Thank you Dis Boarders!
The real purpose of this trip was to visit my brother and his wife who just had their first baby. They live in Irvine so I knew how close I'd be to DL. We have been to WDW twice as a family, and since we have an even newer family to now visit in California, I wanted to check out DLR on my own first to see if it would be worth it to weave into family trips for the future. And.....I just really wanted to go!
I had one day park hopper tickets with Maxpass. I also had a 7:20 Plaza Inn breakfast (during MM) and a 7:00 Hungry Bear Fantasmic dinner package.
I get really bad motion sickness, so I knew I was not going to be going on the rides that would bother me - motion simulators, roller coasters, anything spinning or dropping (more on that later). I did take half a Bonine - which I try not to do b/c it still makes me sleepy.
I flew into SNA on Wednesday night. Landed at 9:25 and was at the Fairfield Inn and Suites at 10:05! Man, the Orange County airport is super easy and super close to Disney. I took an Uber for $25 and it took just about 20 minutes. I was on East Coast time so I was tired, so I quickly packed my bag for the next day, and went to bed. Unfortunately, because of my East Coast body, I was up at 4:50 am. I was annoyed but got myself out of bed by 5:15, made coffee and decided to leave the room around 6:15 am. DL opened for MM/EMH at 7:00 am and I had a 7:20 Plaza Inn breakfast reservation.
The walk to the parks was SO easy! I was at the gates by 6:25. A bit early, but people were definitely lining up already. I saw the Character Breakfast turnstile and no one was there so I just walked around and took some pics. I observed a lot - the workers, other families, kids melting down (ha - was glad I was alone - even though I felt guilty inside). Finally one person lined up at the Character line so I joined in - it was about 6:45. The opened the gates right at 7:00 am and the first girl scanned and walked in and then my turn ........ and the ticket machine jammed. The CM was too relaxed for my liking and said - "oh, don't worry, I'll just call for help." Well, help wasn't coming and the people behind me were getting impatient (rightfully so). I was too because I had been awake for 2 hours at this point and would have appreciated some extra time walking up Main Street before my breakfast reservation. But, I was calm since I was by myself. Two managers finally came to help me and took me out of line, but it took them until 7:18 to help - two minutes before my breakfast reservation. I was, at least, able to make my first MP for Indiana Jones for 8:30 - 9:30. This was my first time seeing Maxpass and I liked how the app told me when I could make my next one. This works well for me because I could plan when to be on the ride or not so I didn't miss my next window. I also liked how quickly you could pull the next FP when the FP before it was immediate. I can't eloquently explain Maxpass to anyone else yet, but it was easy to learn it by doing it.
I took my time a bit walking up Main Street. Sorry.....the castle seemed so small! I'm used to Cinderella's castle. I still appreciated it and totally got the magic feel as I was walking.
Checked into Plaza Inn around 7:25, bypassed my photo with Minnie and I paid right away with the hostess (good idea). I was seated in the solarium type room and I was the only one! I felt a little uncomfortable eating on my own. A couple of characters came by and I just waved, I didn't know how to act. I ate pretty quickly and was walking out around 7:40. I wasn't sure if I was allowed to leave because I saw a lot of ropes, but I just walked out through the entrance. I took pics at the castle and the partner statue, I walked through the castle, and the advice I was given was to go to Alice first.
I was tempted to hop on Snow White and Pinocchio and Toad, but I stuck to my plan. Alice was a 15 minute wait.and I was off the ride at exactly 8:00. I heard the announcement for the regular 8:00 am opening. From my observation, it seemed very crowded in FL from 7 - 8 and the crowds seemed to calm down at 8 (did people move on to other lands?). After Alice, I went on Snow White, Pinocchio and wanted to do Toad but it was down. I headed to Small World and I was the only one on my boat and there was NO ONE on the three boats behind me. It was almost as if I was in the entire Small World attraction by myself. Small World was a "long ride" and my next FP booking window opened up while on the ride so I used that to book Haunted Mansion from 8:30 - 9:30 which was immediately following my IJ window - that was cool. I got off Small World and it was time to ride IJ. I was hesitant a bit to ride IJ due to my motion sickness. I knew it was similar to Dinosaur at AK, and that made me feel sick, but I hadn't taken my medicine when I rode that. I heard how great IJ was though, so I gave it a shot. It was really cool - I was taken back to when I was a kid and the movies were popular. Great effects and the rolling boulder was fun! I felt a bit queasy but not too bad. I walked over to HM to use that FP and while waiting, it was time to book my next FP! I booked it for Splash, even though I wasn't sure I wanted to ride it - the drop. HM was great! I just adore that ride. I then headed to Splash and realized there was single rider line, so I was feeling brave, cancelled my FP for Splash and felt it needed to be time to check on RSR. I'm glad I did because I was able to grab a 1:30 - 2:30 FP time which worked well for me because I could wander after Splash, grab a coffee, leisurely head to DCA, and eat lunch, explore Carsland, all before riding. What I didn't realize was that I was able to choose a FP again in a relatively short time. How exciting! Anyway, I got in the single rider line for Splash (which wasn't a line - I walked right on). I didn't love where I sat - all the way on the last seat - my legs were kind of straddling the woman in front of me which I didn't love. I liked the ride and theme, but I should know better to stay away from drops. My photopass pic is funny. I didn't get too wet. I thought I would be taking a break after Splash, but Winnie was right there, so I walked on, then Pirates was close by with hardly any wait so I rode that. Very cool - glad to see it compared to WDW and I did enjoy it more. It was now 10:30. I needed that coffee. I walked to the bakery near the hub, made my own iced coffee, and sat and observed. That was nice - not something I could have done with the kids in tow. I waited there until 10:50 which was my next booking window and I was able to grab TSMM for 12:30. Perfect timing because I could still have time to walk through Tomorrowland (not much different than WDW), Toontown (adorable!), walk over to DCA, explore, and eat lunch. I wasn't so sure about my motion sickness for TSMM but I wanted to experience to see if my kids would like it for when we go to WDW in November.
So easy to park hop to DCA. The line for scanning in was long though and it was a HOT day, so I was baking in the sun for a while. I could hear people complaining a bit. I walked through Buena Vista Street, found a bench, and mobile ordered Cucina Cucamonga. I found my way over to the restaurant and my food was ready almost immediately. I also immediately felt a different vibe at DCA - alcohol, music, a very upbeat vibe (not like I didn't feel that in the other park). As I ate (and I enjoyed my burrito bowl meal), a mariachi band serenaded us with Disney songs in spanish. fun! While eating, my next FP window opened up! I couldn't believe it - the windows kept opening and opening. I booked Guardians of the Galaxy for 2:30 which was immediately after RSR. So, in my FP queue, I had TSMM for 12:30 - 1:30, RSR for 1:30 - 2:30, and Guardians for 2:30 - 3:30. That felt like a pre-planned WDW FP queue! I didn't imagine being able to hold three FPs at once. My afternoon was now set, although I was worried for my motion sickness on all three of these rides.
After lunch I headed towards Pixar Pier. Now, I don't know what it really was like before the re-furb, but I LOVED it! I thought it was so beautiful and the Mickey Fun Wheel is such a calming thing to watch. I walked around, then got on TSMM. I felt a bit queasy at first, but figured out to not look through the glasses until the car stopped in front of the screens. Great ride - my kids will love it. After TSMM, I took my time heading over to Carsland. I walked through the Grizzly Peak area and that felt nice and cool. Then I walked into Carsland and WOW, what a great job Disney did. I took a ton of pics, walked by RSR and FP line was HUGE! I decided to wait a bit, saw a little show in the middle of the street where one of the cars dances with the waitresses, then went back to RSR. The FP line was a bit shorter, but it took me 40 minutes to get on the ride (is that normal?). Again, a bit nervous about motion sickness b/c I didn't feel great after Test Track, but this is much smoother. I loved the ride. All of the themeing and animatronics before hand, and then the race was super fun. Great great great ride. By this time, it was very close to my Guardians FP window opening (what great planning - ha). I knew better than to go on the ride, but I was too curious. It was great, but it did me in. I thought it was one big drop. WRONG! I was hot and sweaty and could not wait to get off. I got out of the ride and just took my time in the shade. I also knew it was break time at the hotel until the evening, so that was good. When I felt ready, I walked a bit through Hollywoodland and popped into Turtle Talk to check that out for my kids for November. I left a little into it b/c i got the gist and just didn't need to be in there by myself. I got back to the hotel at 3 and wanted to head back and be in the park at 6. I relaxed, looked through all my pics, and showered. I felt so much better and by 5:20 I was ready to head back. It was so much cooler outside and that gave me the energy I needed for the rest of the night.
I wanted to get back to Magic Kingdom to hit Toad because that was down earlier. I was in line at 5:42 (so fast!). I then wanted to see if I could get my Hungry Bear to go food earlier than 7 because I was hungry and also wanted to give myself more time to get back into DCA before Paint the Night. What a hike to Hungry Bear. I got in the line to order my food and that took a really long time. I'm glad I decided to do this before my original reservation at 7:00. I ordered the riblets - they were fine - just messy, but I enjoyed the kale salad and grains. I was done around 6:30 and got to DCA around 6:45. I had wanted to go on Monsters Inc previously, but had bypassed it because of the line, so I had time now and it was so much cooler out. Still a 30 minute wait but glad I went on - one of my kids' favorite movies. It was about 7:15 and I definitely didn't want to get a spot yet for PTN. I walked around, visited Carlsand again, picked up some caramel corn (warm and gooey - so good!), then decided to ride Ariel. It was still too early for me to sit and wait, although I could see how many people were already claiming their spots. I headed down to the Plaza to see Pixar Pier start to light up and it was really beautiful. At about 8:15 I decided to find a spot for the parade - as per recommendation - I took a spot near LM. Since it was just me it was easy to find a place. I felt I lucked out with my spot because there was a tree right behind me and I was able to sit and lean back. I LOVED PTN. Gorgeous, fun music and the crowd stayed seated! Everyone around me was clapping and enjoying themselves. I wanted to see if I could complete the challenge of PTN, Fireworks and Fantasmic, so as the parade was ending I exited out of the park through the Grizzly Peak area (some more people were literally running, so I knew I was going in the right direction). I got to DL with about 5 minutes to spare. Great spot on Main Street and saw the beginning - loved Buzz Lightyear flying. But the crowds overwhelmed me a bit and I didn't want to get caught up in anything because I wanted to be in my Fantasmic area by 10. So I left the crowds and watched from Frontierland. I also so the Up house fly over. Very cute.
Major crowds heading towards Fantasmic, but I knew to enter near Haunted Mansion so I kept trudging forward. I found the entrance and found a great spot. Only problem was that the woman in front of me was wearing "ears" and they kept blocking my view. This was my first time seeing Fantasmic (will see the HS version in November) and I really loved it. That pirate ship! HUGE! Yeah, loved everything about the show. After it was over, I could have stayed until midnight, but I was done. Walked back to my hotel and probably had the best sleep of my life!
Amazing trip. We'll be heading out to the West Coast a bunch more now that we have a little niece over here. Excited to take the kids, but will probably focus on DCA.
I miss it already! Next trip to WDW in November!
The real purpose of this trip was to visit my brother and his wife who just had their first baby. They live in Irvine so I knew how close I'd be to DL. We have been to WDW twice as a family, and since we have an even newer family to now visit in California, I wanted to check out DLR on my own first to see if it would be worth it to weave into family trips for the future. And.....I just really wanted to go!
I had one day park hopper tickets with Maxpass. I also had a 7:20 Plaza Inn breakfast (during MM) and a 7:00 Hungry Bear Fantasmic dinner package.
I get really bad motion sickness, so I knew I was not going to be going on the rides that would bother me - motion simulators, roller coasters, anything spinning or dropping (more on that later). I did take half a Bonine - which I try not to do b/c it still makes me sleepy.
I flew into SNA on Wednesday night. Landed at 9:25 and was at the Fairfield Inn and Suites at 10:05! Man, the Orange County airport is super easy and super close to Disney. I took an Uber for $25 and it took just about 20 minutes. I was on East Coast time so I was tired, so I quickly packed my bag for the next day, and went to bed. Unfortunately, because of my East Coast body, I was up at 4:50 am. I was annoyed but got myself out of bed by 5:15, made coffee and decided to leave the room around 6:15 am. DL opened for MM/EMH at 7:00 am and I had a 7:20 Plaza Inn breakfast reservation.
The walk to the parks was SO easy! I was at the gates by 6:25. A bit early, but people were definitely lining up already. I saw the Character Breakfast turnstile and no one was there so I just walked around and took some pics. I observed a lot - the workers, other families, kids melting down (ha - was glad I was alone - even though I felt guilty inside). Finally one person lined up at the Character line so I joined in - it was about 6:45. The opened the gates right at 7:00 am and the first girl scanned and walked in and then my turn ........ and the ticket machine jammed. The CM was too relaxed for my liking and said - "oh, don't worry, I'll just call for help." Well, help wasn't coming and the people behind me were getting impatient (rightfully so). I was too because I had been awake for 2 hours at this point and would have appreciated some extra time walking up Main Street before my breakfast reservation. But, I was calm since I was by myself. Two managers finally came to help me and took me out of line, but it took them until 7:18 to help - two minutes before my breakfast reservation. I was, at least, able to make my first MP for Indiana Jones for 8:30 - 9:30. This was my first time seeing Maxpass and I liked how the app told me when I could make my next one. This works well for me because I could plan when to be on the ride or not so I didn't miss my next window. I also liked how quickly you could pull the next FP when the FP before it was immediate. I can't eloquently explain Maxpass to anyone else yet, but it was easy to learn it by doing it.
I took my time a bit walking up Main Street. Sorry.....the castle seemed so small! I'm used to Cinderella's castle. I still appreciated it and totally got the magic feel as I was walking.
Checked into Plaza Inn around 7:25, bypassed my photo with Minnie and I paid right away with the hostess (good idea). I was seated in the solarium type room and I was the only one! I felt a little uncomfortable eating on my own. A couple of characters came by and I just waved, I didn't know how to act. I ate pretty quickly and was walking out around 7:40. I wasn't sure if I was allowed to leave because I saw a lot of ropes, but I just walked out through the entrance. I took pics at the castle and the partner statue, I walked through the castle, and the advice I was given was to go to Alice first.
I was tempted to hop on Snow White and Pinocchio and Toad, but I stuck to my plan. Alice was a 15 minute wait.and I was off the ride at exactly 8:00. I heard the announcement for the regular 8:00 am opening. From my observation, it seemed very crowded in FL from 7 - 8 and the crowds seemed to calm down at 8 (did people move on to other lands?). After Alice, I went on Snow White, Pinocchio and wanted to do Toad but it was down. I headed to Small World and I was the only one on my boat and there was NO ONE on the three boats behind me. It was almost as if I was in the entire Small World attraction by myself. Small World was a "long ride" and my next FP booking window opened up while on the ride so I used that to book Haunted Mansion from 8:30 - 9:30 which was immediately following my IJ window - that was cool. I got off Small World and it was time to ride IJ. I was hesitant a bit to ride IJ due to my motion sickness. I knew it was similar to Dinosaur at AK, and that made me feel sick, but I hadn't taken my medicine when I rode that. I heard how great IJ was though, so I gave it a shot. It was really cool - I was taken back to when I was a kid and the movies were popular. Great effects and the rolling boulder was fun! I felt a bit queasy but not too bad. I walked over to HM to use that FP and while waiting, it was time to book my next FP! I booked it for Splash, even though I wasn't sure I wanted to ride it - the drop. HM was great! I just adore that ride. I then headed to Splash and realized there was single rider line, so I was feeling brave, cancelled my FP for Splash and felt it needed to be time to check on RSR. I'm glad I did because I was able to grab a 1:30 - 2:30 FP time which worked well for me because I could wander after Splash, grab a coffee, leisurely head to DCA, and eat lunch, explore Carsland, all before riding. What I didn't realize was that I was able to choose a FP again in a relatively short time. How exciting! Anyway, I got in the single rider line for Splash (which wasn't a line - I walked right on). I didn't love where I sat - all the way on the last seat - my legs were kind of straddling the woman in front of me which I didn't love. I liked the ride and theme, but I should know better to stay away from drops. My photopass pic is funny. I didn't get too wet. I thought I would be taking a break after Splash, but Winnie was right there, so I walked on, then Pirates was close by with hardly any wait so I rode that. Very cool - glad to see it compared to WDW and I did enjoy it more. It was now 10:30. I needed that coffee. I walked to the bakery near the hub, made my own iced coffee, and sat and observed. That was nice - not something I could have done with the kids in tow. I waited there until 10:50 which was my next booking window and I was able to grab TSMM for 12:30. Perfect timing because I could still have time to walk through Tomorrowland (not much different than WDW), Toontown (adorable!), walk over to DCA, explore, and eat lunch. I wasn't so sure about my motion sickness for TSMM but I wanted to experience to see if my kids would like it for when we go to WDW in November.
So easy to park hop to DCA. The line for scanning in was long though and it was a HOT day, so I was baking in the sun for a while. I could hear people complaining a bit. I walked through Buena Vista Street, found a bench, and mobile ordered Cucina Cucamonga. I found my way over to the restaurant and my food was ready almost immediately. I also immediately felt a different vibe at DCA - alcohol, music, a very upbeat vibe (not like I didn't feel that in the other park). As I ate (and I enjoyed my burrito bowl meal), a mariachi band serenaded us with Disney songs in spanish. fun! While eating, my next FP window opened up! I couldn't believe it - the windows kept opening and opening. I booked Guardians of the Galaxy for 2:30 which was immediately after RSR. So, in my FP queue, I had TSMM for 12:30 - 1:30, RSR for 1:30 - 2:30, and Guardians for 2:30 - 3:30. That felt like a pre-planned WDW FP queue! I didn't imagine being able to hold three FPs at once. My afternoon was now set, although I was worried for my motion sickness on all three of these rides.
After lunch I headed towards Pixar Pier. Now, I don't know what it really was like before the re-furb, but I LOVED it! I thought it was so beautiful and the Mickey Fun Wheel is such a calming thing to watch. I walked around, then got on TSMM. I felt a bit queasy at first, but figured out to not look through the glasses until the car stopped in front of the screens. Great ride - my kids will love it. After TSMM, I took my time heading over to Carsland. I walked through the Grizzly Peak area and that felt nice and cool. Then I walked into Carsland and WOW, what a great job Disney did. I took a ton of pics, walked by RSR and FP line was HUGE! I decided to wait a bit, saw a little show in the middle of the street where one of the cars dances with the waitresses, then went back to RSR. The FP line was a bit shorter, but it took me 40 minutes to get on the ride (is that normal?). Again, a bit nervous about motion sickness b/c I didn't feel great after Test Track, but this is much smoother. I loved the ride. All of the themeing and animatronics before hand, and then the race was super fun. Great great great ride. By this time, it was very close to my Guardians FP window opening (what great planning - ha). I knew better than to go on the ride, but I was too curious. It was great, but it did me in. I thought it was one big drop. WRONG! I was hot and sweaty and could not wait to get off. I got out of the ride and just took my time in the shade. I also knew it was break time at the hotel until the evening, so that was good. When I felt ready, I walked a bit through Hollywoodland and popped into Turtle Talk to check that out for my kids for November. I left a little into it b/c i got the gist and just didn't need to be in there by myself. I got back to the hotel at 3 and wanted to head back and be in the park at 6. I relaxed, looked through all my pics, and showered. I felt so much better and by 5:20 I was ready to head back. It was so much cooler outside and that gave me the energy I needed for the rest of the night.
I wanted to get back to Magic Kingdom to hit Toad because that was down earlier. I was in line at 5:42 (so fast!). I then wanted to see if I could get my Hungry Bear to go food earlier than 7 because I was hungry and also wanted to give myself more time to get back into DCA before Paint the Night. What a hike to Hungry Bear. I got in the line to order my food and that took a really long time. I'm glad I decided to do this before my original reservation at 7:00. I ordered the riblets - they were fine - just messy, but I enjoyed the kale salad and grains. I was done around 6:30 and got to DCA around 6:45. I had wanted to go on Monsters Inc previously, but had bypassed it because of the line, so I had time now and it was so much cooler out. Still a 30 minute wait but glad I went on - one of my kids' favorite movies. It was about 7:15 and I definitely didn't want to get a spot yet for PTN. I walked around, visited Carlsand again, picked up some caramel corn (warm and gooey - so good!), then decided to ride Ariel. It was still too early for me to sit and wait, although I could see how many people were already claiming their spots. I headed down to the Plaza to see Pixar Pier start to light up and it was really beautiful. At about 8:15 I decided to find a spot for the parade - as per recommendation - I took a spot near LM. Since it was just me it was easy to find a place. I felt I lucked out with my spot because there was a tree right behind me and I was able to sit and lean back. I LOVED PTN. Gorgeous, fun music and the crowd stayed seated! Everyone around me was clapping and enjoying themselves. I wanted to see if I could complete the challenge of PTN, Fireworks and Fantasmic, so as the parade was ending I exited out of the park through the Grizzly Peak area (some more people were literally running, so I knew I was going in the right direction). I got to DL with about 5 minutes to spare. Great spot on Main Street and saw the beginning - loved Buzz Lightyear flying. But the crowds overwhelmed me a bit and I didn't want to get caught up in anything because I wanted to be in my Fantasmic area by 10. So I left the crowds and watched from Frontierland. I also so the Up house fly over. Very cute.
Major crowds heading towards Fantasmic, but I knew to enter near Haunted Mansion so I kept trudging forward. I found the entrance and found a great spot. Only problem was that the woman in front of me was wearing "ears" and they kept blocking my view. This was my first time seeing Fantasmic (will see the HS version in November) and I really loved it. That pirate ship! HUGE! Yeah, loved everything about the show. After it was over, I could have stayed until midnight, but I was done. Walked back to my hotel and probably had the best sleep of my life!
Amazing trip. We'll be heading out to the West Coast a bunch more now that we have a little niece over here. Excited to take the kids, but will probably focus on DCA.
I miss it already! Next trip to WDW in November!
Sorry about the motion sickness - that can be a bummer!
