My Feet Are Gonna Pizza Flop-Off - 6 Days in 4 Parks! February 2024 TR **NEW** x2 1/2

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

I am following along! I am only finshed page 1 so far. But I am loving hearing about Knotts farm! I am hoping to get the family out to Disneyland next July. I think we will do San Diego as well, but maybe a stop at Knotts Farm would be fun too! Sadly, have to go work now. But I will catch up eventually!

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

Finished page 2! Knotts Berry Farm looked fun. And probably good that you were done early! That was an early start to the next day!!!

We have yet to go to Universal, my girls don't like harry potter. Crazy I know... And that still seem like the best part. Epic Universe in Florida will probably get us over there finally, but we will see. Is mario kart the only ride in CA?

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

Got another page done!

This morning started SUPER early!! We were up at 5:30 am (!!) to make sure we made it to Universal Hollywood in plenty of time for our early entry admission

So Early! I am impressed!

As we walked down the street towards the DreamWorks theater, Beetlejuice was out and bent down talking to a kid. DD said to us, “Who is that?” Well, Beetlejuice heard her and YELLED across the street, “WHO ARE YOU??!! I don’t know who YOU ARE!!!” DD was so embarrassed, but it was honestly hilarious!!! I wish I had been recording!

This is hilarious. My girsl would have been totally embarrassed. But it is funny.

Is this a look of "so good" or "so tired" ?

You got great photos on the dark rides! Mine always end up blurrry.

f them I had not seen in a long time, or some I had never seen like The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad. I thought it would really make the Mr. Toad ride even better to see the movie and know the story, but I had no idea the ride doesn’t really follow the movie at all! I guess maybe it more closely follows the source material of the book? I don’t know, but it’s still a weird ride! Lol

We did the same the first time we went to Disneyland. And we couldn't get through The Adventures of Ichabod.

The Storybook Land Canal Boats opened at regular park opening, so we went over there next. There weren’t many people in line yet, but they weren’t running many boats yet so it took a little while to get on. DD was getting a little antsy and goofy in line.

I love Storybook Land Canal Boats.

 

[khertz]

The face of that little kiddo in front of your family on the Guardians ride! So sad! LOL.

Great trip report!

Oh gosh, you're right! I didn't even notice. He doesn't look like he was enjoying himself very much, does he?!

Terrific family resiliency to recover so fast from the entrance snafu!

Thankfully, we are pretty good at switching up last second because something did not go according to plan, since it frequently seems to happen to us during early entry times.

Those pictures are great, and I love the half eaten Mickey bar. You cannot get more Disney than that!

I totally agree, it's the Disney experience in one photo!! She did NOT care how cold it was, no low temp was going to stop her from eating a Mickey Bar!

I am following along! I am only finshed page 1 so far. But I am loving hearing about Knotts farm! I am hoping to get the family out to Disneyland next July. I think we will do San Diego as well, but maybe a stop at Knotts Farm would be fun too! Sadly, have to go work now. But I will catch up eventually!

We have never been to San Diego, but I would love to do it one time when we go back out to California! The closest we have ever gotten was before DD was born when we went to Legoland. I'd love to visit the Zoo down there, though. Knott's is a great option too, and super close to Disneyland!

Finished page 2! Knotts Berry Farm looked fun. And probably good that you were done early! That was an early start to the next day!!!

We have yet to go to Universal, my girls don't like harry potter. Crazy I know... And that still seem like the best part. Epic Universe in Florida will probably get us over there finally, but we will see. Is mario kart the only ride in CA?

Yes, it was SO SO early!!! But definitely worth it!

I am so glad my kids love Harry Potter. I think it would honestly crush me if they didn't. Maybe if you ever get to visit Universal, they will enjoy the area enough to give HP another try!

Yes, Mario Kart is the only ride. There is the interactive games you can play around the land, and Toadstool Cafe to eat, but that's it besides character meets. Since we won't be back for a long time, if ever, we didn't invest in the little bands used to play the games. Maybe when we go back to Orlando once Epic Universe is open, we will! We were just happy to ride the ride a few times and check out the amazing theming.

This is hilarious. My girsl would have been totally embarrassed. But it is funny.

She was mortified! We laughed SO hard!!

Is this a look of "so good" or "so tired" ?

"So good"

You got great photos on the dark rides! Mine always end up blurrry.

That's all DH! He has invested a lot of money into different lenses for his DSLR specifically to be able to capture photos on dark rides! I am so thankful for him, because my photo taking on rides is abysmal.

I love Storybook Land Canal Boats.

Yes, it is SO cute!!! It's one of my favorite examples of how it doesn't need to be a thrill ride to be really amazing and enjoyable for all ages!

 

[khertz]

Day 5 Continued: Wednesday February 14th

After lunch and a cold treat, we were off to assist Mike & Sulley in Monstropolis!

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After saving Monstropolis, we decided to go pop in to the theater to see Mickey’s Philharmagic.

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We realized after the show that we were right near the Disney Visa Cardholder meet and greet, and there was no line! We weren’t sure who’d be there to meet, but figured it was a fun little detour to find out.

It was Stitch!

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He grabbed DD’s autograph book and was holding it upside down to sign. We thought he was going to sign his name so that it would appear upside down in the book to be silly, but he actually wrote it upside down so that it looks rightside up when you look at the book, if that makes sense!

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It was a really fun meet and greet, and we got to spend as much time as we wanted with Stitch without feeling rushed at all. It was perfect!

 

[missjackiemcg]

This is one of those picture perfect Disney moments!!! Awesome to get to take your time and have a fun meet and greet with Stitch! He's so much fun.

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

I love the re-enactment!

So our moods soured quickly as we joined the end of that long line to have our hotel reservation checked and realized we were going to have to quickly pivot. I actually don’t even remember what our game plan ha

that is the worst when things don'g go your way.

Since it was Ash Wednesday, we were supposed to abstain from meat (we were also supposed to fast, but that didn’t happen…), so it seemed like the perfect meal to try the macaroni & cheese in a breadbowl.

I don't think fasting in a theme park is probably not a good idea!
Oh think of the hanger!

I love this photo!!!!

 

[khertz]

This is one of those picture perfect Disney moments!!! Awesome to get to take your time and have a fun meet and greet with Stitch! He's so much fun.

He is SUCH a fun character to meet! He didn't even give DD a chance to be hesitant, he just pulled her right in for the hug. It was great. She likes to pretend she is too cool for that, but I'm glad that in the moment, she still has fun and acts like a kid.

I love the re-enactment!

DD is definitely up for taking any photo where she gets to act like a ham!

that is the worst when things don'g go your way.

Yes, especially to start off the day. So frustrating!

I don't think fasting in a theme park is probably not a good idea!
Oh think of the hanger!

We have attempted it before on vacation, and it really does serve to sour attitudes. We just decided to be cognizant of not eating meat and do our best.

I love this photo!!!!

I love the magic they add to the photos! I was expecting it to be Stitch when the photographer told us to act surprised, so seeing it was Oswald was really fun!

 

[khertz]

Day 5 Continued: Wednesday February 14th

After a fun meet with Stitch, we were ready to head out of DCA, and cross over to Disneyland, so we started making our way to the front of the park. The kids wanted to kill me for making them stop for more photos with the Storytellers statue, but they smiled nice.

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We spotted Minnie on the sidewalk without a long line so we hopped in for DD to meet her. She asked me in line if she thought Minnie would notice her Minnie-shaped necklace, and she did right away! This picture was right after she pointed to the necklace and then to herself.

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As we were meeting Minnie, I had spotted a CM off to the side letting people take photos with a Valentine’s sign, so I convinced DH to come take a picture with me.

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We said farewell to Disney California Adventure, and were soon ready to enter into Disneyland!

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The first thing we ran into on Main Street USA was the wonderful Dapper Dans! I love when we catch them, they really add to the ambiance!

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At some point while we were at DCA, I’m sure right as we had used our Monsters Inc. LL, we had booked one for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, so Frontierland was our first destination!

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Mirabel’s meet & greet area is SO cute, even if she wasn’t there for us to meet!

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It was time to take off on the Wildest Ride in the Wilderness!

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Once we had tapped in to Big Thunder, we had booked our next LL for the Matterhorn for later on. Galaxy’s Edge had low wait times posted in the app, so we headed that way. We got some photos in front of the Millennium Falcon.

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[alohamom]

Your family has the Photopass poses down to an art!

 

[khertz]

Your family has the Photopass poses down to an art!

LOTS of practice!!!! lol

 

[lilsonicfan]

Aww i love the pic of your kids smiling at each other on Big Thunder Mtn, which is one of my fave coasters

 

[khertz]

Aww i love the pic of your kids smiling at each other on Big Thunder Mtn, which is one of my fave coasters

It's one of the rare moments they aren't driving each other crazy!!! Such a fun coaster, too

 

[khertz]

Day 5 Continued: Wednesday February 14th

Rise of the Resistance only had a 35 minute wait so we asked the kids if they wanted to ride it and they said no. I guess we all kind of thought that it didn’t really live up to the hype when we went on it last year in WDW. So instead, we went on Smuggler’s Run with only a 15 minute posted wait.

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DS & DH got to be the pilots, and they were both pretty excited about that! This time, DD and I were the gunners. I really tried this time to pay more attention to what was actually going on, but the buttons being on the sides really make it difficult! Not the best design choice from the Imagineers, but we still had a lot of fun and managed to get 2 coaxium. Is that a good thing? I have no idea!

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We left Galaxy’s Edge and went to use our Matterhorn LL.

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While I was in the line, I mobile ordered a snack that had been on my Must Try list, a Cheesy Garlic Pretzel Bread from Edelweiss Snacks. After getting rattled around on the Matterhorn, we went to pick that up.

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This snack was SO delicious!! The kids were fighting each other for more. It came with some marinara dipping sauce, and tasted like a little garlicky cheesy pretzel-y piece of heaven!

After our little afternoon snack, we headed out of the park back to the Grand Californian for a rest. It was about 3 pm and we knew we’d be out of the park for a couple of hours, so we booked a LL for Roger Rabbit’s Car Toon Spin for when we came back later. Unfortunately, it was already our last night at GCV, so we started packing while the kids relaxed and watched TV. We stayed in the room until about 5, then headed back to Disneyland. We made a mobile order for some pizza slices at Pizza Planet while we walked.

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DH, DD and I all had cheese pizza (we still couldn’t have meat), but DS went for pepperoni.

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We decided to redeem our Multi-Experience pass from that morning to ride Space Mountain, and in the meantime, the Roger Rabbit one we had booked earlier had also changed to a Multi-Experience pass because the ride had gone down during our break.

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[khertz]

Day 5 Continued: Wednesday February 14th

By the time we came out of the ride, it had gotten fully dark so the park was starting to come alive in lights!

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We had booked another LL for Indiana Jones earlier when we’d been eligible to book another, so we crossed over to Adventureland to ride that.

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This was a bit frustrating because the ride kept going down over and over while we were in line. We had plans to catch the nighttime shows tonight, and it was getting closer and closer to the time for Mickey’s Mix Magic. As other people started leaving the line, I was seriously considering it, but we eventually got on the ride and still made it back to Main Street before the show started.

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We actually found an unoccupied bench to rest our feet while we waited for the show to start.

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Finally it was time for Mickey’s Mix Magic! Unfortunately since it was a weeknight, we did not get fireworks, just projections, but the show was still very energetic and fun.

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As soon as it ended, we hustled out of Disneyland and over to DCA to see if we could catch World of Color. I had completely forgotten earlier about the Virtual Queue for WoC, and missed it. I was so bummed and frustrated with myself for this, because our grand plan had been to catch both nighttime shows tonight while we were in walking distance to our hotel to take advantage of being closer and able to stay later. The times of the two shows worked out perfectly to allow this to happen also, and I had dropped the ball by missing the VQ.

Once we got into DCA, we headed towards the viewing area.

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As we walked around the perimeter of the viewing area, I found a CM and asked if there were any options for people who didn’t get a VQ spot. She showed me to the Standby area and said I could wait there, and that we could watch the show from there, or if the area didn’t fill up, a CM may come by after the show started and remove the rope so we could move closer. I volunteered to wait and save us a little bit of space with our bags, but didn’t want the kids to have to sit there the whole time, so DH took them to use our remaining Multi-Experience pass to ride the Incredicoaster at night!

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I found a spot on the ground and arranged our bags around me so that there’d be room for our feet once they came back, and read a book on my phone while I sat there and waited. Once they finished riding, they came back and DD commandeered my phone to play a game to pass the time.

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Luckily, when the show started, the CMs did indeed let us move a little forward! Our view was not the best, but at least we were able to see it so I wasn’t going to complain. It wasn’t a good enough view to get any photos, so we just put the cameras down and enjoyed the moment!

There was a pre-WoC show featuring Disney’s Asian characters in celebration of Lunar New Year, which was really pretty. Then the show started! We were very excited to be able to see this, because it had been announced that it would be closed during our dates, but then they announced that it actually would be open and I was so excited! I don’t remember if the planned refurbishment was pushed back, or it reopened early, but I was so thankful. This has long been my favorite nighttime show in any Disney park that I’ve ever experienced, and the thought of going all the way to California and not getting to see it had been a real disappointment.

This show featured so many of our favorites…Encanto, The Lion King, Coco, and plenty of others. Probably my favorite part of the whole show was when it went straight from I Am Moana into the Avengers part with “On your left” from Endgame! Ugh, gave me chills! I love this show so much!

Once it ended, we made the quick walk back to the room and got to bed. We had a breakfast coming up in the morning, and we had to finish packing up so we could check out. I was so sad that we were already at our last night at the Grand Californian.

 

[missjackiemcg]

How stinkin' cute is this?!! If they're anything like my brother and I were growing up, I bet this is not the way they normally look at each other on the day to day! LOL What a precious moment!

How exciting to be able to catch both nighttime shows (even without a VQ spot!!) That's some pixie dust right there

 

[khertz]

How stinkin' cute is this?!! If they're anything like my brother and I were growing up, I bet this is not the way they normally look at each other on the day to day! LOL What a precious moment!

How exciting to be able to catch both nighttime shows (even without a VQ spot!!) That's some pixie dust right there

You are 100% correct!! This is definitely not their normal attitude towards each other. A trip to a Disney park brings out the best in them sometimes!!

It was really great that it all worked out. I would have been so sad to miss World of Color. It's a highlight of a Disneyland visit for me.

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

We love world of color! It is just so beautiful! Sounds like you had a great night! 2 night time shows in one night!

 

[khertz]

We love world of color! It is just so beautiful! Sounds like you had a great night! 2 night time shows in one night!

It made for a hectic night, but definitely worth it!!

 

[khertz]

Day 6: Thursday February 15th

This morning, we were saying goodbye to the beautiful Grand Californian. What an amazing opportunity to be able to stay here on DVC points, when all we have ever heard is how difficult that is! While it was sad to be leaving VGC, we still had 2 more days to enjoy in the parks so it was bittersweet but not really sad.

Once we were up, we got our stuff packed up and said left our room for the last time to bring our bags to bell services.

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On our past trips, we have always done the character brunch at Goofy’s Kitchen, but this time we thought it was the perfect chance to try a new character meal and stick close to our resort, so we had breakfast booked early at Storytellers Cafe.

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DD was loving her Bluey ‘fit of the day.

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Our reservation was scheduled for 8 am, and we were a few minutes early, but were seated right away. We were at a booth in the corner of the restaurant so we sat the kids on the outsides of the benches for easy access to the characters when they came around. We had time to go up and get our first plates before the characters starting coming around, but Mickey was there almost immediately after we sat down.

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The buffet had a decent amount of breakfast selections, but I found it lacking compared to Goofy’s Kitchen.

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Not too long after Mickey, Minnie Mouse came by to visit.

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Then we saw Pluto, who absolutely LOVED DD’s Bluey ears.

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Pluto also really loved that he had his own spot with his picture in DD’s autograph book to sign.

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Next up was Chip in his adorable bucket hat.

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Dale never made it to our table, but we weren’t worried about it enough to mention it to our server. Minnie & Pluto did each make second stops at our table though for more hugs and photos.

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