Trip Report Disneyland and Jennie's Wedding: MillerPoppins Return to the Magic

Well hello there strangers! It's been a long time since I've gotten to do one of these and I am pumped to finally report on Disneyland. Some of you may not know me or be new to the boards so I will do a brief re-introduction. My name is Karen and I am a Disney-aholic. I have a few past trip reports on here which you can see right here.

http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/...musical-of-millerpoppins.647935/#post-4328929

http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/...ology-deluxe-resorts-and-lots-of-rain.723908/

There are a few other trip reports that were started and unfortunately not finished. May get back to those eventually.

Me in a nut shell...I am a non-princessey, Star Wars and Pirate obsessed foodie who is a giant kid at heart and loves visiting and talking about this wonderful "World" of ours. My soft spots in Disney-dom are Mary Poppins, Up and Boo from Monsters Inc.



So let's bring everyone up to speed. I was a frequenter on these boards and then something magical happened: I moved to Disney. I got to live the dream working in Epcot as both Tim/Randy and I picked up our lives in NJ and headed down to Lake Buena Vista. For two years, I looked out the front door of my job and could see Spaceship Earth and the monorail. I watched the globe for Illuminations pass by everyday. And on days off, Tim/Randy and I went and played endlessly in the parks. That came to an end last April when I had to move to Delaware and unfortunately, things ended for Tim/Randy and I. We are still friends and I am doing really well. The fact that I actually got to "live the dream" is something I will forever be grateful for and cherish in my heart.

So now I get to come back to the trip report scene! And boy do I have a good one! Some of you may remember Jennie from previous visits and trips. Well, she was getting herself hitched! And Miss Jennie works at Disney's California Adventure. So why wouldn't her wedding take place not far from the Happiest Place on Earth?! I was lucky enough to be asked to be one of her bridesmaids and of course, I could never say no as she is one of my oldest and dearest friends.

So she will once again be my Disney hopping buddy on this short but sweet trip to Walt's park. Here is the blushing bride!



So let's go get her married and head back to Disneyland!

 

[PolynesianPrincess]

Glad you're finishing up your report! We just went to Disneyland fr the first time in April and I am in LOVE with it! Can't wait to get back there! You are right in the fact that even the rides that are the same at WDW and DL are still different! IASW was closed while we were there though... Boooooo!!

 

[MillerPoppins]

So the day after the wedding was a pretty laid back one. We all got up and headed to breakfast at the resort and then afterwards, packed up all our stuff and made our way back to Jennie and Rays condo. There we relaxed for a bit and I assisted with them opening all of their wedding gifts! It was great to watch everything and see how happy they were. That night for dinner, both families went out to dinner at Napa Rose, the Grand Californian's Signature Restaurant. It was absolutely beautiful and the resort is so gorgeous. However, I got no pictures of food. Totally unlike me I know. Just didn't seem like good timing.

So Monday morning, Jennie and I were up early and ready to go! We had a full day of park playing in our plans! So off we went. As we drove, we planned out that we would hit up California Adventure first so that we could take full advantage of Cars Land. Last time I had visited, it was still in construction mode. I was really excited to see it as my Niece is obsessed with Cars and I couldn't wait to take photos back to her! We rolled up, parked and made our way to the entrance. Jennie had a plan all in place for us. We were gonna grab fast passes for the Radiator Springs Racers and then explore. When we arrived, the park wasn't even open yet so we got in line and the excitement grew.



It cracks me up that you can literally walk from park to park. And I don't mean like how you can walk in between Hollywood Studios and Epcot. I mean from the entrance of California Adventure, here was Disneyland...



First official "selfie" of the day!



Can I just say that Jennie and I have been doing these kind of photos for years before they were officially dubbed "selfies". She's got long arms and I don't . And instead of nagging people to take our picture, we just did it ourselves. Now it's a "thing". I don't get it...

The gates officially opened and we were in! Now I mentioned I was there during construction but basically a good chunk of the park was under construction, not just Cars Land. Buena Vista Street was being built so we were rerouted past walls and such. Then there was the giant area that was Radiator Springs being built. And the Matterhorn was also shut down. So although it was my second time out there, it was my first time to see a lot of things. And Buena Vista Street was totally worth the wait. It was gorgeous. Like a more fine tuned version of Hollywood Studios Entrance. And really made you feel like you were back in Walt's day in California.

 

[MillerPoppins]

And there he was... his new statue on his new street. I was a big fan!



Were there tears? What do you think?



Jennie was a trooper and hopped in line for Racers fast passes while I walked around snapping and crying like an idiot. I did manage to snap this one of her because Carthay Circle may or may not mean something to her. In that she may or may not spend a lot of time there helping folks. I'm just saying . More on Carthay Circle later...





As with all Disney parks, the detail was just great. I loved all the little Easter Eggs for those who truly know Walt's story.


And the weather was PERFECT! Apparently though to Californians "it was too hot!". Ok it was like 80 degrees with no humidity. It was perfect!!!

 

[MillerPoppins]

I still ran around and snapped some photos after we snagged our fastpasses. We had some time before they were up so I wandered a bit. Obviously I wanted to head into Cars Land, but apparently so did everyone else. Funny thing is, although Jennie and I have both worked for the Disney Parks, we HATE crowds and will do almost anything to avoid mass groups hovering. We can tolerate them to an extent, but overall we lose patience after a bit. But this didn't seem too bad. While the majority of the park seemed to be heading to Cars Land, it wasn't an ungodly amount of people. So we made our way in.

As previously mentioned, my niece is a massive Cars fan so I took an abundance of photos to show her. Cars Land Photo Overload coming... Consider yourself warned.



Right off the bat I could not believe the authenticity of it. It literally looks like you are dropped right into Radiator Springs. Even down to the traffic light sticking every third round...just like in the movie. We all know Disney is known for the details...but my God. They outdid themselves on this one.


We strolled and the first thing that really caught my eye was the Cozy Cone Motel. How could you not be drawn to the massive neon orange structures on the street???



Something I noticed right away that I really loved was that Lightning McQueen and Mater "roll" out to their character appearances. Unlike their meet and greet area at DHS where they are stationary, these guys rotate appearances and drive right up to their spot. Lightning was chatting up the guests when we strolled up to the Cone.



I was peckish and needed something to eat so we decided to pick a cone, any cone! And see what they had to offer. Some of them weren't fully open yet since the park itself just opened, but I immediately gravitated to the cone with breakfast...in a cone. Get it? Cause you are ordering food at a cone in a cone... whatever, it's fine.
While I waited for my scrambled eggs with chorizo in a cone, I could not stop looking at the structures...they were SO COOL!!!

 

[MillerPoppins]

I could not stop looking at it. The details were so spot on. Who would ever think that a bunch of concession stands themed around traffic cones would be so adorable???



Shortly after, my cone was ready. Jennie wasn't in an eggs type of place so she went with the breakfast of champions: churros! I was really digging mine! Fresh salsa, chorizo, and some melted cheese...come on!



Once I made my way to the actual cone itself...it got weird. It was like hard, which I understand cause it has to withstand leaking sauces and moisture. But even with their being hot eggs inside it, it was still a bit tough to eat. I think I made it halfway through and called it a day. Either way, it was a really unique breakfast that I would get again!

As we were leaving the Cone area, I noticed even more little adorable details!



So we got into the spirit of things as well... I mean when in Cones...

 

[SharonD]

Enjoying your report!

 

[CheersBigEars]

More please