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.
 
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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.
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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!
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.
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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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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.
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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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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!
 

Loco_driver

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Day four continued.

The last character of the meal was Minnie. We’d long finished eating and were simply waiting on Minnie to appear. She had mysteriously disappeared from the restaurant. While we were waiting all the other characters came by and had a very fun little interaction in front of our table. We were among the last guests to leave so they had plenty of time to goof off!

Pluto and dale had started doing some sort of nonsense. Mickey patiently waited for them to notice that they were goofing off in front of the boss.
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Pluto did some tricks.
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It ended up a dance party.
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We’d given up on Minnie and headed for the exit. Evidently someone gave her a heads up because she chased us down right at the door!
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Overall the meal was fine. The buffet didn’t have a ton of verity, but what was there was solid, especially the bread pudding dessert. The characters here were great! I prefer goofys kitchen over this, but honestly they’re both priced too high even for Disney.
 
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Loco_driver

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Day four continued.

After lunch we were feeling energized. Back into DCA we went!
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Bay max had a short line. A short line that turned in to a long wait thanks to a scheduled break just before our turn!
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We couldn’t take a trip to Disney without doing the animation academy. Which would make it 1 PM according to this picture.
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Our character for our class was Russell from up. They turned out…. Not great. Probably best that they don’t get posted.

Fun fact: Pixar animator and director(and voice actor) Peter Sohn was the visual inspiration for Russell.
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The better together parade was set to begin soon after we finished our drawing class. A kind CM recommended we watch the parade down in front of Little Mermaid because there were less crowds and more shade. Thanks nice CM!
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The Up section was obviously our favorite part.
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Loco_driver

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Day four continued.

Some more from the better together parade.
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The parade was pretty good, but it is VERY spread out. Often times there would be nearly five minutes between floats. Not sure why they don’t just make it a shorter duration. The song is a real ear worm. In fact it’s stuck in my head right now!
 

Loco_driver

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Day four continued.

After the parade we had a LL for incredicoaster. The photo was working this time!
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Next up was a LL for a second ride on Spider-Man. I have no idea if this is a good score. Probably not. If you think TSMM wears out your arms, this thing will leave you totally exhausted!
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A few Photopass pics on our way out of Avengers campus and DCA.
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We hopped over to Disneyland for a ride on big thunder.
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Then we grabbed a six pack of chocolate chip cookies from Harbour Galley. Apparently they’re all the rage. They were certainly tasty, but not life changing. We enjoyed them back in our room while we took a little rest.
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Maybe I’m spoiled, my mother was a baker when I was little and makes an incredible chocolate chip cookie.

After a nice little break we headed back out to DCA. We split the angry red hot Mac and Cheese for dinner. A solid dish. It packed a little heat.
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I’d gotten in to the world of color virtual queue earlier in the day and it was time to head to the viewing area.
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A CM took this picture for us. You can see it was already full in our section. A has a hoodie. I miss those nights as I sit here in a brutal Texas heat wave!
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Soon the sun went down and it was time for the show! We even had an extended show to promote inside out two.
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No pics of the show, but we both give it two huge thumbs up! The show was really well paced, and will tug on your heart strings! I may have had a few tears welling up by the end of the show.
Sad Water GIF by Pudgy Penguins
 
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