Trip Report Golden State of Mind: Our August 2017 California Adventure

Tuvalu · Aug 29, 2017

@bee and @DisneyShe the pet cemetery is on the hill to the left after you exit the Mansion. In the top corner is Mr. Toad ~ an homage to his defunct ride.

DisneyGigi · Aug 29, 2017

Tuvalu said:
@bee and @DisneyShe the pet cemetery is on the hill to the left after you exit the Mansion. In the top corner is Mr. Toad ~ an homage to his defunct ride.

I know I do have that picture of Mr. Toad. Maybe I just never noticed the other animals, or maybe I wasn't as into rabbits, when I saw it last. Thanks @Tuvalu Have a safe trip down @bee

bee · Aug 29, 2017

Tuvalu said:
@bee and @DisneyShe the pet cemetery is on the hill to the left after you exit the Mansion. In the top corner is Mr. Toad ~ an homage to his defunct ride.

Thanks! Now I remember the bit about Mr. Toad.

DisneyShe said:
I know I do have that picture of Mr. Toad. Maybe I just never noticed the other animals, or maybe I wasn't as into rabbits, when I saw it last. Thanks @Tuvalu Have a safe trip down @bee

Thanks! You, too!! If we see you we'll say hi!

MinnieM123 · Aug 29, 2017

bee said:
The sun was getting hotter and hotter and our fair-skinned faces needed a little more protection. We stepped into the store Mad Hatter and saw lots of options. I ended up with:

bee said:
Yes, that's actually me. This may be the closest I get to posting a selfie here.

You can't hide from us--we see you!

By the way, I love your cap. I have a similar one that I bought years ago at WDW (it was light tan, with a navy blue Mickey on it). It's hard to find more subtle merchandise like that, so I was glad to see that they're still selling that style. :happy:

bee · Aug 29, 2017

MinnieM123 said:
You can't hide from us--we see you!

By the way, I love your cap. I have a similar one that I bought years ago at WDW (it was light tan, with a navy blue Mickey on it). It's hard to find more subtle merchandise like that, so I was glad to see that they're still selling that style.

Thank you! That subtlety is exactly why I liked it!

bee · Aug 29, 2017

Day 7, cont.

We had a 1:40pm reservation for Cafe Orleans, and it was time to check in!

We checked in shortly before our reservation time and were asked if we had a seating preference, and we said we'd take the first available. I gave my cell number so I could receive a text when the table was ready.

In hindsight we wished we'd requested inside seating. We were seated on the patio and, while we were in the shade, it was still HOT!

M ordered the Fried Green Tomato Sandwich with a side of chips, and I ordered the Vegetable Ragout (sans chicken or salmon, of course).

But wait! That's not a side of chips!

That's better!

Everything was quite good. It was hearty but not heavy, just what we needed on a hot day.

It was nearing hotel checkin time, so we walked made our way to the park entrance.

We were amazed at how close the entrance to DCA was!

We were back at our hotel about eight minutes after exiting Disneyland. Our room was ready!

The room was comfortable and spacious. We enjoyed a couple of hours relaxing in the air conditioning.

Up next: Back to Disneyland!

bee · Aug 29, 2017

Day 7, cont.

After cooling down in the room we walked back to Disneyland.

I had to get a photo of the Opera House!

At some point I'd scored a FP for Indiana Jones.

A lot of people were very confused about the FP entrance and it took us longer than it should have to get in. Despite the slight delay, we really liked the ride! We screamed and laughed and knew we'd be back.

Soon I scored...

We liked it just as much this time!

Space Mountain was finally back up, so we went and used one of the free FPs.

DL SM>WDW SM. It was smoother and more thrilling, and we liked the soundtrack!

After Space Mountain we went to the store by Buzz Lightyear to pick up our lanyards (included with our vacation package) and our First Visit buttons.

We'd originally had a dinner reservation at Blue Bayou, but after reviewing the menu and seeing few veg options, we decided to try our luck in Downtown Disney. To get there we took...

Our views waiting for the Monorail:

And off we went!

Up next: FOOD!

bee · Aug 29, 2017

Day 7, cont.

We decided to try the QS part of Tortilla Jo's. M secured a table while I stood in line to order.

Nachos and margaritas!

Though we'd hoped to go back for the fireworks, we were just too tired at this point and headed back to the room instead. On the way we stopped at Sprinkles to share a cupcake.

We enjoyed it next to some pretty flowers.

We considered this to be a very successful first park day! We did almost everything we wanted to do and hardly spent any time in the queues. We went to bed early in preparation for an early morning at California Adventure.

Next up: Day 8!

DisneyGigi · Aug 29, 2017

bee said:
Thanks! Now I remember the bit about Mr. Toad.

Thanks! You, too!! If we see you we'll say hi!

You better lol!

Would love to say hey.

75disney · Aug 30, 2017

bee said:
Day 7, cont.

After HM we tried the Matterhorn thing again.

(And we got a FP for Roger Rabbit, it seems!)

One word: OUCH. I guess we're just getting too old for these jerky rides! This was a One-And-Done for us!

Since we were in the neighborhood and there was only a ten minute wait, we walked over to...

A few impressions:
1) It was hot. Good thing the wait (in the sun!) was only ten minutes.
2) Good thing MK's Small World queue isn't in the sun!!
3) Cute, cute cute!
4) I didn't mind seeing the Disney characters throughout the ride. If I hadn't previously heard they were there I don't think I would have noticed most of them. I also liked how bits of their music were woven into the main song ("Bibbity" for Cinderella, "A Whole New World" for Aladdin/Jasmine, etc.). The only ones I didn't like as much were the AAs that didn't "match" the classical IASW dolls, like Pinocchio.

Up next: Lunch time!

Funny... I felt the same way about Fantasyland. Much better and more charming than in WDW. I tried to soak in as many of those details as I could. My kids who don't appreciate those things thought I was crazy. I also enjoyed Small World with the addition of the Disney characters except for Woody and Jessie; they were a little weird looking. HM was also a favorite; loved the Hatbox Ghost. Finally, I was looking so forward to riding the Matterhorn, but it was too jerky for me. I must be getting old. It was one and done for us as well.

fractal · Aug 30, 2017

Man do I love Space Mountain at DL!

Looks like a great first day!

bee · Aug 30, 2017

75disney said:
Funny... I felt the same way about Fantasyland. Much better and more charming than in WDW. I tried to soak in as many of those details as I could. My kids who don't appreciate those things thought I was crazy. I also enjoyed Small World with the addition of the Disney characters except for Woody and Jessie; they were a little weird looking. HM was also a favorite; loved the Hatbox Ghost. Finally, I was looking so forward to riding the Matterhorn, but it was too jerky for me. I must be getting old. It was one and done for us as well.

Yes about the charm of Fantasyland! I still like the one at WDW but at WDW I feel a bit overwhelmed by the size of everything, whereas at DL I feel invited and enveloped into the stories.

fractal said:
Man do I love Space Mountain at DL!

Looks like a great first day!

Yes! I like WDW's Space Mountain but it's never seemed as "cool" as the DL one! I appreciate that they're not carbon copies of one another.

It really was a great day! We couldn't believe how much we had time to do, even though we didn't quite make rope drop, took a long break in the afternoon, and only came back for a couple of hours in the evening.

bee · Aug 30, 2017

Day 8: Friday, August 11
Disney California Adventure

We began the day with the complimentary breakfast on the third floor of the hotel, shortly after the breakfast room opened. The day before at checkin we had been told with specificity that the breakfast was dine-in only. When we arrived in the morning we saw a hotel staff member checking names and room numbers on a clipboard, and also making sure people weren't taking food back to their rooms. I'm sure they'd had problems in the past so we didn't mind at all needing to check in.

The breakfast room had ample space, plus a balcony outside with tables for groups of two and four. We chose to sit outside as the morning was pleasant with a cool breeze.

The view:

We finished and left around 7:45, and the park was scheduled to open at 8:00. As we made our way to the entrance a nice CM noticed our First Visit buttons and gave each of us one of these:

CMs were already allowing guests to enter when we arrived about 7:55. We walked right in.

Once we were inside, our first task was to obtain a Radiator Springs Racers FP. We scored one for 8:30-9:30, so we had a little time to ride something else first1

As we waited there were a mom and girl, maybe 9 or 10, waiting behind us. The girl was fully dressed as Mary Poppins in her white dress outfit: dress, hat, shoes, etc. Then another mom and girl from their party came and joined them, and this girl was also dressed as Mary Poppins! It was super cute.

So how did we like Soarin' Around the World? We were underwhelmed, to be honest. I liked it but I miss the old Soarin'. Maybe at Epcot we'll like this version better since it goes better with the park thematically.

We still had time until Radiator Springs so we stopped along the way to ride Mater's Junkyard Jamboree.

This was way too much fun! We both like spinning rides and had a great time laughing together. What a great ride for adults and families with or without kids!

Finally, it was time to ride the ride we'd been hearing about for so long!

While we waited we got a FP for California Screamin'.

The verdict: We loved it and went immediately back into the app to get another FP for later!

We couldn't leave Cars Land without experiencing...

...Luigi's Rollickin' Roadsters!

This was a fun little ride too, and a nice complement/contrast to the other rides in the Land. It was a one-and-done for us as it was a little too jerky for our tastes, but it was fun to watch the cars "dance" as we waited for our turn!

Up next: "Why are those people hanging on for dear life? OH."

bee · Aug 30, 2017

Day 8, cont.

As I mentioned, we had a FP for California Screamin', so we headed to Paradise Pier. Mickey's Fun Wheel had a five minute posted wait so we stopped there on the way.

Given the choice between a swinging or a non-swinging gondola, we chose swinging. As we waited to load into our gondola, we noticed other guests holding onto the sides of the gondole as best they could...but why?

OH.

OH.

Because when they say, "swinging gondola," they mean, "SWINGING GONDOLA!"

It was just a little much for us but we had fun laughing at ourselves.

And with that, we walked over to California Screamin'! As we waited I got a second FP for Radiator Springs.

CS was really fun! It was more thrilling than either of us expected and we screamed and laughed and screamed some more! As we got off M said to me, "If I'd ridden this as a teenager I would have ridden it five times in a row!" I agreed I would have done the same, but our late-20s bodies were not so agreeable to a repeat!

From there we decided to check out some of the "kiddie" rides in Paradise Pier.

What a photogenic part of the park!

Then it was time for a visit to Scumbag Scuttle (that's what we call him. He's such a jerk. "Yes Ariel, comb your hair with this thing, it's what humans do.").

Up next: GHIRARDELLI!!!

Zipadeelady · Aug 30, 2017

@bee I've always thought it would be no big deal if I didn't make it to DisneyLand but you're making it hard to keep that opinion. I find myself wanting to look at the cost of going now.

fractal · Aug 30, 2017

I think, at least in DCA, they should have a showing for Soarin' over California as well as the new one.

That's why they call it "Mickey's death wheel".

@raven24

Radiator Springs Racer is on my "Mt Rushmore" of rides. I dare not say I like more than Tower of Terror and face the wrath of @TheMouseFan !

I LOL'ed at Scumbag Scuttle!

bee · Aug 30, 2017

Zipitidoda said:
@bee I've always thought it would be no big deal if I didn't make it to DisneyLand but you're making it hard to keep that opinion. I find myself wanting to look at the cost of going now.

I used to think the same, but now I certainly recommend trying to go at least once!

fractal said:
I think, at least in DCA, they should have a showing for Soarin' over California as well as the new one.

I agree! It would make more sense, at least there.

fractal said:
That's why they call it "Mickey's death wheel". @raven24

No kidding!!

fractal said:
Radiator Springs Racer is on my "Mt Rushmore" of rides. I dare not say I like more than Tower of Terror and face the wrath of @TheMouseFan !

Not to start anything here, but I've never been into ToT...to each their own! But we agreed, RSR was fun and worth multiple rides!

fractal said:
I LOL'ed at Scumbag Scuttle!

coachwnh · Aug 30, 2017

bee said:
DL SM>WDW SM. It was smoother and more thrilling, and we liked the soundtrack!

fractal said:
Man do I love Space Mountain at DL!

Cannot agree more, and its not even close!!!

mcstensrud · Aug 30, 2017

@bee thanks for the great TR so far! I am totally reliving my trip to DL and DCA in 2013,your Photos are fab.
I think I'm gonna have to go back.

Tuvalu · Aug 31, 2017

mcstensrud said:
@bee thanks for the great TR so far! I am totally reliving my trip to DL and DCA in 2013,your Photos are fab.
I think I'm gonna have to go back.

Em and I were there in March of 2013, you?

Trip Report Golden State of Mind: Our August 2017 California Adventure

Tuvalu

DisneyGigi

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bee

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MinnieM123

bee

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bee

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bee

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bee

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DisneyGigi

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75disney

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fractal

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bee

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bee

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bee

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Zipadeelady

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fractal

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bee

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Tuvalu