My Feet Are Gonna Pizza Flop-Off - 6 Days in 4 Parks! February 2024 TR **NEW** 6/23 x2

[khertz]

Lots of magical fun in the wizarding World!! During covid, we took our son to Universal Orlando and got to do our own private wand ceremony, which was super cool! Of course he was picky and didn't like the wand that chose him, so he picked out something different!

Such a bummer about your son not being able to get the Slytherin robes. My son is about to turn 15 and that shift from fitting into kid stuff to suddenly needing adult size everything sure does come with a big sticker shock!!! (especially for his hockey and lacrosse equipment--yikes!)

That's really cool that you got a private one! What a special memory.

The adult sizes are KILLING me. It's so much more expensive! We compromised and he is going to get some cheaper robes from Amazon. I told him the ones from the parks look really nice, but they are so thick that they aren't practical to wear in Orlando where we go more often. He ended up with some really cool souvenirs this trip, though, so I think in the end he was happy he didn't spring for the robes.

 

[khertz]

Day 3 Continued: Monday February 12th

Next, we wanted to go over to ride The Secret Life of Pets. On the way, we checked out some of the atmosphere, including Super Silly Fun Land.

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We spotted Gru out meeting with a Minion.

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The facade for Secret Life of Pets: Off the Leash was pretty cool!

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The queue was a really immersive experience in itself, almost like a walk-through attraction with several animatronics and all of the main characters.

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I took this photo of this TM because it was a really funny moment of our short wait. There was an announcement made that if you were waiting in the kitchen part of the line, say Happy Birthday to TM Elijah if you saw him. We happened to be right in that part of the line so along with everyone else, we said a very enthusiastic Happy Birthday to Elijah!

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There he is, that’s Elijah! Except that he told everyone thank you, but it wasn’t really his birthday, then went through one of the doors to a control room to jokingly fuss at the guy who had made the announcement in the first place. We even saw him again as we exited the ride later on and told him happy birthday again!! Lol

So finally, it was time to actually get on the ride.

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This ride was a really cute dark ride through tons of scenes from the movie, which although it isn’t my favorite kids movie, it was very entertaining nonetheless.

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At the end of the ride, you and your ride partner go to “the groomer” which was very cute.

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Universal is not known for their dark rides that take you into the story like Disney is. The only one I can really think of in Orlando would be Cat in the Hat, and Off the Leash was much superior! We really enjoyed this one a lot.

 

[khertz]

Day 3 Continued: Monday February 12th

DD loves Gidget, so she wanted to get something Gidget related before we could leave.

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As we left the shop, DH spotted Dracula and Frankenstein wandering around and wanted to go see if he could get a picture with them, so we followed them for a bit. When we got over by them, DH and DD went over to take a photo, but DS didn’t want to go over. Both Dracula and Frankenstein kept encouraging him to go over, so once he finally did, Frankenstein kept staring intimidatingly at him. It was so funny!

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Next we went to do an old favorite, Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem.

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We saw Snowball out talking to people passing by on the street.

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And we also saw Gwen Mallard from Migration out without much of a line, so DD wanted to get a photo.

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Then we spotted Hello Kitty out all dressed up for the Lunar New Year!

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As we walked down the street towards the DreamWorks theater, Beetlejuice was out and bent down talking to a kid. DD said to us, “Who is that?” Well, Beetlejuice heard her and YELLED across the street, “WHO ARE YOU??!! I don’t know who YOU ARE!!!” DD was so embarrassed, but it was honestly hilarious!!! I wish I had been recording!

We continued on to the theater to check out Kung Fu Panda Adventure.

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This was a really cute show! Similar to Shrek 4-D in seat movement and such, but fun to experience a different story.

We shopped a little as we made our way back down to the Lower Lot to use our last two EP entrances. They had these very cute Jurassic Park/World stuffed characters.

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Look at this Blue mini-backpack!

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Once we got to the Lower Lot, we first went on Transformers again using our EP.

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Then the last ride we did was The Mummy for the 3rd time to use our EP there.

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The kids wanted to watch the boats come down at the Jurassic World attraction since we didn’t end up riding it.

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Since DS had ended up not getting his robes, he knew what he wanted instead and that was a Toothless pillow so we stopped to get that before leaving.

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[missjackiemcg]

What a fun day! You met lots of fun characters, too! I find at Universal it's really hit or miss--we either see a bunch of characters in a day or hardly anyone. My son would have been really excited about Dracula and Frankenstein for sure!

 

[khertz]

What a fun day! You met lots of fun characters, too! I find at Universal it's really hit or miss--we either see a bunch of characters in a day or hardly anyone. My son would have been really excited about Dracula and Frankenstein for sure!

You're absolutely correct, characters can be SO hit or miss at Universal! And when they are really out and about, it's also so easy to meet them compared to some Disney character meets that can get really long lines.

My husband was SO excited about Dracula & Frankenstein! As soon as he saw them, he made a beeline over there to get a picture.

 

[khertz]

Day 3 Continued: Monday February 12th

One more little update about Universal Hollywood, and then we will officially be moving into the Disneyland portion of our trip!! We just ended up doing SO much this day to really make the most out of the time & the money spent on our one Universal day. But by the end of this update, we will be arriving in Disneyland!!

It was about 4 pm, but we felt like we were pretty done with the park by this time. Since we’d need dinner anyway, we decided to get something to eat in CityWalk.

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We stopped in a comic book store in CityWalk before going to dinner because DS wanted to look around, and he ended up getting himself a Godzilla t-shirt. Then we made it to Toothsome Chocolate Emporium and were seated right away.

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DH and I knew we wanted to splurge on desserts, so we decided to share an entree and got the Fettuccine Alfredo.

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DS got a burger, and DD went for the kids waffle.

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For dessert, we got the Brookies, Cookies & Cream Sundae and a Brownie Milkshake to all share.

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Once we were stuffed, it was time to head back to Anaheim. The parking garage itself is pretty cool, and we were in E.T.

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It took FOR. EV. ER. to get back to Anaheim! I had to pee so bad too, but with being so unfamiliar with what areas we were driving too, I didn’t want DH to stop anywhere because I didn’t know if it was safe or not. So it was a VERY LONG and uncomfortable 1 hour and 45 minute drive back to the Worldmark Anaheim. And once we got there, we really couldn’t even collapse and relax, because we were heading to the Grand Californian to check in for the next three nights!

Most of the stuff we’d need for the next few nights at VGC had been packed up the night before, but we still needed to grab some of our toiletries and throw a few last minute items together. We did that, then headed back down to the car to make the drive over to the Grand.

The lobby was very impressive with a huge dragon suspended over it for the Lunar New Year celebration.

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DH got us checked in, and soon we were heading over to the DVC building to check into our 1-bedroom unit that we’d have for the next 3 nights. I took as many quick photos as I could before we started getting ready for bed, because we were all exhausted! DD wanted the sofa bed, and DS did not want to share with her, so luckily there was a pull down under the TV that he took.

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It was so beautiful! And we couldn’t wait to start the long-awaited Disneyland portion of our trip. We’d had a fun couple of days getting to experience lots of thrill rides and new parks, but we were already for some Disney magic!

We got to bed as soon as we could, because we knew we wanted to hit the ground running the next morning with Early Entry!

 

[khertz]

Day 4: Tuesday February 13th

Laissez le bon temps rouler! Today was Mardi Gras!! We were up very early to get to Early Entry, and wearing our purple, green & gold!

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We were up at 6:15 and got ready, taking breakfast with us to go because we knew we’d be waiting a little bit before we could get into the park. There were more people already in line waiting for security to open than we had expected! But the security checkpoint at the hotel leading into Downtown Disney to then go over to Disneyland didn’t open until 7 am, so we had a little time to eat before we started moving. DD was vibing with her Pop-Tart this morning.

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Once security opened, it moved pretty quickly so we made our way through Downtown Disney over to the gates into Disneyland. Luckily we were at the front of the line at our turnstile, so the CM working that station scanned our tickets and took our photos while waiting for them to start letting guests in. It went very quickly!

Unlike WDW, you cannot book your first Genie+ selection until you are in the park. We had prepurchased it for all of our days when we bought our tickets. The turnstiles opened at 7:20 am for 7:30 am Early Entry. To say we were SO excited to be back in Disneyland again is a total understatement!! DS remembers going when he was younger, but DD was only just shy of 2 years old the last time we were there, so this was brand new for her!

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While we waited at the rope on the Tomorrowland side, we booked an early LL return time for the Matterhorn at 8 am. At 7:30 am, the ropes dropped and our plan was to go straight to Space Mountain first. The CMs waited until we were already pouring into the land before announcing that Space Mountain was down. That was kind of frustrating, and it felt too late to go over to Fantasyland right at that moment, so we jumped in line for Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters first.

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After Buzz, we decided to go over to Fantasyland to ride some of the attractions that get longer lines and don’t take part in Genie+, so we went to Alice in Wonderland first.

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[rdkeim]

I was behind but just caught up! You made it to DL - yay! Your 1 BR unit looks wonderful and pretty spacious. You all look so happy to be back on Disney property

 

[khertz]

I was behind but just caught up! You made it to DL - yay! Your 1 BR unit looks wonderful and pretty spacious. You all look so happy to be back on Disney property

Super spacious, and the kids loved that they didn't have to hare a bed in either resort!! It was a dream come true to get to stay on property at Disneyland. All the times we have gone before, it's never really been an option.

 

[khertz]

Day 4 Continued: Tuesday February 13th

Most of the dark rides were still walk-on so we went to Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride next.

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DD loved “driving” us around on this wild ride!!

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Before our trip, we made a movie list of all of the Disney and Universal movies represented in the parks to count down the weeks until our trip. I was really looking forward to watching some of them I had not seen in a long time, or some I had never seen like The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad. I thought it would really make the Mr. Toad ride even better to see the movie and know the story, but I had no idea the ride doesn’t really follow the movie at all! I guess maybe it more closely follows the source material of the book? I don’t know, but it’s still a weird ride! Lol

DD tried her hand at the Sword in the Stone, but no luck today.

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Then we went over to ride Pinocchio’s Daring Journey. Watching this movie before the trip definitely refreshed my memory and made the ride make a lot more sense. I couldn’t tell you before this when was the last time I saw this movie.

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When we came off of Pinocchio, it was 8:05 am so the park was now open to everyone. The Storybook Land Canal Boats opened at regular park opening, so we went over there next. There weren’t many people in line yet, but they weren’t running many boats yet so it took a little while to get on. DD was getting a little antsy and goofy in line.

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[khertz]

Day 4 Continued: Tuesday February 13th

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Before going to use our Matterhorn LL, we went to use the restroom on the side of the Alice in Wonderland ride, and DD was very pleased to see that ours was labeled Queens.

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Peter Pan & Captain Hook were frolicking through the area too when we were on our way to the Matterhorn!

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That early in the morning, using the LL at Matterhorn was pretty silly and unnecessary, but we scanned in so that we could book something else. We were able to grab an Indiana Jones LL for 10:35 am.

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The kids LOVED this ride!!! It was smiles all around (though the older I get the more painful this one gets too!).

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It was DD’s first time on this ever, and she was an instant fan!

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By now, Space Mountain was finally open, and the wait was not too bad. I think it was posted at 15 minutes, so we headed over there next before crossing the park to use our Indiana Jones LL. I had a feeling it wasn’t actually going to be only 15 minutes and I was right but it ended up only being 25 minutes which is not bad for Space Mountain.

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Even though it was the first time riding this for both of them, they agreed to ride together in front of DH and me!

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It was so fun!! DH and I have always loved this version, especially compared to the WDW version, so it was great sharing this with the kids. They were big fans!

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A quick tip for ride photos if you have Photopass (since we had Genie+ all 4 of our park days, we also had all of our Photopass downloads included): The pictures only stay up on the screen briefly, and it disappeared in the time it took DH and I to try to figure out who was going to write down or snap a photo of the photo number. I was frustrated that we missed out on their first Space ride photo, and I wanted to kick myself! But I sent in a Missing Photo form and the photo was added to our account very quickly. After that, we knew to have our phones out and ready to snap the photo of the screen to get our number.

Both kids had a Disney gift card for their souvenir money, and DD had proclaimed she was going to use a lot of hers on snacks. True to her word, on the way across the hub, she wanted to stop for some popcorn.

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(She has already asked to do the same with her souvenir money on our Universal Orlando trip later this summer!!)

 

[rdkeim]

Fun morning! It pays to be an early bird. Great idea to watch some of the old Disney movies beforehand. I think I've aged out of riding Space Mountain at WDW but the ride at DL is SO much better. I like riding side by side and if I remember correctly, the cars were much easier to get in and out of!

 

[xApril]

Love those Fantasyland dark rides! I’ve been watching a bunch of movies I’ve missed over the last few years on Disney+ lately. Watched the live action Pinocchio recently so I’m sure I’ll feel the same as you, same with Peter Pan if we do that.

My friend refuses to ride Matterhorn with me now even though I swear one side isn’t as bad as the other.

Your daughter is like me! I’m hyped about snacks and the souvenirs are usually an after thought. Might pick up one or two things but it’s usually all food.

 

[khertz]

Fun morning! It pays to be an early bird. Great idea to watch some of the old Disney movies beforehand. I think I've aged out of riding Space Mountain at WDW but the ride at DL is SO much better. I like riding side by side and if I remember correctly, the cars were much easier to get in and out of!

YES! We love getting things checked off the must do list during early morning time!

Watching the movies is our favorite way to get ready for a trip! We have done different versions of this and it always helps the time pass more quickly until we leave and makes the excitement ramp up.

Disneyland's Space Mountain is so much smoother, and yes easier to get in and out of, for sure!! We have missed out on it the last couple of times we have visited DL which is a bummer when our trips are so few & far between. It was awesome getting to ride it again.

Love those Fantasyland dark rides! I’ve been watching a bunch of movies I’ve missed over the last few years on Disney+ lately. Watched the live action Pinocchio recently so I’m sure I’ll feel the same as you, same with Peter Pan if we do that.

My friend refuses to ride Matterhorn with me now even though I swear one side isn’t as bad as the other.

Your daughter is like me! I’m hyped about snacks and the souvenirs are usually an after thought. Might pick up one or two things but it’s usually all food.

The Fantasyland dark rides really give Disneyland a more nostalgic feel than MK, we love doing all of them whenever we visit DL. It's so great having the whole Disney library at our fingertips now. So different than when we were kids!!

I am not sure that I noticed if one side was better/worse than the other on Matterhorn...I am not even sure if we rode both sides this time around!! I do seem to recall reading that online though at some point, so definitely could be true.

I kind of unintentionally started this in our family last year visiting WDW when I got some "reward points" at work that could be exchanged for gift cards, so I got one that was just for "snack money" so I could try all of the snacks I usually see but don't want to spend so much money on. It was a fun way to try lots of new things guilt-free! DD decided she LOVED that idea and wanted to steal it for Disneyland! Even now, she is so happy that she spent her souvenir money that way instead of bringing home a lot of stuff she'd never use again.

 

[khertz]

Day 4 Continued: Tuesday February 13th

After DD had eaten a good bit of her popcorn, we kept walking over to Adventureland.

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We went over to Pirates of the Caribbean, which didn’t have a long posted wait, but the line looked ENORMOUS!!! We got in anyway, because we just had time to kill until we could use our next LL, and it actually moved fairly quickly. New Orleans Square looked so perfect on this beautiful Mardi Gras day!

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Disneyland’s Pirates is just so much better than Walt Disney World!! I love it so much, I could ride it over and over. And even though we are from the New Orleans area originally, I love seeing the beautiful New Orleans Square when we are visiting Disneyland.

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At some point, I’d made a mobile order for a Dole Whip, so we headed over to the Tiki Juice Bar to pick that up. It was cold, but never too cold to enjoy a delicious Dole Whip.

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After our refreshing treat, it was time to use our LL for Indiana Jones.

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This was DD’s first time on this ride, and she really loved it!! I know it’s the same movement as Dinosaur, but I enjoy Indiana Jones so much more. We watched these movies last summer with the kids, so they really appreciated it even more too.

A couple of days earlier on Facebook, I found out that one of the couples we traveled with on our Adventures by Disney in 2012, Jim & Linda, would be in Disneyland this same day before they got onto a cruise ship. While we were finishing up on this ride, I got a text from Linda that they had just arrived into the park and would be near the hub if we wanted to meet up, so since we were pretty close we figured this would be the best time to see them. It was SO nice seeing them and chatting with them again! It was like we picked right up where we left off. They were heading onto a cruise with a lot of our other ABDer friends, so we wished them safe & fun travels after talking for a bit and then got DS to take our photo together.

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So great getting to meet up with friends in a Disney park! And it just so happened we knew another family in the park that day. One of DS’s friends from school was also visiting Disneyland during this Mardi Gras break with his family! The two of them had been texting all morning, but we always seemed to be on the opposite side of the park from them, but now he was in Fantasyland. Since we were right there in the hub, we made our way up to the Castle to meet up with him and his mom.

 

[khertz]

Day 4 Continued: Tuesday February 13th

But first, a little Castle photoshoot.

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The boys got a photo together in front of the Castle after we chatted with them for a bit. This was the only day we really knew we’d be overlapping plans, so we wanted to make sure the boys had a chance to see each other! It’s very easy to run into friends at WDW during a Mardi Gras week trip. Frankly, you’re basically tripping over people you know that week. Lol But it was very fun to see friends on the opposite coast!

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We wished them a great rest of their trip, then headed through Fantasyland to get to Toontown. He passed too quickly to get a photo, but we saw Flynn Rider walking around! Love him, and he’s such a rare character to see in the parks. I said to him, “Hey, they finally got your nose right!” and he replied, “For once!”

There was also a Photopass photographer standing by the stationary tea cup just waiting for someone to take photos! We found this was the case except for in front of the Castle, there were frequently Photopass photographers just standing around waiting for people to photograph. So unlike WDW where many times there’s a line. I’m sure it’s due to the fact that it’s a lot of locals, so they are not as likely to stop for Photopass. Don’t worry though, even with no wait for the photos my kids STILL grumbled and groaned about stopping for photos!

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After tilting around in the tea cup, we kept walking to Toontown so we could grab lunch at Cafe Daisy.

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This was our first glimpse of Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway, and the facade is so cute and absolutely perfect in Toontown!

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While DH waited in line to get our lunch, the kids and I had a seat off to the side in a little bit of shade to apply sunscreen because it was starting to warm up and the sun was really out. DD asked what we were having for lunch and I explained that it was called a pizza flop over. Then she started complaining that her feet were hurting, and DS quipped, “They might pizza flop off.” He really gave us a good laugh! It really hit us in the funny bone!

The whole time we were waiting, we were keeping an eye out for a table to come available, and finally one did so we grabbed it.

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DS and I both got a pizza flop over, DD got the kids pizza, and DH got the Daisy Dressed Up Dog that has chili cheese sauce, macaroni & cheese, and parmesan potato crispies.

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The ENTIRE time we had been waiting in line for Pirates that morning, DD had been reciting the Woodchuck tongue twister until I was literally begging her to stop. So then when we went over to use the restroom and spotted this window display with Woodchuck Cookies, we had to get a photo!

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We had a LL booked for Runaway Railway, but plenty of time to kill until we could use it, so we decided to do Gadget’s Go-Coaster.

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We weren’t sure what our evening plans would be, but the World of Color Virtual Queue opened, so I went ahead and joined just in case. There was still some time to kill, so we just explored Toontown for a bit.

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[xApril]

I just got back from Disneyland so the update is hitting right in the feels! This trip for us was also one where we ran into people we knew just like you.

Isn’t New Orleans Square just beautiful, especially with the Mardi Gras decorations??

It was so nice to have quick waits for Photopass! So many times in FL you’re waiting 10-15 mins in the sun so this was a nice change.

I still need to try Cafe Daisy at some point. Lots of people reporting on it but it just hasn’t been something we crave and it’s so far back in the park.

 

[MickeyReeds]

Happy to have found your trip report! I've read some of yours from WDW in the past! We are heading to DL in July. We've been before and have always stayed with family in Long Beach. This time, we are staying at the Villas DLH. We will also spend some time at Knott's.

We've not been since Genie+ was a thing, but have used it in WDW recently. Is the WOC virtual que for seating in a specific area? I'd like to see that show while we are there.

 

[khertz]

I just got back from Disneyland so the update is hitting right in the feels! This trip for us was also one where we ran into people we knew just like you.

Isn’t New Orleans Square just beautiful, especially with the Mardi Gras decorations??

It was so nice to have quick waits for Photopass! So many times in FL you’re waiting 10-15 mins in the sun so this was a nice change.

I still need to try Cafe Daisy at some point. Lots of people reporting on it but it just hasn’t been something we crave and it’s so far back in the park.

I don’t know if it’s the same for you, but I’m always WAY sadder to leave Disneyland because I know I won’t be back for a long time!!

Absolutely love New Orleans square, it’s such a pretty area!!

Cafe Daisy was good but definitely not necessary to make a special trip. It was good to grab since we were waiting for runaway railway!

Happy to have found your trip report! I've read some of yours from WDW in the past! We are heading to DL in July. We've been before and have always stayed with family in Long Beach. This time, we are staying at the Villas DLH. We will also spend some time at Knott's.

We've not been since Genie+ was a thing, but have used it in WDW recently. Is the WOC virtual que for seating in a specific area? I'd like to see that show while we are there.

Welcome along!! Oh man, DLH villas will be soooo nice!!!

There are color “sections” in the VQ but it’s not seating, just standing room unless you do the dessert party. Spoiler alert, we actually ended up not going this day and the day we did go, I missed the VQ!! So there is a standby area where you can stand if you miss the VQ and then if there is room, they open up the other areas so you can move toward.

 

[HomeSweetDisney]

Hey there! Long time DIS-er but I have been absent from the boards for a long time. I just started getting into reading TR's again and came across yours because we will be in Disneyland in November. Really enjoying your report so far, I love all the photos too!
Looks like you had amazing weather too! We live in south Texas and its often still pretty warm in November so we are hoping for nicer temps (and less humidity) in November. I bet February was amazing!
I wish we had more time in SoCal b/c Universal looks really fun but as it is we will be at Disneyland for just 4 days so we plan to do 2 days in each park. I stayed at Grand Californian years and years ago with my parents (they are DVC as well) and they gifted my husband and I some points to stay at Disneyland Resort for this trip with our son. We are pretty excited!
That is so cool you got to be in New Orleans Square for Mardi Gras! That pizza turnover looks really good, I keep seeing it on TikTok and I know my teenager would love that.
Looking forward to reading more!