Second All in One Disneyland TR Thread - Guardians of the Galaxy Mission: Breakout Review 5/30-6/2

[franandaj]

You got some great pictures of the kiosks. I only took photos of the ones where I ordered food from. I didn't stop at any of the little shops that sold oils or sauces. You got a great overall feel of the place.

 

[Steppesister]

It was tough but I understand the situation where you want to do your own things at the DLR. Hopefully in the near future, one of our trips will cross each other. I just followed your trip report and looking forward to reading more about it.

Great photos, Bret of the kiosks and wow! you went all out and tried so MANY things! I saw all of them cruising through on my solo day at DCA but didn't get a single item. Had my eye on the cheese dog at Castle, so went with that. Maybe next year I'll make it a point to hit up F&W and make a similar pillage of food.

If I do maybe, we can plan a day of noshing!

 

[mvf-m11c]

Ok. I NEED to hit DCA during F&W sometime. Those menus look enticing....and the food looks screen-licking delectable.

Nice update on how Star Wars land is progressing.

You will enjoy the DCA F&W Festival. This year was way better over last years which was a last second one where this one is planned well in advance. DL is learning from all the different F&W Festivals from Epcot and DCA.

Star Wars Land is progressing since I have last seen it in November 2016 where it was still dirt and now there are steel in place for the buildings.

You got some great pictures of the kiosks. I only took photos of the ones where I ordered food from. I didn't stop at any of the little shops that sold oils or sauces. You got a great overall feel of the place.

I thought about taking pictures of the kiosks that I am going to but I have taken so many pictures of the kiosks at the Epcot F&W Festival which I didn't try but it does remind me of what the kiosks looked like during the trips. I didn't stop at those little stands as well.

Thank you Alison.

Great photos, Bret of the kiosks and wow! you went all out and tried so MANY things! I saw all of them cruising through on my solo day at DCA but didn't get a single item. Had my eye on the cheese dog at Castle, so went with that. Maybe next year I'll make it a point to hit up F&W and make a similar pillage of food.

If I do maybe, we can plan a day of noshing!

Thank you Liesa. I did tried a lot of dishes during the trip in which I tried more than I expected. But when you are at DL, you forget about that and enjoy yourself. The corn dogs at Corn Dog Castle are always great but I enjoy the Little Red Wagon the most when I want a corn dog. I do like the hot link corn dog at Corn Dog Castle. The cheese corn dog is good but the hot link is my favorite at that place. If you go back to the DLR next year, you should come up with a list of what you want to try at the F&W Festival. I chose carefully of what I want to try at the F&W Festival and don't repeat on such dishes but I did that this year with the cheese soup and mac & cheese. But you can read that a couple of pages back during last years F&W Festival that I went with DAW.


The next update will be up shortly.

 

[mvf-m11c]

Day 2 – March 31, 2017 – Part 4​

After getting some rests at my hotel room at the Best Western Placentia, it was time to head on back to the park that night in order to see the Main Street Electrical Parade at Disneyland. I have been looking forward to seeing the MSEP at the DLR since 2009 when it was at Disney California Adventure. It was a long time when I saw it back at DL in the 90s.

I didn’t leave the hotel around 3:30pm since it was going to be crazy with SoCal traffic when I had to drive all the way over to the Toy Story lot. This was crazy during the trip in which the Mickey & Friends Parking structure was already full when I got there on Thursday night and hopefully that the parking structure would not be that full that Friday night.

When I got back to Anaheim, the Mickey & Friends Parking Structure was already full and diverting guests to go to the Toy Story lot and that was around 4pm which was crazy. At first I was not happy where I had to drive back to the Toy Story lot but I can’t think like that and enjoy the trip.

Over at the Toy Story parking lot when I parked my car, the queue for the Toy Story bus was already long like the other day so I decided to walk on over to the DLR instead of waiting for the bus. It is disappointing where I had to wait but I understand with the Spring Break crowds which just made the parks even busier.

After walking on over to the DLR from the Toy Story lot which took about 20 minutes. I didn’t carry my tripod with me that night. I did plan on bringing it in the park with me that night but after parking at the Toy Story lot and possibly had to take it back to my car, I just decided to leave it in the car so I would not be able to take my long exposure shots. I did bring my gorilla pod with me which is a good alternative.

The first thing I did was head on over to Disney California Adventure and continue on the DCA Food & Wine Festival kiosks. I was able to eat a few dishes that first part of the day and now was ready to devour more food or actually a few dishes. At first, I was planning on buying only one AP Sip and Savor Lanyard but I was already close to a few let that I had to watch it.

While I was in DCA, I just walked around for most of the few hours in the park to look at all the different kiosks that I wanted to eat that night. Mostly when I am at the parks, I would get photos of different things that looks interesting. This was one of the rare times when I am at the park and didn’t get any photos but just enjoyed walking around the park.

For my first dish that night, I went on over to the Garlic Kissed kiosk which was one of the popular kiosks at the F&W Festival. I already got the Grilled Beef Tenderloin Slider and now I tried the Black Garlic & Soy-Braised Pork Belly Bao with Pickled Vegetables.


The Pork Belly Bao from the DCA F&W Festival this year is almost similar to the Pork Belly Bao Taco from last year F&W Festival.


I was glad to get that Pork Belly Bao again which I can compare to last years and this years.

I then head on over to my next kiosk that night which was the Lemon Grove kiosk. This one had the Duck Confit on Potato Smash with Meyer Lemon Preserves.


This one was not that bad with the duck confit along with potato smash which was more like tater tots. But it was quite a big portion which was bigger over the other types of food at the F&W Festival that I have tried.

While I was walking around DCA, I didn’t do too much but just took my time until it was almost time to head on over to DL that night in order to see the first MSEP at 8:30pm. Waiting for the MSEP that night made me just relax more instead of doing stuff at DCA. This isn’t the first time where I have been at the parks and didn’t do anything until it was time where I have waited hours for parades, fireworks, Fantasmic!, rides, etc.

Before it got closer to head on over to DL, I head on over to the LA Style kiosk to try the Korean Barbecue Beef Short Rib Tacos with Kimchi Slaw.


The taco was not that bad and the kimchi slaw helped give it that kick in spice. This was the third item at the kiosk which I was looking forward to during the trip. I didn’t get the Fresh Strawberry Compote, Lemon Verbena & Vanilla Bean Shortcake Parfait since I am not a big dessert eater. But that did sound good to try but I had to watch how many tabs I had during the trip.

The time went by and it was time to head on over to DL to get a spot for the 8:30pm MSEP. I decided in advance to go at It’s a Small World Plaza over Main Street and the Hub. I knew that people would stake out spots way in advance. But after reading the new rule of the CM’s enforcing the guests from staking out long periods. That was like around 7pm when I walked down MS that night which most of the curb spots were already filled. SO I just walked on over to IASW Plaza.

I was able to get a front row spot of the parade that night on the other side of IASW. I waited close to an hour and a half for the parade that night which was well worth it since I would be able to get photos of the parade without anyone in my way.

While I was waiting, I noticed that Disney had new wait time signs. Those were kind of neat to be able to see the wait time at night.




Now it was time for the 8:30pm Main Street Electrical Parade and I was looking forward to it that night. Here are some of the pictures from the 8:30pm MSEP that night. I have took at least over 600 pictures of the parade that night and here are some of them.

The parade floats are in different parts of the parade when I saw it last back at the MK last year.

I can never get tired of the Casey Jr. train from Dumbo with Goofy, Minnie and Mickey.


I noticed that the drum had the original Disneyland Presents Main Street Electrical Parade lights instead of the LED one’s that was used at the MK.




Alice in Wonderland units








Getting the characters that night was very difficult.












Cinderella units

Continue down to the next post​

 

[mvf-m11c]

Day 2 – March 31, 2017 – Part 5​

Now back to the 8:30pm Main Street Electrical Parade that night where I was across from It’s a Small World.

Peter Pan units






The Tinker Bell float was now part of the Peter Pan scene where it was the opening float. It was a little different from the previous one.


Snow White units








Pinocchio units




Pete’s Dragon scene




The Patriotic American float “To Honor America” unit






Waiting to see the MSEP at DL in over 20 years was great. I enjoy seeing the parade at DCA and MK but there is something special with the MSEP at DL.

After the parade was over, I stayed around It’s a Small World Plaza for the 9:25pm Remember Dreams Come True fireworks. I thought RDCT fireworks would never come back but it did during this part of the year which was great to see again. Unfortunately, it was windy that night that DL had to cancel the fireworks. It was a good thing that I didn’t watch the fireworks in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle and had to fine out it was canceled.

I decided to call it for the night instead of staying at the park. I was a little tired from the early part of the day and night. Even though I didn’t do too much when I was at the DLR that night from walking around the park. I was a little tired from the carry of my camera equipment.

I went on out of the park around 10pm and got on the Toy Story shuttle back to the Toy Story lot. I got back to the hotel around 11pm that night and called it for the night.

The day started out really rocky but it was fun to be able to go and see all the different kiosks during the F&W Festival. I was able to do quite a lot of different kiosks that day and I got most of the food done during those two days. I also didn’t go on any rides that day (when I have a full day not part days like 1-3 hours) which rarely happens on a full day at the parks. But I did enjoy walking around the park. Maybe it has due with the crowds during Spring Break which made me not go on any rides. Most of the wait times for the good rides were like an hour or higher. It was great to see the MSEP that night as which I haven’t seen it at DL since the 90s.

Now that the first full day at the parks is over, I had one more full day to go and look forward to another great time at the DLR.

 

[PrincessInOz]

MSEP was the first night time parade I saw at Disneyland on my first visit, way back in 1986. It holds a very special place in my heart and I am so pleased to see it come back to DLR again. Spectro was nice, but it just didn't grab me the way MSEP did.

Great pics. Thanks for sharing.

 

[franandaj]

now I tried the Black Garlic & Soy-Braised Pork Belly Bao with Pickled Vegetables.

This was in contention for my top favorite of the festival. I forgot that the first booth last year had this one, I loved it then too!

I then head on over to my next kiosk that night which was the Lemon Grove kiosk. This one had the Duck Confit on Potato Smash with Meyer Lemon Preserves.

I never got to try this one, not sure why, either never hungry enough when we got there or it just didn't sound as appealing as the other stuff.

Before it got closer to head on over to DL, I head on over to the LA Style kiosk to try the Korean Barbecue Beef Short Rib Tacos with Kimchi Slaw.

Those were really good too!

I was able to get a front row spot of the parade that night on the other side of IASW. I waited close to an hour and a half for the parade that night which was well worth it since I would be able to get photos of the parade without anyone in my way.

That's great and your photos are awesome, what settings did you use?

Waiting to see the MSEP at DL in over 20 years was great. I enjoy seeing the parade at DCA and MK but there is something special with the MSEP at DL.

I'm glad that you were able to relive amazing memories!

Unfortunately, it was windy that night that DL had to cancel the fireworks. It was a good thing that I didn’t watch the fireworks in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle and had to fine out it was canceled.

That happened to us the night before. They started the show and stopped it abruptly in the middle.

The day started out really rocky but it was fun to be able to go and see all the different kiosks during the F&W Festival. I was able to do quite a lot of different kiosks that day and I got most of the food done during those two days.

I'm glad you were pleased with your accomplishments!

Spectro was nice, but it just didn't grab me the way MSEP did.

Spectro was a total bomb. I remember from the preview night we attended, it never had that "wow" factor and it never took off.

 

[Steppesister]

Waiting to see the MSEP at DL in over 20 years was great. I enjoy seeing the parade at DCA and MK but there is something special with the MSEP at DL.

It's my absolute favorite nighttime ANYTHING in ANY park. Just something so special and magical about it. It's beautiful, the music is perfect, and of course it holds special memories from my childhood. So glad you got to see it again!

After the parade was over, I stayed around It’s a Small World Plaza for the 9:25pm Remember Dreams Come True fireworks. I thought RDCT fireworks would never come back but it did during this part of the year which was great to see again. Unfortunately, it was windy that night that DL had to cancel the fireworks. It was a good thing that I didn’t watch the fireworks in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle and had to fine out it was canceled.

As Alison already mentioned, it was canceled (well actually Stopped abruptly in the middle of them) the night before. Silly winds. lol!

 

[mvf-m11c]

MSEP was the first night time parade I saw at Disneyland on my first visit, way back in 1986. It holds a very special place in my heart and I am so pleased to see it come back to DLR again. Spectro was nice, but it just didn't grab me the way MSEP did.

Great pics. Thanks for sharing.

During the trip last month, I regret of not seeing it multiple times. Hopefully if I go back later this month, I will get another opportunity to see it again at the park and this time at MS. It would require longer wait time but to enjoy it from MS is special as well. Spectro is a nice nighttime show. I like the music of Spectro but just as you said that the MSEP is way better over Spectro. There are times if I like Pain the Night parade over the MSEP but the MSEP wins over PtN.

This was in contention for my top favorite of the festival. I forgot that the first booth last year had this one, I loved it then too!

I like bao when I eat at Chinese restaurants and the pork was nice.

I never got to try this one, not sure why, either never hungry enough when we got there or it just didn't sound as appealing as the other stuff.

I at first was not going to get this, but when I read online about the best dishes at the F&W Festival on the Disney Food Blog saying as one of their favorites. So I had to try it and it was nice. Not one of my favorites but for the portion size of the price is not bad.

Those were really good too!

The Korean Taco was good.

That's great and your photos are awesome, what settings did you use?

Thank you. I changed my setting during certain scenes during the MSEP. There were times where I had to crank up the ISO and lowered the ISO on a lot of shots as well as shutter speed.



Aperture: f/2.8
Shutter Speed: 1/200
ISO: 4000
I also used the Exposure Compensation: -2/3EV



Aperture: f/2.8
Shutter Speed: 1/100
ISO: 6400

I'm glad that you were able to relive amazing memories!

It was so nice to relive a lot of memories of the MESP when I saw it in the 80's and 90's at DL.

That happened to us the night before. They started the show and stopped it abruptly in the middle.

That night, it was windy up in the air but on the ground it didn't feel like it was windy. I understand why the DLR doesn't shoot fireworks on windy days like WDW with the residents in the area. I had that a few times when I watched the fireworks and it can be annoying as well.

I'm glad you were pleased with your accomplishments!

It was nice to accomplish a lot during the F&W Festival. The only thing I regret during the trip was not to get the AP merchandise during the AP Days in February/March. I saw a lot of AP Holders had the MSEP shirt which I really wanted. But I was glad to come down at the last second and enjoy the F&W Festival.

Spectro was a total bomb. I remember from the preview night we attended, it never had that "wow" factor and it never took off.

Spectro is a nice nighttime show but it didn't have that vibe like the MSEP.

It's my absolute favorite nighttime ANYTHING in ANY park. Just something so special and magical about it. It's beautiful, the music is perfect, and of course it holds special memories from my childhood. So glad you got to see it again!

As Alison already mentioned, it was canceled (well actually Stopped abruptly in the middle of them) the night before. Silly winds. lol!

Thank you Liesa. Glad that Disney brought the MSEP back at DL and it is good that it will be still there during the summertime. Some people would like to see PtN but this is special to see the MSEP again at DL.

It sucks that DLR have to cancel the fireworks on windy days but I understand why they do it.

 

[Steppesister]

Thank you Liesa. Glad that Disney brought the MSEP back at DL and it is good that it will be still there during the summertime. Some people would like to see PtN but this is special to see the MSEP again at DL.

It sucks that DLR have to cancel the fireworks on windy days but I understand why they do it.

Me too!

I hope I'll be making it back to DLR a bit more often now that I am working, but only time will tell. There a LOT of other places I want to visit first. Like Europe.

 

[mvf-m11c]

Me too!

I hope I'll be making it back to DLR a bit more often now that I am working, but only time will tell. There a LOT of other places I want to visit first. Like Europe.

Hope you are able to come back to Cali for more trips to the DLR. There are places i want to visit as well but I can never get tired of the DLR.

 

[mvf-m11c]

Day 3 – April 1st, 2017 – Part 1​

Now it was the third day of the trip. I was able to do quite a lot the other day where I was able to do a lot of different food and desserts at the Disney California Adventure Food & Wine Festival. Plus, I was able to see the Main Street Electrical Parade that night as well. I was bummed that Remember Dreams Come True fireworks didn’t play that night due to high winds. So maybe that day I was at the parks it would be good to run the fireworks. I want to accomplish some things during the third day which I got to do most of the food and drinks during the F&W Festival but it will be nice to try some of the same thing again.

It was also April Fool Day so I had to be careful with the jokes. But since I wasn’t with anyone it should be no problem.

The good thing is that I was leaving at my hotel Best Western Placentia to go to one of my normal hotels that I have stayed right across the street from the Disneyland Resort. I was going to be staying at Best Western Anaheim Inn which is right across the street from the DLR. I wasn’t able to get it the first two nights since there was no rooms available or the price was so high that it wasn’t worth it.

After checking out of BW Placentia, I drove to the Mickey & Friends Parking structure. The room wasn’t ready that morning till the afternoon so I parked my car at the structure until it was time to head on over to BWAI. I left early that morning in order to get a head start which I wasn’t able to the last day which I had to go back to the parking structure. So I made sure that I had my Annual Pass on me when I left my car.

The good thing about getting early to the DLR is that you can go through security fast by the Mickey & Friends parking structure. It is odd at first to see the security right by the parking structure but it will be easy when you are inside the DLR where you won’t have to go through security again like from Downtown Disney to the parks.

When I got in DL that morning, I first head on over to DL. There was one ride that I always have to go on when I am at DL.

Walking to Tomorrowland to go on my favorite ride which is the Disneyland Monorail. I always have to go on this ride all the time when I am at DL.


The bad thing about the Monorail during my trip is that two of the three monorails were not operational during my visit which there was only one running and it would take even longer to board them when there is only one.

Matterhorn Mountain was closed for refurbishment so you don’t see the waterfall.


Monorail Mark VII Orange was running that day so Blue and Red were Backstage. It was a shame to only see one but the monorails need to be maintain when we get closer to the summertime and it is almost there.


I rode the monorail roundtrip from Tomorrowland Station to Downtown Disney station and back. It is so fun to ride the monorail roundtrip around the DLR and see the park up in the sky.



After riding the monorail roundtrip, I head on over towards Frontierland/New Orleans Square to get some pictures of the construction of Star Wars Land and seeing what Tom Sawyer’s Island in progress with the new Fantasmic! later this summer.


I also had one more opportunity to go at the New Orleans Square Railroad Station which I was on the other side of the station which is rare to do. But for these last 1 ½ years with the construction of Star Wars Land going on, it was nice to go on the other side.






After spending some time at DL that morning, I now head on over to DCA to try a few more food and drinks at the DCA F&W Festival.

Just when I was in Buena Vista Street, I remember that the egg-stravaganza started that day. I have read and seen pictures of the egg-stravaganza at the DLR where you look for Disney character eggs around each park and Downtown Disney. SO I decided to try the egg-stravaganza that day. It wasn’t that expensive which was $5.99 plus tax but I got my AP discount so it was around $5 for the whole thing which was not a bad price.


I got my map along with the stickers to put where the egg is located at these different locations around DCA.


Before I started the egg-stravaganza, I had to get a drink since it was quite warm that afternoon. So I head on over to I Love Artichokes kiosk and got the Orange Iced Tea with Orange Popping Pearls. It wasn’t so expensive so I just bought it instead of using my AP Sip and Savor tabs.


So my journey to find the eggs started. SO I went on over to Hollywood Land to look for my first egg at the Gone Hollywood Store at Hollywood Land.


The first one was the Mickey egg inside the store.


After finding the first egg, I went around Hollywood Land to look for one more other around the Animation Building but I could not find it. It was a little hard at first but you have to look really closely to find it which it can be hidden in plain site.

I passed on the Animation Building first and head on over to the Carthay Circle Theater. I looked really closely at the Carthay and couldn’t find it but then when I looked from Hollywood Land, it was on the balcony on the left hand side. It was hard to find it but I found the Thumper.


I head on over towards A Bugs Land and found my next one which was Mater.


Then I head on over towards Cars Land and the next one was at Radiator Springs Curios. This one was an easy one to find since it was on the side of the Curios shop instead on the top of the building.


It was Lightning McQueen


Now I head on over towards Pacific Wharf for the next one which was at Lucky Fortune Cookery. Just like at Radiator Springs Curios store, the next one was on the side of LFC and it was the Minnie egg.




Now I walked on over to Paradise Pier which the next eggs were located. The next one was at Boardwalk Plaza which is where the Mickey’s Fun Wheel of Doom is located. I always say Mickey’s Fun Wheel of Doom with the swinging gondolas. I have only ridden the swinging gondolas once and haven’t ridden since DCA opened in 2001.

But back to the egg-stravaganza. I went inside the bOardwalk Bazaar store and found the next egg which was Daisy inside the store.




I walked around Paradise Pier and head on over to the next egg. The next one was at Corn Dog Castle and it was easy to find the Pluto egg.




Now the next was at Redwook Creek Challenge Trail. This one was a challenge where to look for eggs around RCCT. I consider this one the hardest where it was going to take some time to look for the eggs. The first one I found was the Chip egg right by the waterfall.


The one at Trail Sequoia was hard to find that I spent some time walking around RCCT just to look for the next egg. After looking around, I finally found it right next to the tree where there is a trail.


That it for this post and continue on to the next post.

 

[mvf-m11c]

Day 3 – April 1st, 2017 – Part 2​

After getting the two eggs from Redwood Creek Challenge Trail which were Chip and Dale, the next one was at Rushin’ River Outfitters which is right next to Grizzly River Run. The Donald egg was not outside the store but it was inside in which it was easy to find which was on the top of the second floor inside the store.


After getting the egg at Rushin’ River Outfitters store, I head on over to the next one which was at Soarin’ Around the World. It was difficult at first finding the egg at Soarin. I must have spent at least 10 minutes looking for it until I found it at the top of where the FastPass machines were located. Goofy was on top which was hard to find at first but I didn’t look at that spot like the other spots around Soarin.


I got most of the eggs so I had to find the last one which was at the Animation Building. So I head on over back to Hollywood Land to find the last egg and looked closey at the Animation Building. I didn’t find it until I looked on the other parts of the building around it and found the White Rabbit on the left hand side.


I got all 12 eggs around DCA and it took about an hour and a half to find all the different eggs around DCA from walking around and looking for them. It did seem hard at first but if you look very carefully you will be able to find all the eggs around the park. Out of all the eggs, the hardest was the Animation Building along with the Carthay Circle Theater. It was fun to try the egg-stravaganza at DCA so I decided to try the other one at Disneyland. So I walked on back over to DL to try that egg-stravaganza.

When I head on over to DL, I had to wait a while to get in the park where the turnstiles were close to the Monorail pillars. I knew that it was going to be another busy day at the park with Spring Break.

I bought the map at the Disney Showcase store on Main Street and now it was the second egg-stravaganza event. This one will be very interesting to do at DL over DCA.


I went inside the Main Street Magic Shop as the first hunt. I found the Lucky White Rabbit at the backend of the shop which was on top of the things.




After that, I head on over to the Disenyana store to find the next one on the list.


It wasn’t outside so I went inside the store and it was on top of another shelf. It was the Mickey egg.




The next one was the Disneyland Baby Center on Main Street which was close next to the Little Red Wagon stand. When I got to the DL Baby Center, the next egg was inside the window which was Minnie.




After finding the Minnie egg, I now head on over to Adventureland for the next egg which was at Bengal Barbeque. The egg was on the upper balcony right on the left hand side of Bengal.




The next one was at Tarzan’s Treehouse. This one was at the top which was Donald.


After finding the Donald egg at Tarzan’s Treehouse, I head on over to New Orleans Square for the next one. This one was another difficult one as well in which I had a hard time finding the next egg. I covered most of New Orleans but I didn’t look at all places around NOS so I decided to come back to it later and head on over to Critter Country for the next one which was at Splash Mountain.

When I got on over to Splash Mountain, it was easy to find the next egg which was Dale at the top of the Splash Mountain queue entrance.


After I left Critter Country, I head on over towards Frontierland for the next egg which was at Westward Ho Trading Co.


It was not outside so I went inside the pin store and found the Pluto egg at the backend of the store.


After getting the Pluto egg at the Westward Ho Trading Co., it was around 2pm and it was time for me to head on out of the parks and back to the Mickey & Friends Parking structure so I can check in to my next hotel during my visit which was at Best Western Anaheim Inn on Harbor Blvd. I didn’t go early since the room won’t be ready until 3pm.

In the past, I have went early to check-in at the hotels I have stayed but they have been strict about it the last couple of years and told guests that they had to wait around that specific time. So it was time and I head on out and had to stop the egg hunting until when I head on back to the park that day.

I left the DLR and back to my car to check-in at BWAI. I have stayed at BWAI a lot in the past and it is one of my favorite hotels to stay when I go to the DLR. The ideal hotel I would stay when I go to the DLR is the Grand California Hotel but the rates are so crazy that staying across the street from the DLR is a good alternative for saving money. There at times where the prices of the hotels across on Harbor Blvd are quite high.

I checked at BWAI after 3pm and so I had some time to rest up until I head on back to the DLR that night. This time it will be easy with me bringing in my tripod the park which I wasn’t able to the first two nights since I wasn’t across the street.

That is it for this post and the story that night will continue.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Nice update.


Disney must have ordered a set of eggs for all the parks. They were definitely out on display at Hong kong when we were there. I think we were a couple of days early for Shanghai; but I believe they also had them out and about.
Interestingly, Hong Kong didn't seem to have an equivalent hunt map. There were tons out on display and they were everywhere!
You'll just have to wait until I write up the Hong Kong section to see them. I'll eventually get round to it.

 

[Steppesister]

Just when I was in Buena Vista Street, I remember that the egg-stravaganza started that day. I have read and seen pictures of the egg-stravaganza at the DLR where you look for Disney character eggs around each park and Downtown Disney. SO I decided to try the egg-stravaganza that day. It wasn’t that expensive which was $5.99 plus tax but I got my AP discount so it was around $5 for the whole thing which was not a bad price.

I did this too, and the same day! Shoot, we could have hunted together. I did all 3 hunts that day and got my 3 eggs, but that's up ahead in my TR. YOu got WAY better photos of the hunt.

Wasn't it fun?! I loved just wandering around taking in the scenery as I looked for them all. Basically, that's all I did that day.

 

[franandaj]

The egg hunt sounds like fun! I can't wait until we are done moving so that we can spend more time just hanging out as opposed to going to the parks with specific events in mind.

I would have enjoyed looking for the eggs!

 

[mvf-m11c]

Nice update.


Disney must have ordered a set of eggs for all the parks. They were definitely out on display at Hong kong when we were there. I think we were a couple of days early for Shanghai; but I believe they also had them out and about.
Interestingly, Hong Kong didn't seem to have an equivalent hunt map. There were tons out on display and they were everywhere!
You'll just have to wait until I write up the Hong Kong section to see them. I'll eventually get round to it.

Thank you PiO.

They must have if they are able to have the egg-stravaganza at all the resorts around the world from the DLR, WDW, Shanghai, etc. That is neat that Shanghai have it there and it would have been fun to look for them.

I did this too, and the same day! Shoot, we could have hunted together. I did all 3 hunts that day and got my 3 eggs, but that's up ahead in my TR. YOu got WAY better photos of the hunt.

Wasn't it fun?! I loved just wandering around taking in the scenery as I looked for them all. Basically, that's all I did that day.

That would have been fun to do it together during our visit. I'm glad that you were able to do all three while I only did DL and DCA. I will look forward to reading more from your TR.

Going around the DLR taking pictures of the scenery if fun. I have learned over time where it is neat to take pictures of things you barely see online. We see a lot of pics of the Castle, mountains, buildings, etc. but i am always looking for interesting things that we see. Like you said, we could have done the egg-stravaganza together.

The egg hunt sounds like fun! I can't wait until we are done moving so that we can spend more time just hanging out as opposed to going to the parks with specific events in mind.

I would have enjoyed looking for the eggs!

It would have been nice that you were at the parks last week but with everything going on with you and Fran, I understand.

Next year, you should consider trying the egg-stravaganza.

 

[mvf-m11c]

My Review of Guardians of the Galaxy Mission: Breakout Ride​

I haven’t finished my March/April trip this year but this is a quick review of my experience of riding the new Guardians of the Galaxy Mission: Breakout ride at Disney California Adventure. I won’t be writing a whole trip report for this past trip. Mostly I like to write up my adventures when I go to the Disney Parks but with everything going on in my life which I was in Reno and will be in Salt Lake City in a few weeks and Las Vegas this summer, I will barely have time to write up my trip reports.

As for the DISers that have followed my trip report over the years, I am not a huge fan of the Tower of Terror at DCA and I was going to be the same way with the new GotGMB ride. Drop rides like this is not one of my favorites. After getting to ride it on last Thursday that was only my fourth time riding ToT/GotGMB. For all the years I have been going to the DLR, I have ridden it only four times.

This trip was planned in advanced in which the last trip was a last second trip. I have gone to the DLR after Memorial weekend when I went to Las Vegas and Reno the last four years. I was planning on not going but this will be a good chance to get much out of my Annual Pass and get to see how Summer of Heroes promotion at DCA will be this summer.

It feel that this summer promotion is not impressive from the other summers at the DLR. I am not a huge fan of Marvel but you never see much Marvel things at the parks until this summer promotion. There is a character meet & greet at Hollywood Land which counts but not as much until now.

Why don’t we get started on my adventures last week.

After I was in Reno for about a week from Tuesday 23rd to the 30th, I head back home for half a day and I was back on the road to SoCal the next day which was kind of crazy. But I was able to drive all the way down to SoCal after a long time being in Reno.

Here is a little review on my day at the park on Wednesday. I checked into Best Western Stovall’s on Katella Blvd which I have stayed in the past. I like to stay at BW Stovall’s due to being close to the Anaheim Convention Center. I am not going to the D23 Expo this year next month with work in Vegas so I had to skip this year’s D23 Expo which is difficult.

I went to the park later after checking-in and I was able to bring my tripod in the park which is a good thing. I was not lucky bringing in my tripod last year but it looks like I had one bad CM that didn’t let me bring in my tripod. Also when I was walking to the DLR, I couldn’t walk towards the Grand California Hotel from my hotel since they have a security CM right by the entrance. It says that GCH guests are allowed to enter and not even Paradise Pier Hotel guests can’t walk through the GCH. I didn’t like that Disney did that so I had to walk all the way around towards the Disneyland Hotel area to enter Downtown Disney. I really liked going through the security area which there are way less people then the Mickey & Friends and the east side security. It means more walking around but it is fast to go through the security.

When I was at the parks, I went in DL and DCA to take some pictures with my tripod. I was able to go to eat at the Red Rose Taverne restaurant at Fantasyland. I wasn’t able to eat there during the last trip but the food was nice. I had the Slow-cooked Beef Poutine.

I checked out the construction going on at the back of the River’s of America to see the work and there were still construction workers working on the back where the train tracks. From the way it is going, it will be sometime late summer when it is done. I also heard that Fantasmic! 2.0 is behind schedule as well which should open sometime during late summer. Talk about a bummer that it won’t be ready until late summer.

I was able to watch Remember Dreams Come True fireworks that night from the RoA which is a nice spot to watch when there is no F! going on. I was also able to go to see the GotGMB ride at DCA. I didn’t plan on going on it since the queue would be so long. On average, the wait time was at 2 hour or longer for most of the time when I passed by it during the trip.

The day was long when I drove to SoCal so I didn’t stay at the parks long that night after the fireworks so I can get a head start of getting up early to ride GotGMB ride.


It was around 7am when I left BW Stovall’s to the DLR to get in line at the turnstiles at DCA. I had to go around towards the DLH over crossing on over towards the GCH which costs me a few minutes. But the security check-in area was quite fast so I didn’t have to wait quite a while.

I got to the turnstile at 7:20am which was not that bad that morning and I was only about 20 people behind in the line I was in. When it got to 7:30am, the park opened with it’s rope drop which is a good thing.

I walked in the park and head on over towards the queue for GotGMB ride. I wasn’t plan on going through the standby queue that morning where it will take longer to go through unless you are at the park very early.

Disney really did their homework really well on setting up a queue for the morning when the park opened for rope drop. The FastPass queue was going towards Disney Junior queue and on the side of the building along on the street of Hollywood Land.


The standby queue was long that early rope drop morning and the FP queue was the same thing.


There were tapes on the street and sidewalk to tell the guests where to go in the queue which is smart and very Disney which they have done in a lot for long queue things.


The standby queue even went towards the queue for Frozen Live at the Hyperion.


While I was walking through the FP queue, we went backstage which is rare to do.


There were a lot of queue backstage for the FP queue.


After walking around the FP queue that morning, I got my FP and it was a good time at 8:45am to 9:45am.


After getting the FP, I thought about getting in the standby queue but the wait time already jumped up to 90 minutes so it was an easy decision of just waiting instead of going through another queue and waiting that long to get on the ride.


During the time I was waiting, I went on Soarin Around the World. I like to ride Soarin when I am at the park but I am not a fan of Around the World and would like to see Around California back at DCA.

After riding Soarin’, it was time to head on back to Hollywood Land to go on the ride.

Before I walked through the queue, I went to get one more FP for GotGMB. The time was not till 3:30pm to 4:30pm around 9am that I got it that morning which was not that bad at that time.

Then I head on over to the fastpass entrance. The wait time in the standby was at 120 minutes at 9am that morning.


I wasn’t able to get pictures of the whole queue since I was in the fastpass queue but I was able to get as many as I can during my time.

The first thing when you enter is see the statue of Taneleer Tivan or known as the Collector in the Marvel movies which he is finding and preserving unique beings and artifacts throughout the universe.


The interior decoration which shows a lot of unique beings and artifacts in showcases that are on the ground floor to the top of the ceiling.










I only had to wait about 5 minutes through the FP queue which was really fast over the standby which I would have to wait even longer if I went through the regular queue that morning.

More deco on the wall




We now entered the Collector’s office seeing other artifacts and collections.


There was a video of Tivan talking about his stuff until someone made an entrance.


It’s Rocket. The AA of Rocket is amazing. This was my highlight of the ride with the pre-show of Rocket. Rocket hijacks the video to explain his plan on rescuing his friends. The guest will use their access passes (their hands) to enter the gantry lift while Rocket rides on top to blow up the generator so that the Guardians, as well as the other creatures in the collection, can escape. The Guardians will then reunite with Mantis who will arrive with their ship so that they can make a quick getaway.








Then he left and then took Quill’s walkman from the Collector artifacts in the case.




Continue on the Next Post

 

[mvf-m11c]

After the pre-show with Rocket in the Collector’s Office, we were now in the boiler room which have been updated a little bit from the old Tower of Terror version. My group had to walk upstairs.






When I was upstairs, I saw the old Abominable Snowman from the Matterhorn Mountain until they added a new one a few years ago. The last time I saw the original Abominable Snowman was at the D23 Expo in 2015. Now they put them in the queue.


The new signs before you enter the gantry lift






The gantry lift is still the same ride vehicle like they used in the Tower of Terror. Not much has changed to the ride vehicle along with the seats.

After we were seated in the gantry lift, Rocket unplugs the system and inserts Quill’s Walkman starting one of the songs.




The first room is the generator.


After that, there were a couple of drops going up and down in the dark which is crazy.

There are six different versions of the ride, each with its own song, visuals, and drop sequences. The one I got was I Want You Back – The Jackson 5 (1969) which shows the Guardians jumping from their confinement, only for Drax to get captured by a tentacle monster.


The second scenario shows Quill kicking a rat-like creature into the cages before being attacked by a group of them.




A few times it went up and down and the top of the elevator opened and got our picture.

More going up and down again which I was not feeling well. Rocket finally restores power and the lift drops down to the show the Guardians reunited along with Mantis and Cosmo the Spacedog. The Guardians thank the guests, but as the lift resets itself, Drax is heard wondering why they be thanking the guests as all they did was sit through the whole ordeal and did not actually do any fighting.


Then we went back to the same level where we entered the gantry lift and walked out. I felt a little sick after the ride but I was okay after that while I was off.

Here is my pic of riding the ride that day.


After getting the picture, I was now in the Collector’s Warehouse gift shop seeing all Guardians of the Galaxy merchandise. I mostly never get Marvel items, but there was one item I got which was the Annual Pass shirt.

Then I head on out of the store and back outside.

So here is my review of the ride. Since I rarely ride the Tower of Terror/Guardians of the Galaxy Mission: Breakout, the theme was nicely done on the inside while I did not like the exterior of the façade. I would say that the façade on the inside was way better over the ToT while the ToT had the better exterior which showed the hotel instead of that building of Guardians.

The best part for me was the pre-show with the AA Rocket in the Collector’s Office. I don’t like riding drop rides like the Tower of Terror before it was converted to GotGMB. It seems like there were more drops with the GotGMB over the ToT in my opinion.

Overall, the ride experience was nice but I will not be going on it when I have the opportunity to ride it again since I don’t like those types of rides. When Tower of Terror opened in 2004, I had ridden it three times over that time and I didn’t regret of not riding it more than I have.

For fans of Guardians of the Galaxy and drop rides, this will be one of your favorite rides at DCA. The theming and storytelling is nice with six different variations. Just like Star Tours with all those different ride experiences, this one has less than Star Tours. For me, I will only go on it again if I have someone in my group is willing to go. Maybe I won’t do that if they beg me like when I don’t want to go on Mickey’s Fun Wheel of Doom swinging gondolas.

When I have time finishing the March/April trip report, I will try to write up this past week trip.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Thanks for the pics. I think I'm going to pass on that ride. I really don't like drop rides at all.