isabellea
Combining beach and Disney!
- Joined
- Jan 22, 2014
- Messages
- 3,128
''Where are you from?'' Our road trip in California and DLR stay in April 2018 -updated June 17
- Thread starter isabellea
- Start date
theluckyrabbit
DIS Legend
- Joined
- Jul 23, 2012
- Messages
- 24,325
Next time you return to DLR, you can visit Ruby's Diner in Anaheim! There is a Ruby's on Lincoln, about 10 minutes away from the parks. 
isabellea
Combining beach and Disney!
- Joined
- Jan 22, 2014
- Messages
- 3,128
Next time you return to DLR, you can visit Ruby's Diner in Anaheim! There is a Ruby's on Lincoln, about 10 minutes away from the parks.
I saw the sign when we left for LAX but I think I'll keep Ruby's diner for our visits to the beaches/piers. I'm sure being located on a pier makes it even better!
azdisneylover
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jul 23, 2008
- Messages
- 2,378
First off, your English is perfect! Love the pictures, especially the one where you wrote California, 2018 in the sand. (You spelt CA the French way. I love it). Can't wait for the next posting on your trip.
/
Jaina
Actually, my name is Sara. It's a long, VMK story.
- Joined
- Jul 22, 2005
- Messages
- 2,363
Ugh, I identify with the end-of-school-crazy (ours has been out for almost 2 weeks though now!) and kids getting hurt is the worst. :-( I broke my toe 2 months ago, and I feel for her!
isabellea
Combining beach and Disney!
- Joined
- Jan 22, 2014
- Messages
- 3,128
Day 5: Our first day at Disneyland and California Adventure! Part 1 at Disneyland.
Today was a Wednesday so it was EMH at DCA. Therefore, we decided to start at Disneyland. Opening time was 9am but we were done with breakfast at the hotel at 7am so we decided to head over to DLR early after stopping at Downtown Disney Starbuck for DH’s obsession, coffee! I think we were the third group/family for our turnstile and we had fun conversations with the other people waiting next to us. The CM at our turnstile was very efficient and we were in the park quickly even though we had to activate our Canadian tickets with our Nexus card. Since we had zero interest in riding Peter Pan (it’s at WDW and not a favourite so I wouldn’t wait more than 15 minutes for it), we waited for rope-drop just in front of Walt’s statue in the hub. Obviously, DH commented on how shorter is the castle! The security guard at our rope was friendly and it was fun waiting for rope-drop, our only one of the trip!
Below are the rides we did that day:
1- Snow White (I remembered riding it in 2012 at WDW but DH didn’t)
2- Pinocchio (made me realized that we need to watch it with the kids)
3- BTMR with 5 minute wait (my favourite roller coaster)
4- Indiana Jones with FP at exactly 9:30am. While in the FP queue, I booked Matterhorn for 10am as our second FP)
5- It’s a Small World (DH hates that attraction at WDW but we made a bargain, he rides it once and I will ride Guardians with him)
6- Matterhorn Bobsleds with FP. Was okay but not our favourite roller coaster. DH found it too slow.
7- Roger Rabbit
Toontown: I realized that I really miss Toontown at WDW. I wish my kids could have experienced it when they were 2-4 years old. Another reason to go back to DLR with them even though they are older now! Oh and did I told you guys that we had a convertible as a rental?!? lol.
8- Space Mountain with FP. My first time riding SM and it was fun. I liked the music and that we were seated next to each other. I might ride it at MK next time we go. Might…
-- by then it was 11:10am and I finally booked our must-do, Radiator Springs Racetrack. Our FP was for 7:40pm!! --
My 6:30am breakfast was far and decided to go eat lunch. I LOVE corndogs and even though I knew they contain a little dairy, I decided to cheat again with a corndog from the little Red Wagon. Again, I was very lucky and didn’t have any bad symptoms. The wait for our corndogs was the first real wait we had that day (15-20 minutes) but were lucky at finding a table.
9- Autopia (I could have skipped it but DH wanted to try it. Better than the MK version but I still hate the smells of the cars).
We decided to go back to the hotel for a short break and to get a backpack before hopping to DCA!!
Part 2 at DCA on next post...
Today was a Wednesday so it was EMH at DCA. Therefore, we decided to start at Disneyland. Opening time was 9am but we were done with breakfast at the hotel at 7am so we decided to head over to DLR early after stopping at Downtown Disney Starbuck for DH’s obsession, coffee! I think we were the third group/family for our turnstile and we had fun conversations with the other people waiting next to us. The CM at our turnstile was very efficient and we were in the park quickly even though we had to activate our Canadian tickets with our Nexus card. Since we had zero interest in riding Peter Pan (it’s at WDW and not a favourite so I wouldn’t wait more than 15 minutes for it), we waited for rope-drop just in front of Walt’s statue in the hub. Obviously, DH commented on how shorter is the castle! The security guard at our rope was friendly and it was fun waiting for rope-drop, our only one of the trip!
Below are the rides we did that day:
1- Snow White (I remembered riding it in 2012 at WDW but DH didn’t)
2- Pinocchio (made me realized that we need to watch it with the kids)
3- BTMR with 5 minute wait (my favourite roller coaster)
4- Indiana Jones with FP at exactly 9:30am. While in the FP queue, I booked Matterhorn for 10am as our second FP)
5- It’s a Small World (DH hates that attraction at WDW but we made a bargain, he rides it once and I will ride Guardians with him)
6- Matterhorn Bobsleds with FP. Was okay but not our favourite roller coaster. DH found it too slow.
7- Roger Rabbit
Toontown: I realized that I really miss Toontown at WDW. I wish my kids could have experienced it when they were 2-4 years old. Another reason to go back to DLR with them even though they are older now! Oh and did I told you guys that we had a convertible as a rental?!? lol.
8- Space Mountain with FP. My first time riding SM and it was fun. I liked the music and that we were seated next to each other. I might ride it at MK next time we go. Might…
-- by then it was 11:10am and I finally booked our must-do, Radiator Springs Racetrack. Our FP was for 7:40pm!! --
My 6:30am breakfast was far and decided to go eat lunch. I LOVE corndogs and even though I knew they contain a little dairy, I decided to cheat again with a corndog from the little Red Wagon. Again, I was very lucky and didn’t have any bad symptoms. The wait for our corndogs was the first real wait we had that day (15-20 minutes) but were lucky at finding a table.
9- Autopia (I could have skipped it but DH wanted to try it. Better than the MK version but I still hate the smells of the cars).
We decided to go back to the hotel for a short break and to get a backpack before hopping to DCA!!
Part 2 at DCA on next post...
isabellea
Combining beach and Disney!
- Joined
- Jan 22, 2014
- Messages
- 3,128
Part 2 at DCA!
The land we were really looking forward to was Carsland so we headed there first where we rode:
10- Maters
11- Luigi. Our longest wait of the day for a ride. We probably waited 20 minutes and while in the queue, we were finally able to make another FP (90 minutes wait from our last one). We made one for Grizzly that was only 15 minutes later.
Hugo was really surprised to see Flash McQueen driving next to him to his M&G.
12- Grizzly with FP. A really fun ride similar to Kali River at Animal Kingdom. Since I was seating next to one of the hole to get in the raft, I got really wet but weather was nice so I dried quickly.
13- Soarin' Around the World with FP.
14- Jumping' Jellyfishe
15- Goofy's Skyschool with FP.
After Goofy, we decided to walk to Downtown Disney for dinner. DH really wanted to try Ralph Brennan's Jazz Kitchen since reading their menu the night before. We were still early for dinner so we had no wait for a table close to the bar and stage. Food was really good and we liked the ambience.
After dinner, we went to see the Grand Californian resort and went back to DCA from there so we wouldn't miss our RSR FP!
On our way to RSR we saw a Photopass photographer and I'm so happy we stopped since he took some of my favourite photos of our trip.
16- Radiator Spring Racers with FP. WOW! I loved this ride. The theming is just perfect and it was definitely my favourite attraction of the day!
To end our first day at the most magical place on Earth, we slowly walked toward the Animation building to find a spot to watch Paint the Night parade. We were able to sit on a stone bench on the wall of a building for most of the wait before standing when they dimmed the lights on the surrounding buildings. We were next to a VIP section reserved for some participants of American Idols. They were a little annoying with their camera and posing but when the parade got to us it was fine.
We really enjoyed this parade. Is it the best parade of all times? I don't think so but I would definitely go bak to see it if we were at DLR.
On our way back to our motel that was across the street, we saw the fireworks from Disneyland in the plaza. A really nice finale to our first day at DLR!
The land we were really looking forward to was Carsland so we headed there first where we rode:
10- Maters
11- Luigi. Our longest wait of the day for a ride. We probably waited 20 minutes and while in the queue, we were finally able to make another FP (90 minutes wait from our last one). We made one for Grizzly that was only 15 minutes later.
Hugo was really surprised to see Flash McQueen driving next to him to his M&G.
12- Grizzly with FP. A really fun ride similar to Kali River at Animal Kingdom. Since I was seating next to one of the hole to get in the raft, I got really wet but weather was nice so I dried quickly.
13- Soarin' Around the World with FP.
14- Jumping' Jellyfishe
15- Goofy's Skyschool with FP.
After Goofy, we decided to walk to Downtown Disney for dinner. DH really wanted to try Ralph Brennan's Jazz Kitchen since reading their menu the night before. We were still early for dinner so we had no wait for a table close to the bar and stage. Food was really good and we liked the ambience.
After dinner, we went to see the Grand Californian resort and went back to DCA from there so we wouldn't miss our RSR FP!
On our way to RSR we saw a Photopass photographer and I'm so happy we stopped since he took some of my favourite photos of our trip.
16- Radiator Spring Racers with FP. WOW! I loved this ride. The theming is just perfect and it was definitely my favourite attraction of the day!
To end our first day at the most magical place on Earth, we slowly walked toward the Animation building to find a spot to watch Paint the Night parade. We were able to sit on a stone bench on the wall of a building for most of the wait before standing when they dimmed the lights on the surrounding buildings. We were next to a VIP section reserved for some participants of American Idols. They were a little annoying with their camera and posing but when the parade got to us it was fine.
We really enjoyed this parade. Is it the best parade of all times? I don't think so but I would definitely go bak to see it if we were at DLR.
On our way back to our motel that was across the street, we saw the fireworks from Disneyland in the plaza. A really nice finale to our first day at DLR!
Last edited:
SnowBelleAlice
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Apr 9, 2014
- Messages
- 426
Fabulous report! I last visited DLR with DD then 15 ~ Oct 2018 - we had a lovely time. Thanks for sharing.
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