Trip Report **COMPLETED** Welcome to Radiator Springs!

Hey everyone!
I never wrote a pre-trip report so aside from my instagram friends not sure if anyone even knows I went on another trip

Who?
The usual suspects - my Mom (Mary) and me (Megan)
This is a picture of us from our last trip!

Where?
California!!! Woohoo!! San Diego and DisneyLAND!!! Disneyland Hotel was where we stayed

When?
Total trip length was October 4-14, 2018

Why?
I had a work conference in San Diego and we figured - hey while we are in California why not go to Disneyland as well??? When you are a Disney addict anyway...

October 4-7, 2018 were all San Diego
I won't bore you with San Diego pictures but I figured I would at least include our usual travel date pictures - oh and a picture of us with the Grand Floridian ?? Just kidding its Hotel del Coronado

Anyway...on to the actual TR!

Disneyland Day 1 October 8, 2018
We spent our morning in San Diego having some breakfast, walking around the water and riding some scooters
Then, we packed up our 4 suitcases (come on...is anyone surprised we have 4) and grabbed a taxi to the...train station! Yep, we were taking a train from San Diego to Anaheim! My Mom was very excited and I was just nervous because we had never taken one before and I wasn't sure how it all worked
Our taxi ride was eventful as our luggage almost fell out the window and the guy dropped us off way far away from the station
Then, we walked into the station with all our luggage and I freaked out that our luggage was too big. Thankfully, an Amtrak employee saw the distressed looks on our faces and checked our luggage with no problems! P.S. we were the only ones who checked our bags on the entire train
The San Diego downtown train station is really cool inside (if not a bit dingy as well).

A light photo for all of you...

Some more train station photos

Next up: more train station photos

 

[Doc Disney]

Day 3 continued

We both got Mickey pancakes with (real) bacon and fruit.
Although not very heat hot (as nothing in Disney ever is) the pancakes were pretty decent. It was also very quiet in there so it was a nice change of pace.

Then we wandered around Sleeping Beauty Castle for a few minutes

We had a FP coming up for Indiana Jones but that was closed (shocker…its closed all the time) so we used our bonus FP for BTMR.

I tried to get a picture past the mountains because there was a great view of Galaxy's Edge- however I could not get my camera high enough. Another case of short people problems...

Next up: more BTMR

 

[Doc Disney]

Day 3 continued
My Mom was having a hard time with selfies this day

Anyway, BTMR was fantastic! We did not get a chance to ride it last time we were in DL and the special effects are so much fun!
After our ride we headed towards IASW but got sucked in to some tea cup PP pictures followed by a ride on the teacups first

Next up: more DL

 

[Doc Disney]

Day 3 continued
We also made sure we said hi to Monstro on our way to IASW

IASW

I think everything about this version is adorable. Right down to the old men sitting outside in tiny little chairs operating the ride. Plus there are characters hidden inside. My Mom prefers the WDW version though

Next up: more DL

 

[amjt660]

Enjoying the report
I have not been to DLR at Halloween time and will be adding it to the list moving forward.

And nice attempt at not doing comparisons....not!

It is too hard not to compare/contrast - I commend you for trying though!

Max

 

[Doc Disney]

Enjoying the report
I have not been to DLR at Halloween time and will be adding it to the list moving forward.

And nice attempt at not doing comparisons....not!

It is too hard not to compare/contrast - I commend you for trying though!

Max

Its SO difficult not to!

 

[Doc Disney]

Day 3 continued
After IASW we headed over towards POTC but the line was super long so we headed towards Indiana Jones (we had another FP). Our FP window wasn't quite open yet and we were just sitting there in Adventureland when we noticed that Jungle Cruise had a pretty short wait so we hopped in line. Woohoo another DL first for us!

After Jungle Cruise we headed to Indiana Jones - which was - CLOSED! Ugh, so we decided to go to Main Street and do a bit of shopping.
Much harder to get a picture of someone with the castle from far away

Next up: Day 3 continued

 

[Doc Disney]

Day 3 continued
We then decided to take a train ride to New Orleans square (which would lead us back to Indiana Jones which was finally back open).

This is the only photo I took of Indiana Jones apparently

Indiana Jones is such a great ride - but a bit wilder than we recalled
We decided to mobile order some lunch at Jolly Holiday Bakery Cafe (pancakes wore off quickly).

We both got the Jolly Holiday Combo which is a toasted cheese sandwich and tomato basil soup.

It was SO delicious! My Mom doesn’t care for tomato soup…

There was no option to get the sandwich without the soup otherwise I would have just ordered that for her.
Halloween cups!

I also got us a matterhorn macaroon. It was adorable but we actually did not care for the taste. I guess I thought I would be getting a macaroon like you would get in France but this was a coconut one and we don’t like coconut
P.S. the matterhorn was closed this entire trip for refurbishment

After lunch we considered getting Starbucks or an ice cream but somehow we talked ourselves out of us so we headed out.

Next up: Day 3 continued

 

[Doc Disney]

Day 3 continued
We took some train station photos on the way out...

Back at the hotel I did some work then we headed to the pool to relax a bit.

After our break we got dressed and ready so we could head to DCA. My Mom got a phone case that we stupidly bought for an iPhone 8 plus (which she does not own) but I did not realize it until we opened it - so we stopped at the gift shop first. Thankfully they still let us return it - although the CM did not seem too thrilled to be honest.
Anyway, we finally made it to DCA and stopped for some PP pictures

We had dining reservations for Wine Country Tratorria so we headed there and checked in. We were doing the Paint the Night Dining Package. I'm not 100% sure what possessed me to do this dining package other than I planned one doing a World of Color one (which was STILL under refurb) so I replaced it with this
I have no idea why my Mom is doing this but its adorable....

Next up: dinner!

 

[Tuvalu]

Tell your mom I love her dress!

 

[Swissmiss]

I also got us a matterhorn macaroon. It was adorable but we actually did not care for the taste. I guess I thought I would be getting a macaroon like you would get in France but this was a coconut one and we don’t like coconut
P.S. the matterhorn was closed this entire trip for refurbishment
View attachment 323254
View attachment 323255
After lunch we considered getting Starbucks or an ice cream but somehow we talked ourselves out of us so we headed out.

Next up: Day 3 continued

Usually the French “cookie” is called a macaron (only o) and a macaroon (with oo) is coconut and almond paste.

 

[Rista1313]

Usually the French “cookie” is called a macaron (only o) and a macaroon (with oo) is coconut and almond paste.

Hey that's what I was just going to say! =D


I'm late to the party! I haven't been to DL since 1991. CA didn't even exist, and I don't remember much. What I do remember is that I didn't make much money, and even back then a hot dog combo with fries and a drink was $10. I think I starved that day!

 

[amjt660]

Walt is watching over you....

Max

 

[amjt660]

Usually the French “cookie” is called a macaron (only o) and a macaroon (with oo) is coconut and almond paste.

Thank you for the lesson - learn something new everyday!

Is the pronunciation the same for both?

Max

 

[Swissmiss]

@Rista1313 - Great minds ...

 

[Swissmiss]

Thank you for the lesson - learn something new everyday!

Is the pronunciation the same for both?

Max

No - neither in French or in English . In English both are pronounced as written - macaroon as in “see you real soon” and macaron as in “on” (tried to think of another Disney reference for this but it is too early, I haven’t had enough coffee, and I’m tired by my quick trip and coming back to too many family members visiting at the same time)

 

[Rista1313]

No - neither in French or in English . In English both are pronounced as written - macaroon as in “see you real soon” and macaron as in “on” (tried to think of another Disney reference for this but it is too early, I haven’t had enough coffee, and I’m tired by my quick trip and coming back to too many family members visiting at the same time)

It's Macaron as is stone or Macaroni without the EE sound at the end. or or or

 

[Doc Disney]

Tell your mom I love her dress!

She said thanks

Usually the French “cookie” is called a macaron (only o) and a macaroon (with oo) is coconut and almond paste.

I knew there was a difference but did not know they were spelled differently that makes sense!

 

[Doc Disney]

Hey that's what I was just going to say! =D


I'm late to the party! I haven't been to DL since 1991. CA didn't even exist, and I don't remember much. What I do remember is that I didn't make much money, and even back then a hot dog combo with fries and a drink was $10. I think I starved that day!

$10 ?!?! That seems super excessive I bet I paid about 10 dollars for my grilled cheese and tomato soup with a drink!

View attachment 323330
Walt is watching over you....

Max

I hope so!

 

[Doc Disney]

Day 3 continued
Since we were doing the dining package we each had an appetizer, entree and dessert.
Oh, we also got bread!

We both chose the Italian Insalata for our appetizers

For entrees I chose the rib eye steak (which was $10 more - I think this is the first time I have been at a Disney dining package restaurant where something was an upcharge) and my Mom had the chicken parm

And for dessert we both had the chocolate panna cotta

Everything was really delicious so I was glad we decided upon this place for the dining package!
We had a RSR FP after dinner so we headed over there but the ride was down. We were actually super cold so we decided to walk back to the hotel and change clothes real quick. This is definitely one nice thing about staying at a hotel that's very close!
We made it back to DCA with just enough time to do RSR and get to our Dining Package spot for the parade!
Look how cool the trees were at DCA!

3rd ride!

After our ride we headed right to where the Dining Package area was. It was not quite as crowded as I had expected considering we got there closer to the end of the window but crowded enough we would have to stand. However, a very nice family offered to let us share a bench with them! Hooray! My Mom, however, was stuck sitting under a bush

The family who was also sitting there had space on the ground as well so they did not mind sharing and they were super sweet. We chatted a bit about WDW since they were going in Feb for the first time and I tried to explain why the FP system is better in WDW but I'm not sure they were understanding Their daughter was also adorable and entertained us until the parade started with silly stories and questions. I also told them the last time we saw Paint the Night it was in Disneyland and she looked at me like I had 4 eyes and said when the heck was that?! (2015 )

Next up: Paint the Night

 

[Doc Disney]

Day 3 continued
Just a bunch of Paint the Night photos...