If You See It: Eat It! Via Panama to Disneyland - Completed and Link to New Trip Report 2/24

[Flossbolna]

That crab is going to eat me!!!

Day 25: May 22

The trip was slowly coming to an end. We would have one last park day on the next day (Friday) and then I was going to fly home on the Saturday.

But today we had another day of taking it easy and just enjoying Southern California.

We took our time getting up and discovered that today was not a day with good weather. It was rather overcast. So, we did not feel like we needed to get started immediately.

Once we got started, out goal for the day was to go to Laguna Beach, which is slightly south of Anaheim. It was a bit of a drive – through some areas along the coast where you can tell that the houses are very pricey! And all the car dealers were selling high end cars (a lot of them from Germany).

Once at Laguna Beach we wandered around the small town centre, which had plenty of nice shops and browsed through these. We then got some ice cream and went down to the beach to enjoy the scenery and our ice cream. The beach there was really nice, rather rocky, but that added character.

This was obviously once a stump for a pier or so. We thought it looked very interesting:

And then we headed to the rocky part where there were plenty of little rock pools:

At first I only admired the rocks and the water and then Michael alerted me to the fact that there was wildlife to be spotted. However, that gave me a huge scare!! There were plenty of tiny crabs. They looked neat, like large spiders. I am not afraid of spiders (at least not normal size ones). But these crabs than suddenly started to move – and totally freaked me out!! I guess if you are used for things to move forward, animals moving sideways are not what you expect. I just could not get my head around it and was certain that these crabs would use their stealth sideways moves to come and eat me!! No way was I going to stay in their neighbourhood!!! So, not a lot of wildlife viewing in rock pools for me!!


So, I decided to take a few more pictures of the scenery!

We did spend quite some time just hanging out at the beach and then decided to head back to DLR as we wanted to check out the shops at Downtown Disney for a bit.


On the way back we stopped at a Starbucks for a light lunch snack and a coffee. There I witnessed something that I found very disturbing. There was a family arriving in their car and the mother got out of the car to buy drinks. She decided to buy one of the travel mugs Starbucks is selling and took that off the shelf and then asked for her coffee to be served in that mug. And that’s what they did. I would never ever consume food or beverage from a container that I did not wash after I bought it. Who knows what kind of dirt and chemicals might still stick to it from the manufacturing process!


Back at the Grand Californian we noticed that for the next day they had set up for the media in the ballroom/conference section of the Grand Californian.

So, we decided to check out that part of the hotel for a little bit:

We then ventured out to Downtown Disney, but I somehow failed to take lots of pictures there. So these are the only ones I can show you:

Back in the room I decided to document out room view:

And as a panoramic picture:

After some rest in the room it was time for the evening event: We had a reservation at Napa Rose. Napa Rose is the signature restaurant at Grand Californian hotel and it is a very highly regarded restaurant in general – not only for theme park guests. I had heard many wonderful things about it and the menu sounded great. The cuisine is Californian Wine Country (hence the name).

When we arrived we were shown to a lovely table close to the windows, which overlook the entrance into DCA from the GCH. It was fun to be able to watch people coming and going from the theme park.


We first got a bread basket with a lovely selection of different breads:

All of the different breads were really delicious and it was difficult to not just eat bread for dinner!


As a starter we shared one of the pizetta that they offer there:

Since the menu there changes often, I am not sure what we had exactly, but this one sounds like it: Signature Pizzetta of "La Quercia" Smoked American Prosciutto, Red Flame Grapes, Caramelized Onions, and Cambozola Cheese. Compared to the grape pizza at Palo, this was many times better!


For our main course we both had the same, a tenderloin steak with a wonderful mushroom reduction:

Besides the asparagus, I think we also had scalloped potatoes. It was absolutely fantastic!


For dessert we chose different things, but Michael had the better one.


He got a trio of sorbets which was chocolate, strawberry and mango:

All three sorbets were wonderful!


I got something which was a kind of strawberry shortcake version:

It was absolutely delightful. But Michael’s sorbets were just better.


After dinner we changed into more casual clothes ad headed back to Trader’s Sam for a second evening of lovely cocktails. I think I got the same drink again as I really loved it the day before.


We also wandered around a bit and saw the first people starting to line up for the 24-hour day which would start at 6am the next day (and both parks were going to be open for 24 hours until 6am on Saturday morning). We chatted with a young woman who was there with her mother. They were locals and were just so excited of doing this. It was quite fun!


And with that we returned to our lovely studio for the night before our last full day of vacation…


Up Next: 24 hours means far too many people!!

 

[nodnol]

I decided to just replay and comment on what I am reading now, otherwise I won't get round to it again...

While Bugs Land is a bit cheesy, it is very nicely themed. It really gives you the feel that you shrunk to bugs size. Even the lamps are fireflies (which in German are called Glühwürmchen which means little glow worms):

And our American cousin was right - they do have bigger ones in California!

It comes in a lovely tiki souvenir glass that is now on my dresser holding some of my jewellery and reminding me of the great vacation!

If you don’t want the souvenir glass, they can also serve the drink in a normal glass. And our lovely server even brought us unused glasses to take home with us instead of the ones that had had our drinks in them. Michael also got a souvenir glass, he got the Shipwreck on the Rocks which comes in a ceramic mug that looks like a barrel and has Trader Sam’s written on it.

I think those are some really nice souvenir glasses! I'm usually not a fan of those, as they seem to be mainly a promotion for the bar or restaurant.

 

[nodnol]

Ok, I need to let you know of these fantastic feature that I found out about here on the boards!!!

If you want to split up someone else's post in the past for the reply (like I did with @Captain_Oblivious here) the only way I knew was to add the stupid [ Quote ... code before and after every little snippet.

With the new boards, you highlight the bit you want to quote with your mouse and once it is highlighted you get a little blue box:

You click on "+ Quote" and then do the same with the next snippet of text. Once you have selected everything you want, you go down to the bottom of the page to the reply window. There you will see button "Insert Quotes" this will give you a pop up window where you can confirm which quotes you want to add and then they appear in your post with the appropriate code just around the text you want to quote. SOOOO much easier!!

Wow, this is great news!!!! It was such a hassle before. I had already noticed that they at least show the pictures in the quotes now, made it already a lot easier to get orientated in the post. But this is definitely a big improvement!

Thanks for the alert! @nodnol had told me about that as well, but I was on my Ipad for the whole week and editing posts on it was a bit too difficult for me... Now back on computer and I got the right ones in. She wanted to make fun of my mistakes, but I guess she did not get around to it... She was busy having fun and going to concerts and stuff like that...

Yes, unfortunately, but not only fun, also work and stuff…. But there was still the one thing with our cousin left...

 

[Flossbolna]

Wow, this is great news!!!! It was such a hassle before. I had already noticed that they at least show the pictures in the quotes now, made it already a lot easier to get orientated in the post. But this is definitely a big improvement!

Yes, unfortunately, but not only fun, also work and stuff…. But there was still the one thing with our cousin left...

Oh, I did not even think about the picture being visible, but you are right. That's a great help! I also like that the quoted pictures are smaller and that the quotes get condensed. Makes it easier to read.

And I had to laugh about the reference to our cousin! At least you still had that!

 

[nodnol]

At first I only admired the rocks and the water and then Michael alerted me to the fact that there was wildlife to be spotted. However, that gave me a huge scare!! There were plenty of tiny crabs. They looked neat, like large spiders. I am not afraid of spiders (at least not normal size ones). But these crabs than suddenly started to move – and totally freaked me out!! I guess if you are used for things to move forward, animals moving sideways are not what you expect. I just could not get my head around it and was certain that these crabs would use their stealth sideways moves to come and eat me!! No way was I going to stay in their neighbourhood!!! So, not a lot of wildlife viewing in rock pools for me!!

I didn't expect anything else from you. I guess some screaming and jumping was involved as well.

oh, so there are the rocks. I was wondering after seeing the first pictures of the beach! Looks very nice!

We first got a bread basket with a lovely selection of different breads:

Have a good look at this DCL!!!

Dinner looks delicious. I'm getting hungry now. Time for breakfast. Have to wake up the breakfast cook.

 

[Flossbolna]

I decided to just replay and comment on what I am reading now, otherwise I won't get round to it again...

I am just happy that you say hello - whether it is commenting on one, two or ten posts!

I think those are some really nice souvenir glasses! I'm usually not a fan of those, as they seem to be mainly a promotion for the bar or restaurant.

Yes, they are. They are more "tiki glasses" than specific for the restaurant and I guess that's what makes them more usable. If you subtract the cost of the drink, they even were rather economical souvenirs from Disney... Something rather unheard of.

I didn't expect anything else from you. I guess some screaming and jumping was involved as well.

Why are you thinking that???

oh, so there are the rocks. I was wondering after seeing the first pictures of the beach! Looks very nice!

Yes, the rocks were off to the side. The whole coastline there is really beautiful!

Have a good look at this DCL!!!

Exactly!!

 

[Poolrat]

Hey this highlighting the multiquote IS much easier.

But these crabs than suddenly started to move – and totally freaked me out!! I guess if you are used for things to move forward, animals moving sideways are not what you expect. I just could not get my head around it and was certain that these crabs would use their stealth sideways moves to come and eat me!! No way was I going to stay in their neighbourhood!!!

They were going to get you!!!!!

Beautiful

And as a panoramic picture:

This is the same room I had the first time I went to DL. 4516 or close to that??? If you lean out a bit you could see WoC and The DL fireworks.

For our main course we both had the same, a tenderloin steak with a wonderful mushroom reduction:

YUM

He got a trio of sorbets which was chocolate, strawberry and mango:

All three sorbets were wonderful!


I got something which was a kind of strawberry shortcake version:

YUM YUM

Up Next: 24 hours means far too many people!!

I bet!!!!

 

[Steppesister]

All caught up on both of the updates I missed. I had to laugh at the "Crabs are going to eat me" part. Oh my heck, how funny! Having grown up going to the CA coast many, many times a year, I've come to love the little creatures to be found on the beaches. I am fascinated by them all, and should you ever come to Oregon, a much wilder coastal area I can show you a lot of wildlife. The starfish are amazing, and there is a free aquatic museum where many of the animals are hands-on. It's a lot of fun!

All of you food looks amazing; what can I say? Simply deicious. I can't wait to try some of the places I haven't been to yet at DLR, and am definitely putting the Napa Rose on my list for next time. But even beyond that, I MUST to to Trader Sams!! WOWZA! That looks like unbelievable fun.

No, I don't think I'd have put coffee straight into an unwashed mug either; maybe she could have asked them to wash it first?? But yeah, gross!

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

You click on "+ Quote" and then do the same with the next snippet of text. Once you have selected everything you want, you go down to the bottom of the page to the reply window. There you will see button "Insert Quotes" this will give you a pop up window where you can confirm which quotes you want to add and then they appear in your post with the appropriate code just around the text you want to quote. SOOOO much easier!!

And I purposely used Mark's post to demonstrate it as he is such a master of the splitting up a quote technic!!

This is my favorite part of the new software. It was always a pain to split up the quotes before. Now it's so much easier to reply to TR's!

Oh no!! Maybe I need to put one in with the stuff from WDI?? If I already HAVE to go to the WDI shop for you, I might even take up the hardship of having to go to Trader Sam's again...

Wow, you are really taking one for the team! I'm sure Julie would love this!

But seriously, thank you for even considering it. You are a wonderful DIS-friend. I will start saving now so I can cover the amount of the check I'll need to write you!

But these crabs than suddenly started to move – and totally freaked me out!! I guess if you are used for things to move forward, animals moving sideways are not what you expect. I just could not get my head around it and was certain that these crabs would use their stealth sideways moves to come and eat me!!

It's always the ones you least expect...

After dinner we changed into more casual clothes ad headed back to Trader’s Sam for a second evening of lovely cocktails. I think I got the same drink again as I really loved it the day before.

Now this sounds like a great idea! I wish we'd had the time to hang out there. It sounds like a lot of fun.

We also wandered around a bit and saw the first people starting to line up for the 24-hour day which would start at 6am the next day (and both parks were going to be open for 24 hours until 6am on Saturday morning).

I must be too old now, because the idea of doing anything for 24 straight hours, even Disney, just makes me want to curl up into the fetal position.

 

[nodnol]

I am just happy that you say hello - whether it is commenting on one, two or ten posts!

That's very nice of you to say! hope I'll keep up from now to train for any joint PTR/TR in the future...

Hey this highlighting the multiquote IS much easier.

This is my favorite part of the new software. It was always a pain to split up the quotes before. Now it's so much easier to reply to TR's!

Big fan here as well! I don't want to promise too much, but this feature together with the "not marked as read thread" feature make it a lot easier to keep up. So far…. it's been… a week?

 

[eandesmom]

This is the entrance to the Storybook Land boat ride

I am really sad that we missed going on it. I think the lines were always too long…

I am really sad I didn't go on it either, on either trip in 2014! The lines were crazy but it does have such a soft spot in my heart from my first visit to DL as a child.

We headed into Toon Town:

Not sure whether we rode the Roger Rabbit ride then (I think so – we might have gotten a FP for it). This is a cute little dark ride. I think it adds a lot to DL’s toon town that they have a dark ride there. And I really like Roger Rabbit!

I love the RR ride, and toontown in general,

The Tea Cups are so pretty without a roof:

They really are much pretty aren't they!

And I am just in love with this view:

I think I really don’t mind the small castle as the park has this beautiful mountain that to me is far superior to any castle (but then I might be a bit blasé about castles considering that my local one is five minutes away from my house).

I can see where the castle might not be a big deal to you. Funny! I like both castles for different reasons and do love the matterhorn.

We also rode Indiana Jones Adventure at some point this afternoon with a fastpass. Unfortunately the ride broke down just before we would have been let into the pre-show. We seriously debated to leave, but I really wanted to ride. So we ended up being stuck inside the line for nearly 30 minutes… There goes the advantage of FP. But the good thing was that we saw that there is actually a single rider line for Indy. It is not well advertised at all. You need to get to the CMs at the entrance and they give you a pass and with that you enter the ride through the exit. Then you need to cross the normal line twice, go over a bridge and use an elevator (California Screamin has a similar system). We used it on our last park day and it got us an additional ride without a long wait, but it was really complicated. The sad thing was that due to people being stupid they were not able to load one vehicle and I got assigned a row all by myself while Michael was already in another vehicle. We could have been together on the ride… However, Indy is absolutely fabulous! While it is exactly the same layout as Dinosaur at AK, it is so different. The sad thing however was that at the end there is a spectacular effect with a boulder and that did not work for me at all.

That's a bit of a frustrating thing to be sure, it broke down on us as well but I am glad we waited it out, it really is fabulous.

And then we headed over to DCA. Here one of my goals was to take a ride on the Red Trolley. They are really nice and have lovely decorations inside in the form of old fashioned advertisements:

Now that you write about this, I am almost positive we rode this on Easter and as I only took pictures of the show going on outside, I completely forgot!

We passed through bugs land:

To go to the theatre where they would usually show It’s Tough to be a Bug. While we were there it was turned into a preview for Maleficent:

It was a 12 minute (or so) trailer. Very well done. However, it confirmed to me that I had no interest whatsoever to see that film.

We decided to take a spin on one of the rides in Bugs Land:
This is actually a really neat ride. I would recommend it if there is not a long wait (we just walked on).

While Bugs Land is a bit cheesy, it is very nicely themed. It really gives you the feel that you shrunk to bugs size. Even the lamps are fireflies (which in German are called Glühwürmchen which means little glow worms):

How funny, I had the opposite reaction and decided to see Maleficent after seeing the preview at DL. We rode a few things in BugsLand, it is adorable! And even funnier that it was at the request of teenage boys...

We were discussing our options and somehow decided to go to Catal, which is a restaurant in Downtown Disney that calls itself modern Mediterranean. They have a wonderful patio on the second floor overlooking Downtown Disney, but I decided that it was too chilly to sit outside. But it is also very pretty inside.

However, neither of us got something Mediterranean. I had ribs:

And Michael had Prime Rib. I think it was some kind of special deal on the menu (I don’t see it on the current menu) and you could chose different sizes of the cut. Michael likes his beef well done and said that he would love to get an end piece. And despite ordering the smallest size on the menu, he got a very sizeable portion – and the end piece that he wanted:

We both loved the place! The food was excellent. The server was great, the atmosphere relaxed. I would love to go back there – especially on a warmer evening when I would be comfortable on the patio.

Dinner looks delicious! I've heard nothing but good things about Catal.
After dinner we continued on to another must do (at least for adults) at DLR: Trader Sam’s!

This is a tiki bar at the Disneyland Hotel that is fairly new, but immediately got quite a cult following. The fact that they are so popular also makes it a bit difficult to get a spot. It was absolutely crowded inside where you can witness certain effects when certain drinks are being ordered. And even outside it took a little waiting for a table to open up. But then our lovely server for that evening (she was really great!!) gave us the menu and we settled in. Luckily the patio had those heater lamps, so I was not too cold.

I got the Hippopotomai-tai:

It comes in a lovely tiki souvenir glass that is now on my dresser holding some of my jewellery and reminding me of the great vacation!
After our drinks we went exploring a little bit and found this great view:

This is from the top floor of the Paradise Pier Hotel. Nice, isn’t it?

Up Next: That crab is going to eat me!!!

I LOVE Trader Sam's! Great burgers too Lovely view, I remember that from when we stayed there back in 2010.

 

[Flossbolna]

Hey this highlighting the multiquote IS much easier.

Glad you found my instructions helpful! And were not totally confused by them as @Steppesister obviously was. But then you are not studying to become a nurse, so I guess she can be excused! ;-)

They were going to get you!!!!!

Those were scary animals!!! They were gigantic! About one inch in diameter!

This is the same room I had the first time I went to DL. 4516 or close to that??? If you lean out a bit you could see WoC and The DL fireworks.

4516 was our room number.

I bet!!!!

I would recommend to stay away from any US Disney parks on the Friday before the Memorial Day weekend. This 24 hour thing seems to have become a tradition now...

All caught up on both of the updates I missed. I had to laugh at the "Crabs are going to eat me" part. Oh my heck, how funny! Having grown up going to the CA coast many, many times a year, I've come to love the little creatures to be found on the beaches. I am fascinated by them all, and should you ever come to Oregon, a much wilder coastal area I can show you a lot of wildlife. The starfish are amazing, and there is a free aquatic museum where many of the animals are hands-on. It's a lot of fun!

I would love to see starfish!! I once did an eco tour in Florida where they pulled all kind of animals out of the water, like a sea cucumber and things like that. Fascinating. I am not so sure about the hands-on though... And if they move sideways...(this has become my new favorite smiley... I love the new way of adding smileys!!)

All of you food looks amazing; what can I say? Simply deicious. I can't wait to try some of the places I haven't been to yet at DLR, and am definitely putting the Napa Rose on my list for next time.

Napa Rose is fantastic. If it regularly is considered to be one of the best restaurants in Orange County, it really stand the test of real life as I can imagine there being plenty of nice restaurants in that area. It is pricey though - WDW signature pricey. But it feels far more relaxed than many WDW signatures as it is not mainly there to feed tourists, but used as a destination for special meals by locals as well. It felt far more like a very high end restaurant outside of Disney than the WDW signatures.

But even beyond that, I MUST to to Trader Sams!! WOWZA! That looks like unbelievable fun.

Yes, you would love Trader Sams! I can guarantee that!! But don't get too high expectations. I don't want to ruin your experience. Just imagine the normal bar at the Poly without kids and with a special drinks menu.

No, I don't think I'd have put coffee straight into an unwashed mug either; maybe she could have asked them to wash it first?? But yeah, gross!

Thanks!! I was wondering whether I was being overly sensitive! I still would prefer warm water and soap and not just a rinse with cold water, but as far as I could tell, not even that was done...

 

[Flossbolna]

This is my favorite part of the new software. It was always a pain to split up the quotes before. Now it's so much easier to reply to TR's!

Yes, it is so nice when things get easier! I also love the spoiler tag that you used on your TR!

Wow, you are really taking one for the team! I'm sure Julie would love this!

But seriously, thank you for even considering it. You are a wonderful DIS-friend. I will start saving now so I can cover the amount of the check I'll need to write you!

You might need to send me that check sooner than you think...

It's always the ones you least expect...

Those crabs, I tell you! Scary things!! I am just glad that they did not eat Michael who was not scared of them!

Now this sounds like a great idea! I wish we'd had the time to hang out there. It sounds like a lot of fun.

It is a great place, perfect for relaxing in the evening.

I must be too old now, because the idea of doing anything for 24 straight hours, even Disney, just makes me want to curl up into the fetal position.

I really could not understand why this was an attractive concept for people. But since I am so much older than you, I guess I have already adopted the same view as you a long time ago!!

Big fan here as well! I don't want to promise too much, but this feature together with the "not marked as read thread" feature make it a lot easier to keep up. So far…. it's been… a week?

Would be lovely to see you posting more!

 

[schmass]

The view from your room looks great!

And Napa Rose looks amazing...I'm especially drooling over that bread basket...yum!

 

[Flossbolna]

I am really sad I didn't go on it either, on either trip in 2014! The lines were crazy but it does have such a soft spot in my heart from my first visit to DL as a child.

I wasn't a child on my first visit, but it immediately became one of my favorites as well. I love it that they have a version of it in Paris.

I love the RR ride, and toontown in general,

It might not be around much longer though. There are rumors that it will be replaced with a Star Wars themed land.

That's a bit of a frustrating thing to be sure, it broke down on us as well but I am glad we waited it out, it really is fabulous.

I was surprised how much DL had difficulties with rides breaking down. Not only Indy, but BTMRR and California Screamin as well.

Now that you write about this, I am almost positive we rode this on Easter and as I only took pictures of the show going on outside, I completely forgot!

Happy to hear that I helped your memory! Obviously you found it less memorable than I did!

How funny, I had the opposite reaction and decided to see Maleficent after seeing the preview at DL.

I am so easily scared in movies and that movie just seemed very scary to me. I tried watching Once Upon a Time and some episodes are just plain too scary for me.

We rode a few things in BugsLand, it is adorable! And even funnier that it was at the request of teenage boys...

Michael refused to go on Heimlich's Chew Chew Train with me... I was very disappointed...

Dinner looks delicious! I've heard nothing but good things about Catal.

We really only ended up there because of a spur of moment decision, but since then I noticed quite a few very good reviews of it. I still want to try the Uva Bar though! I think they kind of belong together.

I LOVE Trader Sam's! Great burgers too Lovely view, I remember that from when we stayed there back in 2010.

Tarder Sam's is great! And there will soon be burgers featured from that neighborhood!

Michael was very disappointed when he thought he was going to surprise me with the view and I told him that I knew about it from your trip report!

 

[Flossbolna]

The view from your room looks great!

And Napa Rose looks amazing...I'm especially drooling over that bread basket...yum!

I loved that it was so green from our room, but if you looked to the sides you could see civilization. I also love Grizzly Peak and we had a direct view of it!

Napa Rose is wonderful! It fully deserves to be considered a top restaurant in real world terms!

 

[wilma-bride]

OK, so I am TERRIFIED of spiders - those crabs would have totally freaked me out! That is gross about the woman getting her coffee served in that cup just off the shelf - ugh!

I am so sad your trip (report) is coming to an end but so excited that we only have 11 weeks until ours! I have read, read and re-read your trip report and picked up so many useful tips. We have such a fabulous group on our cruise that I am looking forward to it more than ever now. I only wish you were going ot be there too Magdalene

 

[Flossbolna]

OK, so I am TERRIFIED of spiders - those crabs would have totally freaked me out! That is gross about the woman getting her coffee served in that cup just off the shelf - ugh!

I am happy that someone agrees with me fully here!!

I am so sad your trip (report) is coming to an end but so excited that we only have 11 weeks until ours! I have read, read and re-read your trip report and picked up so many useful tips.

It is good to hear that you found the trip report useful - I loved the one that @jegsnakkernorsk wrote about the one in 2013 exactly for the same reason! Your cruise is coming up soon!!

We have such a fabulous group on our cruise that I am looking forward to it more than ever now. I only wish you were going ot be there too Magdalene

Ah, thanks for saying that!!! Who knows, we might end up on the same cruise at some time in the future!!

Oh - and I hope you will write a trip report about your Panama Canal cruise! Please send me a PM (or conversation as they are now called) when you start it, I don't want to miss it!!!

 

[Flossbolna]

24 hours means far too many people!!

Day 26: May 23

I had briefly considered to get up at 6am to watch the craziness of the start of the event and to go to the parks very early. But I really could not find the energy to do that. Sleeping was very nice as well!

Once we had gotten up and were ready to start our day we quickly stopped at DCA to pick up a FP for World of Colour that evening. I think we might have checked for a RSR FP as well, but by the time we got to the park they were gone (or for a time that was not working for us).

Then we headed over to DL. We had two important things to do today: Pirates and Small World! Both had been closed for refurbishment before the summer season started and today was the first official day of the summer season in a way. It was the Friday before Memorial Day and to kick off the summer they had the 24-hour day.

So, once over at DL we headed over to Pirates.

Since it had been closed for quite some time and since the park was pretty crowded because of the event. The line was enormous!! It started far out side the ride on a bridge. For me the strange thing was that I got into a line that I had no idea how long it would be as it kept going places where I had no idea it would go. But the nice thing was that it moved at a nice constant speed. I think all in all we waited about 30 minutes, more than we would normally wait, but we (rightly as it turned out) expected the lines to never go down considerably during the day.

I really liked the ride there. The start of floating through the Bayou is really neat. Generally this is considered to be the superior Pirates ride, but I can't really see that. Maybe I am not enough of a Pirates fan. To me the best one is in Paris because it has the best drops and the best outside theming. But with regard to the scenes, the three rides I know are very much awash. At least I did not have a 70s moving walkway at the exit which I hate at WDW, I think it breaks the theming so much!

After Pirates we headed to our next important destination: It's a Small World. On the way there we came across a very cute Merida Meet & Greet:

And then we had to get in line for Small World. Yes, another line I would normally avoid. But today it made sense. But I think we waited considerably shorter than for Pirates.

Small World at DL is so cute! It is different as the boats travel through a canal, so it seems smaller. And somehow it seems more colourful. There was a huge debate that they introduced Disney characters in some scenes a few years ago and about wether this was appropriate for the ride. I really did not mind this at all. Most of the time I did not even notice the characters and when I did they were done tastefully. I don't need the necessity of this addition as I think the ride would have been fine the way it was. But they certainly did not ruin the ride by adding the characters in my opinion. If at all, it made it a bit more fun for me as it gave me something else to look for and kept me entertained.

After two rides and quite a bit of waiting and navigating through a crowded theme park we felt that it was time to get lunch. We came up with a brilliant idea of how to 1) get out of the crowds for some time, 2) get another thing done from my list and 3) find some interesting food for lunch. We decided to take the monorail over to the Disneyland Hotel and have lunch at Tangaroa Terrace which is a counter service place next to Trader Sam's which serves "Island inspired" cuisine.

At Disneyland the monorail is not only transportation, but it is actually an attraction. It has a station inside the park in Tomorrowland.

As the daughter of an engineer, I had to take a picture of this sign:

There is a nice view from the station of the park:

And then the monorail arrived:

The other station is kind of between Downtown Disney and the Disneyland Hotel, so turned towards the hotel:

The Disneyland Hotel still has a sorcerer’s hat – the one at DHS is being demolished as we speak (yes, there will soon be an undisturbed view of the Chinese Theater from the entrance of DHS in case you are being slow on getting important Disney news like my sister).

We had a quick bathroom stop in the Adventureland tower where I once again admired the wallpaper:

And then it was time to head to Tangaroa Terrace:

They have a wonderful “island inspired” menu there and I had a hard time deciding what I wanted. In the end Michael and I ordered the same thing:

1/3 lb Angus Hawaiian Cheeseburger
Ground Angus Burger with Teriyaki Sauce, fresh Caramelized Pineapple, Havarti Cheese, Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato on a Multigrain Bun with choice of Sweet Potato Fries, Classic French Fries, Island Fruit or Tropical Slaw

I got it with sweet potato fries:

Michael had it with the Tropical Slaw:

Once again as (nearly?) everywhere at DLR, we got our food not on paper plates, but on real plates. They were plastic, but that was fine with me. There is always real cutlery as well. So much nicer eating experience!

We both really enjoyed our lunch there! The burgers were delicious. Maybe the best Disney burger I had? Pineapple really helps making a burger delicious!!

I took some pictures in the area, first of the waterslides at the hotel pool:

And then of Trader Sam’s:

Continued in Part 2

 

[Flossbolna]

24 hours means far too many people!! - Part 2

After a really nice break, we headed back into the parks via Monorail:

Neat view in Tomorrowland:

You can see the peoplemover track very well on the round structure.

Then we decided to check out Innoventions which is kind of related to Innoventions at Epcot, but also very different. It is housed in this round building:

Round building, Tomorrowland?? Yes, it used to house the Carousel of Progress. It was even a two level attraction there. On the first floor was the ride and on the second floor was an exhibition of a model of Progress City – which was what Walt Disney wanted to build on the land he had bought in Florida and which was supposed to be called Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow (or short: E.P.C.O.T.). You can still see a tiny part of that model on the Peoplemover at the MK today.

Walking up the ramp to the entrance:

Nice view from the second floor:

When we visited the upper part had different meet and greets for heros from the Marvel movies and the lower part had a “House of Tomorrow” – which starts to be a bit outdated. For example the fancy looking oven they displayed there looked exactly like the Siemens oven friends of mine have in their new kitchen. I think it is closed now, I guess because it really became a bit too outdated.

Iron Man:

Some relicts from Thor:

And part of the House of Tomorrow:

We saw plenty of people in the House of Tomorrow (or maybe of the Future?) that were taking a nap there. I guess they were exhausted from being in the park since 6am…

I am not sure if it was this afternoon, or a previous park day, but we also saw the show “Mickey and the Magical Map”. This is performed in a theatre at the back of Fantasyland and is a fun trip through different Disney movies. It has some very cool special effects! It kind of reminded me of the shows on the cruise line. Very cute, but a bit cheesy.

We then decided to head out of DL again for a break. It had finally warmed up a bit and we wanted to use the sunshine and the warmth for enjoying the wonderful pool at our hotel!

On the way there I was impressed with the opening hours at Downtown Disney for the 24 hour event:

We also stopped in the World of Disney store as they had been renovating and we were told that they would open up a large closed area that day. There they had this lovely glass window:

And then it was off to the pool. I got into the mood of “the vacation is nearly over, I have not taken enough pictures!!!” So, here is a small selection of my pool pictures from that afternoon:

And a picture of the largest hot tub I have ever seen:

We spent quite some time at the pool. The sun slowly going down was what made us get ready for an evening in the park. I really wanted to try and see whether we would see the lighting of the neon at Carsland. So that’s where we headed.

I got a last picture with Stanley:

And with this the pictures of the trip report come to an end. However, there is still a little reporting to do sans pictures!

I think we managed to get one last ride in by using the single rider line at RSR and then saw the neon lighting. This is a really neat little ceremony. Remember the scene from the movie when Lightning and Sally refurbished the neon of Radiator Springs and start it? They kind of recreate that with the lights going on one building after the other and the same music playing. Lightning McQueen comes down the road as well.

I think by then it was time to start heading over to the viewing area for World of Color. It was really quite chaotic there as we had not queued up an hour before the show it was not really clear where we were supposed to go at all. We ended up in an area that had kind of trellises above it. You could somehow look around them, but it was not really great. At least that meant that we were not packed in like sardines. We had a little bit different angle to the show this time and some things I could see better, some things I saw less good. I am starting to think that unless you pay for a private showing (I am sure you can buy that, the price would just be totally crazy for anyone of us even to consider paying for it), you will never have a perfect viewing spot. The show was lovely again though!

After it was over we were in the massive crowds once again. We kind of were in the vicinity of the Little Mermaid ride and thought that we should get on it to get out of the crowds. Unfortunately plenty of other people had the same idea as well… But then we were stuck in the line which we realised was being diverted into an outdoor portion that we had not noticed before. We thought that this is an omnimover ride, it has no FP, it can’t be too bad. Well, it was pretty bad. I think we waited about 30 minutes. More than either of us would ever chose to wait.

Afterwards we considered trying to get a ride on California Screamin, but the line was even worse than Little Mermaid and even the single rider line was enormous. So we said “See you soon” (not goodbye, we definitely want to go back there soon!) to DCA and headed over to DL.

By this time the masses had really arrived and both parks were crazy busy. It was Friday evening and people were going to spend the night at the parks.

The atmosphere was rather cool and people were having fun. But for a last evening when you are hoping to get in some more rides, it was really frustrating. I know that we went to see Roger Rabbit Cartoon Spin – once again we ended up surprised at how long the line was. But it kept moving and we got through. Roger Rabbit has a really interesting line! But also a very frustrating one as you can’t see at all how long it is going to be!

At around 1am we were getting really tired and Michael really wanted to ride Pirates one more time before leaving the park. I saw that it was at least a 40 minutes wait and said no way. So we split up, I headed back to the room and Michael got in line. However, back at the room Michael showed up not so long after me. I think he had found out that the line had even an additional switchback and was even longer than we thought…

And with that the last full day of the trip ended.

There is not much more to tell, so I will just stick the rest at the end of this update.

Day 27: May 24

The one sad day of the trip. It was time to leave Disneyland and to pack. And even worse: to go back to Germany and leave Michael behind in the US. This part really sucks in a long distance relationship, I can tell you…

We got up, I grabbed us some coffee in Dowtown Disney. We stuffed all our belongings into our bags. We had accumulated so much stuff!! It was scary. Michael got quite panicky at one point, but I rescued him with the Flossbolna/Nodnol family packing skills passed down through generations. He now considers me a packing genius. ;-)

We left the hotel room just around 11am and by then it was time to drive to the airport to get me on my flight back home. Michael’s flight was leaving later that night and he was meeting some of his friends in the afternoon.

The drive to LAX was uneventful and we got my luggage dropped of and then said a quick goodbye promising each other that we would not focus on the sadness of leaving, but on all the wonderful memories we had accumulated during the past few weeks. Then I headed into the security check point.

Security was a mess. Not generally, but for me. They split the line in two at one point and I went with the one line. At first this line was moving ok and I was past the splitting point. But then it kind of came to a stop. Everyone who was special needs in some way (elderly, mobility issues, families with kids in strollers) was funnelled into this line from the outside – directly to the scanner. So, out of my line people were only allowed to step up to the scanner if there was nobody with special needs. Of course everyone in a wheelchair (and their whole party of 6 people) or every family with a baby took ages to get through the scanner. And by the time one party was through, the next one was already lead up again. I understand that these people needed priority. But why did they let us fill in the line as well and why did they not at least let one or two “normal” travellers through in between every group? After what felt like an eternity, I was finally through and could explore the newly refurbished international terminal at LAX. It is really very fancy! A great spot to wait for your flight! And hopefully the security situation will have improved by now as this area was obviously still under renovation when I was there.

My flight back was again via Paris, but this time it was going to be on an Airbus 380. I was very excited about flying on one of those as I had heard really great things about it. The flight was ok. I have to say that I don’t think the A380 was so much better than any other plane though.

Changing planes in Paris was uneventful and I got to Nuremberg without any problems. There I had a huge surprise as my parents were at the airport to pick me up! It was wonderful to see them and I had not expected it at all!

Up Next: Final Thoughts