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!

Mikey. Says he’s not sorry to have been excluded:

And Daisy, the best thing to come out of all this COVID carp:

 

[Tiggerish]

Not better, but as good as DHS’ ToT … in a different way. The music is fun, and the Rocket AA kicks it up a notch.

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So you didn't get to experience the middle row?

 

[JenniferS]

So you didn't get to experience the middle row?

Front row is often the benefit of being a single rider.

 

[Tiggerish]

Front row is often the benefit of being a single rider.

Still, I feel like you missed a grand slam, or something.

 

[Sbk1234]

As a southern California native and frequent Disneyland goer, I'm a lot more familiar with Disneyland than WDW. So I find it interesting that you see some of the Disneyland versions of attractions superior to the WDW counterparts. For example, I think the WDW versions of Haunted Mansion and Big Thunder are better than the Disneyland versions. I'll proudly agree that Disneyland's Pirates of the Caribbean is the superior one (except for that little closet that Jack sits in at the end.) However, WDW's line for POTC is far superior to Disneyland's. Still, none of the attractions in either resort are too shabby, IMHO.

 

[NYwdwfan]

Final Ride Tally:

Pirates 7
Haunted mansion 6
small world 6
Buzz 5
Indy 5
Jungle cruise 5
GotG Mission Breakout 4
Mr Toad 3
Pooh 3
space mountain 3
Alice in wonderland 2
Autopia 2
BTMRR 2
disneyland railroad 2
Great moments with Mr Lincoln 2
Incredicoaster 2
Little Mermaid 2
Millennium Falcon 2
Philharmagic 2
Radiator Springs Racers 2
Rise 2
Snow White’s Enchanted Wish 2
Soarin 2
star tours 2
Storybook canal boats 2
casey jr train 1
Davey Crocket Canoes 1
Jesse’s Critter Carousel 1
Luigi’s Rollicking Roadsters 1
Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree 1
Matterhorn 1
Monsters Inc. 1
Peter Pan 1
Pinocchio 1
Pixar Pal Around (Mickey Ferris Wheel) non-swinging 1
Roger rabbit 1
Sleeping Beauty Castle Walk-thru 1
Spiderman 1
teacups 1
Tiki room 1
Toy Story Midway Mania 1

Total ride count: 93

 

[JenniferS]

Final Ride Tally:

Pirates 7
Haunted mansion 6
small world 6
Buzz 5
Indy 5
Jungle cruise 5
GotG Mission Breakout 4
Mr Toad 3
Pooh 3
space mountain 3
Alice in wonderland 2
Autopia 2
BTMRR 2
disneyland railroad 2
Great moments with Mr Lincoln 2
Incredicoaster 2
Little Mermaid 2
Millennium Falcon 2
Philharmagic 2
Radiator Springs Racers 2
Rise 2
Snow White’s Enchanted Wish 2
Soarin 2
star tours 2
Storybook canal boats 2
casey jr train 1
Davey Crocket Canoes 1
Jesse’s Critter Carousel 1
Luigi’s Rollicking Roadsters 1
Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree 1
Matterhorn 1
Monsters Inc. 1
Peter Pan 1
Pinocchio 1
Pixar Pal Around (Mickey Ferris Wheel) non-swinging 1
Roger rabbit 1
Sleeping Beauty Castle Walk-thru 1
Spiderman 1
teacups 1
Tiki room 1
Toy Story Midway Mania 1

Total ride count: 93

Brilliant combination of rope drop, park hopper, Genie+, and judicious use of ILL. Might not be affordable for large families, or necessarily a kid-friendly approach - but totally worked for us.

 

[JenniferS]

If you’re just sitting around there can you check how much it would be to grab an Uber/Lyft to universal??

I think it’s dependent on the day and time of day.

An Uber in from the airport would have been $154 (we took a cab for the same price), but the scheduled Uber back to the airport was $70 at 8:30, and then only $50 when we cancelled and rescheduled (twice) due to Sheryl’s flight being delayed and then un-delayed.

 

[JenniferS]

My thoughts on Galaxy’s Edge ….

We first visited in early September, 2019 at WDW. It was brand new, and blew us away. Only MF:SR was open at the time, and we waited a very long time and ultimately rode it three times.

This trip, MF was totally meh for me. If you’re not the Pilot, it’s just Star Tours with button-pushing. There was not even a second to absorb the details of the ship or sit at the chess table for pics.

I found the third entrance/exit to GE at DL made it feel less remote, if that makes any sense. We literally cut through Batuu a couple of times to get to another part of the park.

We’d planned on eating at Ronto’s Roasters, but we were never there when it was chow time.

RotR, it goes without saying, was amazing. Every trick Disney has perfected over the years all rolled into one ride. Would I wait 3 hours for it though? Heck no.

The plexi dividing the booth at Oga’s really diminished the experience. (And this from a girl who loves plexi!) Unfortunately the plexi cut off any interaction with your fellow travellers, which was such a big part of the experience pre-COVID.

Droid Depot was great fun again. I added a BB unit to the two R units we had previously built at DHS. The cats are still not impressed. The pup loves him.

 

[JenniferS]

Cars Land might just be the best, most fleshed out land in any domestic park. I know people go on about how beautiful it is at night, but I actually preferred it during the day.

The two off the shelf rides are cute enough, and I’m glad we did them, but the star here is Radiator Springs Racers. We didn’t eat at any of the Cozy Cone Motel Cones (so many carbs), nor at Flo’s, but they were so cute, and definitely unique.

Sadly, I don’t seem to have that many photos. Maybe Sheryl took some of things that I missed.

RSR was really fun. It’s Test Track, of course, but so, so much better … like Indy makes Dinosaur pale in comparison.

 

[JenniferS]

Daytime:

 

[JenniferS]

I love this wallpaper. I would legit find somewhere to put it in my house. Bonus points if you know where it is located.

Close up:

Spoiler: This might help

 

[JenniferS]

I never did post character pics from Goofy’s Kitchen. Every single one (I took at least 60) needed to be edited.

Almost every pic was a blur. Those characters are practically catapulted into the room, and they don’t stop moving for even a fraction of a second. I read today that hugs with characters are allowed again in DLP, so maybe these guys will be allowed to slow their roll soon, and actually pose for a few seconds. I know the kids in our section would have loved that! Maybe a couple of adults too.

I tried.

 

[JenniferS]

Did you spot Melvin, Buff and Max from the Country Bears on the wall in Winnie the Pooh?

Forgot to update this … yes, after you told us where to look, we definitely did.

Sheryl tried in vain to snap a pic. The ride went down immediately after, or we might have ridden again just to get the pic.

 

[Songbird76]

Beginning PotC scenes that WDW does not have:

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That's like the one at DLP.....so much better than the one at WDW. And even at WDW, it's one of my favorite rides....that and Haunted Mansion, and Soarin'. But DLP's is so much better!! If they had better food and they had Soarin', I wouldn't necessarily have to go back to WDW every few years!

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

I love this wallpaper. I would legit find somewhere to put it in my house. Bonus points if you know where it is located.

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Close up:
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Spoiler: This might help

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Disneyland hotel bathrooms. I like that wallpaper too.

 

[NYwdwfan]

Brilliant combination of rope drop, park hopper, Genie+, and judicious use of ILL. Might not be affordable for large families, or necessarily a kid-friendly approach - but totally worked for us.

Sure did. And rides going down repeatedly and getting multiple experience LLs in addition to our regular bookings. That helped a lot! At one point we had 4 LLs booked. Two multiple experience ones from 2 separate rides going down, one we booked around 1PM for later in the day and another we booked around 3PM since you can book again after 2 hours.

 

[Sbk1234]

Cars Land might just be the best, most fleshed out land in any domestic park. I know people go on about how beautiful it is at night, but I actually preferred it during the day.

The two off the shelf rides are cute enough, and I’m glad we did them, but the star here is Radiator Springs Racers. We didn’t eat at any of the Cozy Cone Motel Cones (so many carbs), nor at Flo’s, but they were so cute, and definitely unique.

Sadly, I don’t seem to have that many photos. Maybe Sheryl took some of things that I missed.

RSR was really fun. It’s Test Track, of course, but so, so much better … like Indy makes Dinosaur pale in comparison.

On my first visit to Car's Land, at one point I wasn't really thinking and stopped at the curb and actually looked both ways for traffic before I crossed the street! So, I'd agree, the theming is incredible. LOL

Flo's is one of my favorite places to eat in DCA. It's an example of Disney doing its best when it tries. The food is pretty good (by amusement park standards), the theming is fun and just perfect. I love to sit and watch the cars from RSR go by while I eat.
I'm not too crazy about fast food, but I had chili at the Cozy Cone which was incredible. So I guess you never know where you'll find a good meal.
If you have another chance to visit, I'd definitely recommend Flo's.

 

[JenniferS]

Yikes, there’s a face!

Smile Jen. Doesn’t matter if it hurts your teeth.

In my defence, I didn’t know where the camera was, so I couldn’t “pose”.

 

[Sbk1234]

Yikes, there’s a face!
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Smile Jen. Doesn’t matter if it hurts your teeth.
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In my defence, I didn’t know where the camera was, so I couldn’t “pose”.

As long as you're happy and having fun, it's a good photo.

 

[JenniferS]

As long as you're happy and having fun, it's a good photo.

I’m always having a good time … except on Matterhorn. Not good. Not fun. You’d have to pay me a substantial amount of money to ride it again.