had the tastiest one (in my opinion, but all were good) – a chocolate ganache Mickey head:



She made a giant mess doing “art” and “painting”, but she had a good time:



We left dinner around 5:40pm and headed for Winnie the Pooh:



After the ride, it was starting to get chilly, so I went to grab my fleece jacket from under the stroller and it was missing. I borrowed Dug’s jacket instead and we later found mine in the room and think he’d accidentally knocked it out of the stroller basket earlier when looking for shoes. I think I had to run Izzy to the restroom around this time and then we did some trade-offs on Big Thunder, since Izzy was too small (not anymore – and she loves both WDW and DLP BTMRR!):



While Dug did BTMRR, I took Izzy on the Haunted Mansion and she enjoyed it and wasn’t scared. The ride stopped briefly here, but I always enjoy the singing heads, so that was cool:



At the end, Izzy cracked up because I had a hitchhiking ghost on my head.

Dug had a back-cracking good time on BTMRR and then we traded off and it was my turn:



I was glad I went again this night because there were some effects going that I didn’t remember seeing on my previous ride. I loved it!

Meanwhile, Dug and Izzy went off to find Figaro and they did:



Awww, cute!

I exited the ride about 7:10pm and we had wanted to check in to our Paint the Night viewing area by 7:30pm to make sure we got a spot on the curb, as we heard it fills up fast. Luckily, Dug and Izzy (and the stroller) managed to snag the last spot a few minutes before 7:30pm and I met them there.

Up Next: Paint the Night Parade!

 

[schmass]

I'm so happy to see an update from you! I hope all is going well at home and I hope your France trip was amazing! Wow, Izzy is growing up! She looks beautiful in the France pictures. How exciting that you are going back to DL so soon and that Izzy will be able to ride everything!

Your table at Blue Bayou looks so cool (even with the kitchen door so close). That's great that you didn't even have to wait long for it! I'm looking forward to your Paint the Night Parade pictures!

 

[Woth2982]

Welcome back! I cannot believe how big Izzy got! I totally understand about life happening! I have photos from May still on my camera so my TR has took a brief hiatus! I am hoping to have some down time this weekend as DF is working all weekend! Your Blue Bayou meals look so yummy. We may have to go there in January when we are on our Honeymoon. It is our first stop on our way to Hawaii!

 

[Lesley Wake]

Also, do you remember like waaaaaay back when, in the intro to this TR, I was talking about how much I longed to go back to Disneyland? Well, because I've taken just shy of forever to write this, we ARE going back to Disneyland...in a month!!! So super excited to take Izzy back now that she is crazy tall and can ride nearly everything. Last fall, when I took her to our local amusement park, she just barely made the 44" requirement and when I took her recently, she breezed by 46" requirements without a second glance - I didn't realize she'd grown THAT much! So, even Indiana Jones is a family ride for us this time around - no single rider wackiness needed! And she finally will get to ride Radiator Springs Racers! She is still a thrill ride junkie, so I think she will LOVE it!

Welcome back to the Dis! I hope we're able to meet up again, maybe for longer than 10 minutes in a hotel lobby!

 

[cindianne320]

Hello, Friend! Izzy looks so little in these pictures! <3
I can't wait to visit DLR someday- and definitely want to check out Blue Bayou! Can't wait to hear about Paint the Night!

 

[Dugette]

I'm so happy to see an update from you! I hope all is going well at home and I hope your France trip was amazing! Wow, Izzy is growing up! She looks beautiful in the France pictures. How exciting that you are going back to DL so soon and that Izzy will be able to ride everything!

Your table at Blue Bayou looks so cool (even with the kitchen door so close). That's great that you didn't even have to wait long for it! I'm looking forward to your Paint the Night Parade pictures!

Thank you, I'm happy to be updating and just hoping I can keep it up! Things are going pretty well - better than last year at least. And France was fantastic - we had a really great time and made so many memories. I can't believe how little Izzy is in this TR - it doesn't seem THAT long ago, but she's definitely grown up a lot since this. Can't wait to take her back to Disneyland!

We loved both Blue Bayou and Paint the Night!

Welcome back! I cannot believe how big Izzy got! I totally understand about life happening! I have photos from May still on my camera so my TR has took a brief hiatus! I am hoping to have some down time this weekend as DF is working all weekend! Your Blue Bayou meals look so yummy. We may have to go there in January when we are on our Honeymoon. It is our first stop on our way to Hawaii!

Thank you! I know, she has grown so much since this TR. And, yes, life sure gets in the way of doing these TR sometimes. Really trying to get past the obstacles and work on this more. I love writing these. I'd recommend Blue Bayou for something a little different - the ambiance in Pirates is cool! And that sounds amazing to stop and Disneyland and then go on to Hawaii! Hope you have an amazing honeymoon!

Welcome back to the Dis! I hope we're able to meet up again, maybe for longer than 10 minutes in a hotel lobby!

Thank you, Lesley! I definitely hope to meet up again - I felt so bad at how rushed things had to be the way the timing worked out at DLP (stinkin' Europcar!!! grrr) We plan to be at Disneyland 8/20-8/22, if anytime in there works for you.

Hello, Friend! Izzy looks so little in these pictures! <3
I can't wait to visit DLR someday- and definitely want to check out Blue Bayou! Can't wait to hear about Paint the Night!

Hi, Cindi! Isn't it funny to look back at pics that don't seem all that long ago - and the kids are so small?! You should definitely get to Disneyland someday - I love that whole familiar-yet-different feeling as a WDW vet going to DLR.

 

[Dugette]

Paint the Night

We had quite a while to sit on the curb and wait in our reserved area for the Paint the Night parade, but it was worthwhile – we loved the parade! I had brought along a cheap light-up Minnie headband for Izzy to wear, so Dug wrestled with getting it assembled:



I watched the scenery:



I was fascinated by how precise Disney’s crowd control management was on Main Street. They had parade prep down to a science. Very detailed, listening to the CMs talk to each other and coordinate all the steps needed to get everyone where they needed to be at the right times.

A Photopass photographer came by and got this shot of us:



Wondering why Dug looks a tad irritated? It’s because those ridiculous cheap ears kept causing us problems:



They didn’t stay on, didn’t light up very well, etc. Oh, well, at least our light-up Minnie spinner worked and kept Izzy amused:



Looks like we took a family selfie at some point:



The family behind us offered some of their candy to Izzy, so that was nice. There was also a lady in the back of the section that was endlessly (and loudly) complaining throughout the wait. Ugh.

The parade made it to us around 8:15pm. I loved the music and the energy and the lights and everything – it was really magical. Even grumpy lady is beaming in the background of our attempted selfies during the parade, haha.

I also learned that Izzy apparently has amazing vision and was able to tell me which princesses were coming next even when they were waaaay down the street towards the castle. Impressive, kid!

We did not take great pictures and they certainly don’t do the parade justice, but we were just living in the moment and enjoying it. Here’s a sampling, anyway:



Izzy was astounded, I guess:







Dug looks pretty happy as Sully goes by:









Childhood joy:









We were loving it:





Minnie always makes her smile:



We absolutely loved Paint the Night and we’re not really big parade people. It just had a great energy and lots of fun eye candy.

When they allowed us to, we moved out into the street so we could hopefully see the projections/fireworks. I say hopefully because they had been cancelling the fireworks for wind nightly (a CM later told us for the last 9 nights). We were hopeful, as the call hadn’t been made yet, just a warning.

Selfie while waiting:



And then they announced, despite the lack of wind on the ground (vs. the previous night), there was too much wind up high and they’d be cancelling the fireworks and only doing the projections and such. We still enjoyed that a lot, but kind of a bummer. One pic of the projections:



I think it "snowed" on Main Street too.

That finished about 10 minutes before park close and I had one more BTMRR Rider Swap pass burning a hole in my pocket. I felt confident I could zip back there and make it, so I swam against the current of the exiting crowd for my one last ride. Dug and Izzy went to the bakery to obtain items for breakfast so we didn’t have to choke down the free hotel offerings again.

I made it:



However, they had already closed the FP lane and told me just to keep the RS as a souvenir. The standby line wasn’t long, though, so I just jumped into that instead. I had another great ride. Love it so much and can’t wait to ride it with Izzy next month!

Meanwhile, Dug and Izzy obtained some breakfast items for the next day as well as a Mickey cookie bedtime snack:



Izzy proceeded to destroy her cookie and sugar herself up:



If you’re wondering what happens when you cover your 3-year-old in chocolate and fill her with sugar late at night at Disneyland, here’s your answer:

We packed up the rest of the cookie mess for later and headed out. Goodbye for tonight, beautiful Disneyland:



I guess Izzy liked the horsie:



Dug made a restroom pit stop and Izzy treated me to a dance show while we waited, complete with one light-up shoe and a big finish of trying to use the ATM :

Silly girl.

Dug rejoined us and we all had to stop and admire the windows with moving scenes in them:







Really cool!

We also took a moment to look up at Walt’s light in the firehouse:



And, with the train being refurbished during our visit, they had it parked just to look at, I think, so we did that quick too:



We were making the short walk back to the hotel around 10pm and went right to sleep.

Up next: Morning Magic at Disneyland

 

[Amw1064]

Wow, I can't believe how old Izzy is. I was reading your Aulani trip report last year. We live in Florida and have been to WDW hundreds of times over the years and did our first trip to Disneyland back in June. We LOVED it.

 

[andera42]

Good to see you back on the TR . Omgoodness life can take some big turns and derail you for awhile .Love seeing Izzy's reaction to her late night cookie sugar rush.

 

[purplelover88]

So glad you are back and happy to see you enjoyed your time in France! We are planning a similar trip next summer with time in Paris and Disneyland Paris of course! If I recall correctly, I believe you said you were staying at the Hyatt Regency Paris Etoile? That’s where we are staying using free Hyatt points, so if that was correct would you mind sharing your experience there? We are also saying at the Disneyland hotel so excited to see that was great too.

 

[amazingact21]

In travel updates, we went to France last month and it was amazing. We were lucky enough to meet up with DIS-friends Alicia (@amazingact21 ) and family at Disneyland Paris and had a fantastic time! And someday, probably in the distant future, I'll get to doing a TR about it (she probably will much sooner!)

We had so much fun, and I was really happy to get to spend some time in a Disney park with you and your family! I loved how well Izzy and Landon got along.

After the show, it was imperative that we grant Izzy’s never-ending requests for the Mad Tea Party

Izzy looks so young in these photos! My goodness, it's hard to believe your DL wasn't that long ago.

Happy you guys got a waterfront table, even if it was next to the kitchen.

I was glad I went again this night because there were some effects going that I didn’t remember seeing on my previous ride. I loved it!

Now that you have been on three versions of Big Thunder, which one is your favorite? The fan in me is curious!

A Photopass photographer came by and got this shot of us:

Great family photo.


The photos from Paint the Night looked awesome. Looks like a more modern, fun version of MSEP.
But what a bummer that the fireworks didn't run that night.

 

[schmass]

Paint the Night looks like so much fun! So does Izzy's cookie - haha. Can you remind me of what time of year you were there?

 

[Jaina]

Fun to hear more about your trip! I am still kind of sad that I didn't get to see Paint the Night on Main Street. I still hope I get to see it while it's at California Adventure! I'm sure it is that much more fun to Disney with her now that she's tall enough to ride pretty much everything!