Trip Report From East to West … Two Besties Tackle Disneyland (LIVE 2/20-2/26)

It’s been a long 22 months. It’s been the best of times, and the worst of times. And it was during one of those “worst of times” that the promise of this trip began.

I remember the moment exactly. Me, bawling in a supermarket parking lot, just completely and totally overwhelmed by lockdown after lockdown after lockdown, and my Bestie @NYwdwfan promising that we will make this trip happen.

And here we are. Exactly 5 weeks out, God willing.

So much has happened since my last live trip report … not all COVID-related. Some gains - a brand new hip, and a puppy that is the light of our lives. Some losses - our 2020 WDW trip, and 50 lbs.

Here are the 5 W’s:

Who?
Me - JenniferS - Canadian, huge Blue Jays fan. After almost 2 years of spending every second together, I’ll be travelling without my usual ride or die Mike … aka Hubby.
I have been to WDW more than a dozen times, starting in 1991.

I will let Bestie introduce herself.
Ideally this will be a tandem trip report, with regular input and photos from her as well.

What?
A first time visit (for both of us!) to the OG park. We will cry the first time we walk down MSUSA. Guaranteed!

We have 5 day ParkHopper passes, and plan on utilizing both Genie+ and ILL,

Where?
Disney’s Grand Californian Resort and Spa. I’m a Moderate girl, whereas Bestie has often stayed Deluxe at WDW.

When?
We arrive at LAX within 20 minutes of each other on Sunday, February 20th.
Park Days: 21st - starting at DL
22nd - starting at DCA
23rd - starting at DL
24th - starting at DCA
25th - starting at DL
26th - morning departures from LAX

Why?
Why not? Our original plan was to stay off-site, but an email discount code for GC was just too attractive to pass up.

If you’ve read any of my previous reports, you know I post live. Mike has always been a good sport about it. Hopefully Bestie will be equally accommodating.

We will eat well (oh boy, will we eat well), hit most of the rides (together and separately, because someone doesn’t like big drops or going boing boing), and will savour every second of our time together. It has incredibly been 3 years since we have seen one another in person.

I’ll share our dining plans in a separate post.

Me, ‘cause it’s been a long time!
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Mikey. Says he’s not sorry to have been excluded:
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And Daisy, the best thing to come out of all this COVID carp:
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JenniferS

When you're the leader, you don't have to follow.
Original Poster
After this we have a LL for Indy again, and then lunch at Blue Bayou.

Some quick takes so far:
1 - We did not get to soak in MSUSA, as once the gates opened, people literally RAN down MS to get to their chosen rope. And I mean RAN.
It was run or be trampled, so we ran too!

2 - The park is so familiar, and yet not at all. We feel like we should know exactly where we are, but we don’t. 😂

3 - The rides are very close together. It’s a compact park.

4 - Due to the compactness of the park, there are fewer immersive queues (not to say none), and lots more simple switchbacks.

5 - DL IaSW is infinitely better than WDW’s.

6 - Don’t come at me for this, this is Sheryl’s opinion (although I agree with her, I didn’t actually SAY it) - the castle is small. Like really small. Like if you weren’t looking for it, you’d miss it small.

7 - A lot more rides include an outdoor portion. Yes, we know that’s due to the difference in rain.

That’s it for now, Indy time! (My favourite ride so far!)
 

JenniferS

When you're the leader, you don't have to follow.
Original Poster
I’d read that you don’t go to Blue Bayou for the food, you go for the atmosphere.

Let me tell you, our food was delicious! Really, really delicious.

We both ordered the same thing gumbo and salad. No rice in the gumbo or tomatoes in the salad for me. We also had a few of the gumbo fries.

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JenniferS

When you're the leader, you don't have to follow.
Original Poster
Picking up from our (first!) ride on IaSW.
Let me start by saying, this is so much better than in MK. The displays are generally only on one side of the boat at any given time as the boat winds and wends its way through a more (presumably) compact building. The water is in a more narrow trough. We also loved starting and finishing the ride outdoors.

Sheryl took pics of the hidden characters, she will share those later in a combined post. We are totally missing some.

The condition of the ride is so much better than MK. Many scenes are the same or similar, while others are different.

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