The Wettest, Merriest, and Happiest Birthday/First Visit Nov/Dec 2012 TR! 2/13 FINAL!

[kimbo0569]

I so loved reading your mini TR of Boston and NY (especially NY since that's where I live...LOL). And loving your Tr of Disneyland. I have been twice but the last time was in 1991. We are planning a trip to Disney World for this year (late fall) but dh and I were talking and his brother lives in Cali - he just bought a house and would like it if we could visit him. So we're planning on a trip out for 2014.

So I said to dh tonight - since we're going to be in Cali to visit his brother, we absolutely cannot be there and NOT see Disneyland...

 

[danimaroo]

Hey guys!! Hopefully you didnt forget about me& Its true, were back from our Disney World trip. Totally bummed out about it being over, but we honestly had such a great time, and I am BEYOND excited to share our trip with those of you interested in hearing about our crazy adventures.

Anyway, my current plan is to get this TR done before I start my Disney World one (plus this buys me time to edit photos and get our PhotoPass+ CD back), but I will definitely be sure to post a link to my WDW one once I have it started, in case you feel like continuing on another fun-filled vacation with us!

Okay, back to our Disneyland adventures!

Chapter Seventeen: Fact: It's not a good idea to ride Space Mountain when full of delicious jambalaya
Day 2: November 30th, 2012

Ah right, so as we left off, we'd just finished up our Holiday Time Tour, took some photos and managed to lose our umbrella... but now, we had places to be!

At this point we decided to make our way over to New Orleans Square and decided to go on Pirates again.

I love that ride so much, especially the beginning when youre passing Blue Bayou!

Okay, weeelll after we got off of Pirates, we moseyed our way on over to... Blue Bayou! We'd decided to have my birthday dinner there because it's just such a classic part of Disneyland!

We walked up and checked in, then sat down. And it's funny, going through my photos, I have no idea why I didnt take any of the outside area. I'm lame! Anyway, we were seated before too long and gah, I love that restaurant way too much. It's so neat.

The ambiance is perfect, and while I was a little sad that we weren't seated near the Pirates area, I loved that there was a LIVE BAND playing above us. It was seriously wonderful.

See? We were clearly both happy campers!

For whatever reason I only took photos on my iPhone, so basically you can't really see anything because the lighting in there is very similar to what you see in San Angel Inn in Epcot.

Anyway, Matt and I ordered our food and took in the scenery. Matt ordered the Royal Street Seafood Jambalaya, while I ordered the Isla-Cruces Crab Cakes.

Both of our meals came with a salad, which was super tasty!

We also were served bread, which if I remember correctly, was very good.

Soon enough our food came out, and yes, these are pretty not-awesome photos, but it'll have to do!

Matt's jumbalaya:

My crab cakes:

These were BOTH so good, and they gave you a lot! I'd heard mixed reviews about the food at Blue Bayou, but I honestly loved every bite of mine, and I know Matt thoroughly enjoyed his! It's definitely pricey but very much worth it.

We enjoyed every last bite, though we were pretty stuffed by the end of our meal. However, our waitress brought out a special birthday treat for me which I thought was very nice!

It was a chocolate mousse and very good. Matt and I ate what we could, settled our check, and headed back out!

I highly recommend Blue Bayou if you have the chance to eat there. The restaurant is absolutely stunning and the food was wonderful, as well! Again, it's a little on the pricier side but definitely an awesome place to experience.

We finished up at around 8 and headed towards the main hub where I wanted to get our holiday photo I was planning on using for our Christmas cards this year. The castle was looking absolutely perfect.

There werent any PhotoPass photographers around, so I asked a random CM to take our photo and it was a total fail. She just had no idea how to use a DSLR, so our photo came out like this:

Wompwomp. I mean, she tried, she really did! But it just wasn't happening.

I am pretty sure I was more annoyed than I'd normally be, but it was also because I was pretty exhausted and my feet hurt, and I am pretty sure Matt was also hitting a wall, as well.

HOWEVER! We had Fast Passes to use! So there was no time to stop, and we soldiered on into Tomorrowland!

When we arrived, it was a 45 minute wait in the stand-by line, so we were happy to be using our FPs from earlier.

We had a ton of fun on it, but the attraction photo just kills me. This, ladies and gents, is the face of a man trying his best not to throw up everywhere.

As we got off, Matt revealed that it probably wasn't the best idea to ride Space Mountain after he'd just eaten the Jambalaya at Blue Bayou. Apparently his stomach was angry and he was pretty close to throwing up, so his face for most of the ride was as you see above, trying his best not to throw up on me. Hahaha, such a kind husband for not puking on his wife; I have to say I appreciated that! Also, the girl in front of him on the ride is apparently having TOO much of a good time, no?!

Anyway, after we got off of Space Mountain, we hopped onto Buzz Lightyear because it had a 5 minute wait.

(Keep reading!)

Continued in next post​

 

[danimaroo]

Chapter Seventeen: Fact: It's not a good idea to ride Space Mountain when full of delicious jambalaya CONTINUED
Day 2: November 30th, 2012

I was pewpewing and doing so well, when suddenly the ride stopped. Everyone else continued to shoot, but for some reason our scores were suddenly final! What the heck, we were not even done riding and I had some points to score, dangit! Technically I won because I had a higher score, but we needed to have a rematch the next day because this whole ride-stopping business made that not really an official win on my part!

We left Buzz and headed for Main Street to find a spot to watch the fireworks from. Matt went off to buy some stuff and I saved us some spots.

Matt returned with a pal for Oswald... Mickey!!

Soon enough, Believe... In Holiday Magic was starting! Unfortunately because of the crappy weather, a lot of the fireworks were kind of blurred by the clouds. Wompwomp.

So my photos were pretty lacking. Add in the fact that some tall dude stood in front of me and kept moving/blocking my view, my photos were kind of poopy.

The castles color changes were really neat though, and I loved that!

And then... guys, then it SNOWED.

I was pretty much beside myself. I'd heard of the snowing on Main Street, but actually SEEING it was just amazing.

And then Matt pointed out it smelled like cinnamon and gingerbread. Like, seriously Disney, you know how to just make a girl happy! That was something where I was definitely feeling the Disney magic and wanted to remember that moment forever.

There was a girl right next to us SOBBING as it snowed, and I totally got it. Sometimes Disney just gets you like that!

We decided to head out of the park, and of course I had to keep taking photos of everything around us. It was just so perfect.

On our way out, we stopped by a store to pick up our Advent Calendar! We'd spotted it earlier, debated on buying it, and then decided it was too adorable not to buy.

At that point, we were both exhausted, and decided to trek back to our room. It was the longest. Walk. EVER. My feet felt like someone was smashing them with a hammer with every step I took.

After walking what seemed to be an eternity, we made it back to our room and I bee-lined it for the Jacuzzi tub. That thing was a lifesaver.

We relaxed, and Matt put Mickey and Oswald together on the bed.

When Matt picked up Mickey earlier in the evening, he also grabbed a cute Minnie Mouse for our niece Melina!

I made sure to take a photo of all the Vinylmation I'd traded throughout the day!

Oh, and because I didnt get a chance earlier in the night, I also took a photo of the cute pin and gingerbread man we got from doing the tour! I loved that they gave a cute little pin to commemorate the tour.

Matt was pretty exhausted, as was I, but I needed to stay up to make sure I took down some notes in my journal before I fell asleep. As I got up to plug my phone in across the room, I turned around and saw Matt snuggling Oswald in his sleep. I mean, seriously, how adorable is that?

I FINALLY was able to go to bed, and even though I knew I'd be exhausted, we had another early morning ahead of us!

Next, we do the Radiator Springs Racers dash... or not? AND we do the impossible... obtain 3 sets of fast passes all within our first half hour in the park!

Continued in next post​

 

[danimaroo]

Aww, that is too sweet! Have safe travels & a FUN trip! Can't wait to read about it!

Thank you! So I got halfway through your TR and still need to catch up! But so far it's been wonderful, no surprise there. Your son is the CUTEST!

Darn that rain !
I have to say, though, that I got choked up just watching the video of IASW lighting up; I cannot imagine how the tears would be flowing if I saw it in person! And can you imagine if Brynn saw it in person!?! Oh, my! Dream come true right there! That would pretty much make her life!
I'd probably have to do the tour, as I know absolutely zilch about DL. You seem to be getting acquainted with it fast, though! Good on ya!

Have SO MUCH FUN at WDW! Ten days!? I'm super jealous, but super happy for you !

The rain was poopy, I won't lie. OMG, I seriously thought of you guys when we were watching it. It was just amazing, and Brynn would totally be amazed. I definitely got chills when we saw it in person. The tour was good if you didn't know a lot, for sure.

Thanks, as you know, we had a blast... I'm just sad we're home already... BUT we are starting to plan our next trip, much to my delight. I just want to book it already so it'll feel more real!

Those corn dogs look so good! Would you believe me if I said that I've never had a corn dog before? Well, whether or not you believe me, it is sadly the truth. The funny thing is that I've been saving my first corn dog experience for whenever I go to Disneyland. Not like that's happening anytime soon AT ALL, but I'm weird and it's just a funny coincidence.

Omg... I don't even know how people pay for ONE DVC whatever ya call it, let alone SIX. HOT DANG, WOMAN! Does she wanna share? Hahha but really.

Oh man, that's such a shame about the rain canceling the parade! I honestly probably would have cried because I absolutely ADORE that parade! I've seriously watched it on you tube about 20 times because I figure I won't be seeing it anytime soon! Hopefully one day yall will get to see it! I feel like you should go back next year and be like "um hi... we did the tour last year and it rained, if you want proof you can read my TR... mind giving us VIP seating like right now? K thanks BYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE." (Penny from Happy Endings style right there. )

It's a small world looks so amazing!!! I tried to watch your video a few times but it froze in the same spot before it lit up!

The corn dogs were insanely good, no lie. That is funny that you've never had one though.. but leaving that for Disneyland is a GOOD CALL, because it was the best one I'd ever eaten in my life!

Yeah, that lady had me impressed. I mean, we're starting to look into DVC so knowing what ONE contract costs, I can only imagine how much money she has invested in DVC!

I seriously was so so sad about the parade being canceled. I was SO looking forward to it! It just obviously means we need to go back around Christmas again though so I can finally see it!

Bahahaha I laughed so hard at your Penny reference. SAH AH-MAHZING.

Well that's lame that the video froze, because it was definitely an amazing moment. I hope it works for you at some point; I still get chills just watching the video!

I so loved reading your mini TR of Boston and NY (especially NY since that's where I live...LOL). And loving your Tr of Disneyland. I have been twice but the last time was in 1991. We are planning a trip to Disney World for this year (late fall) but dh and I were talking and his brother lives in Cali - he just bought a house and would like it if we could visit him. So we're planning on a trip out for 2014.

So I said to dh tonight - since we're going to be in Cali to visit his brother, we absolutely cannot be there and NOT see Disneyland...

Aww, thank you, I'm glad that you enjoyed my mini TR of Boston/NYC, haha. That was definitely a fun little adventure for me!! Glad you're also enjoying my DL TR!! That is so exciting that you're planning for Disney World in the fall!! And even more awesome that you'll get to go back to Disneyland! I just love both parks so much!! I'll also be writing a TR for my most recent WDW trip, so hopefully I will see you over there as well!

 

[Aussiesalad]

Dinner at the Blue Bayou looks stunning! I just love that you can eat inside the ride!! It's seriously on my list of things to do next trip!

Oh gosh I've totally made the face that Matt is making on Space.
It's a horrible feeling when it hits you in the middle of the ride that hmmm maybe you should have waited a little longer to let that food settle.

Ahhhh the snow on main street is PERFECT!!! Disney is so on it with their smells!

I love your Mickey and Oswald! They are beyond adorable

 

[onelilspark]

I'm sure Matt is thrilled you posted the picture of him snuggling with Oswald.

I would totally do that to my husband too.

 

[Fantasyland Mom]

Oh, where to start!?

I am so impressed with the Blue Bayou! I know you said the pictures aren't great, but I really can tell the ambiance through them. I just love those lanterns hanging above your heads! And I am a HUGE seafood lover, so I'd have trouble deciding between those yummy dishes.

Well, the good news is that he DIDN'T puke on you, right? It still stinks that he felt like it, though. Of course, SM kind of makes me feel like that even when I haven't been eating huge amounts of food. It's weird to remember that you don't sit in front of him on the DL version. I was like, "Where is she!?!?"

I completely understand the lady sobbing, too. Mostly because I only saw the pictures of the snow and got misty. I don't know if I'd ever be able to handle that in person!!

I just love those particular Oswald and Mickey stuffies. If I ever re-do Sawyer's room, I'm thinking of going for a classic Mickey theme and putting those in there...guess I better buy some! And if I decide not to re-do his room, they'll fit right in in our playroom or living room!

OMG! Snuggly Matt is just too cute! I'd snuggle with Oswald, too!

 

[mommy2allyandaveri]

I'm so glad you are back to this TR. Seriously, so glad! I've been checking very regularly since I knew you returned from WDW, welcome back!

Sorry you are bummed that vacation is over, it's always such a downer to get back to the real world.

I'm really enjoying your PTR for WDW too, I'm trying to take my time so I don't finish with it too quickly. Now I'm following you on twitter too! I'm not a stalker, I swear!

 

[stacy~**]

Yay, Dani is back!! I enjoyed following your pictures on Instagram and will definately move over to your WDW report when it starts.

BUT SO happy to have you back on this report. Loved the Blue Bayou review. Our DL trip this summer just so happens to fall on our 12 year wedding anniversary. Guess where dinner will be that night? It will be quite the splurge as I am typically a cheap (and fast) diner at Disney.

LOVE the pin you got on the tour! Makes me feel better about the cancelled parade!

 

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

Hahaha Matt really does look like he's regretting the jambalaya/Space Mountain combo in that picture! Little does that happy woman know....

 

[PracPerfPatricia]

Awwww... that is one cute photo of Matt snuggling Oswald...

The fact that it was so rainy and your photos still look so awesome and so much fun is a testimony to quite how magical Disneyland is...

I am sorry that you didn't totally love your Decorations at Dis tour... I think if it hadn't been raining and you had gotten your VIP seating-it would have been a totally different thing... I still think that I'd considering doing it... in fact your whole TR makes me NEED a trip to Disneyland even though I am still writing a TR from a Disney World Christmas trip... But it really is different...and I can totally justify those differences to plan a trip...

I think that your meal at the Blue Bayou sounds great and the atmosphere looks amazing...

I feel for Matt afterwords though... he really looks a bit "off" on that Space Mountain... that could have gotten ugly...

Snowing on Main Street... Pure Perfection...

 

[LisaAnn06]

Hi Dani-

Just subscribing to your thread. I've been following since slightly before you left for your most recent trip and I love the style of your writing! Can't wait to hear about the rest of your Disneyland trip and the newest one!

 

[marDgreen88]

Blue Bayou looks beautiful. I'm not a seafood fan but I would totally go there and get a salad or something. Hahha, it's just so pretty.

Thank God that Matt did not hurl over you or any other unsuspecting Space travelers. That would have been just... so bad. I've been thrown up on before (AT at theme park, actually) and it just isn't great. At all.

Snow on Main Street is the best thing that could ever happen to anyone.

 

[Susan121302]

I cannot even express how excited I was to stumble across this TR! I lived and breathed the TR you wrote last year after your trip to the BCV because DS and I had a BIG trip booked in Sept of 2012 staying at the BCV. And I also lived and breathed your previous TR because darn it, you just crack me the heck up! So anyway, I was perusing through the D-land Disboards in prep for booking a possible DL trip in August, when who do i see but Dani! YAY! Ok, back to reading this TR.

 

[danimaroo]

Dinner at the Blue Bayou looks stunning! I just love that you can eat inside the ride!! It's seriously on my list of things to do next trip!

Oh gosh I've totally made the face that Matt is making on Space.
It's a horrible feeling when it hits you in the middle of the ride that hmmm maybe you should have waited a little longer to let that food settle.

Ahhhh the snow on main street is PERFECT!!! Disney is so on it with their smells!

I love your Mickey and Oswald! They are beyond adorable

It really was awesome. I had no idea how cool it was until we walked in the restaurant. You should for sure do it! I'd definitely go again, probably will next trip maybe for lunch!

Bahahaha, the face just made me die laughing. I just felt bad he wasn't feeling so hot on it!

Yes, Disney is basically pro at making you happy, seriously. Right down to scented snow.

They're pretty cute! Now they're sitting on a shelf in our bedroom, bein' all cute all the time... and also avoiding my dogs destroying them. Our pug mix Milo would think Oswald was a toy for him to play with, no doubt, haha.

I'm sure Matt is thrilled you posted the picture of him snuggling with Oswald.

I would totally do that to my husband too.

Bahaha, I actually asked if I could post it and he smiled and said it was fine! He's a pretty good sport about me posting absurd photos of both he and I... WE HAVE NO SHAME, haha!

Oh, where to start!?

I am so impressed with the Blue Bayou! I know you said the pictures aren't great, but I really can tell the ambiance through them. I just love those lanterns hanging above your heads! And I am a HUGE seafood lover, so I'd have trouble deciding between those yummy dishes.

Well, the good news is that he DIDN'T puke on you, right? It still stinks that he felt like it, though. Of course, SM kind of makes me feel like that even when I haven't been eating huge amounts of food. It's weird to remember that you don't sit in front of him on the DL version. I was like, "Where is she!?!?"

I completely understand the lady sobbing, too. Mostly because I only saw the pictures of the snow and got misty. I don't know if I'd ever be able to handle that in person!!

I just love those particular Oswald and Mickey stuffies. If I ever re-do Sawyer's room, I'm thinking of going for a classic Mickey theme and putting those in there...guess I better buy some! And if I decide not to re-do his room, they'll fit right in in our playroom or living room!

OMG! Snuggly Matt is just too cute! I'd snuggle with Oswald, too!

Blue Bayou really was awesome! Super dark but the lanterns were perfect. Both of our dishes were super tasty, though I was in love with my crab cakes. I wish I could eat them right noooow.

Haha and yes, good news is he didn't throw up on anyone and ruin Space Mountain forever. He was fine after we got off, but I was laughing so hard at that photo of him, hahaha. And yeah, it is weird with the ride being SO different. Now that I just went on Space Mountain again in Disney World, I forgot how different they are from each other in many ways. I was next to him but happened to look like Jabba the Hut so I cut myself out of that photo, hahaha.

Yeah, the snow definitely choked me up a little bit. It was honestly amazing. And seeing Matt's face as the snow fell just made me such a happy lady!

I think that sounds awesome for Sawyer's room! I always tell Matt that all of these things we buy in Disney will probably just end up in our future kid's room. Actually, at some point I should just re-do our guest bedroom and make it awesomely themed with Disney stuff.

I might be biased, but I agree with the cuteness of that photo.

I'm so glad you are back to this TR. Seriously, so glad! I've been checking very regularly since I knew you returned from WDW, welcome back!

Sorry you are bummed that vacation is over, it's always such a downer to get back to the real world.

I'm really enjoying your PTR for WDW too, I'm trying to take my time so I don't finish with it too quickly. Now I'm following you on twitter too! I'm not a stalker, I swear!

Aww, thank you! I'm glad I'm back, too!! I am going to try to get updates done as quickly as possible so I can mosey on over to starting a WDW TR! But this is good, because it buys me time to edit photos and also get our PhotoPass+ CD back, too.

It really is hardest the first week when you get back, but it'll be okay! We're keeping ourselves going with some very fun plans for the future.

Haha, who are you on twitter?! I hope I'm following you back! And don't feel like a stalker, I love when people follow along/want to actually read my stuff. Feels like I'm not talking to an empty room or something, haha.

Yay, Dani is back!! I enjoyed following your pictures on Instagram and will definately move over to your WDW report when it starts.

BUT SO happy to have you back on this report. Loved the Blue Bayou review. Our DL trip this summer just so happens to fall on our 12 year wedding anniversary. Guess where dinner will be that night? It will be quite the splurge as I am typically a cheap (and fast) diner at Disney.

LOVE the pin you got on the tour! Makes me feel better about the cancelled parade!

Yes I am! WOOHOO! And that's awesome, I'm glad you followed along with all of my IG photos! I somehow managed to take so many photos on that trip, it's going to take forever to go through them all.

OMG, you are going to love Blue Bayou! I definitely would like to go back next time we are in Disneyland. It's a splurge but definitely worth it!!

And yeah, the pin was a nice little memento, even though I was sad about the parade. Good one to add to our collection!

Hahaha Matt really does look like he's regretting the jambalaya/Space Mountain combo in that picture! Little does that happy woman know....

Hahaha, it seriously had me dying. So funny. The lady had no idea he was very close to throwing up on her head. I don't think she'd be so happy after that.

Awwww... that is one cute photo of Matt snuggling Oswald...

The fact that it was so rainy and your photos still look so awesome and so much fun is a testimony to quite how magical Disneyland is...

I am sorry that you didn't totally love your Decorations at Dis tour... I think if it hadn't been raining and you had gotten your VIP seating-it would have been a totally different thing... I still think that I'd considering doing it... in fact your whole TR makes me NEED a trip to Disneyland even though I am still writing a TR from a Disney World Christmas trip... But it really is different...and I can totally justify those differences to plan a trip...

I think that your meal at the Blue Bayou sounds great and the atmosphere looks amazing...

I feel for Matt afterwords though... he really looks a bit "off" on that Space Mountain... that could have gotten ugly...

Snowing on Main Street... Pure Perfection...

Haha, I thought it was, too!

Very true about Disneyland! Though I really am hoping next time we go it's not as rainy because whew, it was a bit much at times.

Yeah, I feel like if the VIP tour had happened and it wasn't raining, we totally would have been more satisfied with the tour and felt like we got our money's worth. But I also think it's better for people who have done no research on the parks/it's their first day in the parks. And you should so go to Disneyland! Very big differences, for sure.

Blue Bayou is definitely a treat! I would love to go back again next trip!

Hahahaha, yeah, poor Matt. I had no idea!

The snow was just amazing and beautiful and I was so so happy in that moment..

Hi Dani-

Just subscribing to your thread. I've been following since slightly before you left for your most recent trip and I love the style of your writing! Can't wait to hear about the rest of your Disneyland trip and the newest one!

So glad you're following along!! I hope I'll see you over in my WDW TR when I start that one as well, and I hope you've been enjoying this TR!

Blue Bayou looks beautiful. I'm not a seafood fan but I would totally go there and get a salad or something. Hahha, it's just so pretty.

Thank God that Matt did not hurl over you or any other unsuspecting Space travelers. That would have been just... so bad. I've been thrown up on before (AT at theme park, actually) and it just isn't great. At all.

Snow on Main Street is the best thing that could ever happen to anyone.

Yeah there's all sorts of good non-seafood type dishes there, so you'd have plenty to choose from!! I'm just a crab cake nut... and they were gooood! That and the restaurant itself was just amazing.

Bahaha, it would have been awful, but thankfully he was okay. Being thrown up on is probably the worst thing that could happen to me because then I would throw up. Though I've gotten better with that over the year's, especially when I was a nanny!

You speak the truth on the snow. It's just the best.

I cannot even express how excited I was to stumble across this TR! I lived and breathed the TR you wrote last year after your trip to the BCV because DS and I had a BIG trip booked in Sept of 2012 staying at the BCV. And I also lived and breathed your previous TR because darn it, you just crack me the heck up! So anyway, I was perusing through the D-land Disboards in prep for booking a possible DL trip in August, when who do i see but Dani! YAY! Ok, back to reading this TR.

Hi Susan! I remember you from my WDW TR!! So happy you found my DL TR!! YAYAY! And even better, you stayed at my favorite resort! How was your trip?! I hope you loved it!

Thank you for the awesome compliments, I'm a total dork but I really do have so much fun/laugh a LOT in Disney, must be because it's my super happy place.

Totally hope you get to Disneyland, it's amazing! And I hope to see you when I start my latest Disney World TR after I finish this one!!

 

[LisaAnn06]

Loving experiencing Disneyland thru you lol. I've never been before and didn't have much desire to until I started reading this. I didn't realize it was as big as it is. I haven't been to Disney World since 2001 when I was in Jr. High but am so itching to go back! I will definitely be following your next trip report and have recently finished your other ones.

 

[danimaroo]

Loving experiencing Disneyland thru you lol. I've never been before and didn't have much desire to until I started reading this. I didn't realize it was as big as it is. I haven't been to Disney World since 2001 when I was in Jr. High but am so itching to go back! I will definitely be following your next trip report and have recently finished your other ones.

Haha aww, well thank you! It's a pretty awesome compliment that my TR is making you want to go to Disneyland!! It's weird, because it's big but it's not. Everything is VERY compact and they do a pretty good job of using their space wisely since they have much less to work with than Disney World does.

So glad I'll see you over on my WDW TR, as well!

 

[danimaroo]

Chapter Eighteen: Snaggin' 3 sets of Fast Passes in a half hour isn't a bad start to the day!
Day 3: December 1st, 2012

We woke up at 7am again, and I’m pretty sure both of us were emitting some choice words when the alarm went off. We were both exhausted and our bodies were screaming, “PLEASE GOD NO MORE,” but we both pushed through the pain and got ready relatively quickly. We needed to be up and at ‘em for California Adventure!

We managed to get out the door by 7:25 or so, and strolled over to wait in line at the gates of California Adventure. Fairly certain when I instagrammed this photo, I made a comment about how it was far too early, hahaha.

At around 7:50, they let everyone in. Apparently Matt and I have this ridiculous knack for ALWAYS choosing the wrong line, seriously. We got super held up behind people who needed to sign their APs, which was very time-consuming. It’s crazy how in WDW, it’s very different. All you do is pop your ticket in the machine, scan your finger, and you’re on your way. That was one thing that I hope Disneyland moves over to in the future; lines at the gate would get SUPER backed up due to these issues.

Anyhoot, we finally got in the park and immediately headed towards the rope and waited for rope drop. We actually found ourselves in a great position for getting to Radiator Springs relatively quickly. We figured we’d try to just ride is right away versus getting in line for FPs, which had its own separate queue off to the side.

After we waited about 5 minutes, a cast member notified everyone that Radiator Springs Racers was down, and so basically it wasn’t worth us rushing towards. Annoyed, we turned around and got into the massive line for Fast Passes that had already formed.

I have never seen a line and queue area for fast passes for a ride like this. Seriously, it was impressive.

We waited for a few minutes and finally our line started to move forward. We finally got towards where they show the FP return time and I was amazed at how quickly the numbers were changing!

Finally we got towards the front.. It took forever, but we got FPs!

We were hoping it’d actually open up again by the time our fast passes were ready, because it’d actually been down the night before, as well.

After that, we headed straight over to get Fast Passes for World of Color. Our original plan was that we were going to eat at Carthay Circle and do the WoC package, but we figured if we could just get WoC FPs, then we’d cancel our reservation since we didn’t really want to have our precious park time on our final day eaten up by the restaurant. That and we would save a bunch of money.

So! We headed on over in hopes of getting good FPs. For those of you who have never been to Disneyland, World of Color requires fast passes in order to get into the viewing area for the show. You basically have to get these fast passes pretty early in the park, or do one of the dining packages. The FP system for World of Color is separate from the rest of the FP system, so you don’t have to worry about “wasting” an FP on them.

The later you show up, the worse your viewing spot can get. They are color-coded so when you show up, a CM directs you as to where your standing area is.

It was a relatively quiet morning, and getting our World of Color FPs was pretty easy!

We got Fast Passes for the first show in the Blue Section, which was one of the better viewing areas. At that point we decided to cancel our dinner reservation for Carthay Circle, and then we continued over to Paradise Pier.

A little fun fact I’d learned about the California Screamin’ Fast Pass system… It’s disconnected from the rest of the park. Meaning, we could get Fast Passes even though we’d just picked some up for Radiator Springs Racers. So of course, we grabbed them! And thus, we officially grabbed 3 sets of fast passes in a half hour!

After we grabbed FPs, we hopped right in the standby line since the wait was pretty much nonexistent.

Much to Matt’s dismay, I had my iPhone out and ready for some photos!

I actually have no idea what Matt was telling me in this photo, but it pretty much cracks me up because he looks very bewildered… and I know how much you guys just love these awesome photos of Matt looking his very best, no?!

I had to grab a quick photo of our ride photo because I look like I’m truly having the time of my life, while Matt on the other hand looks like he is just NOT feeling it, hahaha.

Matt really makes some of the best faces for attraction photos, both intentionally and unintentionally.

We started to head out of Paradise Pier, but I wanted to stop and watch people launch off… and listen to Neil Patrick Harris’ different spiels!

We were both considerably hungry, so we wanted to find a place that had something decently substantial for breakfast. We came across the Pacific Wharf area and decided to see what they had…

I ended up ordering an Egg, Bacon, and Cheese croissant..

And Matt went with their Breakfast Boule:

We grabbed our food and found a nice place to sit outside to enjoy our breakfast.

The food was actually really good! The bread that came with Matt’s was super delicious and fresh, too. And I loved that both came with grapes on the side, because I love me some grapes.

We really enjoyed just watching the bird around the water and taking it a bit easy because we were both pretty pooped, so I recall really enjoying this breakfast.

We finished up and decided to head towards Carsland to see if Radiator Springs Racers was back up and running… and it wasn’t. I was starting to get a little nervous that we wouldn’t get a chance to ride it!

(Keeping reading below!)

Continued in next post​

 

[danimaroo]

Chapter Nineteen: That's a whole lotta different Christmas trees in one area!
Day 3: December 1st, 2012

I was really hoping itd get back up and running because it looked like it would be a blast.

We decided to take our time walking down the street and I took a LOT of photos of all of the decorations, especially all of the different Christmas trees Cecil had mentioned during our Tour the day before&

I was very impressed with all of the details they put into everything in that area, especially for the Christmas decorations!

We headed out of Carsland and decided to make our way over towards Hollywood Studios (haaa, still weirds me out to say that).. I popped into Off the Page to trade a Vinylmation, and ended up getting Marie!

We also looked around and spotted this really neat Haunted Mansion shadowbox, but decided to wait and decide on whether or not we d buy it later..

On our way out, I saw this and I remember tweeting Marissa (mardgreen88) this photo because she is a huge Once Upon a Time fan. We watched the first season and really loved it, but were waiting to watch season 2 once its on DVD/blu-ray.

I had really wanted to ride Tower of Terror just to see how different it was from Disney Worlds version, but Matt wasnt feeling it, so he encouraged me to go on alone and hed wait for me outside. I had no problem with that, so off I went!

It was funny, Matt suspected that the tower was shorter than WDWs, and sure enough, it is. I couldnt really notice the difference, but yeah. It is definitely not as wide, and thats because your elevator never leaves the elevator shaft like it does in Disney World.

The queue for DL isnt really in a hidden area like WDWs, and when you enter the building, its kind of different.

That being said, its still very creepy!

There wasnt really a line, so I walked up and was put in row 2.

I waited in anticipation, as I was very curious to see how intense it would be!

So I thought it was a ton of fun, but it is very different than Disney Worlds. As I mentioned before, in Disneyland you just move up and down, versus going through that creepy area before entering the shaft where you get dropped in Disney World. So its a much quicker ride in Disneyland. That being said, the drops were still a ton of fun and it was still a blast to ride. Id say Disney Worlds is probably better just because of the extra room you go through, basically the Twilight Zone, before being dropped.

We had a pretty fun crowds on our elevator, but I just looked like I had no friends. Hahaha..

On my way out, I traded another Vinylmation and got Madame Medusa, but I didnt take a photo of her because I knew I was going to trade her (since I already have her in my Villains collection).

As I made my way over to Matt, Stitch just walked right in front of me, like it aint no thang.

Sulley and Frozone also strolled by me, but I didnt get a photo.

Then out of nowhere, Minnie was walking towards me!

It was kind of interesting in Disneyland how characters would just randomly roam around versus having specific meeting areas. Youd just see them hanging out wherever! I think their backstage area though must have been near the ToT shop exit though just because of how many characters I was seeing.

Anyway, I found Matt and we headed over to Starbucks because we were both in the mood for some coffee! I saw one of the delicious Disney brownies begging me to buy it (funny how that works, no?), so we got a brownie to split!

I decided to go with my usual Iced nonfat caramel macchiato and Matt went with his usual Vanilla Latte.

The brownie was SO good. I would highly suggest trying it if you like a good fudgey brownie. I wanted to eat the whole thing myself, but alas, I had to share with Matt.

We enjoyed our lattes then headed out of the park for some fun!

Next, we head back to Disneyland for a bit and explore one of the coolest parts of Disneyland...

Continued in next post​

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

Those trees are SO COOL!!! I love them! Ok, I haven't been to DL since I was 13 and you are totally making me want to go back. It's like a totally different place...I guess that means I'm old b/c it's been SO long that they have changed everything.