Trip Report Hippity Hoppity Easter Disneyland Solo Report

Hello, and welcome to my little trip report about my recent solo trip to Disneyland!

Background: I usually travel to Disney with my husband, but I've taken a couple solo trips to WDW. This year since I have the Premier Passport I decided to take my solo trip to Disneyland.

Who: Me (Amy)

Dates: April 13-17 2017

Hotel: Best Western Park Place Inn & Mini-Suites (located directly across from the crosswalk to Disneyland)

Everyone is welcome to read and comment on my report but I will tag a few people on here who I remember following my other reports..... @figmentfan423 @MinnieM123 @Cesar R M @donaldtoo @MySmallWorldof4 @MOXOMUMD @JenniferS @PacNWTigger @Tuvalu @Gabe1 @betty rose @Songbird76 @sheriffwoody @bee @blgauger @BuddyThomas @fractal @93boomer @MouseDreaming @Wrangler-Rick @PUSH @Mr Ferret 88

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Continuing on....after my small world excursion I headed into Toon Town.

Roger Rabbit was a walk on so I went on that. I like the spinning of the ride but I'm not a Roger fan.

Then I just wandered around for a bit before heading out. I thought about going to say Hey to Mickey, but his line was about 30 minutes or more so I decided we could catch up later.

I happened to catch the end of the Disneyland Band. They are fantastic. I wish WDW would have more musical acts around the Magic Kingdom. All the music is really a major plus for Disneyland.

I rode one of the Main Street vehicles down Main Street and saw the Easter Bunny. I thought about getting my picture taken with him, but my Big Thunder fast pass was going to end soon so I had to get back to Frontierland.

On my way back to Frontierland there was yet another band in front of the castle. This time it was the Pearly Band with Mary and Bert. I stopped for a couple minutes.

Then it was time to ride the wildest ride in the wilderness!

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

A few Big Thunder Mt pictures, after all why not. It is one of the best rides ever!

My sad attempt to get a Star Wars construction picture.

Yeah Big Thunder!

A few more semi-successful pictures. I wasn't getting any better unless I climbed through the fence...

Okay, I didn't go through the fence, but I did find a gap. I saw some people working. I think what I took a picture of will be part of where the train is going. .

Next attraction....Jungle Cruise! I had a fantastic skipper. I did a Facebook live for my husband, who loves this ride. But I had never gone live before and I didn't know that I wasn't supposed to change direction of my phone once I started so I recorded the whole thing sideways.

Then it was time for a little grub. So I headed to a little red wagon by the Plaza. Time for a corn dog! I took it over to one of the lovely benches near the hub and enjoyed it!

As I was relaxing with my corn dog. I suddenly heard some melodious sounds of the Dapper Dans. I could hear then clearly but I couldn't see them any where! Then all of a sudden there they were on one of the trolleys! It was fun that they were mic'd up so people on Main Street could hear them.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

I wandered through the Candy Palace next and enjoyed the little Easter displays.

I ran into yet one more musical group on Main Street.

And browsed one of the shops.

Then I headed over to California Adventure to have lunch. My lunch was going to be snacking my way through some of the Food and Wine Stands.

I also got a better daytime glimpse of the new Guardians Tower.

Coming up: my tour of the west coast's version of Food and Wine.

 

[amjt660]

OMG - the tower looks awful

Max

 

[Cesar R M]

Lovely photos!! you did a very good job on them, not blurred, in focus..etc.. great job!

Also I agree with @amjt660 .. the tower looks hideous..

Ps, I particularly love the evil queen photos

 

[Figgy1]

Sorry I'm late to the party BTW my boys don't need arrows to spin faster

 

[Figgy1]

THNX for the Toon Town pics. I may have mentioned how much I hated the Circus thing replacing ours

 

[MinnieM123]

Good attempt at getting the Star Wars construction photos. Sometimes, I think they leave those small openings in fences, etc., on purpose. They must know that fans will try to sneak a peek--it's all p.r. for Disney.

Really enjoying the more relaxed vibe of Disneyland from your photos. It was like deja vu for me--years ago at WDW with characters roaming, benches, etc.

 

[LeighM]

I LOVE Disneyland trip reports Looking forward to reading more about your trip!

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

OMG - the tower looks awful

Max

I think the original Tower was beautiful, but this new tower didn't look as bad in person than it did in pictures I saw on line before going. I still don't like that they removed the twilight zone theme but as long as they keep it in Orlando I'll be okay. I am pretty curious about this new version.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Lovely photos!! you did a very good job on them, not blurred, in focus..etc.. great job!

Also I agree with @amjt660 .. the tower looks hideous..

Ps, I particularly love the evil queen photos

Thanks, I'm working on my patience so I don't get a lot of blurry pictures and I wasn't very shaky either (my blood sugar was fairly normal this trip).

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

THNX for the Toon Town pics. I may have mentioned how much I hated the Circus thing replacing ours

Glad you could join the party! I miss toon town fair in the MK too.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Good attempt at getting the Star Wars construction photos. Sometimes, I think they leave those small openings in fences, etc., on purpose. They must know that fans will try to sneak a peek--it's all p.r. for Disney.

Really enjoying the more relaxed vibe of Disneyland from your photos. It was like deja vu for me--years ago at WDW with characters roaming, benches, etc.

I think they leave a few gaps in the fences as well. If I had been willing to venture to one of the parking garages, I could have gotten better construction pictures. But I didn't want to waste time with that.

Disneyland does have a relaxed vibe, I think you would really like it. Plus usually it is cooler in California than Florida and I know you love your cooler weather!

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

I LOVE Disneyland trip reports Looking forward to reading more about your trip!

Thanks for reading! I've got more to share, although maybe not tonight because I'm kind of tired of being on the computer.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Time for lunch and to see what California Adventure's Food and Wine was like. I knew going in it would be smaller than Epcot's and I had earmarked some foods to try so I had a plan. There were some good foods available at DCA's Food and Wine but Epcot is the clear winner. DCA's is nice if you are there, but nothing to plan a whole trip around. That being said I'm glad I was able to go and see and taste DCA's Food and Wine. Now I can say I'm a bi-coastal Food and Wine champ! (I even have a gold medal to prove it, the "gold" medal that came with the gift card at the 2016 Food and Wine at Epcot.)

Here's the set up....

I went to the bacon booth first and got the BBQ bacon mac and cheese. I had high hopes for this because of the bacon but I was really worried about the BBQ flavored stuff on top because I like BBQ sauce but I hate BBQ flavored chips. Turns out without the BBQ flavored stuff on top the dish would have been pretty tasteless. Once I had each the BBQ stuff and the bacon, I ended up throwing away the rest of the mac and cheese.

Next stop...some more mac and cheese at a booth called the Onion Lair. This was french onion mac and cheese with Parmesan crumbles and chives. This was delicious, I ended it up buying it 2 more times (on different days). It was by far my favorite dish of the festival.

Another look at this tasty dish.

I liked that there were signs on the booths describing how the theme of the booth related to California.

I got a little dessert the milk chocolate sourdough bread pudding with vanilla sauce. It was okay, but a little dry.

That was a lot of carbs to eat and it made me sleepy so it was time to head out and take a little nap. But I did some shopping, well really browsing first.

I thought these cups were cute. I didn't end up buying them but now that I have a picture I can remember them forever!

 

[donaldtoo]

A few Big Thunder Mt pictures, after all why not. It is one of the best rides ever!

My sad attempt to get a Star Wars construction picture.
View attachment 202664

Yeah Big Thunder!
View attachment 202665

A few more semi-successful pictures. I wasn't getting any better unless I climbed through the fence...
View attachment 202666

View attachment 202667

Okay, I didn't go through the fence, but I did find a gap. I saw some people working. I think what I took a picture of will be part of where the train is going. .
View attachment 202668

View attachment 202669

Next attraction....Jungle Cruise! I had a fantastic skipper. I did a Facebook live for my husband, who loves this ride. But I had never gone live before and I didn't know that I wasn't supposed to change direction of my phone once I started so I recorded the whole thing sideways.
View attachment 202670

Then it was time for a little grub. So I headed to a little red wagon by the Plaza. Time for a corn dog! I took it over to one of the lovely benches near the hub and enjoyed it!
View attachment 202671

As I was relaxing with my corn dog. I suddenly heard some melodious sounds of the Dapper Dans. I could hear then clearly but I couldn't see them any where! Then all of a sudden there they were on one of the trolleys! It was fun that they were mic'd up so people on Main Street could hear them.
View attachment 202672

Awesome all the way around...!!!

The Dapper Dans were on the trolley we got on just after rope drop, heading for the hub, on our oldest DDs 21st birthday, during our July of '12 trip. They sang happy birthday to her...it was so cool...!
Little did she know she was also about to be proposed to in front of Cinderella Castle...!!!!!
They celebrated their 3-year anniversary in early April...!

 

[donaldtoo]

I think they leave a few gaps in the fences as well. If I had been willing to venture to one of the parking garages, I could have gotten better construction pictures. But I didn't want to waste time with that.

Disneyland does have a relaxed vibe, I think you would really like it. Plus usually it is cooler in California than Florida and I know you love your cooler weather!

Yes, regarding the weather...
The last time we were there in early June of '10, we showed up for rope drop, and many Guests were wearing sweaters, hoodies, and such.
Even as it warmed up a whole bunch that day, and we were commandoing the Park, I don't ever remember breaking even one bead of sweat...at WDW I would have been soaked with sweat that time of year...!!!

 

[donaldtoo]

YAY for me...!!!!!
I'm actually finally keeping up with a TR...!!!!!

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Yes, regarding the weather...
The last time we were there in early June of '10, we showed up for rope drop, and many Guests were wearing sweaters, hoodies, and such.
Even as it warmed up a whole bunch that day, and we were commandoing the Park, I don't ever remember breaking even one bead of sweat...at WDW I would have been soaked with sweat that time of year...!!!

We've had pretty mild weather in California too, it is nice not to have the humidity. Although when we went in July of 2015 we got some record heat days, it was close to 100.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

YAY for me...!!!!!
I'm actually finally keeping up with a TR...!!!!!

Yay for keeping up!