June 5th to 8th Trip Report - Disneyland Hotel

[DLgal]

They’re hosting a jazz exhibit right now? That would be too bad since I’m a musician and missed it, if so!

Yes, it had previously been in Epcot. "The Soul of Jazz."

 

[ThreeMountains]

Yes, it had previously been in Epcot. "The Soul of Jazz."

Ah, too bad. I would have loved to check it out.

 

[DLgal]

Ah, too bad. I would have loved to check it out.

Disney has done absolutely nothing to promote this. I learned about it the other day from a vlogger on YouTube.

 

[ThreeMountains]

First stop in California Adventure was Cars Land for Radiator Springs Racers (Individual Lightning Lane). Waited 5-10 minutes. I love this ride. Probably my favorite in DL. I also fully appreciate Cars Land and the ride itself, as I have a four year old who watched all of the Cars movies about 500 times each over the past couple years, so I recognize every detail and nuance in the theming.

Lightning McQueen himself:






Next was our first walk through Avengers Campus. I enjoy the super hero movies but I'm not obsessed, so it was just enjoyable. I'm sure I didn't appreciate the theming as much as many people would.

Here's a breakfast menu at Pym Test Kitchen for those interested. Looked good to me but we were more interested in rides.









Little did I know that spider bot in the web above the restroom entrance was a preface to our Web Slingers experience, which happened next. Also an Individual Lightning Lane. We waited maybe 20 minutes total before boarding, not including the preshow. It was really fun. I was surprised at the accuracy of shooting the webs. Cool tech, nothing groundbreaking otherwise, but definitely fun and I don't regret paying to experience it since the non-paid wait was already getting long.

I should take this opportunity to mention that, while I have gripes about Genie+ and Individual Lightning Lanes, I'm still a fan of making the most of my time when I only have a few days or less, so I pay. And I don't regret it.







I'm happy to answer any questions about this ride if you have them.

 

[ThreeMountains]

Since we were already next door, we grabbed a LL for Mission: Breakout. I'm a HUGE Tower of Terror fan, definitely in my top three WDW rides, so the first time I road this a few years ago, I was just meh about it. But I was also very sick (nauseous) the first time I rode it, so I don't think I appreciated it at the time. Since then, I've ridden it multiple times and enjoyed it a lot every time. Not as much as ToT, of course, but I do like the theming, preshow, and ride itself.







We then headed back through Cars Land - which never gets old for me - on our way to Pixar Pier. At this point, things get a bit fuzzy between what we had LL for and what we actually did, since we had a string of rides break down that we had booked LL for. It ended up working out later, as you'll see in a future post, but for now, we wound up on the giant Mickey ferris wheel, which was fun. I enjoyed the view and always forget there are mountains in the distance until I get up high like this.

 

[ThreeMountains]

You'll never guess where we went next...oh wait, you probably will. Cars Land.

I don't remember why, but my companions wanted to eat at Flo's V8 Cafe, and I'm glad we did. I really appreciated the theming in here. A lot of fun stuff to see on the walls and around the place, plus the food was actually pretty good, at least my turkey club and fries were.

PS - how can you not appreciate this theming?










As you are likely noticing, we do a lot of back and forth in the parks, although this time much of it was due to LL's getting cancelled and swapped around. So next was a walk through the restaurant area going back toward Pixar Pier. We walked through the bakery, which was fun, and we got free samples. The bread was good.





I need to have this at some point, which was in a picture on the wall:



And the result of the Mickey-shaped dough:



Hey look, we're back on Pixar Pier!

 

[ThreeMountains]

The first time I rode Goofy's Sky coaster was terrifying. It was that day I was nauseous (but unwilling to let that deter me from my first ever visit to DL), and I swore we were going to flip over the edge at every turn on the top. It seemed more tame this time, but still a very fun little coaster ride reminiscent of a fair. I think it works well in Pixar Pier.



I eventually bought one of these bags on the trip, which is unlike me, as I typically only buy a t-shirt or something for my wife and kids. But I really liked it and I love having something with the year I visited. Should be a good pool bag or something. It's bigger than it looks in the photo (tempted to make a joke but this is a family website...I think).



Due to the LL situation, we decided a walk-through of Grand Californian hotel was in order, since they really wanted to see it. They were supposed to stay here on a pre-pandemic trip that was cancelled right when COVID hit, so it was probably bittersweet. I had never walked the pool area, so that was enlightening. I would stay here if I were rich.







We took this opportunity to head back to the hotel for a "break". They took a break in the room, I went to the tiki bar for a beer. Ok ok, two beers. I was on vacation. And no kids for a few days!

I had a great chat with a local couple (they lived an hour or so north). I don't recall which beers I tried, but I asked for "something local" on both, as I like pretty much everything that's not cheap watery beer. I don't know if they were actually local beers (I suspect not), but hopefully California. They were ok. But no beer in the middle of the day on a Disney trip can be bad...



Here's the menu for those interested:

 

[ThreeMountains]

We headed back to Pixar Pier next, still trying to get on Incredicoaster. But you guessed it, more LL issues (technically not LL issues, the ride just went down multiple times). So we headed to get the mac n cheese in a bread bowl, which my brother had to try. It was tasty. And it was in a fresh-baked bread bowl, so how could it be bad?

Oh, and I had a Mickey Bar to help me deal with the pain of Incredicoaster being down again after multiple LL attempts...





We made our way to Hollywood Land and spent a little time in the art store. I love these stores, both here and at WDW. I spotted this, and I'm a big Robin Hood fan, so I was tempted to buy it. But self control won the day.



I was also tempted to buy this for my older son, as he watches this cartoon pretty regularly.



Watching this woman for a few minutes reminded me that I'm lucky if I can draw a decent stick figure. The color palette reference was cool to see.



We also spent a few minutes relaxing in here. Being a musician and a huge Disney music fan, I could spend a lot more time in here just cooling off. But, alas, we have rides to experience! (I'm attempting to upload a panoramic photo, so we'll see if it works)



More to come in the next installment if anyone out there is enjoying this trip report. I have two little kids, a full-time job, and a 2 1/2 to 3 hour round-trip commute every day during the week, so I update as I have time lol.

 

[fflmaster]

Thanks. Your trip report has been great.

 

[fireworks fan]

Yes, enjoying your report!

 

[MaleficentMe]

It's bigger than it looks in the photo (tempted to make a joke but this is a family website...I think).

"Shrinkage"?

We also spent a few minutes relaxing in here. Being a musician and a huge Disney music fan, I could spend a lot more time in here just cooling off.

I have been to DLR so many times, and like you, I am usually more focused on getting on ALLLLLL the rides, so I have often overlooked this gem. Last September, it was nearly 100 degrees and the park was packed (Max Pass was gone and Genie+ hadn't been implemented yet) so me and the kiddos ducked into that place for about an hour, just watching the art and listening to the music in the AC. It was a lovely respite!

I know there's so much more of your report to go... I really hope you get to experience Cars Land at night. Also, I hope, since you're such a fan, you get to experience it during both Halloween and Christmas. So beautiful!

 

[Mr. Mike]

It's bigger than it looks in the photo (tempted to make a joke but this is a family website...I think)

That's what she said.

 

[StarlitNight05]

We headed back to Pixar Pier next, still trying to get on Incredicoaster. But you guessed it, more LL issues (technically not LL issues, the ride just went down multiple times). So we headed to get the mac n cheese in a bread bowl, which my brother had to try. It was tasty. And it was in a fresh-baked bread bowl, so how could it be bad?

Oh, and I had a Mickey Bar to help me deal with the pain of Incredicoaster being down again after multiple LL attempts...

View attachment 676473

View attachment 676474

We made our way to Hollywood Land and spent a little time in the art store. I love these stores, both here and at WDW. I spotted this, and I'm a big Robin Hood fan, so I was tempted to buy it. But self control won the day.

View attachment 676475

I was also tempted to buy this for my older son, as he watches this cartoon pretty regularly.

View attachment 676476

Watching this woman for a few minutes reminded me that I'm lucky if I can draw a decent stick figure. The color palette reference was cool to see.

View attachment 676477

We also spent a few minutes relaxing in here. Being a musician and a huge Disney music fan, I could spend a lot more time in here just cooling off. But, alas, we have rides to experience! (I'm attempting to upload a panoramic photo, so we'll see if it works)

View attachment 676478

More to come in the next installment if anyone out there is enjoying this trip report. I have two little kids, a full-time job, and a 2 1/2 to 3 hour round-trip commute every day during the week, so I update as I have time lol.

You are an amazing storyteller. I feel like I'm there with you! Sounds like a great trip.

 

[Kerr84]

Enjoying reading along!

 

[Tinkaboo]

Agreed…great storytelling, feel like I was there too! Love your photos too!

 

[ThreeMountains]

More to come soon! Been busy but I'll be adding plenty more.

 

[ThreeMountains]

We attempted to ride Monsters Inc for the second or third time and it broke down again, so we decided to head back over to Disneyland to use our "two" multi-experiences passes. We saw Clarabelle on the way out, which was a first for me that I can ever remember.



Aaaand, we're back!



We took our time strolling up Main Street and I spotted this, which I'd own if I had more money. Few things are as nostalgic for me as the Liki Tikis.



This was also very cool.



I remembered that you could supposedly use multi-experience passes on rides that don't have Lightning Lane by going in the exit, and a cast member confirmed it, so we figured we'd use the passes to do a few Fantasyland rides. The castle view never gets old, even if it is tiny little thing. I'd continue the "bigger than it looks in photos" theme, but it's really not.



OH, and before we made it to Fantasyland rides, I spotted something I knew about but had never done before: the Sleeping Beauty Castle walkthrough! Very cool (both literally and figuratively) and something I'll likely do every future trip, as this is one of my favorite Disney movies.







Coming up: an unexpected Fantasyland experience...

 

[ThreeMountains]

Heading into Fantasyland, we each had two multi-experiences passes to use, and the cast member had confirmed we could use them for rides without Lightning Lanes by entering the exit and informing them we'd like to use them.

First up, we decided to go on Alice in Wonderland.



The CM scanned our passes and led us in the exit basically onto the ride. We enjoyed it, but the surprise came when we got off the ride and I noticed we still had two experiences each. I figured it was a mistake, and next up we tried Pinocchio.

This time, the CM at the exit informed us we could use the passes, as we had in the past, but she didn't have the correct scanner on her, so we were going to get a "freebie". Score!





Still holding two passes each, we went next door for Snow White. I have ridden this ride before the revamp and, while I enjoy some aspects of the new design, I do miss the "scary" boulder part. Seems like it kind of made the ride and now it's gone. Oh well, things change.



We decided to use the last pass on the Storybook boats, which is an enjoyable ride. That said, I can't help but feel that something more automated/interactive could be incorporated in those miniature castles and villages, even if just in a small way. I know, I know...it's a CLASSIC and you don't mess with a classic. In this case, I disagree. LOL





Talk about park hopping, the next installment features...you guessed it...a park hop BACK to California Adventure for a long-awaited Lightning Lane!

 

[CandyMouse]

My DH and I just did the sleeping beauty castle walk through for the first time on our May trip. I can't believe we've never done that before, pretty cool! Great pictures and trip report!

 

[Tasscrapper]

I'm really enjoying your report. Nice score in Fantasyland with the extra rides. I agree Storybook Land could use just a little extra something to raise it's game.