Trip Report Loco goes west! A DLR trip 4 years in the making!

Now that the clothes are washed, the lawn mowed, and I’ve made my return to work(booooo!) it’s time for me to start another TR before I forget more details that I didn’t take note of!

Who: Myself and Mrs. Loco, A. I call her A because I’m too lazy to type her entire name.
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Where: Uhhhhh, Disneyland, with a few stops throughout Orange County.

When : September 14-19.

Why : Because we wanted to. It was also a celebration of both of our September birthdays.

Enough with the details though, you’re here to see pictures and to read my thoughts on Walt’s Disneyland right? Let’s get started!

Day one, travel day.

We originally had this trip planned for September of 2018. Unfortunately A’s father was nearing the end of his battle with cancer, and we decided we didn’t want to be out of town at that time. Our next trip to CA was planned for June of 2020, but we all know why we didn’t get to go on that trip. Needless to say, we were nervous some large life-altering event would happen before we were able to go on our trip. Thankfully this didn’t happen. Third time really is the charm I guess!
Sweating Flowers In The Dirt GIF by Paul McCartney


Our flight out of Dallas was at 10:30 am. We live a few hours from love field. I decided to stay at a hotel not far from the airport the night before, rather than getting up early and trying to fight through morning rush hour traffic to get to the airport. This turned out to be a wise idea. Even from our hotel it took 45 minutes with traffic to get to our parking spot!

Travel day selfie!
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Thankfully things weren’t nearly as hectic inside the airport and we made it through security and to our gate with plenty of time for some Whataburger breakfast!

Our steed for the trip out.
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Southwest sent us a dozen drink coupons about a month before our trip. It was a fun flight!
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Living Music Video GIF by Dierks Bentley


The flight itself was smooth and in three hours we were in sunny Southern California. Long Beach to be exact! This was a great little airport! Much closer to Anaheim than LAX, and much more affordable than John Wayne!
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Baggage claim was located outside(literally) the terminal. Our flight’s bags began unloading almost immediately, which is a nice change from Orlando or love field!
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The Uber pickup area is steps away from baggage claim, and soon we were on our way to Anaheim. This day was added on after our initial booking, so I ended up having a different hotel called the Cortona Inn and Suites. Unfortunately they were having some sort of plumbing issue and weren’t able to get us our room. Instead they comped us a night at the much nicer Hyatt next door!
Fuck Yeah Yes GIF


Up next : a super early dinner, and a short walk around downtown.
 

Loco_driver

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Day six continued.

Time was winding down on our vacation, but there was fun left to be had! We had about an hour and a half left to enjoy Walt’s magic kingdom.
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Main Street was still busy.
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A wanted one more ride on small world, so we headed that way. There was a projection show going on upon our arrival, but we don’t talk about it.
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I hadn’t seen one of these in many years! I’m not sure why they handed it to me, there was clearly no wait to ride.
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One ride I wasn’t sad about missing out on.
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We managed to grab a ride on Mr. Toad and Pinocchio with minimal waits. I also unsuccessfully tried to remove the sword from the stone.
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Next up was a marathon on BTMRR. We had such a fun time running through the queue over and over. It was one of those moments that keeps us coming back. For just a few brief minutes neither of us were worried about the outside world or what challenges might face us once we arrived back home. It was just two adults being transformed back into kids. Kids who had achey hips and knees, but kids nonetheless! We didn’t take any pictures, and I’m ok with that!

After our fourth trip around the mountain we had time for one last attraction if we really hustled. What better way to end a trip than on one of Disneyland’s quintessential attractions.
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After pirates the park was officially closed. We made the sad walk to the front of the park, stopping for a few souvenirs on Main Street before saying goodbye to our friend pumpkin Mickey.
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See you next time Disneyland!
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Thanks to all of you who followed along on this trip. We had a blast and are ready to go back as soon as we find the right time(and price)! In the meantime we have a few trips back east planned for February 2023 and May 2023(that one will be extra special). We originally had a December 22 trip that we had to move to February because A got a new job!

Anyways until then I’ll be around enjoying others TRs and occasionally checking the dumpster fire over in the news and rumors section(seriously, don’t feed the trolls over there)! See you all real soon!
Mickey Mouse Dcl GIF by Amo Cruzeiro Disney
 

Loco_driver

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Great report! I’m glad you both enjoyed Disneyland.
Thanks! We really did enjoy it!

Kim Kardashian Fun GIF by Saturday Night Live


Congrats to A on her new job. Looking forward to Loco Returns East (and most curious about the extra special trip in May!)
Alright next TR title confirmed. The trip in May is special because someone gets to make the trip with us. Our niece, sweet Ms. C!
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Great TR! And congrats to A on her new job.

On second thought … I don’t think there were any photos of my favorite dog Pickle, so I’ve just bumped the grade down to A- 😉
Well we can fix that!
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I always have fun on your vacations! Until next time, thanks!
Thanks for reading!

Thanks for another great TR!

🤞that your February trip is in early February.
If by early you mean smack dab in the middle, then yes!
 

TheMouseFan

Well-Known Member
Thanks for sharing your trip with us! I am going to get to California one day, but until then I really enjoy reading all of the DLR reports and yours was fantastic, as usual! Can't wait to hear about the next several trips!
 

Swissmiss

Premium Member
The trip in May is special because someone gets to make the trip with us. Our niece, sweet Ms. C!
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Well we can fix that!
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Pickle 🥰 (Ok the TR grade has been brought back up to an A+.)

And so great that you get to bring your niece on your May trip. I think it is important for kids to be able to spend time with other family members so that they have a “backup” for mom and dad in the teen years when they don’t want to hear what we have to say 😉
 

MinnieM123

Premium Member
Thanks to all of you who followed along on this trip. We had a blast and are ready to go back as soon as we find the right time(and price)! In the meantime we have a few trips back east planned for February 2023 and May 2023(that one will be extra special). We originally had a December 22 trip that we had to move to February because A got a new job!
Your TRs are always so much fun, and I really enjoy your photos as well. Thank you for sharing your Disneyland experiences with us.

Congratulations to A on her new job! :)
 

amjt660

Premium Member
Next up was a marathon on BTMRR. We had such a fun time running through the queue over and over. It was one of those moments that keeps us coming back. For just a few brief minutes neither of us were worried about the outside world or what challenges might face us once we arrived back home. It was just two adults being transformed back into kids. Kids who had achey hips and knees, but kids nonetheless! We didn’t take any pictures, and I’m ok with that!
This is exactly the reason why i want to meet the two of you and go to a Disney park together
Ignore the pain - ride the ride!!!!

Great TR of the OG resort - my favourite - loved following your around

Well Done Good Job GIF by Apple TV+


Max
 

Loco_driver

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Thanks for sharing your trip with us! I am going to get to California one day, but until then I really enjoy reading all of the DLR reports and yours was fantastic, as usual! Can't wait to hear about the next several trips!
Thanks for the kind words. I hope you can make it out to California one of these days!

😕 we fly out Feb 9th so unfortunately:
So Close Nbc 90Th Special GIF by NBC
Yep we arrive the 11th.

Your TRs are always so much fun, and I really enjoy your photos as well. Thank you for sharing your Disneyland experiences with us.

Congratulations to A on her new job! :)
Thank you. Im glad you enjoyed!

Thank you for such a wonderful and fun report. Loved your photo. Congratulations to A on her new job and Pickle is adorable 🥰 Look forward to your next couple of reports.
Thanks for following and for the dog compliment! Not only is she cute, but she’s helped get us through a lot of hard times in the past!

Catherine De Medici Starz GIF by The Serpent Queen

Thanks for sharing!
You are most certainly welcome. I’m glad you enjoyed it!

Great TR!!!! Thanks for bringing us along!!
Thanks for following along!

Thanks for sharing, always enjoy your reports!!
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Why you’re welcome of course!
 

Loco_driver

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
so great that you get to bring your niece on your May trip. I think it is important for kids to be able to spend time with other family members so that they have a “backup” for mom and dad in the teen years when they don’t want to hear what we have to say 😉
Haha she’s only 10 but sometimes she thinks she’s 20! We are very close to her since she lived across the street from us for most of her life. Unfortunately her parents got divorced(thanks to my brother being a dummy) a few years ago and had to sell the house. It’s been tough on us to not get to see her every day, so I’m super excited to be able to spend more time with her at Disney!
 

Loco_driver

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
This is exactly the reason why i want to meet the two of you and go to a Disney park together
Ignore the pain - ride the ride!!!!

Great TR of the OG resort - my favourite - loved following your around

Well Done Good Job GIF by Apple TV+


Max
Thanks Max! Hopefully one day our paths will cross! I bet it would be fun to walk around doing some people watching with you!

Speaking of pain, I went to the orthopedist after this trip because I was having some trouble with my left hip on this trip. I figured it was due to having to wear an older pair of shoes for a few days thanks to our splash mountain soaking. Turns out I have something called femoroacetabular impingement. Basically my hip bone is abnormally shaped, which causes friction in the hip joint, causing occasional sudden sharp pain. Long story long, I gotta slow down sometimes or it’s gonna hurt! It’s worth it if I can get a few extra rides in on big thunder though! 🤣
 

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