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 6 continued
We decided to split nachos and fries for lunch

The fries came with this chive dip which was by far the highlight of the meal. Everything else was cold and just OK. We did not do so hot with Disneyland dining in general....
After lunch we headed back to the room, packed and watched some TV just waiting for the rain to stop. The rain did stop but it still took forever for RSR to open. We did not leave until the app said it was open.
I was wearing my new Mickey jacket (which did not look great with this outfit).

We stupidly did not bring our rain coats because the app said it was done raining but it rained off and on for the next few hours Not very hard, though!

We knew we would be in for a long FP wait but I don't think I realized just how long. Overall it was about 45 minutes .... I think standby was at least 3 hours.
These people cut us in line (and like 20 minutes off) and we ended up racing against them and we won

Ride number 6!

We headed over to DL after this to do our Space Mountain FP.
We got in there just as a parade ended and we finally got this pumpkin picture. This was the hardest thing to come by!
The people behind us kindly offered to take our picture!

When we got to Tomorrowland we headed towards Ghost Galaxy and into what was a very long FP line. A CM told us that Space Mountain was on a "20 minute break - not closed" and so by the time the ride opened it would be at least 40 minutes of waiting A 20 MINUTE BREAK?! WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN?? It means....no bonus FP I guess so we moved on.

Next up: more DL

 

[Doc Disney]

Day 6 continued
We wandered around a bit.
We did the Sleeping Beauty Castle Walkthrough

Then, we stopped in the Golden Horseshoe to watch the show for a few minutes.

Then, somehow ended up on the Mark Twain River Boat

I was hoping for a good view of Galaxy's Edge but the top of the boat was super crowded so we stayed on the main deck.
You can kind of spy some of the construction.

Next up: more DL

 

[Doc Disney]

Day 6 continued

After our boat ride we headed to our Indiana Jones FP

Only...when we got there the FP line here was also INSANE! So...no Indiana Jones for us We only got to ride it once overall so I was super sad.

DL was bumming me out majorly at this point. This whole day felt so off and the last few failed FP's were getting to me.
We still had a little bit of time before dinner so we thought we would check out the Enchanted Tiki Room.

The garden area outside is really cute! Plus it is definitely part of the show and comes alive while you wait
But then...this got delayed as well

I was super annoyed with DL by this point! I think I even sent @sheriffwoody a message about it because I was so frustrated. We ended up ditching Tiki Room and just headed to our dinner destination: River Belle Terrace. When I first booked this I noticed they do a Fantasmic Dining Package that allows you to watch the show while you eat. I called and asked for it but it was booked out. In the end it worked out much better that we did not get this because it was way too cold out! So, we went with the regular dining package.

Next up: more dinner

 

[Doc Disney]

Day 6 continued

Our waitress was super all over the place. I think she must have just started because it seemed like she was super overwhelmed, but she was very sweet! When we checked in they asked us if we wanted the early show (which we chose) or later. It was nice that you could pick whatever one worked better for you.
Some lights...

We both got the salad to start

For entrees I got the beef short ribs

My Mom got the oven roasted chicken

For dessert my Mom got the parfait - it was caramel

And I got the Maleficent dessert just because - it was made of a spicy chocolate

Everything was great! This was definitely one of the better meals of our trip. I would definitely recommend it for a dining package! Of note, however, there are no bathrooms in this restaurant!
After our meal we did have some time before Fantasmic so we decided to head over to DCA to do our final RSR FP
We waited about 45 minutes again because it broke down a few times - this is one line I did not mind waiting forever in!

Next up: more DCA

 

[Doc Disney]

Day 6 continued
It was really pretty at night time!

Ride number 7 !

Overall we won 5/7 of our races!

We sadly had to say goodbye to DCA and our beloved Cars Land and head back over to DL

Next up: Fantasmic

 

[Doc Disney]

Day 6 continued
It was really difficult to actually make it through the crowds to get to our dining FP spot for Fantasmic. I was getting a bit worried but we made it with enough time to spare and there was still plenty of room for us! The spot was right in the center and everyone had to sit on the ground so it was perfect!

I really wanted to just enjoy it so I only took a few phone pictures...
Which admittedly are very bad

 

[Doc Disney]

Day 6 continued

Oh man, am I glad I finally listened to everyone and made time to see Fantasmic. Especially since it was just re-done! We really do not care for Fantasmic at HS but this is an entirely different ball game - it is incredible!!!! This definitely made up for the otherwise frustrating day and it was so nice to end on such a high note. Plus, bonus, we got to watch fireworks from our spot too and they were the Halloween ones! Its cool they display those even on non-party nights!
Then, sadly, we had to say goodbye to Disneyland

It was another great trip and we enjoyed it but in the end it had us missing our home - Disney World. Disneyland is amazing in so many ways but its just not home if you know what I mean I still feel so lucky that we were able to go to Disneyland again as I never thought it would happen! Hopefully we get back there again someday - especially for Cars Land! I would love to take my nephew there because he loves Cars ... but he may not love the 8 plus hours of travel time
Anyway, I would love to say our trip home the next day was uneventful but our flight from Phoenix to Buffalo was delayed FIVE hours so we did quite a bit of airport living. Finally we made it home just after midnight and I had to work at 7:30 am....bad planning on my part and a huge reality check. Good news though: we got Southwest Vouchers for future travel ...not like we ever travel or anything ...

Next up: a very short Christmas in November trip - next week!

 

[MerMom1981]

Thank you for reading! I got it for her from amazon Its a jansport backpack



Alice in Wonderland I think is mine. My Mom said hers is the Storybook Land Canal Boats I think both of those are super unique compared to WDW

Those are the two rides I most wanted to try! I'm getting so excited now!
I think I might be over planning though. No ADR's till 60 days out feels wrong

Oh, I am also loving your report!

 

[MerMom1981]

Agree on Alice and Storybook
Add in Mr Toad, Snow White and Pinocchio ( not in Florida)
Skip PP but go on small world to see the integrated Disney Characters

And that is just FL!!

Max

Thank you Max! I'm really looking forward to ALL OF IT!

 

[aliceismad]

I love that you included a Roz picture. She sang happy birthday to me once and it'll always be one of my favorite rides because of it.

It looks like you and your mom had such a wonderful time. Shame you only got to ride Indy once, though!

 

[Doc Disney]

I love that you included a Roz picture. She sang happy birthday to me once and it'll always be one of my favorite rides because of it.

It looks like you and your mom had such a wonderful time. Shame you only got to ride Indy once, though!

Oh my goodness Roz is hilarious!!! Someone must control her right ??

 

[amjt660]

Oh my goodness Roz is hilarious!!! Someone must control her right ??

Yes
Same idea as crush

She is the one that decided my name was Clarence

Max

 

[PacNWTigger]

I have a question for you about the River Belle Fantasmic dining package. Are there specific entrees or can you just choose from the menu? We just got the reservation the other day, but it wasn't too specific on choices. Steve has issues with meat on a bone, so I'm really hoping that the BBQ Pork sandwich is an option.

 

[Captain Barbossa]

I absolutely enjoyed reading your TR! My desire to go to Disneyland has increased even more!

 

[Doc Disney]

I have a question for you about the River Belle Fantasmic dining package. Are there specific entrees or can you just choose from the menu? We just got the reservation the other day, but it wasn't too specific on choices. Steve has issues with meat on a bone, so I'm really hoping that the BBQ Pork sandwich is an option.

There was a specific menu but most of the same options as the regular menu. My short ribs did not have bones but they had plenty of sandwich options and they seemed very flexible with letting other tables around us order off the regular menu! You should be fine!

I absolutely enjoyed reading your TR! My desire to go to Disneyland has increased even more!

Aw thanks for reading! You definitely need to go if you ever have the chance!

 

[amjt660]

Great TR Megan (as always)

I love DLR and always want to go back - for me it is the pull of being the only park that Walt was directly involved in developing, building , opening and then overseeing.

That makes it extra special for me

I leave you with this list (found it in my 2017 report) on the different songs on GOG

Max

 

[Doc Disney]

Great TR Megan (as always)

I love DLR and always want to go back - for me it is the pull of being the only park that Walt was directly involved in developing, building , opening and then overseeing.

That makes it extra special for me

I leave you with this list (found it in my 2017 report) on the different songs on GOG
View attachment 325943

Max

I still have no memory...this is bad! haha

 

[Back!Elbow!Shoulders!]

Thanks for the TR! I enjoyed reading along.

 

[Doc Disney]

Thanks for the TR! I enjoyed reading along.

Thank you for reading