Trip Report Loco goes to Hollywood!

Hello once again my friends. It’s finally time for another TR from yours truly(it’s been over a year since the last one)! This one will be a bit different, since we travelled to Southern California rather than our usual destination of WDW. We packed a lot into one week, and I’m happy to share here with you fine people. Let’s get started shall we?

Day one

We had a fairly early flight out of Dallas. I had enough points for us to get a hotel room the night before so we didn’t have to feel rushed getting over there(it’s about a two hour drive).

We spent the evening before departure playing top golf. We were going to be joined by some friends of ours, but some issues arose and they were unable to join us. We still had fun!

Such grace. Such power.
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The wife who is a new golfer.
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Our plan of getting a good nights rest before our flight was not to be. It wasn’t that we were too excited to sleep. Far from it actually, as the hot night of hitting golf balls had really taken it out of us. No the reason we couldn’t sleep was because the hotel was having issues with the fire alarm, and it went off every two hours. The entire night. Without fail.

On the plus side we were quite close to love field airport. Our arrival and boarding process all went smoothly and we departed right on time.

A bit of a shock to the system going from 98 degrees and humid the day before to 65 and cloudy! I wasn’t complaining!
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After a bit of trouble getting my phone to work I was finally able to get an Uber ordered and we made it to Anaheim without any major traffic problems.

Because we had to make some pretty big changes to our original plans, we actually ended up staying at the Hyatt Place by the convention center for a few nights before going on property at DLR. I don’t have any photos, but the rooms here are very spacious and well appointed, and a nice breakfast is included. It’s a bit of a walk to Disneyland, but it is directly across from the Toy Story parking lot, so we just walked over to that shuttle and security checkpoint. It was actually faster to get to the parks from there than at our room at Disneyland Hotel! I’d recommend the Hyatt to anyone looking to save some money, but still wanting a nice place to stay.

Anyways, we got checked in and the hotel had a room available early for us. We got settled in our room and caught a little nap before heading over to downtown Disney to grab a bite to eat.
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We had lunch out on the balcony at Ballast Point. I ordered the fish tacos and A had a burger. We both enjoyed the meal and the people watching from up on the patio.
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Downtown Disney had a few displays for Pixar Fest.
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This is the large piece located on the promenade between the two parks.
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We spent the afternoon checking out the resorts on property and trying to stay awake. I swear I had pictures from that afternoon, but my phone says otherwise. Nonetheless, we were in our room pretty early and called it a night around 9 PM despite our best offorts to stay awake.

Up Next : A day of fun in Orange County.
 
Last edited:

Loco_driver

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Day four.

After a good nights sleep we were up bright and early. DCA had early entry for hotel guests starting at 7:30. The line for security near our hotel was already way backed up and didn’t open until 7 AM(we arrived at 6:50). For those who have not been to DLR, they still do the “old style” bag checks at security. It is so slow compared to the newer system in place at WDW.

By the time we made it through security and to the gates of DCA it was nearing 7:30. Luckily there was no wait to tap in at the gate and we were able to make it in the park right at 7:30 for our early morning ride with the guardians of the galaxy.
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We walked straight into the first pre show of the day.
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Things went a little awry as we were waiting for our gantry lift. One of the lifts went down and caused quite a delay. We would eventually make it on. Our song was “Burning Love” by Elvis. It was a blast as always!
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Next up was Spider-Man. No picture but we do love the ride. We’re super competitive with each other so the shooting style rides are always a good time. A would win this round, but I’d get revenge later that day.

The park was now open to everyone, but it was another slow and cool morning. We had a walk-on ride on incredicoaster next.
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The on ride photos were not working that morning for whatever reason.

We had our first LL of the day back at guardians. It was a good pick, as the line was already nearly an hour. We got my favorite song option of “Give up the Funk” by Parliament
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It was finally time for some breakfast. We shared this gigantic French toast from Pym Test Kitchen. It was quite tasty!
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Monsters inc hadn’t developed a line yet, so we took a spin.
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The snack always crack me up. There’s a similar vending machine at the laugh floor in magic kingdom. Bag O’ Calories is my favorite!
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Monsters inc. is a reskin of a previous attraction, and a good one at that!
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My favorite Pixar Character.
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Tuvalu

Premium Member
Day four.

After a good nights sleep we were up bright and early. DCA had early entry for hotel guests starting at 7:30. The line for security near our hotel was already way backed up and didn’t open until 7 AM(we arrived at 6:50). For those who have not been to DLR, they still do the “old style” bag checks at security. It is so slow compared to the newer system in place at WDW.

By the time we made it through security and to the gates of DCA it was nearing 7:30. Luckily there was no wait to tap in at the gate and we were able to make it in the park right at 7:30 for our early morning ride with the guardians of the galaxy.
View attachment 795116

We walked straight into the first pre show of the day.
View attachment 795117

Things went a little awry as we were waiting for our gantry lift. One of the lifts went down and caused quite a delay. We would eventually make it on. Our song was “Burning Love” by Elvis. It was a blast as always!
View attachment 795118

Next up was Spider-Man. No picture but we do love the ride. We’re super competitive with each other so the shooting style rides are always a good time. A would win this round, but I’d get revenge later that day.

The park was now open to everyone, but it was another slow and cool morning. We had a walk-on ride on incredicoaster next.
View attachment 795120
The on ride photos were not working that morning for whatever reason.

We had our first LL of the day back at guardians. It was a good pick, as the line was already nearly an hour. We got my favorite song option of “Give up the Funk” by Parliament
View attachment 795119

It was finally time for some breakfast. We shared this gigantic French toast from Pym Test Kitchen. It was quite tasty!
View attachment 795121

Monsters inc hadn’t developed a line yet, so we took a spin.
View attachment 795122

The snack always crack me up. There’s a similar vending machine at the laugh floor in magic kingdom. Bag O’ Calories is my favorite!
View attachment 795126

Monsters inc. is a reskin of a previous attraction, and a good one at that!
View attachment 795127

My favorite Pixar Character.
View attachment 795128
Monsters Inc might be my favorite Disney dark ride!

RSR is my favorite attraction ever.

Sounds like I need a trip to DL/DCA.

Its Been A Long Time Waiting GIF
 

Loco_driver

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Day four continued.


A’s favorite monsters inc. character. “Always Watching”.
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Continuing our Pixar heavy day with TSMM.
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One of us was slightly less bad than the other.
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We had yet to visit cars land. Time to remedy that. We travelled through the San Fransokyo section.
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The theming and forced perspective on RSR it’s absolutely second to none.
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We joined the single riders line. I think we waited maybe 10 minutes and we ended up in the same car! Score!
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While I’m not a huge fan of the films, the land is among my favorite theme park lands anywhere.
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Enjoying the Junkyard Jamboree!
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A few pics to commemorate our visit to Radiator Springs.
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Ewwwwww PDA!
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Loco_driver

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Day four continued


We left cars land and went back to Pixar pier for the swinging Ferris wheel of doom! We were in a cabin with a woman who had no idea what she was in for. Hilarity ensued. We ended up with a new friend for a few minutes.

As you can see the sun came out a bit earlier this day.
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Some photopass pics that evidently happened.
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You can’t meet talking Dug too many times.
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Funny enough, while meeting Dug we’d gotten an update from the doggy daycare that our Dug was having a great day with his friends back home.
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Nick Wilde was meeting nearby so we stopped to say hello.
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We had time for one more attraction before lunch. @TheMouseFan would be so disappointed, this one doesn’t even have a good queue!
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TheMouseFan

Well-Known Member
Day four continued


We left cars land and went back to Pixar pier for the swinging Ferris wheel of doom! We were in a cabin with a woman who had no idea what she was in for. Hilarity ensued. We ended up with a new friend for a few minutes.

As you can see the sun came out a bit earlier this day.
View attachment 795559

Some photopass pics that evidently happened.
View attachment 795561

View attachment 795562

You can’t meet talking Dug too many times.
View attachment 795563

Funny enough, while meeting Dug we’d gotten an update from the doggy daycare that our Dug was having a great day with his friends back home.
View attachment 795567

Nick Wilde was meeting nearby so we stopped to say hello.
View attachment 795564

We had time for one more attraction before lunch. @TheMouseFan would be so disappointed, this one doesn’t even have a good queue!
View attachment 795565
I'd have been OK as long as the music is playing!
 

lindawdw

Well-Known Member
Wow, looks like you're having such a great day! We haven't been to DL is about 8 years and it looks like they have a lot of new things since then. CarsLand was a favorite of ours too!
 

Loco_driver

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
California Adventure is such a great park! So what's the verdict? Mission Breakout or Tower of Terror? (sorry if I missed it).
Florida Tower of Terror. Everything about ToT from the creepy queue music outside, to the pre show, to the ride portion itself, even the position of the tower at the end of sunset is so perfectly executed. To me it’s one of the best things imagineering has ever done. It’s also the attraction that made me fall in love with the Disney parks, so I definitely have a soft spot for it!

Guardians is a great attraction though, and the fact that they got that conversion done so quickly and it’s done so well is impressive!
 

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