Trip Report To Disneyland, with Love: A June 2013 Trip Report

What can I say, Disneyland?! I’m writing you this love letter because you managed to steal a little piece of my heart. The time we spent with you last summer was unbelievably magical for this little family of ours.

Seeing how long it’s been since my last trip report, I may be a new face to some of you! I’m Holly and traveling with me are my dreamer of a husband, Brett, and our little dreamboat, Lucas. More than ever, we’re loving life as a party of three. A little background for those of you who may not be aware… in June Brett completed a five-month professional internship with the Walt Disney Company. Over the course of those five months, Lucas and I were only able to spend a total of seven days with him. To say we missed the man would be the understatement of the century. And I feel certain this is why Disneyland settled so sweetly within my heart, it was the adventure that landed in our laps mere days after his return.

So, how’d this happen? Well, in early June a work-related trip to the west coast came across my desk. Not wanting to miss out on a great opportunity, I floated the idea out to Brett and we decided we must throw caution to the wind, pack up our tiny little human, and hop on a plane bound for Anaheim. There was a new adventure awaiting us on the horizon.

I booked our flights on June 12th and five days later we were en route to LAX. How’s that for last minute?! There was no planning, no spending days pouring over park maps and guidebooks, no stressing out over every last detail of the trip, and no perusing the internet for all the must-dos. There was none of that. What there was though was an excitement for something new, something unknown and magical waiting just for us. Can I let you in on a little secret? These are my FAVORITE kind of trips!

This trip report is for you, Disneyland, your magical highness!

 

[HollyBelle]

So, while I was riding Indy, Brett and Lucas wandered over to the edge of the hub to check out the parade passing through town. They had a decent enough view between these two men in red shirts… until another guy in a red shirt squeezed in front of them and decided to put his “girl” up on his shoulders like the man on the left. Their view went from this:

Wait for it...





To this...

And that’s when they decided to make their way back towards the exit queue to wait for me!

After a light lunch we were getting super hungry and as always, we wandered around aimlessly trying to decide what we wanted. It never fails... time and time again we just get frustrated when it comes to counter service. Nothing sounded good and we wandered from place to place looking for some sort of unique offering. We eventually found ourselves at Rancho del Zocale. Quite a few pictures from this portion of the trip were eaten by my hard drive so I can’t even tell you what we had to eat, but it was just okay anyway, nothing to write home about. And clearly, nothing to trip report about.

Lucas was doing pretty well, but I was starting to really worry about the heat – we slathered him down with sunscreen every chance we got but it was fairly hot so I was a little concerned. We decided that he and I would take a trip to the baby care center while Brett went off to ride Maelstrom.

In the Baby Care Center I nursed Lucas, hoping he would fall asleep and take a little nap in the air conditioning, but he wasn’t having any of it. His body still seemed to be all out of whack with the time change. Instead we got out some energy and spent a good 30-45 minutes talking with the cast members inside. Eventually Brett found us there and we made our way back out to Fantasyland so I could check out this mythical working yeti I’d heard tale of. I happened to be sledding with a hilarious family, which made the ride all that much better. I laughed like a little kid through much of it, reminding me quite a lot of Space Mountain, actually. It gets two thumbs up from me. And it’s beauty makes me love it even more. I only wish I could’ve ridden with Brett.

It was probably around 7ish when we decided to head out of the park. Lucas was drained and we were really looking forward to having an early morning at California Adventure so we decided to leave well enough alone and make our way back to the hotel. We caught some of the parade as we left.

One big difference we noted, and talked about quite a bit during this trip, was seeing Disneyland cast members walking to and from Harbor Boulevard on their way to work. Now, I know they don’t have the luxury of using utiladors like the Magic Kingdom CMs, but it was still a bit shocking to see. More than just seeing them in park attire outside of the park gates, it was crazy to see them walking around with ear buds in their ears, backpacks hanging off their backs, and books tucked under their arms. Brett even noticed that some of the CMs were wearing sunglasses that didn’t meet requirements of the Disney look. We may be wrong, but our assessment after this one trip, is the Disneyland Resort has a much more casual approach to brand integrity when it came to costuming and cast member behavior.

Up next... California Adventure!!

 

[plaz10]

The photo of you 3 in front of their Partners statue/Sleeping Beautys Castle is my favorite. Even if little Lucas is squinty - it really shows off the love your family has for each other. Love.

AND the picture of Brett and Lucas both sipping on their beverages. Like father like son. So cute!!

 

[HollyBelle]

Yay!! I love reading your reports! So jealous that you got to go to Disneyland. We have a DCL/WDW trip planned in June, then hopefully our next big trip will be to California! I can't believe how big Lucas is in your pics, I can't even imagine how big he is now! I hope you have better luck with the ear tubes than we did! My 5 year old just had his 4th set put in on Christmas Eve day! Can't wait to read more!

When the opportunity to head out there presented itself, we jumped on it! I would definitely recommend making the trek to any Disney fan. Granted Disney Cruises are absolutely amazing, so that's a great trip, too!

Oh no... four sets in just as many years? I hate that for you guys. So far, they've been a real blessing, so I'll be keeping my fingers crossed.

Yay, Holly! I remember you from two years back, and I always loved your reports, especially your wedding one. Glad to see you are back.

Thanks so much! Shhh, don't tell the others, but the wedding report is my favorite.

BABY SUNGLASSES. Such a cutie!

Thanks, Shannon. If only I could've kept him from jamming himself in the eye with those beauties!

 

[HollyBelle]

The photo of you 3 in front of their Partners statue/Sleeping Beautys Castle is my favorite. Even if little Lucas is squinty - it really shows off the love your family has for each other. Love.

AND the picture of Brett and Lucas both sipping on their beverages. Like father like son. So cute!!

Jess!! Haha... that picture cracks me up because Lucas looks so over it and we're the giddy kids who can't believe our good fortune. It's like a role reversal.

Yeah the beverage shot is a favorite of mine. Same mannerisms and everything!

 

[Californian Elitist]

LMAO, that photo of the bare booty is PRICELESS. I can't stop laughing!

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Oh my goodness! I recently was wondering if you & @Disneyfalcon had given up TRing. I know at the least she has a Thanksgiving adventure floating out there. Then again, so do I. I'll shoosh now.

Love the esplanade selfie! Normally my attitude about selfies is that they're what you do as an alternative to having someone else to hold the camera. But I think this isn't the right way to think of them. You had someone else hold the camera yet your selfie was the better of the 2 pics. I love Lucas's expression, too. Here's my caption: "Say whaaaaaat?!"

Eeeeeek! Disneylaaaaaaand!!! We'll be there for the first time at the same time @derelicte19 will be! I'm so excited I could pee my pants so the timing for your report couldn't be better. Tracey is giving me quite a bit of fuss for not planning, planning, planning. I just keep repeating that this is not WDW & it's not necessary.

I'm glad I saw your pic down Main Street towards the (missing?) castle. I know in my mind the scale of Sleeping Beauty's is not the same as Cindy's but I think this pic better prepares me. Thank you.

Looks like y'all are having a fabulous time more because of your hard-earned together time vs. the surroundings. The awesome surroundings don't hurt, tho. Right? I just see more of a joy in being together in your pics more than anything. THAT is the fabulous-factor in my book!

More more more! Now that I'm sufficiently distracted from my photo editing.....

 

[Disneyfalcon]

Oh my goodness! I recently was wondering if you & @Disneyfalcon had given up TRing. I know at the least she has a Thanksgiving adventure floating out there. Then again, so do I. I'll shoosh now.

No! I've got three floating out there!! Mercy! Only being able to type with one hand isn't helping matters.

Holly! I'm so excited to catch up!! Yay!

 

[LeCellier.Lover]

Holly I am SOO glad to see you're back! Another wonderful TR I am looking forward to to get me out of the "O no I have to go back to school now " blues haha! The family looks adorable (like always!).
I have to say the picture of Brett with the little guy both sipping on their "drinks" is probably my favorite so far! And that picture of the man with the "girl" on his shoulders literally made me laugh out loud! You had a great introduction to it bahah!
Can't wait to read more!

 

[TrolleyFollower91]

We decided that he and I would take a trip to the baby care center while Brett went off to ride Maelstrom.

Brett must have been gone a long time to make it all the way to World Showcase!

Seriously, I'm so excited for this trip report. Even though we are complete strangers, I feel like I know you and your O'hana. As frequent WDW visitors, we took a trip to DLR in March of 2013. Can't wait to hear your thoughts on everything!

 

[fractal]

Say no to crack

Glad you made it to DL! Looking forward to hearing your take on DCA - a park I loved. I can certainly relate to things feeling "out of place" compared to WDW - exactly how I felt last year when we visited. It was a bit surreal.

Seems like Lucas is a trooper ( and a charmer), growing up quickly!

 

[HollyBelle]

LMAO, that photo of the bare booty is PRICELESS. I can't stop laughing!

I mean, seriously... you can see that it happened instantly.. Simba is still in the frame of both shots!

Oh my goodness! I recently was wondering if you & @Disneyfalcon had given up TRing. I know at the least she has a Thanksgiving adventure floating out there. Then again, so do I. I'll shoosh now.

Love the esplanade selfie! Normally my attitude about selfies is that they're what you do as an alternative to having someone else to hold the camera. But I think this isn't the right way to think of them. You had someone else hold the camera yet your selfie was the better of the 2 pics. I love Lucas's expression, too. Here's my caption: "Say whaaaaaat?!"

Eeeeeek! Disneylaaaaaaand!!! We'll be there for the first time at the same time @derelicte19 will be! I'm so excited I could pee my pants so the timing for your report couldn't be better. Tracey is giving me quite a bit of fuss for not planning, planning, planning. I just keep repeating that this is not WDW & it's not necessary.

I'm glad I saw your pic down Main Street towards the (missing?) castle. I know in my mind the scale of Sleeping Beauty's is not the same as Cindy's but I think this pic better prepares me. Thank you.

Looks like y'all are having a fabulous time more because of your hard-earned together time vs. the surroundings. The awesome surroundings don't hurt, tho. Right? I just see more of a joy in being together in your pics more than anything. THAT is the fabulous-factor in my book!

More more more! Now that I'm sufficiently distracted from my photo editing.....

Haha... well I guess you could say I've kinda given up on trip reporting or at least I've accepted defeat. I have four trip reports whose whereabouts are unaccounted for and I'm pretty sure that'll be the case until eternity. A bun-in-the-oven February 2012 trip, both my trips to visit Brett last spring (February 2013 and April 2013) and our November 2013 house hunting trip. I do still plan to post some of the photos from all of those over on my blog at some point.

Esplanade selfie for the win... it so trumps the one the other guest took two minutes later. You know, some of my favorite photos are selfies, there's just something about them.

Here's the way I see it regarding planning... you'll probably get to see and do more if you plan appropriately for any Disney trip. That being said, how many times do you get to visit a completely "new" Disney park? And for me the beauty in this is that you actually get to explore the park, not rush to things because some guidebook says that's the best approach.

And you hit the nail on the head with your assessment of our good time... we were most definitely excited just to have so much uninterrupted time together as a family after five months without so much as a day to just the three of us.

No! I've got three floating out there!! Mercy! Only being able to type with one hand isn't helping matters.

Holly! I'm so excited to catch up!! Yay!

I can imagine that would make things difficult... being three trip reports behind isn't such a bad thing, it just means you're too busy taking trips!

Holly I am SOO glad to see you're back! Another wonderful TR I am looking forward to to get me out of the "O no I have to go back to school now " blues haha! The family looks adorable (like always!).
I have to say the picture of Brett with the little guy both sipping on their "drinks" is probably my favorite so far! And that picture of the man with the "girl" on his shoulders literally made me laugh out loud! You had a great introduction to it bahah!
Can't wait to read more!

Oh the have-to-go-back-to-school blues... I don't miss those! That picture is definitely one of my favorites as well. As for the girl on that guy's shoulders, I'm just glad I didn't experience it first hand like Brett did. Aside from the fact that her whole a$$ was hanging out, how rude is it that they stepped right in front of Brett and Lucas like that?!?

Brett must have been gone a long time to make it all the way to World Showcase!

Seriously, I'm so excited for this trip report. Even though we are complete strangers, I feel like I know you and your O'hana. As frequent WDW visitors, we took a trip to DLR in March of 2013. Can't wait to hear your thoughts on everything!

ZOMG!! I proof and reread my reports a million times over as they're being posted and clearly I didn't catch that one! That's funny. In fact, as I was reading your quote of it, I was all confused, like, what is wrong with this?! Haha!

Sadly this trip report is going to be over almost as quickly as it started as it was a pretty short trip. Just means we'll have to go back!

Say no to crack

Glad you made it to DL! Looking forward to hearing your take on DCA - a park I loved. I can certainly relate to things feeling "out of place" compared to WDW - exactly how I felt last year when we visited. It was a bit surreal.

Seems like Lucas is a trooper ( and a charmer), growing up quickly!

Thanks, Chris. Disneyland was definitely a surreal experience for me, and I actually ended up preferring California Adventure because I wasn't making comparisons. Not that I think you should walk around the park comparing one to the other, but it's almost inevitable to do so at least a little bit.

Lucas was 11 months when we took the trip, he's 18 months now... so I hardly recognize the kid in these photos.

 

[ladydi]

A Hollybelle report! So excited to see you and your lovely family again!

 

[HollyBelle]

A Hollybelle report! So excited to see you and your lovely family again!

Thanks!! I'm excited to be posting about this trip.

 

[HollyBelle]

Day 3 – Wednesday, June 19th: Hello, California Adventure!

Woohoo! A brand spankin’ new-to-us park was on the agenda for the day and I was giddy with excitement. I mean, how lucky are we?!

First, let me just say, I’m not a fan of the entry for California Adventure. While the former entryway may not have been hugely popular with the masses, having never seen it myself, I still have to think it was better than a carbon copy of the Hollywood Studios. It just seems like a lazy approach. Why not create something new and exciting instead? But I’m all for uniqueness in each of the parks. The last thing I want to see is Radiator Springs Racers appear in an east coast park. I mean, if everything is the same on both coasts (and around the world) then where’s the incentive to travel to each of the various parks?

It was a little overcast and dreary... the perfect morning for some Starbucks from the Fiddler, Fifer & Practical Café and Bakery and a stroll down Buena Vista Street and through Carthay Circle.

Goofy had an audition to get to, but he took the time to pose with us on his way...

 

[HollyBelle]

Oh, hey, look... a guide map!

This may sound crazy, but I was happy not to pay attention to the guide map. I was all about wandering around and seeing what there was to see as the park unfolded itself to us. I realize this isn’t the smartest way to take in a new park, but boy is it the sweetest. There are a finite number of “new” Disney parks for us to experience in this world and having the opportunity to explore them as somewhat unknown entities and to take a deep breath and soak them up is, in my opinion, so much better than rushing around trying to do everything all at once and missing out on that feeling.

We made a left down Hollywood Boulevard, headed towards Hollywood Land.

Hollywood Land was, ummm, interesting. I found the Mad Tea Party set up to be extremely odd and out of place. Things just seemed halfway done in that area. At this point I felt like the park was rather disjointed. And, after exploring further, this area was easily my least favorite in the whole park. But it did have one major plus... Mike and Sully to the Rescue!!!

 

[HollyBelle]

Uh-oh... without a monster disguise Lucas was in dangerous territory.

I loved this attraction – I thought it was really well done and definitely fits nicely alongside the classic dark rides.

Afterwards we met a young Mike in front of his dorm room. Lucas couldn't have cared less.

We’d heard great things about the Aladdin show, but unfortunately, there were no showings at all the entire time we were there. Apparently, they were going to be using the theatre to host some sort of red carpet event for the Lone Ranger. Pretty sure that was a waste of space!

We bypassed the Tower of Terror, seeking out more Lucas friendly rides. Well, hello there, Bug’s Land! Look at you! You’re perfectly tot-sized.

 

[HollyBelle]

Wanna know what my I-think-there-may-be-something-sticky-on-your-face mom look, looks like? Yep, there it is!

Just looking at these pictures makes me dizzy. Either Flik’s not messing around, or mama’s getting old. If you’re a betting man, I’d suggest putting money on the latter. Lucas seemed to enjoy it though. There may have even been a smile trying to creep out of him

Looking back at these pictures, I’m so ready to get back to the parks. Just in the 6 months since this trip, Lucas has become so much more animated. He still looks like a baby to me in these photos. But now he’s a full blown toddler, miming and mimicking every little thing we do and giggling nonstop at things that are silly. I absolutely cannot wait for him to experience all these attractions!

We checked out Francis’ Ladybug Boogie and Heimlich’s Chew Chew Train but didn’t want to wait in line for either, so we headed on out of Bugs Land.

Growing new teeth and smiling all the while...

Loving this view from Flik’s Fun Fair.

 

[HollyBelle]

And just like that, Bug’s Land spit us out onto the famed Route 66!

“C’mon ,dad, do we really have to instagram right this second?!”

The amount of time and energy poured into every little detail of Cars Land shows. There was a richness and authenticity that truly made me feel like I was walking on the set of the movie. It’s amazingness can’t be discounted... even if Cars 2 is the most cringe worthy Pixar film ever and Tow Mater is the most overrated Pixar character of all time. By the way, speaking of Mater, I was happy to NOT see him at every turn. {Present day Lucas would disagree with me on this point. We don’t like to talk about it around our house, but he’s a fan. I hold my husband accountable for introducing the little guy to Tall Tales with Mater.}

 

[HollyBelle]

We took our time taking in the sights on Route 66 and when we got to Radiator Springs Racers Brett hopped in line, while Lucas and I backtracked to an area just on the other side of Flo’s Café. After a quick bathroom break, we had a snack and I let Lucas run around a bit, getting out some energy. It was a great little out of the way place for him to stretch his legs.

And then he promptly fell asleep as soon as I put him back in his stroller!

It wasn’t long before Brett met back up with me and we switched off. He strolled around while the little man slept and I skipped off towards Radiator Springs Racers. I’d say the single rider wait was approximately 25 minutes, or so. Not bad at all.

I enjoyed the ride immensely. Much more than Test Track, but I find that it’s not a fair comparison. RSR was designed to anchor a well themed land rife with details and it is grounded, quite literally, by a backdrop that gives it a grand sense of presence. On the other hand, Test Track serves the purpose of teaching us about motion and took the place of a former attraction in Epcot which is supposedly all about learning and technology. Totally different vibe. And I’m all about being immersed in the “feeling” associated with a story or ride so Radiator Springs Racers wins hands down based on this alone. I also appreciated the use of technology not necessarily for technology’s sake but to actually enhance portions of the ride. Kudos to the imagineers on that one!

And kudos to us for attraction related progress. And if I haven’t mentioned this before... three cheers for single rider lines!

 

[HollyBelle]

Next up... Paradise Pier!

Word had it a world-renowned conductor was in the area so we hung out for a few minutes, drank up the Paradise Pier ambiance (and some juice) and waited for the show to begin.

There’s the man of the hour!