Trip Report *COMPLETED* A Jolly Holiday with K & J

Hello and welcome to my very first trip report! I’ve been following along to many people’s trip reports over the past few months, and I’ve decided it’s time to come out of the shadows and write my own! I so enjoy reading trip reports on here - it helps me feel like I’m really there, and allows me to live vicariously through others while I’m pining away for my next Disney trip. I hope that I can give some of you the same joy that you have given me!

Let’s get down to the details...

Who: Katie (me)

And Jason (my husband)

We’re a couple of WDW APs, Georgia Peaches, and #ChildlessMillennials who just celebrated our sixth wedding anniversary.

This is our second trip to Disneyland - here we are on our first trip back in 2016.

When: Flying into San Diego on November 30th (more on that later), driving up to LA on December 1st, and checking into the Disneyland Hotel for five nights, 12/1-6.

Where: The Disneyland Hotel!!! We stayed across the street at the Tropicana Inn on our last trip - the hotel itself was fine. Clean rooms, pretty affordable, and a five-minute walk to either park. BUT we are SO SO excited to be staying onsite this time around!

Why: We love the Disney parks during the holiday season! We went to Disneyland the week after Thanksgiving 2016, and we’ve done WDW the last two Christmas seasons. We’d love to do Disneyland every other year, but it is SO. EXPENSIVE. to fly to California from Atlanta. It’s a 7-hour drive for us to get to WDW, and we have annual passes, so WDW is much more cost-effective for us.

I hope that you all enjoy following along!

 

[k8einwdw]

I just realized that I never updated last night...whoops!

Yesterday was our final day in Disneyland/California. It was a gorgeous day that was spent soaking up as much magic as possible.

We are now home in Georgia, and I’ll start on the full trip report next week!

 

[k8einwdw]

It’s Monday, I’m back at work today, and the Disney withdrawals have officially set in. That means it’s time for my full, detailed trip report!

Did we love the new-to-us rides? How do we feel about MaxPass? Exactly how many pieces of churro toffee can two people eat? Read on to find out!

 

[k8einwdw]

Day 1 - 12/1
I won’t bore you all with the details of our trip pre-Disneyland. I’ll skip right to our check-in day! We arrived at the Disneyland Hotel around 11:00 am on Sunday, December 1st. We had plans elsewhere that day, but we didn’t want to have our luggage unattended in our car all day, so we decided to make a detour to the hotel to drop it off.

When we arrived, we were directed to the self-park lot. One of my only complaints about the hotel is the parking situation - they REALLY want you to use valet parking. Self parking was $25/night, and valet was $35/night - I’m not one to pay an extra $10/night plus tip to do something I can do just fine by myself. Unfortunately the self-parking lot was pretty packed, so we had to park on the far end of the lot - which was already a HAUL from the entrance to the lobby. We stayed in the Fantasy Tower, which was closest to the self-parking lot. I feel bad for anyone who has had to lug their stuff from that lot to the other two towers.

Once we had parked and make the pilgrimage to the main lobby, we were greeted with a looooong line to check in. Yikes! We waited for about 15-20 minutes before it was our turn to go up to the desk, and I was fully expecting to be told that our room wasn’t ready. To our surprise, not only was our room ready, it was right there in the Fantasy Tower, where the main lobby is located! We hurried up to our room to check it out, and we were greeted with this view! It’s hard to tell from the picture, but we had a great view of Galaxy’s Edge, and we could see the Matterhorn, the tip of Big Thunder Mountain, and even one of the castle spires! This view would come to be much appreciated throughout the week, as you will learn later on in the report!

We took a few minutes to freshen up and unpack before jetting off to Burbank for our studio tour. I will post room photos in the next post!

 

[k8einwdw]

Our room! We were on the sixth floor of the Fantasy Tower. Our room was maybe six steps from the elevator, which we appreciated! I realized the morning we were leaving that I hadn’t taken any pics of the room so I made the bed and snapped these in a hurry on the way out. So don’t think that housekeeping left the beds looking this lumpy, that was 100% Katie!

I loved the throw pillows on the beds - one said “A dream is a wish your heart makes,” and the other said “when you’re fast asleep.” That is one of my all-time favorite Disney songs, so I appreciated that touch!

I don’t know if the runners at the end of the beds were meant to remind you of fireworks, but that’s what I thought of!

Beautiful carpet - I’m not opposed to the trend of vinyl flooring in hotel rooms (after all, I don’t have one stitch of carpet in my house aside from area rugs), but I’ll be sad to see this carpet inevitably be replaced. Such a pretty design, and we loved the “hidden” Mickeys!

I loved the artwork in the room, and throughout the resort. So many classic photos from Disneyland’s early days. This photo of Walt was one of my favorites. I love to see little tributes to him.

Bathroom - the touches of Mickey are really cute and whimsical. I always appreciate when the potty is separated from the rest of the bathroom too, and of course loved the Dumbo picture.

A rare sight these days! Love the Walt picture too. We didn’t keep these, since we were flying and didn’t want to waste luggage space on hotel toiletries.

Overall, we really enjoyed the room. It was actually a further walk than when we stayed at the Tropicana Inn back in 2016, but it’s always nice to be in the bubble.

Next up - our first night in Disneyland!

 

[k8einwdw]

After we got back from our studio tour in Burbank, we were both ravenous, since we had skipped lunch. Both of our phones were dead as this point, so we didn’t take any pictures. We decided to head down to Downtown Disney to find something to eat for dinner. It was around 6 pm on a Sunday, and it was CROWDED. I would have been perfectly content with Earl of Sandwich, but J wanted to try something we can’t get in WDW...fair enough.

The first place we tried was Black Tap Burgers & Shakes. The line to check-in was out the door...no go.

Next stop: Ballast Point Brewing Co. 2 hour wait...no go.

Next: Naples Ristorante. Another check-in line our the door. Their quick service? Another line out the door...no go.

At this point, we are both hangry and J is getting frustrated. You don’t expect to have to make dining reservations for the restaurants in Downtown Disney when the majority of the table service restaurants in the parks have plenty of walk-up availability. I decide to pick a dang quick service place and be done with it.

That is how we ended up at Ralph Brennan’s Jazz Kitchen Express. There were maybe six people in line ahead of us, so not too bad. I order a fried chicken po’boy, and J orders a popcorn shrimp po’boy. Both come with fries, and we order two drinks. The total came to about $30. I pull out a Disney gift card to pay and find out...they don’t accept Disney gift cards. That is how we budget for food and spending money on our Disney trips - every week when I’m at the grocery store, I buy a $50 Disney gift card. Before the trip, I combine them and we use the gift card to pay for our meals. Come to find out, many of the restaurants in Disneyland’s Downtown Disney do not accept Disney gift cards, as they are independently owned. This has never, ever been an issue anywhere at WDW. At this point I would pay $100 to eat my own dang shoe, so I hand over the debit card rather than making an issue out of it.

Our buzzer goes off after about 10 minutes of waiting, and we collect our food from the counter. Both of our sandwiches were very filling. I didn’t try J’s as I don’t eat seafood, but mine was just...okay. The chicken was a little dry. Or maybe I was just mad about having to cough up $30 for two sandwiches.

After eating our meal, we are both in better moods, and we decide to check out the shops. We spent the most time in World of Disney, as we always do. I have to say, I still miss the old theming of the World of Disney Stores. The new design just feels bland to me. I do appreciate what little theming there is left, but I can’t walk into World of Disney at WDW without missing the magical touches that used to be there. We also checked out the WonderGround Gallery and Disney Home (which I thought was super cute). Amazingly, we managed to not buy anything.

Around 8:00, we decided to call it a night and head back to the room, since we had an early morning on Monday. Overall, we enjoyed our first night, despite the hiccup at Ralph Brennan’s. There is just something special about being inside the bubble, and we were both so happy to be staying onsite this trip.

Next Up: Our first park day!

 

[k8einwdw]

Monday December 2nd, Part One:

We started out the day at DCA.

They had Extra Magic Hours, and were opening at 7:00 am, so we left our hotel room around 6:40. We underestimated how long it would take to get through bag check, and we ended up entering the park closer to 7:10. During EMH at DCA, it seems like everyone makes a run for Cars Land, so we started out our day here:

This was still Tower of Terror when we were there in 2016, so this was our first time riding. Spoiler alert: you’ll see us riding this A LOT throughout this trip report. We LOVED it! We love the Guardians movies, and we love the Tower of Terror, so this was a great combination for us. This ride drops you a lot more times than ToT, and the music is awesome! I don’t want them to change our Tower of Terror, but I love that we get to ride this one when we are in California. There was literally no line during EMH, so we rode it twice in a row. The first time, our song was “We Got the Funk.” The second time was Elvis...”Burning Love” maybe? During the pre-show, I had made a very important FP for a little after 8:00, so after Guardians, we were off to...

The holiday decorations in Cars Land are SO cute, and clever!

First up, we rode Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree. This ride is fun, but I think I prefer the music at Alien Swirling Saucers. Plus, I can’t resist those cute little aliens!

Next up, we took a spin with Luigi! This ride is SO cute, and fun! I love the little cars’ faces. My favorite color is mint green, so of course we had to make a run for the cutie little mint green car on the right.

After our spin with Luigi, it was finally time to use our coveted FastPass...

Radiator Springs Racers is AMAZING, and WELL worth the FastPass! I know it’s the same vehicles and track as a Test Track, but this version is FAR superior in my opinion!

After our race, we were both famished. So, we decided to go see Miss Flo.

I *believe* this was a table-service restaurant the last time we were at Disneyland, but it is now counter service. I had the Brioche French Toast, which comes topped with a salted caramel sauce, which was DELICIOUS, but verrrry sweet. J had the chicken tamale breakfast, which was very good, and had a little kick to it. The total for both of our entrees plus drinks was around $25.

Next up: I pay the price for eating a sweet breakfast, and we see Pixar Pier for the first time.

 

[SharonD]

Enjoying your report ... it is bringing back memories of our last trip to a Disneyland.

 

[k8einwdw]

Enjoying your report ... it is bringing back memories of our last trip to a Disneyland.

Glad you are enjoying it! Thank you for following along!

 

[k8einwdw]

Monday December 2nd, Part Two:

After breakfast, we had accomplished everything in Cars Land, so it was time to move on to Pixar Pier. It was still Paradise Pier on our last trip, and we loved that theming, so we were unsure what we would think about the Pixar re-branding.

When they initially announced the re-theming of this area, I thought it would be just another forced IP in an area where it didn’t fit. I know it wasn’t the most popular area in DCA to begin with, but we thought that the old theming was really charming. I’m happy to say, we both loved Pixar pier! I think they did the re-theming very well, and it still has the endearing charm that it did before.

After our RSR FP window had opened, I used MaxPass to make another FP for...IncrediCoaster!

We loved California Screamin’ on our previous trip, so we knew we would love IncrediCoaster, since it was essentially the same coaster, just re-themed. I thought the theming was super cute - if you’re not familiar, the premise is that Jack Jack has escaped from babysitter Auntie Edna, and the family is chasing after him. I love the music from the “Incredibles” movies (and all Pixar music in general), so I’m glad they included it in the ride as well!

I said earlier that I would pay the price for eating a sweet breakfast...this is where that happens. I don’t typically eat breakfast at home, but when you are on your feet nonstop in a Disney park, you get hungry FAST, so I make an exception on our Disney trips. When I do eat breakfast, I usually go for something savory - pure sugar on an empty stomach never bodes well for me. So while that French toast was divine (think ‘Ohana bread pudding in breakfast form), I was feeling SUPER queasy after we got off IncrediCoaster. Despite my tummy issues, J and I both feel that this is the best Disney coaster - we both love Rock n Roller Coaster, but it gives me a headache every time I ride. Since I wasn’t feeling well, I popped some Tums and we decided to do some smooth, easy rides for a while. First up was...

I LOVED the re-theming of this one! There were lots of different critters to choose from as your “horse.” J rode on a backwards skunk, which was so cute and so funny. I rode on a bunny.

After the critter carousel, we took a spin on Mickey’s Swinging Steel Cages of Terror, now known as Pixar Pal-Around. In case it’s not evident by my description, I’m scared of heights/falling. I can do roller coasters and ToT, because you’re only up high for a second, and then it’s over. Ferris wheels terrify me, because I feel like I’m dangling up in the air for what feels like an eternity. BUT, if you run away from your fears all the time, you will never grow, so I suggested to J that we do the Pal-Around. We’re not crazy, so we opted for the non-swinging gondolas. We were glad we did, because we saw someone lose their breakfast in one of the swinging gondolas. I think people underestimate just how intense those are - we saw people taking babies, LITERAL BABIES, on them.

Fake smile from someone who is internally panicking.

While we were dangling one million feet above the earth, I had found a FP for Midway Mania for right away, so once our feet were back on the sweet, sweet ground, that is where we were headed. I’m sure everyone has done Midway Mania before, it is the same ride on both coasts, so I will spare you the details. What I will tell you is, I WON!!!! That literally has never happened before, so this was a real high point for me!

After I kicked J’s butt, we decided to check out Bing Bong’s Sweet Shop. We had seen videos of this shop and thought the theming was supper cute, so we knew we needed to check it out in person! The theming did not disappoint!

Next up: we visit our pal Patrick!

 

[k8einwdw]

Monday December 2nd, Part Three:

After visiting with Bing Bong, we took a spin on the Golden Zephyr. There was literally no line, so we had a vehicle all to ourselves! We thought about doing the Silly Symphony Swings, but there was a bit of a wait, and we had a flight to catch!

A flight around the world, that is...

When Disneyland announced over the summer that they were bringing back Soarin’ over California for a limited time, we hoped that it would be so popular that they decided to bring it back for the holiday season as well. Alas, no such luck. We do love Soarin’ Around the World (it is my favorite attraction in Epcot, after all), but it would be so special to ride the original California version in California. I’d love it if they brought it back to Epcot for a limited time...I can smell the orange groves now!

After soaring around the world, we checked out the shops in the Grizzly Peak area. We both love these shops, and think that they are so well-themed. I loved this display of plush:

At some point, I had made a FP for Guardians, so we headed back to the front of the park. I almost wish that the line had been longer so we could have spent more time checking out this room of the queue! So many cool things!

This go-round on Guardians, we got “I Want You Back,” which is my fave Jackson 5 song, and one of my favorite songs in general. Needless to say, this was my favorite ride on Guardians! I really think that the music adds a lot to the experience. After dancing and laughing through Guardians, it was time to visit our pals in Monstropolis.

I love Roz’s Santa hat! We did standby for this one, and it was a 25-minute wait if I remember correctly. It’s a cute ride, but I don’t think I’d wait more than 15 minutes for it, unless I just really wanted to get out of the sun/rain. After seeing some monsters, we were both ready for lunch. Back to Cars Land we went!

Cozy Cone was one of our favorite meals back in 2016, so we were looking forward to eating there again! If you’re not familiar, Cozy Cone is a quick-service restaurant set up to look like the motel from the movie. Each cone serves different cone-themed items. Pop”cone,” ice cream cones, and our favorite, bread cones. I ordered the Chili Cone Queso, which is chili, Fritos, and cheese in a bread cone. J ordered the Bacon Mac n Cheese Cone, which was exactly what it sounded like.

The bread cones were $9/each, and J’s Coke was $4. Both were good, but I think we both liked the bacon Mac more than the chili. I also got the Ramone’s Pear of Dice Soda ($4.50) from one of the other cones (the churro cone I think?). I wish they served it at all of the cones, because it is delicious, and the purple color is so cute! I wish I would have thought to get a picture. After we finished our lunch, J went to one of the other cones to get us a festive treat...

This is the seasonal peppermint soft serve ice cream - it was $5.50. This ice cream was SO SO GOOD! I’m not normally a huge fan of soft serve, but this was just too cute to pass up, and I’m glad we got it! We both loved it, and wished we had each gotten a cone instead of sharing one. After lunch, it was a little after 1:00, which meant that we had been in the park for just over 6 hours, and had accomplished a lot! We were both ready for a break, so we decided to head back to the room to rest/nap. We walked back through Grizzly Peak, and used the Grand Californian Hotel Exit. We stopped in the hotel for a little bit to admire the Christmas tree and gingerbread house, and listen to the live pianist.

As much fun as it is to see/do everything in the parks, we also love to relax for a bit in some of the quieter spots. Sitting in the lobby and listening to the live music is one of our favorite things to do when we visit the Grand Floridian, so it was only appropriate that we enjoy the same experience at her west-coast sister resort! After our Grand Californian detour, we headed back to the Disneyland Hotel - you have to go through bag check to get back out to Downtown Disney, so just something to keep in mind should you decide to do the same thing. Once we made it back to our room, I settled in for a much-needed nap, and J turned on the tv (he’s not much of a napper).

Next up: we pop into Disneyland, and check out the DCA Festival of the Holidays!

 

[k8einwdw]

Monday December 2nd, Part Four:

After our nap/rest, we both felt refreshed and ready to tackle our evening! Around 4:00, we headed out of the room, but we didn’t have to go very far...

J really wanted to go to Trader Sam’s at least once on this trip, since it was located at our hotel. We both love Trader Sam’s at the Poly, so I was happy to oblige. We even got to sit inside! We always wind up sitting outside at WDW Trader Sam’s, because there’s always a looooong wait to sit inside. It was fun to get to see all of the inside antics! As far as our drinks, I got the Piranha Pool, which was delicious! I honestly don’t remember what J got. He alternates between the Shrunken Zombie Head, the Hippopotamai-tai, and the Krakatoa Punch, so I’m sure it’s one of those three. Neither of us got the souvenir mugs because 1) they are pricey, and 2) we wanted to save room in our luggage for souvenirs. After our drinks, we were ready to hit the parks! We started out here...

We walked in just in time to see the Christmas tree lighting at 5:00 - it gets dark EARLY this time of year in California! After the tree lighting, we took a leisurely stroll around the park, taking in the sights and the holiday atmosphere. We made it back to Its A Small World just in time to see them light that too!

So, so beautiful. I never get tired of this sight. We ended up walking through most of the park, and were walking by the New Orleans Square train station just as a train was pulling up, so we decided to hop the train and ride to the front of the park. Coincidentally, we ended up riding almost the whole route! New Orleans Square is the first stop after Main St. USA, so we got to see a lot of the park from the train, including riding through It’s A Small World while it was all lit up! After we got off the train, we left Disneyland, and hopped over to DCA. I wonder if anyone has ever tried to literally hop between the two parks?

At this point, it was close to 6:00, and we were hungry! Our plan for this night was to try out some of the food from the Festival of the Holidays. We purchased a Sip and Savor Pass, which was I think $55, and was good for 8 food items or non-alcoholic beverages. First up, we got the Chorizo Fundido from the Brews and Bites boothwhich would have been $6.50 out of pocket. We thought this was pretty good! We actually rain out of chips before we ran out of dip, which is much better than the other way around!

Next, we got the Fried Turkey Slider from the Winter Sliderland booth, which would have been $7.50 out of pocket. J said that this was one of his favorites of the night! I thought it was pretty good, maybe a little small for the price.

After that, we got the Reimagined Beef Wellington from the Twist on Tradition booth, which would have been $8.50 out of pocket. Look how cute this is! The portion was pretty large, and it was SO good! The beef was so flavorful. We both agreed that this was one of the best dishes of the night.

Next, we got the Hot Cocoa Marshmallow Macaron from the Making Spirits Bright booth, which would have been $5.50 out of pocket. This was HUGE and very rich! We were both glad that we split one, because there is no way either of us could have finished one by ourselves. It was very good though! Definitely a must-eat for chocolate lovers.

The last dish of the night was the Stuffing Mac n Cheese from the Favorite Things booth, which would have been $7.75 out of pocket. This was hands-down the BEST dish of the night! The seasoning and crunch from the stuffing complimented the creamy Mac and cheese perfectly. We both could have polished off one of these by ourselves! In fact, we both said we could come back and make a meal out of the beef Wellington and the Mac n cheese.

While we were enjoying our last few dishes, we were able to listen to the Suffragettes music group who were playing on the stage at Pixar Pier. They were really good! They did some upbeat holiday songs, as well as some covers of pop songs. At this point, we still had some time to kill before World of Color, so we decided to get one last treat. We walked up to the front of the park to Willie’s Churro Stand to get the seasonal Pecan Pie churro, which was a festival item that would have been $6.25 out of pocket. For some reason, I didn’t take a picture, but it was very good! Basically a standard churro drizzled with chocolate, caramel, and pecans. At the end of the night, we would have spent $42 plus tax had we paid out of pocket, and we still had two tabs left on our Sip and Savor Pass. Would we recoup our $55 in value? Stay tuned to find out!

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

The foods you mentioned were at last year's Festival of the Holidays and those were all our favorites too. I think over the time we were there we had the queso fundido twice and the mac and cheese at least 4 times.

 

[k8einwdw]

The foods you mentioned were at last year's Festival of the Holidays and those were all our favorites too. I think over the time we were there we had the queso fundido twice and the mac and cheese at least 4 times.

That Mac n cheese was to die for! I need to figure out how to make it at home!

 

[k8einwdw]

Monday December 2nd, Part Five:

I’m baaaack! Between getting ready for Christmas and trying to finish a project at work by the end of the year, I’ve been too frazzled to think about working on my trip report. Now that the shopping is *finally* done, the wrapping is mostly done, and the cooking has just begun, I’m back to continue what I started. I left off with J and I enjoying some of the dishes at DCA’s Festival of the holidays.

At this point, it was about 8:00 and World of Color started at 9:00, so it was time to find a spot. We didn’t think to grab a FastPass so we had to hunt for a spot that wasn’t roped off for a FastPass or dining package. We found what we thought was a good one, and settled in for a long wait.

When the show finally started, we were disappointed to find that our spots weren’t as great as we thought they were. We could only see the top 20-30% of the projections. At this point we were both exhausted and didn’t feel like watching 20-30% of the show, so we decided to beat the crowds exiting the park, and head back to the room. We changed into our pjs and were delighted to find this view out our window...

The resort TVs have a channel that allows you to listen to the fireworks soundtrack, so we turned it on and enjoyed the show. J even managed to cover up the screen so there wasn’t a glare in the window like there is in the above picture.

We were sad to have missed World of Color, but our disappointment vanished when we realized that we would be able to watch the Christmas fireworks from the comfort of our bed. It’s no Holiday Wishes (RIP) but it is a sweet (and short!) show.

Overall, it had been a long, fun, and exhausting first day in the parks. We enjoyed the new additions to DCA, and of course the delicious festival foods. And we were so excited to have three more days in the parks!

Next Up: We enjoy our first full day in Disneyland!

 

[k8einwdw]

Tuesday, December 3rd, Part One:
We woke up bright an early, since Disneyland had an Extra Magic Hour starting at 7am. Disneyland Hotel has a coffee bar down near the pool that opens at 6am, so J went down as soon as he got up and dressed to get us a couple coffees. We loved having the option to get something at our hotel so that we could feel fully awake and caffeinated before heading into the parks. We walked up to bag check around 6:45 to find a huge line. Once we made it through security, we had another long line to wait in to scan into the park. We ended up walking in around 7:15. My one complaint with EMH at the California parks is that they don’t start scanning people in until the beginning of the hour. So the only way you’re getting a full extra hour in the park is if you’re first in line. I wish they would handle it more like WDW where they let people start scanning in and just hold everyone at the front of the park until the hour begins.

ANYWAY, now that it was 7:15 and we were finally in the park, we made a beeline for Fantasyland, since none of the dark rides offer FastPass. Our intention was to ride Peter Pan first, but the line was already 40 minutes by that point, so we headed to Snow White’s Scary Adventures. I’m sure I rode this one as a kid back when it was in MK, but I don’t really remember it. I’ve heard that they are refurbing this ride to add another scene, which I think is needed. I know that people don’t like when a Disney messes with the classics, but the story doesn’t feel complete on this ride.

After Snow White, we headed for another classic dark ride that used to be in MK. J remembers this one from when he was a kid, but it had already been closed by the time my family visited WDW for the first time (2000), so I only associate it with DL.

After our wild ride, we headed for another classic dark ride, Alice in Wonderland. That ride is so different from anything we have in WDW, and the ride vehicles are so cute. At this point, it was just after 8:00, so we wanted to head for It’s a Small World before it got too crowded. Unfortunately, the ride was down, and they didn’t know when it would be back up. While we were bummed that we didn’t get to ride yet, it was a good opportunity to get some pictures without hundreds of people standing there.

At this point, we were both starving, so we headed out in search of breakfast. We ended up at Jolly Holiday Bakery, where we both got bacon, egg, and cheese croissants and fruit. I think J got some kind of coffee as well, and I got a chocolate milk. Both of our breakfasts were about $7, J’s coffee was around $5, and my milk was around $3. We both thought that the sandwiches were delicious, and really hit the spot!

After our tasty breakfast, we headed for Tomorrowland. Our first destination? Buzz Lightyear’s Astro Blasters! If you’re not familiar with this ride, it’s essentially the same concept as Space Ranger Spin at WDW, but the laser guns disconnect from the ride vehicle. We both prefer Disneyland’s version, because we think detaching the laser guns makes it easier to aim and see which laser is yours. We ended up getting stuck in one room for a while, which allowed us to boost our scores a bit. Here were our final scores:

J is on the left, I am on the right. Neither of us is anywhere near a galactic hero, but we did a lot better than we normally do at WDW! Plus, we got the most high-quality ride photo ever!

After serving our time in the galactic alliance, we had a very important FP to use - Hyperspace Mountain! I believe they are taking away the Star Wars overlay and going back to plain old Space Mountain within the next couple months, so I’m glad we got to experience this one last time before it goes away! We both love Star Wars and Space Mountain, so this ride is a win-win for us. Neither of us really felt like riding Star Tours, so Hyperspace Mountain wrapped up our time in Tomorrowland for the day.

Next Up: Small World Holiday!

 

[wiscbugs]

We were there 12/10-12/14 and it was amazing. I can say after riding the Small World and Haunted Mansion Christmas overlays that it will never be the same riding those without them....the overlays were so great!

 

[k8einwdw]

We were there 12/10-12/14 and it was amazing. I can say after riding the Small World and Haunted Mansion Christmas overlays that it will never be the same riding those without them....the overlays were so great!

Totally agree! Both of those overlays are incredible. I so wish they would do those at WDW, but I understand why they won’t. It just makes it all the more special when we get to experience them at DL!

 

[k8einwdw]

Tuesday December 3rd, Part Two:
After our fun in Tomorrowland, we backtracked into Fantasyland to It’s a Small World. We both absolutely love the holiday overlay on this ride! We also love trying to spot all of the different Disney characters peppered throughout the ride. When we were at DL in 2016, we ended up stuck for 45 minutes on Small World, next to the hula dancers. They eventually turned off the music after 15 minutes or so, but they didn’t turn off the animatronics, so we got a full 45 minutes of swish swish swish, swish swish swish, swish swish swish...and we eventually got evacuated from the ride and never got to see the whole thing. Needless to say, we were cautiously optimistic about this go round, especially since they had the ride shut down earlier that morning. I’m happy to say, we got to see the whole ride! I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.

Had to snap a pic of where we got stuck last time...

Such a beautiful, charming ride! I so wish we could have the holiday overlay in WDW so more people could experience it!

Next up: We visit a land no longer found on the map at WDW, and a land that feels out of place in DL...

 

[k8einwdw]

Tuesday December 3rd, Part Three:
After our cruise around the world, it was time to conquer a mountain and face our fear of the mysterious creature that inhabits it...wait, are we riding Expedition Everest? Nope!

We had a FP to use for Matterhorn! We only got to ride this one once in 2016, so we were determined to ride it at least twice this trip. This was our first ride of the trip. We both think this one is very similar to Space Mountain in WDW...maybe because the ride vehicles are virtually the same? We also both think that Matterhorn’s Abominable Snowman is way scarier than Everest’s Yeti! Either way, it’s fun!

After Matterhorn, it was time to visit a land long forgotten at WDW...

Toon Town! Who else has memories of Toon Town when it was still open at Magic Kingdom? This is little 9-year-old Katie on her first Disney trip back in 2000. Check out that windbreaker!

We enjoyed some time walking around Toon Town, checking out the characters’ houses, and admiring the holiday decorations.

We had plans to ride Roger Rabbit’s Car Toon Spin, but it was temporarily down, so off we went...to a Galaxy Far, Far Away...

Now, I said in my teaser at the end of my last post that this land feels out of place in Disneyland. I love Galaxy’s Edge. I think it is incredibly well-themed and beautiful. However, it just feels out of place in Disneyland, at least to us. Maybe it’s because we both associate Star Wars so closely with Hollywood Studios. Maybe it’s because I think of Disneyland as being really quaint and charming, which are two adjectives I don’t associate with Star Wars. I know it would feel weird to put a Star Wars-themed Land in Magic Kingdom, which is very similar to Disneyland. Maybe Galaxy’s Edge would have been better-suited in DCA? I know it’s not California-themed, but neither is Marvel, and they’re putting in a Marvel-themed Land. Anyway, I digress. We strolled around Galaxy’s Edge, but we didn’t stay for very long, since it just felt out of place to us.

Next up: we travel back to this galaxy, and visit a land we didn’t set foot in on our last trip...

 

[k8einwdw]

Tuesday December 3rd, Part Four:
After our quick jaunt around Galaxy’s Edge, it was time for us to visit a land we had never even set foot in...Critter Country! That’s right, when we visited DL back in 2016, we somehow managed to skip an entire land. Maybe it was because it was way too cold to do Splash Mtn? Anyway, we were determined to visit Critter Country on this trip. We needed to visit someone beary special...

Hooray for Pooh! I’ll spare you the details, since it’s virtually the same ride as the East Coast, save for the ride vehicles. In WDW, you ride in honey pots, in DL, you ride in beehives! After the ride, we checked out the darling gift shop, Pooh Corner. My mom grew up watching “The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh,” and I must have watched it with her a hundred times, along with “The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh” on the Disney Channel (any other 90s Disney channel lovers? ), so Pooh has always held a soft spot in my heart. I love the Pooh gift shop in MK, and I loved this one too! Overall, we loved the theming of Critter Country as a whole. Lots of subtle nods to the Country Bears, even though they are no longer at DL. After our tour of the Hundred Acre Wood, it was time to take a ride...

The Wildest Ride in the Wilderness, that is! Big Thunder is my favorite ride in MK, and it’s even better in DL! We both love the dynamite explosion scene! I could have ridden this one a hundred times, but we had a boat to catch...we were off to battle with pirates!

Line selfie! There is no FP for Pirates at DL, but thankfully we only had to wait about 15-20 minutes. Totally worth it, because DL’s Pirates is longer and has some scenes that we don’t have in WDW! High quality photography coming up...

We loved the ride...after the initial five minutes. Why? The family in the row behind us, that’s why. We got in the boat, and Little Timmy started whining that his big sister Susie made him sit on the outside, and he didn’t want to sit on the outside (then why did you get in the boat first, kid?). Susie won’t trade places with Timmy. A CM tells Timmy that all the real pirates sit on the outside of the boat. Timmy does not care. Timmy hits Susie. Susie starts crying and tells Mom and Dad. Timmy starts crying because Susie told on him. Katie wonders why people have multiple children...eventually Mom and Dad got Timmy and Susie calmed down, and the rest of the boat could enjoy our ride.

After our voyage, we were both famished, and there was only one thing we wanted...

Disneyland Corn Dogs! We had to wait a good 15 minutes in line, but it was well worth it. I don’t know what they put in the corn dog batter...pixie dust maybe? They’re divine, and neither of us are big hot dog eaters. What is that yellow stuff, you ask? Queso. They were advertising it for $1.50, so we thought we’d give it a shot, thinking it’d be like the “plastic” cheese they offer at Casey’s Corner with the corn dog nuggets...it was not. If you’re familiar with Ro-Tel Dip (ro-tel and velveeta), that’s essentially what this was. It’d be great with tortilla chips, but it was just weird with corn dogs.

After our lunch, it was a little after 1:00 pm, and we were both ready for a break. We checked out the Main Street shops on the way out to do a little window shopping, and we stopped in Candy Palace to buy some Hotel Snacks™. One of our favorite things to do at Disney is grab a treat from the parks on our way out to enjoy in our room later. This trip to Candy Palace, I got a Peanut Butter Sandwich (sweet, creamy pb sandwiched between two graham crackers, then dipped in chocolate ), and J got a Churro Toffee (toffee, dipped in white chocolate, and dusted in cinnamon). We made our way to the exit, and paid a visit to Uncle Walt on our way out.

I love visiting him on our way out of the park. At Christmastime, they replace the lamp in his apartment window with a little Christmas tree. After our visit, we were on our way back “home.”

It was time for a much-needed midday break!

Next up: we head back to Disneyland to celebrate Christmas and...Halloween?