Summertime and Disneyland .Oo-De-Lally!!

[DisneyKid4Life]

Ooh there is nothing quite like a "free" breakfast to start the day right. I know it's technically included in the price of the room, but not having to shell out any extra cash each day just feels good.

Hehe, having TSMM practice under your belt for the morning DCA rush seems even more appropriate given the familiar looking entrance of DCA. Almost like it was planned that way.

AHHH I HATE LINE CUTTERS!!!!! Seriously you are so right. How would these people behave in a real serious situation? Just sad. Even more than that, somehow they actually think they're cool.

The ride does look amazing though. It really makes Tron Track look even more plain.

 

[kelmac284]

Loved the update and TOTALLY agree about cutters/runners. I mean if everyone just walks at a regular pace when you first get there the line goes fairly quickly. I have had this happen SO many times both now with RSR and before when the rush was always to go to TSMM. Just dissapointing that so called adults have to act like this. Glad you enjoyed the ride!

 

[thornton0511]

My heart was racing just reading about RD for RSR! I guess we'll have to give the "wide right" a try next year but just thinking about it makes me anxious. I'm glad y'all made it safely & without losing your place.

That is just ridiculous that adults were line jumping for a ride. It's just sad that grown people would act that way.

The ride does look absolutely amazing though! I am very excited to experience it!

Ha! Mine was also as I was typing the post and reliving the experience lol. Seriously though it was worth it to be able to ride it first thing in the morning and honestly as long as you are aware of your surroundings it's not that bad.

Mine too! lol

You have a great trip report going here! I am really enjoying it!

Awww thank you so much! Glad that I am able to keep you entertained lol

Ooh there is nothing quite like a "free" breakfast to start the day right. I know it's technically included in the price of the room, but not having to shell out any extra cash each day just feels good.

Hehe, having TSMM practice under your belt for the morning DCA rush seems even more appropriate given the familiar looking entrance of DCA. Almost like it was planned that way.

AHHH I HATE LINE CUTTERS!!!!! Seriously you are so right. How would these people behave in a real serious situation? Just sad. Even more than that, somehow they actually think they're cool.

The ride does look amazing though. It really makes Tron Track look even more plain.

"Tron Track" bahahahahaha! Love it!!! It's such an amazing ride and we were fortunate enough to enjoy it on more than one occasion thankfully. Yes our practice from WDW definitely proved beneficial on this trip with the crowds and being at the front of a line for sure! Line cutters are stupid.

Loved the update and TOTALLY agree about cutters/runners. I mean if everyone just walks at a regular pace when you first get there the line goes fairly quickly. I have had this happen SO many times both now with RSR and before when the rush was always to go to TSMM. Just dissapointing that so called adults have to act like this. Glad you enjoyed the ride!

Yes line cutters make me so angry and also sad. I just don't get it. We really did enjoy this ride and the whole entire land too. Simply AMAZING!!!!

 

[thornton0511]

The Longest Version of TSMM Ever

After the thrill of wide right and marking RSR off this list first thing in the morning we regrouped.

I snapped a quick picture of racing cars, because I can't get over how cool this ride is, and we decided to try our luck with getting some FP's for RSR. It was now 8:15am and I was not really sure how that was going to go.

We got to the line and noticed the return time was not too far away. I was really just hoping for it to not be in the hot afternoon hours when we might want to take a break. I was already aware that the long snaking line might be off putting but not to worry because it moves quickly. So this did not bother me or shock me in any way when I saw the line.

DH and the kids waited for me by the exit while I stood in line for the FP's. This all takes place at the entrance of Bug's Land. There is no missing it!

Again this went very smooth and was very well organized. It works just as it does for TSMM at HS in that the CM takes your tickets and puts them in the machine for you. Except I just remembered that TSMM does not have legacy FP anymore so I guess it's not just like that. There is no legacy FP at WDW anymore…I forgot. Now I remember. And I'm depressed. Sigh.

After getting our FP's we headed over to Paradise Pier.

This place was really nice. I liked it a lot!

We had one thing on our mind at this point and that was TSMM, which does not have legacy FP…..which makes it just like HS now. Ha! See what I did there? Whomp whomp whomp. Either way we knew that it would be good to get this out of the way early since it was stand by only.

When we got in line it was now 8:30am and I believe that the wait time was 15-20 minutes. Not bad at all, we got this!

The timing was right on and it was about 15-20 minutes. We soon loaded on our vehicle thing. It was so weird seeing the loading dock outside. Bizarro DLR again lol.

We should have been on and off within a few minutes but the ride was having technical difficulties so we were stuck.

So we spied on the children who were on the other side.

And then we did some practice shooting.

We were in stuck mode for about 10 minutes lol. Finally the ride started back up. YAY!!!!

I really am not too good at this game lol.

Once off what seemed like an eternal TSMM ride we regrouped once again and tried to decided what our next plan was. The park had now been open for a little over an hour and we had already managed to ride RSR, grab FP, and ride TSMM. I also noted the awesomeness of Andy's room at the exit of the ride. Disney.
*On a side note I wanted to mention that it was brought to my attention that the video of DH's surprise Bday was not showing on you tube due to my privacy settings and so that has now been fixed if any of you would care to see it*
​

 

[thornton0511]

Fastpasspalooza and Exploring a Challenge Trail

We had decided at this point that it would be a good idea to head over and grab FP's for WOC since we had planned on seeing that tonight.

While we were taking the above picture of the kids we noticed a scuba diver below. Hmmmmmm. What are you up to?

We made our way over to Grizzly River Run where the FP's are located. This ride was currently under rehab but supposed to open on our last day. Fingers were crossed that they might open a day or two earlier though!

I once again got in line for the passes while the family waited. Since WOC FP is disconnected from the other FP's for rides we were able to hold on to our RSR's and get these as well.

Looks like we were going to be in the blue section. Works for me!

After all of this we did notice that we were in a window for grabbing a new regular FP, and we were pretty darn close to Soarin so…..that's what we did!

Jingle Bam! That is technically 3 FP's held at one time people. WDW FP changing execs make me sick lol!

Next we headed back over to Redwood Creek Challenge Trail. We figured that it would be good for the kids and plus this would not be as fun in afternoon heat. Win Win.

It was by no means crowded and that made it very nice and peaceful in this area. Loved it!

Our first challenge was this monster.

The kids had no problem getting across the ropes in the air. They were like a couple of spider monkeys.

I on the other hand held on for dear life the whole time. lol.

Up next we had to enter a cave that would tell us what our animal spirit is.

You had to place your hand in the designated place and then it did all of these special effects and revealed your animal spirit.

I was a salmon.

Moving ahead we found a tire zip line swing area and the kids had a blast racing each other down the hill.

We did a few more things in this area before calling it a day for the trail challenge. There really is a lot of neat things for kids to do here, including some that I did not capture, like a rock climbing wall and slides and tunnels. It also seemed pretty shaded and is a great way for kids to burn off some energy from the constant standing in lines and sitting for rides.

We had just a bit of time left before our Soarin FP window opened up. What next?
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[kelmac284]

Wow you lucked out actually riding RSR AND getting a FP and esp for that early. We usually send my daughter to line up for the fp and then go get in line for RSR and she usually catches up or if not then we immediately go again in single rider. But to get those AND TSMM must have been a less crowded day than it appeared. I have been in summer, spring and holidays and NEVER got that. So you were doing AWESOME!

I totally agree with you too about the FP. I know I mentioned it before but I just don't get why they had to go and change it. As I said it was bad enough when they started enforcing return times but then to do away with them all together I can't even imagine. I know that we were not looking forward to that but hoping that when we went it wouldn't matter (dead time). Now we are going in January and I was looking at a calendar and surprisingly eventhough school will be back in it is marathon week. UGH. WHY do they have to do that right after school is back in. It's not bad enough we can only go in 3 years because of the way it worked out but couldn't they have done it END of January or February like the one here? UGH.

Ok off my soapbox LOL. Seems like you were having a great day. Look forward to the next update!

 

[BellaBaby]

Glad to see you guys survived "wide right". We didn't even attempt it, I would've been too nervous! LOL!

We did get 2 FP for RSR tho. The line does move super quick!
So 1 day we got FP for during the day and another day we got them for night time which was cooler we thought!

We loved holding 3 FP at a time!! Totally miss that at WDW.

The RCCT looks really fun! We didn't head back that way I guess because GRR was closed the whole time we were there.

Great update!!

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

Yes, while I do like the Magic Bands (I think they're cool), I still sure do miss legacy FP.

It's crazy how much shorter the wait time is for TSMM in DCA. Same with Soarin' I found.

Also, I just loved the look of Paradise Pier. I spent a lot of time there. Of course being home to California Screamin' didn't hurt.

 

[amandaw]

Sounds like it was a productive morning of FPs & TSMM!

The Challenge area looks like a lot of fun! I'll definitely have to check it out with my DS next year.

 

[DisneytheKid]

Great trip report! I've really enjoyed reading about your adventures in California! It's helping to make our 2 month wait for our trip go by faster

 

[petals]

Great first day at Disney.

You are, unfortunately, right. At the end of the day it's a business and numbers count, not people. Thank you for your encouragement. I was pretty sick about it at first but then things started to fit into place and I am going to start a new career far away from this type of business (thank goodness) in the fall when we get back from our Sept WDW trip, so it's all going to work out

Sometimes a new career can make the world of difference though. I'm slowly getting the confidence to make a move towards something actually related to my education instead of where i've been stuck for 6 years.

 

[thornton0511]

Wow you lucked out actually riding RSR AND getting a FP and esp for that early. We usually send my daughter to line up for the fp and then go get in line for RSR and she usually catches up or if not then we immediately go again in single rider. But to get those AND TSMM must have been a less crowded day than it appeared. I have been in summer, spring and holidays and NEVER got that. So you were doing AWESOME!

I totally agree with you too about the FP. I know I mentioned it before but I just don't get why they had to go and change it. As I said it was bad enough when they started enforcing return times but then to do away with them all together I can't even imagine. I know that we were not looking forward to that but hoping that when we went it wouldn't matter (dead time). Now we are going in January and I was looking at a calendar and surprisingly eventhough school will be back in it is marathon week. UGH. WHY do they have to do that right after school is back in. It's not bad enough we can only go in 3 years because of the way it worked out but couldn't they have done it END of January or February like the one here? UGH.

Ok off my soapbox LOL. Seems like you were having a great day. Look forward to the next update!

Lol no worries! You are right that it can be sooo frustrating when you have a time planned and then some event or whatever pops up. Unfortunately I think the days are gone when WDW will have a slow time, and they are pretty good and taking slower times and filling them up one way or another. We are going in Sept and willing to put up with the awful heat to hopeful not have to deal with big crowds. Excited for your Jan trip!!!!

Glad to see you guys survived "wide right". We didn't even attempt it, I would've been too nervous! LOL!

We did get 2 FP for RSR tho. The line does move super quick!
So 1 day we got FP for during the day and another day we got them for night time which was cooler we thought!

We loved holding 3 FP at a time!! Totally miss that at WDW.

The RCCT looks really fun! We didn't head back that way I guess because GRR was closed the whole time we were there.

Great update!!

Oh wow you got to ride during the day and also at night?! That's awesome!!! Yeah I'm not sure if I will ever be able to get over legacy FP at WDW just makes me super sad. RCCT was fun and the kids enjoyed it a lot. It was a nice break from the other parts of the park and I enjoyed the shade and the peacefulness of the area.

Yes, while I do like the Magic Bands (I think they're cool), I still sure do miss legacy FP.

It's crazy how much shorter the wait time is for TSMM in DCA. Same with Soarin' I found.

Also, I just loved the look of Paradise Pier. I spent a lot of time there. Of course being home to California Screamin' didn't hurt.

Yes I agree 100% that the magic bands are awesome and Disney did wonderfully with that technology.....but FP+ is in a league all its own IMO. It's stupid, it's dumb, and I hate it with a passion. Seriously whoever came up with this should no longer be able to have ideas lol. The whole thing is just a mess! And to top it off I keep hearing reports from people here on the disboards who play by the new Disney rules and make those ressies at 60 days only to have the system glitch and their FP+'s disappear with only a "sorry for you bad luck we are still trying to get it all figured out from Disney." "And why I don't have the power to give you back your A&E FP and your 7DMT FP I can get you in for IASW and Barnstormer instead......sorry" I don't get it, I just don't get it. Sorry but it's a touchy subject with me lol. Anyways moving ahead yes it was crazy to see the difference with Soarin and TSMM lol! Oh my goodness Paradise Pier was wonderful and I loved it so much!! I wish we had spent more time in that area and also sadly I did not brave a ride on CA Screamin but Rob I am not surprised at all that you loved a rollercoaster that goes upside down and stuff....ha!!!

Sounds like it was a productive morning of FPs & TSMM!

The Challenge area looks like a lot of fun! I'll definitely have to check it out with my DS next year.

Thank you! Yes we felt very accomplished this morning! The Challenge area was very nice and we enjoyed it too!!

Great trip report! I've really enjoyed reading about your adventures in California! It's helping to make our 2 month wait for our trip go by faster

Awww thank you!!! Anything I can do to help pass the time until your upcoming trip I know how slow time seems to go by the closer you get to Disney and I am happy to help

Great first day at Disney.



Sometimes a new career can make the world of difference though. I'm slowly getting the confidence to make a move towards something actually related to my education instead of where i've been stuck for 6 years.

Thank you I have a whole range of emotions right now including excitement and fear. But I really do believe that this is all happening for a reason and like Elsa I just have to Let it Go!!!! lol. I am glad that you are getting the confidence you need to pursue what you want to do and I really hope that it works out for you! I think more than ever before that it is so important to do something you love doing if you have that option and no one deserves to feel stuck or unhappy with where they spend 40+ hours a week.

 

[thornton0511]

Killing Time With Some Favorites and Then Fastpass Time Baby!

At this point we were just kind of wandering around and trying to kill some time. Somehow we found ourselves back toward the pier in front of the Little Mermaid's ride. Since it is just like the one in WDW minus the amazing queue, we figured we would ride only if the wait was short. It was 5 minutes. Well that solves that problem. Here we go!

I love Ariel! Seriously I had the movie soundtrack in cassette tape form when I was little and had every song memorized in like a day lol.

Control switches and computers? That's not magical lol!

Soon we were in our clam shells and ready to go on an undersea adventure. Take it away Scuttle!

YAY!!!!!

This ride, I love!!!

Well this was something new. I am certain that WDW's version DOES NOT have a zombie Ariel.

We got all the way to the end of the story and the ride stopped. Again for a good length of time.

I grew tired of them waving at me. It seemed rude. Obviously I could not leave or I would at this point so please stop waving. Lol.

Finally the ride started to move again and we were able to get off.

We made our way over to Soarin and got in the FP line at 10:15am.

I love the preshow for this bahahahaha!

December was our first time ever to finally brave this ride as a family and we loved it…..from the 3rd row anyways. Baby steps people. We decided to push ourselves a bit further this trip and so DH and DS went with the top row and DD and myself took the middle. Everyone did just fine too. I don't know if I am quite ready for the top. I like seeing feet above me. Makes me feel safe.
It was now officially time for us to use our RSR FP's! YAY! We headed back over to Cars Land.

I thought this was quite humorous. Silly Disney.

105 minutes for standby….not in your life.

We were on in no time for our second time in one day. DS loved this ride! Unfortunately we did not get to see our ride photo this time around for some reason. Meh.

It was nearing 11:00 now and the other two rides in Cars Land had waits that we did not want to stick around for. We did notice that a few of the locals were out and about however. Red seemed to be a big hit!
We decided that now would be a good time for an early lunch and rest our feet a bit so we made our way out of DCA.

I did hesitate for a moment outside Carthay Circle. Like with Blue Bayou I had really wanted to eat here, but sacrifices had to be made so that we could go to WDW in the fall. It makes perfect sense now but at the time I was a little bummed out lol.

On our way to lunch we noticed the most adorable thing. An older woman was pushing an older man in a wheelchair and they both had on bride and groom Mickey ears. I just thought that was the best thing ever and what a wonderful way for a newlywed couple to spend their honeymoon. At Disney. No matter how old you are. Love it! Love Disney!!!
​

 

[petals]

Thank you I have a whole range of emotions right now including excitement and fear. But I really do believe that this is all happening for a reason and like Elsa I just have to Let it Go!!!! lol. I am glad that you are getting the confidence you need to pursue what you want to do and I really hope that it works out for you! I think more than ever before that it is so important to do something you love doing if you have that option and no one deserves to feel stuck or unhappy with where they spend 40+ hours a week.

Thanks. I think happiness and health are by far the most important things. So fingers and toes crossed everything works out

 

[amandaw]

Yay! for getting to ride RSR a 2nd time in a day! I am so excited to experience that ride.

Sounds like y'all were definitely having a good day.

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

This is where I rode Mermaid for the first time. Yup, same ride, but MY GOD what a difference in queues.

ZOMBIE ARIEL!!! I still love her anyway.

YOWZA, NO. There is no ride where I would wait 105 minutes. Just... no.

Oh my GOD I hope they really were just married because that would just be so incredibly sweet. I mean, it's still sweet anyway, but that would be super sweet.

I love that Esplanade area in between the 2 parks too. So nice to be able to walk from one park to the other.

 

[thornton0511]

Thanks. I think happiness and health are by far the most important things. So fingers and toes crossed everything works out

Sending some extra good vibes your way!!!

 

[thornton0511]

Yay! for getting to ride RSR a 2nd time in a day! I am so excited to experience that ride.

Sounds like y'all were definitely having a good day.

I know we felt so accomplished!

This is where I rode Mermaid for the first time. Yup, same ride, but MY GOD what a difference in queues.

ZOMBIE ARIEL!!! I still love her anyway.

YOWZA, NO. There is no ride where I would wait 105 minutes. Just... no.

Oh my GOD I hope they really were just married because that would just be so incredibly sweet. I mean, it's still sweet anyway, but that would be super sweet.

I love that Esplanade area in between the 2 parks too. So nice to be able to walk from one park to the other.

Ah see your Little Mermaid experience was probably better than. After already seeing WDW version the one at DL was kind of meh.
LOL Zombie Ariel had me laughing pretty hard when I was going though my pics from the trip.
I felt sorry for anyone who felt they had to do standby for RSR in that afternoon CA heat
Yeah the "just married" couple was really sweet and I loved how the woman was pushing the man around in the wheelchair

 

[thornton0511]

Lunch and Downtown Disney

For lunch today we were headed over to DTD! I have to admit the closeness of the parks and DTD is amazing! Everything literally is a few steps away.

I also thought that this version of DTD was very nice. My heart still belongs to the one at WDW but I did enjoy this one too! There were several familiar places that we saw on our way to lunch.

World of Disney! I cannot believe that we actually did not end up even walking into this store here. What in the world was wrong with me lol?

The good old Lego store. Kids love it, I could live without it. It always seems way too crowded and chaotic, but maybe that's just me.

Eventually we made it to our destination. Rainforest Café!!!! This is a family fav and we always try to find a way to squeeze it in if we can.

We checked in with our landry's card (not that it was needed because it was still early for lunch and not very crowded) and found our way to the iconic aquarium to wait to be seated.

We were told it would be just a few minutes so we let the kids wander around the store a bit until they were ready for us.

Within no time they called our name and we were headed upstairs to be seated! Yay upstairs!! I have no idea why I get so excited when I get to go upstairs in a restaurant but I do….every time!

We passed a few rainforest friends on our way to our table.

All of the rainforest café restaurants that we have been to are a little different. This one in CA was a new one and I think it might be my favorite! The entire middle is open with a high ceiling that lets in natural sunlight and I thought it was very pretty. This was our view from our table.

We also had this guy looking over us from our table….

Hi there Mr. Elephant!

Sydney wasted no time putting on her rainforest hat.

The sever quickly came and we put our order in. Then we sat and waited for a thunderstorm! The first time ever that we ate at a Rainforest Café was in San Antonio while we were on vacation on the Riverwalk (which is awesome by the way)and Sydney was 4. We had no idea what to expect and the not only did the animatronics scare the crap out of her but so did the thunderstorms. She spend the entire time in my lap with her hands covering her ears anytime a thunderstorm happened. I had to distract her the entire time to keep her from being too scared. Poor baby girl.

She has grown up so much since that time and obviously has no fear of these things now and loves the RFC. But every time we go I always remember that first memory with her.
Okay so getting on to the food. We had a coupon for this visit that I received an email for. It was set to expire at the end of this month so it was great timing to use it now. We would receive $10 off our meal of $40. We also were not staving and it was lunch. The decision was made to split a few appetizers.

We first went with Awesome Appetizer Adventure. This included Chimi-Cha-Chas (eggrolls), Spinach and Artichoke Dip, Cheese Sticks, and Chicken Tenders.

We also opted to add a side of St. Louis Ribs for an additional charge.

And also went with an order of Lava Nachos because who doesn't love Nachos? They had a whole mess of stuff on them. This with the addition of a few sodas brought our total where it needed to be for the coupon. Total bill with the coupon and tip came to $41.00 which was good for this place.
With the bill paid we headed back out. The kids really wanted to go to the Lego store (bleh) so we gave in and told them we would do a quick walkthrough.

Sydney wanted her picture taken with one of the Lego Friends

Cory opted for Gandalf

Aladdin, Jasmine, and Genie was a new one for me. It was nice to see ones that are not in WDW.

And I cannot remember off hand if Belle and Beast are in WDW but I thought it was cute. We humored the kids for a few minutes and then it was time to go. But with an early lunch it was still not late in the afternoon yet and we had some more exploring to do!
​

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

The proximity of everything is really one of the great things about Disneyland Resort, no doubt. I like that DtD is kind of a greatest hits of the WDW version. And at least you don't need oxygen walking from one end to the other.

Upstairs rules, that's why!!

I'm glad you added the ribs, because MY GOD THEY LOOK GOOD!!