Going to go ahead and give my trip report as well. Overall while I didn't have the "greatest day of my life" any of the three days like I did the one day I went back in March, it was still a great, albeit very crowded and hot, trip!
Day One:
Started the trip out right by flying out of the Charles Schulz Airport in Santa Rosa which was amazing in its own right. There's a big brass statue of Charlie Brown and Linus on the iconic wall right out front. There's tons of hand-decorated statues of Peanuts characters in the terminal. The guest relations booth is themed to Lucy's therapy stand. Lots of fun details I wish I could have gotten pictures of. I was so preoccupied with taking video off my smartphone this trip I barely got any photos.
Anyways after a VERY quick and nice flight to John Wayne airport I was picked up by Monkey and his lovely mother (who REFUSES to call me anything but "Tiki" which I think is adorable
) I was taken to the Camelot Inn on Harbor and parted ways with the Monkey clan for the time being. Check in was a breeze. Got a great view of the park from the fourth story of my hotel where I was staying. You had practically a whole window into the parks where you could see the TWA rocket, Matterhorn, castle, Big Thunder, and more. I didn't end up doing it but I'm sure watching the fireworks from that view would have been great.
Anyways, got my room and briefly showered and changed, then headed out to the parks. One thing I really hate about DLR is the security checkpoints. For starters they look incredibly cheap (like, literally just plastic fold out tables that you would find in garage sales, and plastic tents..) it's not a great impression for guests coming to the resort for the first time. I also got stuck in 20+ minute lines for bag check which was INCREDIBLY annoying because I never had a bag the whole time I was there. There really should be an express lane for people with no bags, but I digress. Metal detectors while a bit imposing were really quick to get through and the cast members manning them were all very friendly which helped ease through the harsh reality of why they're there to begin with.
Got into Disneyland after being introduced to the new non-handstamp park hopping system that I loved! (They take your picture when you first use your park hopper, and you don't have to get a hand stamp the rest of the trip) I really wanted to take a vehicle down Main Street but since it looked like they were already setting up for the afternoon parade I opted to do Mr. Lincoln instead.
Loved Mr. Lincoln and it was the first time I've seen it since pre-50th. Really well told attraction with a great build to the actual AA figure. Haunting music, great dramatic lighting, loved the new starry sky backdrop. Overall a really well done attraction that was unfortunately playing to VERY light crowds. I also found it super trippy that one of my favorite bands totally sampled the Lincoln speech from the attraction.
After that I headed up Main Street and got to Jungle Cruise which I was anxious to go on since it was closed during my March trip. Jungle Cruise ended up being the attraction I went on the most during my trip, partly out of nostalgia as I hadn't done it since 2009, partly because the wait never exceeded 20 minutes.
After Jungle Cruise I rushed up Main Street to meet with
@JokersWild and his mother. We slipped through the parade route using the "cutting through the shops" shortcut and proceeded to Pirates. After Pirates we had lunch at the Jolly Holiday Bakery where i tried the grilled cheese and basil tomato soup which was recommended by FreshBakedDisney. Loved it and kind of wish I had gotten it again as a meal.
Once we were done with lunch we park-hopped to DCA so Jokers and his mom could experience Cars Land for the first time. We waited about 20 minutes for Mater's upon entering which was a really fun flat ride. After waiting about a half hour in the Radiator Springs Racers single rider line and 15 minutes at seatbelt check where we thought we were going to get evacuated, we proceeded into the heart of the attraction where we actually got evacuated!
My car stopped RIGHT at the starting line by the Guido and Luigi AAs. All the music stopped and you could hear the gears turning on the Guido figure. Walking half the length of the Racers course was INCREDIBLE and well worth not getting to actually race. It's insane how much that mountain range feels like a naturalistic mountain. When you're walking the track the rock work just TOWERS over you!
After everyone was safely off Racers it was time to meet Monkey and his mother at Trader Sams. We cut through the Grand Californian secret entrance and arrived to actually find three seats perfectly situated at the end of the bar. Once Monkey and his mother arrived, Monkey's mother rocked it at getting us a table that was meant to be reserved for a private event.
Trader Sam's was definitely a highlight. I wish we would have gotten to drink inside but we had a band playing on the patio and a great view of the surrounding hotel area so it was still great. Jokers and I split the 40 dollar "Uh-Oah" drink which came in what looked kind of like a soup bowl and was lit on fire upon serving! There were at least three times consuming that thing where we thought we were almost done only to find out we'd made virtually no progress on it! I also ordered a May-ti just to ensure that my buzz kept up after we got back into the parks. The drinks were absolutely perfect! Monkey's father showed up about 10 minutes before we left for the park and it was wonderful to see him again. We waited for the fireworks to finish (which were really cool to watch from the bar) then proceeded back into the parks.
The most beautiful sight of the whole trip was walking through Downtown Disney with a good alcohol buzz going and seeing THOUSANDS of people rushing away from Disneyland. When we got back into the park most of the stuff besides the major E tickets were completely dead. We did Big Thunder and I still didn't get to see the explosion effect (this would be remedied later in the trip...)
The most surreal moment of the trip happened when I was indulging in my traditional Dole Whip in the Tiki Room preshow and a cast member overheard our conversation. I mentioned I had a podcast and he absolutely recognized the name "So, You Want to be an Imagineer" and kind of lit up when he heard it. So basically it was the first time I was recognized in public as a Youtuber. Apparently the channel is popular with cast members which is CRAZY. (I have a feeling
@MANEATINGWREATH had something to do with that
)
Then the Pinocchio evac happened which was BY FAR the most memorable thing that happened the whole trip. Absolutely crazy seeing the blacklight paint in harsh regular lighting. It was definitely a dream come true being able to walk the course of a Fantasyland dark ride. After a quick ride on Toad we met back up with Joker's mother and made a dash for the Haunted Mansion where we made a point to be on the very last Doom Buggies of the night! I parted ways with Monkey and Joker and spent the next hour on Main Street taking advantage of it closing on 1 AM. Had a wonderful time eating hot dogs from Coke Corner while people watching from the famous "Porch". Made a point to be in the fire station at 1 AM.
After that I spent the next four hours editing video in the hotel and not sleeping at all. I waited until about 5:30 in the morning and went out to get a T-Bone steak and hashbrowns from the I-Hop. When I arrived a woman was letting the server know that there was someone asleep in the bathrooms. About half way through my meal a crazy looking woman comes tumbling out of the bathroom and proceeds to STARE ME THE HELL DOWN. I had just put my wallet away because I was checking to see how much I had for a tip, so I was absolutely terrified and half way convinced that I was about to get mugged. Fortunately that didn't happen. After going back to my hotel to shower I left for the day about 6:30 in the morning for day 2 in which I was planning on taking advantage of my one Magic Morning as well as jumping to DCA for their rope drop. Will the lack of sleep catch up with me? Find out on the next exciting episode!
I got in with my new annual pass, however, I booked my hotel room before I got the pass, so I had two different magic bands. Since I only had fastpasses on the annual pass band, and it wasn't linked to the room band, I would have been able to get three on the room band by getting them at a kiosk. I've done it before, except instead of an annual pass I was using a guest pass from a cast member to get in. But, there were lines at the FP+ kiosks, and the attractions weren't too busy anyway, so I ended up not bothering.
Though I was stuck on the Peoplemover for about 15-20 minutes inside Space Mountain. 
. After all that traveling, I still have to drive four hours to get to the funeral service... Two days after I finally come back from vacation. 