Trip Report Land & Sea - Baja Style! - Complete

And it's been a while

Well here we are again after a pretty long Disney hiatus, minus a holiday resort-only visit.

In just a few weeks, we're off to the grand state of California! On this journey, we'll visit the Disneyland Resort and sail the Disney Wonder.

Here we are!

As you can see (or sea - get it?) we're on a cruise. We have been cruising during the hiatus.

We've sailed Celebrity:

If you haven't sailed Celebrity and you're looking for a bit more refined and adult (mostly-kid free) experience, this is the line for you. Plus, drinks are included. Lots of drinks. The food tastes better (for the most part) and you have a much better variety. The Edge class of ships are beautiful.

Then we hit this up:

This was a true kids-free experience. The food is amazing! By far the best food I've ever had on a cruise ship. There's some really great outdoor spaces as well. They're working out new cruise line issues so there were some hiccups. Entertainment isn't great and the pool is miniscule. We also had the pleasure of running into a former DCL server we had on the Dream or Fantasy (I can't remember). It was an awesome experience.

We just finished up sailing on this lady:

We liked Celebrity so much we sailed again on the Millennium. This is Celebrity's oldest ship (22 years I think) and there were some spots showing age, but I'll tell you, this in no way detracted from the experience. It's just been Revolutionized (refurbished in fancy terms) and most of the ship is looking great. Again, the food choices....

Embarkation Day Desserts

This is what the dessert presentation looked like every single day.

If you're on the fence about Celebrity, do it.

Next up - our plans!

 

[imahistorygeek]

Day 2 - California Adventure

We were up bright and early for our next park day. This was my breakfast even though we had Door Dashed some stuff from Walgreens. It was almost too cute to eat. Almost. It's your standard issue donut covered in frosting, but it was really good.

We made our way to the GCV entrance to California Adventure. It was about 20 - 30 people deep in line, but it went quickly with no bags. I forgot to mention that on the first run through the turnstiles at DL, they print out your tickets and take your picture. lt's a fairly smooth process.

This is the view we had waiting to head to Guardians of the Galaxy. Again, it's a running free for all. When the rope dropped, we intersected with ALL the people going to Cars Land.

This guy (the duck) just pretty much gave us the stink eye. We were convinced the same two ducks were following us around in both parks. Probably spies.

This was our goal.

While it has the shell of Tower of Terror, it's a completely different ride. You just can't compare the two because they are different. It's a lot of fun and still scary!

Not a fan of this guy.

We ran into some friends along the way. I love seeing Oswald!

Goofy and Max are fishing and the bait is a rubber chicken. Lots of characters were out and about.

 

[imahistorygeek]

One of the main reasons I love CA is their food festivals. A few years ago we attended the Festival of the Holidays and I consistently mention the Thanksgiving Tamale. This time, it's Food and Wine and it did not disappoint!

The Sip and Savor pass is a great way to try a lot things. If you use it wisely, you can come out ahead in dollars. There's also a $5 discount if you purchase with a Disney Visa. You can get 8 items (food or non-alcoholic drinks) that's on the list attached to the pass. We did pay for some out of pocket if it was less than a certain price (around $7) These were our choices.

Chicharron-crusted Fried Artichoke Dip with smoked pepper crema and featuring Cacique® Oaxaca Cheese

No where in the description did it list olives. Not a fan, but I just picked them out. It was really good. The pork rind coating really didn't have a flavor, which was a bummer.

California Artisan Cheese Selection: Vella Cheese Company® Habanero Jack and Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese Company’s® TomaProvence - This was really good. There were pecans and almonds underneath the crackers. The habanero cheese was SPICY. You can see the olive in the corner.

IPA Sausage Dog on a soft pretzel roll with onion-pepper Jardinière, cheddar cheese sauce, and malt vinegar-jalapeño crunch - These were really good and a substantial size.

Black & Tan Beef Potato Puffs: Karl Strauss Wreck Alley stout gravy and lager micro sponge - pot roast on tater tots - what's not to like? These were also good.

Not a bad meal in the bunch. By the time we were finished, we were FULL.

 

[imahistorygeek]

We took a break from the park and headed over to the Disneyland Hotel to Trader Sams.

I have no idea what we ordered for drinks, but they were good. Sean had a beer and I had something sweet with a lot of mint.

For dinner, I ordered the Hawaiian platter and Sean had the Tonkotsu ramen. Both were pretty good and something that we'd order again.

I did learn that I DO NOT like fish cakes (the white thing with the pink around it). We made our way back to California Adventure after spending a considerable amount of time at Trader Sams.

 

[imahistorygeek]

After we return to CA, we decided to hit up the Festival Beer (@lostpro9het) Garden.

I don't remember what we ordered, but (@lostpro9het does) here they are:

@lostpro9het

This is a great location (it's at Paradise Garden Grill) where the Festival Beer (@lostpro9het) garden is located . There was a ton of seating to drink our beer (@lostpro9het) and it was never packed. There's also a really good view of Paradise Pier hotel while drinking our beer (@lostpro9het).

I'm terrible at trip reports because I have NO IDEA what we did next, but we did see this:

I learned something new. His name is Horace Horsecollar.

I do remember it being pretty busy in the evenings. I'm assuming it's people coming after work and Magic Key holders.

This is one of my favorite Disney views:

 

[lostpro9het]

After we return to CA, we decided to hit up the Festival Beer Garden.
View attachment 633044

I don't remember what we ordered, but here they are:
View attachment 633040
View attachment 633045
This is a great location (it's at Paradise Garden Grill). There was a ton of seating and it was never packed. There's also a really good view of Paradise Pier hotel.

I'm terrible at trip reports because I have NO IDEA what we did next, but we did see this:

View attachment 633042
I learned something new. His name is Horace Horsecollar.

View attachment 633043

I do remember it being pretty busy in the evenings. I'm assuming it's people coming after work and Magic Key holders.

This is one of my favorite Disney views:
View attachment 633041

I really need to be tagged in when it comes to beer talk. The top is the:
Pollen Nation Honey Blonde by Evans Brewing (5.2%)
4.25/5 awesome beer for a low ABV

The next was:

The Abyss by Deschutes (11%)
3.75/5 the soy sauce aroma was strong with that cat but Id try it again.

 

[imahistorygeek]

After we return to CA, we decided to hit up the Festival Beer (@lostpro9het) Garden.


I don't remember what we ordered, but (@lostpro9het does) here they are:


@lostpro9het

This is a great location (it's at Paradise Garden Grill) where the Festival Beer (@lostpro9het) garden is located . There was a ton of seating to drink our beer (@lostpro9het) and it was never packed. There's also a really good view of Paradise Pier hotel while drinking our beer (@lostpro9het).

I really need to be tagged in when it comes to beer talk. The top is the:
Pollen Nation Honey Blonde by Evans Brewing (5.2%)
4.25/5 awesome beer for a low ABV

The next was:

The Abyss by Deschutes (11%)
3.75/5 the soy sauce aroma was strong with that cat but Id try it again.

Fixed it.

 

[lostpro9het]

Fixed it.

Im all of a sudden busy the weekend of July first, sorry.

 

[amjt660]

The picture of the Pier is amazing


Max

 

[imahistorygeek]

Day 3 was more California Adventure. We wanted to begin and end our trip with Disneyland, so that meant b2b days at CA. We're waiting for the park to open to head over to Radiator Springs Racers. This is facing the entrance to CA. In front of us was still just as packed.

We make our way to Cars Land with everyone else and get in the regular standby line. This is really a well-themed queue.

I think we still waited at least 45 minutes in line. It had broken down at some point and that added on to the time. However, when we actually get to the front of the line, the CMs were not using one loading side. Think of it looking just like Test Track and they're only using the right side to load/unload. It slowed things down considerably and they were letting a ton of Lightning Lane folks in at a time.

We then made our way to Luigi's Rollickin' Roadsters. If you've ridden Runaway Railway and remember the Daisy dancing part, this is the same concept.

They knew I was coming and made a mosaic.

 

[imahistorygeek]

Before we knew it, it was time for lunch. I still had some tabs on my sip and savor pass. These were my choices. I know we paid cash for some, but don't remember which ones. I'm including beer in this one, so you know what that means. @lostpro9het

Chile Relleno Empanada with Arbol Pepper Salsa featuring Cacique® Oaxaca and Cotija Cheeses

This was so good and probably my favorite item of everything we tried. It was just a little spicy.

French Onion Grilled Beef Tenderloin Slider: Grilled beef tenderloin topped with a Gruyère cheese sauce and caramelized onions served on an onion roll

Served on an onion roll is a stretch and the roll was plain. The cheese and onions were very good and really did remind me of French onion flavor. The beef tenderloin was ok, but overcooked. It was a tad tough. It's not a repeat item.

We had a couple other things at Paradise Garden Grille, but I can't find pictures. @lostpro9het
We had Brisket Fries: French fries topped with shredded smoked BBQ brisket, cheddar cheese sauce, pico de gallo, chipotle crema, and green onions and Beer-battered Fish Tacos: Baja-style beer-battered fish on corn tortillas topped with slaw, pico de gallo, cilantro crema, and lime wedge with house-made tortilla chips and roasted red chile-tomato salsa. The brisket fries were fine, not repeatable, but the fish tacos were really good.

All of our food was consumed at the Beer Garden, which means more beer.

I remember one of these being very good, but they all look the same.

My final two festival items were the Orange-Honey Cold Brew: Joffrey’s Coffee & Tea Co. Mexico Origin Coffee, orange blossom honey, white chocolate, orange juice, vanilla, orange extract, and almond milk and Maple Bacon Churro: Cinnamon sugar, maple icing, and crumbled bacon.

I neglected to mix in the foam and that's where the orange flavor is located. This was very good.

I really didn't know what to expect with this churro. DL and CA park churros are really good quality. They have a machine they run them through, so they're fresh for the most part. I thought it was going to be candied bacon. It's not. This was also really good and I felt as though I was eating a breakfast food.

 

[lostpro9het]

I'm including beer in this one, so you know what that means. @lostpro9het

Gotta work on your TR game, @imahistorygeek, coming off weak with the lack of food pictures.

From top to bottom,
Buenaveza Salt & Line Lager by Stone Brewing (4.7%)
3.25/5 lite in the lime, otherwise it’s a lager

Ride on 10 Hop Hazy IPA by Golden Road Brewing (7.5%)
4/5 smooth and sweet without any hop

Dig My Earth imperial IPA by Brouwerij West Brewing (8%)
4.5/5 wicked flavorful and unique, even my bride loves it.

 

[imahistorygeek]

Gotta work on your TR game, @imahistorygeek, coming off weak with the lack of food pictures.

 

[amjt660]

Max

 

[lostpro9het]

Max

Wooo! That got dark, quick. Someone needs to let you maple leafs out da cage. The cabin fever is strong with you, Senior Canuck.

 

[amjt660]

Sorry, I just can’t stand seeing Mom and Dad arguing


Max

 

[Darstarr]

Gotta work on your TR game, @imahistorygeek, coming off weak with the lack of food pictures.

Tell him he is number one @imahistorygeek

 

[imahistorygeek]

We were at Pixar Pier at some point in the afternoon/early evening. It was time for...The Wheel of Death (aka Pixar Pal-a-round). You may remember from our previous TR, that this thing is the scariest of all the things. If you don't know what it does, watch .
It's all fun and games until it's not. I just couldn't handling the swinging ones, so opted for stationary. THEY STILL MOVE.

The best part about this ride is the views.

We did see some scuba divers in the lake getting things ready for the re-opening of the World of Color. We've missed it both trips.

Walking along Pixar Pier is fun. It's really colorful and has some great rides.

We were either stopped or running very slow during the ride. While the ride is the same at HS, the inside is a lot bigger so there's more time between the games. The queue is not very detailed, the ride detail is very colorful.

At some point we left to get ready for dinner and I think we were also on the hunt for a sweatshirt, so looks like we came back to CA and found Goofy.

It seemed that characters were always around, which was nice because it provided a lot of photo opportunities.

 

[ChuckElias]

View attachment 630019

Did they still have the grape/gorgonzola pizza on the menu? (I'm hoping to get it at Palo next week!)

 

[lostpro9het]

Did they still have the grape/gorgonzola pizza on the menu? (I'm hoping to get it at Palo next week!)

Napa was running a reduced menu, no pizzas on the menu.

 

[imahistorygeek]

The evening of day 3 would be our one and only sit down dinner. I had been wanting to try Napa Rose since our first trip. Dress code is pretty much non-existent here. There is not one posted for the restaurant. I'd say the same dress code applies as it does for a main dining room on DCL. Napa Rose is located in the Grand Californian.

We were seated in the less busy section of the restaurant in front of a fireplace. It was a nice location and very quiet. The menu had been scaled down from pre-Covid, but we both found things we would like.

First order of business is a bottle of wine. We unknowingly picked the "on-sale" bottle of wine for the day. You know it's a fancy place when they bring out the decanter.

There's a prix fixe menu, but we opted to order a la carte.

We just had them bring everything out at one.

First in Season Morel Mushrooms with English Pea and Black Truffles

I'll preface this with I do not really like English Peas, but to be fair, I've only had them from a can. We all know what they taste like from a can. These were freshly prepared and tasted nothing like the canned version. They were also stuffed with something, but can't remember. These were very good and a surprise hit.

Signature Rabbit Sausage with Santa Maria Field Bean Ragout - This was Sean's dish. I don't eat rabbit. The presentation was not appetizing at all.

Short rib gnocchi - I had a bite, but don't remember the taste.

I believe this was ribeye and short rib with some type of mashed potatoes. The short rib was excellent and the other was very good.

This is also one of the few times we ordered dessert.

It looked like a swiss cake roll. We should have taken a picture of the menu. It's a chocolate something (which was very good) and praline ice cream.

Overall, I think we had a great dinner. It's not an every trip type of place, but every so often type of place. Does it beat our favorite Jiko? Not even close. Still, it's a nice place for dinner if you're staying on Disney property. I wouldn't drive or uber to get there.