Eyeheartdisneyyy
Earning My Ears
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Great trip report!
Stuck at Disneyland for the Super Bowl *Updated 6/15 Post Dump Trip COMPLETE*
- Thread starter ashw100
- Start date
ashw100
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Thanks, there was so much to see on the Riverboat.Great pics from the Riverboat! And lots of great character pics from breakfast
Thank you
ashw100
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Day 2: Part 3
The boys didn’t want to nap but, we insisted they had to lay down for an hour, even if they didn’t fall asleep. Well Nicholas and James were out immediately, as was Joe. However, after an hour Connor and I were still awake, so we went down to the pool. Around this time, our window opened to get another fastpass so I grabbed it for Soarin. Connor had so much fun going down the monorail slides.
It was a little cold for me, so I watched from the sidelines while I talked to my mom on the phone. Eventually Joe and the other two came down. James didn’t want to swim, but Nicholas was ready to go.
I popped into Trader Sams for a drink, but after five minutes and no service I went outside and got drinks from there. I got a Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Rum, which is rum, cream of coconut, pineapple and orange juice dusted with cinnamon and nutmeg.
It was a delicious tropical concoction, but not very strong. After a little while more at the pool, we all went back up to the room to get ready for dinner. Somewhere around this time I was able to grab another FP for TSMM. In case you have lost count we currently were holding four FPs, the anytime one from BTMRR, RSR, Soarin, and TSMM. We took the monorail back to DL.
We still had time before our dinner ADR, so we decided to use our anytime FP for BTMRR. James and Connor did not want to go on this ride. Connor, as I said, is just not a thrill ride person, although he can be convinced sometimes. James on the other hand, refuses anything that is unknown to him, regardless of what it is. We bribed them with the promise that we would have a predinner Mickey bar if they rode.
On one side of me James screamed like he was dying the entire time and the other side I had Nicholas giggling and whooping through the whole thing. Needless to say, James hated it, and Nicholas loved his first big boy rollercoaster. Although I predicted that would happen as he made us ride Barnstormer over and over and over on our last WDW trip. As for Joe and I, these WDW vets loved the ending here so much better. As was quickly becoming the trend, the rides are just better here
. We got them their promised Mickey bars, James and I opted for the ice cream sandwiches.
One interesting this we noticed was it said hard frozen, and we weren’t sure what that meant. We quickly learned that these frozen treats were in fact frozen into solid hard bricks. It was super hard to eat and not very pleasant, we finally found something we like at WDW better. We still had some time, and Winnie the Pooh had a short wait, so we decided to try it out.
Having done very little before this trip, I thought this was identical to the WDW version. And surprise, surprise, we liked this one better too.
We made our way over to New Orleans Square for our ADR at Café Orleans and we noticed a constant stream of chefs walking away from New Orleans Square. When we finally fought like a fish trying to swim upstream to get to the restaurant, we learned that New Orleans Square was closed for the night as a fire had broken out. We could see all the abandoned tables outside, with food still sitting on them, it was a sad sight. Apart from being sad about missing our dinner, the only reason I had bought park hoppers was so we could eat in Disneyland both nights, and now that was unnecessary
. The boys were very hungry, so we stopped at the first place I could think of, Refreshment Corner. Everyone got hot dogs and we ate outside on the beautiful night. While it wasn’t what I had planned, we ended up having a fun time. The boys played games on the bags they got and Joe and I talked about our upcoming plans for the night. I was also able to snag another FP, this time for Guardians of the Galaxy, Mission Breakout. As we made our way down Main Street I spotted the very coveted rose gold ears at the Emporium. I ducked in real quick to buy them and then we went over to DCA.
The first thing we needed to see was Carsland.
Nicholas was done with family pictures
Cruz Ramirez was out meeting so we stopped by to say hello.
It was time to use our FP for RSR, and I was so excited to finally experience this ride.
James was freaking out, but I tried to calm him. He did the same thing with TT at Epcot, and I he ended up loving that ride, I just needed him to just try it again. Meanwhile, Nicholas was mad we didn’t get the Lightening McQueen car.
In the end, everyone absolutely loved this ride. I thought it was so well done, we got the Ramone side, the only time it got it all trip. I was also glad we had the chance to ride it at night, since it was our only opportunity, and I loved it at night so much more. We walked all the way back for TSMM next. This area was all under construction at the time so it felt like kind of a waste to walk all way back there for one ride.
We had a little time before our next FP, so we did some shopping in the store near Grizzly River Run. I know the boys got some stuffed animals and pins. We had our next FP for Soarin. This was another new one for Nicholas and James.
They both loved it. After the ride, the boys were getting hungry and wanted popcorn. We came across two stands, both were out of popcorn. We hoped we could find some along the way. We had our last FP for GotG, but when we got over there the line was super long. We didn’t think we would have enough time to wait and get a good spot for WoC, so we skipped it. Also we were still on the hunt for popcorn. We did not come across another stand on the way over to WoC. Joe walked the entire length of that area looking for something for the boys to eat, but it was all the food booths for the Lunar New Year celebration. Our mission failed, we went into the area for WoC. The boys were still hungry, but luckily I had goldfish packed. We had a pretty good view of WoC, but we had to hold the boys. My back was killing me by the end, poor Joe had it worse holding James. We had the Lunar New Year beginning, which was very beautiful. The whole time Nicholas kept saying he couldn’t wait for fireworks. I tried to tell him there weren’t any in this show, but low and behold at the end of the Lunar Year preshow, they did set off fireworks. I didn’t get many pictures of the show, because I just wanted to enjoy.
I absolutely loved it, it's now my favorite Disney nighttime show. We walked back to the hotel, making a pitstop at Earl of Sandwich. Joe and I split the chipotle chicken avocado sandwich. OMG this was a delicious sandwich, it had a nice flavor from the chipotle, and the chicken and avocados were so fresh. It was the perfect way to end, a pretty awesome day.
The boys didn’t want to nap but, we insisted they had to lay down for an hour, even if they didn’t fall asleep. Well Nicholas and James were out immediately, as was Joe. However, after an hour Connor and I were still awake, so we went down to the pool. Around this time, our window opened to get another fastpass so I grabbed it for Soarin. Connor had so much fun going down the monorail slides.
It was a little cold for me, so I watched from the sidelines while I talked to my mom on the phone. Eventually Joe and the other two came down. James didn’t want to swim, but Nicholas was ready to go.
This is how he does thumbs up 
I popped into Trader Sams for a drink, but after five minutes and no service I went outside and got drinks from there. I got a Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Rum, which is rum, cream of coconut, pineapple and orange juice dusted with cinnamon and nutmeg.
Nicholas has all the necessary accessories
We still had time before our dinner ADR, so we decided to use our anytime FP for BTMRR. James and Connor did not want to go on this ride. Connor, as I said, is just not a thrill ride person, although he can be convinced sometimes. James on the other hand, refuses anything that is unknown to him, regardless of what it is. We bribed them with the promise that we would have a predinner Mickey bar if they rode.
Nicholas is ready
James, not so much
James, not so much
On one side of me James screamed like he was dying the entire time and the other side I had Nicholas giggling and whooping through the whole thing. Needless to say, James hated it, and Nicholas loved his first big boy rollercoaster. Although I predicted that would happen as he made us ride Barnstormer over and over and over on our last WDW trip. As for Joe and I, these WDW vets loved the ending here so much better. As was quickly becoming the trend, the rides are just better here
. We got them their promised Mickey bars, James and I opted for the ice cream sandwiches. One interesting this we noticed was it said hard frozen, and we weren’t sure what that meant. We quickly learned that these frozen treats were in fact frozen into solid hard bricks. It was super hard to eat and not very pleasant, we finally found something we like at WDW better. We still had some time, and Winnie the Pooh had a short wait, so we decided to try it out.
Waiting in line
Joe's very bad attempt at a family selfie
Joe's very bad attempt at a family selfie
Having done very little before this trip, I thought this was identical to the WDW version. And surprise, surprise, we liked this one better too.
It was super hard to take pictures on this ride though
We made our way over to New Orleans Square for our ADR at Café Orleans and we noticed a constant stream of chefs walking away from New Orleans Square. When we finally fought like a fish trying to swim upstream to get to the restaurant, we learned that New Orleans Square was closed for the night as a fire had broken out. We could see all the abandoned tables outside, with food still sitting on them, it was a sad sight. Apart from being sad about missing our dinner, the only reason I had bought park hoppers was so we could eat in Disneyland both nights, and now that was unnecessary
. The boys were very hungry, so we stopped at the first place I could think of, Refreshment Corner. Everyone got hot dogs and we ate outside on the beautiful night. While it wasn’t what I had planned, we ended up having a fun time. The boys played games on the bags they got and Joe and I talked about our upcoming plans for the night. I was also able to snag another FP, this time for Guardians of the Galaxy, Mission Breakout. As we made our way down Main Street I spotted the very coveted rose gold ears at the Emporium. I ducked in real quick to buy them and then we went over to DCA. The first thing we needed to see was Carsland.
Nicholas was done with family pictures
Cruz Ramirez was out meeting so we stopped by to say hello.
It was time to use our FP for RSR, and I was so excited to finally experience this ride.
In the end, everyone absolutely loved this ride. I thought it was so well done, we got the Ramone side, the only time it got it all trip. I was also glad we had the chance to ride it at night, since it was our only opportunity, and I loved it at night so much more. We walked all the way back for TSMM next. This area was all under construction at the time so it felt like kind of a waste to walk all way back there for one ride.
We had a little time before our next FP, so we did some shopping in the store near Grizzly River Run. I know the boys got some stuffed animals and pins. We had our next FP for Soarin. This was another new one for Nicholas and James.
They both loved it. After the ride, the boys were getting hungry and wanted popcorn. We came across two stands, both were out of popcorn. We hoped we could find some along the way. We had our last FP for GotG, but when we got over there the line was super long. We didn’t think we would have enough time to wait and get a good spot for WoC, so we skipped it. Also we were still on the hunt for popcorn. We did not come across another stand on the way over to WoC. Joe walked the entire length of that area looking for something for the boys to eat, but it was all the food booths for the Lunar New Year celebration. Our mission failed, we went into the area for WoC. The boys were still hungry, but luckily I had goldfish packed. We had a pretty good view of WoC, but we had to hold the boys. My back was killing me by the end, poor Joe had it worse holding James. We had the Lunar New Year beginning, which was very beautiful. The whole time Nicholas kept saying he couldn’t wait for fireworks. I tried to tell him there weren’t any in this show, but low and behold at the end of the Lunar Year preshow, they did set off fireworks. I didn’t get many pictures of the show, because I just wanted to enjoy.
I absolutely loved it, it's now my favorite Disney nighttime show. We walked back to the hotel, making a pitstop at Earl of Sandwich. Joe and I split the chipotle chicken avocado sandwich. OMG this was a delicious sandwich, it had a nice flavor from the chipotle, and the chicken and avocados were so fresh. It was the perfect way to end, a pretty awesome day.
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missangelalexis
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Sounds like a great rest of your day! That really stinks about your ADR at Cafe Orleans 
World of Color is so amazing!
World of Color is so amazing!
ashw100
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It's definietly on my list for next time. I just wanted to try some beignets and the monte cristo so badSounds like a great rest of your day! That really stinks about your ADR at Cafe Orleans
World of Color is so amazing!
ashw100
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Day 3: Part1
It was another early morning magic day for us, so we were up early. It was Joe’s 30th birthday, as well as Super Bowl Sunday. While Joe was in the bathroom getting ready, I “decorated” the room.
On the walk to DTD, we passed some infamous Disneyland cats.
We also made the smart decision and preordered our coffee and pastries from Starbucks, so it was ready to be picked up by the time we got there.
It was a lot less busy this morning for early magic than the day before at Disneyland.
We picked another bad line this morning, but soon we were back in Carsland.
Our first stop was RSR.
While we were in line I purchased Maxpass again, and immediately booked RSR for 9 am. I was loving how easy Maxpass made everything. I took advatange of the early morning light to take some pictures of the ride this time around.
Hi
Winners!!
After winning our race, we explored Carsland in the daytime a little.
Our next ride was on Luigi Rollickin Roadsters. The queue for this ride is so cute.
Aww I love how much they love Lightening McQueen
Time to dance
This was such a fun ride, James and I laughed the whole time.
Continued below
It was another early morning magic day for us, so we were up early. It was Joe’s 30th birthday, as well as Super Bowl Sunday. While Joe was in the bathroom getting ready, I “decorated” the room.
On the walk to DTD, we passed some infamous Disneyland cats.
We also made the smart decision and preordered our coffee and pastries from Starbucks, so it was ready to be picked up by the time we got there.
It was a lot less busy this morning for early magic than the day before at Disneyland.
We picked another bad line this morning, but soon we were back in Carsland.
Our first stop was RSR.
While we were in line I purchased Maxpass again, and immediately booked RSR for 9 am. I was loving how easy Maxpass made everything. I took advatange of the early morning light to take some pictures of the ride this time around.
Hi
Winners!!
After winning our race, we explored Carsland in the daytime a little.
Our next ride was on Luigi Rollickin Roadsters. The queue for this ride is so cute.
Aww I love how much they love Lightening McQueen
Time to dance
Continued below
ashw100
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Day 3: Part 2
We explored Raditor Springs some more. I was so enchanted with this land, and couldn't stop taking pictures of everything. This is by far my favorite fully immersive land so far. Pandora is okay, I just don't think its that engaging with the details. And while I haven't been to Toy Story land, I don't think it will beat Carsland.
Going tractor tippin'
Next up was Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree, again another adorable queue. This was themed with all the escapades from Mater's Tall Tales, which I thought was cute.
I don't know why they both look so upset
The ride was just okay, nothing really special. Early morning magic was wrapping up, and we wanted to do Luigi’s one more time. Nicholas was upset for some reason, so Joe sat it out with him. James, Connor and I had another great time.
With the park officially open, Lightening McQueen came out for his first meet and greet of the day.
Then we got to use our FP for RSR.
I was immediately able to grab a fastpass for GotG next. We walked over there, and even with their clever disguise, Connor knew it was Tower of Terror. The other two were clueless, thinking we were going on some awesome Guardians ride
. We rushed through the queue so quickly we couldn’t really check it out.
Loki
We also weren’t in a great place to see Rocket.
We got on the ride pretty quickly, and it went by so fast.
What do you think the boys thought?
Every single one of the kids hated the ride. They were so mad at us, they wouldn’t even talk to us after the ride
. While I think it was a fun ride, it still doesn’t compare to my beloved WDW Tower of Terror.
To make it up to the boys for being terrible parents, we took them on a favorite, Soarin, which we had gotten a FP for. And while we waited in the line we grabbed another FP, so we could just get right back on after. I was so apprehensive about FP, since I was so used to WDW, but I have to say Disneyland’s FP system is so much better. The park had only been open for two hours and we had already ridden 4 rides with fastpass. After our second ride on Soarin', we grabbed another one for TSMM, for a little later.
We explored Raditor Springs some more. I was so enchanted with this land, and couldn't stop taking pictures of everything. This is by far my favorite fully immersive land so far. Pandora is okay, I just don't think its that engaging with the details. And while I haven't been to Toy Story land, I don't think it will beat Carsland.
Going tractor tippin'
Next up was Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree, again another adorable queue. This was themed with all the escapades from Mater's Tall Tales, which I thought was cute.
I don't know why they both look so upset
The ride was just okay, nothing really special. Early morning magic was wrapping up, and we wanted to do Luigi’s one more time. Nicholas was upset for some reason, so Joe sat it out with him. James, Connor and I had another great time.
With the park officially open, Lightening McQueen came out for his first meet and greet of the day.
I was immediately able to grab a fastpass for GotG next. We walked over there, and even with their clever disguise, Connor knew it was Tower of Terror. The other two were clueless, thinking we were going on some awesome Guardians ride
. We rushed through the queue so quickly we couldn’t really check it out. Loki
We also weren’t in a great place to see Rocket
.
What do you think the boys thought?
Every single one of the kids hated the ride. They were so mad at us, they wouldn’t even talk to us after the ride
. While I think it was a fun ride, it still doesn’t compare to my beloved WDW Tower of Terror. To make it up to the boys for being terrible parents, we took them on a favorite, Soarin, which we had gotten a FP for. And while we waited in the line we grabbed another FP, so we could just get right back on after
. I was so apprehensive about FP, since I was so used to WDW, but I have to say Disneyland’s FP system is so much better. The park had only been open for two hours and we had already ridden 4 rides with fastpass. After our second ride on Soarin', we grabbed another one for TSMM, for a little later.
Lesley Wake
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Yeah, they are pretty hard to eat! The CMs usually try to warm them up between their hands, but even on a super hot day it's not enough! I think the first time I got one at WDW I was so surprised I could eat it right away!
I agree - love that ride at night!
I had the same problem once when I saw WoC. I wanted popcorn, and ended up doing a full lap of the pier area trying to find a cart, but no luck. I think I ended up finding someone back the road towards Carsland, but it was prepackaged, so not that good.
Oh no! I love GotG: MB!Every single one of the kids hated the ride. They were so mad at us, they wouldn’t even talk to us after the ride
missangelalexis
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Sounds like a nice morning in Cars Land! I totally ag ree with you, it's so immersive and magical. By far the best area!
Aww I'm sorry the boys didn't like GotG!
Aww I'm sorry the boys didn't like GotG!
ashw100
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Interesting, I wonder why it's different
So good
It was a very frustrating quest for sure.
It was, glad we got to enjoy it empty for awhile
It's okay we figured they wouldn't like it
Cloe Colton
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Their FP system seems so awesome! I can't wait to go to Disneyland, we are planning for most likely November of 2019 and I can't wait!
cindianne320
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Catching up- almost a year later! Darn school year! So weird about the ice cream! Can't wait to experience Cars Land. Someday!
ashw100
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It's not as bad as me abandoning this TR for 9 months
. I hope you get to enjoy Carsland as well, it's amazing.Thanks you, I am actually going to try and finish it off now.
ashw100
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So I abandoned this TR . We went to Disney and when we came back I just needed a break from all things Disney. Not for anything in particular, just needed one. Now that I am working on my TR from September and myPTRs for this year, it only feels right to go back and finish this one. We really had the most amazing trip and I want to share it. Hopefully I can still remember the details and understand my notes 
When last we left off, we had just ridden Mission Breakout and the boys were mad, we also grabbed a FP for TSMM. In the meantime we wanted to meet Spiderman. Unfortunately his set was ending, so instead we rode Monsters Inc. We wanted to take the boys to the Disney Junior show, but we had some time so we went to Animation building.
We just relaxed watching the different animation sequences.
When we got in line for Disney Junior Dance Party, it was already outside the queue. I was worried about getting in, but a local informed me it wouldn’t be a problem. We ended up in the back, but the boys didn’t care.
I liked this show so much more than the old DHS version. It’s just more fun and interactive for the kids. I believe this is what they changed the DHS version over too, I am not sure the kids will want to do it next time we're in WDW though.
After the dance party, we attempted to meet Spiderman this time, and we were successful. However, neither James nor Nicholas were interested at this point.
We were feeling a bit peckish and once again went in search for popcorn. We found one stand open, but again they were out of the popcorn
. The line was 30 minutes long!
I will say this was one HUGE downfall of Disneyland vs WDW. The lines for snacks like popcorn, churros, ice cream were always infinitely long. Trying to get Disney to take my money was a struggle. We finally got our popcorn though, I even got it in a cute red Mickey balloon bucket. While I waited for popcorn, Joe got us churros, to kill two birds with one stone. We were in danger of missing our FP, so we ran and ate at the same time. After out second trek back to this attraction, we decided it wasn’t worth it to try and ride this one again. It just felt like it was so far from everything else.
After TSMM, Joe was on the hunt for some dumplings from one of the Lunar New Year food booths, while I got everyone some of the famous Disneyland corn dogs. It was super hot at this point in the day and there were no tables. We ended up finding a planter to sit on to enjoy our lunch.
While we ate the Lunar New Year parade was going on. We could just see the tops of the performers. After lunch we decided to leave for the day. James and Nicholas has been fighting over the stroller the whole trip, but I think James was really tired. See my wonderful, all knowing husband had convinced me that James could handle the walking, and worse case scenario, it was only a weekend, Joe could handle carrying him. After a day and a half of caring James, Joe was too tired, and sI mugly reminded him of his promise to carry James.
My feet were absolutely killing me by this point. I always even on such a short trip, would bring two pairs of shoes, but I forgot my favorite sandals at home. Thankfully, DTD has a shop dedicated specifically to my favorite shoe, the Sanuk yoga sling. I had been meaning to by another pair, now I had an excuse to do so. And thanks to booking a package with Disney I got a discount there too. I even wore them out of the store, I didn’t think my feet could handle the rest of the walk back to the hotel.
No one was really tired, so we went to the pool first this time. While it had been hot earlier, the pool is mostly in the shade, so it was too cold for most of us. Thankfully they have huge, kid friend hot tubs that we spent the afternoon in. After our relaxing hot tub time, we grabbed some Mickey ice creams from Tangaroa terrace, and thankfully these were not hard frozen. When we got back to the room, we napped for about an hour.
Before heading back out for the evening, we celebrated Joe’s birthday. I had bought these little mini cakes and candles to have in the room. It turned out to be a disaster of a mess, but Joe appreciated it.
We took the monorail to Disneyland.
On the way over, Joe and I heard that the Solo trailer had premiered during the Super Bowl, so we huddled around our phones to watch it. At that point I had only heard terrible things about the movie, but the trailer made me excited to see it. This is also when Joe said great I am stuck at Diseyland for the Superbowl. He was kidding, because we were having an amazing time, but he is a football guy so part of him was sad to be missing the game. At some point earlier in the day I had gotten FPs for Star Tours, so we rode that first. I had also gotten a FP for myself for Indy, but I sadly missed it. I was able to grab another one for later in the evening. Joe in the meantime had a FP to use for Space Mountain.
I took the boys to see Path of the Jedi. I honestly don’t remember anything about this, but it was a good way to pass the time waiting for Joe. When the movie was over, Joe was still not off the ride, which I thought was weird. As it turns out, Joe got stuck on Space Mountain. It’s my weird fangirl dream to be evaced off a ride, and here Joe’s first time at Disneyland and it kind of happens to him...he always has the best luck. Being a nerd himself, he was extremely excited. It was right at the end of the ride, so he still got to experience most of it. They had to be pushed back into the station by a CM.
We also had another FP for Buzz. After Buzz it was time for our dinner ADR, but first we needed some pictures in front of the castle.
We had gotten the Fantasmic dining package at the Blue Bayou.
Thankfully, there was no fire tonight, so we could eat there.
We had a really great server. The boys got drinks with glow cubes in them. I don’t remember what they had to eat. Joe hand I had the house salad to start. It was just a typical salad. For our entrees Joe had the bone-in rib eye with smoked gouda mac and cheese. Joe loved it, the meat was cooked perfectly and the mac and cheese was flavorful and creamy. I got the surf in turf with lobster tail, filet mignon, au gratin potatoes, veggies, and béarnaise sauce. I was not a fan at all. The lobster was mushy in the weirdest way, like it was undercooked. The steak was over cooked. Overall I was pretty disappointed in the food. However, dessert did not fail to please. I got the crème brulee, pretty hard to screw up. Joe had the cute sorcerer Mickey, which was pound cake, chocolate mousse, and banana foster center.
It was a pretty pricey dinner for us at the time, around $300, after our anniversary dinner at Cali grill however, it was chump change 
. After dinner they gave us cushions for our bums to sit on during the show. I clearly did not do enough research, because this was a happy surprise. We dropped our cushions off at the stroller and decided to go back on HM next. We escaped becoming the 1000 happy haunt, and decided to celebrate with a trip around the park on the train. We really enjoyed the dinosaurs on this trek. Back in New Orleans Square, I really wanted some beingets, but the lines were always so long. Instead we got some cotton candy for the boys, and I dropped them off at the seating section for Fantasmic. No one wanted to ride Indy with me, so I went alone. I really enjoyed the ride a lot another score in Disneyland's favor that has a superior ride to the WDW version.
When I got out of the ride, I phone was blowing up with texts from Joe, I had lost reception while in the queue. Apparently Nicholas was having a bathroom emergency. Joe didn't want to loose our spots for the show, but couldn't leave the other two alone. I don't really remember, what he ended up doing, but by the time I got there everything was fine. We had front row seats and were finally ready to see Fantasmic. BTW front row seats at this show are not good, our view was blocked by the railing, another planning fail. Next time we'll go farther back. Also, for those who have not read my other WDW TRs, my family has never seen any version of Fantasmic ( I have back in 2001 at WDW) but no one else. We always have intentions to see it, and then something gets in the way. To be frank, we also don't care too much about it, so we don't make it a priority either. But Disneyland's version we were going to see it.
Well about three minutes before the show, Nicholas was sitting on my lap, and he starts emitting some smells I was not too found of. I asked him if he had to go to the bathroom, and SURPRISE
he was already going. I picked him up and ran as fast as I could to the bathroom, right as we reached them I heard the beginning music to Fantasmic . Thankfully, the situation wasn't too bad. I had to throw away his underwear, but his pants were fine and when we got back we had only missed about five minutes of the show.
We all absolutely loved the show. The pirate section was amazing! I almost don't even want to go to the WDW one now, because I feel like it will be so lackluster in comparison. The park was now closed, so we made our way out, stopping to say goodnight to Walt on the way.
We stopped at World of Disney and spent our souvenir money buying lost of Disneyland goodies. We also stopped at Earl of Sandwich for a bite to share. Then we got back to the room and packed up, tomorrow we had to go home
. We went to Disney and when we came back I just needed a break from all things Disney. Not for anything in particular, just needed one. Now that I am working on my TR from September and myPTRs for this year, it only feels right to go back and finish this one. We really had the most amazing trip and I want to share it. Hopefully I can still remember the details and understand my notes When last we left off, we had just ridden Mission Breakout and the boys were mad, we also grabbed a FP for TSMM. In the meantime we wanted to meet Spiderman. Unfortunately his set was ending, so instead we rode Monsters Inc. We wanted to take the boys to the Disney Junior show, but we had some time so we went to Animation building.
We just relaxed watching the different animation sequences.
When we got in line for Disney Junior Dance Party, it was already outside the queue. I was worried about getting in, but a local informed me it wouldn’t be a problem. We ended up in the back, but the boys didn’t care.
I liked this show so much more than the old DHS version. It’s just more fun and interactive for the kids. I believe this is what they changed the DHS version over too, I am not sure the kids will want to do it next time we're in WDW though.
After the dance party, we attempted to meet Spiderman this time, and we were successful. However, neither James nor Nicholas were interested at this point.
We were feeling a bit peckish and once again went in search for popcorn. We found one stand open, but again they were out of the popcorn
. The line was 30 minutes long!I will say this was one HUGE downfall of Disneyland vs WDW. The lines for snacks like popcorn, churros, ice cream were always infinitely long. Trying to get Disney to take my money was a struggle. We finally got our popcorn though, I even got it in a cute red Mickey balloon bucket. While I waited for popcorn, Joe got us churros, to kill two birds with one stone. We were in danger of missing our FP, so we ran and ate at the same time. After out second trek back to this attraction, we decided it wasn’t worth it to try and ride this one again. It just felt like it was so far from everything else.
After TSMM, Joe was on the hunt for some dumplings from one of the Lunar New Year food booths, while I got everyone some of the famous Disneyland corn dogs. It was super hot at this point in the day and there were no tables. We ended up finding a planter to sit on to enjoy our lunch.
While we ate the Lunar New Year parade was going on. We could just see the tops of the performers. After lunch we decided to leave for the day. James and Nicholas has been fighting over the stroller the whole trip, but I think James was really tired. See my wonderful, all knowing husband had convinced me that James could handle the walking, and worse case scenario, it was only a weekend, Joe could handle carrying him. After a day and a half of caring James, Joe was too tired, and sI mugly reminded him of his promise to carry James.
My feet were absolutely killing me by this point. I always even on such a short trip, would bring two pairs of shoes, but I forgot my favorite sandals at home. Thankfully, DTD has a shop dedicated specifically to my favorite shoe, the Sanuk yoga sling. I had been meaning to by another pair, now I had an excuse to do so. And thanks to booking a package with Disney I got a discount there too. I even wore them out of the store, I didn’t think my feet could handle the rest of the walk back to the hotel.
No one was really tired, so we went to the pool first this time. While it had been hot earlier, the pool is mostly in the shade, so it was too cold for most of us. Thankfully they have huge, kid friend hot tubs that we spent the afternoon in. After our relaxing hot tub time, we grabbed some Mickey ice creams from Tangaroa terrace, and thankfully these were not hard frozen. When we got back to the room, we napped for about an hour.
Before heading back out for the evening, we celebrated Joe’s birthday. I had bought these little mini cakes and candles to have in the room. It turned out to be a disaster of a mess, but Joe appreciated it.
We took the monorail to Disneyland.
On the way over, Joe and I heard that the Solo trailer had premiered during the Super Bowl, so we huddled around our phones to watch it. At that point I had only heard terrible things about the movie, but the trailer made me excited to see it. This is also when Joe said great I am stuck at Diseyland for the Superbowl. He was kidding, because we were having an amazing time, but he is a football guy so part of him was sad to be missing the game. At some point earlier in the day I had gotten FPs for Star Tours, so we rode that first. I had also gotten a FP for myself for Indy, but I sadly missed it. I was able to grab another one for later in the evening. Joe in the meantime had a FP to use for Space Mountain.
I took the boys to see Path of the Jedi. I honestly don’t remember anything about this, but it was a good way to pass the time waiting for Joe. When the movie was over, Joe was still not off the ride, which I thought was weird. As it turns out, Joe got stuck on Space Mountain. It’s my weird fangirl dream to be evaced off a ride, and here Joe’s first time at Disneyland and it kind of happens to him...he always has the best luck. Being a nerd himself, he was extremely excited. It was right at the end of the ride, so he still got to experience most of it. They had to be pushed back into the station by a CM.
We also had another FP for Buzz. After Buzz it was time for our dinner ADR, but first we needed some pictures in front of the castle.
We had gotten the Fantasmic dining package at the Blue Bayou.
Thankfully, there was no fire tonight, so we could eat there.
We had a really great server. The boys got drinks with glow cubes in them. I don’t remember what they had to eat. Joe hand I had the house salad to start. It was just a typical salad. For our entrees Joe had the bone-in rib eye with smoked gouda mac and cheese. Joe loved it, the meat was cooked perfectly and the mac and cheese was flavorful and creamy. I got the surf in turf with lobster tail, filet mignon, au gratin potatoes, veggies, and béarnaise sauce. I was not a fan at all. The lobster was mushy in the weirdest way, like it was undercooked. The steak was over cooked. Overall I was pretty disappointed in the food. However, dessert did not fail to please. I got the crème brulee, pretty hard to screw up. Joe had the cute sorcerer Mickey, which was pound cake, chocolate mousse, and banana foster center.
. After dinner they gave us cushions for our bums to sit on during the show. I clearly did not do enough research, because this was a happy surprise. We dropped our cushions off at the stroller and decided to go back on HM next. We escaped becoming the 1000 happy haunt, and decided to celebrate with a trip around the park on the train. We really enjoyed the dinosaurs on this trek. Back in New Orleans Square, I really wanted some beingets, but the lines were always so long. Instead we got some cotton candy for the boys, and I dropped them off at the seating section for Fantasmic. No one wanted to ride Indy with me, so I went alone. I really enjoyed the ride a lot another score in Disneyland's favor that has a superior ride to the WDW version.When I got out of the ride, I phone was blowing up with texts from Joe, I had lost reception while in the queue. Apparently Nicholas was having a bathroom emergency. Joe didn't want to loose our spots for the show, but couldn't leave the other two alone. I don't really remember, what he ended up doing, but by the time I got there everything was fine. We had front row seats and were finally ready to see Fantasmic. BTW front row seats at this show are not good, our view was blocked by the railing, another planning fail. Next time we'll go farther back. Also, for those who have not read my other WDW TRs, my family has never seen any version of Fantasmic ( I have back in 2001 at WDW) but no one else. We always have intentions to see it, and then something gets in the way. To be frank, we also don't care too much about it, so we don't make it a priority either. But Disneyland's version we were going to see it.
Well about three minutes before the show, Nicholas was sitting on my lap, and he starts emitting some smells I was not too found of. I asked him if he had to go to the bathroom, and SURPRISE
he was already going. I picked him up and ran as fast as I could to the bathroom, right as we reached them I heard the beginning music to Fantasmic . Thankfully, the situation wasn't too bad. I had to throw away his underwear, but his pants were fine and when we got back we had only missed about five minutes of the show.
ashw100
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It was sadly time to go home, but we still had some fun planned before the trip back. We finished packing up and checked out of our room. I hadn't really gotten many pictures of the hotel, so I made up for it this morning.
Joe put our bags in the car and then we walked over to the Grand Californian. We had no clue where we were going but it was a nice stroll.
We had a breakfast ADR at Storyteller Cafe this morning.
The breakfast here was really good. It has your typical breakfast food, but they also had some elevated options like breakfast nachos. The first character to come around was Pluto. I believe they have changed the characters since we went, but at the time it was Pluto, Chip and Dale, and Koda (I think?) from Bother Bear.
Next we had Dale
And then we waited.
And sat and waited some more. Our server came over to give us the check. I mentioned that we hadn't seen two characters yet. He seemed annoyed and didn't really say anything. We could see Koda was close, so we waited some more.
They have no clue who this is 
Our server came over again, still trying to rush us out the door. Chip was no where to be found, and frankly we were over it, and DCA was about to open anyway. One thing I will say about Disneyland's character dining is that they really need character attendants. Both ones we went to it just seemed like a free-for-all, with no one really knowing what was going on. After leaving Storytellers, we joined the line to enter DCA from the Grand Californian for extra magic hours.
Once we were in, we went over to Cars Land. We had a really great photopass CM there.
Being a Monday morning, the park was really dead, so we stopped for a picture with Mater next.
We got on RRS twice this morning, but I only have one picture
We had done everything we wanted to do at DCA, and stopped for a picture with Walt and Mickey on the way out.
Right before the park opened for the day, we walked across the esplanade and joined the line to enter Disneyland. Mickey was right on Main Street, and we hadn't met him at all this trip, so we had to stop.
We had yet to even step foot in Fantasyland yet, and it was time to remedy that. We went on Pinocchio first.
This ride really freaked James out for some reason. My family can literally not pass the sword in the stone without wanting to try it, so we did that next.
Next up, we went on Snow White's Scary Adventure.
Weirdly, no one got scared on this one. Our final stop on the Fantaslyand dark ride tour was Mr. Toad's.
Joe put our bags in the car and then we walked over to the Grand Californian. We had no clue where we were going but it was a nice stroll.
Our server came over again, still trying to rush us out the door. Chip was no where to be found, and frankly we were over it, and DCA was about to open anyway. One thing I will say about Disneyland's character dining is that they really need character attendants. Both ones we went to it just seemed like a free-for-all, with no one really knowing what was going on. After leaving Storytellers, we joined the line to enter DCA from the Grand Californian for extra magic hours.
Once we were in, we went over to Cars Land. We had a really great photopass CM there.
We had done everything we wanted to do at DCA, and stopped for a picture with Walt and Mickey on the way out.
Right before the park opened for the day, we walked across the esplanade and joined the line to enter Disneyland. Mickey was right on Main Street, and we hadn't met him at all this trip, so we had to stop.
ashw100
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I believe I had a FP for Matterhorn next. I have no photos though so you'll have to take my word for it. I do remember feeling beaten up after this ride though. This was one of my favorites as a kid, it might have even been my first roller coaster. Meanwhile, Joe took the boys on the carousel.
I guess Nicholas was sad, because he wanted me, oops. I switched with Joe so he could ride Matterhorn next. I wanted to get on Alice in Wonderland, as that was my favorite dark ride as a kid, but sadly the line was too long. Aladdin was just wandering around, with no one to talk to so Connor went over to say hello.
Joe hates, the tea cups, so I took this opportunity to ride it without him.
We met back up with Joe in Tomorrowland to ride Buzz Lightyear with a FP. There was a line outside, but no CM standing at the FP scanner. It was very strange, we hung around and finally someone came over just as our FP was about to expire.
We were feeling a little hungry, so we stopped at the Galactic Grill. I do not remember what we got other than some slushies with awesome Star Destroyer glow cubes.
I had one meet, that was a must do for me, so we made our way into Launch Bay.
Dreaming of Galaxy's Edge
My must meet character was my favorite Star Wars characters, Darth Vader. We got to see him as he grabbed the family in front of us and Nicholas turns to us and says, "Darth Vader is so cute right?"
This was actually my alternate title for this TR. Nicholas is quite the Darth Vader fan as well, I guess he thinks bad guys are cute
Once it was our turn the boys froze up a little, but it was totally worth it. Why can't WDW have Darth Vader
Our time at Disneyland was coming to end, so we made our way back to the front of the park. We popped in the Main Street theater to watch some Mickey cartoons, which the boys loved.
We had time for one final thing, and we chose Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln. We loved exploring the lobby area with Disneyland history.
[
It was sadly time to leave, so we walked under the train and out of the park. I realized I forgot to get a picture in front of the train station, so that needed to be done before we could truly leave.
The sun was a little bright, so we took a picture where no one had to stare into the sun.
We walked back to the Disneyland Hotel.
Pluto was meeting in the lobby when we got there.
Joe went to get the car, while I walked around soaking up every last bit of Disneyland I could.
We could stall no longer and it was time to leave. We thought it was funny that when leaving the Disneyland hotel there is a 14 mile an hour speed limit. Is there some significance to this that we don't know?
The ride back to LAX was uneventful. When we stopped off to get gas we saw this donut shop.
I asked Joe if it was famous, and he said he didn't know. I said I would take a picture in case it is And it has been features in a ton of TV and movies, including Iron Man 2.
We dropped off the car and had to walk the length of LAX three times, because Delta's ticketing was messed up.
But we made it home without incident, and it was an end to a great trip. Overall, it we had an amazing time. While I think Joe and I both agree, so much is better at Disneyland, WDW is our home and for that it will always be our favorite. We got to do a lot, but we still didn't get to do everything. I am already itching to go back, so hopefully we will one day.
Thanks for reading along, especially if you came back after my nine month hiatus.
Dreaming of Galaxy's Edge
This was actually my alternate title for this TR. Nicholas is quite the Darth Vader fan as well, I guess he thinks bad guys are cute
Once it was our turn the boys froze up a little, but it was totally worth it. Why can't WDW have Darth Vader
Our time at Disneyland was coming to end, so we made our way back to the front of the park. We popped in the Main Street theater to watch some Mickey cartoons, which the boys loved.
[
And it has been features in a ton of TV and movies, including Iron Man 2.We dropped off the car and had to walk the length of LAX three times, because Delta's ticketing was messed up.
Thanks for reading along, especially if you came back after my nine month hiatus.
cindianne320
DIS Veteran
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- Oct 27, 2010
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- 1,675
Thanks for finishing! It is fun to get a glimpse of a place I've never been!
ashw100
DIS Veteran
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- Jan 2, 2014
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- 1,420
Thanks for reading and I hope you get out there one day.
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