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

JenniferS

When you're the leader, you don't have to follow.
Original Poster
There are still hurdles to clear, but we do have back up reservations at an off-site hotel for later in the Spring.

To date, I have managed to avoid contracting COVID, as has everyone in my household. In the past few weeks, it’s been ALL AROUND us, on both sides of the family, but so far, so good.

Everything here is locked down again (for the 4th or 5th time?), so I’m not going anywhere anyway. I put a pause on going to the gym a few weeks before Christmas to ensure I didn’t bring it home with me and wreck everyone’s Christmas; and then the gov’t closed gyms, movie theatres, and restaurants and bars before New Year’s. 🤷🏼‍♀️ Whatcha gonna do?

I have a pre-departure rapid test booked for the evening of Saturday 2/19, and plan to completely isolate myself for a week before then. I would be devastated if I couldn’t get on a plane because of a last-second positive test.

If the medical experts are correct, Omicron should have peaked before then, and numbers should be on the way down.

My return flight has already been modified once, but so far, so good for my departure flight.

We also have full cancellation insurance for the trip. As I said when we bought it, “Nobody has ever said - Gee, I wish I’d had less insurance”.

Fingers and toes, and my legs (now that I’ve had my hip replaced) are all crossed.
 
JenniferS

JenniferS

When you're the leader, you don't have to follow.
Original Poster
Previous trip reports have focussed heavily on food, as Mike always claims:
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He’s a big guy and eats A LOT. We always get the DDP, and usually order apps (he eats his and half of mine), he then eats his entree (and half of mine), and same for dessert.

Like me, Bestie is a light eater. We also like our steak prepared to the same “medium plus”, so the plan is to order individual apps/salads, split an entree in many cases, and then she can have dessert if she wants. While this is mostly to avoid wasting vast amounts of food, it will also serve to save us some money … and for that reason, we’re going to splurge on our dining plans. (Well actually, there’s a second reason we can afford to splurge, but that’s her story to tell, not mine.)


Arrival day is a non-park day, so we will be dining at Naples in Downtown Disney.
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One of these has to go:
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krause

krause

Well-Known Member
Yes. Yes. Yes. You know I am in.
dan levy comedy GIF by CBC

Your live reports are always amazing and I will miss the banter with Mike but I’m sure you and your bestie have just as many laughs 😊 Me and my sisters are planning an April trip to DL if everything goes according to plan covid and life-wise so you can expect @AKemily to be following along closely as well for research purposes 😉.
 
JenniferS

JenniferS

When you're the leader, you don't have to follow.
Original Poster
krause said:
Yes. Yes. Yes. You know I am in.
dan levy comedy GIF by CBC

Your live reports are always amazing and I will miss the banter with Mike but I’m sure you and your bestie have just as many laughs 😊 Me and my sisters are planning an April trip to DL if everything goes according to plan covid and life-wise so you can expect @AKemily to be following along closely as well for research purposes 😉.
Click to expand...
Our backup dates are 4/17-4/23.

Have you been to DL before?
 
NYwdwfan

NYwdwfan

Well-Known Member
I’m here! Now to try to remember what I’m supposed to fill in. I’m Sheryl. From NY. And I remember well talking you off that ledge with the pinky promise of booking our long awaited girls trip to DL. As you mentioned we’ll be eating well, because my parents gifted us a sweet batch of giftcards to ensure it. They’re almost as excited about the bestie trip as we are. I’m not as good with the posting and even less as good with the food photos but we all know @JenniferS is a rock star in both categories so we should be good. Did I miss anything?
 
NYwdwfan

NYwdwfan

Well-Known Member
So I reread @JenniferS introduction and I just want to add: I'll be quite the supportive sport for the live trip report, most likely putting my 2 cents in while bestie is going boing boing or riding Space Mountain. There's a small grey area of rides I will need to make a gametime decision if I feel like riding (I am pretty sure I will need to do The Matterhorn at least once, and BTMRR is a favorite at WDW so I may give it a go if someone will sit in the front car with me and tolerate my screaming). Less than 5 weeks now. Getting REALLY excited!

Oh and I've been to WDW multiple, multiple times over the years and am a mildly compulsive planner with spreadsheets and youtube video watching to learn the nuances of the changes (boarding groups I'm looking at you) but this will be the first time EVER I have been out planned by my travel companion. I mean she is thorough. Like walking routes and best security checkpoints depending on the moon's alignment with Mercury thorough. It's going to be a blast!
 

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