TR: And now for something completely different - a WDW Family did DLR *(new - 4/15: HK Disneyland)*

[TheMaxRebo]

I'm so far behind, that I'm embarrassed... because this is one of the TR's that I anticipated all summer and fall. But things have finally calmed down and I plan to get caught up tonight In the meantime, I forgot my lunch and I'm starving... I'm drooling over those Flo's sandwiches right now!!!!

Totally get how life can get in the way of important things ... like reading my trip report Glad you are back though, and also glad that you have updated your TR as well!

So... a bit of catching up to do. Unfortunately, I now need to work a bit later than normal, because I spent too much "break time" getting caught up this afternoon. I meant to only read a post or two, but I should have known better.

Wow, I love the beach photos in San Clemente. Especially cool to see the trains go by. I can only imagine how cool it would be to ride along the coast on that train, and look out the window into the ocean!

I love the photos that Peter took at Pizza Port. He's a natural

The beach was really nice and we just liked the vibe in San Clemente .... we enjoyed riding up the coast - especially the parts that weren't too crowded. And of course the trians!

How cool that the monorail passed by just as you arrived at HOJO! I love that you went to Trader Sam's on your first night! A long walk from HOJO, but lots of cool stuff to see! Nice to see that Judi liked the Krakatoa Punch. That's probably my favorite too, but the Zombie was awesome as well. I also had similar experiences with the Mai-Tai good, but not "as good". Dude... now I'm really jonesing for some tiki drinks! (I mean, really jonesing!)

Love the photos of you all at the partner's statue! And who doesn't love free Churros?!?!?!?

Interesting comments about Olivia and Ghost Galaxy. We've ridden it with the overlay and without, and I much preferred the "vanilla" version. I love the expression of the lady in Judi's car in the ride photo. Haha!

haha, yeah, wasn't helping I was reading your comment when planning our summer trip to WDW - which also has us stopping by Trader Sam's (this time Grog Grotto) the first evening

I think I was excited for the overlay just because it was something different ... though I would have wanted to ride the DLR version even without it.

I love the waving Mickey on your Red Car Trolley gif! So cool!!!!

"Primeval Hurl" hahahaha!!!!

Love the photo of Emma on King Triton's Carousel.

What a bummer about the GoPro video on California Screamin'.

I love the photopass photos in front of the castle, those tye dies are awesome!!! And it looks like you scored with that photographer. They really spent some good time with you all. It's fun when you get a photographer who doesn't just snap a couple and then wave you on.

I did love "newsie Mickey" or whatever that costume is called.

Definitely bummed about the GoPro fail

Thanks - we were pretty happy with how the tie dyed shirts came out! We had a few photographers like that who had us do a bunch of poses. Actually, I think a higher percentage did that for us at DLR than at WDW - though we have had a few really good ones at WDW

And Mr. Toad for the win!!! Major nostalgia for me too. It's really not that great of a ride, but it's a must do us every trip. (And usually more than once. )

I'm loving your morning start at Fantasyland. Some real classics there! Hoping that you hit Peter Pan, and if so, curious to see what you thought. (It was still down for refurbishment when we visited back in June.)

Mr. Toad is definitely one ride I remember from my youth visiting WDW (that and the original version of Journey into Imagination) so was pumped to ride it again! Kids were a bit confused, though we have read Wind in the Willows to them and tried to explain what was going on - but not easy on that ride!

Spoiler alert - we didn't hit Peter Pan. The line was always so crazy and our understanding was that it wasn't that different from the WDW version so other things were a priority

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Chocolate??? Nope. Can't do it. There would be no display left after I was there.

But I'm glad you fit in another Dismeet in a very nice setting.

It really is cool seeing it at night!

I never came across this. Seems a little bit odd. I wonder what the reasoning would be for ending alcohol sales early? Maybe just something to limit liability from locals from coming in after work and getting drunk and driving home?

I really was impressed with Flo's. I thought it was an excellent counter service meal. I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Strollers and Disney... they go hand in hand.

We've got one of those as well. We used it on a trip with my SiL and her family. The younger kids could ride and DS could stand on the back. Worked pretty well except I'd keep kicking/tripping on the board on the back when I'd push it.

Ouch... pains me to see you missing that extra time in the morning. But you definitely did get some good pictures, so it was certainly worthwhile!

I agree. I really liked this one!

The display was pretty cool - it was under glass and have a rope around it ... but more power to you if you could still eat it all!

Cars Land is very cool at night and I love areas that feel different during the day and at night.

Flo's wasn't something we specifically targeted but we are glad we fit it in as we really enjoyed it - though we were getting a bit tired so just at the point we wanted to get dinner done

Same thing here! Definitely would kick the riding board or had to walk wide-legged

yeah, it was tough - but if we figure Peter Pan would have a long line and we might not have done that anyway, the only thing we probably wound up not getting to due to lines in Fantasyland was Alice, so not too bad all together

Very fun DIS meet! And that chocolate display does look tempting!

Great shots of the family and kids in front of the castle! And I love that Olivia is the only one giving a thumbs up - those funny memories are one of my favorite things about our trips.

It must have been nice to get to experience so many "no longer at WDW" or completely new attractions. I'm sure the monkey car was a big hit with the kids!

Definitely glad the DISmeet worked out ... and the display was pretty cool too!

Thanks - yeah, I find it so funny when Pete can't manage to do things like give thumbs up or whatever ... probably shouldn't but it can be funny

It was definitely our focus to get on different rides or no longer at WDW rides or where the attractions were very different

Great DISmeet picture!

Ending the night in CarsLand sounds perfect to me. Glad you enjoyed your meal.

Great family photos, and nice that it was still empty enough where you don't have anyone in the background really!

Nice that you got a lot of the dark rides done that morning. Sounds like things were going well for you guys so far

Thank you - definitely glad it worked out and we were able to meetup with Alicia and Brenda ... and got photographic evidence!

While sad we didn't see the lights turn on I am glad we got to spend time in Cars Land at night - it is very cool!

I am glad we stopped to get the pictures in. I love having those memories, especially as the kids grow, nice to be able to look back

pretty well! Some lines longer than expected/hoped but we did ok ... can't say that was the case for the rest of the trip

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Wow - I am impressed by your level of comments ... most impressive!

Did Judi make those outfits?? Way too cute.

Agh, she's so adorable and with Pascal on her arm, is just cuteness overload!

At least you can admit it, unlike other men I know

No we didn't make those outfits - all the girls dresses you see were from Easty. We did make the tie dyed shirts though

Emma is pretty cute - which is good for her as lets her get away with more

Hmm, no idea who you could be talking about

Yes! I had completely forgotten about this when riding at MK!

Whaaa?! That is perfect

A face that we may see again when Olivia is 16 perhaps??

I love seeing the monorail come through here. That's probably why I enjoy Epcot so much. The monorail going through the park (although, just a teeny, tiny portion) adds to the magic for me.[/epcot]

It was definitely unexpected - though was a little odd to me that he like announced that he can do this so many times a day or whatever ... but hey, not going to look a gift churro in the mouth

I agree about the monorail going through the park - both at DLR and at EPCOT. I believe the original plan for the Magic Kingdom had a monorail loop that would go through Tomorrowland (that was when they were going to do the Persian resort up north of the Contemporary so there would be a loop that went to that hotel and then through Tomorrowland)

So how does this work with FP? Were you able to get back into the FP line and just explain what happened? Always wondered about this...

So what did you think of it?? I personally love the creepy music. You probably would have loved it when they had the Red Hot Chili Peppers music blasting back in the day, that was beyond amazing!

This room is so relaxing (and a good place to cool off for a bit)



YES! These are DELICIOUS!

Definitely bartender. It's always hit and miss when DH orders his Smoked Turkey cocktail here. But I will say, food has always been on point.

So I just got back in the FP line - that is why I made sure to get the rider swap for Judi. I suppose I could have asked about getting back in line further up, but didn't want to make a fuss

I thought Ghost Galaxy was rather cool! Definitely different. That would be cool with Red Hot Chili Pepper music playing - I loved how California Screamin' had the music. I wish I could ride the new overlay with Hyperspace Mountain

Ah, good to know it wasn't just us. I figured it was the bartender - odd that a specific location would have issues, but good to know. Beer it is!

It really is such a cool, immersive ride with the waterfall and animatronics. I still love the fast stretch outside of Test Track though

I love these shots, they are so different and there was lots of attraction opportunities I thought!

This had me BUSTING up at work! So sorry to laugh but, you know, I have to! Also, I know this pain. I've done this more than a few times with my GoPro (I don't even use it anymore because of this reason- easier with my iPhone for sure!)

I'm glad I was able to meet back up with you guys again and get a chance to say hi to Brenda. Brenda is beyond lovely and it was great being able to meet Michael for the first time too!

I remember you doing this

Guess I shouldn't mention that I have never ridden Test Track

I really liked those special shot boards they had set up - we got some more in later in the trip! Just something different

Oh yeah, you have to laugh - other wise you just cry. It did work out other times during the trip but that definitely was a bummer!

I am soooo glad the meet-up worked out! Great to see you again and have some more time to chat and of course to see Brenda and Michael as well!

Yep, never noticed. Thanks for showing this!

Did you guys ever make it to the dusk lighting?!

Woah, now that is strange. That's a bummer!

Totally agree. I've had breakfast, lunch and dinner there and it's solid food every time.

I love the little details at Disney so that stood out to me - I thought it was a neat effect!

Unfortunately we never did get to see the lighting at Car Land - but glad we had some time at night with the lights on at least though

It was just odd as it seemed early for that day and then the next we definitely got drinks later that that .... Not sure what the reasoning was - though some nights had a Halloween part at DLR and some didn't so not sure if that impacted things

I feel like I say this way too much, but she's a doll.

You're so right, so many strollers!

But i'm amazed that you guys made it there that early, good for you!

Thumbs up, my good man

Love those first two borders! And the shot with just the kids is perfect.

Just caught my eye in that picture how there are so many coming down the sidewalk!

apparently not early enough though! But I think we did ok most days getting up and out.

Thank you!

Lot's a nice boarders for the 60th![/QUOTE]

 

[afwdwfan]

yeah, it was tough - but if we figure Peter Pan would have a long line and we might not have done that anyway, the only thing we probably wound up not getting to due to lines in Fantasyland was Alice, so not too bad all together

So I probably shouldn't tell you that Alice was my favorite dark ride there???

 

[TheMaxRebo]

So I probably shouldn't tell you that Alice was my favorite dark ride there???

I think you kindly for not mentioning that

We did want to ride it but we never saw it with less than a 40 minute wait and usually at an hour and a couple of times it was broken down (which probably added to the weights) so it just wasn't meant to be.

 

[OregonMomToWDW]

Alice is my favorite too, but the last 3-4 times we have gone, we haven't been able (or willing to wait) with the wait times at an hour or more. And it isn't like you can go there first, because the times we have been there, it hasn't been operating at park open.

I am loving the updates. So much so, I booked our hotel for our summer trip yesterday.

 

[NJlauren]

The Elsa and Anna M&G is rather disappointing... But the lobster nachos.... more then make sup for anything right before it! Ummm and free Churro is always good!

The family pictures all look so good with the matching shirts. I know you said it cut in to the MM hours but i think it was worth it you got some great shots!

I find it interesting that so many rides/attractions seem better maintained at DL over WDW.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Alice is my favorite too, but the last 3-4 times we have gone, we haven't been able (or willing to wait) with the wait times at an hour or more. And it isn't like you can go there first, because the times we have been there, it hasn't been operating at park open.

I am loving the updates. So much so, I booked our hotel for our summer trip yesterday.

Yeah, pretty sure it wasn't open during the extra hour - we did keep checking wait time apps ... oh well, just another reason to go back some day!

Awesome! Very exciting - have a great time!

The Elsa and Anna M&G is rather disappointing... But the lobster nachos.... more then make sup for anything right before it! Ummm and free Churro is always good!

The family pictures all look so good with the matching shirts. I know you said it cut in to the MM hours but i think it was worth it you got some great shots!

I find it interesting that so many rides/attractions seem better maintained at DL over WDW.

I think it was really dissapointing as it was promoted as meeting both of them so felt a bit like false advertising, but oh well. The lobster nachos did help though

Thank you! I think it was worth it to take some time to get the family pictures - and we didn't have to wait long and especially after seeing how crowded it was for people getting pictures later in the day I felt good about the decision!

That is definitely something we noticed - as we got to rides like It's a Small World and Splash Mountain - just things seemed better maintained

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Chapter 29 - Disneyland - Part 10
October 17th
A whale spotter in the family​

After finishing riding Casey Jr we thought we would head over and ride the other attraction that it is interspersed with (even though they are laid out together the entrances aren't close) - so we headed over to the Storybook Canal Boats!

On the way we did pass this guy, but the kids had no interest in meeting him so this was as close as we got:

So this is one of those rides that is classic to Disneyland but is such a slooooooooow loader (and they only had 3 boats going) that the line takes a while. It basically was always a similar length whenever we checked it (to and past the end of the roped line area) so we decided to wait since we knew this was a must do. In-in-all we waited a bit over a 1/2 hour but just a switchback line that moves slow so felt longer than that.

We were one of the first families on to our particular boat and the captain?/pilot?/skipper? asked Olivia if she wanted to be a Whale Watcher .... which she excitedly accepted! This basically meant she got to sit on the very front of the boat (another little girl sat there as well) instead of in a seat.

... though I feel like she didn't do that great of a job as we wound up getting swallowed by a while ... though to be fair she was told to "watch" for whales - which perhaps she did, she wasn't instructed to warn us about it

For those unfamiliar with this ride, you ride on a boat through canals past minature versions of settings from famous Disney movies. And soon we were sailing past Agrabah:

and then past Alice's village:

Prince Eric's Castle:

and to Arendelle - and Elsa's Ice Palace in the back:

and then waving to the train that we had recently been on:

Overall it is a very fun ride and definitely something unique to Disneyland and the kids really enjoyed it. I wish it wasn't such a long wait but it is what it is.

After that some of our traveling party needed to use the bathroom. While that happened I picked up a snack in a nifty bucket:

From a cart with a really cute worker (I mean the Yeti, though nothing against the CM who was lovely as well):

This was only appropriate as our next destination was a visit to his home (well, at least in Disneyland) - The Matterhorn!

We opted to use the single rider line as there was basically no line there and quite a line in the normal section I rode first to scout it out for Olivia. I thought she would like it and it wasn't that scary and she agreed to ride it with Judi.

Judi apparently is much more proficient as using the GoPro as she got great video of this ride:

(ok, that might be a bit much watching all three of those gifs at once)

Did we like it? Yes we did! It is bumpy so not a great ride for anyone with a bad back, but I thought it was really cool! (pun, partially intended). Maybe I was tainted by it being a new attraction but I really liked it!

coming up .... a trip to Toontown!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Chapter 30 - Disneyland - Part 11
October 17th
A Trip to Toontown!​

After successfully escaping the Yeti we dedicated to head over to Toontown to check that out!

Apparently I did not do a good job of capturing the feel of the place and don't have a ton of pictures - but it is rather cool and much more immersive and impressive than the area that used to exist in the Magic Kingdom. Lot's of places to explore for the kids.

First up was Chip N Dale's house - which was cute, though not much to it ... just in, up, and out:

Then Judi took Olivia and Peter up on Donald's boat:

Apparently Peter had better things to do than wave to me:

We then went over towards Roger Rabbit and there was a Toontown fire station and fire truck that the kids wanted to climb on ...

While we were doing on it we ran into Alicia and family again! The kids had fun playing together on the fire engine:

I then took Peter and Olivia on Roger Rabbit ... and the only picture I got was of Peter in front of a door in queue:

At one point in the queue you can bank on one of the doors and a clot opens in it and you can hear someone talking, asking you for the password, etc. Which is cool ... but it led the kids to just bang on every other door on the rest of the queue.

The ride was fun - especially for Roger Rabbit fans, but not sure if it is a must do. Neither Olivia or Peter has seen Roger Rabbit so I don't think they got much out of it. So fun to do once but if we don't ride it again on future trips I won't be upset.

When we came out we saw Goofy meeting:

And while we were riding Judi had taken the stroller with Emma (who had fallen asleep earlier) and gotten in line. So we got to meet Goofy again (though this time in normal garb):

(and apparently I had been getting some sun!)

After this we had to head out as our lunch ADR was coming up ... but we will get to that next update

TTFN

 

[amberg93]

Okay, I am finally, finally caught up no thanks to life and holidays but you know. I don't start back up until Monday at school again so today was a great day of reading through the whole adventure. Obviously so much has happened I can't think to comment on it all but I'll throw a few out there.

The San Diego portion looks like it was tons of fun and the video was really great.

Your hotel looks super awesome and fun and I can see why the kids loved it!

Disneyland seems sort of crowded? I mean, hearing that there are so many rides so close together makes me feel sort of anxious. I really like the spread out nature of the Florida parks. I guess I won't be able to speak to it properly until I go, however.

Great Dismeets, which are always fun.

Your family takes the cutest photopass pictures, like seriously.

And I'm glad Judi knows how to work the Gopro

 

[missangelalexis]

The Canal Boats is a really cute ride. Glad you got to do it!

Love the GoPro gifs of the Matterhorn, glad you all enjoyed it!

Great shot with Goofy!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Okay, I am finally, finally caught up no thanks to life and holidays but you know. I don't start back up until Monday at school again so today was a great day of reading through the whole adventure. Obviously so much has happened I can't think to comment on it all but I'll throw a few out there.

The San Diego portion looks like it was tons of fun and the video was really great.

Your hotel looks super awesome and fun and I can see why the kids loved it!

Disneyland seems sort of crowded? I mean, hearing that there are so many rides so close together makes me feel sort of anxious. I really like the spread out nature of the Florida parks. I guess I won't be able to speak to it properly until I go, however.

Great Dismeets, which are always fun.

Your family takes the cutest photopass pictures, like seriously.

And I'm glad Judi knows how to work the Gopro

Thanks for reading it all and for your comments Amber!

glad you enjoyed the video - we had a great time in San Diego - wish we had a bit more time there

Disneyland definitely was more crowded than I was expecting - especially for mid-week in October. My understanding is that the pathways in Disneyland are more narrow than in Disney World so the same level of crowd will feel more crowded in Disneyland. The 60th anniversary is bringing in larger crowds so it really did get crowded at times.

Yes, I am glad that Judi knew how to work the GoPro as well

The Canal Boats is a really cute ride. Glad you got to do it!

Love the GoPro gifs of the Matterhorn, glad you all enjoyed it!

Great shot with Goofy!

We really did enjoy the Canal Boats - too bad about the line but it is what it is. Definitely a "must do" at least once though

Thank you!

 

[OregonMomToWDW]

I am glad you enjoyed the Matterhorn. We ride it each time, hoping we will like it. My youngest (12 yrs old) still likes it, so one of us usually rides it at least once with her. I hate to admit it, but I have never gone on the Storybook canal boats (at least not since I my age was in the single digit). Never taken my kids on it either. This next trip, maybe we will. The line always scares them away, but we did wait about 45 minutes to ride Mr. Toad last time, so I might be able to talk them into it. At least my youngest.

Toontown is such a nice area. Even though my kids are older, we still have to go back there and hang out a bit.

 

[Sazzo'sMommy]

Our first trip to DLR is in 2 months, but we have been to WDW at least 50 times. Thank you for your thorough report. Love everything you have shown so far! Your reviews are priceless!

 

[Dugette]

Okay, I'm not caught up yet, but after binge-reading on the DIS all evening, I'm exhausted and need to go to bed. I'll catch up with the rest as soon as I can - I should have come here first, because I want to hear more about DISNEYLAND!!

That's hilarious!

Yum, I love cauliflower!

Which is too bad, as he missed out on meeting with @Leshaface and her family who were also visiting and it worked out to meet up at DTD tonight:

Awesome that you guys got to meet up right away (and more to come, it seems).

It also took a bit longer just to get through the line as for everyone using a multi-day pass for the first time (including us) they have to take your picture and not sure if it was our ticket taker or just the system in general but it seemed a pretty slow process. Oh well. Is what it is - it honestly probably didn't take that long but felt long when you just want to be on the other side of the gates starting your day!

Hmmm, I guess it's good that our first entrance will be midday, so at least we won't be wasting rope drop time. Of course, other people may waste that for us, it seems.

I thought doing this first thing would be good to get a number of character meets done, but looking back on it we should have used the first hour to hit up attractions and then done this for 9am or so. Oh well, rookie mistake

We are following that model - late brunch at the Plaza so we can take advantage of morning ride time first.

We left off having met Halloween Goofy in Town Square after Judi had procured Fast Passes for both Radiator Springs Racers and the Anna & Elsa meet for later in the day over at California Adventure - so now it was time to actually get to an attraction at Disneyland ....

So, are the Anna & Elsa FP disconnected from the rest?

First up was to obtain fastpasses for Space Mountain.

And are DL and DCA disconnected as well?

So, first I went with Olivia and Peter and got a rider swap for Judi to ride after.

Buzz has Rider Swap? That's different than WDW.

And the CM working the stand mentioned that he is allowed to share some pixie dust a few times a day and pixedusted us a free Churro! Now, I enjoy a normal Churro, but a free Churro? That tasted that much sweeter!

Mmmmm, yummy and free!

I have to say that I really like the Autopia ride here - much more than the Speedway at WDW. The layout of the track is more interesting and there are a lot more details, just as fun signs (like the one shown above) - including one for "mouse crossing" with little mouse holes on either side of the track. It is also cool as you wind around under the monorail track (and can see some monorails go by) and also other tracks that are no longer in use - for the now closed People Mover and Rocket Rods (you can see some of the tracks in the above photo as well). Just a much more fun ride!

La la la, plugging my ears, can't hear you - since it's closed when we visit, haha.

 

[hokieinpa]

On the way we did pass this guy, but the kids had no interest in meeting him so this was as close as we got:

I think I'd take a pass on meeting him too! Claude Frollo is not the friendliest looking guy.

Overall it is a very fun ride and definitely something unique to Disneyland and the kids really enjoyed it. I wish it wasn't such a long wait but it is what it is.

This seems like sun a fun, unique ride. And unlike anything in WDW!

Did we like it? Yes we did! It is bumpy so not a great ride for anyone with a bad back, but I thought it was really cool! (pun, partially intended). Maybe I was tainted by it being a new attraction but I really liked it!

Glad Olivia (and everyone else) enjoyed it! And great GoPro videos!

Apparently I did not do a good job of capturing the feel of the place and don't have a ton of pictures - but it is rather cool and much more immersive and impressive than the area that used to exist in the Magic Kingdom. Lot's of places to explore for the kids.

Given all of the DL TRs I have seen, Toontown seems like such a fun place for kids. Lots of meets and fun places for them to play!

 

[DisMom1981]

Fell behind but caught up now. Enjoying the updates! Love the castle pics!

 

[annie170]

Very cool that you got to meet Brenda. That's nice that she meets with DISers who come to her home turf.

Those canal boats are a really cute ride and the Matterhorn looks like fun. I can't get over how much they fit into the smaller space there.

I like your matching shirts. Did you or Judi make them.

 

[MAGICFOR2]

Great update! I love how much fun you're having with the kid's rides! That's what makes Disney the best - you can just be a kid! RSR looks like a blast and cars land is so cool. I can't wait to see it in December!

Nice you got another dismeet! Your kiddos are so cute!