Who Wants a Churro?: A trip to the West Coast!

Introductions & Day 1!

Hello and welcome to my first official trip report! After a long time lurking and reading everybody else’s wonderful trip reports, I decided to join in on the fun! It’s a little crazy that I’m starting off with a Disneyland Trip Report since I’ve been to WDW at least 45 times in my life, but oh well!

Who: Me, TrolleyFollower91 (also known as Emily in the non-Disney community) and my mom, Tuvalu. We are huge WDW fans and take trips multiple times a year. This time we left the Dad at home and took off for the West Coast!

Where: Disneyland Resort; Paradise Pier Hotel

When: March 4-9

Why: Why not? Unless you have been living under a rock for the past several years, Cars Land has recently opened at Disney California Adventure. We (well mostly I) decided that Spring Break would be a perfect time to go explore! It has been 8 years since our last jaunt to the West Coast, and I convinced my mom it was time to go again. I’m so sneaky J.

Shout-Out: Props to Tammy @Disneyfalcon for booking this trip, answering all out newbie questions, and going the extra mile to make sure our trip was a success! Public thanks!

Day 1
My dad drove us to the airport in time to catch our 9:35 a.m. flight to John Wayne/Santa Ana/Orange County Airport (seriously, I felt bad every time the flight attendant had to say that during the flight- SUCH a mouthful!). Everything went well and we landed at John Wayne a little early. We then made our way to baggage claim and out to catch the Disneyland Express! I must admit, we got a little lost but found our way to the ticket booth outside the terminal.

Ta-DA!

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While we were waiting, I took a picture of the luggage tag. We are AP holders at WDW, so the idea of getting luggage tags with a package purchase was a little foreign. Plus, it was Cars Land themed- SCORE! I just think it is so cute! J

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Our bus pulled up, and let me tell you that it was a little less magical than Magical Express. I always found it silly that people on ME complained that the bus wasn’t wrapped, but I now can empathize. We got a plain boring white bus. The drive to the Resort was short (less than 20 minutes), but we stopped at the Grand Californian and Disney Hotel first before arriving at Paradise Pier Hotel!

We’ve stayed at the other two resorts, so this trip we decided to complete the trifecta! We checked in with a helpful cast member who informed us that our room was ready. SCORE #2! We went up to check out our room and drop off our luggage. We were so impressed when we walked in! The room was beautiful and fun. Plus it was BIG! I would say it was around the same size as the Poly rooms.

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Plus, we splurged and went with a Theme Park View Room!

Oh, hey there Paradise Pier and Cars Land!

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Disneyfalcon

Well-Known Member
Aren't the bread bowls amazing? My kids buy the sour dough every time, just to munch on in the park.

That time change kills me too. I'm moving closer this summer though, so no more time change problems for me! :D

Your pictures are taking me back!

Best day ever?!!! I can't wait!!
 

TrolleyFollower91

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Aren't the bread bowls amazing? My kids buy the sour dough every time, just to munch on in the park.

That time change kills me too. I'm moving closer this summer though, so no more time change problems for me! :D

Your pictures are taking me back!

Best day ever?!!! I can't wait!!

Those bread bowls are so good! And yay for moving closer! Except will that mean you'll be further from WDW? :confused: I guess there's never a perfect place to live :D.

Man...I always get Hungry reading the Tr's ..That Fried Chicken looks insane!! Gotta try it!! Great tr!!

My mom said it was some of the best fried chicken she'd ever had, and unfortunately didn't let me try some :eek:. Thanks for reading!
 

TrolleyFollower91

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Day 3: What could be the best day ever!

We awoke to bright, sunny, blue skied California! I had read that crystal blue mornings are very rare in Disneyland, so we were really excited with this great weather! We ate muffins that we had bought in the Jolly Holiday Bakery in the room and then walked to the Grand Californian. It was EMH for California Adventure. Once in the park, we walked to the right to head to Cars Land. I guess we took the correct route because no one walked that way with us. It wasn’t until we arrived in Radiator Springs that we saw the mass of people coming from Buena Vista Street!

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We immediately got in line for Radiator Springs Racers. We noticed this trip that Disneyland implements a lot of stacking techniques, and this was definitely the case for RSR! We would stand still for a couple minutes and then all of a sudden move a lot all at once. I, of course, took the time to take some more pictures!

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This place could not get much more photogenic!

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We waited about 30 minutes to ride RSR and loved it even more! I literally cannot get over the technology in the ride. Words cannot describe the experience. From there we went for another ride on Luigi’s Flying Tires. We ended up getting really good at steering our tire. We didn’t like to bump other tires; we waited for open straightaways and then gunned it across the track! :p

After we got off, I mentioned to my mom how Luigi sounded like Antonio from Wings (we watch the reruns all the time and Antonio is our favorite character). Later my mom was reading the Unofficial Guide and it turns out Tony Shalhoub is the voice! :eek: Let me tell you we loved that ride even more after learning that!

From there I took a solo spin on Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree. My mom doesn’t like things that could possibly make her dizzy. It was fun (a little less fun riding by yourself) but the song that Mater sings every time the ride starts gets old really quickly. It’s a cute ride but definitely not worth the wait times.

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By now the park was open to the public, so we headed towards Paradise Pier. I grabbed a fastpass for California Screamin’ and then we got in line for Toy Story Midway Mania. The line said 15 minutes, but it was definitely much longer. We noticed on this trip that Disneyland usually correctly guesses or underestimates the wait times. We’re used to WDW where the sign is always longer than the actual wait time. If a Disneyland attraction said 20 minutes, it would for sure take 20 minutes.

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Anyways, my mom is super competitive and usually blows the rest of my family out of the water on TSMM. Her arm can pull the slingshot ten times as fast as a normal human being. Sometimes in WDW she has the “Best Score of the Day” and she doesn’t use any tricks or cheat codes. Wouldn’t you know who won our ride in DCA?

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That’s right- ME! :D It wasn’t by a lot, but I was sure proud of myself!!

I think this part of the exit is so cute- a mini game! (Or the game you play in?)

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TrolleyFollower91

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
We took a spin on the stationary side of Mickey’s Fun Wheel. It would have been a lot more fun if they hadn’t stuck an older gentlemen riding by himself in the cage with us! Oh well, the views were still great.

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Cars racing around the track!

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When we got off, I begged my mom to get something to eat. She wanted to try Cocina Cucamonga in Pacific Wharf. I went with the beef soft tacos and she got chicken. Man, were those tacos delicious! Nom Nom Nom! Plus we got to eat on real plates, which was a nice bonus. However, they don’t tell you where to put them when you’re done so we left them on a trashcan. Hopefully that was okay.

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The tacos were a little zingy, so naturally we had to go for some ice cream. The previous night we had passed Clarabelle’s on Buena Vista Street and were intrigued by the menu. After looking it over, my mom decided to go with one of the hand-dipped bars and I went with the cookie sundae. We took it into the sitting area adjoining the Starbucks and devoured the ice cream!

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The bar was chocolate ice cream, dark chocolate coating, and semi-sweet chocolate morsels! OM NOM NOM!!

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The cookie sundae was good, but far inferior to the chocolate bar.

We waddled out of Clarabelle’s right as the Newsboys were coming down the street in the Red Car Trolley. I’m a sucker for trolley shows, so I just had to stop and watch. I think the part that amazed me the most was that the singers actually sung. Almost every show in WDW (besides the Dapper Dans) has the characters lip sync. It was a great show!

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Look who showed up!

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See ya real soon!

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TrolleyFollower91

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
From there we decided to see the wait time for Soarin’ Over California. Right across the way, Minnie’s Fly Girls were starting their show. It was cute, but not nearly as good as the Newsboys.

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Welcome, Minnie!

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We then laughed as we literally walked on Soarin’. Never in a million years could you do that at WDW, even at park opening. And you know what? It was SO much better in California. Not only because there wasn’t any dust on the screen (and no, I’m not starting that argument), you’re actually IN California. Plus, I didn’t have to wait a million years to ride it. I don’t necessarily agree that it is worth an hour plus wait in WDW, so this wait was perfect.

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We knew we wanted to see the Aladdin show, so we hopped on Monsters, Inc. while walking to the Hyperion Theater. We LOVED Monsters. I think the whole taxi looked at me so strangely when I laughed hysterically through the whole thing (“It picked me up with its mind powers and shook me like a doll!”)

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After that we walked towards the theater. We had seen this show when it first opened, and we got a seat in the balcony. We wanted to sit there again expecting the magic carpet to fly. However, I guess due to the lack of crowds they only filled the Orchestra. We got good seats and kept looking up to see the carpet during “A Whole New World.” The carpet never flew. It was so disappointing! We thought it was due to no one sitting in the balcony, but we talked to a cast member later who said the carpet hadn’t flown since before Christmas! That’s just not cool DCA!

The show was still good, though I think the Genie went a little overboard with the pop culture jokes. We get it, Kim Kardashian is having a baby.

Once the show let out, we high-tailed it over to Tower of Terror. I remembered from before that you didn’t ride through the 5th dimension scene, but the overall ride this time was a little disappointing. The loading process seemed very inefficient (surprise, surprise) and I was less immersed in the Twilight Zone experience for some reason.

After exiting, we saw the Red Car Trolley ready to take a trip down Buena Vista Street, so we hopped on board!

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From there we went for a ride on Goofy’s Sky School. My mom loved this as Mulholland Madness, but according to her this ride was different. Maybe it was because we had to sit in the back of the car behind some people who could use some deodorant, if you catch my drift. After that, we took a dive under the sea on Ariel’s Undersea Adventure. We have ridden this in WDW and don’t understand the criticism. We think it is such a neat ride and very enjoyable. We gave the cue line in WDW a big thumb’s up in comparison to DCA.
 

TrolleyFollower91

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
After that, it was time to exit the park and head to the Grand Californian for our dinner reservations at Storyteller’s Café.

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We loved this restaurant on our last trip, and this trip did not disappoint. We both opted to do the buffet, which had wonderful items such as roasted turkey and roast beef on the carving board. I also enjoyed the tortellini, mac and cheese, and mini chocolate cupcakes for dessert.

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I really wanted to go back into Cars Land to see it lit up at night, but my mom was tired and wanted to turn in for the night. Being the great daughter that I am, I agreed :D . We watched World of Color from our beds again, this time singing along to the score and anticipating the different moves of the fountains!

So why is it the best day ever, you ask? While it may seem that we had average experiences, it was just a day where the timing worked out. The wait times were never long and we just really fell into a groove. We came away from the day satisfied, had beautiful weather, and just enjoyed being together. I know the quality time I spend with my mom is only going to get less in the next several years due to Graduation around the corner, and I loved having her all to myself this trip.

Up next: Disneyland morning, round 2!
 

flynnibus

Premium Member
The carpet no longer flies in Aladdin due to the failures they had with it. It had numerous failures previously that caused it to get stuck and not move at times... but the last time it actually flipped over trapping the actors up there for awhile and freaking quite a few people out (they were strapped in so no injuries). But since then.. no flying carpet :(
 

TheMouseFan

Well-Known Member
I'm loving this report! I want to go to Disneyland so badly, but unfortunately I don't see it happening in the near future, so I have to live vicariously through other people's TRs. Can't wait to read more!!
 

TrolleyFollower91

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
The carpet no longer flies in Aladdin due to the failures they had with it. It had numerous failures previously that caused it to get stuck and not move at times... but the last time it actually flipped over trapping the actors up there for awhile and freaking quite a few people out (they were strapped in so no injuries). But since then.. no flying carpet :(

Okay, that totally would have freaked me out! It's still a bummer. If it's never going to fly again, then they should put Aladdin and Jasmine on the stage during the part where they used to be flying. When we saw it, their voices sang the song but they were no where to be seen!

I'm loving this report! I want to go to Disneyland so badly, but unfortunately I don't see it happening in the near future, so I have to live vicariously through other people's TRs. Can't wait to read more!!

Thank you for reading! And Disneyland should be on your short list of things to do- it will not disappoint. I hope you get there soon! :)
I want that cookie sundae now :)

I know right? I actually got it with chocolate ice cream the next day and it was so much better. They say Dreyer's and Edy's are the same, but Dreyer's chocolate ice cream is SO much better! :D
 

DisneyPrincess5

Well-Known Member
Ooooooooo I'm enjoying this! We're strongly contemplating making our first trip out in 2014 so this is helpful and exciting! Thanks so much for sharing. So interesting to hear about their entry system. That does sound pretty inefficient.
 

TrolleyFollower91

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Ooooooooo I'm enjoying this! We're strongly contemplating making our first trip out in 2014 so this is helpful and exciting! Thanks so much for sharing. So interesting to hear about their entry system. That does sound pretty inefficient.

Do it! :) You will not be disappointed! The entry system is bad when you're used to the WDW system that continually gets more efficient with the RFID technology. We just decided Californians must be so much more laid back than East Coasters ;)
 

TrolleyFollower91

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Day 3: Is that popcorn??

This morning we awoke to cloudy skies and wet ground. I guess it had rained during the night! It was at this time we began to joke that it was always cloudy in Disneyland and sunny in California Adventure. Whenever we went to Disneyland there were grey skies, but if we hopped to DCA the sun would come out. This remained true for the length of our stay!

We decided to have breakfast at La Brea Bakery in Downtown Disney. We ate here on our last trip and my brother loved it, so we wanted to tell him we ate there. We’re really thoughtful, I know. Neither of us was particularly hungry, so we decided to split a chocolate muffin and a cinnamon roll. Each of us got a bottle of apple juice. Our mouths almost hit the floor when the cashier told us it would be $18! :eek: I know California is expensive, but for a cold breakfast? That’s a little ridiculous.

After we finished our breakfast made of gold (which was good, but not enough to spend $18 again!), we headed to EMH at Disneyland. At WDW, we avoid EMH like the plague because the park gets too crowded too soon. At Disneyland, the regular operating hours didn’t have the park opening until 10 AM which meant that EMH was 9 AM. We are get-up-and-go type of people, so we didn’t want to hang around the hotel until 10 when we got up at 7. The crowds at EMH definitely weren’t bad either, plus in DCA it gave us a jump on Cars Land attractions.

When we walked down Main Street, the park was practically empty- so strange to us!

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I guess they let us in a few minutes early because they stopped us at the hub for a few minutes.

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When they let us in officially, we headed through the castle to Fantasyland with the hopes of riding Peter Pan’s Flight. The line was mobbed when we got there, so we quickly changed our Plan of Action to ride Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride.

I have fond memories of WDW’s Mr. Toad when I was young. I loved “driving” the car and pretending it was going crazy. When my mom and I stepped out of the car after the ride was over, we were less than impressed. First of all, we didn’t really know the story, and second of all we didn’t remember it being that “dark.” Getting hit by a train and driving through Hell is a little uncomfortable for me! My mom says that she remembers the WDW being more whimsical then demonic.

After that, we hopped on our favorite ride Alice in Wonderland and then walked to Tomorrowland. I walked on Space Mountain (that cue line is SO LONG!) and then we walked over to the Nemo Submarines. When they call this attraction “slow loading” they aren’t kidding. It took forever to get onto the boat. I took some pictures to pass the time:

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TrolleyFollower91

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
When we got on the boat, I was surprised how tiny the porthole was. Plus, I had to duck down to see it, and I’m not that tall. The ride was cute, very similar to The Seas at WDW, but I wouldn't wait a long time for it. I wanted the fish to break out into a round of “In the Big Blue World!”

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After we got off Nemo, we walked back to the Storyland Canal Boats. It was one of our longer waits, probably around 25 minutes. I didn’t see a wait time, maybe I missed it?

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Took some pictures of the teacups while in line:

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(earlier in the week we saw a family with Mom, Dad, Preschooler, and 3 month old on the teacups :eek:)

The boats:

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Casey Junior's comin' down the track, comin' down the track, with a smokey stack:

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We had a great boat driver who told us that each driver’s spiel is different. She incorporated the stories of the movies along with interesting facts (such as Walt personally planting the flowers along the ride).

Agrabah:

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The Seven Dwarf's Cottage:

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Toad Hall:

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When we got back into dock, we all had to stand up at the same time so the boat didn’t capsize. Gosh, that made me feel really safe. :rolleyes:
 

TrolleyFollower91

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
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Our one goal for the day was to meet Mickey and get a Photopass picture with him. We headed to Toontown assuming that he would be in his house and that there would be a Photopass photographer to take our picture. The sign said 15 minutes and we figured his house was the cue line. We were wrong. Mickey was standing in the entry way of his house! And there was no Photopass photographer, just a regular cast member complaining about when to take his lunch break. I had to ask him if he could take our picture. It was just not a magical experience. :(

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We then had to walk through his house to find the exit, and his house lays out very much like a cue line. Plus, it has signs all over saying “continue this way to meet Mickey” and “You’re almost to Mickey!” and then dumps you in a giant room with photography lights. That room was CLEARLY made for Mickey, I have no idea why he was greeting guests in the Foyer.


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After our run in with the mouse, we rode Rodger Rabbit’s Cartoon Spin. At the end of our trip, my mom asked me my biggest disappointing attraction. I answered, “Rodger Rabbit” and she quickly agreed! It, again, lacked a story and kind of gave me the creeps. It felt like an attraction that would be at Universal, not Disney.

We then quickly left Toontown and headed to lunch. We wanted to eat at the Carnation Café in anticipation of the sundaes we had eaten there years prior. :D

As we walked pass the Matterhorn to get to Main Street, we noticed a man on the ride EATING POPCORN. Not in the cue line- in the bobsled waiting to pull into the loading dock. :eek: Apparently, in Disneyland you can eat anywhere. In WDW, you must finish everything before even entering the cue line. When we were on the Storybook Land Canal Boats, the people behind us asked if they had to throw away their coffee before getting on the boat. The cast member just shrugged and looked like they were crazy- of course they could take it on! We also saw a cast member tell a group of girls who were sucking on lollypops that they could keep them while on the ride, they just couldn’t put it in their mouths. Uh, okay?

It was such a treat to walk into a table service restaurant with no reservations and be seated promptly. We even had the opportunity to choose whether we wanted to eat inside or out!

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As you can see, we picked the inside.

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My mom had a turkey sandwich on a pretzel roll and I had the cheeseburger. It comes with a “house sauce.” I inquired our waiter what it was, and he told me it was mayo and ranch mixed together. I said I would have it on the burger, but he put it in on the side so I could try it without ruining the burger if I didn’t like it. I thought that was really thoughtful.

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It ended up being really good, and I did put some on my burger. By the end of the meal, our mouths were seriously craving some ice cream sundaes. Our waiter brought over the dessert tray, but to our dismay there was only cake and pie on it! No more sundaes? So sad!

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We then wandered up Main Street into Adventureland.

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The entrances of Adventureland and Frontierland are so close together!

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We rode Jungle Cruise, which we both loved. We had a great skipper and the jokes were a little different than in WDW. I also liked riding by Indiana Jones. Speaking of, we rode that next and accidently looked into Mara’s eye.

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We continued our walk up into Liberty Square and rode Pirates of the Caribbean and Haunted Mansion. Then we decided to do some Main Street Shops. We looked at the merchandise, but my mom could tell I was grumpy so we decided to go get some ice cream.

Guess where we ended up?
 

TrolleyFollower91

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
That’s right- CLARABELLE’S! My mom got the Chocolate bar again and I got a hot fudge sundae with chocolate ice cream this time. That Dreyer’s chocolate ice cream = SLURP!

Instagrammin’ love:

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We then walked to the Animation Building to see the world famous zoetrope! I had read about it on Tammy’s prior trip reports and told my mom that I really wanted to see it. I could just tell she didn’t really believe me that it would be cool. Guess who was wrong?

More Instagrammin’:

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For those who don’t know, it basically is like a 3-D flip book. Youtube it- you won’t be sorry.

After that we heard the announcement that Turtle Talk with Crush was about to start, so we headed on in. It ended up being like twice as long as the show in Florida! He even did more “planned” segments, such as the Buzz Lightyear doll and Dory getting squished by the whale.

We then headed into the “Sorcerer’s Workshop” because the sign made us really curious.

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The first room looked like Beast’s Library and it had an interactive book that told you what Disney character you were both like. My mom and I both got Mrs. Incredible. Sounds about right considering I slept through that movie.

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The next room had these spinny things that neither my mom nor I could figure out. Anyone know? The last room was like the exit to Sounds Dangerous- you put your voice into a movie clip. We may have belted out Hakuna Matata.

After we left the Animation Building, we had to go across the street to visit our favorite Monsters. Then it was onto Paradise Pier! First up, the Golden Zephyr!

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Then we were one of the only adults on Jumpin’ Jellyfish. That ride was really fun!

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Hello, hotel!

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TrolleyFollower91

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
When we got off of that, we took a jaunt under the sea. The parade was getting ready to come by, so we exited back down by Grizzly River Runs through the Grand Californian.

We went back to the room for a bit and then went back to Earl of Sandwich for dinner! :cool: :slurp: It’s a really good thing that we only eat there at Disney! We went back to DCA because we wanted to see Cars Land lit up at night. We waited for them to turn the lights on and expected something like the Osborne lights. Alas, some music played and they slowly came on. Didn’t have the “wow” factor, but still neat.

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We then strolled our way down the road, stopping in some gift stores on the way. I may be a proud owner of a Cozy Cone sweatshirt and my mom picked up a Luigi’s shirt. :D

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And there may have been another spin on his tires!

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After that, we called it a night and went back to our room. Viewed World of Color in our pj’s! I just love that.

Up next: It never rains in Southern California?
 

TrolleyFollower91

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Day 5: It never rains in Southern California? Are you sure?

We have never been able to see Fantasmic! on prior trips to the DLR, and we really wanted to see it. In fact, we extended our trip by a day because it only plays Friday, Saturday, and Sunday during the off times of the year. We never are impressed with the WDW version, but everyone tells us how superior DLR’s version is, so we knew we had to do anything we could to see it. That being said, I had read that locals tend to come to the park and wait hours in advance to see the show. I didn’t know how much time we would have and I really didn’t want to wait, so I booked the Fantasmic Dessert Package for my mom’s birthday. The price is a bit steep, but I figured it would be worth it for the seats, prime viewing, and not having to wait for the show.

Fast forward six weeks to the week of our trip. Friday night (the night we had tickets) had a 90% chance of rain. :eek: To say that we were worried of them cancelling the show is an understatement. We knew that if Tom Sawyer Island got too wet, they would cancel the show for performer’s safety. The whole week we had been praying the show would not be cancelled!

When we woke up that morning, there was a beautiful blue sky! We were overjoyed. We got some breakfast from the makeshift counter service restaurant at the hotel bar and were on our way for our last morning in DCA! First up: of course we went to Radiator Springs Racers!

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We actually got stopped on the ride next to Doc Hudson, so I was able to snag some pictures:

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Luigi and Guido cheer us on!

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Then, naturally we took a ride on Luigi’s Flying Tires! We hoofed it down to the RSR Fastpass machines and scored one for after lunch. Then we hoofed it back to ride RSR as single riders!! I tell ya, we wanted to ride all the times we possible could!

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After that, we decided to walk to Soarin’ because who wouldn’t want to walk on that ride? We then crossed the park, did some shopping, and rode Monsters inc. My mom decided that after Luigi’s this was her favorite ride. In fact, she made me ride it again.:rolleyes: And the cast members recognized us and wondered why two adult women were riding the ride back to back. Love ya, Mom! :)
 

TrolleyFollower91

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
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Now for some great news- Flo had worked out the issues with her new dish machine and was open for business! Hello great lunch!

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We loved the great ambiance of the restaurant.

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Both of us had the pork loin with Coke flavored BBQ sauce with the roasted corn. I had the pasta salad while my mom got the mashed potatoes. She got the turkey gravy on the side and it was wonderful! The gravy was literally just like my grandmother’s- so good she was a little disappointed she didn’t get the turkey entrée. The pork loin was still good, though the Coke flavoring wasn’t really in the sauce. I’m a self-ordained BBQ enthusiast, and it didn’t exactly live up to my favorites.

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It was when we were in Flo’s that a huge dark cloud started to overtake Cars Land. And then it started raining *sigh*- please stop for the Fantasmic show!

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Since the rain was depressing, what better way to be cheered up than with Clarabelle’s? This time we both had the Chocolate Bar. :D Just to remind you what it looks like:

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