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 continued.

We weren’t quite ready to call it a night. Another ride on RSR was what we needed.
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Waited 5 minutes in single rider and ended up in the same car again!
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I’ve never been able to get an unobstructed picture of this statue because it’s a stroller parking area. The late hour gave me an opportunity.
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Thanks to our short wait for RSR we had time for one more attraction before the park closed. A gets the giggles when she’s exhausted. Luigi’s Rollicking Roadsters was a fantastic choice for some late night laughs.
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Radiator Springs is even better looking with all of the neon lit up at night.
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It was a fantastic second day. We’d accomplished everything we wanted and more!

Up next: one last day at DLR.
 
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Loco_driver

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Day five.

Our last day at DLR.

We were up early for the early entry at DL. Unfortunately they don’t open the security area until 30 minutes before early entry. Apparently there had been news going around online that the security at the parking garage was extremely slow, so guess where everyone decided to enter? Did you guess the entry across from DLH? Because that’s correct!

By the time we got through the painfully slow security screening it was nearly time for early entry to start. We cheated a bit by jumping on the monorail and landed in Tomorrowland right as EMH began.
Season 6 Knowledge GIF by Friends


We could’ve easily walked on to Space mountain, but I’m just not a fan of SM on either coast. The WDW version kills my back and the DL version smashes my knees. We headed for fantasyland and were among the first guests of the day on Alice in wonderland. I forgot to take a picture.
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We considered trying Peter Pan, but the queue was already quite long. A ride on Mr. Toad would have to suffice.
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I can’t wear my toad shirt without getting a pic with the toad statue!
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We rounded out early entry with back to back rides on Snow White and Pinocchio. We joined the queue for dumbo one minute before park opening.
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For those keeping count that’s five attractions on just over 30 minutes. It was another cool and cloudy morning. Crowds were light(but would not stay that way).
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Our tour of fantasyland continued on the Casey Jr. Circus train.
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The back of fantasyland with Casey Jr. and storybook land canal boats has such a great energy. We sadly never got a chance to ride the canal boats this trip. I guess there’s always next time!
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We’d had nothing in the way of food this morning. Time to head to New Orleans Square to grab a snack. We stopped and enjoyed the entertainment for a moment.
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A little pre-breakfast if you will.
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Seasonal beignets(peach) and a mint julep for each of us. They were just as tasty as we remembered. The haunted mansion construction made for a lovely atmosphere.
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Loco_driver

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Day five continued.

After getting our fill of beignets we walked on to Jungle Cruise. The standby line for JC rarely goes over 45 minutes during peak times. It is not a LL attraction. Amazing what a difference that makes vs WDW where LL takes nearly 70% of it’s capacity.
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We had Skipper Maya once again! I don’t think I’ve ever gotten the same JC skipper twice in one trip!
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We had deja vu listening to her go through the exact same jokes she did two days earlier. She was truly great at her job!
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Next up was another Walt original!
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No trip is compete for me without this attraction. The DL pre show is very subdued, but enjoyable.
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All the birds sang words and the flowers crooned.
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We had a late breakfast scheduled so we didn’t have time to try any other attractions. We did browse the shops in Frontierland for a bit, but didn’t find anything we had to have(a common occurrence these days).
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A few pics in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle before breakfast.
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I think DL may have a rodent problem.
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Loco_driver

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Day five continued.

Speaking of rodents.
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Breakfast was at Plaza Inn.
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The characters here are basically random each day with the exception of Minnie.
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Our selection that day was pretty standard for character meals. Eeyore was positioned outside the restaurant.
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As was Minnie. Overall this was probably our favorite of the character meals we’ve done at DL. The characters were all great, and the food was fresh. It’s served cafeteria style rather than a buffet. The price is also right for this one at less than $50 per person.
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Loco_driver

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Day five continued.

Alright folks bear with me(till the bear end). It was our last park day and I was tired, so I forgot to take notes. Details are a bit fuzzy.

I do know we made our way back to toon town. A wanted to meet Clarabelle Cow and we had just missed her on day one. We were successful this day!
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Fist bumps and hugs all around!
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Clarabelle’s attendant let us know that goofy was meeting around the corner with no wait. I’m not sure why but Goofy’s handler had stepped away for some reason. Leaving us trying to take selfies with the big dog. He tried to do it himself. It did not go great! 🤣
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Long armed Loco to the rescue!
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We had yet to take the full circle tour on the Disneyland RR. Oddly enough while we were waiting in line a woman with a pretty thick southern drawl asked us if we we knew how the weather was in September in Anaheim. We let her know we were not locals. Long story short, she lives like 10 minutes from us in Texas. I guess it truly is a small world!
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We made the full circle and disembarked back at toon town depot. We noticed the M&G for Wade and Ember from elemental was pretty empty so we got photos with these relatively rare characters.
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Another new to us attraction was next. The Mark Twain riverboat. As you can see crowds were starting to build up. This would be the most crowded day of our trip thanks to a weekday ticket deal for locals.
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We enjoyed the comfortable temps while touring the rivers of America. A far cry from the WDW version, where one could melt out on the top deck.
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Loco_driver

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Day five continued.

This is where things get fuzzy. I know after the Mark Twain we used a LL to ride Indiana Jones one more time. After that the crowds were really heavy and we decided to take a break back at the hotel.

We had a pretty long break before making our way over to DCA. We had a LL for incredicoaster.
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Edna Mode was greeting guests at the exit.
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Lots of character meets this day. Easy to do when you’ve ridden so many rides multiple times!
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I’d stacked LLs and we enjoyed one last turn on Guardians.
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We shared the Up ice cream sundae for a late afternoon snack.
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Making our way back into DL for the evening. Snow White was just hanging out at the entrance.
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We had a LL for Roger Rabbit, but it went down right before we tapped in. We gladly accepted the multi experience pass instead.

It’s hard to pass up small world when there’s little wait.
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This one has straight eyes.
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It was nearing time for our dinner reservation.
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But we had a LL to squeeze in one more spin on BTMRR before dinner.
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Loco_driver

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I have enjoyed your trip report, but I think I only saw you report on 1 peanut butter square, I hope there were more.
That’s a good observation. I believe on this last day I grabbed some at candy palace for our break time. I know I did at some point but I can’t remember exactly when! Also there’s so many treats and so little time!

Don’t know why I thought DL Tiki Room kicked the bucket a while ago. Glad I’m wrong! Enjoying y’all’s Cali adventures.
Thank goodness that was wrong! 😂
 

Loco_driver

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Day five continued.

Our last trip we missed fantasmic. It can be tricky getting a spot for the show without camping out for hours. I avoided this by booking the dining package at Blue Bayou, which was on my dining wish list. Two birds with one stone as they say.

The ambiance at Blue Bayou is very nice. Like being on the bayou at night, without all of the humidity and mosquitoes.
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We both opted for minut juleps for our drink.
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Gumbo for our starter. It wasn’t bad for California. It definitely had some spices in it, which can be an issue at Disney.
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Our main course was creole roasted chicken with shrimp and andouille sausage. This was outstanding.
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Chocolate decadence tart for dessert. It was delicious, but wow was it rich! I’m not one to let food go to waste, but there was no way I could finish this without getting sick.
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Overall our meal was very good. Our waitress paced our meal perfectly and made sure our glasses were never empty. We did have to wait about fifteen minutes past our reservation time, but that was the only small issue. Was it worth the price? That’s probably debatable, but as a one time splurge I had no regrets!

Since our dinner ran a bit long it was time to check in for fantasmic as soon as we finished. We never saw the old version, but were still curious about the new version.
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The pirate ship scene was neat.
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The steamboat Mickey steamboat was a bit light on performers.
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The show struggles during the battle scene with no dragon. Maleficent simply rises high in the sky with little to no explanation why.
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Overall I felt like the show fell flat. It’s not really bad, but it’s also not great. I’m sure Disneyland fans would disagree, but I think the WDW version currently blows the DL version out of the water. It has more characters, it’s paced better, and its much easier to watch without jumping through hoops. The nighttime shows at DLR are all special, but the current lineup in Florida is better overall. For now.
 

Loco_driver

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Day five continued.

After fantasmic the fireworks began. We enjoyed them in peace on the bridge in front of the former splash mountain.
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They were doing some testing on Tiana’s.
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Our last LL would end up being MMRR.
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It was not needed at all. We ended up having a train car all to ourselves. A got a kick out of this poster. Poor Pluto must really trust Mickey.
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We planned to use our Multi Experience LL on Roger Rabbit next. Unfortunately it went down right before we were about to board. Sadly we would not get another spin.

Small world is a fine consolation prize.
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It was a bit odd being the only people in there with the dolls.
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Hey @amjt660 !
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Exhausted but happy!
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A quick trip with buzz lightyear would be our last attraction. Poor scores, but I was not the loser.
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We were both really feeling the last three days of park touring. We’d decided to call it a night rather than try to squeeze in any more rides. Since we were already in Tomorrowland we hopped aboard the monorail to save some steps and ended the night.

We had a wonderful time at DLR and can’t wait to get another trip booked ASAP(probably 2026)!

Stick around for some more LA adventures!
 

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