Cass, Rob & Kira - Disneyland May 2019 - "Sniff...snifff. I think I smell Wi-Fi!!!"

Oh man, now I'm wishing we had tried Black Tap this past trip! Definitely a must-do next time!!!
That shake is INSANE :rotfl2: The look on Kira's face haha

Yay for pooooool time!!! And yes, that S seems oddly placed......

#16.....hmmmm.....one more day, right? Why do I think your husband is going for an even-20 on the dole-whip-scale? :scratchin:lmao:
 
Oh man, now I'm wishing we had tried Black Tap this past trip! Definitely a must-do next time!!!
That shake is INSANE :rotfl2: The look on Kira's face haha

Yay for pooooool time!!! And yes, that S seems oddly placed......

#16.....hmmmm.....one more day, right? Why do I think your husband is going for an even-20 on the dole-whip-scale? :scratchin:lmao:

Definitely try Black Tap, so yummy!!! 😋

I looked at previous years' pics.... I think that s is upsidedown 🙃

Let's just say it was less than 20 🤔 😂
 
Just as I was starting to think that eating here was the worst decision ever, out came our food.

Oh. My. Dog.

This was some of the best food we had the entire trip!! I mean, that's saying something because we really only had one bad meal (and really, that was Rob's :laughing:) and we had some amazing food!
I haven't tried it yet, but now it's moved to the top of my list!
 
wow...those burgers!!!! They looked absolutely delicious :love: :love: :love: My dream job would be just to travel around and do a food blog/vlog and try all the different burgers. I LOVE a good burger and fries!!!!! I would be one of those annoying Guy Fierri type people you see on tv sampling burgers :rotfl2:

That look an Kira's face...that is a priceless picture ::yes:: I'm not much of a dessert person...but that milkshake looks amazing!!!!
 


That seems like it was almost the best day of the vacation for you guys!

I love all the fun you guys always have on your trips too!
 
Thanks for sharing menu pics in addition to your nummy food porn! Are there different menus for LUNCH packages for Fantasmic at Blue Bayou and WOC at Carthay Circle? Prices lower?

We head to Disneyland in August for our first trip! I’ve read it is easier to get a water side table at lunch time (11:30) for blue Bayou than it is at dinner. But I am wondering what is offered for the Fantasmic lunch menu and how much it costs. Same for the CC lunch menu WOC package as well. Menus on Allears seem to be pretty old so any updated info is appreciated. We head to Disneyland in August for our first trip! Going to make reservations next week for these two events when the window opens. Thank you!
 


May 18th, Part 1

Today we would be checking out of the Disneyland Hotel and checking into the Grand Californian! :cool1:

But first, we needed sustenance! During the planning stages, I had looked at all of the breakfast choices around here that didn't require park admission and landed on Catal in Downtown Disney. I had never eaten there but from what I read on Yelp and Trip Advisor, it looked decent enough to give it a try.

Rob had been asking for a picture of his girls at this sign the entire week now so we finally obliged him. :P

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We had set out much later than usual so we did not whisk through security like we normally did. :scared:

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Once through, we headed for Catal while everyone else headed for the parks.

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We were seated outside on the upstairs balcony area, perfect!

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We had great views of people coming and going. Sadly no Wi-Fi. Actually, I ended up hopping onto Ballast Point Wi-Fi after refreshing it five times but it didn't show up for Rob and Kira at all. :rolleyes2

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I had noticed that there were tons of CM's and plaids hovering over near Black Tap for some reason. Something big was going on. I will let you know what it was all for in the next chapter. ;)

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We had great service and the food came pretty fast!

Mine...



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This is Kira's breakfast. She had ordered sausages with it but the server had come around about 10 minutes earlier saying that they were out of sausages. We asked what else she could have and the server mentioned ham. As soon as she said that, I was like "You have ham????" :rolleyes1 LOL! It wasn't on the menu anywhere but Kira are I were delighted and we both got a side of ham.

The funny thing was, when Kira's meal came, it had sausages on it :confused3:rotfl2:

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Rob's...



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And my delicious side of ham!! Kira ate her ham and then stole some of mine!! We are ham girls. :p


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Our meals were fantastic!!! It was WAY better than Steakhouse 55 and much cheaper too! :lovestruc

Since we were right there, we walked over to the Grand to check-in. I was in my happy place because this is my favourite hotel ever! Mind you, I haven't stayed at Aulani and there's several at WDW that give this one a run for its' money but yeah, the Grand was built for me :worship::love:

I had stayed here before but Rob and Kira hadn't had the pleasure yet and I hadn't stayed here since they redid the rooms so I wanted to experience that.

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So gorgeous!!

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The check-in line was long but it went pretty fast.

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I've always had very friendly check-in Cast Members and today was no exception. :goodvibes

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The awesome news was that our room was ready so we headed up to the 4th floor (ahhh, that does makes sense! :P) and our room was just off of the lobby. :thumbsup2

Here's a whole crap load of photos of our room for your viewing pleasure. :rotfl:

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A couple of critters watched over us as we slept. :love:

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And despite reserving a standard room, this was our view...



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Nice view eh? :worship: I was expecting a room overlooking the front of the hotel so this was a great surprise! Love the art work.

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So, here's my thoughts on our room. I LOVE the refurbished rooms, so bright and airy but still sticking to the arts & crafts theme of this gorgeous hotel. The TV was nice and big, which was a welcome difference from the small TV's at the DLH. I love the new bathrooms, the granite tops everywhere, love the hooks at the entrance.

Just based on sight, these rooms are way better than the ones at the Disneyland Hotel. However, after having spent a night there, we were quite glad that we had spent the previous week at the DLH.

While you can't beat the location of this hotel, the rooms were not as efficient for us as a family as the rooms over at the DLH.

The bathroom area with the shower and toilet was TINY! It was hard to change in there. I kept hitting my elbows and arms on everything. There were no hooks or any place to hang anything either in this room or near the sinks. There was no place to hang a wet swimsuit or a cover up and there were no robes in the closet at all.

The DLH had that extra place for Kira and I to do our hair and stuff. This room had a desk but when you sat down, you couldn't see the mirror so we did our hair at the sink, which wasn't convenient with three of us getting ready at the same time, or even just two of us.

The fridge was much smaller here, although fine for one night, it definitely wouldn't have fit all of our snacks and drinks. The room itself was noticeably smaller too.

On the plus side, there were more outlets and USB plugs here and the lightning was amazing!

And yet, once again...a cheap $10 Conair hair dryer! :sad2:

While it didn't bother us, there was no bath tub. I know there are some rooms here that have them and you can request them but it's not a guarantee so if you have a child who needs a bath tub, this might be a concern.

So, while the Disneyland Hotel worked better for us as a family, if it was just me and Rob, I would 100% stay here again. :lovestruc
 
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Loving your TR! I cannot believe how many Dole Whips your husband has consumed! It's incredible!

The Grand Californian rooms look truly beautiful, what a nice refurbishment! Can't wait to see what all the plaids are about!
 
I haven't tried it yet, but now it's moved to the top of my list!

Definitely a must-try! :love:

wow...those burgers!!!! They looked absolutely delicious :love: :love: :love: My dream job would be just to travel around and do a food blog/vlog and try all the different burgers. I LOVE a good burger and fries!!!!! I would be one of those annoying Guy Fierri type people you see on tv sampling burgers :rotfl2:

That look an Kira's face...that is a priceless picture ::yes:: I'm not much of a dessert person...but that milkshake looks amazing!!!!

Yeah, my dream as well :goodvibes:rotfl::thumbsup2

I loved her face in that pic, so funny! :P

That seems like it was almost the best day of the vacation for you guys!

I love all the fun you guys always have on your trips too!

I think perhaps the first day was the best just because it was so fresh and new and fun but they were all great! It was a fantastic vacation :worship:

now I am hungry for a burger!...and a shake!

Oh man, me toooooo!! :love::lmao:

Thanks for sharing menu pics in addition to your nummy food porn! Are there different menus for LUNCH packages for Fantasmic at Blue Bayou and WOC at Carthay Circle? Prices lower?

We head to Disneyland in August for our first trip! I’ve read it is easier to get a water side table at lunch time (11:30) for blue Bayou than it is at dinner. But I am wondering what is offered for the Fantasmic lunch menu and how much it costs. Same for the CC lunch menu WOC package as well. Menus on Allears seem to be pretty old so any updated info is appreciated. We head to Disneyland in August for our first trip! Going to make reservations next week for these two events when the window opens. Thank you!

Fantasmic Lunch package at BB is $62, dinner is $72.

World of Color lunch package at CC is $56, dinner is $74.

It's hard to find updated menus for those sometimes because they change so often.

I would do the dinner at BB and if you don't want to wait too long for a water table then make the first dinner reservation possible, which I think is 4pm? ::yes::



Loving your TR! I cannot believe how many Dole Whips your husband has consumed! It's incredible!

The Grand Californian rooms look truly beautiful, what a nice refurbishment! Can't wait to see what all the plaids are about!


Yup, he sure went all out with the Dole Whips this trip. :rotfl2: That's what vacation is for, right? ::yes:::laughing:
 
May 18th, Part 2

Once I took all the pics I wanted, it was time to head back to the DLH and finish packing the last few things and then get them dropped off at Bell Services. Kira was being lazy and asked if she could stay in the room. :rolleyes2

So, this is how we left her...

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This was taken as I stood outside of our door, that is how close we were to the lobby!

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And of course, I needed a couple pics of the gorgeous lobby from above :love:

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We had a late check out so we had just enough time left. I packed up our stuff and we dropped everything with Bell Services, except Rob's laptop and my backpack with things that I needed in the next few hours, for them to take over for us. On the way out, he requested one last stop. :teeth:


He got a chocolate croissant and #17 🍦

I had a few bites since this would be my last. :sad1:

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And since we already had our Grand Californian room keys and didn't want to go through security, we went the back way...

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I love walking this way, it's so beautiful.

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And we found our kid like this...don't think she moved except to get under the covers. 😆

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I turned on the nice big TV for a bit while we vegged.

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Rob split his croissant with Kira...

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After we killed some time we headed into Downtown Disney. The line for security was always kind of long here. They often only had one side staffed so it went slow. When they had both sides open it was okay but usually it was only 1. While I like that security has been pushed out further, it's a pain if you're not heading into the parks. Often we would hit up DD for food or shopping and it was a pain to have to go through security from both the hotels.

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Our goal today was to do the Ralph Breaks VR at The Void so we headed there only to find that they were currently only doing the Star Wars version, which we did last year at Disney Springs. We ended up making a reservation for the next day so we could make sure we did it before we left.

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As we were coming out of the Void, I noticed something was going on over at Black Tap. They were having the official grand opening ceremony and I recognized Vanessa Hudgens so Kira and I headed over to check it out just before they were done. Kira had just watched High School Musical for the first time a few weeks before so she knew who she was. Rob had no idea :p

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Geez, Minnie and Goofy are just like Rob and Kira, always with their eyes closed in pics. :rolleyes1:rotfl:

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We had no plans for the next couple of hours since The Void didn't pan out, so we did a little shopping finally. Other than my purple shirt and a few things for Kira, I don't think we had bought much at that point. I do remember buying a couple of mugs and Haunted Mansion salt and pepper shakers on Thursday but that was it.

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Rob ended up with some pins to add to his collection and we got a Grand Californian magnet, since we've all stayed here now.

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We also got a hat for Rob, another pin, a 2019 magnet, chip clips, two door hangers and a new collar and leash for Boo. :thumbsup2

I bought that door sign on the left for Kira. On the other side, it says "I'm in Resort Mode, Do Not Enter" and it has been on her door and flipped on that side ever since we got home. :rotfl2:

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I still have much to read but wanted to make a few comments before I forgot what I wanted to say.

have never not had a trip to SoCal when it didn't rain. Which is totally okay by me because I adore the rain!!! :worship:

I love rainy days. I lived in the Seattle area for many years and I never noticed the rain.


Trees are cool.

The rain had definitely kept the crowds away and it had totally panned out that we didn't do early entry because then we would have been sopping wet!. ::yes::

Another reason to like the rain. People think they are going to melt so tend to stay indoors, making the parks less busy.

I was kind of bummed that I didn't pack the three Disney ponchos that we bought on our last Disneyland trip. They are just sitting in our closet doing nothing. Next time I am packing them :p

We have a couple in our Owners locker but that would not help us at Disneyland.

I loved the views of the rainy Main Street USA! :lovestruc

Beautiful. I have not been to Disneyland since the 80s, reading your report makes me want to hurry and schedule a visit. Sadly, I need to wait until I retire - summer 2020, so not such a long time. :cool1:

Just before our food came, Kira started sniffing loudly with her nose up in the air..."Sniff, sniff...I think I smell Wi-Fi!!" :lmao:

WHAAAATTTT??? "You think you SMELL Wi-Fi??? What does Wi-Fi smell like? 🤔

She just laughs at me and says "I think I smell WAFFLES!!"

Oh!! Waffles!! HAHAHAAH! :rotfl2::rotfl2::rotfl2:

She did, indeed, smell waffles. 🤭

Funny child. :rotfl2:::yes::

I wanted to get a decent pic of this guy but I missed out....when you come upon him, he looks like a skeleton but when you pass him, he looks like a regular pirate. Such a neat effect. ::yes::

Glad you posted this. Now I know to look for this skeleton/pirate.
 
Our goal today was to do the Ralph Breaks VR at The Void so we headed there only to find that they were currently only doing the Star Wars version, which we did last year at Disney Springs. We ended up making a reservation for the next day so we could make sure we did it before we left.

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I still want to do the Ralph one! Problem is the nights I'm usually in Anaheim they don't do Ralph! I wish they did alternate days.
 
LOVE the Grand! I've always been perfectly content to stay at a hotel/motel along Harbour but since our last two stays have been at the Grand (hotel room like you had the first time, stayed on DVC points in a 1 bedroom villa this past March) I don't think there is any going back to Harbour....... :rotfl2:

I would definitely recommend renting DVC points next time you want to stay there, the 1 bed villa was perfect for us and the bathrooms (yes you get 2!) are fantastic sizes. The smaller one off the kitchen was perfect for our girls and the big one off the master was HUGE. I'm spoiled for sure. :love:

What a great breakfast at Catal, yet another restaurant we haven't tried (always gotta leave something new for our next trip lol).
 
May 18th, Part 3

I had made early reservations for dinner that night at Storyteller's Cafe. I pretty much made this reservation so I could have the corn chowder soup. :rolleyes1

It was on the lunch menu last year and I fell in love with it. Since then, they have changed the lunch menu to a character buffet but the dinner is a non-character buffet. Now that Kira is older, and we've done them all before, I feel like I am released from my obligation to attend character meals now. :p

I really don't care for character meals anymore. I feel they are stressed and chaotic and between getting photos and videos and autographs, I never seem to have a chance to eat. Plus, the only one that might eat enough to get their money's worth is Rob, they are such a huge excess for us. :crazy2:

While I would have much preferred an a la carte menu, I felt it wouldn't kill us to do one buffet. :rolleyes:

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I absolutely adore this restaurant!! I love the look, the theme...absolutely everything. :lovestruc

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We were seated at a booth and Rob and Kira had some fun with this because whenever one of them sat down and the other was already seated, it made the other one bounce up a little :rotfl2:

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We were actually the very first table to be seated since they had just opened the restaurant for dinner. Rob and Kira went up and got their food while I watched our stuff.

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Kira's first plate...

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Rob's...

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Rob's bowl of soup that I told him he had to get. ::yes::

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Next it was my turn! I had eyes for only one thing...a nice big bowl of corn chowder with all of the fixings :love:

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It was as delicious as I remembered it to be. :worship: Our server was good and had a good sense of humour, love that! :thumbsup2 He brought us some rolls...

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When I was done with my soup, I went up and got myself a plate...

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Both Rob and Kira had gotten seconds but I never took pics.

Then we split some desserts...

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While I was super glad I got my soup, I was disappointed with the rest of the meal. The desserts were just okay and from my plate selections, the only things I enjoyed were the mashed potatoes (which were divine!) and odd enough, the mac & cheese. The meat was meh and there was no gravy, only au jus. It wasn't bad, just not as good as I was expecting I guess. Thankfully the saving grace was my soup! I recently found out that it's on the room service menu so next time I think I will just order the soup and enjoy it from my balcony. ;)

After paying the large bill, I had wished that we had gone to White Water Snacks instead to have the burger and nachos again. I wanted to go back one last time but we just didn't get back. Oh well, another reason to go back ASAP! ::yes:::p

Rob and I relaxed on our balcony for quite awhile together. That is one thing that I really love about this hotel, especially when you have a nice view like this....:cloud9: It reminded me of sitting on our verandah during our last Christmas cruise 🥰 Fun times!

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I could see Guardians of the Galaxy peeking out just behind Grizzly Peak! 😍

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We waited until we digested our food and then we headed down to the pool.

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The slide was closed already but also the entire pool where the slide is located was also closed.

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We spotted our room, right above that big bushy tree, in the middle. :thumbsup2

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Kira went in....

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And Kira went right back out. :rotfl2: Guess it was too cold for her. She went and enjoyed the hot tub for awhile.

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I eventually joined her and then we went and tried out the other hot tub and then she headed back to her Dad while I enjoyed going back and forth from the pool to the hot tubs.

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I asked Rob and Kira if they wanted to head down to the Esplanade and watch the fireworks from Mickey's Mix Magic one last time but Kira said she'd rather just listen to the music on the TV and stay in the room. I don't think Rob was super interested but as always, he obliged me and we walked down there together and found a spot to sit until they began.

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You could see most of the fireworks and it was definitely worth going. It was our one last good-bye to the parks as we were headed home the next day. 😥😭😢



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9pm closing doesn't mean 8:50, people!!!! Grrrrrr :headache:

I'm glad you got one more swim in at least even if it was cut short, and that you got to see the fireworks one last time :flower1:
 
This was taken as I stood outside of our door, that is how close we were to the lobby!

What a great location!

On the way out, he requested one last stop. :teeth:

I know where... haha

Finally got a shot of the pool gates, those hours are just terrible, in my opinion!! 🤬

Those are really short hours! It's nice to be able to soak feet in the hot tub after a day in the parks, and that wouldn't really allow for that.


What a cool thing to see!


THis restaurant is really cute!
 
What a great day of relaxing and enjoying down time.
We looked at storytellers too because it would show up with openings while there, but I just couldn't justify spending that much for a buffet when Claire would only eat a few things.
I kept telling her it had meat, but she said if it wasn't good, she wouldn't eat it and if she didn't have her fill of meat, it certainly wouldn't be worth it to pay for her. hahaha
 
As we were passing by, I wanted to show Rob and Kira an area of this park they've never seen before. Since it's no longer a smoking area, we went the back way and enjoyed the gorgeous scenery! :love:

Several times at WDW we have accidentally wondered into the smoking area which is a big issue when one is asthmatic. I am so glad we no longer have to worry about that when visiting the parks.

Gone are the days where Disney's portions are large but we all really enjoyed this too! And can I just say that I LOVE that they have the ketchup and the mustard in containers so I didn't have to open 300 little packets. :rolleyes: :worship:

I remember the days when Rob, Sarah and I would share one entree and a desert. Sadly I think those days are gone forever.

Umm, yeah, mobile order sucks!!

Yes

Hard to see but we were pretty soaked 🤪

You do look a bit wet.

Today was a chill day for us.

Love chill days, even more than park days. Chill days are like sea days on a cruise.


Is the large pool still there?

Black Tap Burgers & Shakes
This was some of the best food we had the entire trip!! I

Looks yum! But I do not think I could handle the noise. I do not like noise or crowds...Maybe we could visit right when they open...
 
May 19th, Part 1



We were woken up by very loud piano music in the lobby at 8am. I couldn't believe how loud it was from inside our room! I got dressed quick and checked it out. No one was there playing it but it was playing automagically :crazy2:

I really think they need to keep the ivories quiet until at least 10 :rolleyes2

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Our beautiful view this morning...yup, it was raining :love::love::love:



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I noticed the bedside lights in the TV looked pretty cool. :p

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And here's the cheap hair dryers they use :oops:

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We got up and showered and got ready for the day. Breakfast was so good yesterday, we decided to repeat that deliciousness :rolleyes:

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Inside today as all of the tables outside were wet. I had the exact same thing as yesterday. :worship:

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Kira's...

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Rob's...

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And here's my side of ham with my yummy sourdough bread 🥰

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I headed to the World of Disney store for some last-minute purchases and Rob and Kira headed over to the Disneyland hotel to grab a few things there. And of course, they couldn't go all that way and not get a Dole Whip or two. 🤣

Kira got #18 🍦 and her final one of the trip.

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And Rob got #19 🍦 and the grand finale of our trip. Which he was very sad about. :earboy2:

He had saved a few bites for me but I was kind of done with them. I like them, especially the raspberry/pineapple combo but enough is enough, ya know? :rotfl2:

19 Dole Whips in 9 days...must be a record or something :rotfl:

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I had been eyeing a couple of hoodies for the entire week now but could not make up my mind. I really loved the grey one, on the right in this pic below but I also really loved the blue and white one that I had bought Kira a few nights before. (on the far right where those two boys are) After my third trip to the World of Disney that afternoon, I ended up buying both of them. :rolleyes1

I wear hoodies as jackets here, even in Winter so I knew I would make good use out of them. Or at least, that what I told myself at the cash register. ::yes:::lmao:

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We all got a few other things too, can't remember it all but we hadn't spent much at this point and this was our last opportunity before I pack those suitcases to grab as much stuff as possible. :rotfl2:

I also bought two prints that Rob and I had spotted earlier at the Wonder Ground Gallery.

I love this courtyard area at the Grand...

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I did the final packing of the suitcases and got two suitcases right to the max of 50lbs and left the third one with a little bit of room just in case Air Canada's scales were off and we had to shuffle things. I really hate doing that at the airport so I did my best and crossed my fingers. 🤞🤞🤞

We dropped off everything to Bell Services and then headed to The Void for our reservation to wreck some VR. :goodvibes


We signed our life away, got our bands and then listened to the spiel...

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We had to choose our avatar, one of these guys...

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And then off we went.

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It was fun, very different from the Star Wars one but similar enough to be familiar with it. The thing I hate the most is how they rush you through it all. It was not busy so that was not a good excuse! When I got back, they emailed me for feedback and I told them how they rushed us and the manager got back to me and apologized and mentioned how busy they were. :rolleyes2

You can clearly see in my pics that we were the only ones in the place at the time. I wrote a review on Trip Advisor so if you're interested in more detail, you can check that out here.

They take a somewhat crappy photo of you when you finish up and then charge $15 for a single email shot. 🙄

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And when we got home, they also sent us this odd video of a very tiny portion of our experience.


The Void Video

I wish they would sell you the video of your entire experience, now that I would pay for. 😂

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Once we were done at The Void, we were officially done with the fun stuff. No more rides, no more food, no more Dole Whips. 😢

We had about an hour to kill before our ride would be picking us up so we headed to the nice quiet sitting area up on the third floor and passed the time on our phones.



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I took in the gorgeous lobby one last time and then we went down and got our luggage.

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Stay tuned for the final chapter..
 
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