I wish we all could be California Giiiiiiirls!

[ADLFAN]

This will be my very first trip report, and it will cover my 4th visit to the beautiful Disneyland Resort on August 30th- September 9th, 2015.

I am Ashley, a.k.a. ADLFAN. I have developed a pretty fierce Disneyland addiction in the past few years, and my goal is to ALWAYS BE PLANNING THE NEXT TRIP! There is just no other place that makes me, and those surrounding me, more happy and excited for vacation!

That is me and my husband. While I don't have any children I did have the good sense to marry a guy who already had and raised his 5 kids, who have produced a whole baseball team of adorable grand kids to spoil! We have been lucky enough to accompany 2 of the 5 families on their first Disneyland vacations (and I totally mean 'first' because everyone already wants to be planning their next trip!!) And my goal is to eventually get there with all 5 of his kids and their families. It is just such a unique and special place that everyone should have the opportunity to experience as a kid. If you're a seriously lucky kid, that is, my parents did not take me to Disneyland, despite my growing up in the "I'm going to Disneyland!" advertising campaign era.

So as soon as I could drive my own junky car to California, I brought myself, a friend, and my younger brother to Disneyland! I know I failed to fully appreciate the place on my first visit, and I mostly remember being crammed into the middle of the Splash Mountain log and wondering when the bizarre ride was going to get to the Splash part!

When one of my step daughters mentioned going with her kids, I immediately wanted to go with and experience DL with... you know... real kids! They ended up having to back out of the trip, which was very sad, but we decided to still go. I had read more about Walt Disney and his park, so I had a much better understanding of what I was getting into this time! And a bit more appreciation and maturity, too.

We had so much fun that we have been on 3 more trips in as many years! Each one has been amazing and we just invested in AP's, so I am guaranteed at least 2 more visits before they expire, yay!

This trip was planned so that we could celebrate my hubby's birthday on August 31st, because you're never too old for a Disneyland Birthday Party, am I right? We had 4 day Park Hoppers for the step daughter and her kids, and they would be leaving us after that, while we stayed for another week of So Cal fun.

We choose to fly in the night before we'd hit the parks, so everyone would be well rested. I had booked us at so many hotels because I just couldn't make up my mind! I had a reservation at the Hojo that got dropped because it was too expensive, a reservation at the Quality Inn on Manchester because it was so much cheaper, and then finally I cancelled those two because the rates at the Tropicana were within 20 bucks of the Quality Inn, so we were able to stay right across the street. Those hotels on Harbor are awesome for trips with kids! I would have hated to have to push them to the Quality Inn or even the Hojo after the loooong days in DL, such whining! What- they don't regularly walk 5 miles a day?!



August 30th

Everyone was ready to go at 8 am for our first DL day! I got my very first ear to ear grin on our way in when a foreign tourist stopped dead in his tracks to read aloud Walt's dedication plaque on the tunnel, 'Here you leave the world of today and enter the world of yesterday, tomorrow, and fantasy!'. Thank you, kind sir, for stopping in front of me at a convenient moment and reminding me to point out and appreciate all the little details!

And now, before I continue, we will have a photobucket test because I just downloaded the app and I have no idea how or if these links will become pictures...



Testing, testing... if this doesn't work, I'll have to post a thread to ask for instructions!

 

[ADLFAN]

Hey, it worked!!

I had this plan worked out where our perfect First Ride would be Casey Jr. Circus Train because it was a little like a roller coaster with a few mild dips and it had interesting scenery to look at and because I thought it would be a good gentle ride to 'test' the kids on and get them used to trusting the machinery or whatever. The kids were like, uh no, let's do Indiana Jones! Apparently they'd been watching YouTube videos of the rides and they thought they were ready! About halfway through the line, they were seriously doubting their choice! I wasn't gonna stop them from trying, and Indiana Jones is my very favorite ride! It was the beginning of the day and we walked right on, no time for indecision, sorry kids. They made it, although two of the three kept their eyes closed!

The kids are 6, 7, and 8, and honestly I had been concerned that they'd be scared of most rides and that we'd end up doing a lot of swapping around and waiting. But they were so awesome and I only had to sit out the Tower of Terror with the 7 year old!

After being shook up on Indy, we explored Tarzan's Treehouse for a bit.

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We went on Pirates of the Carribean next and everyone loved it, even the drops!

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Since we were nearby, we decided to ride Big Thunder Mountain Railroad next, and then I'd planned to run over to DCA to snag our Radiator Springs Racers FP'S and let the rest of the group explore Fantasyland and Tomorrowland. When we were almost to the loading platform, we received a call from Vons. We were supposed to receive our delivery the night before when we arrived and were settling in, but they called at the last minute and said they were extremely sorry, but the truck that was going to deliver our groceries had caught on FIRE and they'd have to reschedule us for the next morning. Of course, we forgot about the whole thing entirely when we woke up excited for Disneyland in the morning! Whoops! And now the delivery guy was waiting at the Tropicana for us. I think I may have confessed to being in line for Big Thunder and asked him to please wait! After an awesome ride on Big Thunder I hauled butt back to the hotel to meet the hopefully patient Vons delivery guy.

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I jogged most of the way back to the Tropicana and met the Vons guy, who was indeed patient and had our groceries unloaded next to our rooms. I loaded the food in the fridge and enjoyed my air conditioned room for a minute before heading back to DCA to grab those RSR FP's.

After I got those, I went to exchange my Photopass+ voucher, which was when I realized that it was missing and I came to the conclusion that it had probably stuck to the park map and times guide that had gotten soaked in my purse the night before when we snuck in to go on Splash Mountain as the first ride on our vacation! And that I'd thrown it away on my way out of the park... in the trash can by the tunnel. Whoops!! I found the order confirmation in my email and went to Kingswell to plead my case. I may have admitted to throwing my voucher away after soaking it on Splash Mountain... The CM'S are always so nice so of course it was no problem to verify the order and issue me a Photopass+ card!

After that transaction, I went to get FP'S to meet Anna and Elsa in the animation building. Our little Elsa was melting a bit in her costume, so we wanted to get their meet and greet in before our swim break that afternoon.

Then I finally made my way back to DL to fetch Elsa and the rest of the group. I found them in Tomorrowland fresh off of Space Mountain, and their picture became the first one on my shiny new Photopass. They look SHOCKED!

I was jealous that they went on Space Mountain without me, but I got over it. Mostly.

From there I believe we headed back over to DCA to meet Anna and Elsa. I hate to say it, but Elsa's seem really hard to cast. Perhaps they shouldn't have made her such an albino in the movie!

[ =][/GALLERY]

Little Elsa enjoyed meeting her twin, and the kids (well, two out of three ) enjoyed their playful banter. After we met the sisters, we headed back to the hotel to swim and try to relax and / or take naps.

I had this idea that everyone would benefit from long-ish breaks mid day in the heat. I don't know how much it really helped, but it was undeniably fantastic to jump into the pool and enjoy the air conditioning! The kids, however, were unable to appreciate the value of a planned nap, and they never took advantage of it any of the three days we tried. Needless to say, everyone was pretty slow and whiney each night on the way back to the hotel.

After our break, we made our way to Carsland and rode RSR with our FP. I have never gone through the standby line for this one, and I don't think I could! The FP line is usually super fast, too. There were 6 of us, so we got our own car!

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Everyone predictably loved it, and we managed to get on it 3 out of 4 days including once at twilight (I think we just missed the neon lighting, but our FP time was about to expire), once in the day time, and once at night.

When we got off RSR, Carsland was all lit up and looking good. It will be nice when Luigi's replacement opens up and gives people somewhere else to go! We toured Mater's Junkyard next, to get our spinning done with before dinner at Flo's. I ran to grab Soarin FP'S to use on our way out before meeting everyone at Flo's. Nothing was looking good, so I just stole a few bites of someone's turkey dip and pasta salad. The kids had mac and cheese which really didn't look good! But the souvenir Lightning McQueen bucket it came in was very cute, and the boy who got it is storing all his treasures inside him now at home!

After dinner, we meandered towards Soarin and took a short flight. Everyone was very impressed and I think we got lucky with our placement because it was the only time this trip that I don't remember seeing kicking feet!

DCA was closed so we headed over for two more hours of Disneyland. We avoided the parade route (I think there were 2 parades and we were right between them, before the fireworks) and headed back to Splash Mountain.

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It doesn't get much better than that! Fireworks on Splash Mountain! Well, maybe from the Matterhorn! If we did more that night, I do not remember! It was a long busy day and we all dragged ourselves back to the hotel and passed out!

The kids all loved Splash, and gave it the nickname "River Mountain"! We rode it a few times on the trip, and the youngest boy, 6, was so daring and spread his arms out to 'fly'!

August 31st, 2015

Today was my hubby's birthday and I had planned a cake delivery to Big Thunder Ranch BBQ for dinner. I planned to let him schedule us, and he picked Star Tours for his first ride, so we headed into Space.

Star Tours was awesome and the kids loved the robots in the line, even though they'd never been exposed to Star Wars. I know, I tried, but they didn't find it interesting enough! We got the ending where the other ship crashes through our windshield and they were all impressed with that.

I think we did Small World and Nemo next, then ate a dismal lunch at Redd Rocket's Pizza Port. Oh man, it was rough. I tasted the pizza and it wasn't tasty, so I don't know what compelled me to buy the breadsticks... they were pretty bland and no amount of parmesan and marinara could save them.

Soon, I went to get another FP for RSR and left the rest of the group in Fantasyland. I had to wait around for a later FP, so I treated myself to a better lunch at Starbucks / Fiddler, Fifer and Practical Cafe. I tried the turkey sandwich boxed lunch and it was so much better than pizza!! There was a little cluster of grapes and they were even fresh and crispy delicious! The beef sandwich looked good, too, and I would not hesitate to grab one for an easy picnic lunch somewhere by the pier or even on the way back to the hotel. I also got a caramel frappicino which is my beverage of choice in the hot California sun. YUM!

Much refreshed, I got those FP'S for a night time ride, and headed back to meet up with everyone else.

It was about then that my extra running and my non supportive but cute shoes started to take their toll and I began developing gigantic blisters! Ahhh! I had bought the grey slip on Mickey Mouse print Vans. I didn't 'break them in' before the trip because I didn't want to get them dirty. For some dumb reason , I didn't pack my hiking shoes, or wear them through the airport and cram the Vans in my suitcase. I so regret that awful decision!! I suffered for it, too! I saw plenty of other people in the Disney Vans, flip flops and strappy little sandals, but my feet couldn't handle it! I have never had blisters between my toes for crying out loud! Plus then I had to walk on them, wait til they popped, attempt to cover them in band aides, try wearing my flip flops, etc. It was rather gross. Also, after they did pop, we went to the beach and I swear they filled up with sand!!! Sorry, that was gross.

Later that night we ate at the Big Thunder Ranch BBQ and oh man, it was awesome! The Chicken was perfect, flavorful and moist. The sausage was also good, not spicy at all. I didn't try the ribs, not a fan. It would have been nice to have some BBQ sauce on the side. I'm sort of surprised they never manufactured their own to use and sell in Frontierland! I obviously would have bought some! The cornbread was very cake like in texture, sweet and soft in tiny loaves. The beans were probably my least favorite thing, very stickey sweet. The corn on the cob tasted fresh, but they were soaking in a pool of salty butter, do the lower cobs were too salty to eat. The coleslaw was very good, and added a crunchy element which I appreciated. We ate up most of the first serving and were stuffed! We asked for more chicken and sausage and were easily accommodated. The wait staff kept our drinks mostly full and kept the cake a surprise til it arrived!

 

[ADLFAN]

For the cake, I had called and placed the order with Disney Dining a week before. I requested a 6" chocolate cake, dark chocolate mousse filling and whipped chocolate frosting. Chocolate all the way for my hubby, who doesn't think cake should ever be vanilla! I had my choice of wording for the Happy Birthday banner, and my choice of character to be printed on white chocolate. I choose Yoda because they apparently didn't have the old school Like Skywalker that I was hoping for. On the phone, the CM was like, "he's the little green guy, right?" Sacrilege! She better brush up on her Star Wars in the next few years as the characters become super relevant to DLR!

I think the banner and Yoda were actually on fondant and not white chocolate... no big deal, but they certainly did not seem edible! The cake was presented to my hubby with a candle and we all sang Happy Birthday at the table and the waiter brought the cake back to the kitchen and sliced it up. There were 6 of us, so we each got a good sized piece and had a nice fat wedge to bring back to the hotel. Sadly, no one ever got to enjoy the last hunk of expensive cake, and it sat in the fridge until housekeeping trashed it. There were just so many tempting sweet treats to try!

After dinner and dessert, we were ready to try for a fireworks viewing spot near the hub. We were able to scoot right in and soon after the area got pretty crowded and scooting out would have been problematic. We were stuck for the duration and we tried to make out own little circle to keep the kids...out of the butts of strangers! They just kept bumping them, startling people who would then make eye contact with the adults and make me feel super awkward! Wasn't ME!

When the fireworks finally started, the kids still had butt views, so I made each grown up pick up a kid on their hip. How long is that show? Like 15 minutes?! They must be borderline too heavy to hold like that, because we were all sweating with shakey arms by the end!! The kids loved the show, especially Tinkerbell and Nemo in flight. "That's a real person!" And those new songs, wow they get stuck in your head quickly!! Little Elsa was all over it, a perfect sponge for Disney propaganda! Haha!

When the fireworks were over, we got swept up in the sea of humanity. I may have snapped a picture to document the crowds, which are an important part of any set of DLR vacation pictures, right?

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We got separated and two of our party got swept out the alternate exit down the right side of Main Street and it was a bit nerve-wracking for her. We just kept slowly plodding out, stopping for light up balloons for the 3 kids in Town Square. I had budgeted for this purchase, because I knew darn well that mom would not pay the steep price, and that the kids would want one! She ended up being really impressed and remarked that the material was super thick plastic like a pool toy!

We reunited and went to McDonald's for a late dinner. This is probably a good time to confess that out of all the coupons I printed (including 10% off McDonalds) off the tourism website, and all the 'free' birthday coupons I signed up for online, I did not use a single one!! I guess I should have carried then around with me at all times, because I forgot each and every time. I suppose I could have gone back to the room and grabbed them, but it didn't seem worth the steps for the 10% off! Or even the free pancakes! Oh well!

We all went back to the hotel and crashed. Like this.

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My step daughter and the kids had an Early Entry option the next day and they were going to try to use it. Our new AP'S did not have that option, so I gave them the Photopass and said we'd meet them in Fantasyland when they let us in. We hadn't taken any family pictures in front of the castle yet and I hoped to get to ToonTown in the morning before it got too hot.

September 1st

We got to Fantasyland as they were getting off Mr. Toad ("the only ride in Disneyland, the rest are attractions!" A CM once said to me. ) We decided on Dumbo and got in line.

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After a turbulent flight on Dumbo, we decided to split up and my hubby and I would take the boys to Tomorrowland and the girls would go get Princess autographs in Fantasyland! We got FP'S for Star Tours, for our third flight, I believe. Since we were right next to the machines for Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters and they are not connected to the system, we got some of those, too. While we waited for them to mature we rode the Matterhorn, which was pretty awesome! The new yeti effects are so cool, and such an improvement! It's still a rough ride, but there is truly nothing like it. I don't know how to explain in, but I suppose it feels like the ride most likely to really fly off it's tracks! An element of danger...

We meandered around and stopped for a snack. Blew some bubbles to entertain some random kids with my favorite souvenir, the light up bubble gun! I am probably that annoying adult who bubble bombed you!! Hope it didn't ruin the vacation...

We went in the FP entrance to Buzz and cut in line in front of about three people who'd just wandered in. I do believe I had the highest score in the group!

Next we enjoyed another thrilling tour with C3P0, human cyborg relations! The kids were totally uninterested in Star Wars before, but they left this trip with a Boba Fett gun, a storm trooper blaster, and a Vader and Jedi bear from Build A Bear in DTD. They also went home and bought all 6 Star Wars movies and are currently in the middle of a marathon!

After meeting back up with the girls, we decided to take a quick break at the hotel, with a half hour of swimming and an hour to cool down and get ready to go again.

Before I left, I went to fetch Tower of Terror FP'S for the brave souls among us.

After a short swim that was refreshing but crowded, we made our way to the Tower of Terror. The weather had been getting increasingly hot throughout the week, and I was really impressed with how well the kids were handling it! I kept shoving water bottles into their hands and trying to keep their little bodies nice and hydrated. The Bugs Land water area is a super good place to cool down, too! One humid morning later in the trip, they didn't have the sprinkler or leaky faucet going and I thought there would be a mostly polite and orderly riot as every parent proceeded to tell one adult in their party to "go see why it's not on!" The answer, uh, they don't know.

I spent some time in Bugs Land with my step grand daughter riding Heimlich's Choo Choo while she narrated what we'd be seeing next as she SPOILER ALERT had remembered from YouTube videos.

After that we met up with the truly terrorified members of our party and headed to the Pier. Their TOT picture was unremarkable and since they were in the back row, you couldn't see the kids at all. Due to them being scrunched up in terror! They said they liked it but didn't want to go again any time soon!

We checked California Screamin first and the line was at 10 minutes, so those height eligible jumped in line. Our 6 year old grandson really wanted to try this one, but was just a smidgen too short. We wandered around and window shopped for ice cream but decided against it. Then he spotted the light up bubble gun and insisted on buying it right then with his own money. I LATER learned that he was taking advantage of his mother's absence and that she had previously shut down his request no fewer than 5 times!!

After their chance to scream, we walked the rest of the Pier. Toy Story had a 35 minute line, too long for me in the hot afternoon. My step daughter and her kids wanted to go on Mickey’s Horrifying Ferris Wheel, but I thought my hubby and I would benefit from a nice break near the beer stand and Paradise Garden Grill. So while they met the Toy Story characters and slid around the wheel, we got cool drinks and I tried the spicy meatball skewer with flatbread. It was pretty scrumptious! I wish there was an air conditioned seating area around there, the cover was nice, but the breeze was getting warm.

We reunited and hopped on the Little Mermaid which was nice and cool, I love the blast of a/c when you turn backwards and go under the sea!

After that, I am pretty sure we explored the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail, which was legitimately challenging for the kids! I had personally been ready to tackle the rope bridge like sections, but when I tried, oh man, it was like walking through quicksand! I don't know if it was just my overworked leg muscles and blistered feet, but I got halfway up the first 'staircase' and turned around!! So much for exploration. I just hoped the boys would have to come down the way they went up so we wouldn't lose them. We adults solved the animal riddles and ok, we're done here! We met Dug on the way out and he licked the kids...

 

[ADLFAN]

The rest of the night was a blur and I didn't take pictures, but I assume we went back to Disneyland that night, and caught the train on Main Street as the Paint the Night Parade was passing. We walked through the tunnel to see Mac passing, and once the CM let our group up there, we had an awesome view from the loading platform while we waited for the train to arrive. The kids liked it, but weren't super interested, so I was glad I hadn't spent valuable time saving spots. We got lucky and were able to walk on lots of rides, walk right up for a fireworks spot, see the parade in passing, and meet many characters as they were just arriving and had no line yet. I think partly it was being flexible enough to skip things when they had long lines and come back later. Of course some stuff we never got back to!

We took the train to NOS and went sailing on Pirates and then "River Mountain" again, where we took the best Photopass picture with the 6 year old "flying" with his arms spread and hilarious expressions on everyone's faces. I haven't gone through my Photopass pictures yet, so maybe I will add a few later. We got some very cute ones this trip. Haha, except Tinkerbell failed to appear in our one 'Magic Shot' and it would have been very cute if she had been placed there... maybe with a little photoshop?

We probably hit Star Tours yet again before calling it a night. Disneyland was closing at nine, and it felt VERY early.

September 2nd

It was out last day with the kids, and they were set up to meet the shuttle at 5:00. We would be staying one more night at the Tropicana and then moving over to the Quality Inn on Manchester the next day. We started I'm Disneyland, trying to do everyone's requests for last rides. Indiana Jones, Star Tours, and Big Thunder Mountain.

We hadn't let the kids do much souvenir shopping because they inevitably wanted lots of things, more things than we were willing to pay for! So we said to wait, window shop, decide what you really want, why do you want that? But it has so many tiny pieces!? Etc. Now on the last day I figured we'd spend about 50 per kid for a souvenir that would really remind them of our trip. We decided to do lunch and the Lego store and maybe Build A Bear in DTD. I ran over to DCA to get the FP'S for our last ride together on RSR, then met up with everyone on the Monorail platform. After accidentally going up to the train station... and Autopia... I eventually made it there, and we boarded for the trip to Downtown Disney. We hit the Lego store first and everyone found their 100 tiny pieces of souvenir to lose promptly at home! Quite the selection in there, and I loved the Disneyland specific ones like the Tangled Tower. There are also lots of Lego guy key chains, and I still regret not getting one of the Star Wars themed ones!! They even had Princess Leia in her slave bikini!

Then we went to the Tortilla Jo's Express counter and got some nachos and kids burritos for lunch. I had the chicken nachos and my hubby had the carnitas and they were both pretty good. The employees in there seemed overwhelmed and they said they hadn't had time to make the strawberry margarita mixture, oh no! After lunch we went over to Build A Bear and everyone decided that a new bear friend was a good souvenir so they selected their new friends... uh, skins, and started their birthing process. I had never seen this ritual before and it was pretty cute, I must say. The boys both picked black bears with the Star Wars logo all over them, and my grand daughter picked a white bear with multicolored designs (hearts?) Then of course the bears all needed outfits, though we managed to avoid the pink flowery or mini tighty whitey underpants for sale... the boys choose one Darth Vader costume to compliment their Imperial March soundtrack button, and one Jedi robe, lightsabers for both! The girly bear got a funky outfit, and since I wasn't there to supervise, she did not bring home a pair of Mouse Ears! I had run away to DCA to see if I could get everyone FP'S for TOT one last time, and I had my Disneyland intuition telling me we might just have time!

And I was totally right! We got a FP for right at the same 4-5 window as RSR. I was pretty proud, but I knew it would be a stretch to fit both rides in. I had to run back out to the esplanade where I slipped off my killer shoes and waited for them to show up after having walked through World of Disney. Actually as it turned out my step daughter had left the kids with my hubby in the only shade they could locate, behind a sunglass stand. He said he spent the next 20 minutes biting off a thousand plastic tags on the Build A Bear merchandise and let the kids dress their new friends. Eventually they all made it over to find me... popping my blisters and cramming my feet back into my sad shoes. At that point it was apparent that they had loads of crap, and someone would have to run it back across the street. I suppose I volunteered again, so while I hobbled off to the Tropicana one last time, they rode Monsters Inc.

When we met up, we got in the FP line for RSR and raced one last time, WINNING, I might add!

After the ride, we were pretty close to 5 and the shuttle had already started texting my step daughter with updated arrival times. We had to abandon the TOT and head back. When we got to the hotel to frantically cram bears and Blasters into carry on's, it was revealed that I had set them up ala Mouse keeping with the bears leisurely channel surfing and their mouse ears on and the Star Wars guns prominently displayed on the pillows above them.

I had also managed to run off and purchase a present for my step daughter, a 2 disc CD set of Disneyland music from Off The Page in DCA. I wish it was a 60th Anniversary Edition with all the new music, too, but it looks like a good assortment of classics from around the park.

We said a sad goodbye and they were whisked away in a Super Shuttle! That night we planned to swim for a bit and explore the Garden Walk complex, and then pack up to move in the morning.

 

[sager1969]

What a fun family! Thanks for sharing! I love giving the kids a chance to do what they want! They always love to surprise you.....

 

[kaoden39]

What fun!!

 

[ADLFAN]

We walked to the Garden Walk complex and checked it out. There is not much going on there except for the big restaurants on the Katella side. Lots of empty space, and I hope they thrive someday, maybe the House of Blues will help drive people in. Right now though, there are a few clothing stores and a smelly cosmetic store, a discount ticket/tour store, and an Irish pub on the backside that had no one patronizing it even though it looked pretty cool. There also seems to be a nightclub on the upper floor. At night, the majority of people walking around seemed to be security guards...

We did enjoy dinner at California Pizza Kitchen where we shared the Pepperoni, sausage and mushroom pizza and a Cobb salad with beets! Yum! Although we should have just split the half salad and not the full. After dinner, we were going to try to get back in the parks for an hour, but since DCA closed at 8 and DL at 9, we were pretty much out of time. So we decided to go pack up for our move the next morning.

 

[kaoden39]

I think that the House of Blues might be just what they need.

 

[ADLFAN]

The next morning I had our stuff ready to go, so first thing we checked out of the Tropicana to head over to the Quality Inn. I wondered if we should try Uber (i would have had to download and figure it out real quick) or call a cab, but it really is right around the corner so we just wheeled our suitcases on the sidewalk! It only took 5 minutes, so I'm glad we didn't bother to try to call anybody. Side note, we were walking to the parks in the sweltering heat later that week, and a shuttle van driver pulled over and offered us a ride to the park for 8 bucks. My husband was all like, "it isn't worth 8 bucks!" And I was like, "ugh, I probably would have paid her".

The Quality Inn is never really mentioned here on the Disboards, and I hoped it wasn't due to it being a total crap hole! When we arrived, they had infused water and coffee available in the lobby, they had a room ready for us already and the customer service was perfect. We told them we'd have a car over the weekend, and they said we could pay the parking fee when we brought the car back. There seemed to be plenty of parking available, and when we did have the car we were able to park right by the staircase. When we passed the pool, I noticed that it looked cleaner than the pool at the Tropicana! BUT- no hot tub, and that was sad.

After unpacking a bit at the Quality Inn in our cozy one Queen room, we Disney'd up and got back to the parks.

After spending the past 4 days being the FP runner and trying to make things seamless and magical for my step daughter and grandkids, I was honestly a little stumped as to what exactly we'd do today!! I felt like we needed a plan!

First order of business, my very first Mickey Mouse pancake at River Bellevue Terrace!!

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It was just as good as I imagined!! I got a side of potatoes and a bottle of chocolate milk and it was all so delicious! Best Disney breakfast ever! My hubby tried the cinnamon roll French toast, and the bite I stole was tasty, but very very sweet! Didn't look like I was missing out much on the eggs and bacon...

We talked about how we wished we had a few more days with the kids and all the attractions we didn't get to. Like ToonTown! Which I really wanted to get to because I love pictures from that area. And Aladdin and Mickey and the Magical Map, and the darn Frozen sing a long which would have been a big hit with young Elsa. She even mimes the hand gestures!! And Tom Sawyers island! Overall, I think we got everyone on their favorite ride twice, at least, and crammed a lot into 4 days. How many consecutive days do you suppose it would take to see everything?!

After my traditional Disney breakfast, it was time to find something to do! It was hot already, and during the week it felt like it went from the 80's to the 90's!! So we still planned to go back to the hotel for a swim mid day and cool off.

We decided on Autopia because I have never tried it and the wait was still short.

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Last time we were at DL, my hubby rode with the family and I ran for FP's for something. He said it was mostly slow and boring and he got in a traffic jam and was stop and go the whole ride! This time (even though we both got the UGLIEST cars in all of Autopia!) there was no one in front of me, so we were able to cruise through at full throttle! I liked it! Especially the very cute "off road" section and the Mouse Crossing signs! It was also longer than I expected. I may be guilty of letting my little brown car drift and smash against the stops as I took selfies!! I figured it couldn't be worse than when kids are driving! Since we were in the area, we went on the Happiest Cruise that ever Sailed!

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The Matterhorn had a posted 20 minute wait but it was really only 15. I think eventually, us seasoned Disney fans will be able to glance at the line and KNOW how long the wait will be! Haha! I loved the Matterhorn even with the pain involved. We got routed on the left side, and we'd done the right side with the kids earlier I'm the week. Here is another, "look! A Disney Line!" Picture!

[ =][/GALLERY]

Oh my gosh, the left side seemed so better than the right! It had a lot of side to side jolts and fast turns that I did not remember from the right side! I loved the new Yeti! He's so impressive and his growls are legitimately scary!! Awesome ride!

We a walk towardsToonTown and they announced that the Mickey and the Magical Map show was about to start so we decided to see it. Mickey and the Magical Map was a great show, though mostly just a conglomeration of existing Disney movie songs. I loved seeing the characters that don't warrant meet and greets like Pocahontas and King Louie. I also thought that the stage set up was so cool! How they are able to mix live and cartoon characters so easily!

Then we decided to hop over to DCA and reserve my future stay at the Hollywood Tower Hotel with FP'S! I noticed that the TOT FP was like the only ride that regularly ran out of FP'S by late afternoon, except RSR. I had to skip it with the kids, but it really is my favorite ride in DCA! I get nervous sweaty palms every time! But I so love to put my arms up and free fall! We got some super fun sequences too, like where everyone thought it was done, then it would shoot up and down again! Love it! And I was very tempted to buy one of those Hollywood Tower Hotel robes in the gift shop. As far as gift shops go, that has to be about the best one with ride specific merchandise. And the Grizzly River Run merchandise is pretty cute, too. And am I the only one who comes back with "Shoulda just bought that!" Souvenir Regret Syndrome?! Like I should have bought that GRR cup, more day of the dead marshmallow Krispy treats!, and more caramel popcorn!

We headed down to the Pier and went on CA Screamin, an awesome ride as usual, although the music crapped out about two thirds of the way through. A Japanese tourist behind me was seriously screaming bloody murder, and I was not sure if they killed the music intentionally to make sure the guy hadn't fallen out or pinched his finger in the mechanisms!

By then I think we were eligible for another set of FP'S, so we got a pair for Grizzly River Run so we could cool off in a while. We hit up Soarin because it had a short line still, and enjoyed our flight over California. The orange grove scene is my favorite! I love the smells, especially the orange grove and the salty beach. What's your favorite scene? It will be very interesting to see where we go in the upcoming Soarin over the World!

We went to Monsters Inc on the way back to use our TOT FP's, and thusly completed our first lap of the park that day! I love the Monsters Inc ride, but every time I ride it, I get curious about this ride's history as Superstar Limos or whatever! I think Monsters Inc is a much better fit! But, like Luigi, the original concept didn't last long! Hey, what's a few million bucks in ride developement?!

TOT was awesome as usual! I live when the CM'S in there try to act the part of a creepy bellboy! One ride we had an open seat in the front row that no one really noticed on the way in, but when the CM let us out, he said, "uh, what happened to that guy?" And shrugged like it happens every so often! Cracked me up! One of the many CM's who convinced me that I would have so much fun working at DLR!

We went to Smokejumpers Grill and I tried the grilled chicken sandwich and onion rings, which were delicious and much improved with some ranch, lettuce, and tomato from the toppings bar. Hubby had the bacon cheeseburger and had no complaints. I tried a bite and I was glad I'd chosen the chicken. It was ok, just not as good as the chicken with it's spicy sauce!

After lunch we hit GRR and tried to get soaked. It was a good ride, but sadly the wheel thing in the middle was so hot it was melting! And with no warning from the CM, everyone in our raft proceeded to grab it and got a black sticky mess all over their palms! Gross! And then everyone had to try to hold their hands up and not touch their clothes for the whole ride! Do I remember correctly that there used to be a plastic liner on those where you could somewhat keep bags dry? With it removed, no one seems to know that that was the idea, so they were holding backpacks with their feet, right on top of the drains that don't just drain, they Splash water in! I tried to tell the people on our rides, but I imagine it was more obvious with the covers. I wrapped by purse strap around the handles, except on the sticky raft, and it stayed totally dry.

We stayed pretty dry, too, and decided to head back to the hotel for a break and a swim.

The pool at the Quality Inn was not very heated, but you could easily get used to it. I enjoyed my swim, and no one else was in the pool! I did lose one of my new Stormtrooper earrings and had to spend a few extra minutes searching for him, which would have been difficult if there were more swimmers!

 

[ADLFAN]

When we made our way back to Disneyland we decided to try for a walk up early dinner at Cafe Orleans. We got in with a super short wait, hardly enough time to walk away with the buzzer before it was lit up! We were seated on the patio and had an awesome view of the river and the people traffic.

It didn't take long to pick what we would order! We split the Monte Cristo, pomme frites, and the french onion soup and it was all super good! I liked the Monte Cristo a lot more than I thought I would! I had heard it described as thick pieces of meat, but the turkey and ham were both very thinly sliced and layered nicely in the crusty doughnut-y shell. I ate all of my half! The pommes frites were amazing too, not too garlicky and the sauce is a perfect complement! The french onion soup was my least favorite part of the meal, and next time, I think a salad would be a better side with that meal. While we were waiting for the food, I may have spotted the patio exit and had my hubby run for some Indiana Jones FP'S real quick!