# "I Think I Might Be a Disneyland Person!" - Feb. 2016 ~ Updated 2/19/21: TR Complete!!!



## Dugette

*Hi, everybody!  I am SOOOO excited to finally start this Trip Report!  (I’ve been waiting about 16 months to do so, as I finished up prior reports.) As some of you may know, we are a family of Disney World veterans, but had the opportunity to tack a Disneyland trip onto my husband's work retreat in Palm Springs, CA. We had a fantastic time, as you may gather from the title, and we are pretty much dying to go back (but, alas, too many other travel plans to squeeze it in at the moment ).

Who are we?

I’m “Dugette”, married to “Dug” since 2005, and our daughter Izzy was born in late 2012, so was 3 years old on this February 2016 adventure. Here we are at arrival:





She was a little grumpy in that one, as she wanted to get into the park and not waste time taking pictures , so here are a few happier ones:













As background, Dug and I had each been to Disneyland twice before. I went as a teenager, along with my dad and step-mom, for one day:





Dug went as a kid with his uncle and distinctly remembers falling asleep in his pizza at the end of their day there. Then, back in 2006, we had an opportunity to go for another day with Dug’s sister and her husband (“Kay” and “Jay”, if you read my recent Hawaii TR), as they were living out in Burbank at the time. Here we are, about a decade younger:*





*We had a great time back then, despite the cold day, and pretty much covered the entire park commando-style as Kay and Jay knew their way around and were great guides. 

So, with that experience behind me, why did I utter the title of this report, “I think I might be a Disneyland person!” during this trip?  A few reasons, I think:

1.)  No need to waste time in transport! Just walk right over to a park, even from our offsite hotel. I hate wasting time. This was SOOOO nice. And easy to run back to the room. And park-hopping was amazing too. And the lower amount of walking in general was so much better for Dug’s bad back. And no folding up the stroller to get on the bus over and over! This was all BIG to me. 

2.)  So many novel things. After making oodles of trips to WDW, it was super fun to experience some new/different attractions and, in a way, it felt like the first time all over again. I think this was a major factor for me as well – I was giddy about the new stuff, like Cars Land. I still am, actually. 

3.)  The old-fashioned Fast Pass system worked out pretty favorably for us, along with the Rider Swaps since we had a less-than-40-incher. We covered a lot of attractions with very few long-ish waits. And I also considered naming this report, “Floor Full of Fast Passes”. 

4.)  The weather! No daily thunderstorms or unbearable humidity. It actually was unseasonably hot part of the time we were there, but it didn’t feel bad at all. 

I think there were a few other factors that came into play (like great food options), but those are the main things that really stood out to me. I find myself REALLY wanting to go back now because Izzy wasn’t 40 inches yet on this trip, but is over that now and could do Radiator Springs Racers.  And she is much more interested in the Avengers version of Tower of Terror than the WDW one that scared her. And I’d love to get back while the cheap offsite hotels still have quick park access, as I hear that may change with an impending parking structure.  Dug does have more work things coming in southern California, though, so if I manage to get an extra $2k or so to fall into my lap , I’d love to return. So would Izzy. And Mommy wants to make her kid’s dream come true. Hoping that writing this report will help cure some of the I-want-to-jump-on-a-plane-to-Disneyland-right-now fever, as I get to relive the fun we had.

But, don’t worry, we still consider WDW our Disney “home.” We’re going back there in October, actually (and have Annual Passes). But we definitely want to return to Disneyland, as I guess it’s now our home-away-from-“home”. And, of course, it’s special to be in the place where all the magic began. 

And, with that, let’s begin the magic…

Chapter Links
Day 1 - Friday, February 5th*
* Flying Towards the Fun
Where's the Bubble?*
* Earl of Sandwich
The Original Main Street
Crossing the Park
So Much Fried Food!
Late Night Adventures

Day 2 - Saturday, February 6th
 Breakfast with Critters - Part 1
Breakfast with Critters - Part 2
Dancing with Daisy
Being Bugs
Monsters, Bugs, and a Tower
Going Hollywood
Ariel's Grotto
A Princess Processional
Squirrel!
 Racing to Dinner
Cars Land at Night
This is the Night

Day 3 - Sunday, February 7th
Exploring Toontown - Part 1*
*Exploring Toontown - Part 2
Visiting Minnie in the Garden
Visiting all the Toon Houses
Cheering Eeyore and Tiny Towns
Awkwardly Visiting Trader Sam's
Fantasyland Fun!
Another Magical Evening*

*Day 4 - Monday, February 8th
Toy Story Stampede - DL Version
Woody and/or Jessie
Dining at Blue Bayou
Paint the Night

Day 5 - Tuesday, February 9th
Morning Magic
Breakfast at Minnie's
More Fun Visitors - Part 1
More Fun Visitors - Part 2
Dole Whip and More
From the Castle to Wonderland
Life Could be a Dream
A Fortunate Find*

*Day 6 - Wednesday, February 10th*
*Surf's Up! - Part 1
Surf's Up! - Part 2*


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## Dugette

*Flying Towards the Fun*
*
I mentioned in the introduction that Dug had a work retreat in Palm Springs that we’d tacked this trip onto. So, he was already in California when Izzy and I were getting ready to go. We timed it so that we’d arrive the day his event ended, so he could drive up from Palm Springs, pick us up at the airport (John Wayne), then we could have a relaxed afternoon/evening together at Disneyland (on a "3" crowd day ). So, he has lovely pictures like this of the evening before our travel day:



















Meanwhile, I was home alone with Izzy all week (well, I was going to work and her to daycare, but you know what I mean). The week actually went pretty well and I was feeling fairly good the night before our morning flight out. I’d finished packing and even cleaned the house decently.  I put Izzy to bed and she wasn’t happy about it, but I think it was normal for her at the time to cry a bit , then fall asleep. So, I went and took a shower before bed and came out to find she was still wailing.  Because I am nothing if not a detailed Trip Reporter, I have video (okay, I actually took it to send to Dug for some sympathy ):



(click to watch if you enjoy tantrums )

I tried to tune it out, as I knew she was okay and just needed to sleep, but after a while, she was still going strong and it was approaching 11pm.  So, I went in for negotiations. It turns out that she desperately wanted to play with her little “letter computer” toy. I cut her a deal of two minutes of play and then she had to go to sleep. Thankfully, it worked! 

I was awake around 6am the next morning. Checked the forecast for our trip and it looked about perfect (though actually got over 90, I’m pretty sure):





Note the warning about a Wind Advisory. This comes up later. 

I got myself ready and woke Izzy about 6:45am. She was very sleepy, not a surprise given the night prior  :





I got her up and we did one of her favorite things, which is dressing like “twins”. We actually did this the other day, as she has enacted “Stripe Day” around here, at her whim.  So, we both had our black and white striped shirts on today:





As you can see, I think she got distracted by her toys and was generally hard to move along, but we did eventually get in the car:





I had her lightweight travel car seat tossed in there and she is in the regular car seat, in case you’re wondering what that thing is. 

We left about 10-15 minutes behind schedule, but I wasn’t too concerned, as I had a buffer built into my timeline.  Unfortunately, that buffer got eaten up when I hit unexpectedly heavy traffic on the way to Kay and Jay’s house  (parking there and getting ride to nearby airport). I tried to exit and get around the worst of the back-up, but made a wrong turn and my GPS kept trying to get me to go the wrong way and there was a bunch of construction that blocked left turns toward their house, so we wasted a lot of time to basically end up where we started in traffic. Ugh. 

When we did get to their house, Kay hopped into our car with plans to drive it back home from the airport to stay in their driveway until we returned. Love that they always do this for us! She mentioned that she had a work trip to LA that almost lined up with ours, but not quite (I think it was right after ours?) Would have been fun to spend time with them at Disneyland again. 

We had gotten our tickets free with miles from our Flexperks cards and the flights were on Delta. The nice thing about that is we also have Delta AmEx cards that give you one free checked bag for each person in your party just for having the card. And Flexperks gives you a $25 credit per ticket for any flight-day purchases from the airline. So, since we don’t have to pay for bags, we use the credit for in-flight snacks. (Dug’s company paid for his flights, thanks to his work retreat.) The FlexPerks card also gave me free wifi.  

Anyway, we arrived at the airport and Kay dropped us off. I checked in with the skycap and got our two checked bags taken care of before heading inside. I had also lucked out and gotten TSA pre-check on my ticket (this was prior to us getting Global Entry). For once, security was easy and friendly, even giving Izzy an honorary TSA sticker:






We made a quick stop at the La Brea Bakery because it didn’t have a line and had milk. Once we obtained Izzy’s beverage of choice for the flight, we made it to our gate and took a seat, waiting for boarding to start.

And that was when I got the second text on this screenshot, telling us we’d been delayed 45 minutes:





The nice thing is that this 45 minute delay on the front end was only expected to delay our arrival by 20 minutes, so that was reasonable.

It also gave us time to eat our breakfast before boarding. I’d gotten some free bagels with some promo that Bruegger’s had the prior day, so I brought them with:





Yum! This was such a relaxed airport experience compared to what I’ve come to expect. Everything went smoothly, we had plenty of time, etc. 

A peek back at our gate area:





We made a quick potty run before boarding time, then went up to the desk to get a gate check tag for the stroller. Izzy insisted on wearing her own backpack this flight, which was helpful:





Because we were on Delta and had a car seat we intended to use on the plane, we were able to pre-board, which is always nice. And, with Izzy carrying her backpack, I only had to carry my small bag, the lightweight car seat, and the bagged stroller down to the plane. We dropped off the stroller, got on, and got the car seat secured. It was about 10am at this point (MN time):





Well, now that I see the screen shot above, I am realizing how much I don’t miss my old iPhone 5 – the battery power would just randomly jump down to near-depleted.  Thank goodness I inherited Dug’s 6 Plus now. (I must have used a portable charger on the plane for that old phone.)

Dug was apparently enjoying a morning walk in Palm Springs at this time:













While he wandered, we got comfortable on the plane, waiting to depart. Izzy enjoyed some milk from her Thermos. I got her set up with the iPad and headphones as well:









As you can see, Purple Minnie joined us for this trip too (she got to go to Hawaii the previous month as well).

While we were waiting for our delayed flight to get going, Dug got a ride over to the Palm Springs airport’s car rental counter and picked up our 1-day reservation from Alamo. He would be driving up to John Wayne Airport to pick us up when we eventually landed. We took off about 10:30am, but still had an 11:50am planned arrival, so not enough of an issue to cause Dug any logistical problems in picking us up.

Since we had that $25/each FlexPerks credit to use, we cashed in $16 of it for some snacks now with plans to save the remainder for the return flight (that Dug would be on with us). We got a fruit and cheese tray:





Someone couldn’t wait to dig their little fingers in, I guess.  Oh, you can see it better here:





We also got a snack box that we packed away for later. And I enjoyed a free can of Diet Coke. 

While we were enjoying this:





Dug was checking the rental car for any scratches and such:





When I first saw that picture, I thought he was just doing some sort of creative shot.  

Once Dug got on his way, he stopped off at Target for some supplies we wanted for the week and some cash (love that you can pay with the Target Debit Card and get cash back – I cannot remember the last time I had to use an ATM):









Nice to see the pretty scenery in the background.

Looks like I pulled out something for Izzy to do:





Overall, we had a really pleasant flight. Izzy was well-behaved and fairly low maintenance. We had a friendly guy next to us who didn’t mind at all when we had to get past him to take a restroom break (and I think he might have been going to Disneyland too). I even got to read our Unofficial Guide to Disneyland:





Almost there:









It was indeed VERY windy as we got into the LA area (remember that Wind Advisory?) The guy next to me commented, as the plane bopped around, that this was our “first ride” and I responded that it was wilder than anything at Disney. I don’t love flying, but I’ve done it enough to stay calm even though I am somewhat terrified, so that’s what I did. I was definitely worried about a rough landing, though. And, though it was nerve-wracking still being tossed around in the wind as we descended, we did land safely. Whew!

We waited until the plane cleared out before departing. I find that removing the car seat and then lugging all those things down the aisle while coaching a toddler on where to go is easier without an impatient line behind us. Once we got off the plane, our stroller was waiting for us (another reason we didn’t need to rush off – just to wait for it to appear). Izzy carried her own backpack again:





We got the stroller set up and tossed all our things in it (Izzy wanted to keep walking). Made our way down to the baggage claim:





I grabbed the checked bags (luckily, both were easy to roll together with one hand) and we went out to meet Dug, who had arrived to pick us up. It was crowded out there, so we had to walk down a bit to get to a spot he could pull over. Then we hopped in (well, installed the car seat and loaded the bags too) and hit the road:





It was strange for me to be the passenger. I almost always drive when we are together, but he was already behind the wheel and Alamo only had his license on file, so we let it be :





Don’t worry, Izzy was back there somewhere. I think we had some sort of SUV because it was actually the cheapest option.

I was loving seeing the snow-capped mountains in the distance:





Up next: We arrive at the hotel! And head to Downtown Disney for lunch! *


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## MeghanEmily

I'm here! I'm excited to see how your trip to DL went and to experience why you loved it so much. We'd love to get to DL sometime within the next few years


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## annie170

Thanks for the heads up!  Looking forward to reading about your trip.

The more Disneyland trip reports I read, the more I want to go!


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## jessrose18

yes! following.. never been to disneyland. been to the world 15 times.  love to see the differences


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## Verstehen

Long time lurker, first time responder! I'm so glad I found this at the start. Joining in!


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## amazingact21

I'm here! Excited to read about Disneyland. 
Not taking into account the hectic drive to the airport, it seemed like your departure day was pretty smooth. Your ease at lugging the car seat and stroller through security with a toddler was impressive. I can only hope to be that calm when I travel back to the states.


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## purplelover88

I'm here and can't wait to read about Disneyland as we plan to head out there next year for a change of pace from our many trips to Disney World. I hear a lot of people that like it more and I'm sort of worried I will too but we have to fly there and can drive to World so it will be interesting to compare the two.


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## tac08

Lurker here who's followed your WDW trip reports. I can't wait to read about your Disneyland trip.  I live in AZ, so we go to Disneyland almost yearly, and I've only been to WDW twice (although my third trip is already planned for October!).


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## TheMaxRebo

Here to follow along - got a bit worried by the title that you meant you would be fully converting to Disneyland and not be doing Walt Disney World any more, but then saw your line "But, don’t worry, we still consider WDW our Disney “home.” We’re going back there in October, actually (and have Annual Passes). But we definitely want to return to Disneyland" I think that is how I felt after our Disneyland trip - it confirmed that WDW is our home, but I would be up for another trip to Disneyland .... and actually thinking about one for 2019 connected tot he D23 event as I suspect there will be a bunch of things related to Star Wars Land at that point.

You always do so good maximizing your credit card benefits and coupons and stuff!

Seems like a really smooth flight - and definitely smart to just let everyone else clear out before you get off the plane with the car seat, etc.

good planning to have Dug pick you up at the airport like that - glad things worked out well ... and good to know that Izzy, was in fact, in the back seat of the car


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## Tracy161

I'm here, I'm here! Happy to be starting a TR with you, rather than catching up on one! 



Dugette said:


> And, of course, it’s special to be in the place where all the magic began.


It really is, isn't it?! 



Dugette said:


> We actually did this the other day, as she has enacted “Stripe Day” around here, at her whim.


Stripe Day?! I'm on board! At least half of my non-Disney wardrobe consists of stripes! 



Dugette said:


> And, with Izzy carrying her backpack, I only had to carry my small bag, the lightweight car seat, and the bagged stroller down to the plane.


Oh, is that all?!  But in all honesty, that's really good! I know how much my sister and brother-in-law travel with with their kids and I would say you were traveling lightly! 



Dugette said:


> When I first saw that picture, I thought he was just doing some sort of creative shot.






Dugette said:


> We waited until the plane cleared out before departing. I find that removing the car seat and then lugging all those things down the aisle while coaching a toddler on where to go is easier without an impatient line behind us.


Not your first rodeo, is it?  That would be my strategy as well - better to avoid the impatient masses.

Great start and I'm so happy to be along for another Dugette TR!


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## shairpdrh

Former trip report lurker and fellow Minnesotan joining in! Your daughter is a few years older than ours, so I love reading your reports to learn more about traveling with a little one.


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## afwdwfan

Looking forward to reading about your Disneyland experience!  I totally agree with you about how when you go, you just become a Disneyland person even if you're a Disney World "native."   Your points about how close things are and how it is the original just ring true to me in so many ways.  It feels so familiar, yet so very different.

It looks like things are off to a pretty good start.  Izzy seems to be a really good travel companion.  Getting through the airports and on the plane could be so much harder.


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## soniam

Ah, flying with a toddler. I don't miss that. Luckily, since my son was born before Izzy, we weren't always required to have a car seat for plane travel. So we didn't do it all the time. Can't wait to hear more. We have been once and are planning on going back next summer for a few days before we go to Aulani.


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## cindianne320

Here and ready to learn!


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## StarWarsMomofGirls!

I love the matching shirts! Glad you had a smooth flight. Flying by yourself.


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## schmass

I'm here!  I think I still need to finish reading your Hawaii TR, too!  I've been to DL once but loved it for all the reasons that you mentioned.  Plus, the DL Space Mountain is 100 times better than the WDW version.

Nice that you have a relatively short flight to get there.  It's such a long flight for us from Boston.

I'm glad that Izzy was a good travel companion and that you had a relaxed airport experience!


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## Frozen2014

Great report so far.  Your little girl is so sweet.


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## Jackiemarie21

So excited to read this one!  Sounds like a great start!  We spent one day there in 2005 and lived it.  We are planning to some day drive across country to Disneyland and check out the west.  Or course not while our kids are this young!


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## Dugette

MeghanEmily said:


> I'm here! I'm excited to see how your trip to DL went and to experience why you loved it so much. We'd love to get to DL sometime within the next few years


  I can't wait to share all the experiences with everyone. I keep on trying to come up with ways I can get back there soon for cheap. Hope you get out there as well!



annie170 said:


> Thanks for the heads up!  Looking forward to reading about your trip.
> 
> The more Disneyland trip reports I read, the more I want to go!


Haha, that's the problem with trip reports in general, isn't it? I mean, I was looking for information about the Wonder before we sailed on it to the Bahamas last February and looked for TRs...and they were all from its Alaskan voyages...so I read some and now I'm dying to go! 



jessrose18 said:


> yes! following.. never been to disneyland. been to the world 15 times.  love to see the differences


You made me count - I've got 16 WDW trips, 3 DLR, 2 Aulani, 2 Disney Cruise.  I've loved all of them and still consider WDW "the" place to go, but DLR is really pulling on my heart right now. I want to go back so badly!



Verstehen said:


> Long time lurker, first time responder! I'm so glad I found this at the start. Joining in!


 Thank you for joining in! I was a huge lurker here before I decided to jump in, but glad I did!



amazingact21 said:


> I'm here! Excited to read about Disneyland.
> Not taking into account the hectic drive to the airport, it seemed like your departure day was pretty smooth. Your ease at lugging the car seat and stroller through security with a toddler was impressive. I can only hope to be that calm when I travel back to the states.


Ha, well, I've had a little practice now. For a 4 year old, Izzy's done a LOT of flying. (Hmmm, another opportunity to count things.  6 FL, 1 CA, 2 Hawaii, 2 Portland, 1 NYC = 12 flights! ) I'm sure you'll do a great job! I mean, when your first ever flight is moving to Germany and bringing your dog and 2 young kids on the flight...well, it can only get easier from there. 



purplelover88 said:


> I'm here and can't wait to read about Disneyland as we plan to head out there next year for a change of pace from our many trips to Disney World. I hear a lot of people that like it more and I'm sort of worried I will too but we have to fly there and can drive to World so it will be interesting to compare the two.


Ah, yes, that would be challenging to have that travel discrepancy. For us, they both require a flight (or a major road trip) and both are approximately 3.25-4 hour flights. I will say that Disneyland doesn't have Epcot which is a big deal to me, but I really, really loved what they do have there.


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## Dugette

tac08 said:


> Lurker here who's followed your WDW trip reports. I can't wait to read about your Disneyland trip.  I live in AZ, so we go to Disneyland almost yearly, and I've only been to WDW twice (although my third trip is already planned for October!).


 to another lurker! I love it when lurkers say hi!  How cool that you get to Disneyland so often! I would love it, though I think it would be dangerous for me to be so close...I'd end up there every weekend and never have weekend time to clean or grocery shop.  When in October are you planning for WDW? We plan the 8th-14th, but still don't have airfare, so hopefully prices for those dates will drop.



TheMaxRebo said:


> Here to follow along - got a bit worried by the title that you meant you would be fully converting to Disneyland and not be doing Walt Disney World any more, but then saw your line "But, don’t worry, we still consider WDW our Disney “home.” We’re going back there in October, actually (and have Annual Passes). But we definitely want to return to Disneyland" I think that is how I felt after our Disneyland trip - it confirmed that WDW is our home, but I would be up for another trip to Disneyland .... and actually thinking about one for 2019 connected tot he D23 event as I suspect there will be a bunch of things related to Star Wars Land at that point.
> 
> You always do so good maximizing your credit card benefits and coupons and stuff!
> 
> Seems like a really smooth flight - and definitely smart to just let everyone else clear out before you get off the plane with the car seat, etc.
> 
> good planning to have Dug pick you up at the airport like that - glad things worked out well ... and good to know that Izzy, was in fact, in the back seat of the car


Haha, I couldn't NOT go back to WDW. Though, if I'm being honest, I would prefer our October trip be to Disneyland instead of WDW. But there's that whole free-WDW-room and APs thing that thinks otherwise.  But, obviously, I do love WDW...but Disneyland has its own special draw. 

I am actually working on getting better with maxing out various deals and credit card benefits (not to be confused with balances  no debt here). I'm honestly VERY lazy about these things compared to the people who are "really" into it. But I steal tips from them and implement the ones that don't take a lot of effort.  But I recently decided that the only way I can make France AND Alaska happen in 2018 is to really get my act together, learn what points/rewards/bonuses will get me the most bang for my buck on airfare and hotels and then buckle down on a plan (still figuring the details out, though). There is a great thread on the budget board about CC deals and I got some good tips there that I need to look into. 

Flight and travel day in general went exceptionally well this trip...I actually wonder if that's part of why I have such fond memories of Disneyland! 



Tracy161 said:


> I'm here, I'm here! Happy to be starting a TR with you, rather than catching up on one!
> 
> 
> It really is, isn't it?!
> 
> 
> Stripe Day?! I'm on board! At least half of my non-Disney wardrobe consists of stripes!
> 
> 
> Oh, is that all?!  But in all honesty, that's really good! I know how much my sister and brother-in-law travel with with their kids and I would say you were traveling lightly!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Not your first rodeo, is it?  That would be my strategy as well - better to avoid the impatient masses.
> 
> Great start and I'm so happy to be along for another Dugette TR!


So glad to have you here! I missed having you around the DIS!  Stripe Day is a regular occurrence around here.  Luckily, I have a fair amount of striped shirts as well. But Izzy goes all the way and "matches" her striped shirts with striped PANTS as well.  Only a 4 year old can pull that look off. 

I really tried to travel as light as I could, since I knew I'd be on my own with her for the flight out. The stroller is always the worst, as it's just heavy and awkward to have a stroller in a bag over your shoulder. But the car seat is light and everything else was minimal, so not too bad. It's harder when the kid needs to be carried too, but luckily we've moved beyond that stage.



shairpdrh said:


> Former trip report lurker and fellow Minnesotan joining in! Your daughter is a few years older than ours, so I love reading your reports to learn more about traveling with a little one.


 Wow, another lurker! I am kinda loving this because I started here as quite a lurker and I still lurk some other (non-Disney) forums often without even joining.  And yay for another Minnesotan! Izzy called today's weather "Disney World weather" - if you got out in the 90+ degrees at all today (Saturday). I am like you and really enjoy reading reports about kids that are just a bit bigger...love to know what to expect. 



afwdwfan said:


> Looking forward to reading about your Disneyland experience!  I totally agree with you about how when you go, you just become a Disneyland person even if you're a Disney World "native."   Your points about how close things are and how it is the original just ring true to me in so many ways.  It feels so familiar, yet so very different.
> 
> It looks like things are off to a pretty good start.  Izzy seems to be a really good travel companion.  Getting through the airports and on the plane could be so much harder.


Ha, exactly, you are forced to become a Disneyland person! I LOVED how close things were. I'm a naturally speedy walker and love it, but I'm always with two slower folks - toddler and back pain sufferer, so the proximity really helped us do more stuff. And, yes, there were so many "that looks like X, but wait - it's NOT X!" moments. 

It was an exceptionally good travel day. I lucked out that time! 



soniam said:


> Ah, flying with a toddler. I don't miss that. Luckily, since my son was born before Izzy, we weren't always required to have a car seat for plane travel. So we didn't do it all the time. Can't wait to hear more. We have been once and are planning on going back next summer for a few days before we go to Aulani.


Actually, the car seat isn't required, but I preferred it because it kept her in her seat and calm and also provided a place to nap comfortably if she was so inclined. On our last trip, she didn't want it on the plane, so I gate checked it and she was great. But those younger days, it was a lifesaver.  Woohoo, a combo Disneyland AND Aulani trip?! Amazing!! Hope you have the best time!


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## Dugette

cindianne320 said:


> Here and ready to learn!


Glad to have you here, as always. 



StarWarsMomofGirls! said:


> I love the matching shirts! Glad you had a smooth flight. Flying by yourself.


The funny thing is the matching shirts really don't show up in the same pictures, as I had a jacket on in MN/travel and then Izzy put hers on at Disneyland (claimed she was cold - it wasn't cold ) and I took mine off. I'm really glad the flight went so well that day! 



schmass said:


> I'm here!  I think I still need to finish reading your Hawaii TR, too!  I've been to DL once but loved it for all the reasons that you mentioned.  Plus, the DL Space Mountain is 100 times better than the WDW version.
> 
> Nice that you have a relatively short flight to get there.  It's such a long flight for us from Boston.
> 
> I'm glad that Izzy was a good travel companion and that you had a relaxed airport experience!


Interesting about Space Mountain. I did enjoy it (Hyperspace Mountain while we were there). I liked the side-by-side seating. But I don't love all the spinning type parts (like the end of WDW SM) and that's what most of Disneyland's felt like to me. I actually love those little drops where your stomach falls out, so I was missing that.

Oh, yeah, you have a cross country flight!  We are close to the same flight times for either WDW or DL (3.25 WDW, closer to 4 for DL).

I'm really glad that Izzy was on her better behavior that day and travel went well. 



Frozen2014 said:


> Great report so far.  Your little girl is so sweet.


 Thank you so much!



Jackiemarie21 said:


> So excited to read this one!  Sounds like a great start!  We spent one day there in 2005 and lived it.  We are planning to some day drive across country to Disneyland and check out the west.  Or course not while our kids are this young!


Ha, much like us with our 1 whirlwind day in 2006! I am with you on wanting to do a major west coast road trip when she's a bit older. I grew up doing road trips out west (as did Dug, actually), so I for sure want her to experience that!


----------



## Dugette

*Where’s the Bubble?*
*
We enjoyed our drive from the airport to the Disneyland area, but it really seemed to be lacking purple signs and magical archways :





And, of course, seeing the Tower of Terror from a city street was different :





But, you know, I have to admit that I kind-of enjoyed the whole lack of Disney bubble.  I mean, at WDW, I like to stay in that bubble, but this just felt different and fun. I mean, you can see it RIGHT THERE! 

Since we had to return our rental car, we stopped at a nearby gas station for a top-off, then headed on towards our "home" for the next several nights. It was about 2:45pm by now.

You can see our hotel up there, past the IHOP – the Best Western Park Place Inn:





However, we somehow drove straight past it  and had to turn around up the street at Howard Johnson’s (where we almost stayed, until we decided to get as close as possible to the Disneyland entrance…and I’m glad we did!)

You can actually see the monorail track from that HoJo’s area, though:





Look, a Disney bus (I think from the parking ramp?):





We pulled into our hotel’s lot and parked in a designated check-in spot. Izzy had fallen asleep on the ride, so Dug stayed in the car with her while I went into the lobby and got in line to check in:





Fireworks overhead, nice touch:





Looking back out the door, you can see another building just across the entryway. That was some sort of restaurant, but the upstairs level was where guests of our hotel were able to get complementary breakfast items each morning:





Check-in was on the slow side, but they were very friendly and thorough. I think I had to do some crazy multiple payment thing to get the best deal – I believe I had two Best Western Gift Cards to apply (from cashing out BW rewards before the trip – I didn’t have enough for a full night, but like $20), then I believe both of our AmEx cards had a deal where if we put like $100 Best Western on them we’d get about a $25 credit each. And I just put the rest on a cash back card, I think. So, yeah, I was part of why it was slow, but they were happy to work with me. I like my deals! 

They also were able to find us a room that was ready, as our pre-assigned one was not. We ended up in 329, which was perfectly fine. They also told us it was okay to temporarily park our car over by the room while we got settled (they charge for parking). So, off we went. Got a spot right by the elevator (also slow) and headed up to the third floor. The room was nothing super special (I mean, it’s a Best Western), but it worked just fine for us. They even brought a crib for Izzy (she requested that vs. a bed):





I did like that the room had a bit of separation for us to set up an area for Izzy to sleep:













Fridge and microwave was nice to have!

Ridiculously long counter in bathroom:













The room was fairly spacious and was a good place to sleep, as that’s pretty much all we did there with the parks right outside.

Dug headed back down the car and drove over to Alamo in Downtown Disney to return it. Izzy and I would be walking over to meet him, as we didn’t want to have to lug her car seat around the rest of the day. First, Izzy needed a drink of water:





And if you’d like a behind-the-scenes idea of how this TR magic happens :





After that, we grabbed the stroller and headed out:





You see that blue-ish thing kind-of in the middle? It’s this:





Yep, we were literally just across the street.  Walk across one crosswalk and….you’re in the bubble!!!  Suddenly, there was ambient music and magic around us. 

You walk along this corridor next to the bus area:









Not as far as it looks. In fact, I really think it's a shorter walk from BWPPI (our hotel) to the park entrances than the walk from the Disney-owned hotels to the esplanade. And soon you’re here:





We did have to go through security, but it wasn’t bad at this time of day.

As we walked across the esplanade, we passed both parks:









I was in a great mood.  Nothing like that “just arrived” feeling! So happy:





And then on to Downtown Disney:





A familiar sight:





We had to walk to basically the other end of Downtown Disney to get over where Alamo and our lunch destination were:





I thought these Mickey and Minnie balloons were amusingly posed :





There’s the big hat back there. And also the Disneyland hotel:





Alamo was down here:





Right behind this place:





I think it took a while for Dug to find a distant lot they had him park in, so we hung out at Alamo for a bit:





I remember seeing a giant stack of new-in-box car seats behind the desk there, so I guess you’d probably get a safe car seat renting there. 

After we got the rental return taken care of, we headed back over to Earl of Sandwich for some lunch (keep in mind that Izzy and I were still on MN time, so it felt like dinner time, even though it was mid-afternoon).

Up next: Our first meal of the trip!*


----------



## Dugette

*Earl of Sandwich*
*
As per my usual, I tried to get all the deals I could.  I had signed up for the Earl of Sandwich birthday club to get a free sandwich. However, when I hadn’t received anything by the time of the trip, I moved my birthday up a couple weeks to that very day.  Still nothing, bummer.  So, I had Dug sign up for the club, as they used to give you a free sandwich upon sign up. I guess they discontinued that, though, as he only got a free side and drink.  Well, that’s still something, I guess! 

We checked out the menu:





I think Dug was happy to be at Disneyland too :





We ordered and got a table inside. Izzy had brought her little light-up spinning Minnie toy along. She discovered that it sometimes got stuck in the “on” position:



(click if you’d like to see Minnie twirl)

We ordered Izzy the macaroni and cheese, which was a huge portion and very tasty:





Dug got his favorite, the Holiday Sandwich:





Oh, and here’s a pic of Izzy’s before she dug into it:





I got a Caprese Sandwich:





We all enjoyed our food quite a bit. And it was nice that the restaurant was pretty quiet and empty, since it was mid-afternoon. At one point, Izzy needed to go potty, so I was able to use the Disneyland app to see what was close by, which was handy  :





Izzy and I were both in a happy vacation anticipation mood as we strolled back:



(click for random video of us walking)

Even between the three of us, we couldn’t finish that huge serving of mac and cheese  :





Tummies full, we headed out:





And made a stop into the Lego store as we walked back towards the parks:

























Izzy played at the Duplo table for quite a while:





She was so immersed in building that she didn’t even care that I ran off to the restroom (while Dug stayed with her) – that was nice, as it seems I always have a kid and dog following me into the bathroom at home. 

Izzy didn’t want to leave the Lego store, not even to go to Disneyland , but we finally convinced her to move on:









Saw a lot of cute things in the Build-a-Bear windows:













Had to get a picture of the Star Wars window at World of Disney:





Oh, yeah, it was also Disneyland’s 60th anniversary celebration when we visited:





The wheel moved too – pretty cool:



(click to see it spin)

We passed by the bakery:





Izzy liked this fountain:





And then we made it over to the Disneyland gates:









It was about 4pm as we got our tickets printed. We showed them the electronic version on our phones, then I believe they took our pictures and printed tickets. It was nice to do this now vs. at rope drop with the crowds.

And then we were in!  Familiar, yet different:





We stopped for Photopass right away, which Izzy wasn’t thrilled about, as she was just ready to get into the park:





And then we got to enter Walt’s magical family playground:





Up next: Hey, it’s a parade!*


----------



## StarWarsMomofGirls!

I can't wait to see all the fun you had!


----------



## TheMaxRebo

Wow, your hotel really is super close!  We love bed the HoJo, but you can't beat your location!

It is pretty cool to walk under that sign - it's like you can feel the excitement building  as you get closer

that is a huge portion of mac and cheese!

I saw something on Facebook that said the reason dog she follow you to the bathroom is because you go with them outside when they go, so they just think that is how it works 

Very smart to get the tickets taken care of not during rope drop!


----------



## andera42

I had one day at Disneyland last year, but I really think I need a few more days to really take it all in. How cool that your hotel is steps away from the parks.


----------



## Jackiemarie21

It's really amazing the different experience between land and world.  We almost did our last trip at land because Bob wanted to try something new, but I was nervous anout how I would feel without the bubble.  It seems aweful convient to just walk across the street.  
Looks like a great first meal!  I love EoS.  
Looking forward to hearing more!


----------



## ajsary

Joining in! We are going to Disneyland for the first time in a couple weeks.  I'm enjoying reading all the details of your first visit!


----------



## MeghanEmily

Dugette said:


> We enjoyed our drive from the airport to the Disneyland area, but it really seemed to be lacking purple signs and magical archways :
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> And, of course, seeing the Tower of Terror from a city street was different :



Woah. Weird!



Dugette said:


> Yep, we were literally just across the street.  Walk across one crosswalk and….you’re in the bubble!!!  Suddenly, there was ambient music and magic around us.



Wow, awesome location!!



Dugette said:


>



I love the Beast in this...but is it just me or is it weird that the Beast is done like he looks in the movie but Belle is done as a minifigure?? And they didn't make Woody or Buzz a minifigure, so I'm not sure why its just Belle...


----------



## kahrani

I'm catching up! Just finished reading Aulani so I thought I'd pop over to this one next!

We stayed at HoJos last year when we went but definitely looking at staying at the BW PPI next time we stopover in LA. I try to visit my sister in Boston every year (not this year tho, boo) and Disneyland makes for a good stopover on the way back to New Zealand! I think next time I will be braver and hire a car at the airport now I've successful managed driving around the Boston area - before we've used the 'disneyland express' bus and airport shuttles and neither were good experiences. Great that you can drop off at DTD and then stroll on into the parks!


----------



## amazingact21

Whoa, you guys were so close to the park entrance! That amazes me. I'm so conditioned to Walt Disney World, where you have to plan in half an hour travel time just to get to bag check. That had to be such a nice change of pace, especially with a kid. You guys made a good choice with Best Western. (Especially if you weren't in the room that often.)

Holy smokes, that was a huge serving of mac and cheese! 

Both sandwich choices looked delicious.

Not that you're not excited at the start of a WDW vacation, but I could really see how happy you were to be DL. It definitely came through in the update.


----------



## Verstehen

Earl of Sandwich is always a great start to anything! And a great end. And a great middle. It's kind of a sandwich metaphor.

I wonder how close you were to where I stayed last August. My coworker and I were at the Carousel Inn, which I guess isn't there anymore. But it was right across the street from the entrance. We only had a day so we wanted to be as close as possible.


----------



## tac08

Dugette said:


> to another lurker! I love it when lurkers say hi!  How cool that you get to Disneyland so often! I would love it, though I think it would be dangerous for me to be so close...I'd end up there every weekend and never have weekend time to clean or grocery shop.  When in October are you planning for WDW? We plan the 8th-14th, but still don't have airfare, so hopefully prices for those dates will drop.



Yes, it's very dangerous having Disneyland so close! 

We are going to be in WDW October 8-14 as well!  We are actually flying into Atlanta a couple days prior and renting a car to drive the rest of the way (we needed to rent a car anyway since we aren't staying on Disney property).  It's so expensive to fly from Phoenix to Orlando, that it's much cheaper to fly to Atlanta, rent a car and get a hotel room, than to fly to Orlando.  Crazy, right?!  I hope you're able to find decent ticket prices!


----------



## Tracy161

Dugette said:


> So glad to have you here! I missed having you around the DIS!


Awww, thanks! I missed everything about the Dis - including good friends like you! - and am so happy to be back 



Dugette said:


> We enjoyed our drive from the airport to the Disneyland area, but it really seemed to be lacking purple signs and magical archways :






Dugette said:


> Yep, we were literally just across the street.


Yay!!!!!!!!



Dugette said:


> Nothing like that “just arrived” feeling! So happy:


Nope, nothing beats that, does it?! 



Dugette said:


> I got a Caprese Sandwich:


That's my sandwich, too!  Yum! 

Excited to hear more. Sounds like a great start to your Disneyland adventures!


----------



## krrrristen

Yay! I'm here! Ready to read all about my dream vacation


----------



## jessrose18

i have read several of your reports and not realized you were from MN till now.  !  Were in St paul!


----------



## Dugette

StarWarsMomofGirls! said:


> I can't wait to see all the fun you had!


Thanks, can't wait to relive it all here! 



TheMaxRebo said:


> Wow, your hotel really is super close! We love bed the HoJo, but you can't beat your location!


I am really glad we changed from HoJo to BWPPI. I've heard lots of great things about HoJo, but for our priorities, BWPPI was perfect! Yay for the DIS or I would have never known to look into it. 



TheMaxRebo said:


> It is pretty cool to walk under that sign - it's like you can feel the excitement building as you get closer


Definitely!



TheMaxRebo said:


> that is a huge portion of mac and cheese!


It was giant!



TheMaxRebo said:


> I saw something on Facebook that said the reason dog she follow you to the bathroom is because you go with them outside when they go, so they just think that is how it works


I actually was thinking about that same idea the other day.  I think she just follows me because she follows me EVERYWHERE. Clearly, whatever I am doing is the most interesting thing in the world (unless someone has dropped food on the floor ).



TheMaxRebo said:


> Very smart to get the tickets taken care of not during rope drop!


Glad it worked out that way!



andera42 said:


> I had one day at Disneyland last year, but I really think I need a few more days to really take it all in. How cool that your hotel is steps away from the parks.


Yes, more time is always good! This was the first visit we had that was more than a day and I'm glad we took enough time to enjoy it at Izzy's pace. The hotel location was SOOO nice. Loved that!



Jackiemarie21 said:


> It's really amazing the different experience between land and world.  We almost did our last trip at land because Bob wanted to try something new, but I was nervous anout how I would feel without the bubble.  It seems aweful convient to just walk across the street.
> Looks like a great first meal!  I love EoS.
> Looking forward to hearing more!


I loved doing something different. I mean, we've done a LOT of WDW in recent years, so it was a fun change for me. Not that I was bored with WDW exactly, but I missed that feeling of newness and novelty and got that with Disneyland. Walking across the street was amazing and SOOO much better than waiting for a crowded bus. Can't go wrong with EoS! 



ajsary said:


> Joining in! We are going to Disneyland for the first time in a couple weeks.  I'm enjoying reading all the details of your first visit!


Oh, yay, have fun! I'm jealous! 



MeghanEmily said:


> Woah. Weird!


First indication of lack of bubble. 



MeghanEmily said:


> Wow, awesome location!!


 It was so great!



MeghanEmily said:


> I love the Beast in this...but is it just me or is it weird that the Beast is done like he looks in the movie but Belle is done as a minifigure?? And they didn't make Woody or Buzz a minifigure, so I'm not sure why its just Belle...


Haha, that's true! You are more observant than I am!



kahrani said:


> I'm catching up! Just finished reading Aulani so I thought I'd pop over to this one next!


Thanks for joining!



kahrani said:


> We stayed at HoJos last year when we went but definitely looking at staying at the BW PPI next time we stopover in LA. I try to visit my sister in Boston every year (not this year tho, boo) and Disneyland makes for a good stopover on the way back to New Zealand! I think next time I will be braver and hire a car at the airport now I've successful managed driving around the Boston area - before we've used the 'disneyland express' bus and airport shuttles and neither were good experiences. Great that you can drop off at DTD and then stroll on into the parks!


That does sound like a perfect stopover! I looked into the various transportation options and found, as you said, nothing had great reviews. And, given that Dug had to get up to Anaheim from Palm Springs, the car rental route worked well for us. And it was fairly cheap. I think our rates were about $80 each way. The Downtown Disney location was really convenient!



amazingact21 said:


> Whoa, you guys were so close to the park entrance! That amazes me. I'm so conditioned to Walt Disney World, where you have to plan in half an hour travel time just to get to bag check. That had to be such a nice change of pace, especially with a kid. You guys made a good choice with Best Western. (Especially if you weren't in the room that often.)


This really is one of the biggest things I loved about Disneyland. It's easily walkable like you're staying at the Contemporary or something, but a fraction of the price! I was so happy to not have to rely on transportation or have to fold up the stroller!



amazingact21 said:


> Holy smokes, that was a huge serving of mac and cheese!


It was more than adequate!



amazingact21 said:


> Both sandwich choices looked delicious.


They were!



amazingact21 said:


> Not that you're not excited at the start of a WDW vacation, but I could really see how happy you were to be DL. It definitely came through in the update.


Glad it came through. I really was on .



Verstehen said:


> Earl of Sandwich is always a great start to anything! And a great end. And a great middle. It's kind of a sandwich metaphor.


 That's great! (and true!)



Verstehen said:


> I wonder how close you were to where I stayed last August. My coworker and I were at the Carousel Inn, which I guess isn't there anymore. But it was right across the street from the entrance. We only had a day so we wanted to be as close as possible.


I just looked it up and I think the Carousel was somewhere between BWPPI and HoJo, so not too far away!



tac08 said:


> Yes, it's very dangerous having Disneyland so close!


I bet!



tac08 said:


> We are going to be in WDW October 8-14 as well!  We are actually flying into Atlanta a couple days prior and renting a car to drive the rest of the way (we needed to rent a car anyway since we aren't staying on Disney property). It's so expensive to fly from Phoenix to Orlando, that it's much cheaper to fly to Atlanta, rent a car and get a hotel room, than to fly to Orlando. Crazy, right?! I hope you're able to find decent ticket prices!


Oh, wow, exact same dates!  I actually looked into flying into Atlanta, but it wasn't much cheaper. We're renting a car this time too. I keep stalking airfares and hope to snag something reasonable!



Tracy161 said:


> Awww, thanks! I missed everything about the Dis - including good friends like you! - and am so happy to be back


 Glad to have you back!



Tracy161 said:


> Yay!!!!!!!!






Tracy161 said:


> Nope, nothing beats that, does it?!


Can't top that feeling!



Tracy161 said:


> That's my sandwich, too!  Yum!
> 
> Excited to hear more. Sounds like a great start to your Disneyland adventures!


Good sandwich choice! I've had it a couple times now. I like to switch things up, though, and they've all been tasty.



krrrristen said:


> Yay! I'm here! Ready to read all about my dream vacation


 Happy to help with that! 



jessrose18 said:


> i have read several of your reports and not realized you were from MN till now.  !  Were in St paul!


Ha, we're not too far away (St. Paul suburb). Love to "meet" other Minnesotans on here!


----------



## Dugette

*The Original Main Street*
*
We passed under that welcoming archway and took in the attraction posters:









Love seeing the reminders of some of the different-than-WDW rides! 

Izzy was very excited to finally be in Disneyland (as were we)! 

City Hall welcomed us:





And we took in the familiar-yet-different view:





And soon realized it was just about afternoon parade time:





Then we got our first look down Main Street towards the miniature castle  :





It really is different when you’re used to seeing the grand, towering castle at WDW. 

We commemorated things with a quick family selfie:





Then we skedaddled down towards the Hub to make way for the parade. My first order of business was to activate our Photopass package. As background, Disneyland used to have an option to pre-order Photopass for $69.99 for your whole stay, I think. Within a couple months of our trip, they got rid of that option and switched to One Day Photopass, which was like $39/day…and we had a 5-day trip planned. Ugh. Thankfully, I was randomly browsing the DIS one day and saw someone posted a link to a still-active portal for pre-purchasing the package. So, I did it and it worked! I followed the thread and reports were that they still accepted the voucher and CMs were often quite surprised and impressed to see them, as they had done away with them. Also, the package I got included actual prints at character meals, in addition to all Photopass and on-ride photos. Not bad! Thankful I saw that on the DIS!  (I believe they have brought back some sort of length-of-stay option again these days. Yay!)

Sure enough, the CM in the photo store was very impressed to see I had the pre-purchased package, since it had been out of commission for maybe 2-3 months. He got my lanyard together, explained how it worked, and posed for a blurry picture to celebrate:





While I was in the camera shop, Dug and Izzy stood out with the crowds and checked out the parade:

























Even the baby in that carrier likes the Three Cabelleros:









Hey, look, it’s a restroom…oh, wait, not WDW :













I came out of the camera shop at some point during the parade and managed to scoot Izzy up near a rope for a better view:

















Once the parade wrapped up, we headed on over to Tomorrowland, as we had to pick up our first paper Fast Passes here:





You actually have to walk all the way up and into the attraction to find the kiosks. 

Dug was happy to see Star Wars stuff:





A look around:









Tomorrowland without a Peoplemover seems strange. 

Stormtroopers were out and about:









That guy was wearing a baby and introduced him to the Stormtrooper (and took a selfie), which was cute. You can kind of see it in this video:



(click to watch)

You may also hear Izzy ask to ride Buzz’s ride. She was obsessed with riding both of his rides (Astro Blasters and Toy Story Mania) this trip.

Dug tried to wait patiently for his chance to meet a Stormtrooper – it was one of those disorganized meets where people just run up at random and he was trying to wait for a good break. He eventually got up there for his Stormtrooper selfie:









Such a happy Dug  :









And the video that I had to take over people’s heads:



(click to watch)

Up next: Let’s ride some stuff!*


----------



## Dugette

*Crossing the Park*
*
We made a stop at the giant spinning ball:





I love how amused that guy on the left looks, seeing Izzy walking up to join all of the grown-ups. Apparently, another little kid snuck in there too (in front of Izzy):





Then we moved on to Izzy’s request:









I guess we saw this stuff in the outdoor part of the line? 





Ha, apparently couldn’t fit Izzy in the picture :





Ah, there’s good ol’ Buzz:









Soon, we were on board:









As you can see, Izzy wanted to control the spinning of our vehicle. 

I don’t know which score belongs to which person, but here’s some scores:









Here’s my wild ride:





Pretty much what my view looked like:





I am not sure, but I might have used our Hyperspace Mountain Fast Pass and got a Rider Swap for Dug to use later.  I can't remember if I actually rode this day or not, but have a Photopass picture that may or may not be from this time  :





It was a cool ride. Again, nice to try something a bit different. Side-by-side seating (would have been more fun if Izzy was tall enough), Star Wars theme, different track, etc. I actually like the WDW track better, though, as I love the sudden drops and don't care for the fast turns. But if you are opposite of me on that, then this is the ride for you. 

After that, we actually had to start making our way over towards our dinner reservation (yes, not too long after “lunch”). 

We stopped for some iconic photos:

















(@Imagineer5  – looks like someone in the background stole your stroller, haha).

We also spotted some Disneyland ducks:





And then made it to Adventureland around dusk:





There was a crazy sky full of birds  :





I think we grabbed a Fast Pass for Indiana Jones:





Checked out some of the attractions as we walked through the area:













And made it to New Orleans Square:





We checked in right on time (5:40pm) for our dinner at Café Orleans. Izzy got to hold the pager:





Pretty umbrellas back there:





I think I ran to the restroom and tried to get a picture of Club 33 afterwards:





Then we were called in to dinner.

Up next: Too much food!*


----------



## MeghanEmily

Dugette said:


> Then we got our first look down Main Street towards the miniature castle  :



Awwww, the little baby castle is so cute!!



Dugette said:


> Hey, look, it’s a restroom…oh, wait, not WDW :



My first thought, too.



Dugette said:


> Once the parade wrapped up, we headed on over to Tomorrowland, as we had to pick up our first paper Fast Passes here:



I think this would be the weirdest thing for me, to revert back to the old paper FP system. I'm not sure I'd even remember how to do it.



Dugette said:


> There was a crazy sky full of birds  :



Woah! Very Hitchcock!


----------



## amazingact21

The miniature castle... I guess when you're used to seeing Cinderella's Castle at WDW, the DL version would seem small. 

Hooray on scoring that package deal on the photopass pictures. The photos would have ended up costing you way more than necessary if you had to purchase it each day. 

You guys look like you're having so much fun and it's only the first evening!

Whew, glad those birds in that photo weren't geese...we all read how that turned out for guests the other day. 

I get a kick out of pictures that show random strangers enjoying other people's reactions to Disney stuff, like the guy in that giant ball photo. It goes to show that happiness is infectious and Disney is more than just rides and shows.


----------



## schmass

It's crazy how you can see Tower of Terror from the street.  I remember when we went to DL we arrived around midnight and I was so tired as we were driving to the hotel.  Then we drove by DL and I was suddenly wide awake.  I thought I wouldn't like it being in the middle of a "normal" street, but it was actually so cool!

You are the queen of deals.  Nice work on the hotel room and the photopass package!

Mmmm...Earl of Sandwich! That mac n cheese is enormous!!

I love that the Storm Troopers are out and about and that Dug got a selfie with one.  We had a fun interaction with them at DHS in May.


----------



## StarWarsMomofGirls!

Dugette said:


>


The first thing I noticed was the guy totally amused by Izzy joining in. Ha. 



Dugette said:


> Pretty much what my view looked like:


aka Why toddlers aren't allowed to drive! 



Dugette said:


> We checked in right on time (5:40pm) for our dinner at Café Orleans. Izzy got to hold the pager:


A different theme from your WDW trip! Hope it's a new theme for you!


----------



## cindianne320

So strange that you can see the Tower of Terror RIGHT THERE! I just can't even imagine what that is like! 
Sounds like a great first afternoon! Can't wait to see more!


----------



## Tracy161

Dugette said:


> Then we got our first look down Main Street towards the miniature castle


 It was a bit... _different_, huh? 



Dugette said:


> Hey, look, it’s a restroom…oh, wait, not WDW






Dugette said:


> Tomorrowland without a Peoplemover seems strange.


I agree! 



Dugette said:


> We stopped for some iconic photos




Excited to hear about dinner!


----------



## TheMaxRebo

Love the posters for the attractions that unique to Disneyland and I totally get what you are saying about it feeling similar and different at the same time

It is very different seeing the smaller Castle.  I just have to think different about the castles as at Disneyland it is the entrance to Fantasyland but at WDW it is more of the "weinie" to draw you into the park and build your excitement

Glad you got to see some of the parade - I really liked it when we saw it (I might like it more than Festival of Fantasy )

haha, Dug looks just so happy after his Stormtrooper selfie!

I would love to try hyperspace mountain - I liked Ghost Galaxy so would be really cool to do the Star Wars Theme



Dugette said:


>


 .... very cool shot! 



Dugette said:


>


 ... very glad you didn't have the recent issue what happened with the birds, um, pooping on the guests at Disneyland


----------



## afwdwfan

Dugette said:


> Then we got our first look down Main Street towards the miniature castle  :


I just never can get over the difference...



Dugette said:


> Even the baby in that carrier likes the Three Cabelleros:


Everybody likes them! 



Dugette said:


> Hey, look, it’s a restroom…oh, wait, not WDW :


  Glad that phase is over? 



Dugette said:


> Such a happy Dug  :


 It definitely shows in the pictures!



Dugette said:


> There was a crazy sky full of birds  :


Wow!  Too bad Disney doesn't own the rights to Hitchcock because that would be some pretty impressive theming!


----------



## annie170

All caught up!

Your location is fantastic and that's a really nice sized room, too!

Dug and the Stormtrooper are too cute!

I am in the process of pricing a trip to DL for this fall.  Fingers crossed that this will be the year I finally make it out there!


----------



## khertz

I'm here! This is probably going to make my post-DL depression even worse but I'm going to stick it out! lol I hate that when I leave there, I don't ever know when we will be back, unlike WDW when I normally have at least an idea of when our next visit will be.


----------



## Dugette

MeghanEmily said:


> Awwww, the little baby castle is so cute!!


I know, isn't it adorable? 



MeghanEmily said:


> My first thought, too.


 Great minds!



MeghanEmily said:


> I think this would be the weirdest thing for me, to revert back to the old paper FP system. I'm not sure I'd even remember how to do it.


It's kinda like riding a bike - it comes back to you. 



MeghanEmily said:


> Woah! Very Hitchcock!


It really was! Freaky! 



amazingact21 said:


> The miniature castle... I guess when you're used to seeing Cinderella's Castle at WDW, the DL version would seem small.


It's so itty-bitty, at least from all the way down Main Street. It looks much better once you get close up.



amazingact21 said:


> Hooray on scoring that package deal on the photopass pictures. The photos would have ended up costing you way more than necessary if you had to purchase it each day.


I was SOOOO glad that I managed to get in on that package! 



amazingact21 said:


> You guys look like you're having so much fun and it's only the first evening!


I love that the-trip-is-just-beginning high! 



amazingact21 said:


> Whew, glad those birds in that photo weren't geese...we all read how that turned out for guests the other day.


I know!  I told Izzy about that and we've been joking about it since.  Really fits a 4-year-old's sense of humor.



amazingact21 said:


> I get a kick out of pictures that show random strangers enjoying other people's reactions to Disney stuff, like the guy in that giant ball photo. It goes to show that happiness is infectious and Disney is more than just rides and shows.


Exactly! You can see how Disney brings out the inner kid in people.



schmass said:


> It's crazy how you can see Tower of Terror from the street. I remember when we went to DL we arrived around midnight and I was so tired as we were driving to the hotel. Then we drove by DL and I was suddenly wide awake. I thought I wouldn't like it being in the middle of a "normal" street, but it was actually so cool!


I know, something about it was just exciting! I think because I'm so used to WDW it was just novel and exciting compared to the bubble.



schmass said:


> You are the queen of deals. Nice work on the hotel room and the photopass package!


Thanks! I try to get a decent deal with most everything I do. 



schmass said:


> Mmmm...Earl of Sandwich! That mac n cheese is enormous!!


Can't go wrong there. That mac & cheese was great, but really huge!



schmass said:


> I love that the Storm Troopers are out and about and that Dug got a selfie with one. We had a fun interaction with them at DHS in May.


It was a great start to the trip for Dug! 



StarWarsMomofGirls! said:


> The first thing I noticed was the guy totally amused by Izzy joining in. Ha.


I love the look on his face. 



StarWarsMomofGirls! said:


> aka Why toddlers aren't allowed to drive!






StarWarsMomofGirls! said:


> A different theme from your WDW trip! Hope it's a new theme for you!


Well.... (but don't hold your breath...) In this case, it helped that there wasn't too much walking or transport involved.



cindianne320 said:


> So strange that you can see the Tower of Terror RIGHT THERE! I just can't even imagine what that is like!
> Sounds like a great first afternoon! Can't wait to see more!


It really is different to just be driving down a city street and see rides!  I loved it, though. 



Tracy161 said:


> It was a bit... _different_, huh?


Very much!



Tracy161 said:


>






Tracy161 said:


> I agree!


I guess they used to have one...wish they still did.



Tracy161 said:


> Excited to hear about dinner!


Coming up!



TheMaxRebo said:


> Love the posters for the attractions that unique to Disneyland and I totally get what you are saying about it feeling similar and different at the same time


It was such a strange feeling - things felt so familiar, yet they weren't. 



TheMaxRebo said:


> It is very different seeing the smaller Castle. I just have to think different about the castles as at Disneyland it is the entrance to Fantasyland but at WDW it is more of the "weinie" to draw you into the park and build your excitement


Exactly! 



TheMaxRebo said:


> Glad you got to see some of the parade - I really liked it when we saw it (I might like it more than Festival of Fantasy )


It seemed like a cute, unique parade.



TheMaxRebo said:


> haha, Dug looks just so happy after his Stormtrooper selfie!


Oh, he was!



TheMaxRebo said:


> I would love to try hyperspace mountain - I liked Ghost Galaxy so would be really cool to do the Star Wars Theme


Hopefully you get to try it out sometime! 



TheMaxRebo said:


> .... very cool shot!


Thanks!



TheMaxRebo said:


> ... very glad you didn't have the recent issue what happened with the birds, um, pooping on the guests at Disneyland


Me too! I did worry about it for a second there.  I can't imagine on the whole goose thing!  Izzy thinks it's hilarious and keeps bringing it up. 



afwdwfan said:


> I just never can get over the difference...


I know, you can barely spot this one!



afwdwfan said:


> Everybody likes them!






afwdwfan said:


> Glad that phase is over?


Oh, yes!



afwdwfan said:


> It definitely shows in the pictures!


He was beaming. 



afwdwfan said:


> Wow! Too bad Disney doesn't own the rights to Hitchcock because that would be some pretty impressive theming!


Sure would! It's like the Tiki Birds broke free! 



annie170 said:


> All caught up!
> 
> Your location is fantastic and that's a really nice sized room, too!


I loved staying there. Room was good and the location couldn't be beat!



annie170 said:


> Dug and the Stormtrooper are too cute!


Thanks, he loved getting that chance for a selfie with him.



annie170 said:


> I am in the process of pricing a trip to DL for this fall. Fingers crossed that this will be the year I finally make it out there!


I hope it works out for you! I keep trying to figure out how to get back there again soon! It's so much fun!



khertz said:


> I'm here! This is probably going to make my post-DL depression even worse but I'm going to stick it out! lol I hate that when I leave there, I don't ever know when we will be back, unlike WDW when I normally have at least an idea of when our next visit will be.


Haha, we can both try to get through it together.  So true - no clue when we'll be back, but I keep trying to figure out how to work it in. Glad you had a good trip!


----------



## Dugette

*So Much Fried Food!

Our buzzer soon went off and we were led into Café Orleans. We had a nice, semi-private table, which was perfect. Here’s the menu:





We really didn’t spend much time looking at it, as we knew we wanted to get some of the most popular & well-reviewed items on the menu – one of each of the Monte Cristo sandwiches to share (traditional & three cheese), the Pommes Frites (fries), and the Mickey Beignets for dessert. So, that’s just what we did.

Selfie in our little corner:





Izzy was pleased that they brought her crayons:





She colored and drank some milk from her thermos:





Our private little corner was nice for containing an energetic 3-year-old:



(click to see dancing in the corner)

This was the view looking out from our table:









Our spot was like that empty table over there, in a “corner”, but actually in the middle of things. I liked the setup of this place (or what we saw of it).

And then our food arrived:

















We didn’t order a meal for Izzy. Instead, she just munched on parts of our food. And also built a strawberry tower:





And seems a little too happy to be wielding a knife  :





So, this was WAYYYYY too much food for us!  Especially since we’d eaten at Earl of Sandwich not all that long ago. In retrospect, we should have just picked one of the Monte Cristo sandwiches and shared that and the pommes frites. Everything was very good, just so much food! When the waiter came around asking about dessert, I said that we’d wanted to get Mickey Beignets, but were too full to eat them all. I think I actually asked if it was possible to just order one (still paying full price), just so we didn’t waste them. Somehow, the waiter talked me into just getting the whole order anyway. And I think we got some to-go boxes for whatever we couldn’t stuff down (sandwiches and desserts). Here’s our tower of fried dessert  :





I think we all shared one and packed up the rest. So good, but SOOOO full!

It must have been dark when we left dinner, so I pulled out a cheapie glow wand I’d brought for Izzy:





My notes say it didn’t work too well, though, so not really a hit. 

Up next, we saw a 5 minute wait here:









So, we headed right in:













Very cool to see a bit different version than the WDW one.

After that, Dug took Izzy up here:





And I headed over to Indiana Jones to use the Fast Pass I’d pulled earlier. I think this is when I first discovered the extra magic involved with Disneyland Rider Swap.  At WDW, we always had to have Izzy right there to get the RS. But I forgot and they were in the treehouse when I got up to the Indy CM – and they didn’t care at all and issued me this:





Yes, even with a hand-written date!  In general, we found that none of the Disneyland CMs cared about actually seeing the too-short child. I’d ask if they wanted her to come up from wherever she and Dug were and they never said yes. Made it much easier to split up for these rides – Dug and Izzy didn’t have to tag along after me and then go back to whatever they were going to do. 

Anyway, I was soon heading through the queue:









I think it was around 7:40pm by now.

Looks like Izzy was bored and waiting for me at the exit of Indy:





I LOVED the ride!  I had a vague memory of it from 2006, but it was so much better than I remembered! It is a similar ride system to Dinosaur, but felt really different to me, due to the surroundings (and different story line, of course). It felt really large and open for a lot of it vs. the smaller, closer feel of Dinosaur. Super fun!! Couldn't wait to ride again another day! 

Up next: We head back to Tomorrowland for a few more rides! *


----------



## MeghanEmily

I love the chance to see some of DL from your point of view! It makes me excited for the possibility of a DL trip in our futures.



Dugette said:


> Somehow, the waiter talked me into just getting the whole order anyway. And I think we got some to-go boxes for whatever we couldn’t stuff down (sandwiches and desserts). Here’s our tower of fried dessert  :



How adorable! Little piles of Mickey carbs! Leave it the waiter to make you even more stuffed, but these look too good to pass up 



Dugette said:


> Very cool to see a bit different version than the WDW one.



I'd like to see the DL version of this too! I read somewhere I think that in the stretching room at WDW the ceiling goes up, but in DL the floor goes down? It would be neat to see what's similar and what's different.



Dugette said:


> I LOVED the ride!  I had a vague memory of it from 2006, but it was so much better than I remembered! It is a similar ride system to Dinosaur, but felt really different to me, due to the surroundings (and different story line, of course). It felt really large and open for a lot of it vs. the smaller, closer feel of Dinosaur. Super fun!! Couldn't wait to ride again another day!



I've heard people really love this ride 

What an awesome day you had! Looking forward to hearing more.


----------



## schmass

That looks like such a cute little restaurant.  And I can imagine that food would be VERY filling, especially considering the lunch you had eaten earlier.  Those beignets look so good, though!

Indiana Jones is such a fun ride!  I do love Dinosaur, but am not a big fan of things popping out at me and scaring me!  Nice that you didn't need Izzy there with you to get the RS.


----------



## Jackiemarie21

It interesting to see the differences between land and world.  I love how many of the organial rides have so many differences so you can go to either one and feel like it is anew experience.


The Monte Cristo sandwiches look yummy, but I can't decide if I would like it or not, it just looks so "fried".  We didn't do the Indiana jones ride, if we ever get back it's on the must do list.


----------



## Verstehen

No joke, I would go back to Disneyland just for the promise of that sandwich and those fries. I too feel like it's way too much for one person. Last time I was there I got the sandwich and my coworker got a beef crepe but ended up not liking it and eating part of my sandwich. We easily could have just shared it and the fries, and then we also would have had room (and money) for the beignets! Ah well, live and learn.


----------



## soniam

OK, those monte cristos look good and sickening, all at the same time The cheese one looks really good, but I might have to stick with the fried green tomato sandwich. DH doesn't eat monte cristos anymore, since he doesn't have a gall bladderI would have to eat the whole thing Plus, I want to save room for dessert. We love beignets.


----------



## afwdwfan

Dugette said:


> Our private little corner was nice for containing an energetic 3-year-old:


That is a feature that can be vastly underrated by many.  



Dugette said:


> And I think we got some to-go boxes for whatever we couldn’t stuff down (sandwiches and desserts). Here’s our tower of fried dessert  :


A tower of Strawberries and then a tower of beignets?  If you're going to build towers at dinner, always make them delicious towers. 



Dugette said:


> Yes, even with a hand-written date!  In general, we found that none of the Disneyland CMs cared about actually seeing the too-short child. I’d ask if they wanted her to come up from wherever she and Dug were and they never said yes.


I know!  I think my first realization of this was Thunder Mountain.  We asked about getting one at the entrance and she told me to tell the CM on the loading platform.  They literally handed it to me as I was getting on the ride.  



Dugette said:


> I LOVED the ride!  I had a vague memory of it from 2006, but it was so much better than I remembered! It is a similar ride system to Dinosaur, but felt really different to me, due to the surroundings (and different story line, of course)


 I know they say the track layout is the same, but I think without all the "vegetation" in Dinosaur, you have some more impressive sightlines in Indy that make it feel a lot different.


----------



## Tracy161

Dugette said:


> And seems a little too happy to be wielding a knife






Dugette said:


> Very cool to see a bit different version than the WDW one.


Isn't it!? I can barely remember HM from DL from my 2010 trip, but I do remember thinking the same thing. 



Dugette said:


> But I forgot and they were in the treehouse when I got up to the Indy CM – and they didn’t care at all and issued me this:


Nice! 



Dugette said:


> It felt really large and open for a lot of it vs. the smaller, closer feel of Dinosaur.


I LOVED Indy!!! I vaguely remember it too, and definitely remember it being more open. I must have ridden that one a hundred times!


----------



## khertz

Those fries look delicious! The Mickey beignets don't tempt me as much, only because I've had the real deal from Cafe du Monde so many times, and I imagine those are pretty impossible to beat! lol What kind of sauces are those with them?



Dugette said:


> And I headed over to Indiana Jones to use the Fast Pass I’d pulled earlier. I think this is when I first discovered the extra magic involved with Disneyland Rider Swap.  At WDW, we always had to have Izzy right there to get the RS. But I forgot and they were in the treehouse when I got up to the Indy CM – and they didn’t care at all and issued me this:



We found this to be true pretty much everywhere but at Guardians of the Galaxy on our trip. In that case, the FP line extended a bit further down from where you actually properly enter the queue, so I asked the CM holding a sign that said "FP Entrance Starts Here" if we'd need to show DD when we got up to the point where they take your FP and give you the rider swap and he said no, so DH and DD started to walk away. Then when I got up there the CM kept insisting she needed to see the small child, so I had to call them to come back so I could point them out. It was a little frustrating, but we learned after that.


----------



## Dugette

MeghanEmily said:


> I love the chance to see some of DL from your point of view! It makes me excited for the possibility of a DL trip in our futures.


It makes me excited to go back again sometime too!  Glad you are enjoying!



MeghanEmily said:


> How adorable! Little piles of Mickey carbs! Leave it the waiter to make you even more stuffed, but these look too good to pass up


 Good description! We had to at least try them. 



MeghanEmily said:


> I'd like to see the DL version of this too! I read somewhere I think that in the stretching room at WDW the ceiling goes up, but in DL the floor goes down? It would be neat to see what's similar and what's different.


Yes, I remember reading that too and I think I could sort of feel a difference?  (Could have been my imagination, though...)



MeghanEmily said:


> I've heard people really love this ride
> 
> What an awesome day you had! Looking forward to hearing more.


I enjoyed Indy a lot more than I expected.  And, thanks, more coming up!



schmass said:


> That looks like such a cute little restaurant. And I can imagine that food would be VERY filling, especially considering the lunch you had eaten earlier. Those beignets look so good, though!


We were so ridiculously stuffed! Good and tasty food, though.



schmass said:


> Indiana Jones is such a fun ride! I do love Dinosaur, but am not a big fan of things popping out at me and scaring me! Nice that you didn't need Izzy there with you to get the RS.


I definitely prefer Indy to Dinosaur, though I enjoy them both. It was so strange, the whole trip, we never once had to show Izzy to get RS. After a few times, I just figured that's the way it worked at Disneyland, even though we ALWAYS show her at WDW. 



Jackiemarie21 said:


> It interesting to see the differences between land and world. I love how many of the organial rides have so many differences so you can go to either one and feel like it is anew experience.


Exactly! I loved those little (and big) differences! Really makes things fresh and exciting again after quite a few WDW trips (not that I'm bored with WDW, but some of the giddiness had worn off).



Jackiemarie21 said:


> The Monte Cristo sandwiches look yummy, but I can't decide if I would like it or not, it just looks so "fried". We didn't do the Indiana jones ride, if we ever get back it's on the must do list.


Yeah, it was a lot more fried food than we usually consume, but good to try. I always like to try the fan favorites when I can. Yes, get back to Disneyland to ride Indy! 



Verstehen said:


> No joke, I would go back to Disneyland just for the promise of that sandwich and those fries. I too feel like it's way too much for one person. Last time I was there I got the sandwich and my coworker got a beef crepe but ended up not liking it and eating part of my sandwich. We easily could have just shared it and the fries, and then we also would have had room (and money) for the beignets! Ah well, live and learn.


Exactly! It was an insane amount of food, even with 3 of us sharing (though Izzy only nibbled and mostly ate strawberries). I do wish we'd just shared one sandwich, but you live, you learn, as you said.


----------



## Dugette

soniam said:


> OK, those monte cristos look good and sickening, all at the same time The cheese one looks really good, but I might have to stick with the fried green tomato sandwich. DH doesn't eat monte cristos anymore, since he doesn't have a gall bladderI would have to eat the whole thing Plus, I want to save room for dessert. We love beignets.


Ha, yeah, it would be way too much for one person! Especially with dessert. 



afwdwfan said:


> That is a feature that can be vastly underrated by many.


It was so nice!



afwdwfan said:


> A tower of Strawberries and then a tower of beignets? If you're going to build towers at dinner, always make them delicious towers.






afwdwfan said:


> I know! I think my first realization of this was Thunder Mountain. We asked about getting one at the entrance and she told me to tell the CM on the loading platform. They literally handed it to me as I was getting on the ride.


Yeah, we went through the entire trip getting RS as we got in line and not a single CM said they needed to see Izzy. 



afwdwfan said:


> I know they say the track layout is the same, but I think without all the "vegetation" in Dinosaur, you have some more impressive sightlines in Indy that make it feel a lot different.


That's what I really noticed...it felt so much more open and spacious. I liked that a lot.



Tracy161 said:


>


She was really enjoying that knife! 



Tracy161 said:


> Isn't it!? I can barely remember HM from DL from my 2010 trip, but I do remember thinking the same thing.






Tracy161 said:


> Nice!


So easy to get RS during our trip! 



Tracy161 said:


> I LOVED Indy!!! I vaguely remember it too, and definitely remember it being more open. I must have ridden that one a hundred times!


I'd love to ride it a hundred times! I did get back a few times and loved it each one.



khertz said:


> Those fries look delicious! The Mickey beignets don't tempt me as much, only because I've had the real deal from Cafe du Monde so many times, and I imagine those are pretty impossible to beat! lol What kind of sauces are those with them?


The fries were really good! I just asked Dug if he had the Cafe du Monde beignets when he was in New Orleans and he did...said they were WAY better than the Mickey ones.  I believe it was vanilla and raspberry sauces with the Mickey ones.



khertz said:


> We found this to be true pretty much everywhere but at Guardians of the Galaxy on our trip. In that case, the FP line extended a bit further down from where you actually properly enter the queue, so I asked the CM holding a sign that said "FP Entrance Starts Here" if we'd need to show DD when we got up to the point where they take your FP and give you the rider swap and he said no, so DH and DD started to walk away. Then when I got up there the CM kept insisting she needed to see the small child, so I had to call them to come back so I could point them out. It was a little frustrating, but we learned after that.


Oh, interesting, maybe since that's a popular new version? We did ToT (pre-Guardians) and easily got a Rider Swap. It seemed so strange to me that they were so lax in giving out RS for our whole trip. But it worked well for us.


----------



## Dugette

*Late Night Adventures*
*
We made our way back over to Tomorrowland. At both WDW and Disneyland, I love Tomorrowland all lit up at night:





I believe that we had a FP that we’d pulled earlier at Star Tours, so I rode with that and Dug rode after with the Rider Swap I got:





My notes say there was a long delay while I was in line, though:





While I rode, Dug took Izzy on Buzz again:





Dug had tried to pull another Star Tours FP at some point, but ended up getting Buzz instead.  Can’t remember how – they must have been near each other?  But we made it back and ended up getting the VERY LAST Star Tours FP for that day:









I think the one before that was an actual FP and that was all we needed, since just Dug was going to ride again later this evening.

We also stopped to see just how far Izzy was from 40”:





We knew she wasn’t there yet (despite the Star Tours CM saying she’d make it), but she wasn’t even close, as you can see. Funny, almost a year and a half later, she’s well past that and we’re hoping she can make 44” by October at WDW (She's got about 1.5 inches to go, so not sure, but she's been pigging out lately, so maybe a growth spurt coming? )

Anyway, at that point we had switched and Dug was in Star Tours:













And I took Izzy on Buzz Lightyear again (she loved that ride). I wish I could remember why I took this picture in the queue :





I remember Izzy and I checking this out, but can’t remember what we found interesting about it. Maybe that hole is a real Phillips screw holding this giant one in? That might be it...seems like the sort of thing I'd find somewhat ironic. Hard to tell from the picture, but this one was very large so that we would feel like small action figures, I guess.

At any rate, we rode:













There were a couple nights on our trip where Disneyland was open late, so we’d decided to each take one as a solo night. The park was open until midnight this night, so we decided to have Dug stay late, since he was already adjusted to California time, while Izzy and I headed back to the hotel to sleep. We left around 9:30pm, which felt like 11:30pm MN time to us. Happily heading out:





It was a wonderfully short walk back to our hotel, just past that stoplight :





I seriously cannot tell you how much I loved being SOOOO close. I’m sad that Disney is probably going to be making that walk longer in the future.  It was so incredibly convenient to stroll out of the park and be at our off-site hotel in a few minutes without having to fold a stroller or wait in a line for transportation.

Back in the room, Izzy enjoyed some Oreos from our airline snack box as her bedtime snack:





My notes say, “I unpacked while she ate and whined.” Sounds about right. 

Dug was enjoying his first excursion on Indiana Jones at that time:









He liked it, but said his back was a bit sore afterwards.

Then he went here:





And we had a text exchange that probably most parents of young kids can relate to  :





My notes also include that Izzy needed to go back to the restroom to pee yet again before bed.  Anything she can do to delay bedtime. 

Dug was having a more fun time - riding Pirates (which is much longer than WDW’s version and has two drops…and a restaurant we’ll dine at later in the trip):









He then moved on to:





Then back to Star Tours again:









And another spin on Buzz:









He headed out around midnight:













He enjoyed his solo time at Disneyland quite a bit. And, don’t worry, I think I enjoyed mine even more later in the trip. I mean, (spoiler alert!) how often do you get to do two different boat rides completely by yourself?  Memorable for sure!

Up next: Our first character breakfast of the trip!
*


----------



## GlitteryOtters

Just popping in to say how much I am loving your TR! I wasn't originally planning on writing my own report, but I think you've convinced me to do so for my series of upcoming trips (cheap airfare from the Detroit airport plus having purchased an AP voucher when they were offering a 13 month AP means I have 3 trips coming up, including my husband's first time going to any Disney park!). I love the idea of parental solo nights in the park...yet another perk of the hotels being SO close to the park! Oh, and I am glad I'm not the only one sending texts like yours  (although mine are about canine kids--having two teenager dogs means LOTS of texts like that!). Can't wait to read more updates!

~Meg


----------



## amazingact21

Your dinner looked delicious and definitely bountiful! Glad you were able to your dessert with you in a to-go box. 

Man, I wish WDW had that same Rider Swap system. It can get old, dragging both parties to an attraction just to have the adult and child turn around and hoof it to a kid-friendly ride. However, I imagine too many people would abuse that process in WDW. 

The joy of parenthood...sharing in potty training successes.


----------



## MeghanEmily

Dugette said:


> At both WDW and Disneyland, I love Tomorrowland all lit up at night:



So neat! I also love Tomorrowland at night in WDW.



Dugette said:


> I wish I could remember why I took this picture in the queue :



Interesting mystery picture! I always end up with one or two of these.



Dugette said:


> It was so incredibly convenient to stroll out of the park and be at our off-site hotel in a few minutes without having to fold a stroller or wait in a line for transportation.



This is something I'd love! It's definitely one of the pros of staying onsite at Universal to me.



Dugette said:


> My notes say, “I unpacked while she ate and whined.” Sounds about right.



The joys of parenthood!


----------



## schmass

That was lucky getting the very last Star Tours FP!

Funny that the CM thought Izzy would be tall enough to ride - she doesn't look close in that picture!  Every time Rory gets measured at home or at the doctor, he asks "what rides can I ride now???" He just hit 40" and doesn't know that we have a surprise trip coming up next month!

That walk back to the hotel does look nice.  Not having to deal with buses and folding strollers is the best at the end of the night.  Hopefully they won't make it too inconvenient in the future, but I'm not really aware of the planned changes.

Looks like a fun solo evening for Dug!


----------



## shairpdrh

Your report is making me want to go back to DL! I loved how convenient the offsite hotels were. We split our time between Grand Californian and the same hotel where you stayed and both were really convenient. I don't think I will ever convince my husband to do Grand Californian again so I'm sad that the walk offsite will be getting longer. 

Can't wait to hear what you did on your solo night! I am having trouble getting used to solo evening time now that we have a kiddo, but you make me excited to do more of it.


----------



## afwdwfan

Dugette said:


>


Ok... me being a little OCD about it, but why does it say "sold out."  They aren't selling the things.  No monetary transaction takes place.  It isn't sold out.  The inventory is just gone!  



Dugette said:


> And I took Izzy on Buzz Lightyear again (she loved that ride). I wish I could remember why I took this picture in the queue :


Just claim Izzy took it. 


Dugette said:


> My notes say, “I unpacked while she ate and whined.” Sounds about right.




It looks like an awesome solo evening for Dug.  I always appreciate getting any solo time in the parks that I can.  And congratulations to Izzy (at least I hope that's who the text referred to) on the successful poop.


----------



## khertz

Dugette said:


> Dug had tried to pull another Star Tours FP at some point, but ended up getting Buzz instead.  Can’t remember how – they must have been near each other?



Yes they are! It's very confusing. I was trying to get the ST ones on our trip and kept second guessing myself on which machine to use until I finally asked a cm. 



Dugette said:


> My notes say, “I unpacked while she ate and whined.” Sounds about right.



That is a legit review of life with a toddler.


----------



## cindianne320

Wow - you had a full night, and then Dug got to have even more fun! I love the Theme Parks at night!


----------



## krrrristen

And just like that, I'm all caught up! Those sandwiches look delightful! I've heard with advanced notice they can make a gluten free version... 

I also love theme parks lit up at night. Tomorrowland & Fantasyland two of my favorites!


----------



## AprilRenee

Jackiemarie21 told me you had started a Disneyland TR and I popped over to check it out! We're going in September (for my BIRTHDAY!!!woohoo!!!) so I can't wait to read all about it!


----------



## ajsary

Dugette said:


> Dug had tried to pull another Star Tours FP at some point, but ended up getting Buzz instead.  Can’t remember how – they must have been near each other?



We just got back from our first Disneyland trip and I wanted to chime in that these two FP stations were super confusing! I circled them a couple time before figuring out that Buzz faced one way and Star Tours the opposite way! Dug made good use of his solo time!


----------



## Dugette

GlitteryOtters said:


> Just popping in to say how much I am loving your TR! I wasn't originally planning on writing my own report, but I think you've convinced me to do so for my series of upcoming trips (cheap airfare from the Detroit airport plus having purchased an AP voucher when they were offering a 13 month AP means I have 3 trips coming up, including my husband's first time going to any Disney park!).


Thanks!  My trip reporting all got started on an AP year like that too! I mostly do them for myself to preserve the memories - I actually go back and re-read my old TRs every so often. But it's fun interacting with all the other Disney fans too! Enjoy your trips!



GlitteryOtters said:


> I love the idea of parental solo nights in the park...yet another perk of the hotels being SO close to the park!


We also try to do some solo parent time at WDW, but it's much easier at Disneyland - just a quick stroll back, no parent has to contend with stroller/bus/child on their own, etc. 



GlitteryOtters said:


> Oh, and I am glad I'm not the only one sending texts like yours  (although mine are about canine kids--having two teenager dogs means LOTS of texts like that!). Can't wait to read more updates!


 I totally understand that - we have a nearly 11 year old dog and a 17 year old cat, so there are plenty of those texts here too. 



amazingact21 said:


> Your dinner looked delicious and definitely bountiful! Glad you were able to your dessert with you in a to-go box.


It was good, but SOOOO much food! 



amazingact21 said:


> Man, I wish WDW had that same Rider Swap system. It can get old, dragging both parties to an attraction just to have the adult and child turn around and hoof it to a kid-friendly ride. However, I imagine too many people would abuse that process in WDW.


I thought it was supposed to be the same way at Disneyland, but it quickly became clear they didn't care. We always bring Izzy up at WDW, but they never once cared to see her at Disneyland. I don't know, maybe I just look super trustworthy? 



amazingact21 said:


> The joy of parenthood...sharing in potty training successes.


Small victories!



MeghanEmily said:


> So neat! I also love Tomorrowland at night in WDW.


Most things Disney are wonderful at night! 



MeghanEmily said:


> Interesting mystery picture! I always end up with one or two of these.


Yeah, I think my guess is right about the screw within a screw thing. Foggy memory. But still not so sure. I find myself with more of those mystery pics because I take them to remind me of things for the TR, but then they are sometimes hard to decipher.



MeghanEmily said:


> This is something I'd love! It's definitely one of the pros of staying onsite at Universal to me.


Definitely a huge plus! No waiting, no crowds, no hassle. 



MeghanEmily said:


> The joys of parenthood!


Oh, yes, all the whining you can handle. And snacks. 



schmass said:


> That was lucky getting the very last Star Tours FP!






schmass said:


> Funny that the CM thought Izzy would be tall enough to ride - she doesn't look close in that picture! Every time Rory gets measured at home or at the doctor, he asks "what rides can I ride now???" He just hit 40" and doesn't know that we have a surprise trip coming up next month!


That's awesome about the surprise trip and 40"!!  Izzy keeps getting on the scale and asking what she can ride.  I've been explaining to her over and over that it's height, not weight, but she keeps forgetting.



schmass said:


> That walk back to the hotel does look nice. Not having to deal with buses and folding strollers is the best at the end of the night. Hopefully they won't make it too inconvenient in the future, but I'm not really aware of the planned changes.


I actually looked into it a bit after writing this update and it sounds like there might be a chance the offsite hotels on Harbor keep the direct access. I guess Disney was going to have people walk around back to get to the (new/to be built) parking structure skyway thing, but the businesses complained and everything seems to be on hold. Or something. Yay!



schmass said:


> Looks like a fun solo evening for Dug!


It was!


----------



## Dugette

shairpdrh said:


> Your report is making me want to go back to DL! I loved how convenient the offsite hotels were. We split our time between Grand Californian and the same hotel where you stayed and both were really convenient. I don't think I will ever convince my husband to do Grand Californian again so I'm sad that the walk offsite will be getting longer.


I mentioned in the previous reply that I think there's a chance the walk may stay the same. I tried to catch up on the recent status of the parking ramp project thing and it seems there has been a delay and the Harbor businesses are the cause.  (Oh, and I want to go back to Disneyland like every day lately, so I get it. )



shairpdrh said:


> Can't wait to hear what you did on your solo night! I am having trouble getting used to solo evening time now that we have a kiddo, but you make me excited to do more of it.


I think it works well for us as 1.) We are both night people and 2.) We are both pretty independent and 3.) We really try to maintain a reasonable bedtime for the kiddo (though as she gets older, it is becoming harder as she seems to be a major night person too!) I absolutely love that time to enjoy the parks and not have to worry about what anyone else wants or needs for a bit. 



afwdwfan said:


> Ok... me being a little OCD about it, but why does it say "sold out." They aren't selling the things. No monetary transaction takes place. It isn't sold out. The inventory is just gone!


 That is an awesome observation!



afwdwfan said:


> Just claim Izzy took it.


Given the poor quality of the picture, that does seem perfectly reasonable. 



afwdwfan said:


> It looks like an awesome solo evening for Dug. I always appreciate getting any solo time in the parks that I can. And congratulations to Izzy (at least I hope that's who the text referred to) on the successful poop.


Yes, definitely refers to Izzy!  That is not something she enjoys doing at all, so always good when she succeeds! 



khertz said:


> Yes they are! It's very confusing. I was trying to get the ST ones on our trip and kept second guessing myself on which machine to use until I finally asked a cm.


I wonder why they don't make it clearer, since it appears we are all confused. 



khertz said:


> That is a legit review of life with a toddler.


 Describes most days if you take away the "unpacking" part.



cindianne320 said:


> Wow - you had a full night, and then Dug got to have even more fun! I love the Theme Parks at night!


It really was a great arrival night. We'd left our plans really open that night, considering it kind-of a bonus and just do-whatever-we-can-do night.



krrrristen said:


> And just like that, I'm all caught up! Those sandwiches look delightful! I've heard with advanced notice they can make a gluten free version...
> 
> I also love theme parks lit up at night. Tomorrowland & Fantasyland two of my favorites!


Wow, I had no idea on the gluten free version. That's cool. And I love any Disney park lit up at night - always looks so different.



AprilRenee said:


> Jackiemarie21 told me you had started a Disneyland TR and I popped over to check it out! We're going in September (for my BIRTHDAY!!!woohoo!!!) so I can't wait to read all about it!


YAY!!! Both on your Disneyland birthday trip AND on being here!  I LOVED Disneyland and I hope you do too! I'm jealous...



ajsary said:


> We just got back from our first Disneyland trip and I wanted to chime in that these two FP stations were super confusing! I circled them a couple time before figuring out that Buzz faced one way and Star Tours the opposite way! Dug made good use of his solo time!


Good to know it's not just us that got confused. So weird they have it that way. Yes, Dug had a fun solo time while I got Izzy ready for bed.


----------



## ashley0139

I am really enjoying your trip report!  Your daughter is adorable!


----------



## Dugette

ashley0139 said:


> I am really enjoying your trip report!  Your daughter is adorable!


Thanks so much!


----------



## Dugette

*Breakfast with Critters*
*
We were up early this morning, as we had a 7am character breakfast reservation. Since Izzy and I had just changed two time zones, though, it didn’t feel so bad. We were out the door at 6:35am. On the way, I snapped a photo of the Best Western’s pool and hot tub (which we never used, as we had better things to do ):





We made a stop over at the free breakfast area to grab some drinks to bring along (and maybe snacks for later?). Since we had the stroller, Izzy and I waited in the lobby while Dug walked up the stairs to the second level, where the breakfast was:





Looks like Izzy already had a drink:





We could actually see the Disneyland sign from there:





And there’s the breakfast sign:





Waiting on the bench:





I think it took a while, as it often got crowded up there. 

When Dug made it back, we were on our way to this very dangerous destination  :





There were random Mickeys  :









And we eventually made it over to our breakfast destination:





In a throwback to our May 2015 trip, we were fashionably late.  That stop for drinks/snacks and Dug’s slow pace over took a while, but no worries – there was almost nobody in Storyteller’s Café, as you’ll see!

But, first, a look around the Grand Californian lobby:













We emerged from the lobby and spotted our destination:





A peek inside the restaurant:





That horse border went around the whole place, I believe. Pretty cool.

Anyway, we were brought to a booth right near the buffet and had a critter visit almost immediately:





Meeko! (and you can see all the empty tables behind him) We had never met him before, so that was neat, until he tried to eat Izzy :





Kidding, of course, they were having fun together:





I have some video that mostly consists of Izzy giggling (starts blurry, but gets better):
*




*
With that meet down, Dug enjoyed some coffee:





Earlier, when we sat down, I took a quick video of the empty room and Chip, who was so bored he was twirling:
*




*
But now it was time for Chip to come visit us (um, not many other choices in the restaurant yet for him ). Once again, he was feeling bored and creative, so he walked backwards to us:





Really! Getting closer:





And then he wrapped Izzy in a big ol’ Chip hug:





And booped her nose:





(also, as I just discovered, if you need to combat any boredom, do a search for “nose boop” and check out all the corners of the internet devoted to it…   who knew?)

Looks like he poked her in the eye, though  :





Then they both spotted Dale:





And Chip had to boop his own nose :





Izzy loved playing with Chip:













Totally looks like he’s about to propose in that last one. Pretty sure she would have accepted. 

And a cute picture together:





It was all sweet and good until he also decided to take a bite of her hair :





And the rather lengthy, but pretty cute, video:
*





*More critter fun in the next post…*


----------



## Dugette

*Continued from previous post…

Next up was Dale and Izzy was very happy to see her old buddy:









Tickle time :





Picking his nose?  Nope, another boop:





The meet was nice, but not nearly at the level of the one with Chip. Here’s the video:
*




*
After Dale wandered off, check out who was peeking around the corner at us:





Chip was really into Izzy this morning. 

I think we went up to get some food, though (finally!). Looks like Izzy had a plate-full-o-carbs:





This looks like Dug’s plate:





I don’t appear to have a picture of mine. But the food selection was pretty good there and we all were happy with our meals.

Oh, good, she ate some fruit-based carbs too :





And then Chip was back at it:

















After that, Izzy worked on making a “pattern” with the silverware:





Some buffet pictures:

























I thought it was poor planning that they had multiple similarly-colored condiments in this spinner without labels directly on them :





I think these were for me and/or sharing:





And then Dale returned:





Izzy was enjoying her invention of pear-on-a-knife:





I think Dale was afraid of a toddler wielding a sharp object. 

She agreed to put it down to hug him, though:





Some video:
*




*
As you can see, Dale decided to cut it short, but he came back after she was done with her dangerous delicacy and they had more fun together:













Video of that one:
*




*
And then, since they were apparently vying for Izzy’s affections, Chip returned:








*




*
Up next: We meet one more new-to-us character, then head into California Adventure for the first time! 
*


----------



## GlitteryOtters

Ahhhhh! OMG, those updates were so priceless...is there anything more awesome than a toddler at a character breakfast?! It's been a rough week around here between prep work for our own Disneyland trip (spent an entire day trying to get a Blue Bayou Fantasmic! dinner package booked the day they released them  Got it booked, finally, after 14 hours of work on & off) & all the work on getting our kitchen ready for a budget remodel (why are we doing this the same month as a Disney trip?! Why did I think this was a good idea?!). I definitely needed those Izzy giggles this morning! Both you & Dug really captured the interactions so perfectly. That was absolutely adorable. 

Thank you, also, for the buffet pics & pics of your food. Nice to see what options they have. I agree about the vaguely labeled white condiment section...condiment roulette, I guess! Not sure I would have been willing to take the risk! 


Can't wait to hear how you guys enjoyed DCA! 


~Meg


----------



## MeghanEmily

Dugette said:


> Since Izzy and I had just changed two time zones, though, it didn’t feel so bad.



This is something I love about coming from the east coast of Canada! When we go to WDW we gain an hour and those early mornings are easy as pie!



Dugette said:


> When Dug made it back, we were on our way to this very dangerous destination  :



Woah. ...good to know I guess?



Dugette said:


> We had never met him before, so that was neat, until he tried to eat Izzy :



Oh my goodness! So horrific! A raccoon eating a child! 

Haha this is cute. But that's exactly what it looks like he's doing.



Dugette said:


> *I have some video that mostly consists of Izzy giggling (starts blurry, but gets better):*



Such a cute video! And I love the way toddlers throw themselves down on top of whatever character they're hugging. 



Dugette said:


> After Dale wandered off, check out who was peeking around the corner at us:



What a sly chipmunk!



Dugette said:


> I think we went up to get some food, though (finally!). Looks like Izzy had a plate-full-o-carbs:



The _best_ kind of plate, by far.



Dugette said:


>



Such a cute photo of you three!



Dugette said:


> I thought it was poor planning that they had multiple similarly-colored condiments in this spinner without labels directly on them :



Ooooh. Can you imagine going in to butter your pancake and getting a pancake full of mayo? Yeah, I'll pass.



Dugette said:


> I think Dale was afraid of a toddler wielding a sharp object.



Rightly so! Smart chipmunk!


----------



## amazingact21

That is one interactive character meet! Chip and Dale practically pulled up a chair and ate with you all. That sort of attention is unheard of at WDW. How awesome that Izzy got to experience that in DL.


----------



## khertz

What a fun breakfast!! I guess an early one there is the way to go...so much character interaction!


----------



## Tracy161

Dugette said:


> At both WDW and Disneyland, I love Tomorrowland all lit up at night


Me, too!!! 



Dugette said:


> I wish I could remember why I took this picture in the queue :


Well if Izzy is anything like my niece and nephew maybe she got her hands on your phone and took it herself!  I can't tell you the "surprises" I've had on my phone later... 



Dugette said:


> There were a couple nights on our trip where Disneyland was open late, so we’d decided to each take one as a solo night.


Nice! I've sure benefited from your solo time before (), excited to read about it later 



Dugette said:


> Totally looks like he’s about to propose in that last one. Pretty sure she would have accepted.


 What fun character experiences for Izzy!!!


----------



## cindianne320

What a fun breakfast! So much character interaction, and good food, too!


----------



## Dugette

*Hi, all. Since many of you are fellow trip reporters, I wanted to pop on here to discuss photo hosting with you. As some of you have probably learned, Photobucket decided to pull the plug on 3rd party photo hosting (what we use to put the photos on here when they are saved in Photobucket), unless the user pays them $400/year. 

Paid accounts are apparently grandfathered in through December 2018. After that, it's anyone's guess as to whether the company is even still in business (major user backlash right now). As a longtime Photobucket user, this is all very concerning. Luckily, I do have a paid account (like $25/year, not the $400 they now want!) So, my photos should remain in my TRs for the next 1.5 years. However, I do have an old free account that is hosting my oldest TR photos (prior to Dec. 2010 and maybe a few random ones since). Those images are still showing up, I think, but they are likely to break the links at any time. 

I REALLY don't want to go back and re-link every single photo to whichever non-Photobucket source I end up using, but there's no way I'm paying that amount to "save" them. But I enjoy looking back at my old TRs sometimes and don't want them to be broken.  (Side note, I know I can upload directly to the DIS, but the 10 pics/post limit is way under what I have in most posts, so I'd have to completely re-do my TRs in like 3 times as many posts. )

So, that said, anyone have any hosting sites they really like that are unlikely to charge exorbitant rates to store TR photos? Given that Dug works in the web world, he might be able to set something up for me, but I'd like to know what other options there are before putting him through that work. If you are using something that might be a good choice going forward, let me know.  I'd like to be prepared in case Photobucket doesn't realize their mistakes and correct them by the end of 2018. *


----------



## khertz

I've been using Flickr and it's awesome. But now I'm worried about old TRs! I don't even know if I'd remember my photobucket login.


----------



## StarWarsMomofGirls!

Dugette said:


> When Dug made it back, we were on our way to this very dangerous destination  :


What is that sign for?!?! 



Dugette said:


> There were random Mickeys  :


I love these benches!!!! And I love that you take pictures of just about everything on your trips! I really need to step up my game on our next trip. 



Dugette said:


> Meeko!


Meeko! What a good meet! 



Dugette said:


> Kidding, of course, they were having fun together:


She is SUPER excited to meet him! Love it. 



Dugette said:


>


And this one too! 



Dugette said:


> Looks like Izzy had a plate-full-o-carbs:


A girl after my own heart!

Man that was a lot of Chip & Dale! Izzy seemed to love all of it!

I feel bad for everyone with the photo bucket accounts. I just started using disboards, and have just been uploading directly to the site. I can't image having to go back and re-upload all your photos! I hope you (and everybody else) find a good alternate!


----------



## AprilRenee

Thanks for the heads up. I'm gonna go save my old trip report. 

If you have a Mac, id suggest going to each post and selecting "print" then down in the lower left corner select "PDF" and then "save to PDF"
You can save each individual post as a PDF and save your trip report that way. 

There may be an easier way too. I'll do some investigating.


----------



## mnmrmustard

Howdy!  Just caught up on your TR - love all the pictures and the little details you give.  Izzy was a dynamo on that first day!  We stayed at the Park Place in way back in 2005 when our kiddos were 3 & 6yrs old respectively and the short walk was really nice.

Bummer about PhotoBucket going to that high-priced model, Imgur or Tinypic are good alternatives from what I hear.


----------



## Khokhonutt

Dugette said:


> *Hi, all. Since many of you are fellow trip reporters, I wanted to pop on here to discuss photo hosting with you. As some of you have probably learned, Photobucket decided to pull the plug on 3rd party photo hosting (what we use to put the photos on here when they are saved in Photobucket), unless the user pays them $400/year.
> 
> Paid accounts are apparently grandfathered in through December 2018. After that, it's anyone's guess as to whether the company is even still in business (major user backlash right now). As a longtime Photobucket user, this is all very concerning. Luckily, I do have a paid account (like $25/year, not the $400 they now want!) So, my photos should remain in my TRs for the next 1.5 years. However, I do have an old free account that is hosting my oldest TR photos (prior to Dec. 2010 and maybe a few random ones since). Those images are still showing up, I think, but they are likely to break the links at any time.
> 
> I REALLY don't want to go back and re-link every single photo to whichever non-Photobucket source I end up using, but there's no way I'm paying that amount to "save" them. But I enjoy looking back at my old TRs sometimes and don't want them to be broken.  (Side note, I know I can upload directly to the DIS, but the 10 pics/post limit is way under what I have in most posts, so I'd have to completely re-do my TRs in like 3 times as many posts. )
> 
> So, that said, anyone have any hosting sites they really like that are unlikely to charge exorbitant rates to store TR photos? Given that Dug works in the web world, he might be able to set something up for me, but I'd like to know what other options there are before putting him through that work. If you are using something that might be a good choice going forward, let me know.  I'd like to be prepared in case Photobucket doesn't realize their mistakes and correct them by the end of 2018. *



I've been using Smugmug.com for years. I have the basic plan, which runs $5.99 per month or $3.99 per month if you pay a year at a time. For that I can upload unlimited pictures and videos. They originally started as a picture backup site, so your pictures are replicated to 3 different datacenters in the US, but they do so much more. I mainly use them for backing up and sharing my photos. They have an app that automatically uploads the pictures we take on our phones, so I don't have to worry about something crashing on my phone and losing my pictures. They also make it very easy to share photos, for example for our recent trip to Disneyland, I created a password on our Disney pictures folder. That allowed me to send my daughter a link that automatically opened a web uploader for her to share her pictures to that gallery. It's also super simple to download all of the pictures from a gallery, if you want to work on them locally. And they offer print services, so we've used them for Christmas cards several years.


----------



## MeghanEmily

Hmm. I've started using Imgur, and I like it fine. But I don't know how reliably it will remain free over time, since I didn't expect this issue with Photobucket. I'm in the same boat about not wanting to re-link all my photos, but I don't have nearly as many as you would! Good luck!


----------



## Princess Leia

Izzy clearly had a great time with the characters at breakfast. Chip and Dale are the best for interaction. I remember years ago Hannah jumping off the train when she spotted Meeko.

I use Flickr for my trip reports and find it works well. It must be so frustrating for people who have so many photos linked to photo bucket.


----------



## amazingact21

I've switched to Imgur and am slowly switching my photos to that site. However, from the chatter I've heard, I'm just delaying the inevitable; it seems more and more sites are going the route of photobucket. (The reason I chose Imgur over flickr is because I read flickr is trying to switch to a subscription-based company, as well.) It's a frustrating scenario...all those old photos have to be swapped.


----------



## Dugette

GlitteryOtters said:


> Ahhhhh! OMG, those updates were so priceless...is there anything more awesome than a toddler at a character breakfast?! It's been a rough week around here between prep work for our own Disneyland trip (spent an entire day trying to get a Blue Bayou Fantasmic! dinner package booked the day they released them  Got it booked, finally, after 14 hours of work on & off) & all the work on getting our kitchen ready for a budget remodel (why are we doing this the same month as a Disney trip?! Why did I think this was a good idea?!). I definitely needed those Izzy giggles this morning! Both you & Dug really captured the interactions so perfectly. That was absolutely adorable.


Thank you for your comment - made my day!  I love that others get something out of these reports. And YAY for finally getting your Blue Bayou package!  I hope it's worth it! Also good luck with your kitchen remodel!



GlitteryOtters said:


> Thank you, also, for the buffet pics & pics of your food. Nice to see what options they have. I agree about the vaguely labeled white condiment section...condiment roulette, I guess! Not sure I would have been willing to take the risk!


It was a pretty decent buffet, but that white condiment spinner was so poorly thought out! 



GlitteryOtters said:


> Can't wait to hear how you guys enjoyed DCA!


Let's put it this way: I pretty much want to go back there every day lately. 



MeghanEmily said:


> This is something I love about coming from the east coast of Canada! When we go to WDW we gain an hour and those early mornings are easy as pie!


Oh, wow - we lose an hour for WDW, so that's funny to think about!



MeghanEmily said:


> Woah. ...good to know I guess?


CA warns you about EVERYTHING. 



MeghanEmily said:


> Oh my goodness! So horrific! A raccoon eating a child!
> 
> Haha this is cute. But that's exactly what it looks like he's doing.


Brings new meaning to, "she's so cute I could eat her up." 



MeghanEmily said:


> Such a cute video! And I love the way toddlers throw themselves down on top of whatever character they're hugging.


Haha, Izzy has definitely pulled her share of characters and princesses to the floor. 



MeghanEmily said:


> What a sly chipmunk!


He was really enamored with us. Or else just really bored. 



MeghanEmily said:


> The _best_ kind of plate, by far.






MeghanEmily said:


> Such a cute photo of you three!


Thanks!



MeghanEmily said:


> Ooooh. Can you imagine going in to butter your pancake and getting a pancake full of mayo? Yeah, I'll pass.


I know! I would think it happens all the time too. 



MeghanEmily said:


> Rightly so! Smart chipmunk!


Don't want to get a cut in that precious fur, I suppose. 



amazingact21 said:


> That is one interactive character meet! Chip and Dale practically pulled up a chair and ate with you all. That sort of attention is unheard of at WDW. How awesome that Izzy got to experience that in DL.


It was really different...kind-of like Garden Grill, but even more so. The perks of an empty restaurant. 



khertz said:


> What a fun breakfast!! I guess an early one there is the way to go...so much character interaction!


Definitely! They're probably full of energy just starting their shifts, so use it all on the handful of people there.



Tracy161 said:


> Me, too!!!






Tracy161 said:


> Well if Izzy is anything like my niece and nephew maybe she got her hands on your phone and took it herself!  I can't tell you the "surprises" I've had on my phone later...


Haha, could be. But I don't think she was doing much of that at this point. I do have a pretty amazing compilation of Izzy selfies from a 3-minute span at WDW this past February, though. 



Tracy161 said:


> Nice! I've sure benefited from your solo time before (), excited to read about it later


 Solo time is the best! (and even better with another solo DIS-er!)



Tracy161 said:


> What fun character experiences for Izzy!!!


She really was having a great time with them that morning.



cindianne320 said:


> What a fun breakfast! So much character interaction, and good food, too!


Great way to start off our first full day!


----------



## Dugette

khertz said:


> I've been using Flickr and it's awesome. But now I'm worried about old TRs! I don't even know if I'd remember my photobucket login.


Ugh, you must have used Photobucket early on? I know you use Flickr now and it seems like it works well from what I can see. I actually clicked through a bunch of random TRs the other day and it looks like a good chunk of the DIS is using Flickr.



StarWarsMomofGirls! said:


> What is that sign for?!?!


From what I've seen, the state of CA has laws that require everyone be warned about everything. Like I know that we've bought random (pretty innocent seeming) products with labels that say "California wants you to know this could kill you" (or similar ). So, I guess that we might die from visiting Disneyland, but that seems like a decent way to go, I suppose.  I'm willing to take that chance.



StarWarsMomofGirls! said:


> I love these benches!!!! And I love that you take pictures of just about everything on your trips! I really need to step up my game on our next trip.


Haha, I was actually just thinking about the picture thing today as I was working with the pictures from my early trip reports. Our first trip as a couple (Dec. 2009), there were only like 20-something pictures I posted for a whole day! But, that was also prior to everyone carrying around a smartphone with camera. Now I take WAYYYYY too many (and Dug always has ). You should see how many more pictures I have that I don't even post.  I do make an effort to take a lot of random photos, though, so I can piece our movements together post-trip when I make notes (I am not very good at making notes during the trips).



StarWarsMomofGirls! said:


> Meeko! What a good meet!


It was!



StarWarsMomofGirls! said:


> She is SUPER excited to meet him! Love it.


And I doubt she even knew who he was.



StarWarsMomofGirls! said:


> And this one too!


So fun!



StarWarsMomofGirls! said:


> A girl after my own heart!






StarWarsMomofGirls! said:


> Man that was a lot of Chip & Dale! Izzy seemed to love all of it!


They are the best - we have had SO many great times with Chip and Dale over the years. 



StarWarsMomofGirls! said:


> I feel bad for everyone with the photo bucket accounts. I just started using disboards, and have just been uploading directly to the site. I can't image having to go back and re-upload all your photos! I hope you (and everybody else) find a good alternate!


Thanks, it's such a pain! When I started doing TRs, there was never an option to upload directly. And now I don't want to use it, as I can't imagine how many posts my reports would be if I had to limit each one to 10 pictures.  Anyway, yeah, I am really not looking forward to this project. 



AprilRenee said:


> Thanks for the heads up. I'm gonna go save my old trip report.


No problem!



AprilRenee said:


> If you have a Mac, id suggest going to each post and selecting "print" then down in the lower left corner select "PDF" and then "save to PDF"
> You can save each individual post as a PDF and save your trip report that way.


I actually have done that, though need to make sure I'm up to date. Back when the DIS changed platforms, I got paranoid and saved everything like that. And I'm glad I did, as they screwed up a lot of my old punctuation in the transition. 



AprilRenee said:


> There may be an easier way too. I'll do some investigating.


Let me know if you find anything helpful.



mnmrmustard said:


> Howdy! Just caught up on your TR - love all the pictures and the little details you give. Izzy was a dynamo on that first day! We stayed at the Park Place in way back in 2005 when our kiddos were 3 & 6yrs old respectively and the short walk was really nice.


Thanks! She did great traveling and we had a blast on day 1. LOVED that short walk...spoiled me forever. 



mnmrmustard said:


> Bummer about PhotoBucket going to that high-priced model, Imgur or Tinypic are good alternatives from what I hear.


Thanks! I just don't get the decisions they made. I mean, someone who (in theory) only has like 20 pictures in Photobucket, but all linked into forums, is never going to be able to justify $400/year to stay with them. They should have thought this through better. 



Khokhonutt said:


> I've been using Smugmug.com for years. I have the basic plan, which runs $5.99 per month or $3.99 per month if you pay a year at a time. For that I can upload unlimited pictures and videos. They originally started as a picture backup site, so your pictures are replicated to 3 different datacenters in the US, but they do so much more. I mainly use them for backing up and sharing my photos. They have an app that automatically uploads the pictures we take on our phones, so I don't have to worry about something crashing on my phone and losing my pictures. They also make it very easy to share photos, for example for our recent trip to Disneyland, I created a password on our Disney pictures folder. That allowed me to send my daughter a link that automatically opened a web uploader for her to share her pictures to that gallery. It's also super simple to download all of the pictures from a gallery, if you want to work on them locally. And they offer print services, so we've used them for Christmas cards several years.


Thank you so much for the info on this! I've seen this recommended in other places as well and decided to try the free trial - seems great, so far! I don't mind the small fee, as I currently pay a small fee for Photobucket (and smugmug seems to work much better than photobucket ever did). Also, that comment about sharing photos is super helpful! We did a joint trip with another DIS-er (@Imagineer5 ) in December and still haven't managed to share our photos with each other, so this would be perfect! 



MeghanEmily said:


> Hmm. I've started using Imgur, and I like it fine. But I don't know how reliably it will remain free over time, since I didn't expect this issue with Photobucket. I'm in the same boat about not wanting to re-link all my photos, but I don't have nearly as many as you would! Good luck!


Yeah, I'm wary of the free ones now because they may follow suit. And, heck, I'm a paying subscriber of Photobucket, but I'm still not going to be able to maintain my links past next year. I kind-of don't trust anyone to maintain my photo links now.  And, yeah, there are a LOT to re-link. Ugh.



Princess Leia said:


> Izzy clearly had a great time with the characters at breakfast. Chip and Dale are the best for interaction. I remember years ago Hannah jumping off the train when she spotted Meeko.


Ha, cute! Yes, we consistently have great experiences with Chip and Dale! Love them! 



Princess Leia said:


> I use Flickr for my trip reports and find it works well. It must be so frustrating for people who have so many photos linked to photo bucket.


Thanks! Definitely frustrating and maddening. 



amazingact21 said:


> I've switched to Imgur and am slowly switching my photos to that site. However, from the chatter I've heard, I'm just delaying the inevitable; it seems more and more sites are going the route of photobucket. (The reason I chose Imgur over flickr is because I read flickr is trying to switch to a subscription-based company, as well.) It's a frustrating scenario...all those old photos have to be swapped.


Such a pain. When I joined, Photobucket was THE place to store photos for the DIS. And now it's hard to know where they'll be safe. I hope the other companies take note of the backlash against Photobucket's poorly thought out plan and do better. But, yeah, I don't know how I'm going to find time to swap out all those old photos. As it is, I haven't even found time to set up chapter links in this TR.  But, hey, I guess if I have to go back into my old posts, maybe I can fix all the punctuation that got screwed up a couple years back when the DIS migrated. 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*Thanks for all the feedback, everyone! I've been working on the photo hosting issue a bit. I started by removing all of like 12 photos I had in a very old free Photobucket account and shutting it down with a lovely note to Photobucket about how misguided they are.  Most of those photos were from my VERY FIRST report on the DIS!! Because there were so few, I actually went into the posts and inserted them directly into the DIS. And it seems to work just fine.  If you are interested in a short and entirely different report, feel free to check out this guy: https://www.disboards.com/threads/m...by-a-13-and-9-year-old.2367668/#post-34940632 It's great for nostalgia too! 

Beyond that, I decided to sign up for the free trial of Smugmug and that seems to be working quite well from my 1 day of testing. Unless I find an issue, I will probably move my other free Photobucket pictures over there and re-link my first few reports. Just wondering, do you guys still see the photos in the early ones, like this one? https://www.disboards.com/threads/the-last-minute-super-bargain-bonus-trip-9-11-update-the.2541655/ I do, but wasn't sure if there were just cached on my computer or something.

Since Dec. 2010, I've used the paid account, so I'm not going to worry too much about those until, well, next year sometime? I will probably upload the photos into Smugmug, but save the re-linking projects for later. For the time being, I'm going to work on my next update with Photobucket, as I have the pictures ready there, but might switch over the new updates soon.

And one more trial thing. Apparently Smugmug handles uploading videos much better than Photobucket, so I'm debating if I link them there or keep using (free) Vimeo for those. So, here's a video I found in my old account and am testing how it posts here. But it also reminds me how much cooler we used to be pre-parenthood.  Enjoy:





Hmmmm, looks like I can't actually embed it here, so may be sticking with Vimeo. But I'll leave it here anyway for fun. *


----------



## cindianne320

I can still see all your pictures on both reports!
Loved your year of Disney video! Strange to think how much has changed in 7 years!!! (At Disney and at home!)


----------



## GlitteryOtters

I can see the pictures no problem! Good luck on your migration to a new service. I don't have experience embedding their photos in posts, but I've used a paid account with Flickr for ages and have been happy with it for photo storage. Price is not bad, either. Sounds like you might have found a good option, though! I hope that works out well! 

So glad you liked DCA. I like it so much that i insisted on introducing 2 different family members to it on 2 different trips this year & made them buy longer tickets so they could come visit it with me. 

DL will always have the top spot in my heart, but I really love that park, too and am so nervous to find out whether my husband & mother will like it as much as I do because it feels like I'm always reading people taking digs at it. Makes me glad to hear that I am not the only one who enjoys it. Can't wait to read your next report! 

~Meg


----------



## MeghanEmily

I can also see those pictures! I wonder if Photobucket just hasn't noticed and sunk its claws into them yet? Because strangely once in a while some of my photobucket pictures in the middle of a TR will appear while all the others around it will have the third party hosting message. So frustrating!


----------



## Dugette

cindianne320 said:


> I can still see all your pictures on both reports!
> Loved your year of Disney video! Strange to think how much has changed in 7 years!!! (At Disney and at home!)


Makes me wonder if Photobucket is just going after the currently-active accounts right now? I mean, I don't actually use the old account, so maybe they're letting the pictures remain embedded for now?  I love looking back at those old trailers and videos - back when we had time and energy to put stuff like that together.  Now, I struggle to just write an acceptable update. Things have definitely changed since then!



GlitteryOtters said:


> I can see the pictures no problem! Good luck on your migration to a new service. I don't have experience embedding their photos in posts, but I've used a paid account with Flickr for ages and have been happy with it for photo storage. Price is not bad, either. Sounds like you might have found a good option, though! I hope that works out well!
> 
> So glad you liked DCA. I like it so much that i insisted on introducing 2 different family members to it on 2 different trips this year & made them buy longer tickets so they could come visit it with me.
> 
> DL will always have the top spot in my heart, but I really love that park, too and am so nervous to find out whether my husband & mother will like it as much as I do because it feels like I'm always reading people taking digs at it. Makes me glad to hear that I am not the only one who enjoys it. Can't wait to read your next report!
> 
> ~Meg


Thanks, so far this Smugmug site seems pretty user-friendly, so we'll see. I've been uploading my old pictures over there between work tasks.

DCA is awesome. Especially Cars Land. Love the immersive world they've created. We just saw Cars 3 the other day and it really makes us want to visit again.



MeghanEmily said:


> I can also see those pictures! I wonder if Photobucket just hasn't noticed and sunk its claws into them yet? Because strangely once in a while some of my photobucket pictures in the middle of a TR will appear while all the others around it will have the third party hosting message. So frustrating!


So strange. I'm guessing maybe they don't care about mine (yet) since it's an older/not-actively-used account? I would imagine they are going for the very active accounts first, but I'm just guessing.


----------



## Dugette

*Dancing with Daisy*
*
We had seen a bear roaming around during our meal, but he never made it over to our table.  (Nope, not THAT bear). We had to look up who he was and it turned out to be Kenai from Brother Bear (which we were not familiar with, but why not meet him anyway? ) We asked the waiter if he’d be coming over, since we were done eating, and he recommended we just catch him on our way out. So, that’s what we did:





















Running from the bear, I guess :





Dug and I wanted bear hugs too:









I have video, but for some reason it is stuck in a sideways position :
*




*
On our way out, I noticed in the window that someone was having a birthday  – likely for the long formerly-empty table near us that had filled in with a large group:





As we understood it, having breakfast at Storyteller’s Café would allow us to use the Grand Californian’s direct entrance into California Adventure this morning. However, when we tried to do so, we were told that we needed the physical copy of our receipt and the photo of it we’d taken on our phone was not enough.  Ugh, that’s what we get for trying not to accumulate junk for once.  So, I hustled back over to Storyteller’s, tracked down our waiter, and he re-printed the receipt for us (as it had been cleared from our table already). That was sufficient and they allowed us to enter there (through metal detectors, etc.) 

So, yay, we finally made it into California Adventure!  I believe we entered right by the Grizzly River Run/World of Color Fast Pass area:





Dug’s camera came out:

















As we passed by Soarin’, we grabbed a FP for later on (that we’d get a Rider Swap to supplement, as Izzy was too short). Then we spotted Daisy out for a meet and greet. Izzy wanted to do that, but we still needed a Radiator Springs Racers FP, so Dug went ahead to obtain that and I stayed in line with Izzy for the meet with Daisy:













This lady likes Duffy, apparently:





We admired the palm tree:





Even tiny Princess Leia had to meet Daisy :





And then it was finally our turn to meet Daisy in her cute outfit:





Izzy got her to dance/shake her tailfeathers:





(We had an awesome meet with Donald at Aulani the prior month where he was happy to shake his tailfeathers with Izzy.)
















*




*
And some photos from Dug’s walk towards Cars Land:

































Dug actually went a little too far, as the RSR FP machines are near A Bug’s Land instead of being inside Cars Land, but he did managed to find them and get us 3:15pm. 

Up next: Fun in A Bug’s Land and more!*


----------



## mnmrmustard

Very cool little Bear encounter and glad you were able to get that receipt reprinted, worth a little backtracking to get entrance straight in to the park.

It looked like Izzy really enjoyed meeting Daisy and Daisy really got into the interaction.  Nice that you are able to do rider swap and have fast passes for both Soarin' and RSR.

I can't wait for my family to finally get to walk the streets of Radiator Springs. Looking forward to the next installment!


----------



## MeghanEmily

I love Brother Bear! My mom won't watch it, though, because she says it's too sad.



Dugette said:


> And then it was finally our turn to meet Daisy in her cute outfit:



Love! How cute is Daisy's outfit here!?


----------



## AprilRenee

Photos are gone for me on your old report :-(


----------



## Dugette

mnmrmustard said:


> Very cool little Bear encounter and glad you were able to get that receipt reprinted, worth a little backtracking to get entrance straight in to the park.


Yes, definitely nice to go straight into the park!



mnmrmustard said:


> It looked like Izzy really enjoyed meeting Daisy and Daisy really got into the interaction. Nice that you are able to do rider swap and have fast passes for both Soarin' and RSR.


It was a fun meet for both of them.  I will miss being able to get two FP at once and swap, but being able to ride all together is even better. 



mnmrmustard said:


> I can't wait for my family to finally get to walk the streets of Radiator Springs. Looking forward to the next installment!


Hope everyone loves it! They really knocked it out of the park on theming that area.



MeghanEmily said:


> I love Brother Bear! My mom won't watch it, though, because she says it's too sad.


Huh, good to know. I don't think I've ever seen it.



MeghanEmily said:


> Love! How cute is Daisy's outfit here!?


I know, adorable!  That was part of why I was willing to waste early park time on a meet.



AprilRenee said:


> Photos are gone for me on your old report :-(


I knew they'd get around to it, eventually!  Guess I have a new project to work on in all that spare time I don't have.  It seems Photobucket really appreciates how much people love the work they do and wants us all to experience that joy a second time by re-linking everything. I feel really bad for people who have photos scattered more - at least I know where I've posted - in my TR's, but others are on various threads, etc. I actually had one old free-account photo linked in the intro post of this thread (the 2006 DL one) and I saw that disappeared this morning. I re-linked it with the Smugmug version and it seems to be good.


----------



## Dugette

*Being Bugs*
*
After our meet with Daisy, Izzy and I headed over to A Bug’s Land to locate Dug. However, we wandered around and couldn’t find him, so decided to take fun Photopass shots instead:













We must have connected with Dug leaving A Bug’s Land and walked over to Cars Land together:













I absolutely love the feel of this part of the park! 

The line was still short for Mater’s ride (it was a bit before 10am), so we decided to do that first:

















You can see the ride in the foreground of that last one and Grizzly Peak in the background. 

Cute tractors:





Izzy and I rode together:









And there’s Dug over there:





It’s funny, because you can sit in cars that are adjacent to each other, but end up in totally different places, as the ride shifts you around to the different spinners. And it really does whip you around – we had a blast:









Fun and cute ride! 

Another view of Grizzly Peak on our way out:





Then Dug and Izzy headed back over to A Bug’s Land:





I was on my own, though, heading for Soarin’ to use the Fast Pass. Scenery on the way:









Lots of fun theming!

I was able to walk right up and request a Rider Swap for Dug, so that was good:





And some blurry proof that I was in the Soarin’ queue:





I did some planning/organizing while I waited. Verified our RSR time:





And confirmed I’d be able to get myself a new avatar picture this day:





While I waited for my chance to Soar, Dug and Izzy were here:













I made it up to the pre-boarding area:





And Dug and Izzy got on their ride:

























Looks like fun!

I had a good time Soarin’ Over California while they did that (this was back when the “old” movie was still showing). Fun to actually be IN California while flying over it. 

Up next: More bug rides! And I, um, wander onto a new-to-us ride with no wait. *


----------



## Dugette

Dugette said:


> I knew they'd get around to it, eventually!  Guess I have a new project to work on in all that spare time I don't have.  It seems Photobucket really appreciates how much people love the work they do and wants us all to experience that joy a second time by re-linking everything. I feel really bad for people who have photos scattered more - at least I know where I've posted - in my TR's, but others are on various threads, etc. I actually had one old free-account photo linked in the intro post of this thread (the 2006 DL one) and I saw that disappeared this morning. I re-linked it with the Smugmug version and it seems to be good.


I just got ambitious and fixed the first post in this report: https://www.disboards.com/threads/the-last-minute-super-bargain-bonus-trip-9-11-update-the.2541655/ I even fixed punctuation and font size that got messed up in the DIS conversion a couple years ago. It's my shortest report, so figured it was a good place to start. Glad I had the PDF saved, though, so I can easily see which picture goes where. Might do a bit more work on it tonight, but need to sleep soon...


----------



## MeghanEmily

Dugette said:


>



This one! This one is definitely the best one!



Dugette said:


> I absolutely love the feel of this part of the park!



I've heard that even if you're not a Cars fan that this area is amazing and a must-see.



Dugette said:


>



Izzy has the most precious expressions!!



Dugette said:


> Up next: More bug rides! And I, um, wander onto a new-to-us ride with no wait.



Curious...


----------



## GlitteryOtters

Apologies if my reply ends up posting more than once...I am on my phone & the mobile version of these boards is really cranky with photo heavy posts & keeps crashing when I try to reply to posts with quoting your originals. I should go upstairs & use my computer instead, but I am too lazy (and too tired after a 3 mile "Disneyland training" walk--trying to ramp up my miles I anticipation of our trip) to go upstairs and get it. 


I loved the photos and video of Izzy & (the very dapper!) Daisy meeting & shaking tail feathers! So adorable! 

Those 60th anniversary Bugs Land photos are too perfect. I especially love the one where the overenthusiastic Izzy looks ready to capture you with her net! You reminded me how much I miss all of the great photo ops they had during the 60th anniversary. 

All the Carsland photos are making me SO excited for my next trip (and a little homesick for DCA). That land is so perfectly themed. 

I haven't been on Mater's ride yet (mostly I've gone to DCA solo & looks like it is more fun with a companion. My only friend who has gone to DCA with me so far has issues with spinning rides, so we skipped it). Your photos convinced me to give it a try with my husband. I think we might like it. 


Did Izzy get to try Heimlich's Chew Chew Train when she was in Bug's Land? That is actually one of my favorite rides at DCA, I go on it at least once per day I'm in that park! 

Can't wait to hear what happened next!


~Meg


----------



## cindianne320

LOVE seeing Cars Land. It's really one of the biggest draws to Disneyland for me, even though I also would love to spend time in Walt's original park. If only I wasn't so enamored by the World... 

Izzy looks like she was having a great time in Bug's Land, and those Photopass pictures are great! 

Also caught up on the first page of your old report- darn that lady in the restaurant slamming teachers. 

How fun to go straight to the Magic Kingdom! So funny that Magic Bands weren't a thing then! (And Paper Fast Passes were!)
 Do you have APs now? You and I could drive to Iowa and get this party started!


----------



## StarWarsMomofGirls!

I know everyone out in CA didn't want to get ride of the old fastpass system. But I don't miss trekking across the park to get a FP and then trek back because it isn't good for awhile.


----------



## mnmrmustard

So cool to see wee ones enjoying Bug's Land.  With our kiddos grown we usually just breeze by there.  

And Mater's ride looks like a bunch of fun too.  We are looking forward to riding it and Luigi's along with RSR of course.  So one last trip on the "old" Soarin' aye?  I will miss the orange smell over the orchards but am looking forward to the new one!

Good luck with the continued TR revamps post Photobucket


----------



## Tracy161

Awesome updates!!! And Izzy looked like she was having a blast the whole time!


----------



## Dugette

MeghanEmily said:


> This one! This one is definitely the best one!


Haha, thanks. The photographer was suggesting all these poses - fun! But Izzy had no idea how it would look until we saw them after. 



MeghanEmily said:


> I've heard that even if you're not a Cars fan that this area is amazing and a must-see.


I'd agree. It's so immersive. I would imagine it's something like if I were to go to Harry Potter World - I'm not into that at all, but I'd probably still enjoy the world they've created.



MeghanEmily said:


> Izzy has the most precious expressions!!


Aw, thanks! She's definitely expressive! 



MeghanEmily said:


> Curious...


Coming up next! 



GlitteryOtters said:


> Apologies if my reply ends up posting more than once...I am on my phone & the mobile version of these boards is really cranky with photo heavy posts & keeps crashing when I try to reply to posts with quoting your originals. I should go upstairs & use my computer instead, but I am too lazy (and too tired after a 3 mile "Disneyland training" walk--trying to ramp up my miles I anticipation of our trip) to go upstairs and get it.


Haha, I am the opposite. I am way too lazy to post from my phone. Much easier to use a laptop keyboard.  Good job on your Disneyland training walk! 



GlitteryOtters said:


> I loved the photos and video of Izzy & (the very dapper!) Daisy meeting & shaking tail feathers! So adorable!


Thanks - it was a cute meet - loved Daisy's look! 



GlitteryOtters said:


> Those 60th anniversary Bugs Land photos are too perfect. I especially love the one where the overenthusiastic Izzy looks ready to capture you with her net! You reminded me how much I miss all of the great photo ops they had during the 60th anniversary.


They really did have some fun photo set-ups! Wish they always did that! You'll see more of them throughout the trip report too.



GlitteryOtters said:


> All the Carsland photos are making me SO excited for my next trip (and a little homesick for DCA). That land is so perfectly themed.


It really is! I want to go back there so badly!  Dug and I actually had a chat after watching Cars 1 again (before we went to see Cars 3) and we were thinking how cool it would be to take a Route 66 driving trip before going to Disneyland. Unlikely to happen soon, but it's on the radar. 



GlitteryOtters said:


> I haven't been on Mater's ride yet (mostly I've gone to DCA solo & looks like it is more fun with a companion. My only friend who has gone to DCA with me so far has issues with spinning rides, so we skipped it). Your photos convinced me to give it a try with my husband. I think we might like it.


I liked it a lot more than I thought I would. Seemed more fun than most spinning rides. And it's a cute theme. I really liked it at night too - the music and lights add to the ambiance. It's like being at a tractor party. 



GlitteryOtters said:


> Did Izzy get to try Heimlich's Chew Chew Train when she was in Bug's Land? That is actually one of my favorite rides at DCA, I go on it at least once per day I'm in that park!


Indeed - next update, actually! Well, and the one after that too.  Another cute one.



GlitteryOtters said:


> Can't wait to hear what happened next!


Coming up!



cindianne320 said:


> LOVE seeing Cars Land. It's really one of the biggest draws to Disneyland for me, even though I also would love to spend time in Walt's original park. If only I wasn't so enamored by the World...


Haha, I know, so many places to go! If we didn't have WDW AP's and a free 6-night WDW value resort stay, our October trip would be Disneyland instead of WDW. But, you know, Pandora and some other new things are open now, so we'll deal.  And maybe find some way to get to Cars Land again. Dug's cousin is getting married in the LA area in late 2018 (just found this out), so maybe then. 



cindianne320 said:


> Izzy looks like she was having a great time in Bug's Land, and those Photopass pictures are great!


Thanks! They had such fun Photopass set-ups for the 60th anniversary!



cindianne320 said:


> Also caught up on the first page of your old report- darn that lady in the restaurant slamming teachers.


I know!! I actually thought of you as I was fixing that update and saw that part!



cindianne320 said:


> How fun to go straight to the Magic Kingdom! So funny that Magic Bands weren't a thing then! (And Paper Fast Passes were!)
> Do you have APs now? You and I could drive to Iowa and get this party started!


It was such a crazy night - arriving at like midnight to the MK! 

Um, yes, I do have an AP....this is a dangerous suggestion... I have to admit that I've almost jumped on two Sun Country Wing-it deals to MCO recently. I have been dealing with issues related to my mom's brain injury for the last 6 months and I am BURNED OUT and desperately wanting to get away and recharge - and with an AP, seems like WDW could be a wise choice.  But, I don't know. I have to stick this out for now, until my mom doesn't need me as much and I can run away.  But, you know, if you showed up and shoved me into your "minnie van" and made me go...  



StarWarsMomofGirls! said:


> I know everyone out in CA didn't want to get ride of the old fastpass system. But I don't miss trekking across the park to get a FP and then trek back because it isn't good for awhile.


The trekking is a pain, but I really felt like we were able to make good use of the old system. Plus, you know, we may have found a few valuable things on the ground that wouldn't be possible without a paper system. 



mnmrmustard said:


> So cool to see wee ones enjoying Bug's Land. With our kiddos grown we usually just breeze by there.


It's such a cute little land! We enjoyed it much more than we thought. Though, it helped that it was early and not terribly crowded yet.



mnmrmustard said:


> And Mater's ride looks like a bunch of fun too. We are looking forward to riding it and Luigi's along with RSR of course. So one last trip on the "old" Soarin' aye? I will miss the orange smell over the orchards but am looking forward to the new one!


Mater's was fun, but Luigi's wasn't in operation during our trip. RSR is amazing! (I have always loved Test Track, so this was like that plussed up big time). I actually really miss the orange smell - and I don't even like oranges!  The new one is cool, but I would love if they still offered the old one sometimes for nostalgia. And I'd love for Izzy to have seen it - she used to fall asleep to the old soundtrack as a baby. 



mnmrmustard said:


> Good luck with the continued TR revamps post Photobucket


Thanks - I'll need it! 



Tracy161 said:


> Awesome updates!!! And Izzy looked like she was having a blast the whole time!


Thanks - she was having a great day! We all were!


----------



## Dugette

*Monsters, Bugs, and a Tower*
*
It worked out well for Dug and Izzy to hit A Bug’s Land early in the morning, as they were able to get on the rides after only one rotation (I think most of them tend to be slow loaders/low capacity). This was where they headed next:













As they boogied, I made my way out of Soarin’, with a goal of getting a Tower of Terror Fast Pass next:





Guess who I spotted riding the trolley? 













While I was wandering around the unfamiliar park, Dug and Izzy moved on to another buggy ride:













Unfortunately, they weren’t able to ride this one together, as there is a shared lap bar and large Dug + small Izzy was not allowed.  They did give them a pass to come back later, though (so I could take Izzy, I guess).

Now, if you know me, you realize I don’t really have a sense of direction. I can get lost rather easily.  And, even if I’m not lost, I might think I am…like I was feeling on my journey to get those ToT FP. And, when you’re not really sure you’re on the right track, but then spot a must-do ride with almost no wait…well, you’ve just got to go in solo, despite wanting to take the whole family, right?  Okay, I don’t know what you’d do, but that’s what I did:





Can you guess where I’m headed? Monstropolis:















 



Such a cute ride! Loved it and I was glad I took my little detour to ride this. It was a pretty much a walk-on, so didn’t take much time at all. And, the best part? I took some video of Roz at the end and she talked to me! 
*




*
After exiting the ride, I looked around the bend and I realized I was actually on the right track for ToT  and continued on my assignment to obtain a FP:





Success:





It was about 10:55am when I obtained that, so not too far out at all.

I made my way back to find Dug and Izzy as they waited to ride this:









Heimlich’s Chew Chew Train – pretty cute! 





My phone was almost out of power, but I managed to locate the stroller and plug into the portable charger while they were riding. After the train, we all went over to the bumper bugs to ride with that pass they had given Dug – I went with Izzy and Dug took his own:













Izzy refused to drive, but we all enjoyed ourselves.

I told Dug that Monster’s Inc. didn’t have much of a wait, so we headed that way next:









Unfortunately, the wait had shot up quite a bit and we must have been in line for at least 20 minutes.  I kept stammering, “Uh, I just walked right past this part of the queue a few minutes ago, why are we standing here now?  Where did everyone come from?” So strange to see how fast those lines build if you don’t hit them just right.  We eventually made it on the ride and all enjoyed it, though. Glad I got the bonus ride.

Up next, that Tower of Terror Fast Pass was valid, so I went off to use it and get a Rider Swap for Dug:









He apparently saw some Incredibles walk by from where they waited:





I enjoyed ToT, especially because of the completely different view when you peek out from a high window. I LOVED seeing mountains! So different than in Florida! Otherwise, the WDW ride itself is better (moves in vs. just up/down), but I got a kick out of the novel/different things at Disneyland after getting so used to the way WDW is. I’m really interested to try the new Guardians of the Galaxy version, though. Again, something different could be fun (it was the regular version during our trip).

As usual, I am the most boring person in the ride photo:





We traded off and Dug rode next:









While he was doing that, Izzy and I headed back to get in a few more Bug’s Land rides together.

Up next: Uh, more bugs? And a small photo shoot before lunch.*


----------



## StarWarsMomofGirls!

We never do anything interesting for the photos.. DH started to this past trip, but other than the rides where it's a drop, I never know where the camera is... 

Bugs land looks cute and perfect for little kids. Although, sounds like it will be going away.


----------



## cindianne320

Dugette said:


> Um, yes, I do have an AP....this is a dangerous suggestion... I have to admit that I've almost jumped on two Sun Country Wing-it deals to MCO recently. I have been dealing with issues related to my mom's brain injury for the last 6 months and I am BURNED OUT and desperately wanting to get away and recharge - and with an AP, seems like WDW could be a wise choice.  But, I don't know. I have to stick this out for now, until my mom doesn't need me as much and I can run away.  But, you know, if you showed up and shoved me into your "minnie van" and made me go...




Ah- I'm sorry things have been rough lately. I hope she's doing better soon. My husband and I are laughing that they are calling our Traverse a Minnie Van. I seriously just need the while polka dots, and I'd be stylin'!
This AP is burning a hole in my pocket, and if I could find a good flight, I'd be outta here!


----------



## mnmrmustard

You get in a lot of walking searching for those FPs!  Glad everyone got to ride Monsters, Inc. - it may be going away with the Marvel expansion and cool that Roz spoke to you.  It looked like fun time for all, especially in Bug's land.  And I agree, the WDW version of ToT is better with the ride-thru portion, and I'm glad it will stay classic.  I rode ToT last October and got one of the "Final Checkout" t-shirts and am really looking forward to riding the GotG version.

Looking forward to reading about more adventures!


----------



## Dugette

StarWarsMomofGirls! said:


> We never do anything interesting for the photos.. DH started to this past trip, but other than the rides where it's a drop, I never know where the camera is...


Yeah, I'm like you - I just don't pay enough attention to where the cameras are. I know some, but usually just smile. I am super boring. 



StarWarsMomofGirls! said:


> Bugs land looks cute and perfect for little kids. Although, sounds like it will be going away.


It was really cute and great for the tots. I hadn't heard it was going away, but I haven't kept up on news - I would imagine they need the space for new expansions?



cindianne320 said:


> Ah- I'm sorry things have been rough lately. I hope she's doing better soon. My husband and I are laughing that they are calling our Traverse a Minnie Van. I seriously just need the while polka dots, and I'd be stylin'!
> This AP is burning a hole in my pocket, and if I could find a good flight, I'd be outta here!


Thanks, me too. It's been a long 6 months. 

Haha, you should have your Traverse custom painted.  Of course, Disney might sue you, but you'd never have trouble finding your car in a parking lot.

Yeah, you and me on the AP. If I manage to find a weekend where we don't have plans and fares are super cheap.  (I keep thinking we should meet up around here sometime - maybe a playground or something kid-friendly - but perhaps that would be dangerous and we'd end up at MCO. )



mnmrmustard said:


> You get in a lot of walking searching for those FPs!  Glad everyone got to ride Monsters, Inc. - it may be going away with the Marvel expansion and cool that Roz spoke to you.  It looked like fun time for all, especially in Bug's land.  And I agree, the WDW version of ToT is better with the ride-thru portion, and I'm glad it will stay classic.  I rode ToT last October and got one of the "Final Checkout" t-shirts and am really looking forward to riding the GotG version.
> 
> Looking forward to reading about more adventures!


Yeah, gave me a chance to walk around the park a bit, so no complaints there. Huh, Monsters Inc might go away too?  Izzy is scared of the theme of the "classic" ToT, so I think she might be more open to riding the new version, if we make it back to Disneyland sometime soon.


----------



## Dugette

*Going Hollywood*
*
While Dug was enduring the ups and downs of ToT, Izzy and I decided to boogie:









Then we got on the Chew Chew Train:









Into the watermelon we go:









Cute! After our rides, Izzy was on a mission to sit in all the chairs and drink from all the fountains:









I’m not sure if this occurred now (when we met back up with Dug) or earlier in the morning, but at some point, we ran across a Photopass photographer and made an effort to get some family photos. However, someone wasn’t interested and they were coming out like this:





So, we took one without her:





This will not be the only time that happens during this trip. 

After that, the photographer was determined to get some decent pictures of Izzy:





Yup, she looks thrilled. 

Then he told her to go knock on this door  :





There was no magic involved with that door, but it got her in a position to maybe take some pictures  :





And, yay, he got a couple acceptable ones  :









Good work, Photopass person! 

Up next: We head to lunch on the water with the princesses. *


----------



## cindianne320

I can't believe that Bug's Land AND Monsters may be gone before I get to CA! Bummer!

Looks like more fun was had by all- except for maybe Izzy and the Photog!



Dugette said:


> Thanks, me too. It's been a long 6 months.
> 
> Haha, you should have your Traverse custom painted.  Of course, Disney might sue you, but you'd never have trouble finding your car in a parking lot.
> 
> Yeah, you and me on the AP. If I manage to find a weekend where we don't have plans and fares are super cheap.  (I keep thinking we should meet up around here sometime - maybe a playground or something kid-friendly - but perhaps that would be dangerous and we'd end up at MCO. )



LOL- whenever we head towards MoA/Zoo/etc, I tell the kids we're just going to keep going to the airport and find a cheap flight to Disney!


----------



## mnmrmustard

She was a little booger trying to get those pictures!  Gotta love that age!  More fun times though


----------



## MeghanEmily

Great updates! I'm looking forward to your princess lunch!


----------



## Tracy161

Dugette said:


> Guess who I spotted riding the trolley?






Dugette said:


> Such a cute ride! Loved it and I was glad I took my little detour to ride this.


Glad that worked out! 



Dugette said:


> I enjoyed ToT, especially because of the completely different view when you peek out from a high window.


Ya know, I haven't rode ToT (at WDW) in years. I'm hoping to in August because I've made an appointment to get prescription Scopolamine which helped with my motion sickness several years ago. I miss this ride so I'm hoping to experience it again... without regret 



Dugette said:


> As usual, I am the most boring person in the ride photo:






Dugette said:


>


This photo is amazing 



Dugette said:


> Yup, she looks thrilled.


----------



## Dugette

cindianne320 said:


> I can't believe that Bug's Land AND Monsters may be gone before I get to CA! Bummer!


 Hope you get to see them or something at least as good!



cindianne320 said:


> Looks like more fun was had by all- except for maybe Izzy and the Photog!


 I think we all had fun, in our own ways.



cindianne320 said:


> LOL- whenever we head towards MoA/Zoo/etc, I tell the kids we're just going to keep going to the airport and find a cheap flight to Disney!


Nice!  Every time we go by the airport, Izzy yells to it, "See you in the Fall!!!" 



mnmrmustard said:


> She was a little booger trying to get those pictures!  Gotta love that age!  More fun times though


Oh, yes, she's never easy to photograph. I actually just said today, "She can't just stand and smile - the only way to get that is by accident" - she just can't stop moving and absorbing her surroundings for long these days.



MeghanEmily said:


> Great updates! I'm looking forward to your princess lunch!


The start of it is coming next!



Tracy161 said:


> Glad that worked out!


It was like a tiny bit of solo time tossed in there. 



Tracy161 said:


> Ya know, I haven't rode ToT (at WDW) in years. I'm hoping to in August because I've made an appointment to get prescription Scopolamine which helped with my motion sickness several years ago. I miss this ride so I'm hoping to experience it again... without regret


I hope it helps you and allows you to enjoy the ride!



Tracy161 said:


> This photo is amazing


Aw, thanks!


----------



## Dugette

*Editorial note: This is the first new update that I have entirely switched from using Photobucket to Smugmug - if you have any issues with the photos, let me know!*
*
Ariel’s Grotto*
*
This is apparently a pic on the way to lunch – seems that Dug spotted Mickey riding the trolley too:





We arrived a bit late again – oops, not a good day for ADR timing.  No problem, though. We waited outside for our lunch here:





Nice view of Paradise Pier:









We could see Ariel’s Under the Sea ride from there, I guess:





Excited to meet Ariel:





Soon, we were called in to await our greeting from Ariel herself. She had a nice light fixture:





And a nice view out the window:





Here’s my gripe, though: the line to meet Ariel was ON A STAIRCASE. Let me repeat, the place that you need to make your toddlers stand in a slow-moving line while hungry is ON A STAIRCASE.  I mean, really? Couldn’t they have come up with a better idea?  Or maybe this was just a weird day? I don’t know about anyone else, but I found it a stressful wait, trying to keep my kid from passing the wait by dancing around, since she might tumble down. *

*Anyway, once we got to Ariel, it was worth the stressful wait, as she was wonderful :









A true veteran princess, she even brushed Izzy’s hair out of her face to get ready for photos:





And then Izzy got to show off her Ariel and Flounder dress:

















She managed to get a huge smile out of Izzy:









Bye bye, Ariel:









And I have the video too:
*




*
We were seated on the outdoor deck:









It was a bit breezy, but otherwise pleasant and scenic.  We were some of the first guests seated out there, but it filled up quickly. Izzy was happy to see crayons:





You can see on the table that she also got a crown and stickers to decorate it.

They also brought around the prints of our Photopass with Ariel. Because we had lucked into getting the (discontinued) Photopass package for our trip, a print was included free from character meals, so we got this precious one:





I also got a weather alert pop-up on my phone that informed us of a Winter Weather Advisory at home.  Glad to be on vacation in hot, sunny California in February! 

Some tasty bread arrived at our table:





This was an all-inclusive type meal, so we got appetizers, entrees, and dessert for a fixed price. I got some soup, which appears to be a butternut squash:





They bring the kids some assorted veggies:





But Izzy was also really enjoying some butter via the handy butter delivery device :





Dug also got some sort of soup, though I couldn’t tell you what kind:





These Disney ducks knew where to be for a chance of crumbs:





Since it’s Disney, they know how to handle 3-year-olds and brought Izzy’s meal out fairly quickly:





As you can see, it was adorable. 

This fellow also came around to announce the impending arrival of the princesses:





He was actually singing here:
*




*
He had a little spiel to introduce each one as they started their rotation as well.

I believe Dug and I both ordered the same entrée:





I think that this was the Red Oak-Smoked Honey-Whiskey Barbecue Tri-Tip*

*It was very tasty and we both enjoyed it! 

Up next: The princesses come to see us. *


----------



## mnmrmustard

Stairs?  That is not a well planned meet & greet location for sure.  Still, amazing encounter with Ariel and such great pictures!  The food looked really good too


----------



## disgeek009

Great update with lovely photos!  Thanks!

I haven't commented before, but I love your trip reports.  I'm especially interested in this one since I want to take a trip to Disneyland with my own toddler.  I'm thinking maybe next year when she's two?  I want to get there while admission is still free, but have her mature enough to appreciate it.  Any advice?

Anyway, thanks for documenting your trips.  Also, thanks for going back to fix your old photos (what a hassle!).  Your old trip reports were really helpful for tips on travelling with a baby/toddler.  We're actually going to Aulani this fall and I want to try Monkeypod Kitchen on your advice.


----------



## cindianne320

My DH commutes to work, and was listening to a video gamer podcast on his way home- who had just been to Disneyland for D23- so we got to talk Disneyland at dinner! 

What beautiful views from the outdoor waiting area- but having to wait on stairs?! No bueno! 

The start of your meal looks yummy- LOVE the octopus!


----------



## Verstehen

She is just too precious! Can't wait to see the princess interactions.


----------



## schmass

I'm not sure why I didn't get any Dis alerts that you have updated your TR, but I'm glad I checked!

That stinks that you had to run back into the restaurant to get a new receipt printed, but I'm glad they were able to do that for you!

Carsland looks so amazing.  I really hope that we can make it out to DL sooner rather than later.

The pictures of you and Izzy in the Bugs Land are so cute!  You guys looked like you had a such a fun morning, and made it on a bunch of rides!

Ariel's Grotto looks great.  That is weird about the line on the stairs, though!


----------



## MeghanEmily

Dugette said:


> Excited to meet Ariel:



And she's dressed perfectly for the occasion!



Dugette said:


> Here’s my gripe, though: the line to meet Ariel was ON A STAIRCASE. Let me repeat, the place that you need to make your toddlers stand in a slow-moving line while hungry is ON A STAIRCASE.  I mean, really? Couldn’t they have come up with a better idea?  Or maybe this was just a weird day? I don’t know about anyone else, but I found it a stressful wait, trying to keep my kid from passing the wait by dancing around, since she might tumble down.


'

This is weird. Did nobody think this might be a problem?



Dugette said:


> And then Izzy got to show off her Ariel and Flounder dress:



Precious!!!



Dugette said:


> They also brought around the prints of our Photopass with Ariel. Because we had lucked into getting the (discontinued) Photopass package for our trip, a print was included free from character meals, so we got this precious one:



Oh my goodness, my heart! 



Dugette said:


> But Izzy was also really enjoying some butter via the handy butter delivery device :



Ah, yes! How could I forget Izzy's love of butter!? Strangely enough, when I was her age, I refused to touch the stuff. If someone buttered my bread, I'd never eat it. Now, somehow, I manage to eat too much butter and seem to have no qualms with it.



Dugette said:


> As you can see, it was adorable.



I want this meal! How cute!


----------



## khertz

Yeah, toddlers on a staircase waiting in line is a TERRIBLE idea!! It's surprising that Disney wouldn't think of that kind of detail and think it through better?!

Absolutely adorable pics with Ariel! Izzy looks so proud showing her the characters on her dress.


----------



## Dugette

mnmrmustard said:


> Stairs?  That is not a well planned meet & greet location for sure.  Still, amazing encounter with Ariel and such great pictures!  The food looked really good too


I know, I just couldn't get over having to wait on a stairway! But it was worthwhile for the cute pics with Ariel. That print is still up in her room. Yes, food was quite good too! 



disgeek009 said:


> Great update with lovely photos! Thanks!


Thank you! 



disgeek009 said:


> I haven't commented before, but I love your trip reports. I'm especially interested in this one since I want to take a trip to Disneyland with my own toddler. I'm thinking maybe next year when she's two? I want to get there while admission is still free, but have her mature enough to appreciate it. Any advice?


Thanks so much for commenting! Well, for what it's worth, it was painful to have to pay so much money in admission for Izzy this trip - first time we'd had to pay for her Disney ticket and she was still too short to ride a bunch of good rides. So, I'm a fan of taking a kid prior to their third birthday. One of my very favorite Disney World trips was when Izzy was about 23 months, but you just never know how they'll do - but at least that age was free airfare, park admission, and buffets. She was having a great time, though - young enough that she wasn't into tantrums and such yet. However, if a kid might hit the 40" mark before a 3rd birthday, maybe worth waiting until close to that time. So, I guess that's the long way of saying "it depends." 



disgeek009 said:


> Anyway, thanks for documenting your trips. Also, thanks for going back to fix your old photos (what a hassle!). Your old trip reports were really helpful for tips on travelling with a baby/toddler. We're actually going to Aulani this fall and I want to try Monkeypod Kitchen on your advice.


Aw, thanks - it's going to be a LONG project. I only fixed a few pages so far - many to go.  Thankfully, most of my photos should stay in place until the end of 2018, so I have some time. Yay for Aulani!  Izzy actually told me the other day that AULANI was her favorite Disney destination - for the waterslide.  It's such a great resort, I hope you love it! And Monkeypod was all the rage when I read other DIS dining reviews, so I had to go there and it was pretty good (and close)! It's also very kid-friendly out on that patio (or probably inside too). 



cindianne320 said:


> My DH commutes to work, and was listening to a video gamer podcast on his way home- who had just been to Disneyland for D23- so we got to talk Disneyland at dinner!


Ha, that's awesome! Hmmm, I need to start brainstorming on how I can get us back to Disneyland.  Dug has a couple of work events in Southern CA coming up AND we'll have a cousin wedding in LA...I need to make this happen somehow! I hope you get to go sometime too!



cindianne320 said:


> What beautiful views from the outdoor waiting area- but having to wait on stairs?! No bueno!


I just couldn't understand WHY they were making us wait there.  Just so bizarre when you know you'll have lots of small, squirmy children.



cindianne320 said:


> The start of your meal looks yummy- LOVE the octopus!


Such a cute kids meal!



Verstehen said:


> She is just too precious! Can't wait to see the princess interactions.


Aw, thanks! 



schmass said:


> I'm not sure why I didn't get any Dis alerts that you have updated your TR, but I'm glad I checked!


I'm glad you checked in! I only get alerts if someone quotes me or replies to my thread - is there another way to get alerts when someone posts a new update?



schmass said:


> That stinks that you had to run back into the restaurant to get a new receipt printed, but I'm glad they were able to do that for you!


Me too! Just wish I'd known, so we didn't have to go back and distract our waiter. Oh, well, worked out okay.



schmass said:


> Carsland looks so amazing. I really hope that we can make it out to DL sooner rather than later.


I hope you can too! I really loved Cars Land.  



schmass said:


> The pictures of you and Izzy in the Bugs Land are so cute! You guys looked like you had a such a fun morning, and made it on a bunch of rides!


It was a great time to hit A Bugs Land, as most people weren't there yet, but Izzy was the perfect age to really enjoy it.



schmass said:


> Ariel's Grotto looks great. That is weird about the line on the stairs, though!


Despite the strange entrance, it turned out to be a great lunch!



MeghanEmily said:


> And she's dressed perfectly for the occasion!


I was so happy to find a perfect occasion for her to wear that dress!



MeghanEmily said:


> This is weird. Did nobody think this might be a problem?


I just don't get it.  Unless this was some sort of oddity, it seems like there must be a better way. I can't be the only parent that gets stressed out with a wiggly toddler confined halfway down a curved stairway. 



MeghanEmily said:


> Precious!!!


Thanks!



MeghanEmily said:


> Oh my goodness, my heart!


We couldn't believe how cute the photo was when they delivered it to our table! 



MeghanEmily said:


> Ah, yes! How could I forget Izzy's love of butter!? Strangely enough, when I was her age, I refused to touch the stuff. If someone buttered my bread, I'd never eat it. Now, somehow, I manage to eat too much butter and seem to have no qualms with it.


 Yes, the butter love is unrelenting, even now. Her favorite food has become buttered noodles. She wants butter on everything (no kidding, she had buttered jicama the other day). Just tonight, she was talking about how she wants a pet dog made of butter so she can eat it. 



MeghanEmily said:


> I want this meal! How cute!


I know - I wouldn't mind having that for lunch!



khertz said:


> Yeah, toddlers on a staircase waiting in line is a TERRIBLE idea!! It's surprising that Disney wouldn't think of that kind of detail and think it through better?!


I totally agree! What were they thinking?  I mean, sure, it's a nice elegant way to enter - for an adult. But not a great place for that small, unsteady, stumbling crowd. 



khertz said:


> Absolutely adorable pics with Ariel! Izzy looks so proud showing her the characters on her dress.


She showed off that dress to every princess!  At least she remembered it was Flounder instead of Nemo, though - she always gets them mixed up.


----------



## Dugette

*A Princess Processional*
*
Soon, the arrival of the featured princesses was announced. The first one to make it outside was Rapunzel. The table behind us was apparently big fans of hers. You can see her holding a small frying pan and Rapunzel doll they brought:





After she managed to disengage from her intensely devoted fans , she made it over to us. She was lovely and Izzy had a great time with her:











*

*










*




*
As you may have heard in the video, Izzy was antsy to meet Cinderella, but she still had a cute interaction with a very sweet Rapunzel. Soon enough, however, Cindy made her way over to us (I think she skipped up to us, ahead of Belle):











*

*














*




*
I’m not sure what prompted this, but Izzy’s excited and Cindy’s smiling, so might as well post it:
*




*
Up next was Belle:



*

*






















*




*
And, finally, we got to meet Tiana:



*

*


*

*


*




*
After all of our meet and greets, the dessert assortment arrived:





And the kid got this one:





Mine had an extra birthday treat on it:





I suspect Izzy helped me with my chocolate:





After the meal, while we waited for the bill, Izzy decided to work on her shapes with crayons (oh, and you can see the Ariel buttons they gave us):





And then with veggies:





This kid is always building something!

We really enjoyed our lunch here and thought the experience was well worth it! 

Up next: Off to find Dug (the dog!)*


----------



## AprilRenee

Wow! Those princesses all looked really good! Sometimes I'm like "really Disney? That girl looks nothing like the cartoon!"

Man! This lunch looked fun. Now I kinda wanna book it....


----------



## khertz

That is a GREAT mix of princesses! Izzy looks like she is having a ball. Now I'm bummed we didn't do this in June although DD is a little more princess obsessed now than she was on the trip so it might not have been as exciting for her. Definitely next time when she is Izzy's age!!


----------



## MeghanEmily

I love your princess photos! All the princesses are looking their best in my opinion, and Izzy is adorable as usual. And your desserts looked pretty great, too!


----------



## annie170

I'm not sure why I'm not getting alerts on this trip report, but all caught up now.

I can't get over how empty Storyteller's Café was!  Was your reservation early?

That is so strange that you wait on stairs to meet Ariel.  Talk about an accident waiting to happen!

You got some really great interactions with the princesses.  That's awesome that you could get such good photos.

The more Disneyland trip reports I read, the more I want to go!


----------



## mnmrmustard

All those princess interactions were priceless - love how she showed off her dress/button to all of the princesses.  And props for being ready with the camera to get good Izzy/Princess shots despite all the moving around she love to do.  Some priceless memories for sure!


----------



## Tracy161

Awwww, what wonderful interactions with the princesses! They all seemed so sweet


----------



## Dugette

AprilRenee said:


> Wow! Those princesses all looked really good! Sometimes I'm like "really Disney? That girl looks nothing like the cartoon!"
> 
> Man! This lunch looked fun. Now I kinda wanna book it....


Haha, they were a pretty good-looking bunch! Yeah, it was really fun. I think the casual atmosphere of being out on the deck over the water made it extra fun too (not everyone is outside, most seating is in, I think). It was one of the best princess meals we've had, I'd say.



khertz said:


> That is a GREAT mix of princesses! Izzy looks like she is having a ball. Now I'm bummed we didn't do this in June although DD is a little more princess obsessed now than she was on the trip so it might not have been as exciting for her. Definitely next time when she is Izzy's age!!


It really was a nice combination of princesses. We all had a great time. Yes, head back there next time! 



MeghanEmily said:


> I love your princess photos! All the princesses are looking their best in my opinion, and Izzy is adorable as usual. And your desserts looked pretty great, too!


Thanks! The princesses really were a cute bunch! And Izzy was in a pretty great mood too, so that helped. Can't go wrong with a variety of desserts, either. 



annie170 said:


> I'm not sure why I'm not getting alerts on this trip report, but all caught up now.
> 
> I can't get over how empty Storyteller's Café was!  Was your reservation early?
> 
> That is so strange that you wait on stairs to meet Ariel.  Talk about an accident waiting to happen!
> 
> You got some really great interactions with the princesses.  That's awesome that you could get such good photos.
> 
> The more Disneyland trip reports I read, the more I want to go!


Huh, you're not the only one that has mentioned alerts (or lack thereof). Not sure why. I think this being in the Disneyland forum vs. WDW might have lost some people - depends how/why everyone gets alerts, I guess? 



mnmrmustard said:


> All those princess interactions were priceless - love how she showed off her dress/button to all of the princesses.  And props for being ready with the camera to get good Izzy/Princess shots despite all the moving around she love to do.  Some priceless memories for sure!


Haha, she was so proud of her Ariel & Flounder dress. I'm glad the princesses were suitably impressed.  It helped that Dug and I both had our phones out and were snapping away (I love that I can take pictures while doing video now too! )



Tracy161 said:


> Awwww, what wonderful interactions with the princesses! They all seemed so sweet


They really were a great group of princesses! We had a blast!


----------



## GlitteryOtters

I love the photos from the princess breakfast (especially that one photopass one with Ariel!). Looks like Izzy had a great time, and sounds like you guys had some fantastic princesses! 

The series of "Izzy dislikes the paparazzi" photos cracked me up. Yup, we have tons of photos of my nephews just like that! Kudos to the photopass photographer for being able to bring her out of her mood a bit, the knocking on the door pic is super cute. 

I definitely do not understand the stair thing...i don't even have kids (just nephews plus a pack of dogs), but even I, the childless one, would never have planned such a weird and potentially dangerous staging! Glad you guys survived it. When I think back to how hyper my little sisters & my nephews were at that age, I think there is no way they would have made it through without tumbling down the stairs at least once! 

About the alerts...I signed up to get notified about posts on this thread both via the pop up alert on the Disboards site & via email. So far, the only alert on this thread that I've had in, I think, a week+ was the alert for your last reply! I am still getting email alerts & website alerts, no problem, for the other trip reports I am following. Disboards is being really weird! 

~Meg


----------



## AlohaKeke

Love reading the updates! Disneyland sounds like so much fun! 

Adding that I couldn't see the pics on my work computer because they block certain sites, but I can see them on my phone and home computer.


----------



## Dugette

GlitteryOtters said:


> I love the photos from the princess breakfast (especially that one photopass one with Ariel!). Looks like Izzy had a great time, and sounds like you guys had some fantastic princesses!


Thanks, I love that pic. It was a really fun lunch - glad we did it! 



GlitteryOtters said:


> The series of "Izzy dislikes the paparazzi" photos cracked me up. Yup, we have tons of photos of my nephews just like that! Kudos to the photopass photographer for being able to bring her out of her mood a bit, the knocking on the door pic is super cute.


One of the more persistent Photopass photographers for sure! These days, the hardest part is getting her to hold still and not make goofy faces in pictures. There's no such thing as "stand and smile at the camera" for this kid - if you get a good one, it's just luck and/or taking 30 pictures in 10 seconds. 



GlitteryOtters said:


> I definitely do not understand the stair thing...i don't even have kids (just nephews plus a pack of dogs), but even I, the childless one, would never have planned such a weird and potentially dangerous staging! Glad you guys survived it. When I think back to how hyper my little sisters & my nephews were at that age, I think there is no way they would have made it through without tumbling down the stairs at least once!


It was so weird that I keep wondering if it was just an oddball thing on the day we visited - like a new CM didn't know where to line people up? But I have no idea - almost makes me think I should go back and check.  ("I HAVE to go to Disneyland - it's research!!" )



GlitteryOtters said:


> About the alerts...I signed up to get notified about posts on this thread both via the pop up alert on the Disboards site & via email. So far, the only alert on this thread that I've had in, I think, a week+ was the alert for your last reply! I am still getting email alerts & website alerts, no problem, for the other trip reports I am following. Disboards is being really weird!


Huh, weird. I just have all my followed reports in subscriptions and keep that as my landing page. I only get notifications for posts on my own reports, likes I've received, and if someone quoted me. I think I'd be overwhelmed otherwise, since I follow lots of reports. 



AlohaKeke said:


> Love reading the updates! Disneyland sounds like so much fun!


It really is a blast! I love that it was familiar, but different. Can't wait to go back sometime.



AlohaKeke said:


> Adding that I couldn't see the pics on my work computer because they block certain sites, but I can see them on my phone and home computer.


Oh, good. I actually saw your comment earlier that you couldn't see them and was hoping it wasn't a widespread issue. Glad you can see them on phone and home computer, at least. I was hoping smugmug might be less likely to get blocked, since it's not as commonplace as flickr, etc. Oh, well. Thanks for letting me know!


----------



## Dugette

*Squirrel!*
*
After our lovely princess lunch, we made our way over to the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail. A few photos:





















We found a tunnel to run through:





You might be able to see a kid just hanging out in there. Izzy saw that and decided it was a good idea:





My "super tall"  self had to be careful not to bump my head  :





Whew, survived  :





And why were we smiling? Because we spotted this dog  :





I was apparently so busy paparazzi-ing him that I didn’t notice my kid ran away (back into the log):





But, don’t worry, I did manage to get this blurry picture, so it was all worthwhile  :





Dug took his spot and we were some of the first to meet him. I let Izzy interact with him before joining her:

















He’s so cute, but I REALLY wish his collar talked for him, like in the movie. How cute would it be if you walked up and he said, “I have just met you and I love you!” 

Here’s the video:
*




*
After that, I attempted to get a new photo I could use for my avatar here:









Those were the best two, but most looked like this:









In the interest of having a usable photo (and because Izzy kept running off), I got one with just me and Dug and ended up using that:





I think it was coming up on our Radiator Springs Racers Fast Pass time now, so we headed towards Cars Land:













Turned out that RSR was down , so our FP would be good the rest of the day. Yay! 

So, instead, Izzy and I went to the Disney Junior Live show while Dug went to go use the Soarin’ Rider Swap.

Seated on the floor, awaiting the fun:









I honestly don’t remember much of this, but I’d imagine it’s just like the WDW version. 

Dug was making his way over to Soarin’:









After he finished his journey over California, Dug headed over to the Grand Californian to relax and charge his cell phone in the lobby before we joined him at the Napa Rose Lounge (our plan for dinner – wanted to try the food, but not manage Izzy through a fancy dinner at the Napa Rose restaurant ):









He liked the lighting once he stepped inside the lobby:





He relaxed for a bit while Izzy and I went back to the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail to burn off a little toddler energy on the playground there.

Up next: Can I squeeze in a spin on RSR before our dinner buzzer goes off? *


----------



## khertz

The Trail was one of those things we had never done before and I thought we'd have plenty of time to do, but we never made it into there in the whole 5 days we were in the parks! Just another reason to plan a trip back I guess. lol Izzy looks like she really enjoyed it!! And Dug is just adorable, as always.


----------



## MeghanEmily

Dugette said:


> And why were we smiling? Because we spotted this dog  :



YAY Dug!!



Dugette said:


> After that, I attempted to get a new photo I could use for my avatar here:



Cute!! I can only imagine how challenging it is to get these kind of photos with a busy toddler!


----------



## cindianne320

What a fun part of the park! 
I hope you were able to squeeze in RSR before dinner!


----------



## amazingact21

I love the princesses that were at your lunch, but a queue situated on a staircase? Yikes. That's just asking for trouble when you have kids. 

The Dug meet and greet pictures turned out so great! Glad you managed to get a new avatar picture. 

When I first read that you were going to Napa Rose for dinner, I was extremely impressed with your bravery at taking Izzy into such a fancy restaurant. Then I re-read the Lounge part and had to giggle. I'm curious to hear how your dinner went; it seems like all your meals so far have been pretty successful.


----------



## aussiejen

Finally caught up with the posts lol....i made it...

Must i say your Princess is adorable & the look on her face in some of the pics are priceless 
I also love the fact how you capture everything in your pics....( i love the food pics ) it looks amazing


----------



## Tracy161

Dugette said:


> Because we spotted this dog


What?! 



Dugette said:


> But, don’t worry, I did manage to get this blurry picture, so it was all worthwhile  :




Awww, the pictures with Dug are SO cute! I especially love the one of Izzy really cuddling into Dug


----------



## schmass

Your lunch with the princesses looks great!

Aw, Dug looks like such a cute meet.  You're right, that would be so cute if he talked.  

I'm glad that at least RSR was down early enough in the day that you still (hopefully) could ride it later!


----------



## afwdwfan

Dugette said:


> We had to look up who he was and it turned out to be Kenai from Brother Bear (which we were not familiar with, but why not meet him anyway? )


I'm impressed you know his name... 



Dugette said:


> Dug actually went a little too far, as the RSR FP machines are near A Bug’s Land instead of being inside Cars Land, but he did managed to find them and get us 3:15pm.


That was my first thought when I saw the pictures... Hey Dug, I think you went a little too far!  



Dugette said:


> And, when you’re not really sure you’re on the right track, but then spot a must-do ride with almost no wait…well, you’ve just got to go in solo, despite wanting to take the whole family, right?  Okay, I don’t know what you’d do, but that’s what I did:


It depends on the ride.  I really thought you were going to luck out and find no wait at ToT when you went to get the FP.  I guess not.  



Dugette said:


> I enjoyed ToT, especially because of the completely different view when you peek out from a high window. I LOVED seeing mountains! So different than in Florida! Otherwise, the WDW ride itself is better (moves in vs. just up/down), but I got a kick out of the novel/different things at Disneyland after getting so used to the way WDW is. I’m really interested to try the new Guardians of the Galaxy version, though. Again, something different could be fun (it was the regular version during our trip).


I agree with your assessment.  It was fun, but didn't even really compare to the WDW version.  I think changing it to Guardians, yet keeping WDW intact was definitely the right decision.  I hope I can get back there to try the new version sometime!



Dugette said:


> Cute! After our rides, Izzy was on a mission to sit in all the chairs and drink from all the fountains:


Whatever keeps her entertained.



Dugette said:


> Good work, Photopass person!


That's some dedication!  Great job trying to make some magic by that CM!



Dugette said:


> Here’s my gripe, though: the line to meet Ariel was ON A STAIRCASE. Let me repeat, the place that you need to make your toddlers stand in a slow-moving line while hungry is ON A STAIRCASE.  I mean, really? Couldn’t they have come up with a better idea?  Or maybe this was just a weird day? I don’t know about anyone else, but I found it a stressful wait, trying to keep my kid from passing the wait by dancing around, since she might tumble down.


Ok, I think this was a CM screw up.  When we ate there, they had us wait upstairs and called each party down one at a time.  Basically timed it so that the group visiting Ariel was walking away as the next group got down the stairs.  Probably someone took longer with Ariel or the CM's upstairs were not allowing ample time between parties. 



Dugette said:


> I suspect Izzy helped me with my chocolate:


What would ever give you that idea?



Dugette said:


> In the interest of having a usable photo (and because Izzy kept running off), I got one with just me and Dug and ended up using that:


It turned out well!


----------



## Dugette

khertz said:


> The Trail was one of those things we had never done before and I thought we'd have plenty of time to do, but we never made it into there in the whole 5 days we were in the parks! Just another reason to plan a trip back I guess. lol Izzy looks like she really enjoyed it!! And Dug is just adorable, as always.


Yes, you need to go back and spend some time there! Lots of stuff to play on!



MeghanEmily said:


> YAY Dug!!
> 
> Cute!! I can only imagine how challenging it is to get these kind of photos with a busy toddler!


Gotta love Dug! But, yeah, Izzy isn't known for holding still and smiling. 



cindianne320 said:


> What a fun part of the park!
> I hope you were able to squeeze in RSR before dinner!


You'll find out soon...



amazingact21 said:


> I love the princesses that were at your lunch, but a queue situated on a staircase? Yikes. That's just asking for trouble when you have kids.


I know! I've been wondering this whole time if we just caught it on an odd day, though, and Andy's comment below seems to indicate this is not the norm. Whew! Cause it really wasn't cool. 



amazingact21 said:


> The Dug meet and greet pictures turned out so great! Glad you managed to get a new avatar picture.


Thanks! I'm glad it worked out, after striking out on meeting Dug at WDW prior to this trip.



amazingact21 said:


> When I first read that you were going to Napa Rose for dinner, I was extremely impressed with your bravery at taking Izzy into such a fancy restaurant. Then I re-read the Lounge part and had to giggle. I'm curious to hear how your dinner went; it seems like all your meals so far have been pretty successful.


 Like I'd set myself up for that disaster!  That was exactly why we went to the lounge and not the restaurant. Though, I did get the vibe from the waiter that maybe we weren't even refined enough for the lounge. Or maybe he was just not very friendly in general. 



aussiejen said:


> Finally caught up with the posts lol....i made it...
> 
> Must i say your Princess is adorable & the look on her face in some of the pics are priceless
> I also love the fact how you capture everything in your pics....( i love the food pics ) it looks amazing


Yay! And thanks - I take tons of pics, mostly just to help my memory since I am so far behind on my trip reports. 



Tracy161 said:


> What?!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Awww, the pictures with Dug are SO cute! I especially love the one of Izzy really cuddling into Dug


Thanks! Always so nice to meet him!



schmass said:


> Your lunch with the princesses looks great!


It really was! One of my favorite princess meals for sure!



schmass said:


> Aw, Dug looks like such a cute meet. You're right, that would be so cute if he talked.


I really wish he did - it doesn't seem like it would be that hard. Oh, well.



schmass said:


> I'm glad that at least RSR was down early enough in the day that you still (hopefully) could ride it later!


Yes, though the reports I've read of it being down often seemed to be true. 



afwdwfan said:


> I'm impressed you know his name...


Haha, thank goodness for websites devoted to Disney characters. 



afwdwfan said:


> That was my first thought when I saw the pictures... Hey Dug, I think you went a little too far!


You know your way around. 



afwdwfan said:


> It depends on the ride. I really thought you were going to luck out and find no wait at ToT when you went to get the FP. I guess not.


Ha, that would have been cool too. But I was super excited about Monsters, Inc, as it was a new-to-me ride. There's extra magic in trying an attraction for the first time and I just couldn't resist...



afwdwfan said:


> I agree with your assessment. It was fun, but didn't even really compare to the WDW version. I think changing it to Guardians, yet keeping WDW intact was definitely the right decision. I hope I can get back there to try the new version sometime!


I think it was a good call too. Of course, I'll have to ride it sometime to make sure. 



afwdwfan said:


> Whatever keeps her entertained.


Indeed! 



afwdwfan said:


> That's some dedication! Great job trying to make some magic by that CM!


He really went out of his way!



afwdwfan said:


> Ok, I think this was a CM screw up. When we ate there, they had us wait upstairs and called each party down one at a time. Basically timed it so that the group visiting Ariel was walking away as the next group got down the stairs. Probably someone took longer with Ariel or the CM's upstairs were not allowing ample time between parties.


Thank you for this! I have been wondering ever since if this was the norm or if something was just off that day. Sounds like we hit a weird situation, then. I just remember standing on those stairs for what felt like forever (of course, with a dancing toddler holding your hand, time seems to go much slower on a stairway).



afwdwfan said:


> What would ever give you that idea?


Just a guess. 



afwdwfan said:


> It turned out well!


Thanks!


----------



## Dugette

*Racing to Dinner*
*
Izzy and I had just finished the Disney Junior show and headed towards the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail to play for a bit before dinner, while Dug relaxed in the Grand Californian lobby. Here’s some pics of the Redwood Creek Trail:

























These slides were Izzy’s favorite part. She was obsessed with them:





I think this was a zipline type thing that she was too small for (had a height minimum, I think - yep, just checked and it's 42" minimum):





So, back to the slides (love the monkey riding down on a kid’s back! ):









Not entirely sure where this was, but apparently we passed a fountain on our way to dinner or sometime:





While we were heading towards the Grand Californian, I think Dug put our names on the waiting list for the Napa Rose Lounge…and it turned out to be a ONE HOUR wait!  Ugh, should have put us on there sooner, I guess.  So, more waiting:





Given the hour wait we’d been quoted, I decided that was enough time for me to make a run over to Radiator Springs Racers to use our Fast Pass and grab a Rider Swap for Dug. So, he and Izzy stayed there in the lobby and I headed back out.  Not sure if I took this on my way out or back, but random photo:





As I headed into Carsland, a Photopass photographer was available, so I stopped for some quick pics in front of a lit-up Carsland:





He wanted me to do some poses, which is not really my talent, but I tried :





Ka-Chow:





I was a little worried as I entered the FP return queue and caught a glimpse of a return time that said 45 minutes, but I think that was actually for Single Rider. I got a Rider Swap quickly:





And the FP line moved along pretty swiftly. I was near the loading area by about 6:30pm (with an anticipated dinner time of about 7pm). Looking back at the standby crowd:





And then right after that I found that our “one hour” wait actually meant 33 minutes:





But, I was right by the loading area, remember? Well, that would be nice if the ride didn’t keep breaking down.  It broke and was re-started twice while I stood there. During one of those periods, much of the line in front of me had a seat:





And, finally, maybe 6:45pm or so, I was there:





And here we gooooo…:









As you can see, I LOVED this ride!  Not really surprised, as I love Test Track and love Cars theming, so why wouldn’t I love it? I only wish Izzy had been tall enough to ride – part of why I’m dying to go back! For those that haven’t been there, I’d say it’s like Test Track, but with much better scenery and a story featuring Disney characters. Very fun! 

Anyway, I had to hustle back and meet Dug and Izzy for dinner. (I think I texted Dug, “That was fun, now time to drink!” ) They were already seated at the Napa Rose Lounge when I arrived. Here’s the menu:





Our server brought a bread basket:





And butter for Izzy :





Looks like Dug found a nearby place to charge a phone:





Enjoying our bread and butter:
*



*
And a nice drink to enjoy:





I just looked it up and it’s The Napa Passion – X Fusion, Parrot Bay Rum, Pineapple Juice, and Strawberry.

Here’s Dug’s selection:





His was the Moscow Mule – Ketel One Vodka, Bundaberg Ginger Beer, Simple Syrup, fresh Lime Juice.

And the food items we chose – I think this first one was on the Napa Rose Restaurant's “Sides” menu, which you can order from in the lounge – the Truffled “Mac & Cheese” Orecchiette Pasta:





I think the intent was for Izzy to eat some of this, but I think she barely touched it. 

Dug loves scallops, so he had to get that appetizer:





We got the Signature Pizzetta with prosciutto to share:





Dug also got their signature “Smiling Tiger Salad”:





Our food was tasty, despite the waiter not being particularly friendly. Everything was very good, both food and drinks. 

Up next: What’s this $15 hot chocolate like? *


----------



## AprilRenee

Oh my gosh! As soon as you left to ride RRS I knew something would go wrong! Lol
Glad it worked out in the end!

Ok so test track vs RRS...caden was SO looking forward to test track. It was all he talked about. We rode it first day, first ride of the trip. He was absolutely terrified when it went out in the open air and went fast. "I am NOT riding that EVER again!!!" he said the moment it ended.

Is RRS going to terrify him too? Or do you think the brighter, less scary lead up story will make it more of a fun race and less of a scary thrill ride? I read somewhere that the race section is actually a lower speed than TT (45mph vs 60 maybe?)


----------



## Dugette

AprilRenee said:


> Oh my gosh! As soon as you left to ride RRS I knew something would go wrong! Lol
> Glad it worked out in the end!
> 
> Ok so test track vs RRS...caden was SO looking forward to test track. It was all he talked about. We rode it first day, first ride of the trip. He was absolutely terrified when it went out in the open air and went fast. "I am NOT riding that EVER again!!!" he said the moment it ended.
> 
> Is RRS going to terrify him too? Or do you think the brighter, less scary lead up story will make it more of a fun race and less of a scary thrill ride? I read somewhere that the race section is actually a lower speed than TT (45mph vs 60 maybe?)


Good question. First off, I don't know if it would help to explain to him that whenever you drive on the freeway, it's the same speed as Test Track (or that might backfire and terrify him of every drive, I don't know ) My memory of it is much brighter and more interesting. When you go fast, you're racing another car vs. on an empty loop. I think he'd enjoy it more, but maybe watch some videos and such beforehand? And I don't know for sure, but it did seem like it probably didn't top out at such a high speed and had a different feel to it that was more similar to street driving, if that makes sense. I hope he loves it, as I remember him being a big Cars fan. Of course, I have a tiny thrill rider here, so it's hard to know for sure how a different personality will react (Izzy is working really hard to grow another inch so she can do the 44" rides in October...) Good luck w/Caden!


----------



## amazingact21

Whew, that must have been a stressful wait for RSR. Every time it broke down, I'm sure you were thinking, "I'm never getting back to dinner."  
Glad to see it all worked out in the end and that you were able to finally ride. I don't think I've encountered a DISer who hasn't loved that attraction; I'm happy to see you felt the same. 

Man, all your dishes from Napa Rose (Lounge) looked delicious! Between the attractions, the proximity to everything, and the food you are really selling me on a DL trip. I need Alex to get stationed somewhere out west next.


----------



## Tracy161

Dugette said:


> As I headed into Carsland, a Photopass photographer was available, so I stopped for some quick pics in front of a lit-up Carsland:


Yay, great pictures!!! 



Dugette said:


> And then right after that I found that our “one hour” wait actually meant 33 minutes:


That's usually a great surprise, especially when you're not committed to a ride queue! 



Dugette said:


> I’d say it’s like Test Track, but with much better scenery and a story featuring Disney characters. Very fun!


Sounds awesome! It wasn't there when I was, so I'd be anxious to check this out someday.



Dugette said:


> Looks like Dug found a nearby place to charge a phone:


Ahh, the never ending phone charge dilemma every dedicated Disney goer experiences  I bought an extra charger this trip so I was carrying two at all times... and some days that just barely got me through the end of the night!  Darn you, MDE and Instagram


----------



## khertz

Oh good grief. A long wait for Napa Rose that turned into a short one and short wait for RSR that turned into a long one!! I'm glad for you the meal was good at least, and that you stuck it out for RSR and it was worth the wait. We all love that ride too!


----------



## afwdwfan

Dugette said:


> And then right after that I found that our “one hour” wait actually meant 33 minutes:


Isn't that how it always works?  You sit there and it will be every bit of an hour or longer.  You go do something else and it is ready early.  



Dugette said:


> For those that haven’t been there, I’d say it’s like Test Track, but with much better scenery and a story featuring Disney characters. Very fun!


 Very much so!  



Dugette said:


> I think the intent was for Izzy to eat some of this, but I think she barely touched it.


Sounds about right...


----------



## schmass

Your meal at Napa Rose looks delicious!  That was smart to use the 1 hour anticipated wait to run over to RSR - too bad that it kept breaking down.  I'm glad you got to ride, though - looks awesome!


----------



## StarWarsMomofGirls!

Dugette said:


>


I love this picture. I don't know why. I just do! ha!



Dugette said:


>


I don't like scallops but those look really good!


----------



## Jackiemarie21

All caught up!!!

I love the princess pictures!  If we ever get out there that's a must do meal for us too!

And who knew Nape Rose would move faster and RSR slower?  But that ride looks totally amazing and some day we'll get back out there and ride it!

The food looks delicious!  And I lol about Izzy and the butter!  Charlotte was the same way.  She would just eat the surface with the butter and ask for more butter.  She really thought she was pulling one over one us,   Thankfully she has moved on from the butter obession!


----------



## Dugette

amazingact21 said:


> Whew, that must have been a stressful wait for RSR. Every time it broke down, I'm sure you were thinking, "I'm never getting back to dinner."
> Glad to see it all worked out in the end and that you were able to finally ride. I don't think I've encountered a DISer who hasn't loved that attraction; I'm happy to see you felt the same.


Yeah, I was a little worried that Napa Rose would refuse to seat our party without me and such, but it worked out ok. Worth it to get in a ride on RSR, for sure! 



amazingact21 said:


> Man, all your dishes from Napa Rose (Lounge) looked delicious! Between the attractions, the proximity to everything, and the food you are really selling me on a DL trip. I need Alex to get stationed somewhere out west next.


Haha, yes, you need to give it a try. I mean, it's missing important things like Epcot, but if you go into it expecting something familiar-yet-different, it's pretty awesome. 



Tracy161 said:


> Yay, great pictures!!!


Thanks! I love Carsland all lit up at night!



Tracy161 said:


> That's usually a great surprise, especially when you're not committed to a ride queue!


I know! The one time the wait is shorter is the one time I'm not there! 



Tracy161 said:


> Sounds awesome! It wasn't there when I was, so I'd be anxious to check this out someday.


Yes, definitely get out there to ride it sometime! (barring any motion sickness, I suppose)



Tracy161 said:


> Ahh, the never ending phone charge dilemma every dedicated Disney goer experiences  I bought an extra charger this trip so I was carrying two at all times... and some days that just barely got me through the end of the night!  Darn you, MDE and Instagram


Yeah, and I don't even have Instagram, haha! We do bring extra chargers, but they get drained between us too.



khertz said:


> Oh good grief. A long wait for Napa Rose that turned into a short one and short wait for RSR that turned into a long one!! I'm glad for you the meal was good at least, and that you stuck it out for RSR and it was worth the wait. We all love that ride too!


Haha, yes, the waits were opposite of what we needed at that moment. But, yes, all worthwhile! 



afwdwfan said:


> Isn't that how it always works? You sit there and it will be every bit of an hour or longer. You go do something else and it is ready early.


It's the law of waits. Or something. 



afwdwfan said:


> Very much so!


Wish they had this one at WDW.



afwdwfan said:


> Sounds about right...


Ha, you might be able to relate...



schmass said:


> Your meal at Napa Rose looks delicious!  That was smart to use the 1 hour anticipated wait to run over to RSR - too bad that it kept breaking down.  I'm glad you got to ride, though - looks awesome!


The food was really good! I wish the wait timing had worked out a bit better, but at least that time wasn't wasted, I guess! Love that ride so much!



StarWarsMomofGirls! said:


> I love this picture. I don't know why. I just do! ha!


I do too, actually. 



StarWarsMomofGirls! said:


> I don't like scallops but those look really good!


Dug loves scallops, but really only has them on trips, it seems. I'm pretty sure he liked these quite a bit.



Jackiemarie21 said:


> All caught up!!!
> 
> I love the princess pictures! If we ever get out there that's a must do meal for us too!


Yes, it was a much better princess meal than I expected - one of my favorites! 



Jackiemarie21 said:


> And who knew Nape Rose would move faster and RSR slower? But that ride looks totally amazing and some day we'll get back out there and ride it!


Yes, I hope you get out to ride it again someday!



Jackiemarie21 said:


> The food looks delicious! And I lol about Izzy and the butter! Charlotte was the same way. She would just eat the surface with the butter and ask for more butter. She really thought she was pulling one over one us,  Thankfully she has moved on from the butter obession!


Ha, good to know Izzy's not the only one! I'm not sure when she's going to outgrow this butter thing, though.


----------



## Dugette

*Cars Land at Night*
*
We enjoyed our meal at the Napa Rose Lounge, though Izzy didn’t really eat much. Dug and I took turns trekking around the Chef’s Table to get to the restrooms – cool to see. I think this was the bar:





I was trying to clean up a mess of Cheerios and Fruit Loops while Dug was gone and I somehow knocked a glass of water off the table in the process. However, I used my super-mom skills (gained through meals spent sitting next to a toddler) to catch the glass mid-air!  It did splash a bit on Dug’s phone on the arm of this chair, though:





Luckily, it was fine. Glad it didn’t spill – I think the waiter would have been irritated – he seemed to dislike us a bit. Maybe we were not snooty enough to eat there, even in the lounge, I don’t know.   

One of the things I wanted to try at Disneyland, after reading the food blogs and such, was the Napa Rose hot chocolate. Mostly because I wanted to know what a $15 hot chocolate was like (and I enjoy hot chocolate, as I am not a coffee drinker). So, I ordered that:





As you can see, it came with some little desserts. I think there was also a chocolate cookie that this one snatched:





The verdict? It was quite good, very chocolate-y. The accompaniments were nice. I enjoyed it, but I’d consider it a one-time splurge unless I am in Disneyland and it’s super cold or something, maybe.  But nice to try it. 

For a lounge, this was not a cheap meal (over $100), but it was a nice way to have a taste of Napa Rose without actually dining at the restaurant itself.  (And we had more than enough food.)

We were heading back into California Adventure through the Grand Californian entrance by about 8:30pm. No issues going through later in the day. (I think after 11am they no longer require a meal receipt from non-guests.) I do have a photo I took looking back at some guests talking to security, so I think I had some sort of story, but I sure don’t remember what. Sorry. I guess somebody had a security incident of some sort? I won't post the picture of them, since I don't recall what happened.  That's what I get for getting so behind on my Trip Reports. 

We made our way back to the beautifully lit Cars Land. Dug had the Rider Swap and took his turn over at Radiator Springs Racers:

















Looks like he loved it too. 

Izzy and I went over to Mater’s ride again:





I think I was trying to document that this lady ahead had a Minnie bow hood on her sweatshirt, just like Izzy:





They really light this ride up at night too (plus fun music):





On board:





We had a fun time! Izzy really got a kick out of this ride.

After that, Izzy and I ventured over to the Cozy Cone to check it out and to meet Lightning McQueen:









Funny how you can see Tower or Terror in the background there! 

This was a fun meet – the cars actually have some ability to interact, unlike at WDW. Lightning McQueen can move his eyes around and talk. I don’t have video and can’t recall exactly what our interaction was like, but I think he was quiet at first, allowing Izzy to take this picture:





And then he probably revved his engine and scared her, prompting me to help out:





Behind the scenes of a photo with distractible Izzy:





And a decent enough one:





As we walked away, we saw Mater cruising down the street:













I knew that meant he was on his way to the meet and greet spot, so we hopped back in line to meet him too. I think Dug had joined us by then. More pictures of the area:













Izzy got a huge kick out of seeing Mater pull up (I think we were first in line?) and the CM was great too. She told Izzy that Mater wanted to have light-up wheels just like Izzy had light-up shoes:









Then Mater honked his horn, scaring Izzy again:





Back into my arms:





Managed to get a family photo with half of Mater :





Despite Izzy getting a bit spooked, these were really cute meets!

Up next: One more character meet and my solo night begins!*


----------



## Dugette

*This is the Night*
*
After our fun in Cars Land, we began our journey out of the park. But, as we were strolling along, we ran across Mickey, so stopped for a quick meet:



*

*

*

*







And some video:
*




*
Izzy had fun playing around with Mickey, as you can see.  Good way to end the night. Well, that and browsing the window displays:





She was out in her stroller shortly after that, though:





It was close to 10pm and had been a very long day for her (and all of us)! My day was not yet done, however, but I accompanied Dug and Izzy back to the room so that I could change before heading back over to Disneyland (have I mentioned how much I LOVED being close enough to do things like this?!)

View looking towards Disneyland from outside of our room:





After changing and walking back, I was ready to re-enter Disneyland around 10:20pm (open until midnight):





I guess there was a little line.  Dug was back in the room with Izzy and had to deal with a crabby kid when he got her out of the stroller at some point after she’d been sleeping for a while in it. 

But back to Disneyland! I entered during the parade:





That was nice and all, but I was there to ride things this night.  I had a heck of a time trying to get anywhere, though, with all the crossings closed for the parade. A little parade video as I was walking around:
*




*
Given my lack of navigational ability, I ended up getting back to It’s a Small World and hitting a dead end blocked by Paint the Night, so I figured it was a good time to turn back and do the Matterhorn, as I had passed it on the way  :









The Single Rider line on the right was a walk-on, so I did that first. That is one rough ride! But, I persevered and came back to try the left side too. Single rider again, but a little bit of a wait on this side:





Again, fun ride, but I found myself wishing I had a pillow pet to sit on. 

Next up, with the parade out of the way, I headed for Indiana Jones. On the way:









I did Single Rider on Indiana Jones and it was so strange. It involves walking in through the long exit corridor as people are coming out, so that was odd. There is also a dead-end queue you just stand around in looking lost until a CM sends you somewhere. And you have to go up and down an elevator to get where you belong. At some point, you get to the pre-show movie room:





Oh, and here’s that elevator:





And finally onboard:





Is that Baymax?! 

Anyway, I LOVED that ride. Super fun. Hard to describe, but really unique and exciting. 

After that, I hustled on over to Splash Mountain. I headed into the queue (not sure if I did standby or single rider?):





And nobody followed me. Nobody. Do you know what that means?  I was pretty happy to have my very own log boat :









I am a terrible singer, but with no one else within earshot, I was belting out Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah here :





Selfies are also allowed when you’re the only passenger, haha:





And probably the only ride photo I’ll ever have like this:





So awesome!  They offered that I could ride again, but I wanted to get one more attraction in, despite my fondness for Splash. I was definitely on a Disneyland high now.  I made a quick stop at the Splash Photopass to add that one to our card (no Magic Bands here! ) It was 4 minutes until midnight. Most people would start leaving now, right?  Maybe, but not me. I asked the Photopass CM which ride I could get to within 4 minutes and she suggested Pirates, so I took off in that direction. And I made it at like 11:59pm:





I was the very last person to enter the queue. One CM rolled her eyes when I cruised in  and another CM said to “lock it up” after me. Empty queue:





Apparently nobody had entered in the last couple minutes and they didn’t expect me to fly in there at the very end. 

Time to queue up:





Oh, wait, there’s nobody else here!!! 

The people that pulled up in this boat to exit thought that it was awesome I was waiting for my very own boat:





Some of them were like, “BEST NIGHT EVER!!!” when they realized it. 

And, soon, I was off on my very own pirate adventure  :





Blue Bayou, we’ll see you soon  :





A video clip of the calm and quiet:
*




*
Photos to prove it was just me, since there’s no ride photo here:









So fun to ride this one solo! I love Pirates as it is, but Disneyland Pirates is amazing. And being able to sing loudly and badly and really look around at everything is amazing. I’m pretty sure I was talking back to the pirates at some points. 

I was pretty much walking on air on my way out:





Way too much solo fun for this thrill-ride-loving introvert! 

As I passed the photo shop, I remembered that I needed to combine a couple Photopass cards, so stopped inside and waited a few minutes for a CM to open up:





And then, when one did, I realized there was a hidden line that went out a different door. Ugh.  I wasn’t willing to wait again for something unimportant, so I just left:





You can see ToT from everywhere, even our hotel:





I was back at our room by 12:30am (not bad, considering I entered Pirates about 30 minutes prior and it’s about 15 minutes long). I looked forward to sneaking into the room and getting some much-needed sleep. And that’s when the magic all faded away…

Izzy and Dug were wide awake and Izzy was ANGRY.  She was insisting on pooping on the potty, but had nothing happening. I think she might have already gone, but I can’t recall.  At any rate, she had it in her sleepy little head that this was what she HAD to do and could not rest until it was done. Which meant nobody could rest.  My notes say, “special candy”, so I’m guessing we tried to bribe her to go to bed with candy (she still wore a pull-up at night at this time, so even if she did have something eventually, it would be okay). 

I got myself ready for bed, but we were still dealing with the endless screaming at 1am.  I remember trying to explain to her that she needed to be quiet or we might get kicked out of our room (she was LOUD), but she didn’t seem to care.  This was a particularly bad meltdown and I don’t think any of us got to sleep before about 2am, when she must have just scream-cried herself to sleep.  At some point in there, we made the decision to scrap our plans for an early morning at Disneyland, as like 3 hours of sleep just wasn’t going to cut it.  Given the rough night, we decided to change our goal to be arrival at Toontown for the 10am opening (or so we thought ).

So, mostly a great day, but a really rough night! Luckily, like 1.5 years later, I mainly remember the amazing solo night and can barely recall the tantrum (I might have forgotten entirely if not for my notes). That solo time is one of my all-time best Disney park memories. *


----------



## AprilRenee

Wow! Amazing solo night!! We've never done solo nights before. Maybe with this super close hotel at Disneyland we should try it out! 

And omg about the tantrum! What a rotten way to end a night! Children!


----------



## amazingact21

The one family photo almost looks like Mater is photobombing you guys. Love it.

That's a very strange way to get to Indiana Jones, but maybe they hadn't planned on single rider when they initially built the ride? I know you mentioned you loved it, is it better than Dinosaur? I'm not a fan of Dinosaur but am wondering if I'd like Indiana more.

That sounds like an amazing solo night! Oh my gosh, just incredible! A log flume completely to yourself on Splash AND THEN a whole boat on Pirates. I think that's my favorite part. You were, literally, the last guest on the attraction. Had the whole ride completely to yourself. 
That's like a Disney goal for everyone!

But what a bummer that Izzy had a rough night. I know that can be really stressful, and it's especially worse when it's the middle of the night and you just want to sleep. I hope she woke up well rested the next morning!


----------



## soniam

Oh man. That night sounds bad. I definitely don't miss those days. I am glad it was fantastic before that at least.


----------



## afwdwfan

Dugette said:


> Luckily, it was fine. Glad it didn’t spill – I think the waiter would have been irritated – he seemed to dislike us a bit. Maybe we were not snooty enough to eat there, even in the lounge, I don’t know.


You had the nerve to bring a kid.  



Dugette said:


> Despite Izzy getting a bit spooked, these were really cute meets!


That's great!  I loved the Cars meets.  That's awesome that you were able to see both Lightning and Mater.  



Dugette said:


> I accompanied Dug and Izzy back to the room so that I could change before heading back over to Disneyland (have I mentioned how much I LOVED being close enough to do things like this?!)


  It's so fantastic! 



Dugette said:


> Again, fun ride, but I found myself wishing I had a pillow pet to sit on.


Hmmm... right next to the Matterhorn would be a great place to open up a pillow pet gift shop.  Why haven't they done that yet?  



Dugette said:


> And nobody followed me. Nobody. Do you know what that means?  I was pretty happy to have my very own log boat :


Awesome!!!



Dugette said:


> And probably the only ride photo I’ll ever have like this:


That is a picture to frame!



Dugette said:


> So fun to ride this one solo! I love Pirates as it is, but Disneyland Pirates is amazing. And being able to sing loudly and badly and really look around at everything is amazing. I’m pretty sure I was talking back to the pirates at some points.


Your own boat for Pirates too???  Awesome!  Great way to end the night!  



Dugette said:


> I looked forward to sneaking into the room and getting some much-needed sleep. And that’s when the magic all faded away…


Uh oh... 



Dugette said:


> So, mostly a great day, but a really rough night! Luckily, like 1.5 years later, I mainly remember the amazing solo night and can barely recall the tantrum (I might have forgotten entirely if not for my notes). That solo time is one of my all-time best Disney park memories.


That's great!  I'm glad that the solo fun outweighed the meltdown.


----------



## ajsary

Dugette said:


> I am a terrible singer, but with no one else within earshot, I was belting out Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah here :


I love this so much!  I am a terrible singer as well, so I applaud your decision to seize the opportunity and sing your heart out here.  What an awesome experience you had!


----------



## schmass

What a night!!  That looks amazing.  Glad you had so much fun and got so much done in a short time.  That is really strange about the single rider line for Indy, though.  And I agree with you, the Matterhorn is so rough!

Cars Land looks so cool all lit up at night!

Sorry you had to deal with an angry toddler when you returned!


----------



## MeghanEmily

Dugette said:


> He wanted me to do some poses, which is not really my talent, but I tried :
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Ka-Chow:



Bahaha awesome!



Dugette said:


> And butter for Izzy :



Naturally!



Dugette said:


> Up next: What’s this $15 hot chocolate like?



Wait, what?!!



Dugette said:


> The verdict? It was quite good, very chocolate-y. The accompaniments were nice. I enjoyed it, but I’d consider it a one-time splurge unless I am in Disneyland and it’s super cold or something, maybe.  But nice to try it.



Sounds delish! Worth a splurge once or twice.



Dugette said:


>



I love this outfit on Mickey!



Dugette said:


> And nobody followed me. Nobody. Do you know what that means?  I was pretty happy to have my very own log boat :





Dugette said:


> And probably the only ride photo I’ll ever have like this:



No way! How cool!


----------



## Verstehen

Being the last on a ride is such a cool and unique feeling! A few weeks ago my dad and I were on the last Kilimanjaro Safari for the evening. It was so cool to walk around a completely empty Africa (of course as we exited, we eventually merged with the Pandora crowd, but that's another story).


----------



## khertz

What an awesome way to spend some solo time in DL!! I have totally done the very strange single rider queue at Indiana Jones and felt like I was going the wrong way the entire time lol Very nice getting yourself on Pirates that close to closing and having a boat to yourself! 

Ugh, sorry it dissolved once you got into the room with a melting down child. That is never fun but especially not in the wee hours of the morning!!


----------



## Frozen2014

Great review.  Such precious memories with your little one.  I love how you returned to DL at 10:30pm after walking DH and DAD back to the hotel.  Wow...that is such an amazing picture on Splash!  How cool you were the only one.  Near too with Pirates.  We managed to get our own boat first thing in the morning (but family of 4...nor solo). You miss getting the warning that the drop us coming when there is an empty boat in front of you...lol.
Loving your review.


----------



## Dugette

*Hi, everyone! I'm sorry I'm not the speediest trip reporter these days - it's been a challenging year, but I'm still here, just not as much as I'd like to be. And I'll be MIA for another week ahead - guess where we are heading on Sunday?!? That's right, off to WDW!  We are cashing in our free 6-night stay at Art of Animation! An AoA front desk CM (possibly manager) personally called me today to see what room requests we had. Has anyone had this happen before? I never have, so was wondering if it all is related to having that free "courtesy" stay? Man, I would run out of plastic cups and toilet paper any day for this payoff.  (that's what got us this free stay - mediocre mousekeeping on our trip last December)

So, since I don't have time to update this TR right now, thought I'd treat you to a fully completed vintage 1985 Trip Report.  (yes, I know, some of you weren't even born yet, haha) If you are a very observant person, you may have noticed I have a rather unconventional childhood TR in my signature. Up until recently, I thought that was my first "trip report." Well, I was wrong. Turns out that when I took my first Disney trip in 2nd grade, my teacher had me keep a journal - so I took photos of it for you.  If you can decipher my 7-year-old printing skills, enjoy the major blast from the past - only two parks! 

I'll post it in the next post. See you all soon! *


----------



## Dugette




----------



## amazingact21

"Some Dumbo ride"

That's pretty neat that you found that journal, it had to be really fun for you to read it and take that journey down memory lane. And it sounds like you were having fun airplane adventures long before a kid came into the picture.

It was wild to hear about your rides on attractions that aren't in the parks anymore. World of Motion, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, etc. 

I hope you have a great time on your upcoming trip and enjoy AoA. That's pretty impressive, having a Cast Member call you to ask about specific requests.


----------



## DLo

What a find. Classic.  You have come a long way in trip reporting style ; ).  Have a magical time   Will look for updates and a new report when you get back home.


----------



## Leshaface

Jumping right on in from your last update if you don't mind!



Dugette said:


> One of the things I wanted to try at Disneyland, after reading the food blogs and such, was the Napa Rose hot chocolate. Mostly because I wanted to know what a $15 hot chocolate was like (and I enjoy hot chocolate, as I am not a coffee drinker). So, I ordered that:



Oooh never heard of this but will have to remember this for next time!  





Dugette said:


>



Wow she looks so little here.  Time is flying for sure!


Dugette said:


>



I'm pretty sure this is the best window display in all of the Disneyland Resort!



Dugette said:


>



Ugh i'm so, so, so, SO upset they got rid of the Paint the Night parade!  The best parade!  And the song was so catchy.  Waaaah!



Dugette said:


> The Single Rider line on the right was a walk-on, so I did that first. That is one rough ride!



Right?  I totally agree.  This ride for me, is just not an 'every trip' ride.  



Dugette said:


> I did Single Rider on Indiana Jones and it was so strange. It involves walking in through the long exit corridor as people are coming out, so that was odd.



I've seen so many people get right back in line after they have exited in this queue, it's so easy to do, especially if there's a gap in the line.



Dugette said:


> Anyway, I LOVED that ride. Super fun. Hard to describe, but really unique and exciting.



Now Indy is an 'every trip' ride for me for sure!  



Dugette said:


>





Dugette said:


>



Seriously!  Best solo night ever!  Pirates would be the best ride to go on by yourself for sure, wow!



Dugette said:


> Hi, everyone! I'm sorry I'm not the speediest trip reporter these days - it's been a challenging year, but I'm still here, just not as much as I'd like to be. And I'll be MIA for another week ahead - guess where we are heading on Sunday?!? That's right, off to WDW!



Yay you left today, have so much fun!



Dugette said:


> We are cashing in our free 6-night stay at Art of Animation!



Uhhh whaaa??



Dugette said:


> Man, I would run out of plastic cups and toilet paper any day for this payoff.  (that's what got us this free stay - mediocre mousekeeping on our trip last December)



NO way?!?  Dang, this is pretty darn awesome that you got a free stay from this!


Dugette said:


> thought I'd treat you to a fully completed vintage 1985 Trip Report.  (yes, I know, some of you weren't even born yet, haha)



I was alive!  Not walking probably, but I was fully alive!


----------



## Crashbeckycoot

I have been following along and just caught up on the most recent post, of your 7-year old self report, which is a great memory!

Amazingact21 mentioned it above, but I too also giggled, when reading "some Dumbo ride".

Just a quick mention on one of your previous updates, that I didn't comment on when reading, was, I love love love the fact you had some "alone" time at Disneyland. 

(Although I don't have kids) I am almost coming up with ways to get my own time in Disneyland without my DH on our upcoming trip hehe. 

But truly, your time looked epic, especially your picture on Splash! 

Enjoy on your current trip!


----------



## Tracy161

Dugette said:


> And I'll be MIA for another week ahead - guess where we are heading on Sunday?!? That's right, off to WDW!


Yay!!!



Dugette said:


> Man, I would run out of plastic cups and toilet paper any day for this payoff.


No kidding!!! Sign me up! 

Your vintage TR is amazing, thanks for sharing!


----------



## Dugette

Sneak preview of WDW:

She made it! And LOVED it!


----------



## Woth2982

I cannot believe she is big enough to ride the big rides!


----------



## StarWarsMomofGirls!

Dugette said:


> She made it! And LOVED it!


I know it's because all I see of Izzy are your trip report photos, but how is she tall enough to ride Space Mountain!?!? Isn't it great when you can all ride the rides together. It's like a whole new experience!.


----------



## DLo

My DS19 wouldn’t ride it until he was 12.  Good for her.  ( mine was scared of any dark rides when he was little )


----------



## Dugette

First two rides on Everest today. Loved that too.


----------



## schmass

It looks like you are all having an amazing time in WDW!  Have a great rest of your trip!

And I love your first TR!  That is priceless!


----------



## amazingact21

Ahh, great photos! I know it's already been said, but my mind is blown that Izzy can ride the coasters now. I just can't wrap my head around that fact...


----------



## afwdwfan

Dugette said:


> heading on Sunday?!? That's right, off to WDW!  We are cashing in our free 6-night stay at Art of Animation! An AoA front desk CM (possibly manager) personally called me today to see what room requests we had. Has anyone had this happen before? I never have, so was wondering if it all is related to having that free "courtesy" stay? Man, I would run out of plastic cups and toilet paper any day for this payoff.  (that's what got us this free stay - mediocre mousekeeping on our trip last December)


This certainly sounds like a case of the customer recovery being far greater than the customer inconvenience.  I hope you have an awesome trip!!! 



Dugette said:


> If you can decipher my 7-year-old printing skills, enjoy the major blast from the past - only two parks!


Well, I'm used to writing 7 year old writing and I have to say your 7 year old writing is easier to read than DS's.    Awesome trip report!  The good old days!  My first Disney trip was that same year.


----------



## Dugette

Little known fact: Canada F&W booth will give your kid free pretzel bread upon request!!


----------



## MeghanEmily

Dugette said:


> View attachment 276821 Little known fact: Canada F&W booth will give your kid free pretzel bread upon request!!



No way! Lucky Izzy! But did they give her any butter??


----------



## StarWarsMomofGirls!

I love these little random posts!


----------



## amazingact21

MeghanEmily said:


> No way! Lucky Izzy! But did they give her any butter??





Meghan poses a good question...Izzy needs her butter!


----------



## Dugette

Pro tip: If you're going to lean down to talk to your kid at the same time they randomly decide to jump in the air, be sure to wait until your last Disney day.

Yep, that's my eye right now.

Anyway, got home late last night and glad to have this "recovery day" today. My step-mom just brought Bailey home and I'll unpack, grocery shop, etc. My to-do list also includes making trip notes before I forget everything (since I'm back logged on writing my reports). We had a great time!!


----------



## MeghanEmily

Dugette said:


> Pro tip: If you're going to lean down to talk to your kid at the same time they randomly decide to jump in the air, be sure to wait until your last Disney day.
> View attachment 277062
> Yep, that's my eye right now.
> 
> Anyway, got home late last night and glad to have this "recovery day" today. My step-mom just brought Bailey home and I'll unpack, grocery shop, etc. My to-do list also includes making trip notes before I forget everything (since I'm back logged on writing my reports). We had a great time!!



Oh no!! That's terrible! I'm sure it doesn't feel too great. But hopefully it'll heal quickly. And you're right, the timing could have been much worse. On a positive note: welcome home!


----------



## shairpdrh

Dugette said:


> Pro tip: If you're going to lean down to talk to your kid at the same time they randomly decide to jump in the air, be sure to wait until your last Disney day.
> View attachment 277062
> Yep, that's my eye right now.
> 
> Anyway, got home late last night and glad to have this "recovery day" today. My step-mom just brought Bailey home and I'll unpack, grocery shop, etc. My to-do list also includes making trip notes before I forget everything (since I'm back logged on writing my reports). We had a great time!!



Ouch! I feel like getting injured by a kid skull is the must unexpectedly consistent part of parenting. Their little heads are so hard. Hope it heals quickly.


----------



## DLo

Yikes. I hope it didn't hurt too bad and heals quickly


----------



## afwdwfan

Dugette said:


> Little known fact: Canada F&W booth will give your kid free pretzel bread upon request!!


So did you rent Izzy out to other people so they could go get some free pretzel bread?



Dugette said:


> Pro tip: If you're going to lean down to talk to your kid at the same time they randomly decide to jump in the air, be sure to wait until your last Disney day.


Ouch... that stinks.  Sorry it happened.  Welcome home!


----------



## Leshaface

Oh my goodness I can't believe she went on EE (TWICE!) and Space!

I have two kids.  Double the bread?!?...for them of course

Ick your eye.  I had to scroll quick.  I'm strange, I have an eye phobia   But I hope you healed quickly!


----------



## amazingact21

Oh wow! That looks like it hurt. Hope it's healing up well and glad to hear you had a great trip!


----------



## Dugette

*Hi, guys! Figured I'd just post and say hello! I will get back here and updating soon (I hope!) It's been super busy at work lately and life hasn't been cooperating much in giving me more than a few minutes of DIS time here and there. But, I did just spend a couple decent chunks of time I did get catching up on reports I'm following, so I can hopefully get this one back on track again soon. After all, I still have this, December WDW, Feb Wonder/WDW, and now Oct WDW to cover!! At least I have notes on all of them EXCEPT for the WDW part of Feb...so, that should be some interesting ad-libbing, haha. 

We had a great time in October, by the way. We even did crazy things like changing our plans entirely (like which park, etc.) on a whim and grabbing good FP+ at the last minute and having a great time. It was a little more relaxed than our normal, by design. Though we were still wiped out. But had a bit more balance. Really, really liked having a car and will probably always rent one from now on, unless Disney transportation improves. But, don't worry, we still managed to scramble to get on our flights home, even without scrambling to get on a Magical Express on time.   And you can hear more about all of that in like...2020?  Whenever I catch up enough to get to this TR. But there's your preview! *


----------



## Tracy161

Dugette said:


> so, that should be some interesting ad-libbing, haha.






Dugette said:


> We had a great time in October, by the way.


Yay! So glad to hear it. The few pictures you posted sure looked like you guys were having a great time 



Dugette said:


> And you can hear more about all of that in like...2020?


 Looking forward to it


----------



## Jackiemarie21

We just did a cars movie night and now I really want to get out to Cars Land.  Cece is super into the red car movie!

Love the 1985 TR!  Super cute.  When we were kids we took two trips to WDW.  I was 8 and 10.  My dad always made us keep trip journals of our experiences along with mileage reports and navigation notes.  I would love to come across those someday!!

Looking forward to hearing about all your upcoming trip!


----------



## TheMaxRebo

I came to the realization / it was pointed out to me that I have been lax in reading this Trip Report ... so I am attempting to get caught up

soooooo back to your meal at Cafe Orleans 

We never made it there but it looks really good - but consistent with other reports I saw the portions are very large and the Monte Cristo sandwhiches are very filling ... but definitely hard to pass up Mickey Beignets!  (we did get some of those from the quick service window - some regular and some pumpkin flavored)


Dugette said:


>



Glad you got on Indy - it really is a great ride ... we definitely had some bored kids waiting for the parents to ride though as well.  Crazy to know the ride track is the exact same as Dinosaur, but it feels so different with how open some of the rooms are (and also one reason there periodically are rumors that Dinosaur will be changed over to Indy)

That is pretty cool you got that "sold out" ticket for Star Tours - maybe just as they don't have the paper FP at WDW anymore but that seems so exotic and like a collectors item or something

Funny how we can measure the development of our kids by hitting milestones to be able to ride certain rides at Disney ... the other day Judi informed me that Peter just hit "Space Mountain" height 

I always love how you do the "alternating solo nights" - I think that makes a lot of sense and just lets each of you have some solo time and hit up things that maybe you are more interested in than the rest of the family ... seems like Dug got a lot done!



Dugette said:


> I seriously cannot tell you how much I loved being SOOOO close. I’m sad that Disney is probably going to be making that walk longer in the future.  It was so incredibly convenient to stroll out of the park and be at our off-site hotel in a few minutes without having to fold a stroller or wait in a line for transportation.



I know you posted this a while ago and perhaps this has since been addressed but I assume you saw the revised plans that Disney is doing and the Eastern Gate project is dead, so no impact to that side and thus the short walk will remain!

Wow, that really is an empty character breakfast - is it just because you were on the early side (in general I found that the CA crowd was not the early risers that the WDW crowd can be) or is it just always empty?  Looks like fun - especially the Chip meetings

That is cool you could use use the special entrance into DCA - though definitely would have been nice to know before you needed the physical receipt (guess it makes sense, in hindsight, that someone else could have just sent you the photo of their receipt).

Good to hear you liked Mater's ride ... since that ride is coming to Toy Story Land at DCA, just re-themed to Alien Swirling Saucers (which is one ride you don't want to abbreviate in a trip report!  )

We really liked A Bug's Land (it felt to me like there were less rides at DCA that the entire family could do together and more rides that were either aimed at young ones or had a height restriction) - a little worried about the rumors of Bug's Land closing to make way for the expanded Marvel Land


----------



## TheMaxRebo

(catching up part II recall when we ate at Ariel's Grotto the line was on the stairs as well - I think maybe the had a few groups on the floor (like, the next couple of groups to meet Ariel) but the rest were on the stairs after being called from the waiting area.  I know when we went Judi had taken the kdis to get changed into their Little Mermaid otufits so I think that helped as she was off doing that while I waited on the stairs alone

at least in the end you got a nice photo out of it!


Dugette said:


>



I agree - the kids meals were really cute there and nice that there were just a little different but still kid staple foods so I think most kids would eat something there

We really liked that character meal overall - good Princess interaction and we thought the food was really good .... sort of bummed that it is going away during the Pixar Pier redo

Good idea about Dug talking - that would be great!  And I know they have been testing out more talking characters at Disneyland (Minnie and Donald joining Mickey) so maybe it is something they could do in the future!

Well, glad things (mostly) worked out in the end and you got on RSR and back in time to drink, er, eat    The ride really is great - I think the outside part is very similar to Test Track but the inside part is so different with the characters that it does feel like an entirely different ride (same ride system technology of course)

Drinks, er, food looks really good!  Looks like quite a number of options too.  Definitely makes sense to do that vs a meal at Napa Rose with a toddler - though looks like might be a nice option for "date night" as well

Cars Land at night really is amazing looking ... and we loved the Cars meets - and I think the part when they change out cars is some of the best part ... I know Mater says a bunch of funny things when he is coming into position

Sounds like some great solo time at Disneyland (despite the very convoluted solo ride path for Indy) - and wow, two solo boat rides!!!!  (even if you got some eyerolling from CMs)

Sorry about the tantrum and I am sure you were just on edge worrying about keeping other people awake as well ... as hard as it is to change plans to eliminate some Disney time, I am sure it was the right call!

******

Wow, how cool you found that journal!  And your handwriting is pretty darn good!  (and memories of back when it was called Epcot Center )

Sorry to hear about the black eye - hope it healed quickly!

And glad to see you had a great trip to WDW!


----------



## cindianne320

Finally getting caught up on reading. Like you, it's been a very crazy fall!

LOVED reading your first trip report! I teach 2nd grade and your writing was very good- and made me remember my own first trip in '89. 

Glad you had a great trip in October! Can't wait to read all about it. But OUCH- your poor eye!


----------



## Dugette

*Hi, guys!  I'm sorry I've been such a terrible trip reporter lately! No time, no energy, 2017 is generally not my favorite year, etc. BUT, I am working on this tonight!! If only all weekends were 4-day weekends I might actually get this done!  Putting part 1 up right now and will see how much more I can get done tonight. I'll come back to reply to comments another time. Thanks for sticking with me! *
*
Exploring Toontown – Part 1*
*
Despite the awful night, we all did manage to get some sleep after the 2am hour and were actually all up and ready to go around 9am. I guess Izzy was getting impatient to head out :





Despite her awful night, she was in a much better mood and didn’t seem to remember any of the drama of the night before.  We didn’t bring it up either. 

She wanted to wear a full array of bows, as you can see. She also wore her adorable Star Wars dress – thanks to @Imagineer5!  She got tons of compliments on it throughout the day.

My notes say that we then, “Headed over to the free breakfast, secured a table, and had some very mediocre food”.  Here’s what the breakfast area looked like:





On the right is the drink dispenser area. That was really nice for stocking up on water, milk, and coffee (we may have filled a couple thermoses and water bottles…). This food looks decent, but it wasn’t very good at all. Edible, though, so we ate:





By the way, that was my creation out of what they had available – they did not actually have breakfast sandwiches, but that combo made it more palatable to me. 

Here’s Izzy’s collection of carbs (and weird egg patty):





We made it out to the crosswalk about 9:40am:





The walk was pleasant:









There were some lines to enter Disneyland, though:





We ended up getting inside at 9:56am, which made it hard to get to Toontown by 10am, as planned. Oh, well. We’re in Disneyland :









As we walked past the Teacups, we noted that Alice and the Mad Hatter were out greeting guests:





We didn’t stop, but don’t worry, we’ll be meeting them later this trip…

We passed It’s a Small World:





And made it to Toontown at 10:09am:





Where we promptly saw this sign that told us we’d missed an entire hour more than we’d thought :





We went in anyway, hoping the lines wouldn’t be too crazy yet. It didn’t appear to be particularly crowded, so that was good.

Once inside, Izzy made a beeline for the (stationary) Jolly Trolley:





And, as I was attempting to get a selfie, guess who came to visit her?! Mickey's favorite pup Pluto made a surprise stop (and, ironically, he wasn't the one on a leash in this pic ):













I also have some video:
*




*
As you can see, she was too slow and too shy to actually hug him. She was fine with that, though.

Next up, she wanted to go sit in Goofy’s car:





Oops, crashed into that mailbox!  Izzy got a kick out of that and we both enjoyed some good giggling at Goofy’s expense.  And, speaking of mailboxes:





Our next stop was Mickey’s House:













As you can see, we walked right into his house. We got here just in a nick of time, though, as the line got much longer while we waited to see Mickey (we did have some wait, but not bad). There was so much fun eye candy in Mickey’s house:













































Continued in next post...*


----------



## Dugette

*Exploring Toontown – Part 2*
*
More fun stuff to look at as we made our way through Mickey’s house:









Trying the doggie bed out :

















I love all the little details! So fun! Almost there:









More things to admire:

















































I’m so confused about this one still  – Izzy sat on the seat of this camera behind me:





And a CM asked her to get off? I still am wondering if he was kidding (poorly) or if she managed to find the one thing that wasn’t meant for kids to climb on in Mickey’s house? 

Shortly after that, though, it was time to meet the Big Cheese on his movie set:









And the Photopass pictures:













Izzy had been singing M-I-C-K-E-Y a lot, so I thought she’d want to demonstrate to Mickey, but I was wrong. And Mickey seemed very interested in just posing for a picture. We were the last family in the group, so he was probably ready for his cheese break. 

Here’s the video:
*




*
And then we left through his garage:

















Then it was time to go next door to Minnie’s house!

Up next: Minnie, of course! *


----------



## cindianne320

Oh bummer that you missed the opening of ToonTown, but glad you got to meet Mickey with not much wait! Love Izzy's dress! <3 And this post really made me miss WDW's version.


----------



## Dugette

*Visiting Minnie in the Garden*
*
Next up was Minnie’s lovely house :



 













You may notice a line coming out of her door:
*



*
Unfortunately, we had to wait quite a while in the outdoor line with the hot sun beating down on us.  I used some of that time to coat Izzy (and myself) in sunscreen. We waited it out, though, as she had to meet her favorite Minnie! 

When we finally made it into her house, we enjoyed looking around and Izzy loved all the interactive elements:

















A quick video clip of that:
*




*




























We spied Minnie out in her garden:









And soon it was our turn:

















And the video, full of nose-booping fun:
*




*
After the cute meet, it was really hard to drag Izzy out of the way of the next guest because she was fascinated by the tea party setup out there. But, if there’s anything to get her moving, it’s the promise of a roller coaster – so, that was next! 

I believe that Dug had stopped by Gadget's Go Coaster earlier and grabbed us Fast Passes, so we didn’t have to wait too long. It’s a 35” height requirement and I noticed that the family in front of us had two kids and one appeared to be too short. I was right – they didn’t realize the requirement and the dad and short kid stepped out while the mom rode with the other kid.  Here’s the ride:





On board:









I’ve got video of us riding this short coaster and this shows you what a future thrill ride junkie looks like at 3.5 years old:
*




*
This same kid, now at 5, LOVED Space Mountain and Everest and Flight of Passage at WDW!  Looking back at the pics and video from this report, I can’t believe how LITTLE she is – it was only last year, but she’s so much more a “big kid” now. 

After that, of course it was time to sit in another car:













Up next: Checking out the other character homes in Toontown!*


----------



## Dugette

*Visiting all the Toon Houses*
*
Next, it was time to explore Chip and Dale’s Tree House:





I went in to check it out with Izzy:





Dug watched from outside:





I watched Dug from the inside  :





He watched me watch him from a window  :





Once I’d gone through with Izzy, I felt comfortable letting her go through repeatedly on her own. You just climb up and down stairs and there’s only one way out:





She loved going up and down over and over on her own! Sweet toddler freedom!  

Random picture of Mickey and Minnie’s houses and fountain:





And this random picture is the outside of Goofy’s house, which we’ll get to shortly:





But, next up, Donald’s Boat:













While in the boat, we tried to re-create a photo of us from 10 years prior:





Hard to see, but this waterfall is behind us:





Because I am exceptionally lazy, I couldn’t be bothered to get off the couch or search our photo archives to show you the original, but I did zoom WAY in with my phone to show you our 2006 photo in that spot  (middle picture):





You can totally tell it’s the same spot, right?  

Looks like we got out of there and made it over to Goofy’s house:





Oooh, it’s the Toontown sign:





And there’s that hilarious car accident again:





Goofy’s garden:





Izzy enjoyed the play area outside:





Then we explored inside:













Then back out again:









As you might imagine, it was hard to get her out of there, as she always had “just one more thing” she needed to do.  Luckily, there was a fire truck to go sit in, so we got her to move on to that:









Then went over here:









Dug helped her set off the dynamite:
*




*
We got to ride Roger Rabbit next. I think we had grabbed Fast Pass for this earlier too (maybe Dug did that while Izzy and I rode Gadget's Go Coaster?):









It was fun, but very spinny! 

After that, Izzy tried to lift this barbell:





And we played with some post office boxes (they talked!):





Up next: A bit more Toontown and snack time!*


----------



## Dugette

*Cheering Eeyore and Tiny Towns*
*
Izzy found yet another car to sit in:













We also saw these gas/fish tanks :





And then we stopped for a snack. Dug and I got a bottle of Diet Coke to drink  and I saw they had giant pickles there, which sounded really refreshing on this hot day. Izzy had never tried one before, but she was willing to try and it turned out she liked it!  We all shared the tasty pickle. Here you can see the intense concentration I was using to keep her from dropping the whole thing on the ground :





As we snacked, Pluto walked by our table (to go offstage, I think):









Good day for random Pluto encounters! 

After we finished our snack, we headed out of Toontown and ran across Eeyore doing a meet and greet with NO line! Poor Eeyore, nobody wanted to see him!  We HAD to cheer him up:





















Dug wanted to give him a hug too:





Bye, Eeyore! 





And the video as well:
*




*
Our next to-do item was the Storybookland Canal Boats. The line was starting to form, but it wasn’t too bad yet:





Still smiling:





Almost there:





Our boat awaits:





It was maybe a 10 minute wait and we were on by 12:40pm.

We boarded and started towards our terrifying journey :





I feel like there should be a Pirates-like drop when you go into the mouth. 

Go ahead and admire some of the small-scale villages:

















Casey Junior chugged on by us:









And there’s that train again:

















We all enjoyed our cruise. Then it was time to ride the monorail to Downtown Disney so that we could take our midday break at Trader Sam’s:





Views as we walked up to the platform:

















Up next: Well, this isn’t going as planned. *


----------



## StarWarsMomofGirls!

I am falling behind on my trip report as well. The holidays are killing all of my "spare" time!. So, I totally understand. 




Dugette said:


>


Wow, I didn't realize Minnie liked cheese so much! 



Dugette said:


> I can’t believe how LITTLE she is – it was only last year, but she’s so much more a “big kid” now.


I hate to tell you this, but it doesn't stop. Sigh. 



Dugette said:


>


So, cute. It seems like they could theme toontown and put it Hollywood Studios in Florida. 



Dugette said:


> While in the boat, we tried to re-create a photo of us from 10 years prior:


Cute! Some of my favorite photos are the ones in the same place to compare.


----------



## cindianne320

I didn't realize that there was so much to do in Toon Town! I'm glad you had a good morning there, though it looks like it was getting pretty busy! I'm sorry your afternoon didn't go as planned...


----------



## MeghanEmily

Dugette said:


> She wanted to wear a full array of bows, as you can see. She also wore her adorable Star Wars dress – thanks to @Imagineer5!  She got tons of compliments on it throughout the day.



What a cutie! I love the look!



Dugette said:


> Mickey's favorite pup Pluto made a surprise stop (and, ironically, he wasn't the one on a leash in this pic ):



Bahaha 



Dugette said:


> Exploring Toontown



I love this! I'm all for New Fantasyland at WDW, but it's too bad we don't have anything like this left at WDW anymore.



Dugette said:


>



So sweet! She's precious and Mickey is looking incredibly dapper!



Dugette said:


>



Noses are very interesting, apparently!



Dugette said:


> This same kid, now at 5, LOVED Space Mountain and Everest and Flight of Passage at WDW!



Yay! Go Izzy! She's a brave one!



Dugette said:


> After that, Izzy tried to lift this barbell:



She was soo cute at this age!



Dugette said:


> I saw they had giant pickles there, which sounded really refreshing on this hot day. Izzy had never tried one before, but she was willing to try and it turned out she liked it!  We all shared the tasty pickle.



Again, very brave! I never would have tried something like a giant pickle at her age.



Dugette said:


> *Up next: Well, this isn’t going as planned. *



Uh oh...


----------



## amazingact21

Fun morning in Toontown! Izzy does look so small in these pictures. Hard to believe she's riding the big coasters now!


----------



## TheMaxRebo

Dugette said:


> If only all weekends were 4-day weekends I might actually get this done!


For some reason this reminded me of one of my favorite quotes from The Jetsons - as in the future they apparently have better work/life balance but in once scene George is lamenting his "hard work schedule" as he states "these 3 day work weeks are killing me!!!"



Glad to see you seemed to be doing ok in the morning despite the drama of the night before/had energy etc. ... well, if a weird egg patty thing won't get you going, I don't know what will?!?!?! - well, maybe a thermos full of coffee 

Seems like you got a lot done in Toontown despite getting there a bit later than you wanted.  There really is a lot to see/a lot of details.  I never noticed in Mickey's house that there are some pictures with Walt in them (guess I wasn't sure how Toontown and the real world connected - or maybe Walt was just allowed to visit Toontown .... or maybe I am overthinking this whole thing 

We never got to Minnie's house as the wait was never less than 60 mins for her and we just could justify it - but her house looks cute too!

that's cool how Pluto came up to you and glad Dug got this photo of you two with him:


Dugette said:


>





Dugette said:


>


... always love a good photo of one parent taking a picture of the other parent taking a picture of them 



Dugette said:


>


haha, love this picture!!!! 


Overall seems pretty productive ... though your tease at the end is a bit worrisome!


----------



## afwdwfan

Dugette said:


> Hi, guys!  I'm sorry I've been such a terrible trip reporter lately! No time, no energy


I can relate... 



Dugette said:


> By the way, that was my creation out of what they had available – they did not actually have breakfast sandwiches, but that combo made it more palatable to me.


I like the creativity!  As long as it is food in the stomach.  



Dugette said:


> This same kid, now at 5, LOVED Space Mountain and Everest and Flight of Passage at WDW!


Awesome!!!  



Dugette said:


> Looking back at the pics and video from this report, I can’t believe how LITTLE she is – it was only last year, but she’s so much more a “big kid” now.


 It happens fast!



Dugette said:


> You can totally tell it’s the same spot, right?


Um... yeah... sure.    It's your TR, whatever you say.  



Dugette said:


> Here you can see the intense concentration I was using to keep her from dropping the whole thing on the ground :


Keeping a kid from dropping food on the ground is no small feat to be taken lightly.  It's like the first thing they do is actively try to throw it down or something.  



Dugette said:


> I feel like there should be a Pirates-like drop when you go into the mouth.


 I like the way you think!


----------



## khertz

I absolutely LOVE Toontown in DL! So much better than Toontown Fair was at MK. We love exploring all of the houses and stuff with the kids. Goofy's Playhouse has been a hit with the kids every trip so far. And nice that even though it opened earlier than you thought, you still managed to meet both Mickey & Minnie with short waits.


----------



## Tracy161

Amazing pictures!!! And _*OMG *_Izzy's dress is the best thing ever!!!!!!!


----------



## schmass

Hi! I’ve been away from the Dis for a while because things are pretty hectic around here, but was glad to see an update on your report.

Toon Town looks like a lot of fun.  Izzy looks like she was having a great time!

I can’t believe there wasn’t a line for Eeyore.  Glad you got a chance to meet him!


----------



## Dugette

*Awkwardly Visiting Trader Sam’s*
*
Our monorail soon arrived and we realized quickly how different Disneyland was from WDW.  Instead of strolling right onto the monorail, we had to take all our bags off the stroller, make sure the kid was out too, fold the stroller, then cram us and our stuff into the crowded seats.  We did it, but felt like clumsy fools wrangling all our stuff onto there. But we put on some smiles anyway:









And there’s all our stuff crammed in by our feet:





We made it over to Downtown Disney around 1:30pm:





The Disneyland Hotel is way back there by the hat. It really surprises me that they don’t connect the monorail to the resorts like at WDW. We headed that way:









Our plan was to have a nice afternoon break at Trader Sam’s to check the place out. It was Superbowl Sunday, but we figured it was early enough in the day to not be a major issue. But I suspect this was way more crowded than an ordinary day. Every single table both inside AND outside of Trader Sam’s was occupied.  We wandered and wandered and stalked and stalked to no avail. We finally just got in line at the bar because it was the only way to even get any service, as they were busy and there was nobody greeting guests at all. A picture of the view inside while we waited:





We were able to order drinks and some food in to-go containers so that we could bring it all over to the seating area for Tangaroa Terrace next door. I believe this was Dug’s Mosquito Mojito (Strawberry Rum, Organic Agave Nectar, Falernum, Mint and fresh Lime Juice topped with Soda Water):





And my Piranha Pool (Strawberry Vodka blended with Pineapple Juice, Cream of Coconut, Strawberry Purée and Blue Curaçao):





As we were waiting for our food, 3 chairs at the low (table height) end of the counter opened up, so we tried to grab them. However, the bartender wouldn’t let us, since we had Izzy with us and kids could only be seated at the tables, not even on chairs at the table-height end of the bar area. So, I took Izzy and my drink and we headed over to Tangaroa Terrace while Dug waited for our food. We grabbed Izzy a Kids Power Pack meal at Tangaroa Terrace and then found a nice shady table just outside to enjoy it at:





All those empty tables were Tangaroa Terrace tables, not Trader Sam’s, by the way.

Izzy enjoyed her food and I enjoyed my drink. Then I got a text from Dug that he had managed to snag a table outside of Trader Sam’s. By that point, I had our stuff all spread out and a nice shady table, so I didn’t see the point. I think the only real advantage, since we already had all our stuff and didn’t need a waiter to take our order, was that they would bring us waters over there. Dug insisted, so I relented and packed up all of our stuff and went over there to set up again. They somehow took away Dug’s partially consumed Mosquito Mojito on accident, so they brought him another:




*
*The food was all really tasty. Dug and I shared a pineapple burger (**Angus 1/3 lb Hawaiian Cheeseburger - Ground Angus Burger with Teriyaki Sauce, fresh Caramelized Pineapple, Havarti Cheese, Bacon, Lettuce, and Tomato on a Brioche Bun served with a choice of one of these sides: Sweet Potato Fries, Classic French Fries, Island Fruit) and a pulled pork sandwich (Slow-roasted Kālua-style Pork Sandwich Barbecue Sauce and Shredded Cabbage on a Brioche Bun served with a choice of one of these sides: Sweet Potato Fries, Classic French Fries, Island Fruit):








*
*We all shared the Panko-crusted Chinese Long Beans*
*served with Sriracha Aïoli:*

*






*

*And Izzy continued to enjoy her Power Pack:*

*

*

*At some point during our time there, we each got up to use the restrooms inside and also get a look around. I didn’t really see much in the way of fun atmosphere stuff when I went in with Izzy – it was more weaving through the crowds to get in and out. We definitely didn’t pick the best day for this outing.*

*Back outside again, there were two couples at the table next to us that were clearly having a really fun time. They also thought Izzy was super cute and were waving at her, etc.  They are behind her here:*

*

*

*That guy back there was saying that he wanted to bring back the phrase “so fetch” and they were all cracking up. He said it to Izzy and I told him that was exactly what he needed to do – tell it to all the 3-year-olds because they will repeat it endlessly. *

*Once we wrapped up our leisurely lunch, Dug wanted to run into the restroom again, so Izzy and I waited outside the door to Trader Sam's. I immediately noticed a Cast Member now stationed near the door that was fulfilling exactly the role needed when we arrived - directing people to where they needed to be and making them feel helped and not ignored. She was great.  If only she’d been out there when we’d arrived, the whole experience would have been really different. Because no one was there to help us at all, we felt super awkward and uncomfortable wandering around a bar with a toddler and trying to figure out how to even get service. It all worked out okay, but not the experience we’d been anticipating. However, in a spoiler of one of our WDW trips since then, we did make it to Trader Sam’s at the Polynesian and had a much better experience there, more like we’d anticipated for this one. *

*I guess Izzy hugged this guy goodbye:*

*

*

*And here’s that hostess I mentioned above:*

*

*

*Anyway, Dug wanted to take a little rest break after those couple of cocktails, so we headed over to some lounge chairs outside the Disneyland Hotel. While he relaxed, Izzy and I wandered around:*

*






*

*Goofy’s Kitchen was closed during our visit, so maybe next time! *

*

*

*

*

*As we were wandering around, a lady walked by and did a double-take and came back to compliment Izzy’s Star Wars dress. She got a lot of compliments on it that day – thanks, Lauren! (@Imagineer5)*

*After exploring outside, Izzy and I headed into the gift shop in the hotel, as I remembered that I wanted to find a souvenir ornament for us and also a snow globe for Dug’s sister. This little shop had both:*

*

*

*They had me bring them over to the bigger gift shop next door to get them wrapped up (and of course wait in another line). Izzy wanted everything she saw, just to make the wait a little more challenging.  We managed to get out without any bonus purchases, though. Of course, as soon as we were out, I realized we needed some cold drinks, so had to go in and grab a big bottle of water and a Diet Coke. *

*And then it was time to head back into Disneyland! I had no interest in taking all our stuff off the stroller and cramming into the monorail again, so I chose to walk back with the stroller while Dug and Izzy took the monorail – I love a good fast-paced walk anyway, so this was a good opportunity to do that without anyone slowing me down (and some bonus solo time to just look around was great). The walk:





Made it:





And there’s the monorail (they didn’t ride in front, though):





And the view from their ride:

























I got to the monorail exit first and waited for them to come down. When they did, we both noticed that the Nemo Subs had a relatively short wait (20 minutes – it can get long there), so we figured this was a good chance to knock that off our list without burning valuable rope drop time. It was about 4:40pm by now, by the way. 

Up next: Going (20,000 leagues) under the sea…with Nemo! *


----------



## Dugette

Okay, I am insanely behind on responding to comments, but I'll try to do at least a brief round-up of what I've missed!



AprilRenee said:


> Wow! Amazing solo night!! We've never done solo nights before. Maybe with this super close hotel at Disneyland we should try it out!
> 
> And omg about the tantrum! What a rotten way to end a night! Children!


Did you end up trying any solo time? I hope you didn't have any massive tantrums to deal with!



amazingact21 said:


> The one family photo almost looks like Mater is photobombing you guys. Love it.
> 
> That's a very strange way to get to Indiana Jones, but maybe they hadn't planned on single rider when they initially built the ride? I know you mentioned you loved it, is it better than Dinosaur? I'm not a fan of Dinosaur but am wondering if I'd like Indiana more.
> 
> That sounds like an amazing solo night! Oh my gosh, just incredible! A log flume completely to yourself on Splash AND THEN a whole boat on Pirates. I think that's my favorite part. You were, literally, the last guest on the attraction. Had the whole ride completely to yourself.
> That's like a Disney goal for everyone!
> 
> But what a bummer that Izzy had a rough night. I know that can be really stressful, and it's especially worse when it's the middle of the night and you just want to sleep. I hope she woke up well rested the next morning!


I liked Indy much more than Dinosaur. Even though I can see how the actual ride mechanism is basically the same, the surroundings make it feel entirely different - I'd say Indy is much more open vs. Dinosaur feeling a bit claustrophobic.

Solo night was amazing - being the only one on those boat rides was a super cool experience for me!

She did surprisingly well the next morning, considering what a mess she was late that night!



soniam said:


> Oh man. That night sounds bad. I definitely don't miss those days. I am glad it was fantastic before that at least.


What goes up must come down, haha.



afwdwfan said:


> You had the nerve to bring a kid.
> 
> That's great!  I loved the Cars meets.  That's awesome that you were able to see both Lightning and Mater.
> 
> It's so fantastic!
> 
> Hmmm... right next to the Matterhorn would be a great place to open up a pillow pet gift shop.  Why haven't they done that yet?
> 
> Awesome!!!
> 
> That is a picture to frame!
> 
> Your own boat for Pirates too???  Awesome!  Great way to end the night!
> 
> Uh oh...
> 
> That's great!  I'm glad that the solo fun outweighed the meltdown.


Yes, they really need pillow pets maybe even being sold in line for the Matterhorn? They could be Yeti ones, if they want to keep the theming up.

The night was so fun, the memorable solo time outweighed the tantrum-filled night that came after.



ajsary said:


> I love this so much!  I am a terrible singer as well, so I applaud your decision to seize the opportunity and sing your heart out here.  What an awesome experience you had!


I'd never dream of singing along with others in the boat, so this was perfect! (Though I did wonder if the CMs were listening and laughing at me - but at least it wasn't to my face, I guess!)



schmass said:


> What a night!!  That looks amazing.  Glad you had so much fun and got so much done in a short time.  That is really strange about the single rider line for Indy, though.  And I agree with you, the Matterhorn is so rough!
> 
> Cars Land looks so cool all lit up at night!
> 
> Sorry you had to deal with an angry toddler when you returned!


Indy's single rider line really makes you feel like you are doing something wrong and breaking some rules. And, ugh, Matterhorn! LOVE Cars Land at night - one of my very favorite Disney things! Never a fun time with an overtired and angry toddler!



MeghanEmily said:


> Bahaha awesome!
> 
> 
> 
> Naturally!
> 
> 
> 
> Wait, what?!!
> 
> 
> 
> Sounds delish! Worth a splurge once or twice.
> 
> 
> 
> I love this outfit on Mickey!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> No way! How cool!


The hot chocolate was a nice treat to try once, but I don't see myself doing that one again...unless maybe if we ate at Napa Rose someday?

That night was so amazing!



Verstehen said:


> Being the last on a ride is such a cool and unique feeling! A few weeks ago my dad and I were on the last Kilimanjaro Safari for the evening. It was so cool to walk around a completely empty Africa (of course as we exited, we eventually merged with the Pandora crowd, but that's another story).


That's awesome about being on the last safari! There is definitely something special about walking out into an empty park/area - makes it feel like it's there just for you!



khertz said:


> What an awesome way to spend some solo time in DL!! I have totally done the very strange single rider queue at Indiana Jones and felt like I was going the wrong way the entire time lol Very nice getting yourself on Pirates that close to closing and having a boat to yourself!
> 
> Ugh, sorry it dissolved once you got into the room with a melting down child. That is never fun but especially not in the wee hours of the morning!!


Such a fun night, but not a desirable ending at all!



Frozen2014 said:


> Great review.  Such precious memories with your little one.  I love how you returned to DL at 10:30pm after walking DH and DAD back to the hotel.  Wow...that is such an amazing picture on Splash!  How cool you were the only one.  Near too with Pirates.  We managed to get our own boat first thing in the morning (but family of 4...nor solo). You miss getting the warning that the drop us coming when there is an empty boat in front of you...lol.
> Loving your review.


Thank you! That solo time and being the only one on those rides was pretty amazing. There's something special about knowing the boat is going just for you to enjoy everything.


----------



## Dugette

amazingact21 said:


> "Some Dumbo ride"
> 
> That's pretty neat that you found that journal, it had to be really fun for you to read it and take that journey down memory lane. And it sounds like you were having fun airplane adventures long before a kid came into the picture.
> 
> It was wild to hear about your rides on attractions that aren't in the parks anymore. World of Motion, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, etc.
> 
> I hope you have a great time on your upcoming trip and enjoy AoA. That's pretty impressive, having a Cast Member call you to ask about specific requests.


Haha, yeah, I took a whopping two round-trip flights in childhood - both to Florida, actually. I guess that very first one was pretty exciting! And then we have Izzy who is a veteran flyer at 5. 

I miss the old rides! Sometimes I want to go back in time and ride them again!

We had a great time overall, though AoA didn't really WOW us like I was expecting. But still good!



DLo said:


> What a find. Classic.  You have come a long way in trip reporting style ; ).  Have a magical time   Will look for updates and a new report when you get back home.


Haha, thank you! (Though I have no clue when I'll get to writing about that recent trip...maybe in like 2021?? )



Leshaface said:


> Jumping right on in from your last update if you don't mind!
> 
> 
> 
> Oooh never heard of this but will have to remember this for next time!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Wow she looks so little here.  Time is flying for sure!
> 
> 
> I'm pretty sure this is the best window display in all of the Disneyland Resort!
> 
> 
> 
> Ugh i'm so, so, so, SO upset they got rid of the Paint the Night parade!  The best parade!  And the song was so catchy.  Waaaah!
> 
> 
> 
> Right?  I totally agree.  This ride for me, is just not an 'every trip' ride.
> 
> 
> 
> I've seen so many people get right back in line after they have exited in this queue, it's so easy to do, especially if there's a gap in the line.
> 
> 
> 
> Now Indy is an 'every trip' ride for me for sure!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Seriously!  Best solo night ever!  Pirates would be the best ride to go on by yourself for sure, wow!
> 
> 
> 
> Yay you left today, have so much fun!
> 
> 
> 
> Uhhh whaaa??
> 
> 
> 
> NO way?!?  Dang, this is pretty darn awesome that you got a free stay from this!
> 
> 
> I was alive!  Not walking probably, but I was fully alive!


I don't mind you jumping in at all! I was so excited to see you back and now I've barely been on here! 

It really is crazy looking at these TRs and seeing how much our kids have grown up in a short time, isn't it?

Hope you've been doing well!



Crashbeckycoot said:


> I have been following along and just caught up on the most recent post, of your 7-year old self report, which is a great memory!
> 
> Amazingact21 mentioned it above, but I too also giggled, when reading "some Dumbo ride".
> 
> Just a quick mention on one of your previous updates, that I didn't comment on when reading, was, I love love love the fact you had some "alone" time at Disneyland.
> 
> (Although I don't have kids) I am almost coming up with ways to get my own time in Disneyland without my DH on our upcoming trip hehe.
> 
> But truly, your time looked epic, especially your picture on Splash!
> 
> Enjoy on your current trip!


Ha, I actually giggled too when I read "some Dumbo ride" - clearly I had no idea that it was a #1 Touring Plans priority for families with young children! I would have been shocked to know there was a "Dumbo Dash"!

I think that alone time is so important! It might be because I'm an introvert and need it to recharge, but I also think it's nice when you have others (kid, DH, whoever) that want to do different things all day and then you get to get out of that for a bit and just do what you want and not worry about whether anyone else is happy with that choice. That time always feels so exciting and invigorating - kind of like being a kid set loose in a candy store.



Tracy161 said:


> Yay!!!
> 
> 
> No kidding!!! Sign me up!
> 
> Your vintage TR is amazing, thanks for sharing!


You are welcome!


----------



## Dugette

Woth2982 said:


> I cannot believe she is big enough to ride the big rides!


Just barely, but she made it and LOVED them! My little thrill-rider. She tells people her favorite rides were Space, Everest, and FoP (all 44").



StarWarsMomofGirls! said:


> I know it's because all I see of Izzy are your trip report photos, but how is she tall enough to ride Space Mountain!?!? Isn't it great when you can all ride the rides together. It's like a whole new experience!.


It's awesome to ride together! And, yes, she was just BARELY tall enough, but she made it! We did a lot of pre-work with teaching her to stand up straight and hold her head up and try to touch a bar with her head. And that was needed!



DLo said:


> My DS19 wouldn’t ride it until he was 12.  Good for her.  ( mine was scared of any dark rides when he was little )


Yeah, I was a little surprised because she literally sleeps with her light on every night because of the dark...but this didn't bother her. 



schmass said:


> It looks like you are all having an amazing time in WDW!  Have a great rest of your trip!
> 
> And I love your first TR!  That is priceless!


Aw, thanks!



amazingact21 said:


> Ahh, great photos! I know it's already been said, but my mind is blown that Izzy can ride the coasters now. I just can't wrap my head around that fact...


Well, just wait until next June then! 



afwdwfan said:


> This certainly sounds like a case of the customer recovery being far greater than the customer inconvenience.  I hope you have an awesome trip!!!
> 
> Well, I'm used to writing 7 year old writing and I have to say your 7 year old writing is easier to read than DS's.    Awesome trip report!  The good old days!  My first Disney trip was that same year.


Yes, they in no way owed us a 6 night stay, but we were totally willing to accept it anyway.

And thank you on the 7-year-old TR! 



MeghanEmily said:


> No way! Lucky Izzy! But did they give her any butter??


 No, in fact!



StarWarsMomofGirls! said:


> I love these little random posts!


Thanks, it was nice to be able to share some of those moments with those who would appreciate them!



amazingact21 said:


> Meghan poses a good question...Izzy needs her butter!


 Surprisingly, I guess pretzel rolls are acceptable without butter. 



MeghanEmily said:


> Oh no!! That's terrible! I'm sure it doesn't feel too great. But hopefully it'll heal quickly. And you're right, the timing could have been much worse. On a positive note: welcome home!


Thanks! Yeah, it was not a fun thing to deal with, but at least it was at the end and not in all our pictures!



shairpdrh said:


> Ouch! I feel like getting injured by a kid skull is the must unexpectedly consistent part of parenting. Their little heads are so hard. Hope it heals quickly.


Yes! I've had lots of bumps in the chin and such with her skull, but first one that cracked the eye like that. It hurts us much more than them too!



DLo said:


> Yikes. I hope it didn't hurt too bad and heals quickly


It really hurt at first, but then it just turned into a rainbow for a couple weeks and eventually healed all up.



afwdwfan said:


> So did you rent Izzy out to other people so they could go get some free pretzel bread?
> 
> Ouch... that stinks.  Sorry it happened.  Welcome home!


Haha, I think anyone could have gotten pretzel bread free. I asked to buy some and two different CMs were like, "Oh, you can just have that free!"

Thanks!



Leshaface said:


> Oh my goodness I can't believe she went on EE (TWICE!) and Space!
> 
> I have two kids.  Double the bread?!?...for them of course
> 
> Ick your eye.  I had to scroll quick.  I'm strange, I have an eye phobia   But I hope you healed quickly!


Haha, all the bread!!! Sorry about engaging your eye phobia! It did heal up, but took a couple weeks. I had to keep explaining to co-workers since I could tell they were looking and wondering...



amazingact21 said:


> Oh wow! That looks like it hurt. Hope it's healing up well and glad to hear you had a great trip!


It did hurt! But healed well and is now a strange memory (I was going to say "amusing memory", but it really doesn't make me laugh, even now...)



Tracy161 said:


> Yay! So glad to hear it. The few pictures you posted sure looked like you guys were having a great time
> 
> 
> Looking forward to it


Thanks!



Jackiemarie21 said:


> We just did a cars movie night and now I really want to get out to Cars Land.  Cece is super into the red car movie!
> 
> Love the 1985 TR!  Super cute.  When we were kids we took two trips to WDW.  I was 8 and 10.  My dad always made us keep trip journals of our experiences along with mileage reports and navigation notes.  I would love to come across those someday!!
> 
> Looking forward to hearing about all your upcoming trip!


Cars Land is so cool! One of my favorite parts of Disneyland for sure!

Oh, that's awesome - we also had two Disney visits as kids - I was 7 and 13. It's fun to read about how I experienced everything then vs. now.



TheMaxRebo said:


> I came to the realization / it was pointed out to me that I have been lax in reading this Trip Report ... so I am attempting to get caught up
> 
> soooooo back to your meal at Cafe Orleans
> 
> We never made it there but it looks really good - but consistent with other reports I saw the portions are very large and the Monte Cristo sandwhiches are very filling ... but definitely hard to pass up Mickey Beignets!  (we did get some of those from the quick service window - some regular and some pumpkin flavored)
> 
> 
> Glad you got on Indy - it really is a great ride ... we definitely had some bored kids waiting for the parents to ride though as well.  Crazy to know the ride track is the exact same as Dinosaur, but it feels so different with how open some of the rooms are (and also one reason there periodically are rumors that Dinosaur will be changed over to Indy)
> 
> That is pretty cool you got that "sold out" ticket for Star Tours - maybe just as they don't have the paper FP at WDW anymore but that seems so exotic and like a collectors item or something
> 
> Funny how we can measure the development of our kids by hitting milestones to be able to ride certain rides at Disney ... the other day Judi informed me that Peter just hit "Space Mountain" height
> 
> I always love how you do the "alternating solo nights" - I think that makes a lot of sense and just lets each of you have some solo time and hit up things that maybe you are more interested in than the rest of the family ... seems like Dug got a lot done!
> 
> 
> 
> I know you posted this a while ago and perhaps this has since been addressed but I assume you saw the revised plans that Disney is doing and the Eastern Gate project is dead, so no impact to that side and thus the short walk will remain!
> 
> Wow, that really is an empty character breakfast - is it just because you were on the early side (in general I found that the CA crowd was not the early risers that the WDW crowd can be) or is it just always empty?  Looks like fun - especially the Chip meetings
> 
> That is cool you could use use the special entrance into DCA - though definitely would have been nice to know before you needed the physical receipt (guess it makes sense, in hindsight, that someone else could have just sent you the photo of their receipt).
> 
> Good to hear you liked Mater's ride ... since that ride is coming to Toy Story Land at DCA, just re-themed to Alien Swirling Saucers (which is one ride you don't want to abbreviate in a trip report!  )
> 
> We really liked A Bug's Land (it felt to me like there were less rides at DCA that the entire family could do together and more rides that were either aimed at young ones or had a height restriction) - a little worried about the rumors of Bug's Land closing to make way for the expanded Marvel Land


Thank you for coming over here, Phil! Sorry it took me so long to respond!!

Hey, congrats to Peter on hitting "Space Mountain height"!!

Yay, that is awesome that the short walk will remain! We think it's likely we'll make it back to Disneyland in August 2018 because we have a cousin wedding in the LA area, so that is great news!

I think the breakfast got busier as the morning went on. It was very empty when we arrived, but had filled up decently by the time we left. So, go early for extra character attention and to get into the parks earlier!

Great to know about the ride I shall not abbreviate.  I didn't actually know that, as I've been terrible at keeping up on Disney news! 



TheMaxRebo said:


> (catching up part II recall when we ate at Ariel's Grotto the line was on the stairs as well - I think maybe the had a few groups on the floor (like, the next couple of groups to meet Ariel) but the rest were on the stairs after being called from the waiting area.  I know when we went Judi had taken the kdis to get changed into their Little Mermaid otufits so I think that helped as she was off doing that while I waited on the stairs alone
> 
> at least in the end you got a nice photo out of it!
> 
> 
> I agree - the kids meals were really cute there and nice that there were just a little different but still kid staple foods so I think most kids would eat something there
> 
> We really liked that character meal overall - good Princess interaction and we thought the food was really good .... sort of bummed that it is going away during the Pixar Pier redo
> 
> Good idea about Dug talking - that would be great!  And I know they have been testing out more talking characters at Disneyland (Minnie and Donald joining Mickey) so maybe it is something they could do in the future!
> 
> Well, glad things (mostly) worked out in the end and you got on RSR and back in time to drink, er, eat    The ride really is great - I think the outside part is very similar to Test Track but the inside part is so different with the characters that it does feel like an entirely different ride (same ride system technology of course)
> 
> Drinks, er, food looks really good!  Looks like quite a number of options too.  Definitely makes sense to do that vs a meal at Napa Rose with a toddler - though looks like might be a nice option for "date night" as well
> 
> Cars Land at night really is amazing looking ... and we loved the Cars meets - and I think the part when they change out cars is some of the best part ... I know Mater says a bunch of funny things when he is coming into position
> 
> Sounds like some great solo time at Disneyland (despite the very convoluted solo ride path for Indy) - and wow, two solo boat rides!!!!  (even if you got some eyerolling from CMs)
> 
> Sorry about the tantrum and I am sure you were just on edge worrying about keeping other people awake as well ... as hard as it is to change plans to eliminate some Disney time, I am sure it was the right call!
> 
> ******
> 
> Wow, how cool you found that journal!  And your handwriting is pretty darn good!  (and memories of back when it was called Epcot Center )
> 
> Sorry to hear about the black eye - hope it healed quickly!
> 
> And glad to see you had a great trip to WDW!


Well, that's interesting that you waited on the stairs as well! But we really liked that meal and the photo we got, so well worth it!

Love love love RSR and Cars Land - that's a big reason I want to go back - so Izzy can ride RSR. I'm sure she would LOOOOOVE it! 

Yeah, that tantrum was tough for both those reasons! But it all worked out and we still had a great next day!

Ha, thanks on the handwriting and old journal! And, yes, it was EPCOT Center for sure!

That black eye was the worst, but all gone now!

Thanks!



cindianne320 said:


> Finally getting caught up on reading. Like you, it's been a very crazy fall!
> 
> LOVED reading your first trip report! I teach 2nd grade and your writing was very good- and made me remember my own first trip in '89.
> 
> Glad you had a great trip in October! Can't wait to read all about it. But OUCH- your poor eye!


Thank you about the old TR! It's fun to think back about how the parks have changed and feel a bit nostalgic!

October was really nice, but that eye was so awful!


----------



## Dugette

cindianne320 said:


> Oh bummer that you missed the opening of ToonTown, but glad you got to meet Mickey with not much wait! Love Izzy's dress! <3 And this post really made me miss WDW's version.


Thank you on the dress! I know, I'd like to go back in time and see WDW's version again - though I think DLR's is better, so glad that's still there!



StarWarsMomofGirls! said:


> I am falling behind on my trip report as well. The holidays are killing all of my "spare" time!. So, I totally understand.
> 
> 
> 
> Wow, I didn't realize Minnie liked cheese so much!
> 
> 
> I hate to tell you this, but it doesn't stop. Sigh.
> 
> 
> So, cute. It seems like they could theme toontown and put it Hollywood Studios in Florida.
> 
> 
> Cute! Some of my favorite photos are the ones in the same place to compare.


Yes, I miss "free time" - feels like I seldom have any lately. This is so nice to be back on here a bit. I've been working a lot of nights and, when not working, catching up on everything else in life. This is more fun!

I'd love Toontown in DHS! They could use something there!



cindianne320 said:


> I didn't realize that there was so much to do in Toon Town! I'm glad you had a good morning there, though it looks like it was getting pretty busy! I'm sorry your afternoon didn't go as planned...


The morning was really fun - there's so much to explore in Toontown and it's all so cute and interactive!

Afternoon was still good, but just not quite like we were anticipating.



MeghanEmily said:


> What a cutie! I love the look!
> 
> 
> 
> Bahaha
> 
> 
> 
> I love this! I'm all for New Fantasyland at WDW, but it's too bad we don't have anything like this left at WDW anymore.
> 
> 
> 
> So sweet! She's precious and Mickey is looking incredibly dapper!
> 
> 
> 
> Noses are very interesting, apparently!
> 
> 
> 
> Yay! Go Izzy! She's a brave one!
> 
> 
> 
> She was soo cute at this age!
> 
> 
> 
> Again, very brave! I never would have tried something like a giant pickle at her age.
> 
> 
> 
> Uh oh...


Thanks on everything! I can't believe how little she seems in this TR vs. now - and it's less than two years ago! I was really surprised she tried (and liked!) the pickle. She is a ridiculously picky eater, so this is not common!



amazingact21 said:


> Fun morning in Toontown! Izzy does look so small in these pictures. Hard to believe she's riding the big coasters now!


I can't believe how she still looks like a little toddler in these pics and I see her now and that toddler-ness is gone (in looks, not always in behavior!)



TheMaxRebo said:


> For some reason this reminded me of one of my favorite quotes from The Jetsons - as in the future they apparently have better work/life balance but in once scene George is lamenting his "hard work schedule" as he states "these 3 day work weeks are killing me!!!"
> 
> 
> 
> Glad to see you seemed to be doing ok in the morning despite the drama of the night before/had energy etc. ... well, if a weird egg patty thing won't get you going, I don't know what will?!?!?! - well, maybe a thermos full of coffee
> 
> Seems like you got a lot done in Toontown despite getting there a bit later than you wanted.  There really is a lot to see/a lot of details.  I never noticed in Mickey's house that there are some pictures with Walt in them (guess I wasn't sure how Toontown and the real world connected - or maybe Walt was just allowed to visit Toontown .... or maybe I am overthinking this whole thing
> 
> We never got to Minnie's house as the wait was never less than 60 mins for her and we just could justify it - but her house looks cute too!
> 
> that's cool how Pluto came up to you and glad Dug got this photo of you two with him:
> 
> 
> 
> ... always love a good photo of one parent taking a picture of the other parent taking a picture of them
> 
> 
> haha, love this picture!!!!
> 
> 
> Overall seems pretty productive ... though your tease at the end is a bit worrisome!


Sign me up for those 3 day work weeks of the future!!!

I love all those details in Toontown! (You might be overthinking, though. )

Minnie was a long wait, though not as long as yours, but it was really a must-do at the time.

Oh, don't worry, but it just wasn't like the image in our minds....



afwdwfan said:


> I can relate...
> 
> I like the creativity!  As long as it is food in the stomach.
> 
> Awesome!!!
> 
> It happens fast!
> 
> Um... yeah... sure.    It's your TR, whatever you say.
> 
> Keeping a kid from dropping food on the ground is no small feat to be taken lightly.  It's like the first thing they do is actively try to throw it down or something.
> 
> I like the way you think!


Yes, even now at 5, she drops something almost every meal! She's always so distracted and caught up in her imagination or talking or chair-dancing.  Our dog still gets a fair amount of unplanned treats (though not as many as when Izzy was at her high chair just learning to eat and Bailey just stood under her waiting for food to rain down. )

I really wish all water rides had a nice surprise drop sequence!!



khertz said:


> I absolutely LOVE Toontown in DL! So much better than Toontown Fair was at MK. We love exploring all of the houses and stuff with the kids. Goofy's Playhouse has been a hit with the kids every trip so far. And nice that even though it opened earlier than you thought, you still managed to meet both Mickey & Minnie with short waits.


I'm glad it still worked out reasonably well for us. And that's such a fun area with so much detail to take in!



Tracy161 said:


> Amazing pictures!!! And _*OMG *_Izzy's dress is the best thing ever!!!!!!!


Thank you! Such a fun dress! We still have it and she occasionally wears it as a shirt now. 



schmass said:


> Hi! I’ve been away from the Dis for a while because things are pretty hectic around here, but was glad to see an update on your report.
> 
> Toon Town looks like a lot of fun.  Izzy looks like she was having a great time!
> 
> I can’t believe there wasn’t a line for Eeyore.  Glad you got a chance to meet him!


I understand the hectic and I'm there too! Hope you're all doing well!

Toontown was really cute and fun for everyone!

I did a double-take to make sure there was no Eeyore line and that he was actually available to meet - so lucky we ran into him when we did!


----------



## Jackiemarie21

Trader Sams looks yummy!  Moijtos are my favorite adult beverage and Dug’s really makes me want one , two more moths to go!!!The food looks yummy too!  Too bad about having to shuffle around to find a seat!  


The Nemo boats!  I can’t wait to hear about your ride on them!  When I was a kid and they had them WDW I was terrified to ride them and my dad and brother went on them without me and my mom, I have always regretted it since they are no longer there I guess we just have to go back to DL to experience that one!


----------



## khertz

Oh yes, the monorail at DL is definitely NOT the same experience as WDW!!! We have only ridden it as a ride, not as a form of transportation there because having to fold up the stroller to get on is such a big pain in the rear. I don't blame you for walking back to the park instead!

Sorry Trader Sam's wasn't the best experience. I can imagine it was very frustrating wandering around and trying to figure out what to do. At least the food & drinks were good!

Love the Nemo subs, but that is definitely one that can get super long and is not worth a long wait! Score catching it at 20 minutes so late in the day instead of having to do it at rope drop.


----------



## Tracy161

Dugette said:


> *We all shared the Panko-crusted Chinese Long Beans*
> *served with Sriracha Aïoli:*


Ooooh this looks amazing! As did your sandwiches. 



Dugette said:


> I immediately noticed a Cast Member now stationed near the door that was fulfilling exactly the role needed when we arrived - directing people to where they needed to be and making them feel helped and not ignored. She was great.  If only she’d been out there when we’d arrived, the whole experience would have been really different. Because no one was there to help us at all, we felt super awkward and uncomfortable wandering around a bar with a toddler and trying to figure out how to even get service. It all worked out okay, but not the experience we’d been anticipating.


Ugh, this experience made me anxious just reading about it - I would have felt awkward, too. But at least you eventually had a good meal and a little bonus drink for Dug 



Dugette said:


> I chose to walk back with the stroller while Dug and Izzy took the monorail – I love a good fast-paced walk anyway, so this was a good opportunity to do that without anyone slowing me down (and some bonus solo time to just look around was great).


I would have done the same! Nice opportunity for a nice walk plus the added bonus of not having to go through the monorail ordeal


----------



## MeghanEmily

I still can't get over how sweet Izzy's Star Wars dress is!!

How unfortunate that you have to unpack and fold everything to take the monorail at Disneyland! It seems so strange knowing how much easier it is to roll strollers onto the WDW monorails!


----------



## mousehappync

I'm here!! Just binge-read your report.  I think I had mentioned that we were not huge DL fans-- but absence makes the heart grow fonder and all, so I'm actually starting to want to try again.  Hoping to piggyback on a fall 2019 conference my husband has in CA to make it happen.  I'm definitely stealing some of your strategy-- y'all did a great job with fast pass, dining, etc.  I do know I am NOT splurging on a Disney hotel again.  I am thinking probably Ho-Jo because of the water park, but honestly, we will probably just be there to sleep!  Your location looks unbeatable-- and free food, even if it wasn't very good!  We didn't do ToonTown or Bug's Life land at all--my kids were really just too old for both-- but it looks PERFECT for Izzy!  Her enthusiasm for everything just shines in her face-- so precious.  I'm hoping to get back on the Dis-horse and both read and write more.  I'm with you--2017 was just NOT our year.  I've had trouble even mustering enthusiasm for things I love.  BUT-- we leave for 9 nights in WDW exactly one month from tomorrow!!!!! I'm finally feeling the Magic again.  We are getting AP's this year, too, so I'm super excited about that, as well!!!  Looking forward to reading more as you have time to write!


----------



## TheMaxRebo

The monorail at Disneyland is definitely different than at WDW ... and when it was first constructed it did go right to the Disneyland hotel ... only thing is, the Disneyland hotel is not where it was at that time - it's been rebuild/modified over the years and it used to be right where the monorail station in Downtown Disney is now ... though I guess that will be changing as they are knocking down that area of Downtown Disney to make room for the new 4 diamond resort that will go there and sort of wedge into/around the Disneyland hotel

Sorry for the challenges at Trader Sam's - it is just so small inside that it is tough when you have kids - but totally agree that having a CM out front helps a lot to at least let you know what the deal is and respond

Glad you enjoyed the food though - we did have those longbeans and they were really good!

Glad you enjoyed your walk back - sometimes just a little time to "breath" during a Disney trip is nice


----------



## StarWarsMomofGirls!

Dugette said:


> I believe this was Dug’s Mosquito Mojito _(Strawberry Rum, Organic Agave Nectar, Falernum, Mint and fresh Lime Juice topped with Soda Water)_:


Sounds delish! I love mojitos! 



Dugette said:


> Once we wrapped up our leisurely lunch


Ha leisurely lunch... Doesn't sound too leisurely. 

Glad to hear that you got a better Trader Sam's expierence eventually. I want to get there eventually. I assume you went with Izzy then too?


----------



## BrerMama

Just wanted to check in and say I've been reading along. Sounds like a fun trip!


----------



## Dugette

Jackiemarie21 said:


> Trader Sams looks yummy! Moijtos are my favorite adult beverage and Dug’s really makes me want one , two more moths to go!!!The food looks yummy too! Too bad about having to shuffle around to find a seat!


Yeah, the food and drinks were all really good - it was just the awkwardness of getting an order in and finding a seat that soured the experience a bit.



Jackiemarie21 said:


> The Nemo boats! I can’t wait to hear about your ride on them! When I was a kid and they had them WDW I was terrified to ride them and my dad and brother went on them without me and my mom, I have always regretted it since they are no longer there I guess we just have to go back to DL to experience that one!


Yes, have to try the Disneyland ones instead! I actually went on the WDW ones as a kid, so this was a fun nostalgic ride!



khertz said:


> Oh yes, the monorail at DL is definitely NOT the same experience as WDW!!! We have only ridden it as a ride, not as a form of transportation there because having to fold up the stroller to get on is such a big pain in the rear. I don't blame you for walking back to the park instead!


Yes, it would be so much better as just a ride! (At least when you have little ones with lots of gear).



khertz said:


> Sorry Trader Sam's wasn't the best experience. I can imagine it was very frustrating wandering around and trying to figure out what to do. At least the food & drinks were good!


Yes, if we could have just grabbed a table and gotten service, it would have been fantastic! As it was, we enjoyed things, but that was a rough start and we felt so unwelcome there.



khertz said:


> Love the Nemo subs, but that is definitely one that can get super long and is not worth a long wait! Score catching it at 20 minutes so late in the day instead of having to do it at rope drop.


Yes, that was our thought - it was about as good as it gets except at rope drop - and we wanted to use that for other things, if we could.



Tracy161 said:


> Ooooh this looks amazing! As did your sandwiches.


They were all great!



Tracy161 said:


> Ugh, this experience made me anxious just reading about it - I would have felt awkward, too. But at least you eventually had a good meal and a little bonus drink for Dug


Exactly! Rough start, but still good stuff!



Tracy161 said:


> I would have done the same! Nice opportunity for a nice walk plus the added bonus of not having to go through the monorail ordeal


Yep, I love a good walk anyway. So, a good fast walk without a whiny toddler and slow-paced hubby was a treat!



MeghanEmily said:


> I still can't get over how sweet Izzy's Star Wars dress is!!


Aw, thanks! It really is a cute little thing! Such a sweet gift!



MeghanEmily said:


> How unfortunate that you have to unpack and fold everything to take the monorail at Disneyland! It seems so strange knowing how much easier it is to roll strollers onto the WDW monorails!


I know! I was expecting something more like WDW, so this was an unpleasant surprise!



mousehappync said:


> I'm here!! Just binge-read your report.  I think I had mentioned that we were not huge DL fans-- but absence makes the heart grow fonder and all, so I'm actually starting to want to try again.  Hoping to piggyback on a fall 2019 conference my husband has in CA to make it happen.  I'm definitely stealing some of your strategy-- y'all did a great job with fast pass, dining, etc.  I do know I am NOT splurging on a Disney hotel again.  I am thinking probably Ho-Jo because of the water park, but honestly, we will probably just be there to sleep!  Your location looks unbeatable-- and free food, even if it wasn't very good!  We didn't do ToonTown or Bug's Life land at all--my kids were really just too old for both-- but it looks PERFECT for Izzy!  Her enthusiasm for everything just shines in her face-- so precious.  I'm hoping to get back on the Dis-horse and both read and write more.  I'm with you--2017 was just NOT our year.  I've had trouble even mustering enthusiasm for things I love.  BUT-- we leave for 9 nights in WDW exactly one month from tomorrow!!!!! I'm finally feeling the Magic again.  We are getting AP's this year, too, so I'm super excited about that, as well!!!  Looking forward to reading more as you have time to write!


Yay, glad you're here!  Our hope is to piggyback an August 2018 wedding with Disneyland - might as well! I agree about the hotels. I really can't find a way to justify the cost of a Disneyland hotel when the affordable offsite options are SO convenient! You should at least wander around Toon Town - it's really fun, even for adults! I'm guessing both of us would name the eclipse as the highlight of 2017.  Yay for your WDW trip coming up, though!



TheMaxRebo said:


> The monorail at Disneyland is definitely different than at WDW ... and when it was first constructed it did go right to the Disneyland hotel ... only thing is, the Disneyland hotel is not where it was at that time - it's been rebuild/modified over the years and it used to be right where the monorail station in Downtown Disney is now ... though I guess that will be changing as they are knocking down that area of Downtown Disney to make room for the new 4 diamond resort that will go there and sort of wedge into/around the Disneyland hotel


Oh, really, that's all very interesting! You are much more informed than I am. 



TheMaxRebo said:


> Sorry for the challenges at Trader Sam's - it is just so small inside that it is tough when you have kids - but totally agree that having a CM out front helps a lot to at least let you know what the deal is and respond


Yes, that would have helped so much!



TheMaxRebo said:


> Glad you enjoyed the food though - we did have those longbeans and they were really good!


I remembered them in your report and that was enough for us to get them too. Yum!



TheMaxRebo said:


> Glad you enjoyed your walk back - sometimes just a little time to "breath" during a Disney trip is nice


Sure is! I need that off-mom-duty time periodically!



StarWarsMomofGirls! said:


> Sounds delish! I love mojitos!


It was! Yum!



StarWarsMomofGirls! said:


> Ha leisurely lunch... Doesn't sound too leisurely.
> 
> Glad to hear that you got a better Trader Sam's expierence eventually. I want to get there eventually. I assume you went with Izzy then too?


Haha, about as leisurely as it gets with a toddler, I guess.  Yes, we took Izzy to WDW Trader Sam's and that was fun for all!



BrerMama said:


> Just wanted to check in and say I've been reading along. Sounds like a fun trip!


Thanks for popping in and saying hi!


----------



## Dugette

*Fantasyland Fun!*


*Left off looking at this:





We had just come across the Nemo subs with only a 20 minute wait, so we hopped in line and were soon highly annoyed with a group up ahead that was adding dozens of people while in line  :





It was ridiculous. A couple people joining you? Sure! Dozens? Wait to get in line! Ugh.  Luckily, it still only took us 20 minutes and we were boarding at 5pm.

While we were waiting to board, there was a guy getting out stating that he was “not going to go in the box!” I guess he was on the claustrophobic side – it is tight in there! 

We enjoyed the ride, though. Dug and I rode 10 years prior and Izzy never had, so we were all fascinated:









You can kind of see the tight quarters here  :





And Dug was taking goofy selfies, as usual  :





And we were off :

















As you can see, we did find Nemo:





Cute ride! 

I’m not sure when we did this, as my Photopass pics don’t show up in the right sequence with my regular pics, but I’ll toss it in here. For the 60th anniversary, Disneyland threw in a lot of “trick” Photopass shots and this was another fun one we did:









Next, Izzy and I got in a ride on the carousel. I’m not sure what Dug was doing at the time. I had read about “Mary Poppins’ horse”, but someone already had that one, so we found others:





Izzy managed to detach her buckle right before the ride and I couldn’t reach her from my horse, but the mom standing on the other side of her helped. Very nice!  That mom wasn’t a fluent English speaker, though, so she was standing near the edge of the ride despite multiple announcements/warnings to stand on the inside. She eventually figured it out, though – whew! 

This is one of my favorite pictures from the trip. The castle is blurry behind her, but it captures the joy and wonder of a child at Disneyland :





After the ride, I had Izzy try to pull the sword out of the stone:





I immediately worried that she would be so determined to get it that she woudn’t give up until she succeeded, but luckily I convinced her to move on! 

It was such a pretty time of day:









Then we headed over to Pinocchio:





Cute ride! We all enjoyed it.

We also managed to squeeze in Snow White; both rides were almost no line:













Izzy was brave and didn’t even get scared of the witch! 

After that, we hustled over to the theater for Mickey and the Magical Map and made it just in time! It was a fun show and we all enjoyed it:





Izzy really liked it when bubbles and streamers fell on the crowd!

After that, we were back in Fantasyland around 7:15pm. It was time to grant Izzy’s request to ride Peter Pan:





It was her #1 priority and there is no Fast Pass on the Disneyland version, so we strategized to get in line when we did because they would be closing the queue soon in preparation for the fireworks. We still had to wait about 30 minutes, which is more than I ever like to wait and it felt like forever , but the ride was fun and there were some new effects, which was nice to see. 

Oh, but probably the most exciting part was when I looked at the floor of the queue and saw this lost little Fast Pass for Space Mountain, valid for that very evening :





Spoiler: this will not be the only lost ticket we find on the ground. 

It appeared to have been laying there a while, therefore not likely to have an owner nearby, so I pocketed it for later use. Yay!

Looks like Dug got a couple of scenery shots from the outdoor queue:









Then we rode:
*




*
Up next: time for dinner!*


----------



## Dugette

*Another Magical Evening*
*
It was nearing 8pm by now and we were all quite hungry! Our plan had been to go enjoy some fried chicken at the Plaza Inn, but Dug wanted to switch it with our Galactic Grill dinner on another night so that we could be near the Launch Bay after eating – Izzy wearing her Star Wars dress and all.  So, we made the switch (and spoiler: never made it to the Plaza Inn dinner  – guess we need to go back!)

The Galactic Grill was over in Tomorrowland and Star Wars themed. Izzy ordered a small kids mac & cheese, which came with applesauce:









She got some milk, of course:





Dug and I each got some sort of burger (I think maybe one chicken and one cheeseburger) to share – fruit with one and fries with the other:













We also got a Darth by Chocolate to share for dessert:









Yum! 

I don’t see any pictures of it, but we shared the Dark Side drink and it came with a Death Star glow cube. I think we all liked it.

We soon realized that the Star Wars character meets ended at 8pm, so we were too late and would have to do them another day. Also, it was on the breezy side this evening, so an announcement came on that the fireworks would be cancelled. This was actually happening each night, but this night really felt windy, so it wasn't too surprising.

After dinner, Dug and Izzy headed back to the hotel so I could have another solo night! On their way back to the hotel, I guess:





First up, I used my found FP and I loved Space Mountain:





My notes indicate I rode the Haunted Mansion, but I have no pictures to prove that. My notes also say that I felt like I was surrounded by the Haunted Mansion Fan Club, as a bunch of people recited the whole stretching room spiel in unison.  Fun! Instead of showing you that, I have pictures of walking through Tarzan’s tree house, which isn’t in my notes at all (this is what happens when you take almost 2 years to write about your trip ):









I also HAD to go back and ride Indiana Jones again (Single Rider):





I then decided to indulge in a treat that the DIS seems to love, but I never would have thought to try on my own – a Tigger Tail:





This was from Pooh’s Corner and it’s marshmallow, caramel, and chocolate (and lots of sugar) on a stick. I was skeptical enough because it looked a little too Peep-like, but it was actually quite tasty! There was a lot more chocolate involved than it appeared – I believe they are coated in white chocolate under all that orange sugar. I sat on a bench and peacefully enjoyed my little treat.

Now that I was sufficiently sugared up, time for Big Thunder:





I love the Disneyland version so much! After I got off the ride, I realized my little Fitbit was missing (I have the old one that clips onto a pocket, etc.) The CMs checked, but couldn’t find it, so told me to go to City Hall later on. Bummer. I had to know how many steps I was walking at Disneyland, right? Oh, well.

My next picture was here:





Pretty castle!  I think I stopped into the photo store to get our multiple Photopass cards combined. And then on to Tomorrowland:





Looks like I rode Buzz:





And when I went on Space before with my found FP, I must have grabbed a new one for the late-night window because it appears I used it now:





Hmmmm, and I’m not even sure what this one is? Anyone know? I don’t. Maybe inside Space Mountain?? 





Clearly, I collected a photo:









I think I actually was ready to leave before park close, so made my way towards the exit, stopping to admire Walt’s apartment and light:









Nice to have that moment in Disneyland to reflect on the person that inspired such a magical place. 

When I stopped at City Hall, they sent me to the Lost & Found booth just outside the park. I headed out:









Waiting in the short line:





The family ahead of me was so relieved because their wallet full of cash and smartphone had both been found! Wow, I can’t imagine how stressed they must have been about losing those things! Glad the Disney Magic worked out for them. Not so much for me that night – my Fitbit hadn’t been found. However, they gave me the phone number and said to call in and check in case it was found later. Well, believe it or not, I called when I got home and they had found it on Big Thunder!! They mailed it to me and I still use it to this day. So, yay for Disneyland Lost & Found! 

I headed back to the hotel, which was in “quiet time” for the night:





Izzy was asleep and stayed asleep this night! Dug said she had watched some short Mickey cartoons and went to bed. I headed to bed too, with our goal of making rope drop at California Adventure the next morning.

Up next: The darn Superbowl keeps spoiling our fun!*


----------



## StarWarsMomofGirls!

Dugette said:


>


I love this pic1 Too funny. 


Dugette said:


> the joy and wonder of a child at Disneyland :


Her expression is priceless. A perfect Disney Face!



Dugette said:


>


Beautiful Pic! 

Glad they found your fit bit! Impressive. I feel like they never find anything in Disney World.


----------



## mousehappync

Great updates!  We really liked the Nemo subs, too-- it's just really cute and such a different kind of ride.  My kids FULLY believed we were in deeeep water. And you did Peter Pan!  Jealous!  We just couldn't make time for it, and it's one of my favorite rides in the world.  AND a bonus FP-- how cool!  I love those pictures of Izzy on the carousel-- pure joy.  If we ever overlap at WDW my kids can join her in futile sword pulling-- they are almost obnoxiously into it.  

Your solo evening looks great-- I don't really care about Space at WDW, but the DL version (and we got Hyperspace Mountain!!) is AMAZING.  So great that you got to ride twice!!  That's pretty much a perfect night-time lineup, too-- all the best rides, no toddler-wrangling, coming home to a sleeping child!!!  Looking forward to your next update-- AND to the New Year.  I hope 2018 brings you back to DL!!


----------



## cindianne320

The Subs are one of my favorite memories from WDW when I was a kid, so I'd love to try the Disneyland version! What a fun, peaceful, solo night! Glad you found that paper fastpass, and awesome that you got your FitBit back!


----------



## Dugette

StarWarsMomofGirls! said:


> I love this pic1 Too funny.


They had some really fun ones! Another coming in the next update, actually!



StarWarsMomofGirls! said:


> Her expression is priceless. A perfect Disney Face!


I know - it sums up the joy and wonder at that age. 



StarWarsMomofGirls! said:


> Beautiful Pic!


Thanks! Disney is always so beautiful lit up at night!



StarWarsMomofGirls! said:


> Glad they found your fit bit! Impressive. I feel like they never find anything in Disney World.


I know - I was really shocked that it was recovered later, since they searched right away and didn't find it - and it's tiny. So, moral of the story: lose your stuff at Disneyland, not WDW. 



mousehappync said:


> Great updates! We really liked the Nemo subs, too-- it's just really cute and such a different kind of ride. My kids FULLY believed we were in deeeep water. And you did Peter Pan! Jealous! We just couldn't make time for it, and it's one of my favorite rides in the world. AND a bonus FP-- how cool! I love those pictures of Izzy on the carousel-- pure joy. If we ever overlap at WDW my kids can join her in futile sword pulling-- they are almost obnoxiously into it.


Haha, that's awesome that your kids believed you were way underwater! Peter Pan was really hard and we likely would have skipped it (we always ride WDW w/FP only), but Izzy wanted to go on so badly that we made it work. The bonus fast pass was pretty sweet! I almost named this TR "Floor Full of Fast Passes." 



mousehappync said:


> Your solo evening looks great-- I don't really care about Space at WDW, but the DL version (and we got Hyperspace Mountain!!) is AMAZING. So great that you got to ride twice!! That's pretty much a perfect night-time lineup, too-- all the best rides, no toddler-wrangling, coming home to a sleeping child!!! Looking forward to your next update-- AND to the New Year. I hope 2018 brings you back to DL!!


Yes, we got Hyperspace Mountain too and really enjoyed it - very different from WDW. Though, I really love WDW's too. It really was a great night! And thank you - I think the odds are good we make this work - you are on the CC thread, so you know the strategies we'll need to work to do it! 



cindianne320 said:


> The Subs are one of my favorite memories from WDW when I was a kid, so I'd love to try the Disneyland version! What a fun, peaceful, solo night! Glad you found that paper fastpass, and awesome that you got your FitBit back!


Yes, I remember the WDW ones from childhood too, so this was really nice to experience again! And the solo night was great. Everything worked out quite well that evening!


----------



## Dugette

*Toy Story Stampede – Disneyland Version*
*
We were ready to go by about 8:30am this morning. Looks like Izzy was enjoying her little robot blocks we’d brought along from home:









They’re pretty fun – they can stack all sorts of ways and hang onto each other. 

I believe I ran over to Captain Kidd’s (the breakfast area) to fill up our drink containers:





My notes say that it was crazy crowded in there that morning, but several people were admiring my bottle-filling idea (I probably had like two thermoses for Izzy and a cup each for Dug and I?).

Dug stayed back to help Izzy with her shoes. She said one of her feet was hurting in her light-up shoes, but she liked the light-up shoes so much that she only was willing to wear one of her back-up (non-light-up) shoes on the hurting foot. So, she had mismatched shoes for the rest of the trip, but she was happy. 

Because we didn’t really love the food at Captain Kidd’s, I just got the drinks and we ate random leftovers for breakfast that morning. I don’t remember what, but I don’t doubt there were some beignets or something involved…whatever we had in the fridge, I guess.

Dug and Izzy met me out by the crosswalk so we could head over to California Adventure’s 9am opening (it was just after 8:30am):





Then we crossed the street for the short jaunt over to security. And we found this insanity instead  :





Well, there went all of our hopes and dreams of rope-dropping California Adventure.  What we failed to take into account in our planning was that Peyton Manning was in a parade at Disneyland that morning and, even though we were going to California Adventure and avoiding the park with the parade, security was shared and mobbed . A CM later told us that the park really emptied out after that Superbowl parade. So, we waited and waited and waited.  After what felt like forever, we finally made it to California Adventure around 9:30am:





But, hey, look at the gorgeous blue sky :





So, we just lost almost an hour, but at least it was nice out! 

We tried to make a stop at the Fast Pass machines for Radiator Springs Racers, but both the FP distribution and the ride were down  :





So, we proceeded to Paradise Pier instead. The plan had been to hit TSMM right away at park opening, but it was obviously later than planned now:





We stopped off quick at California Screamin’ and got a Fast Pass for 10:25am:









We made it over to Toy Story at 9:48am:













As you can see there, the wait was posted at 50 minutes. Ugh.  We decided to go ahead and wait, though, as this was Izzy’s other top request and she even was willing to wait. 

If you recall, Dug and I had eaten leftovers, but we must not have had anything Izzy approved of, because she hadn’t eaten yet. I had wanted to grab her a churro from the nearby cart, but could never find a good spot to jump out of and back into line for one, so we waited until after the ride. The queue was long and boring:





At least this guy was there:





It took around 40 minutes to get to the glasses (you can see her mismatched shoes here):









After another 5 minutes or so, we finally made it:





Izzy loved it, so I guess it was worth the wait. Our scores:









I had missed a good chunk of one round helping her get those glasses back on her face. And Dug was proud of his score:





I love the cute scenery on the way out:





Then we went to get Izzy some breakfast:





This line wasn’t too long, but it moved super slowly, so it felt like it took forever. But we finally got one:





She was a fan, but we managed to sweet talk our way into a few bites and it was tasty! 

I don’t know where Dug went at this point (maybe a restroom stop?), but Izzy and I were solo and walked over to the stroller to get her milk thermos. Unfortunately, I found milk leaking all over the ground from the bag hanging on the stroller. Turns out that the thermos leaked into the Ziploc bag (which we'd used to prevent leaking messes) and then the bag started leaking too! I ran over to the churro cart for a bunch of napkins and got things cleaned up and threw out the bag of milk. Annoying. Not sure why that happened. 

After snack time, Dug took Izzy over to ride the carousel while I used my Screamin’ Fast Pass (and got a Rider Swap for him). They only had a 5 minute wait for the carousel:









And it didn’t take me long to get through the Screamin’ FP line:





I didn’t really know what to expect from Screamin’, but I really enjoyed it – fun coaster! Ride photo:





Meanwhile, they were getting ready for their ride:





Because I got through Screamin’ so fast, I was able to make it back in time to watch them ride:





Izzy was pretty happy to see me! And she enjoyed the ride, of course.

At some point in here, we ran across another one of those fun Photopass shots:



*




*




Up next: A really sweet Toy Story meet!*


----------



## cindianne320

I had no idea that Toy Story was on Paradise Pier! Sorry you had such a long wait. Sounds like Izzy was a trooper, though. She totally rocked her mismatched shoes! Love those photo pass shots. I hope the crowds died down a bit.


----------



## mousehappync

I have a headache just looking at the security line--WHAT a nightmare!  We were also totally charmed by the exit of Toy Story-- would be nice if they gave you all that adorable stuff to look at while you waited, instead of when you are trying to leave!  I was such a chicken about Screamin'-- but since I was alone with the boys, I had no choice but to ride with them, and I was pleasantly surprised at how much fun it was.  We didn't do any of the other midway rides, though-- something to do next time!

Good luck with your cc strategy-- I have found that just setting the goal makes it SO much easier to figure out how to achieve it.  Where would we be without that hobby?!  (At home bored is the answer to that one!)


----------



## cindianne320

What is the CC strategy?


----------



## RedHotMama

Dugette said:


> So, she had mismatched shoes for the rest of the trip, but she was happy.


So cute and funny! I love kids.


----------



## Dugette

cindianne320 said:


> I had no idea that Toy Story was on Paradise Pier! Sorry you had such a long wait. Sounds like Izzy was a trooper, though. She totally rocked her mismatched shoes! Love those photo pass shots. I hope the crowds died down a bit.


Yes, no "Studios" to put TSMM into here! That wait was no fun, but you do what you gotta do for a happy toddler, I guess. Haha, it was funny to see her figure out how to stop her foot from hurting without totally giving up the light-up fun. Those Photopass shots were super cool - wish they always had stuff like that. Once we were in the parks, crowds weren't bad at all - just that security back-up, ugh.



mousehappync said:


> I have a headache just looking at the security line--WHAT a nightmare!  We were also totally charmed by the exit of Toy Story-- would be nice if they gave you all that adorable stuff to look at while you waited, instead of when you are trying to leave!  I was such a chicken about Screamin'-- but since I was alone with the boys, I had no choice but to ride with them, and I was pleasantly surprised at how much fun it was.  We didn't do any of the other midway rides, though-- something to do next time!
> 
> Good luck with your cc strategy-- I have found that just setting the goal makes it SO much easier to figure out how to achieve it.  Where would we be without that hobby?!  (At home bored is the answer to that one!)


So true about the Toy Story exit - would be much better while waiting! The queue is so boring compared to WDW's version. I was very skeptical of Screamin', as I don't like going upsidedown on coasters most of the time. But it was really fun, go figure! We missed a lot of the midway rides too. You are right - next time!

I know, I think you and I are different than some others on that board in that we are working very specifically towards a goal vs. just hoarding points without rhyme or reason. We targeted hotel chains that would get us through France, airfare, cash back for DLP, and Chase points for the miscellanous to make our France trip as low-budget as possible. And I think those Chase points will help make DLR happen too (and my giant pile of Delta points I just got). (And the giant pile of discounted Disney gift cards I have.) 



cindianne320 said:


> What is the CC strategy?


She and I are both on a DIS thread on the Budget Board ("I love credit cards so much!") that focuses on tips and strategies for making the most of rewards earned though CC's. I've strategically applied for cards that offer new-user bonuses that will fund good chunks of our trips and then we just direct all of our regular spending through whichever CC we're using at the time (and pay off monthly, no debt). We got 5 free nights at a Hyatt in Paris, 2 free nights at a Waldorf Astoria in Versailles, 2 free nights at a non-chain hotel in the Loire Valley, 2 of 3 airfares free, and more pending free stuff for France doing this (will soon be able to book our last two free hotel nights and maybe free rental car). And we're using travel cash-back bonuses to help with the Disneyland Paris cost (and also got in on a buy 2, get 2 nights/tickets deal at DLP). So, we're basically going to France for 2 weeks for the price of 1 airfare and meals/admission/misc. costs.  This is probably a much smarter "hobby" to spend my time on than the other one that you know about.  (though it does actually "help" this one along...)



RedHotMama said:


> So cute and funny! I love kids.


Thanks! They sure are full of surprises!


----------



## Dugette

*Woody and/or Jessie*
*
Next, it was Dug’s turn to use the Screamin’ Rider Swap I got him:





Looks like he got the first row:





While he was doing that, Izzy and I went over to the Radiator Springs Racers Fast Pass distribution area to try to grab one now that it was up and running. Sadly, they were already for 7:20pm and we’d have long since hopped over to Disneyland by then  (had Blue Bayou Paint the Night Package, so had to be over there in time). 

I tried to make up for that disappointment by running over for a quick spin on Mater’s ride with Izzy, but the line was too long for me at 25 minutes, so we struck out on that too. 

So, with those no-goes, I decided to toss Izzy in the stroller and zoom on back past TSMM to try to catch the end of Jessie’s M&G time. Izzy loved Jessie and we had never managed to meet her, so this was the best chance we’d get. There she is  :





We hopped in line:





And, shortly after, Jessie left her meet EARLY!  I think there was still like 15 minutes left until the scheduled end time. But she did walk down the line as she left and Izzy got a high-five:





Thankfully, between that and Woody still meeting, Izzy was reasonably happy with things. Whew – I was worried she’d flip out about Jessie leaving!

Meanwhile, Dug was screamin’:





We ended up having a super sweet meet with Woody.  Izzy was wearing her Toy Story shirt, so the CM made sure to point that out to Woody. And Photopass got this great shot of her running up to Woody:





And he admired her shirt:





She insisted that he wrap his arms around her when they were taking pictures. So sweet.

The video:
*




*
And a picture together:





So glad we did this meet! 

Since it took us a while in line, Dug went ahead and rode Screamin’ a second time, as there was almost no standby line:





After the meet, I contemplated the 20 minute wait for Fun Wheel, but I watched it and decided it was just too slow to load/unload and we skipped it. Glad we did – later in the trip, I heard someone saying they got stuck on there for a long time, as a girl passed out on the loading platform. Yikes!  In general, I don’t seem to have much patience for the slow loading/unloading of ferris wheels and that would have made me crazy to be stuck on one for an unexpectedly long time with a toddler!

Dug and I met back up and I was jealous he’d gotten a second ride on Screamin’. He had the idea that he would start heading over to Ariel’s ride with Izzy (at his slower pace) and I could run over to ride Screamin’ a second time and then catch up with them.  So, we gave it a shot. The line had gotten longer since he rode, so I asked a CM about Single Rider. Much like Indy, you walk up the exit and feel like you’re doing something terribly wrong :





But then you see this sign and feel a little better:





Also like with Indiana Jones, you have to go both up and down an elevator and then you are on the ride fairly quickly:





Dug and Izzy apparently made it here while I was riding:





I appear to have been in the last row this time:





After I got off the coaster, I booked it over to Ariel’s ride and showed up at the perfect time to jump into line where Dug and Izzy were and ride soon after. Unfortunately, this wasn’t a very good ride because it was problem-riddled and we had three separate stops during it.  The first one was just after we entered and seemed particularly long:









It was cute listening to this spiel the first few times, but after a while it makes you crazy  :
*




*
Now it was time for lunch! We had an early dinner planned at Blue Bayou, so we needed to eat ASAP to not spoil that. We had planned a park-hopping lunch of some stuff from Corn Dog Castle in CA, then more at Bengal BBQ in DL. However, it was a bit later than we’d hoped already AND the Corn Dog Castle line was super long and slow, so we just went with that and skipped Bengal BBQ – yet another reason to go back? 

While Izzy and I waited in line, Dug grabbed a FP for the nearby Goofy’s Sky School that would be valid after lunch. Then he found us a table. I ordered a bunch of stuff for us all to share: a couple corn dogs, a couple cheese sticks, and a large pop for Dug and I to split. Chips and apple slices came on the side. My hands were so full at pick-up that I took a giant leap of faith and let Izzy carry the drink over to the table. And, yay, she didn’t spill or drop it! Whew!  (though I'm pretty sure we got some looks from people wondering if my toddler was going to drink that  and, no, she had milk!)

A peek at our food:









The apple slices were especially refreshing on this hot afternoon, but all was good and more than enough food!

At some point, Izzy needed a restroom, so I walked her over and admired the scenery (never got to that ride back there, though):





They were celebrating the Lunar New Year and we passed by Mulan and Mushu:









A bit later, Mickey and Minnie made an appearance in that spot and had an extremely long line, so this was as close as we got:





After lunch, I headed over here for my ride:





Grabbed a Rider Swap and hopped on:





Honestly, I didn’t like this ride AT ALL. And I actually love wild mouse type roller coasters.  But this one just was uncomfortable and not very fun to me. Afterwards, I told Dug not to even bother (the small uncomfortable seats alone were enough for him to skip it). We gifted the Rider Swap to a family of three headed that way and moved on. Dug and Izzy made another restroom run and then it was back to Cars Land. 

Izzy found the “tractor petting zoo”:





It was close to 2pm now and Dug had the idea to get some popcorn from the Cozy Cone and go see the Zootopia preview movie (really dating my TR here!  ) So, I went off to obtain the popcorn at the Popcone, but got distracted by Cone #1:





There was no line at all and I remembered hearing that the “Pear of Dice” soda was pretty good. And it was hot out! I stopped and got one of them and it was indeed tasty and refreshing  :*




*
There was a giant line of people next door at Cone #2 waiting for ice cream and a bunch of them were admiring it and asking how it was. I’d have it again! I think it’s just Sprite with Prickly Pear flavoring, but it hit the spot.

Cone #5 had no line for popcorn, so I went and grabbed a butter popcone. They also had dill pickle flavored popcorn as the special, but I didn’t think Izzy would appreciate that surprise:





Looks like Mater was out and about:





I love that the cars drive to and from their meets here instead of remaining stationary!

Then we headed towards this:





Where we were quickly told no food or drink was allowed in the theater!  Oops.  Dug was pretty upset, since he’d been looking forward to a movie and popcorn break, but it was not to be. Instead, we ended up gulping the soda so that we could get into the theater in time. We wrapped the popcorn in Izzy’s bibs to keep the birds/squirrels out and left it in the stroller, hoping for the best (it survived just fine ). The movie preview was fun and surprised us by using the special effects from It’s Tough to Be a Bug (it was in that theater).

After that, we headed across the esplanade and entered Disneyland about 3pm. Park-hopping is so easy at Disneyland! 

Up next: Blue Bayou dinner!*


----------



## StarWarsMomofGirls!

Dugette said:


> (really dating my TR here!  )


Ha! Just a little



Dugette said:


> The movie preview was fun and surprised us by using the special effects from It’s Tough to Be a Bug (it was in that theater).


Actually, I remember we got to see the preview in One Man's Dream at the time, and thinking it was really good. But the preview was so long, I feel like we practically watched the movie!


----------



## mousehappync

I keep thinking "I wish we'd done that!" When I'm reading your report-- even stuff like Little Mermaid (minus the breakdowns!) The Jellyfish look like fun-- guess I will have to wait for you to go back to tell me if they really are fun. That meet with Woody is adorable-- she looks so thrilled.  And yay for multiple rides on Screamin!  I am SO with you on Sky School-- I HATED it.  I don't have any back problems at all, and my back and neck were aching afterwards.  Plus I don't like the feeling of being near the edge of a "cliff"-- my kids thought it was fun, though.  This looks like a nice, pretty relaxed but fun-filled day, plus the snacks look good.  Looking forward to the next chapter!

Going to message you about Delta points-- I'm just working on business cards at the moment to try and stay off the 5/25 radar, but I'm working on Delta points for our trip to Moab/Bryce/Zion this summer, and I'm want to make sure I'm not missing anything.  We leave in 16 days for our WDW trip-- tickets and airfare were "free" and the rooms at Pop we cover ourselves (my husband is at a conference, so, hello, six free nights at Beach Club!) were scrubbed by points, too.  Thanks to an insane deal on flights (Southwest Ft Lauderdale to Turks and Caicos) while we were already planning to be in Florida visiting family over spring break, we are using out UR for a week on South Caicos, with two "free" days at Disney afterwards on our new AP's.  None of that would be possible without this hobby!


----------



## amazingact21

Beautiful picture of the carousel! I didn't know there was a Mary Poppins horse. I'll have to keep that in mind for whenever I make it out to DL.

Oh wow, I'm glad to hear your fitbit was found and returned to you via mail! 



Dugette said:


> They’re pretty fun – they can stack all sorts of ways and hang onto each other



Landon has the monkey version and loves them!


I'm relieved to hear Izzy wasn't upset over Jessie's early departure. 

I pictured Izzy carrying a gigantic drink container to a table, and it made me laugh. Hooray for her not spilling your refreshment. (After the leaking milk incident you had filled your quota of liquid messes that morning!)


----------



## cindianne320

Bummer that Jessie left so quickly! I know A would have been bummed by that, but at least it was a good meet with Woody! 

Your quick lunch looked delicious! I love how you share everything- a great way to sample lots of different things.

That's amazing the deals you are getting for France! We also pay off our Credit cards monthly, but we each only have 2 main ones, and not very great rewards...


----------



## TheMaxRebo

covering a few updates here ....

seems like you got quite a bit done in Fantasyland that evening and 30 mins for Peter Pan is pretty good - we never saw it under an hour

Very cool that they found your fitbit and mailed it to you 

I loved those 60th anniversary photo spots - fairly simple concept but something unique and different!

ugh, that security line that morning!  Definitely pros and cons to having the security centralized like that (makes it easier to park hop but was also annoying to have to go through security each way when you just wanted to go to Downtown Disney ... and then obviously situations like this where the crowds are really for one park and you want to go to the other)

and then double bummer about the FP machines for Radiator Springs being down and then for too late once you could finally get them.

Glad you enjoyed California Screamin' - it was one of our favorites and one of my favorite Disney coasters

Too bad you didn't get to Bengal Tiger - we really liked it, but, like you said, a reason to go back!


----------



## schmass

Great updates!  How lucky finding the Space Mtn FP and having another solo night to use it!

I'm glad that they found your Fitbit.  I lost mine on TSMM in October - fortunately they let me walk through the queue again and found it!

Too funny about Izzy and her mismatched shoes!

California Screamin is such a fun roller coaster!  I'm glad you made it on a few times!

What a great photo of Izzy running towards Woody!


----------



## Tracy161

Dugette said:


>


This is SO cute!!!



Dugette said:


> She insisted that he wrap his arms around her when they were taking pictures. So sweet.


Awww 



Dugette said:


> And, yay, she didn’t spill or drop it! Whew!  (though I'm pretty sure we got some looks from people wondering if my toddler was going to drink that  and, no, she had milk!)


----------



## Leshaface

This is your current TR right?  Subbed now but I thought I was already Ugh, DIS problems.

I won't comment too much, but I read all your updates on this last page.

That is one thing I love about the paper FP's is finding some on the ground!  Sucks for the person that lost it, but yay for me 

Aren't those Tigger Tails so so good? I actually made some for DS's 2nd (maybe 3rd?  How old is he?? ) and they were equally as delicious!

Uh, the line at the crosswalk the next morning?!   I've never, ever, ever, in all my years of staying at Harbor hotels seen this type of craziness before! I would honestly feel so defeated, but glad you persevered! 

Oooh that "pair of dice' drink looks really refreshing.

It's been entirely too long since i've visited DLR.  Okay just kidding.  Went to check and it was May of last year  Not even a year but it feels like FOREVERRRRR!


----------



## BWCSH

Those are amazing pictures!  Don't wish this age away too quickly...by the next trip here, she probably won't fully buy into the magic of characters.  Those other options will surely still be around in a year...or two...or three.  How amazing that she got to experience the Disney magic at this age...when the characters are very obviously real to her!  Thank you for sharing!


----------



## Dugette

Leshaface said:


> This is your current TR right?


It is! I know, I know, 2 years old and a few more trips to cover since, but I'll finish it! I'm gearing up to hopefully get going again soon. Catching up on the TRs I'm reading first. 2017 was a tough, tough year for me and I feel like we might be past the worst now and I'll have time and energy to get going again on here...I miss it so much!


----------



## Leshaface

Oh no, I hope all is okay?  And I totally feel you.  The last half of 2017 was just not good for me/us either and all my favorite hobbies took a back seat.  But this year i'm really trying to focus on myself and get back to doing the things I enjoy the most like reading, gardening, and of course, DIS'ing.  Hope you can find your groove again too


----------



## FantasiaMagic

I Dugette! It's been a while since I've been on the DIS, but I'm slowly coming back and catching up on my TR reading. I'm loving hearing about your trip to DL. I hope to get there one day...


----------



## LifeIsTinkIsLife

I haven't got caught up with all the updates but I just wanted to say I'm joining in! My DH and I are taking our daughter for her first visit for her second birthday so it's fun to read your report with your toddler. She is too cute!! I am definitely going to be checking out your Aulani report as well, I'm a huge Hawaii fan.


----------



## Dugette

*Hey, good news, I'm still here! 

Life has been all out of whack for a while, but I'm really, really, really trying to get a groove going where I have the time/energy/focus to get back on here and finish these TRs that are piling up. I've only caught up on reading a few TRs and I want to get to more, but I think this is a "put on your own oxygen mask first" kind-of thing and I'm going to try to get this puppy updated. 

In travel updates, we went to France last month and it was amazing. We were lucky enough to meet up with DIS-friends Alicia (@amazingact21 ) and family at Disneyland Paris and had a fantastic time! And someday, probably in the distant future, I'll get to doing a TR about it  (she probably will much sooner!) 

Also, do you remember like waaaaaay back when, in the intro to this TR, I was talking about how much I longed to go back to Disneyland? Well, because I've taken just shy of forever to write this, we ARE going back to Disneyland...in a month!!!  So super excited to take Izzy back now that she is crazy tall and can ride nearly everything. Last fall, when I took her to our local amusement park, she just barely made the 44" requirement and when I took her recently, she breezed by 46" requirements without a second glance - I didn't realize she'd grown THAT much! So, even Indiana Jones is a family ride for us this time around - no single rider wackiness needed! And she finally will get to ride Radiator Springs Racers! She is still a thrill ride junkie, so I think she will LOVE it! 

Hope you all are doing well!

And enjoy a few photos from France for bearing with me. *


----------



## Dugette

*Dining at the Blue Bayou*
*
Once we hopped back into Disneyland, our first stop was Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln. Izzy was pretty well-behaved (for a toddler), which was a relief.  She was a little noisy during the video in the waiting area, but calmed down quickly after that when we went inside the theater. A few pics from the waiting area:













We probably enjoyed it, though neither of us can remember anything about it 2+ years later.  Perhaps it will need a revisit next month? 

After the show, it was imperative that we grant Izzy’s never-ending requests for the Mad Tea Party  :









We had a fun time and Izzy was happy to have her spinning wish fulfilled.  Then we had to book it over to Blue Bayou to check in right on time for our 4:10pm ADR. We asked for a waterside table and told them we’d be fine with an extra long wait to accommodate that. They quoted us about 45 minutes and sent us away with a buzzer. Dug ran to the restroom while Izzy slurped up whatever was left in the Pear of Dice cup:





We hung out across from the restaurant to wait:





Dug explored a bit and found Club 33:





And he returned just in time to go inside, as the buzzer went off quickly and we barely had a wait at all:





We were seated at 4:25pm, only 15 minutes after check-in and asking for waterside, which we did get:





View looking back to non-waterside part of restaurant:





Looking out at the waterway:





We were right at the edge of the waterside seating, next to the kitchen entrance, so there was a lot of walk-by traffic behind us:





We moved our chairs around to get out of the pathway more and it was okay. I’m sure there are better waterside views, but ours was decent and the ambiance was pleasant. We’re planning on going back again next month! 

Dug and Izzy, ready to dine:





Cool lighting:





I guess Izzy brought in the popcorn bucket as an appetizer? 





There were a couple of drinks we’d heard were good and had free refills, but our waitress said that the Louisiana Lemonade was not included with the Paint the Night package we had because it had a “mandatory glow cube.” So, instead of getting one of each to share, we both got the Mint Juleps and enjoyed them and the free refills:





More ambiance:





Izzy had some milk to drink and then we all enjoyed some bread and butter (Izzy still lists butter as her second favorite food to this day  – first is quesadillas):









The kids appetizer for Izzy was veggies and dip:





I had the gumbo, which was good:





And Dug enjoyed the shrimp cocktail:





For my main, I got the filet:





Dug got the Surf and Turf:





Pretty sure we both enjoyed our food.

Izzy had the kids mac and cheese, but really didn’t eat much – must have filled up on popcorn:





Oh, my notes say that she liked her grapes. And that I tried her mac and cheese and it was just so-so. 

We decided to try different desserts and sample each-other's choices (all meals came with them because we had the package). I had the chocolate hazelnut cake and they put a birthday candle in it:





Dug had the fruit tart and they gave him a candle too (it was relatively close to both of our birthdays):





And Izzy had the tastiest one (in my opinion, but all were good) – a chocolate ganache Mickey head:





She made a giant mess doing “art”  and “painting”, but she had a good time:





We left dinner around 5:40pm and headed for Winnie the Pooh:





After the ride, it was starting to get chilly, so I went to grab my fleece jacket from under the stroller and it was missing. I borrowed Dug’s jacket instead and we later found mine in the room and think he’d accidentally knocked it out of the stroller basket earlier when looking for shoes. I think I had to run Izzy to the restroom around this time and then we did some trade-offs on Big Thunder, since Izzy was too small (not anymore – and she loves both WDW and DLP BTMRR!):





While Dug did BTMRR, I took Izzy on the Haunted Mansion and she enjoyed it and wasn’t scared. The ride stopped briefly here, but I always enjoy the singing heads, so that was cool:





At the end, Izzy cracked up because I had a hitchhiking ghost on my head. 

Dug had a back-cracking good time on BTMRR and then we traded off and it was my turn:





I was glad I went again this night because there were some effects going that I didn’t remember seeing on my previous ride. I loved it! 

Meanwhile, Dug and Izzy went off to find Figaro and they did:





Awww, cute!

I exited the ride about 7:10pm and we had wanted to check in to our Paint the Night viewing area by 7:30pm to make sure we got a spot on the curb, as we heard it fills up fast. Luckily, Dug and Izzy (and the stroller) managed to snag the last spot a few minutes before 7:30pm and I met them there.

Up Next: Paint the Night Parade!*

*
*


----------



## schmass

I'm so happy to see an update from you!  I hope all is going well at home and I hope your France trip was amazing!  Wow, Izzy is growing up!  She looks beautiful in the France pictures.  How exciting that you are going back to DL so soon and that Izzy will be able to ride everything!

Your table at Blue Bayou looks so cool (even with the kitchen door so close).  That's great that you didn't even have to wait long for it!  I'm looking forward to your Paint the Night Parade pictures!


----------



## Woth2982

Welcome back! I cannot believe how big Izzy got! I totally understand about life happening! I have photos from May still on my camera so my TR has took a brief hiatus! I am hoping to have some down time this weekend as DF is working all weekend! Your Blue Bayou meals look so yummy. We may have to go there in January when we are on our Honeymoon. It is our first stop on our way to Hawaii!


----------



## Lesley Wake

Dugette said:


> Also, do you remember like waaaaaay back when, in the intro to this TR, I was talking about how much I longed to go back to Disneyland? Well, because I've taken just shy of forever to write this, we ARE going back to Disneyland...in a month!!!  So super excited to take Izzy back now that she is crazy tall and can ride nearly everything. Last fall, when I took her to our local amusement park, she just barely made the 44" requirement and when I took her recently, she breezed by 46" requirements without a second glance - I didn't realize she'd grown THAT much! So, even Indiana Jones is a family ride for us this time around - no single rider wackiness needed! And she finally will get to ride Radiator Springs Racers! She is still a thrill ride junkie, so I think she will LOVE it!


Welcome back to the Dis! I hope we're able to meet up again, maybe for longer than 10 minutes in a hotel lobby!


----------



## cindianne320

Hello, Friend! Izzy looks so little in these pictures! <3
I can't wait to visit DLR someday- and definitely want to check out Blue Bayou! Can't wait to hear about Paint the Night!


----------



## Dugette

schmass said:


> I'm so happy to see an update from you!  I hope all is going well at home and I hope your France trip was amazing!  Wow, Izzy is growing up!  She looks beautiful in the France pictures.  How exciting that you are going back to DL so soon and that Izzy will be able to ride everything!
> 
> Your table at Blue Bayou looks so cool (even with the kitchen door so close).  That's great that you didn't even have to wait long for it!  I'm looking forward to your Paint the Night Parade pictures!


Thank you, I'm happy to be updating and just hoping I can keep it up! Things are going pretty well - better than last year at least.  And France was fantastic - we had a really great time and made so many memories. I can't believe how little Izzy is in this TR - it doesn't seem THAT long ago, but she's definitely grown up a lot since this. Can't wait to take her back to Disneyland!

We loved both Blue Bayou and Paint the Night!



Woth2982 said:


> Welcome back! I cannot believe how big Izzy got! I totally understand about life happening! I have photos from May still on my camera so my TR has took a brief hiatus! I am hoping to have some down time this weekend as DF is working all weekend! Your Blue Bayou meals look so yummy. We may have to go there in January when we are on our Honeymoon. It is our first stop on our way to Hawaii!


Thank you! I know, she has grown so much since this TR. And, yes, life sure gets in the way of doing these TR sometimes. Really trying to get past the obstacles and work on this more. I love writing these. I'd recommend Blue Bayou for something a little different - the ambiance in Pirates is cool! And that sounds amazing to stop and Disneyland and then go on to Hawaii! Hope you have an amazing honeymoon!



Lesley Wake said:


> Welcome back to the Dis! I hope we're able to meet up again, maybe for longer than 10 minutes in a hotel lobby!


Thank you, Lesley! I definitely hope to meet up again - I felt so bad at how rushed things had to be the way the timing worked out at DLP (stinkin' Europcar!!! grrr) We plan to be at Disneyland 8/20-8/22, if anytime in there works for you. 



cindianne320 said:


> Hello, Friend! Izzy looks so little in these pictures! <3
> I can't wait to visit DLR someday- and definitely want to check out Blue Bayou! Can't wait to hear about Paint the Night!


Hi, Cindi!  Isn't it funny to look back at pics that don't seem all that long ago - and the kids are so small?! You should definitely get to Disneyland someday - I love that whole familiar-yet-different feeling as a WDW vet going to DLR.


----------



## Dugette

*Paint the Night*
*
We had quite a while to sit on the curb and wait in our reserved area for the Paint the Night parade, but it was worthwhile – we loved the parade!  I had brought along a cheap light-up Minnie headband for Izzy to wear, so Dug wrestled with getting it assembled:





I watched the scenery:





I was fascinated by how precise Disney’s crowd control management was on Main Street. They had parade prep down to a science. Very detailed, listening to the CMs talk to each other and coordinate all the steps needed to get everyone where they needed to be at the right times.

A Photopass photographer came by and got this shot of us:





Wondering why Dug looks a tad irritated? It’s because those ridiculous cheap ears kept causing us problems:





They didn’t stay on, didn’t light up very well, etc. Oh, well, at least our light-up Minnie spinner worked and kept Izzy amused:





Looks like we took a family selfie at some point:





The family behind us offered some of their candy to Izzy, so that was nice. There was also a lady in the back of the section that was endlessly (and loudly) complaining throughout the wait. Ugh.

The parade made it to us around 8:15pm. I loved the music and the energy and the lights and everything – it was really magical.  Even grumpy lady is beaming in the background of our attempted selfies during the parade, haha. 

I also learned that Izzy apparently has amazing vision and was able to tell me which princesses were coming next even when they were waaaay down the street towards the castle. Impressive, kid! 

We did not take great pictures and they certainly don’t do the parade justice, but we were just living in the moment and enjoying it. Here’s a sampling, anyway:





Izzy was astounded, I guess:













Dug looks pretty happy as Sully goes by:

















Childhood joy:

















We were loving it:









Minnie always makes her smile:





We absolutely loved Paint the Night and we’re not really big parade people. It just had a great energy and lots of fun eye candy.

When they allowed us to, we moved out into the street so we could hopefully see the projections/fireworks. I say hopefully because they had been cancelling the fireworks for wind nightly (a CM later told us for the last 9 nights). We were hopeful, as the call hadn’t been made yet, just a warning. 

Selfie while waiting:





And then they announced, despite the lack of wind on the ground (vs. the previous night), there was too much wind up high and they’d be cancelling the fireworks and only doing the projections and such. We still enjoyed that a lot, but kind of a bummer. One pic of the projections:





I think it "snowed" on Main Street too.

That finished about 10 minutes before park close and I had one more BTMRR Rider Swap pass burning a hole in my pocket. I felt confident I could zip back there and make it, so I swam against the current of the exiting crowd for my one last ride. Dug and Izzy went to the bakery to obtain items for breakfast so we didn’t have to choke down the free hotel offerings again. 

I made it:





However, they had already closed the FP lane and told me just to keep the RS as a souvenir. The standby line wasn’t long, though, so I just jumped into that instead. I had another great ride. Love it so much and can’t wait to ride it with Izzy next month! 

Meanwhile, Dug and Izzy obtained some breakfast items for the next day as well as a Mickey cookie bedtime snack:





Izzy proceeded to destroy her cookie and sugar herself up:





If you’re wondering what happens when you cover your 3-year-old in chocolate and fill her with sugar late at night at Disneyland, here’s your answer:
*




*
We packed up the rest of the cookie mess for later and headed out. Goodbye for tonight, beautiful Disneyland:





I guess Izzy liked the horsie:





Dug made a restroom pit stop and Izzy treated me to a dance show while we waited, complete with one light-up shoe and a big finish of trying to use the ATM  :
*




*
Silly girl. 

Dug rejoined us and we all had to stop and admire the windows with moving scenes in them:













Really cool!

We also took a moment to look up at Walt’s light in the firehouse:





And, with the train being refurbished during our visit, they had it parked just to look at, I think, so we did that quick too:





We were making the short walk back to the hotel around 10pm and went right to sleep.

Up next: Morning Magic at Disneyland*

*
*


----------



## Amw1064

Wow, I can't believe how old Izzy is. I was reading your Aulani trip report last year.   We live in Florida and have been to WDW hundreds of times over the years and did our first trip to Disneyland back in June. We LOVED it.


----------



## andera42

Good to see you back on the TR .  Omgoodness life can take some big turns and derail you for awhile .Love seeing Izzy's reaction to her late night cookie sugar rush.


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## purplelover88

So glad you are back and happy to see you enjoyed your time in France! We are planning a similar trip next summer with time in Paris and Disneyland Paris of course! If I recall correctly, I believe you said you were staying at the Hyatt Regency Paris Etoile? That’s where we are staying using free Hyatt points, so if that was correct would you mind sharing your experience there? We are also saying at the Disneyland hotel so excited to see that was great too.


----------



## amazingact21

Dugette said:


> In travel updates, we went to France last month and it was amazing. We were lucky enough to meet up with DIS-friends Alicia (@amazingact21 ) and family at Disneyland Paris and had a fantastic time! And someday, probably in the distant future, I'll get to doing a TR about it  (she probably will much sooner!)



We had so much fun, and I was really happy to get to spend some time in a Disney park with you and your family! I loved how well Izzy and Landon got along.




Dugette said:


> After the show, it was imperative that we grant Izzy’s never-ending requests for the Mad Tea Party



Izzy looks so young in these photos! My goodness, it's hard to believe your DL wasn't that long ago. 

Happy you guys got a waterfront table, even if it was next to the kitchen.





Dugette said:


> I was glad I went again this night because there were some effects going that I didn’t remember seeing on my previous ride. I loved it!



Now that you have been on three versions of Big Thunder, which one is your favorite? The fan in me is curious!




Dugette said:


> A Photopass photographer came by and got this shot of us:



Great family photo.


The photos from Paint the Night looked awesome. Looks like a more modern, fun version of MSEP. 
But what a bummer that the fireworks didn't run that night.


----------



## schmass

Paint the Night looks like so much fun!  So does Izzy's cookie - haha.  Can you remind me of what time of year you were there?


----------



## Jaina

Fun to hear more about your trip! I am still kind of sad that I didn't get to see Paint the Night on Main Street. I still hope I get to see it while it's at California Adventure! I'm sure it is that much more fun to Disney with her now that she's tall enough to ride pretty much everything!


----------



## Dugette

Amw1064 said:


> Wow, I can't believe how old Izzy is. I was reading your Aulani trip report last year.   We live in Florida and have been to WDW hundreds of times over the years and did our first trip to Disneyland back in June. We LOVED it.


Oh, yay, I'm glad you loved Disneyland after visiting WDW so often! I loved that whole familiar-yet-different aspect. All the novelty, but still feeling like your happy place. Can't wait to go back! 



andera42 said:


> Good to see you back on the TR .  Omgoodness life can take some big turns and derail you for awhile .Love seeing Izzy's reaction to her late night cookie sugar rush.


Thanks and it sure can!  So good to see you again the other day.  And, yeah, that was a little bigger bedtime snack than normal for her... 



purplelover88 said:


> So glad you are back and happy to see you enjoyed your time in France! We are planning a similar trip next summer with time in Paris and Disneyland Paris of course! If I recall correctly, I believe you said you were staying at the Hyatt Regency Paris Etoile? That’s where we are staying using free Hyatt points, so if that was correct would you mind sharing your experience there? We are also saying at the Disneyland hotel so excited to see that was great too.


Hi! Yes, that's just what we did! Between both of us getting the Hyatt cards and bonuses, we had enough to stay 5 nights free at the Hyatt Regency Etoile! We were on the 31st floor and did NOT have an Eiffel Tower view, but it was still a great view. They actually offered to try to switch us after our first night (it was full that night), but we never had time to pack up and move rooms, so we let it be (free rooms don't include the view rooms, but they seemed willing to accommodate anyway). Room was nice and updated since they remodeled recently. Small, but that's normal in Paris. We had a nice pull-out couch they made up for Izzy. There's a Starbucks in the lobby if you need a snack/drink. We did room service once and it was fine, nothing special. Fridge in the room, but no microwave. The hotel is attached to a mall and that mall has a grocery store and other places to find food, so that worked for breakfasts. The mall has a metro stop in it as well, which was really convenient. The location of the hotel isn't necessarily in the center of the action, but I liked that it was well connected and felt safe and easy to get to and from wherever we wanted to go. Let me know if you have more specific questions, though, I'm just spewing out random thoughts.  The Disneyland Hotel will spoil you for life! I still can't get over it. The hotel itself is fine, but nothing I'd get overly excited about. But the location is amazing. We went through security when we arrived...and that's IT. Free valet parking (we had a rental car) and we basically just lived at Disneyland for a few days. Our room was on the first floor and we just walked down the hall, out a door, over to the gates, then into the park. I ran back to the room once to drop off our jackets and use the restroom and I was back in the park in 5 minutes. Can't do that at WDW or DLR! Be sure to bring breakfast, though - it is hard to find anything to eat in the mornings there!



amazingact21 said:


> We had so much fun, and I was really happy to get to spend some time in a Disney park with you and your family! I loved how well Izzy and Landon got along.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Izzy looks so young in these photos! My goodness, it's hard to believe your DL wasn't that long ago.
> 
> Happy you guys got a waterfront table, even if it was next to the kitchen.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Now that you have been on three versions of Big Thunder, which one is your favorite? The fan in me is curious!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Great family photo.
> 
> 
> The photos from Paint the Night looked awesome. Looks like a more modern, fun version of MSEP.
> But what a bummer that the fireworks didn't run that night.


Izzy and Landon were so cute together. True DIS-kids - feeling like they've known each other forever, just like DIS-adults often do. It was so great meeting you guys and hanging out and letting the kids play!  I know, Izzy looks so tiny in this DLR TR - time goes so fast and they grow so much! Ugh, Big Thunder - that's hard! I think I said something to you about loving the Paris version and I really, really did - it felt different and faster and wilder to me. But I can't wait to visit DLR's again because I remember being blown away by the special effects in it and need to see it again. And of course WDW is the classic that made me fall in love with BTMRR as a kid. I'm leaning towards DLP as favorite, though.



schmass said:


> Paint the Night looks like so much fun!  So does Izzy's cookie - haha.  Can you remind me of what time of year you were there?


Haha, both were really fun! Yes, we were there in February. This next trip is in August. I'd say much hotter, but it was an unusually warm streak when we were there in Feb, so we'll see. We liked going that time of year, but this August trip is spurred by a wedding, so we couldn't choose the dates this time. I'd go back in Feb in the future, though.



Jaina said:


> Fun to hear more about your trip! I am still kind of sad that I didn't get to see Paint the Night on Main Street. I still hope I get to see it while it's at California Adventure! I'm sure it is that much more fun to Disney with her now that she's tall enough to ride pretty much everything!


I'm so out of the Disney loop lately that this actually was helpful to me because I was confused about the PtN dining package being in California Adventure when I remembered seeing PtN in Disneyland - now I understand!  I hope you get to see it! And, yes, I love that she's tall enough to ride most things and that she LOVES the thrill rides. After baby swapping for a few years, it's so nice to be able to ride as a family!


----------



## purplelover88

Dugette said:


> about


Thank you so much. I was mostly wondering about how safe you felt and if it was too far away, glad to know both of those were alright. Thanks for the information about the metro stop too, that will come in handy I’m sure. I am worried about being spoiled by the Disneyland hotel being so close, we went to Disneyland for the first time this year and we already loved not taking buses so staying right at park entrance will be amazing!


----------



## Dugette

purplelover88 said:


> Thank you so much. I was mostly wondering about how safe you felt and if it was too far away, glad to know both of those were alright. Thanks for the information about the metro stop too, that will come in handy I’m sure. I am worried about being spoiled by the Disneyland hotel being so close, we went to Disneyland for the first time this year and we already loved not taking buses so staying right at park entrance will be amazing!


Forgot I was going to mention - we used Le Bus Direct to get from the airport to and from the hotel - there is a stop just to the side of the hotel. Great service, no complaints. (When we went back to the airport after 5 nights in Paris, that's when we rented the car to drive for the remainder of the trip.)


----------



## khertz

Welcome back! 

Paint the Night looks absolutely amazing. I so wish we had been able to see it on our trips but we always seemed to just miss seeing it! We had really crummy timing planning our DL trips apparently. 

It's amazing to see the difference in Izzy from your TR photos to your Paris photos! She has grown so much!


----------



## Dugette

khertz said:


> Welcome back!
> 
> Paint the Night looks absolutely amazing. I so wish we had been able to see it on our trips but we always seemed to just miss seeing it! We had really crummy timing planning our DL trips apparently.
> 
> It's amazing to see the difference in Izzy from your TR photos to your Paris photos! She has grown so much!


Thank you!

Aw, I'm sorry you missed Paint the Night. We were really surprised at how much we liked it and look forward to seeing it again! We did miss the fireworks on this trip, though, as they kept cancelling them - hoping maybe we can see them when we return later this month. No fun to miss out on the big nighttime things!

I know, these darn kids just keep growing so fast! Same with your kids - can't believe how big they are both getting!


----------



## StarWarsMomofGirls!

Welcome Back! I started reading your trip report before I knew we would actually be heading to Disneyland. And we finally got to go! So, it will be fun to read the rest now knowing where everything is! We missed the Paint the Night Parade, it was down when we were there. It is one of the few things I was sad that we missed. 

I can't believe now big Izzy is! I have her still this age. Ha.


----------



## Dugette

StarWarsMomofGirls! said:


> Welcome Back! I started reading your trip report before I knew we would actually be heading to Disneyland. And we finally got to go! So, it will be fun to read the rest now knowing where everything is! We missed the Paint the Night Parade, it was down when we were there. It is one of the few things I was sad that we missed.
> 
> I can't believe now big Izzy is! I have her still this age. Ha.


Oh, I'm so glad you made it to Disneyland!! Sorry Paint the Night was down, though. And, yes, I can't believe how tiny Izzy is in this report now - it doesn't seem THAT long ago. BUT, she was under 40" on this trip and I just measured her at 47" (with shoes) the other day!


----------



## Dugette

*Morning Magic*
*
Looks like we got up around 7am and Izzy was still passed out :





She woke up soon, though, and apparently wanted all of her bows to match her “Minnie in Hawaii” outfit:





Looks like she also got in some quick building with her robot blocks:





Our plan was to eat our bakery items that we’d obtained the prior night for breakfast this morning. But Izzy insisted on a hotel-provided bagel instead of her chocolate muffin  , so I went and grabbed that for her and probably filled up our cups/thermoses and we were off, eating along the way:









Dug had a blueberry muffin and I had a chocolate croissant. I think we eventually threw out Izzy’s uneaten muffin – maybe it got destroyed in our bag?  Probably.

Just had to cross the street! Love this:





Enjoying that free hotel bagel instead of her pricey Disney muffin  :





Complete with her mismatched shoes. Nice calm walkway to security, no crazy long lines there today:





Once we did get up to the not-yet-moving security line, Dug realized that he’d forgotten the Photopass card in the hotel room!  So, I cruised right on back to the hotel and grabbed it:





Crossing that street yet again:





And I rejoined them in the now-moving line shortly before bag check at 8:17am – not bad. Love that easy walking distance!  Just a little line left where I joined them:





As we made it to security, we heard a man and a woman in a wheelchair being turned away from security and told to go to the back of the line, but they were in a panic because their kids had gone through (with friends) without them, as they had gone to grab coffee before the line started moving. They were really distraught at not being able to be with their kids, so Dug told them to jump in line ahead of him:





Meanwhile, I had just gone through because I had no bags. Which, of course, meant that I was "specially selected" for extra security so they could search the absolute nothingness that I was carrying on me  – I literally had my phone and that’s it (Dug had the other stuff in the stroller bag). I made it though the inspection. 

Happy to see the family reunited:





It was about 8:30am and the early entry was to start at 9am in Disneyland that day. We were planning to line up at one of the recommended (behind tree) gates, but then I noticed that entrance #17 only had one family (that ended up expanding a bit into a larger family/group, but still not bad). Odd that nobody else was lined up there.  I joined in and a lady got behind us, asking if it was a line. Told her I thought so, but weird that nobody was in it:





View from our waiting spot: 





Izzy had some milk while we waited. A CM started working and pre-scanned our tickets so that we’d be able to go right in.  A family of the day was presented:





Video of the opening:
*




*
They let us in about quarter to 9 and we headed up towards the rope:





My creative photography:





Walking right down the middle (okay the side) of Main Street USA… :





Waiting at the rope:

















And they let us go! Off to the castle:









Since Peter Pan already had a long line, as expected, we hit Dumbo first  :





I love this lady, haha:













We were on by 9:10am and Izzy and I got the purple Dumbo she wanted:









5 minutes later, we got in line for Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, since it was right there:









It seemed weirdly slow, so I checked the app and confirmed it had closed down, so we jumped out of line about 5 minutes later.

Izzy had to sit in a pretend teacup on our way to Alice in Wonderland:





Up next: More fun in Fantasyland!
*


----------



## cindianne320

I love all of Izzy's bows- so cute! Weird that security turned away the couple in the wheelchair- glad Dug could help! <3

I just love the quaintness of Disneyland! I wish I could find a way to go!!! (My cousin lives in LA, but has never invited us to a big event as an excuse! LOL)


----------



## Dugette

cindianne320 said:


> I love all of Izzy's bows- so cute! Weird that security turned away the couple in the wheelchair- glad Dug could help! <3
> 
> I just love the quaintness of Disneyland! I wish I could find a way to go!!! (My cousin lives in LA, but has never invited us to a big event as an excuse! LOL)


You need to find a way! We've been waiting for this cousin of Dug's to get married for quite a while because we wanted to make a Disneyland trip of it!


----------



## Dugette

*Breakfast at Minnie’s*

*The wait for Alice in Wonderland’s ride wasn’t bad:





We were on at 9:37am and loved it:









We checked out the White Rabbit’s door afterwards:





At 9:50am, we headed back into Mr. Toad’s queue, as it was up and running again:









There’s a Hidden Mickey on his eyeball  :





We were on in about 5 minutes and Izzy enjoyed “driving”  :





And she was hiding in that teacup again by 10am  :





It’s a Small World only had a 10 minute wait posted, so that was next:




*



*
It felt long and hot, but it really was only 10 minutes. Waiting and watching the boats go by:





And then we boarded our cruise:








*



*
Love how all the characters are interwoven into this version of IaSW!

Fun shirt in the gift shop:





We had planned that I would run over to DCA now to grab us World of Color Fast Passes, but we only had 5 minutes until our brunch ADR for Minnie’s breakfast at the Plaza Inn, so we decided there wasn’t enough time. Instead, we made a quick restroom stop, spotted Mary Poppins and Bert, and went to brunch:





We really were happy with the morning, as it felt like what we were used to – just getting a bunch of stuff in without oppressive crowds. Fun! 

Then we checked in at the Plaza Inn for our character meal:





We got an outdoor table, which was fine, as it was pretty nice out. There was a table next to us that was pretty fun – all adults, but they were really into everything and one was a former cast member. 

The meal was a buffet, so I went in first to get food for myself and Izzy. I randomly got her a chocolate milk because the it came in a cute bottle and it was free. Figured it would be a special treat. I think she liked it, but definitely still much prefers white milk. Anyway, here’s her plate:





And mine (including her cute milk bottle):





While Dug was inside getting his food, Captain Hook came to see us and Izzy was delighted:









A quick video:
*




*
Dug was bummed he missed Hook, but he did get a nice array of food:













I also noted that I was happy free pop was included to drink. 

Our next visitor was Izzy’s favorite: Minnie!













Up next: Many more visitors!


*


----------



## StarWarsMomofGirls!

Izzy looks so happy to see Hook! Love it. 

My girls would have hid from him.


----------



## cindianne320

Acacia enjoyed looking at "baby" Izzy with me!


----------



## amazingact21

Sounds like it was a fun morning in DL. Managed to knock out some classics early in the morning. I've heard that Peter Pan is just madness at park opening, so it was probably smart of you to go to Dumbo first. Had to giggle that Izzy had to have the purple one.

Like DLP, I love that DL mixes characters. It was fun to see Izzy go from smiling at Hook to hanging with Minnie.


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## khertz

Those are the kinds of mornings you look forward to in Disneyland...just hopping from ride to ride. I love that their Fantasyland has so much to do in such a small area.

Breakfast looks fun so far!


----------



## schmass

That looks like such a fun morning and a great character breakfast!!


----------



## Dugette

Man, I'm making it back here nearly once a month! Sorry, guys. Still here and completed another Disneyland trip, though! Someday, I hope to write about it, but my TR backlog is pretty insane. 



StarWarsMomofGirls! said:


> Izzy looks so happy to see Hook! Love it.
> 
> My girls would have hid from him.


She definitely got a kick out of him! She's not scared of much. Except skeletons. 



cindianne320 said:


> Acacia enjoyed looking at "baby" Izzy with me!



Haha, too cute! She really does look like such a baby vs. the big-kid look now - she's lost that baby face!



amazingact21 said:


> Sounds like it was a fun morning in DL. Managed to knock out some classics early in the morning. I've heard that Peter Pan is just madness at park opening, so it was probably smart of you to go to Dumbo first. Had to giggle that Izzy had to have the purple one.
> 
> Like DLP, I love that DL mixes characters. It was fun to see Izzy go from smiling at Hook to hanging with Minnie.


Yes, this breakfast was a wild mix of characters that came by fast and furious, as you'll see. Fun, though!



khertz said:


> Those are the kinds of mornings you look forward to in Disneyland...just hopping from ride to ride. I love that their Fantasyland has so much to do in such a small area.
> 
> Breakfast looks fun so far!



Yes, love being able to get a bunch of things done early. And breakfast was pretty fun!



schmass said:


> That looks like such a fun morning and a great character breakfast!!



Thanks, it sure was!


----------



## Dugette

*More Fun Visitors*

*Here’s the video from our visit with Minnie:*






*Dale had joined a nearby table for breakfast for a bit, but he eventually ended up coming to see us:*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*As you can see, he is always so great with Izzy – lots of tickles and giggles and hugs. I’ve got some video too:*






*Up next was Tigger and he did a little bouncing with Izzy  :*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*Some video of the meet:*






*Next was the Fairy Godmother, which was a rather awkward meet. Izzy clearly was much more interested in the fur characters and the playfulness vs. a face character that was just sweet. Got one picture of them:*

*

*

*And then Dug caught her and asked if she thought the high winds would stop so we could see the fireworks that kept getting cancelled due to wind each night. I guess she’s quite interested in that topic, as she sort-of lit up :*

*

*

*And the somewhat awkward video:*






*Then Eeyore kind-of wandered over, bumping into chairs and generally having a hard day.  Such a quick visit that we didn’t even get a picture before he shuffled away. I did get some video, though:*






*Continued in next post...*


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## Dugette

*Continued from last post...*

*We soon discovered that Eeyore just needed some hats to cheer himself up. He was having a good time borrowing hats at the next table:*

*

*

*Dug got in an Eeyore hug on his way back into the buffet (before Eeyore went back to hats):*






*At the end of that video, Izzy started yelling, “I want a picture with Eeyore!”, so we chased him down (literally) and got one, though I don’t think he really wanted to (he had looked to maybe be trying to talk to a handler, but stepped away for our pic):*

*

*

*Next we saw Winnie the Pooh making his way around:*

*

*

*And soon Izzy was getting her bear hug:*

*

*

*Oh, and Dug was too:*

*

*

*Who doesn’t want a bear hug? *

*Normally, Dug saves his corny jokes for Goofy, but he had one for Pooh:*






*Much to Dug’s delight, Captain Hook returned (since he’d missed him at the beginning). This was the look he got when he told Hook that our favorite pirate is Jake  :*

*

*

*Izzy’s not scared of him, I guess:*

*

*

*I gotta say, after the bombardment of characters, we were getting pretty goofy by this point in the meal  :*






*I finally had a brief break in the non-stop character parade so that I could go have an omelet made and refill my pop. Here’s my omelette:*

*

*

*I think it was good, but I had another character meet to pay attention to right after I got back:*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*So nice that Minnie returned for a little more fun!  I must not have video, she probably caught me by surprise when I was trying to eat. At any rate, Minnie’s breakfast/brunch was a lot of fun and certainly a good place to find characters! *

*Up next: On to more attractions!*


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## chunkymonkey

Hi Dugette! Been enjoying your DLR TR. 
I loved Minnie's breakfast at DLR. It was fantastic. I definitely want to do it again if we go! The character interaction was amazing, and see Izzy thought so too


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## cindianne320

What a fun breakfast! Loved seeing all the smiles with the characters!


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## Dugette

chunkymonkey said:


> Hi Dugette! Been enjoying your DLR TR.
> I loved Minnie's breakfast at DLR. It was fantastic. I definitely want to do it again if we go! The character interaction was amazing, and see Izzy thought so too


Hi! Yes, it was really fun character interaction for sure! I'd like to do it again someday, but we only managed to fit in Goofy's Kitchen for a character meal on our recent trip (it was closed during this trip).



cindianne320 said:


> What a fun breakfast! Loved seeing all the smiles with the characters!


Thanks, we definitely had a good time - almost hard to eat!


----------



## Dugette

*Dole Whip and More*
*
Realized that I forgot to mention that Izzy was apparently in a picture-taking-refusal mood when we checked into breakfast (Photopass was there). We could not get her in a picture, so ignored her tantrum and took an adults only picture  :





But, back to the end of the meal! It was getting close to noon, so I had to go park-hop to California Adventure to pull Fast Passes for World of Color while Dug got Izzy changed (I think she spilled chocolate milk on herself?) Me heading out:





As I walked, I noticed RSR had FP available for when we’d be in the park later, so I ended up grabbing us those too (3 of them in case Izzy had a mid-trip growth spurt ):





Heading into California Adventure:





Love the quick park-hop across the esplanade! 

The Fast Passes for World of Color are distributed by Grizzly River Run:





I didn’t see any signage for the different colors/levels of FP, so just grabbed some from one of the machines and they were yellow. We’d been hoping for blue, as my understanding was there were decent spots available on the bridge in the blue section close to showtime. I asked a Cast Member if I could trade yellow for blue, but he said that he had none to trade and that yellow was a great view. He added that we could try to trade sections when we checked in, though. I pocketed the tickets and hoped for the best for later – and, spoiler alert, it turned out better than I could have imagined. 

I made it back to Disneyland at 12:10pm:

















As you can see, I met up with Dug and Izzy at Pirates and we were on the ride at 12:22pm – not bad at all! It was kind-of funny to ride by the place we’d eaten the night before. Really love the Pirates ride at Disneyland, though! 

Next, Izzy and I headed over to the treehouse while Dug got in line at Bengal BBQ to try to get us some of their yummy skewers. 

Chasing a toddler through a treehouse:









After that, Izzy and I found the train parked in the nearby station:





It was down for refurbishment during our visit, but they had a Photopass person stationed there to take pictures with the train. Izzy was once again unwilling to be photographed, but this guy was determined to get us a good photo. He did everything he could think of and managed to get a couple decent pictures:









Meanwhile, Dug had given up on the long, slow line at Bengal BBQ and went over to the Dole Whip stand by the Tiki Room instead. We were hoping to enjoy a Dole Whip while watching the Tiki Birds sing, but the doors closed just as she was processing our payment. Soooo close! Instead, we sat outside and finished our (shared) Dole Whip Float before the next show:









Haha, love that it looks like the tiki guy is licking our Dole Whip! 

Once we got inside, Izzy chose a front row seat and I sat with her, but Dug wanted more back support and took the back row. We all enjoyed the show, but Izzy was very bossy, telling me that I was not allowed to sing along at all (despite a large crowd singing and a lady singing along with every single word behind us). I guess even toddler Izzy knew what a bad singer I was. 





We were sitting almost right below Pierre (the bird) and Izzy and I were joking that hopefully he wouldn’t get bird poop on us. 

After the show, we ended up passing by here:





And looks like we made another Photopass attempt with uncooperative child:





Then Izzy and I rode the Fake Dumbo:





Then we ended up over here to wait 30 minutes in the blazing hot sun for a short train ride:









Some possibly important guy in a suit was ushered into his own private car on the train prior to ours. Interesting, wonder who he was?  We took the very back of our train so that we could have a good view and grab some pictures:





























After that, Dug stopped into a restroom and Izzy and I tried on silly hats (no good pictures, you remember her photo mood…)

Up next: The castle walk-through leads to a visit to First Aid! 
*


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## amazingact21

I love that you were able to hop from breakfast to CA and back to DL in such a short amount of time! There really is something to be said about visiting parks that are situated close together, especially when touring with little kids. 

The Dole Whip looks delicious, and I laughed at the tiki placement in the background. Too funny...

Uh oh, your next chapter sounds ominous. Hope nobody got injured too badly!


***On a side note, we got back from DLP on Sunday. Driving to soccer practice on Wednesday, Landon randomly tells me: "I miss my friend, Izzy. Maybe our next home will be near ____(where you guys live)." It's amazing to me that the kids remember each other so well and clicked almost immediately.***


----------



## Princess Leia

Dugette said:


> spotted Mary Poppins and Bert,



Great to get to see them together!



Dugette said:


> We really were happy with the morning, as it felt like what we were used to – just getting a bunch of stuff in without oppressive crowds. Fun!



Sounds like a great morning with lots of classic rides! 



Dugette said:


> While Dug was inside getting his food, Captain Hook came to see us and Izzy was delighted:



Izzy's joy at seeing all the characters is delightful! I love her reaction to meeting Hook- no scaring this girl. That wasn't the case with Pete on his first trip he fled the scene only for this to happen. He had no idea Hook had crept up behind him.


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## Dugette

amazingact21 said:


> I love that you were able to hop from breakfast to CA and back to DL in such a short amount of time! There really is something to be said about visiting parks that are situated close together, especially when touring with little kids.
> 
> The Dole Whip looks delicious, and I laughed at the tiki placement in the background. Too funny...
> 
> Uh oh, your next chapter sounds ominous. Hope nobody got injured too badly!
> 
> 
> ***On a side note, we got back from DLP on Sunday. Driving to soccer practice on Wednesday, Landon randomly tells me: "I miss my friend, Izzy. Maybe our next home will be near ____(where you guys live)." It's amazing to me that the kids remember each other so well and clicked almost immediately.***


Yes, those nearby parks are the best! Not too bad an injury, but enough to scare us a bit and elicit a response from characters.

Aw, that's so sweet! I told Izzy what Landon said and she was all happy. We definitely need to meet up again sometime. Gotta love being that young when you can just be instant friends with people you've just met. Or maybe that's a DIS thing, I'm not sure. 



Princess Leia said:


> Great to get to see them together!
> 
> 
> 
> Sounds like a great morning with lots of classic rides!
> 
> 
> 
> Izzy's joy at seeing all the characters is delightful! I love her reaction to meeting Hook- no scaring this girl. That wasn't the case with Pete on his first trip he fled the scene only for this to happen. He had no idea Hook had crept up behind him.


Yeah, Izzy was really happy with all the characters. Oh, man, Hook creeping up on him! Cute pic, though!


----------



## Dugette

*From the Castle to Wonderland*
*
Our next attraction was the castle walk-through:













Climbing the stairs to see more of Sleeping Beauty’s story:





Note that stair rail at about toddler-head-height. 

The little scenes were cool, but they were a bit high up, so I had to keep lifting Izzy up to see them:





















Towards the end, I set Izzy down after lifting her to see one of the scenes. She was swaying around all silly, as toddlers do (as she still does  ) and it was pretty dark, so she bonked her head into the top of the stair rail.  Luckily, did not fall down the stairs! 

We got her outside quickly so we could see better to check her head and she had a pretty nasty bump.  She’s had a number of head bumps in her life, so we knew the drill of checking her pupils, etc. and she seemed to be fine, but I did want to get some ice for her head. I was about to go find a quick-service food place to get ice, but Dug noticed we were near First Aid, so we went there instead. 

Turns out that Disneyland First Aid takes their head injuries very seriously. Lots of questions from the doctor/nurse on staff and we had to fill out a questionnaire. But they agreed she seemed fine and they gave her some “Olaf ice”, which was a hit with her. We used it intermittently on her head and it stayed cold for a long time. They also gave her a Nurse Minnie sticker:





So, she was a happy camper again and we headed out around 3:20pm. Almost right away, Alice and the Mad Hatter stopped us, hoping to have a tea party :





I almost wonder if they watch for kids coming out of First Aid, just to sprinkle some extra pixie dust?  At any rate, Alice saw Izzy guzzling milk from her Thermos and wanted Izzy to pour some milk in her tea. Izzy was having none of that, keeping all the milk for herself.  The whole exchange was kind-of amusing. Some photos:













And I have video as well:
*




*
After that fun, we made our way to the Star Wars Launch Bay:





We checked out the displays a bit. Dug took about a million pictures, but I’ll spare you and just post a handful:













We asked about the Disney Visa meet location and timing. Had a little time to roam, so I chased Izzy around, apparently into “Become Ironman”, oops:





We got out of the way once we realized there was a line waiting for whatever was going on there, haha. 

Looks like Dug was still off taking photos:





Then we found a spot where Izzy could play Xbox One:





She was surprisingly good at it! 

We met up with Dug at the Disney Visa line to meet Kylo Ren. We were pretty early, but the line had grown to about a dozen people from the 1 that we had seen a little while ago. Then we all stood there for a very long time, past when the meet was supposed to start.  Kylo Ren was late, but the CMs had no idea why or what was going on. We were very close to cutting our losses and leaving when he finally arrived. We got into the meet about 4:25pm:









He was pretty creepy. Here’s the Photopass:













Here’s some video of Dug trying to intimidate him:
*




*
Looks like we saw some Jedi in Training on our way out:





Up next: Carsland! 
*


----------



## whitneyebz

I'm enjoying your trip report! We met Kylo Ren a couple years ago...my daughter, who was 7, like leaned into him in the picture, smiling. She doesn't know how to read the room yet  But that girl isn't afraid of anything!


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## khertz

What a great assortment of characters at breakfast! The smile on Izzy's face is so contagious. She looks like she is having the best time ever!

We didn't get to do the castle walkthrough last time, which was a bummer. It's really cool how they have so much to see inside the castle, unlike WDW. But oh no,  a head injury on vacation doesn't sound like much fun!! I'm glad it wasn't too big of a deal and you could continue on with your day.


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## amazingact21

Those tall hand rails can be unforgiving on toddlers. They're that perfect height...Glad Izzy's head was all right and that you found her some "olaf ice." 

Kylo Ren seems like an intimidating character to meet. I think my kids would be terrified of him.


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## Dugette

whitneyebz said:


> I'm enjoying your trip report! We met Kylo Ren a couple years ago...my daughter, who was 7, like leaned into him in the picture, smiling. She doesn't know how to read the room yet  But that girl isn't afraid of anything!


Haha, cute!



khertz said:


> What a great assortment of characters at breakfast! The smile on Izzy's face is so contagious. She looks like she is having the best time ever!
> 
> We didn't get to do the castle walkthrough last time, which was a bummer. It's really cool how they have so much to see inside the castle, unlike WDW. But oh no,  a head injury on vacation doesn't sound like much fun!! I'm glad it wasn't too big of a deal and you could continue on with your day.


Thanks, she had a great time with all those characters!

Yeah, the castle walk-through was really marred by that head injury in my memory. And we didn't get around to doing it on our recent trip, so that's still my only memory of that attraction. Oh, well.



amazingact21 said:


> Those tall hand rails can be unforgiving on toddlers. They're that perfect height...Glad Izzy's head was all right and that you found her some "olaf ice."
> 
> Kylo Ren seems like an intimidating character to meet. I think my kids would be terrified of him.


There are just so many things that are at head-height for small kids - like doorknobs and handrails, etc! I love that even First Aid was capitalizing on the Frozen craze. 

It was a super intimidating character meet!!


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## Dugette

*Life Could be a Dream*
*
We emerged from the Launch Bay:





It was time for Izzy to snack on leftover cookie.  You can see the bump on her head here too  :





On our way out of Disneyland (to park hop to DCA), we made a quick stop into the Photopass shop to see if our Kylo Ren photos might be available early, even though they had told us it would be a couple hours. Someone else was doing the same thing and we both got our prints, so that was nice. 

We hopped parks around 5pm:





We headed to Carsland, as our agenda included watching the Carsland lights turn on. This was an unusual evening, though, as there was a ton of television equipment set up in the middle of Carsland to record a segment for the Disneyland 60th anniversary special, which was being taped after hours (we later found out it was Little Big Town’s performance):





I went to use our leftover RSR Fast Pass and got a Rider Swap while I was at it. The Single Rider line turned out to be shorter than FP, so they let me switch over to that one, as I was also a single rider. Basically no wait, so I was happy to be done quickly:





While I was doing that, Dug and Izzy got a Chili Cone Queso for a snack (well, mostly Dug): 





Looks like I spotted a dog with a Minnie bow on as I made my way back to them.   So cute:





Anyway, our mission at this time was to find a decent spot to see the lighting/hear the music in Carsland. We found a bench in front of Flo’s to sit and watch. Our view was a little blocked by all the equipment:





But it was still magical.  Before the lights:





And after:





Happy Izzy:





Looking at the lights:









Life Could be a Dream played as things lit up. Here’s some video:
*




*
Just a nice little moment. 

After the lighting, Dug went to go use the RSR Rider Swap or FP or whatever we had (but also did single rider instead). While we were hanging out waiting for Dug, Izzy decided she had to use the potty NOW.  We cut through Flo’s and made it over to the restrooms in time. Dug met us in Flo’s afterwards.

Izzy decided that she wanted popcorn for dinner. It was vacation and she’d had a successful potty visit, so I decided to treat Izzy to her wish AND upgrade to the special Lightning McQueen bucket  :









She loved it! 

I went and ordered our food and we managed to find indoor seating near an outlet to charge our ailing phones (had to move a table, with CM permission). Dug had ribs, we got apple cheddar pie, I got a veggie hotdish thing – all was good and filling. (The apple cheddar pie is timely now – Dug’s grandpa just passed away and he always said, “apple pie without cheese is like a hug without a squeeze”.  )

Here’s our view:





And our food:













My notes say that after dinner, I used up another Rider Swap at RSR (probably didn’t need it before since we did SR line instead).  Photos as I made my way up there:













Another great ride in the dark (around 7pm):





As I left, I saw a RSR FP that had fallen on the ground, but just let it be, as we didn’t have time to ride it again that day, even with another FP. But I hope someone else found it and got an extra ride in that night.

Dug wanted to try to get in one more ride with his last RS, so I took Izzy over to Mater’s ride while he did that:





That ride is fun in general, but I really loved it after dark. There was no line, so we went twice.  Dug made his way to us and it turned out that the line for RSR was just too long, even with FP, so he just got my ride photo for me and left. We had World of Color to get to and didn’t want to be late! 

Up Next: Some surprise Disney magic…on the ground. 
*


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## whitneyebz

Ah, I just love Carsland! We got back from our trip a week ago and I already miss it! (well, I miss all of Disneyland, but Carsland is just special...)


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## amazingact21

Watching the lights turn on in Carsland sounds like a really nice, relaxing thing to do. It also seems like a great way to slow down and enjoy the park. 

Love the Lightning McQueen popcorn bucket, but I feel like it would be a pain to pack back in a suitcase due to its size. 

Okay...I've never heard of putting cheese on an apple pie before. I'll have to give it a taste the next time I encounter one!

Hope someone found that RSR FP! I do miss those paper FPs days, where you could give one away or luck into finding one on the ground. Helped you feel like you were spreading the magic around a little.


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## Dugette

whitneyebz said:


> Ah, I just love Carsland! We got back from our trip a week ago and I already miss it! (well, I miss all of Disneyland, but Carsland is just special...)


I totally agree - it is a really special area and I wish I could spend so much more time there!



amazingact21 said:


> Watching the lights turn on in Carsland sounds like a really nice, relaxing thing to do. It also seems like a great way to slow down and enjoy the park.
> 
> Love the Lightning McQueen popcorn bucket, but I feel like it would be a pain to pack back in a suitcase due to its size.
> 
> Okay...I've never heard of putting cheese on an apple pie before. I'll have to give it a taste the next time I encounter one!
> 
> Hope someone found that RSR FP! I do miss those paper FPs days, where you could give one away or luck into finding one on the ground. Helped you feel like you were spreading the magic around a little.


Yes, the lighting was a nice little break and special moment.

At this point, I can't say I remember how we brought the bucket back. Maybe in carry-on for her to play with?

Yes, I hadn't heard of the apple pie with cheese either, but I quickly found out it was a family tradition for Dug - and it's not bad. Not my first choice, but acceptable. 

I miss those paper FP somewhat too. Though, on our recent return to DLR, I did really like the MaxPass and how we didn't have to run around so much and safely store those little buggers.


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## Dugette

*A Fortunate Find*
*
We headed over towards the FP area for World of Color to hopefully figure out where our best view would be since we didn’t get Fast Passes for the area we were hoping for. As we were walking along, I noticed some paper on the ground ahead. I didn’t think anything of it right away, but then I remembered seeing Fast Passes on the ground a couple times already this trip, so figured I’d pick it up and see what it was, since there was nobody around or searching for anything there. It would probably be useless to us, since we had plans the rest of the night, but why not check?  I thought it was a single paper FP until I picked it up and unfolded it to reveal two tickets. And then I had to do a double-take, as these weren’t FP at all….they were World of Color Dining Package viewing section passes from Carthay Circle – the best viewing area for the show!  

We quickly thought through what to do with our magical find. We looked around again and didn’t see anyone searching for dropped items. The check-in time had already started, so if someone was missing these, they likely already realized it and talked to CMs and showed a receipt for their package and got in anyway. These were most likely to just be stepped on for a while and then end up in the trash.  Might as well swing by the nearby WoC dining package viewing area and just hold them up and see what happens?  We really weren’t sure how strict they were or if there were any further verifications of identity/proof to get in, but Dug was tired and hurting (back problems acting up with all the walking) and this was nearby, so we headed over there. Technically, we really should have had three passes, but Izzy was not that far past her 3rd birthday at that time, so she could likely pass as a non-ticketed child. 

Well, it turned out that the second they saw us approaching with the tickets, they just collected them and led us right inside. Um, well, that was easy.  Then I asked the CM if there was a best place to stand within the area. They recommended standing right behind the groups that were seated on the stairway, so I started to walk over there. 

With his back bothering him so much by that point, Dug asked the CM if there were any other seated areas (or just the stairs). I mentioned that he had back pain, but could stand if seating was needed for those who could not stand. They said there was plenty of room on the benches they had blocked off and they were there for those dealing with pain/trouble standing, so he was welcome to have a seat and we could join him if we’d like (me and Izzy).  

I had Izzy in the stroller and didn’t really want to sit in case someone else needed the spot, so I chose to stand next to the bench within that taped-off box that nobody was allowed into without permission. It worked out perfectly, as an elderly couple arrived and took the rest of Dug’s bench. And Izzy and I had a front-row view from the tier we were on. Plus, we had plenty of room for her stroller, which she spent most of her time in while waiting and during the show. 

Our view: 





Then we waited. This looks like an adorable picture of an affectionate daughter admiring her mom, right? 





Nope, Izzy had created a game where she got complete control of my head and thought it was hysterical :













As you can see, it wasn’t quite as fun for me.  Kinda looks like she knocked me out here, with the way the Fun Wheel lights reflect into the picture.  We apparently moved on to family selfies to pass the time then:





Dug played the smart phone color wheel game they had going on during the wait:





Izzy ate more popcorn:





So pretty at night:









I guess Dug finished his game, but did not win control of the colors of the Fun Wheel  :





Then Izzy repurposed her popcorn bucket as a hat:





As you do. 

Pretty soon, we were enjoying this beautiful and magical show:













Music, water features, projections, all the colors of course…very enjoyable! BUT, one problem during the latter part of the show – we were right behind these little flame-blaster things that went off randomly and were very loud  :





This, of course, resulted in a terrified toddler that was crying and miserable and hiding in her stroller until the show ended.  She required lots of comforting every time they went off and there was really nothing we could do about it. I showed her what it was and explained to her what was going on and that we were safe, but it was still too scary. So, beware those innocent looking things in the greenery. Poor kid. 

Two of us enjoyed the rest of the show while one of us cowered in the stroller pushed into the corner away from the noisemakers:













World of Color ended and we all got ready to head out, which couldn’t happen soon enough for Izzy. But still pretty:





It didn’t take long after we started walking for her to pass out:





On our way out, around 9pm, I had stopped back over to Lost and Found to inquire about my missing FitBit again, but the line was long, slow, and smelled of smoke, so I just gave up for the night:





We just made our short walk back to the hotel instead:





Once we got back to the hotel, I indulged in this amazing late-night snack Dug had gotten for me:





Yum! I need one of those right about now! 

We got checked in for our return flights the next day, got Izzy transferred into her bed, and I got packing done for myself and Izzy before passing out myself. 

Up next: We can’t depart without one more character meal!
*


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## Lesley Wake

What an awesome find! And great to have the benches too - I never knew if they were for VIPs or others.


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## amazingact21

Luck was on your side that day! What a surprise find. I'm happy to hear they had specific seating for people who needed it; I'm sure that made the experience more enjoyable for Dug, to not be in as much pain the whole time. 
But yikes! I can totally see those flames being scary for a toddler. Sorry her time watching World of Color wasn't great. 

If you just look at the first photo and don't know about the rest in the set, the shot of you and Izzy with the fun wheel in the background is adorable!


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## khertz

WOW, what a great find!! Maybe some good karma for leaving that RSR FP on the ground for someone else to find?! Looks like it was a really amazing view for the show. I wish we would have been able to see it more than once last year when we visited DL. It's my favorite nighttime show at the U.S. parks!


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## schmass

I don't know how I missed your last few updates but glad to get caught up!  Carsland looks soo cool at night.  We should (finally!) be there exactly one year from now and I'm hoping that Rory is still into Cars when we finally make it there!

That is awesome that you found the WoC passes!!  Looks like a great show! I'm sorry that Izzy didn't enjoy it much.


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## krrrristen

We are finally starting to plan a trip for next year (!!!) to Disneyland and I am so excited! Originally we thought it might be a stop on the way out to Hawaii for our honeymoon this summer, but we've scrapped that plan and are going to Alaska instead. I agreed with the caveat that I wanted to go to Disneyland and DF accepted my terms  A friend of mine just did World of Color over the weekend and loved it, so I'm adding that to the list now too. I doubt we'll be as lucky as you were finding passes on the ground!


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## Jaina

Such awesome luck about the passes! I'm sorry she didn't enjoy the fire! That's no fun at all! And that dessert looked amazing!


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## krrrristen

Hey Dugette - haven't heard from you in a while. Hope everything is okay!


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## Dugette

krrrristen said:


> Hey Dugette - haven't heard from you in a while. Hope everything is okay!


Hey, thanks for asking! Everything is okay, but life has made it hard to be on here like I used to be. The past few years have thrown all sorts of curve balls at me that have taken my time and energy that went into this. The newest one is taking online classes (while still working FT) and that has been stressful to manage. However, writing these reports and reading others' is something I love and really want to be doing, so I need to figure out some way to manage things and do that again someday - that's my hope, at least. I have at least been poking around on the DIS a bit recently because we just took a Disney Cruise to Alaska (had to join the Fish Extender and do my trip research!) and we also have a very quick 2-night trip coming up in a few weeks to celebrate Izzy's 7th birthday by going to MNSSHP (sssshhhhh, don't tell her, she doesn't know yet!!), so I've been doing my planning for that as well. Hope everyone here is doing well. I miss everyone on this DIS!

And because it's been so long, enjoy some Alaska pics.... (there are a LOT more, we haven't really had a chance to go through them all yet)


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## schmass

Hi!!  I was so excited to have a notification that you replied to this thread!  I hope you are all doing okay and I hope some day we get to hear about the Alaskan cruise!  I can't believe Izzy is turning 7!  I hope you guys have a great time at MNSSHP!  I'll be re-reading your Hawaii threads soon as I finally booked a Hawaii trip for next summer!


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## annie170

Oh my gosh!  Where does the time go?!  I started reading your trip reports when Izzy was a baby.  What a nice surprise for her to celebrate her birthday in Disney!  Have a wonderful trip and safe travels!


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## cindianne320

Love seeing you back on the DIS! (Even though now I get to see you in person!) I can't wait to hear about Izzy's surprise trip!


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## Woth2982

Thanks for checking in! Oh my goodness Izzy is so big! Happy (early) 7th birthday to Izzy!


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## amazingact21

I'm so happy to hear you're getting a quick Disney fix this fall! I remember in DLP you were really missing the WDW parks. And how great that it'll be a surprise for Izzy!


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## afwdwfan

It's so good to hear from you!  Izzy is still cute as ever, but getting so big!  I'm sure she'll love her surprise!


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## TinkLoverSam

I read your TR about Izzy's first trip while preparing to take my son on his first trip (at 7 weeks old) He is now 4 and Izzy is now 7! Wow time flies!


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## Jadeey

I know I am SUPER late to the party, but I've just started reading your trip report and am loving it. I read "I'm NOT a Princess, I'm Izzy" before our first trip with our own Izzy a year ago. (She was 3.5 at the time). Loved that one and am excited to read this one.


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## Dugette

*Well, hi!  (if anyone is still around…) I hope everyone is faring okay through this tough last year.  I’m hanging in there, but life certainly has had its challenges. Despite those things, the DIS has always been a bright spot for me and I finally managed to sum up the time/energy/motivation to finish this trip report.  Five years too late, but better than never! I’ll post the two-part update next (yes, can you believe I was THAT CLOSE to being done this whole time!)*

*I can’t help but wish I could be magically transported back 5 years to a different time, different life, in a way. But at least I got to go back and read my own report about it – and that’s why I love doing these. Izzy can actually read these now and, frankly, could probably write them too.  I love having these memories captured and sharing them with those of you who can appreciate them. I make no promises about what’s to come from me – I have a HUGE backlog of un-reported-upon trips and really limited capacity. But, according to some things I said in this report, I apparently have notes on some of them, so that’s helpful!  I find it incredibly amusing that I made references to having them done in “like 2020 or 2021”, as if that was the distant future and, yet, here we are.  Oof. I do have an inkling to jump up to our moments-before-the-pandemic-exploded WDW trip from almost a year ago because it’s fresher in my mind and was so much fun (well, for the most part). If I do get going with this, I’ll link it to this report and my signature.

I hope everyone is staying as well as possible and finding magic wherever you can. 
Here’s a picture of Izzy “pretending to be at Disney” a few days ago…she’s a big 8-year-old 2nd grader now!  Time flies.



*

*Enjoy the updates!*


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## Dugette

*Surf’s Up! – Part 1*

*I was up early our last morning so that I could go pick up our 1-day car rental. We wanted to have the car before our character breakfast because we’d need to head to the airport right after our meal. I was on my way to the Downtown Disney Alamo around 7:30am. Time to cross the street one more time:





Loved, loved, loved that easy walk onto Disney property!

At security, when the parks aren’t yet open, they just ask if you’re going right across. I confirmed I was and was in empty Downtown Disney a few minutes later:





Cool windows:













I was looking around for a mailbox on my way, as we’d found that Dug had accidentally taken the key along from his work retreat room and it had a thing on it to mail it back. Since I couldn’t find a box, I stopped into the Grand Californian and asked if they had a mailbox. The front desk just took the key and said they’d mail it back, no problem. Easy enough!

Even with that detour, I was still at Alamo 10 minutes early and it was closed and empty:





I decided to take the opportunity to walk around and preview our breakfast location at the Paradise Pier Hotel. It only took a few minutes to walk over. There was a parking ramp we’d be using later:





I popped into the hotel and looked around. Cute kids TV area:





I stopped to ask them about parking and they confirmed they would validate the ramp parking when we came back for breakfast. Then it was time for me to head back over to Alamo:





There was one other customer there and we chatted briefly. He was a local and apparently a regular at this Alamo. I guess he had to rent a van to haul something. The Alamo guy knew him and was able to help both of us simultaneously and quickly. I did have to walk quite a ways to find our car and was surprised that our midsize/fullsize was actually a Jeep (had to use the beeper to figure it out), but that gave us plenty of room for our bags. I guess this was from my walk?





And here’s the vehicle:





I believe I then headed back to the Best Western to load up the luggage and pick up the family. My notes say that we ended up showing up to our 8:30am reservation at almost 9am, but it was fine, we just had to wait a bit longer.

Izzy took a picture with the scenery:





Then we met Mickey about quarter after 9, just before being seated:





The Photopass card came in handy once more:









We also have some video:*

https://dugette.smugmug.com/Disneyland-2016/DLR-Day-6/n-Dh3BkN/Disneyland16/i-m23QFkk/A
*Right after we were seated, Stitch started a dance party! I brought Izzy up and she had fun:









Hahaha, this video. I think she was mad because she wanted Stitch to dance with her personally and, as she runs back to me, she gets this frustrated look on her face that she still makes to this day, lol:*

https://dugette.smugmug.com/Disneyland-2016/DLR-Day-6/n-Dh3BkN/Disneyland16/i-VcRgjzL/A
*Back to the table again and admiring the décor:





Looks like Dug got some food:





And Izzy got some milk with a fun straw:





Mmmm, and a plate full of carbs:





And this must be my plate:





I’d be lying if I said I remembered anything about this food approximately 5 years later, but probably standard Disney breakfast buffet fare. My notes (yay for notes!) do say that I was happy they had Diet Coke and that both Izzy and a girl at the table next to us spilled a little milk. Also noted was that the characters took quite a while to come by and seemed to be circulating randomly, rather than on a clear path. Daisy was the first to make it to us at 9:42am:













As you can see, Izzy was a big Daisy fan! Some video too, complete with silly bow jokes:*

https://dugette.smugmug.com/Disneyland-2016/DLR-Day-6/n-Dh3BkN/Disneyland16/i-tfMdNmj/A
*Pluto stopped by right after Daisy, so more fun for Izzy:





I like how they both have their tongues out, haha:









And some video, where we tell Pluto about our dog going to the playground (with my dad and stepmom) while we were at Disneyland:*

https://dugette.smugmug.com/Disneyland-2016/DLR-Day-6/n-Dh3BkN/Disneyland16/i-BFV7WrG/A
*Continued in next post…*


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## Dugette

*Continued from previous post…*

*After those two cute meets, there was another fun Stitch dance party to attend:





Surfin’ USA with Stitch by her side:*

https://dugette.smugmug.com/Disneyland-2016/DLR-Day-6/n-Dh3BkN/Disneyland16/i-fvwqHHF/A
*My notes indicate that I went up for more food and made myself a “pig in a blanket” that wasn’t actually very tasty, but the waiter had never seen one before, so that’s something:





Izzy apparently decided to start building things, as she often does (she has solid goals to become an Imagineer someday!):





Stitch stopped by just after 10am:

















And the video of that:*

https://dugette.smugmug.com/Disneyland-2016/DLR-Day-6/n-Dh3BkN/Disneyland16/i-mRG3DFj/A
*A little before that, we had talked to a character handler because Minnie had vanished and we had to get going to the airport, but couldn’t leave without seeing Izzy’s favorite. Luckily, as we were wrapping up and paying, Minnie made it over about quarter after 10:









Worth the wait! Of course, Izzy had to show off her Minnie shirt to Minnie:





The video makes it clear what a quick, lackluster meet this one was, but Izzy was just happy to see her Minnie:*

https://dugette.smugmug.com/Disneyland-2016/DLR-Day-6/n-Dh3BkN/Disneyland16/i-TbrD62X/A
*We took some pics with the Goofy statue on the way out – Izzy had wanted to meet Goofy, but he was over at Goofy’s Kitchen, so this was the best we could do:





Artsy shot:





Speaking of art, there was cool artwork:













By 10:30am, we were sitting in traffic, on our way to the airport:





We stopped off for gas near the airport – hardly needed any, but rental car obligation. We dropped the car off and then all took the shuttle over to the airport. We had walk awhile outside with our bags before getting in, according to my notes. Once inside, we checked our bags and confirmed our seats were still together, as they had changed our seating assignments.

We stopped at the McDonald’s to grab some milk for Izzy and were at our gate by 11:53am. My notes say the gate agent was funny and Izzy wore her backpack again:





We boarded at 12:15pm:





Took off as scheduled at 12:45pm. We used our free WiFi credit card perk. Izzy watched Frozen on the iPad, as usual. We used up the rest of our in-flight spending credits from the FlexPerks cards by ordering some lunch and snacks:





















Izzy ran out of milk and was sad, but we were super lucky that our flight attendant actually had some milk, so that made Izzy’s day. Seems like they rarely have any available. Looks like we built some robot block towers as well:





We were off the plane slightly early, about 6:30pm. Airport Snoopy picture:





Izzy helped us pull the luggage after we picked it all up from the carousel:





We had to wait a bit for our ride (brother-in-law picking us up), but we were right by a kids play area, so that worked out perfectly:





There were a whole bunch of little coin-operated ride-on vehicles, but we didn’t have any cash on us. Izzy didn’t care because she was little and just wanted to climb on/in the vehicles. Some other kid in there kept saying “you don’t have money, so you can’t play”. But Izzy had a great time and didn’t want to leave:





She basically cried almost the whole way home because she wanted to stay at the airport and play. Towards the end, she finally fell asleep:





We made it home before 8pm.*

*And that’s a wrap! This was a super fun trip and such a nice similar, yet different experience for this WDW family. We went back to Disneyland in the summer of 2018 and had a great time then as well. Um, and I believe we’ve been back to WDW 5 times + 2 Disney cruises, and Disneyland Paris since then as well. Seems so strange to finish this report, 5 years later, when Disneyland is closed. I’m glad we had the trips we did and hope fun future visits await us. Thanks for re-living this one with me!*


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## Woth2982

Still here! Glad you finally finished this report! I cannot believe Izzy is now 8! We just had our first six months ago tomorrow! I can't believe how fast it has gone because 6 months of pregnancy in a pandemic lasts 18,473 years!


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## StarWarsMomofGirls!

She was so little!!!! 



Dugette said:


> I can’t help but wish I could be magically transported back 5 years to a different time, different life, in a way


I think we all wish we could do that! 



Dugette said:


> I do have an inkling to jump up to our moments-before-the-pandemic-exploded WDW trip from almost a year ago because it’s fresher in my mind and was so much fun (well, for the most part). If I do get going with this, I’ll link it to this report and my signature.


Def do!


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## Dugette

Woth2982 said:


> Still here! Glad you finally finished this report! I cannot believe Izzy is now 8! We just had our first six months ago tomorrow! I can't believe how fast it has gone because 6 months of pregnancy in a pandemic lasts 18,473 years!


Congratulations on your little one! Happy half birthday as well! I bet pregnancy in a pandemic feels like forever and ever! But, even in a pandemic, kids seem to grow up soooo fast!! It boggles my mind that I look at this and it seems like yesterday, but here she is over twice that old now.



StarWarsMomofGirls! said:


> She was so little!!!!
> 
> 
> I think we all wish we could do that!
> 
> 
> Def do!


Hi! Yes, I bet I'm not the only one who'd like to retreat to the past for awhile. (Plus, I could hang out with that little toddler version of Izzy again! She's pretty cool now too, though.) I'm actually going through photos right now to see if I might be able to get going on it soon. This is literally the first time I've actually sat down to look through all of our pictures from that trip. So fun.


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## disgeek009

What a nice surprise to see your update!  I love your trip reports (now more than ever since we've been stuck at home for so long)!  I hope you'll write more.  Thanks for writing!


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## StarWarsMomofGirls!

Dugette said:


> She's pretty cool now too, though.)


Each age is so fun. I miss the little girls that Morgan and Gwen were, but the ages now are fun as well! I have one trip left that I can report on, but I didn't take notes, so it will probably be more high level. But right now it is like therapy for me to write these while we can't go.


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## Dugette

disgeek009 said:


> What a nice surprise to see your update!  I love your trip reports (now more than ever since we've been stuck at home for so long)!  I hope you'll write more.  Thanks for writing!


Thank you! I'm hoping I can get going again on these. Glad you are enjoying them. 



StarWarsMomofGirls! said:


> Each age is so fun. I miss the little girls that Morgan and Gwen were, but the ages now are fun as well! I have one trip left that I can report on, but I didn't take notes, so it will probably be more high level. But right now it is like therapy for me to write these while we can't go.


Yes, it's totally like a form of therapy to do these!


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## schmass

I was so happy to see the notification that you updated this!  Good thing you had notes - 5 years is a long time!  I can't believe how little Izzy was compared to the picture you posted of her now!  I hope you guys are all doing well!


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## Dugette

schmass said:


> I was so happy to see the notification that you updated this!  Good thing you had notes - 5 years is a long time!  I can't believe how little Izzy was compared to the picture you posted of her now!  I hope you guys are all doing well!


Thanks, I'm glad I had the notes too...my memory is so awful, haha. Hope you are all doing well too....your kiddos must be so big now also!


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## TinkLoverSam

I'm so happy you came back, I've read every Izzy trip report from your first as I took my oldest at 8 weeks to WDW for my sister's wedding in 2015 and needed some ideas of how others had managed. Crazy to think so much has happened since you started this report.


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## Woth2982

Dugette said:


> Congratulations on your little one! Happy half birthday as well! I bet pregnancy in a pandemic feels like forever and ever! But, even in a pandemic, kids seem to grow up soooo fast!! It boggles my mind that I look at this and it seems like yesterday, but here she is over twice that old now.


Thank you! I can tell you right here and now, I have a little PTS from the whole ordeal. Let's just throw in we decided it would be a good idea to sell our condo and buy a house in the middle of it too! I really am a glutton for punishment as my old accounting teacher used to say. I love looking back at these old reports and have some nostalgia during this nightmare. I do hope you are able to do a few more as I enjoy reading and your writing style!


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## Dugette

TinkLoverSam said:


> I'm so happy you came back, I've read every Izzy trip report from your first as I took my oldest at 8 weeks to WDW for my sister's wedding in 2015 and needed some ideas of how others had managed. Crazy to think so much has happened since you started this report.


Thanks! That seems like yesterday. Time is so weird. I really started reading TRs with babies a lot when Izzy was tiny - so helpful to see how others have done it. Her first trip was at 14 months and I don't know that I could have done it without all the stories and tips gained in other TRs with little ones.



Woth2982 said:


> Thank you! I can tell you right here and now, I have a little PTS from the whole ordeal. Let's just throw in we decided it would be a good idea to sell our condo and buy a house in the middle of it too! I really am a glutton for punishment as my old accounting teacher used to say. I love looking back at these old reports and have some nostalgia during this nightmare. I do hope you are able to do a few more as I enjoy reading and your writing style!


Oh my, that is too much stress! Get it all over with at once, I guess. And thank you so much, I really hope to get the "new" one going soon. Still going through photos and trying to carve out some time.


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## TinkLoverSam

Dugette said:


> Thanks! That seems like yesterday. Time is so weird. I really started reading TRs with babies a lot when Izzy was tiny - so helpful to see how others have done it. Her first trip was at 14 months and I don't know that I could have done it without all the stories and tips gained in other TRs with little ones.


Right? Time is so weird! That 8 week old is now 5.5 years old and has a 1 year old brother, and yet that trip (and the one where he was 2.5 year old) seem like last year!


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## cindianne320

What a fun surprise to see this updated! Izzy was so little. 
I so enjoy hearing about your trips! Here's to many more!


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## Dugette

TinkLoverSam said:


> Right? Time is so weird! That 8 week old is now 5.5 years old and has a 1 year old brother, and yet that trip (and the one where he was 2.5 year old) seem like last year!


Time is so very weird. These older trips seem like both yesterday and forever ago to me.



cindianne320 said:


> What a fun surprise to see this updated! Izzy was so little.
> I so enjoy hearing about your trips! Here's to many more!


Hi, Cindi! It's funny to look back at little Izzy and see the tiny glimpses of the way she is now, even back then. Definitely hoping for many more trips!


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## Dugette

*I did it! Started a new trip report!*

*Road Trip! (Into the Unknown...)*


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## Jennifer48

I'm so impressed that you finished this!  Thank you!  

Off to subscribe to your new one!


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## Dugette

Jennifer48 said:


> I'm so impressed that you finished this!  Thank you!
> 
> Off to subscribe to your new one!


Thanks, I just couldn't leave it hanging there.


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