Ive got a very bad feeling about this. Jan 2015 - Rebel Challenge - Complete
- Thread starter Dis_Yoda
- Start date
- Joined
- Apr 26, 2008
Nice travel always makes going across country much easier to deal with.
The weather was awesome this weekend!
Thank you for the luck - the races were challenging!
- Joined
- Apr 26, 2008
Going Broke
We woke up around 6:45AM and got dressed. While I was waiting for my husband to get ready, I took some photos of the room.
Room View
We headed to the Disneyland Hotel for our scheduled breakfast at Steakhouse 55 as we knew we wanted to get to the Expo earlier than opening so we could get in the official merchandise line. We got a little lost around the Disneyland Hotel but we eventually figured out where Steakhouse 55 was at & got seated immediately at a two top.
Menu
My husband went with a traditional breakfast with scrambled eggs, pancakes, potatoes, sausage, and bacon. He really enjoyed this!
Two Times Four
I went with a half stack of pancakes with the banana foster sauce. I actually was going to order the full stack but the waitress told me there would be no way for me to finish it & said she would get me a half stack instead. That was perfect as I wasnt even able to finish the 3 pancakes given! They were really good.
Half Stack w/ Banana Foster Sauce
We finished up around 8:30AM and headed upstairs to the waiting area for the official merchandise line. They were holding people there until opening and handed out wristbands to people as unless you had one, you wouldnt be allowed to get the race merchandise at opening. They were already on row 7 when we got there so we took our place on the convention ballroom floor while we waited. Someone I know from here (tankgirl) was in line 3 so we chatted for a few minutes which was nice to meet someone in person! She offered to pick up some of the Sweatybands for me before they were sold out as we knew we could meet up once in the official area. They had Star Wars Movies playing to entertain the crowd.
Not long after 9AM, they started to have people stand up in their respective lines and began moving them to the Expo Floor so that each person in line could get their merchandise.
Once downstairs, we stood in another line as they let people get inside.
The line was manageable but as we got closer to getting inside, people were getting restless and the lady behind us tried to cut us off a couple times so I may have purposely slowed down and blocked her way into the expo while my husband and I both got bags on the way in. Inside, tankgirl, was waiting for me with the 6 options for Sweatybands that they had as even when she got in, there were already sold out of another design. I thanked her for getting me one of each of the designed and I picked three of them (all Rebel Challenge ones - a pink, a green & a blue I Did It) and put the ones I didnt like back on the rack so someone else could enjoy them. My husband & I split up while we searched the area for things we wanted. I ended up picking up a gray 19.3 performance jacket, half marathon ribbon pin, spinner rebel challenge pin, and a pink yoda Rebel Challenge shirt. My husband ended up picking up the same gray jacket for himself and the half I Did It Shirt (although now he wants to sell it as he doesnt really like it but at least its NWT so it should be easy to sell)
We checked out and even after our DVC discount, it was still almost $300!
We headed to the Packet Pick Up area to get our bibs before we would explore more of the Expo.
We each got our bibs, our photos taken (so they could verify we actually used our own bib on each race) and picked up my Dooney & Burke Shopper. It was then time to look through the rest of the expo to see if there was anything else wanted & pick up our race shirts.
Originally, I thought I would have lost more weight before the start of this race. Well, that didnt happen so I needed to exchange my WL to a WXL but it was early enough from opening that my size was still available. While we looked at all the booths, there wasnt really anything we felt we had to have so we didnt spend anymore money as well we already had spent enough with just the official stuff.
We headed back to Paradise Pier so we could drop off all our goodies before we headed to the parks for my husbands first ever visit to Disneyland & my 2nd!
All Our Goodies
We woke up around 6:45AM and got dressed. While I was waiting for my husband to get ready, I took some photos of the room.
Room View
We headed to the Disneyland Hotel for our scheduled breakfast at Steakhouse 55 as we knew we wanted to get to the Expo earlier than opening so we could get in the official merchandise line. We got a little lost around the Disneyland Hotel but we eventually figured out where Steakhouse 55 was at & got seated immediately at a two top.
Menu
My husband went with a traditional breakfast with scrambled eggs, pancakes, potatoes, sausage, and bacon. He really enjoyed this!
Two Times Four
I went with a half stack of pancakes with the banana foster sauce. I actually was going to order the full stack but the waitress told me there would be no way for me to finish it & said she would get me a half stack instead. That was perfect as I wasnt even able to finish the 3 pancakes given! They were really good.
Half Stack w/ Banana Foster Sauce
We finished up around 8:30AM and headed upstairs to the waiting area for the official merchandise line. They were holding people there until opening and handed out wristbands to people as unless you had one, you wouldnt be allowed to get the race merchandise at opening. They were already on row 7 when we got there so we took our place on the convention ballroom floor while we waited. Someone I know from here (tankgirl) was in line 3 so we chatted for a few minutes which was nice to meet someone in person! She offered to pick up some of the Sweatybands for me before they were sold out as we knew we could meet up once in the official area. They had Star Wars Movies playing to entertain the crowd.
Not long after 9AM, they started to have people stand up in their respective lines and began moving them to the Expo Floor so that each person in line could get their merchandise.
Once downstairs, we stood in another line as they let people get inside.
The line was manageable but as we got closer to getting inside, people were getting restless and the lady behind us tried to cut us off a couple times so I may have purposely slowed down and blocked her way into the expo while my husband and I both got bags on the way in. Inside, tankgirl, was waiting for me with the 6 options for Sweatybands that they had as even when she got in, there were already sold out of another design. I thanked her for getting me one of each of the designed and I picked three of them (all Rebel Challenge ones - a pink, a green & a blue I Did It) and put the ones I didnt like back on the rack so someone else could enjoy them. My husband & I split up while we searched the area for things we wanted. I ended up picking up a gray 19.3 performance jacket, half marathon ribbon pin, spinner rebel challenge pin, and a pink yoda Rebel Challenge shirt. My husband ended up picking up the same gray jacket for himself and the half I Did It Shirt (although now he wants to sell it as he doesnt really like it but at least its NWT so it should be easy to sell)
We checked out and even after our DVC discount, it was still almost $300!
We headed to the Packet Pick Up area to get our bibs before we would explore more of the Expo.
We each got our bibs, our photos taken (so they could verify we actually used our own bib on each race) and picked up my Dooney & Burke Shopper. It was then time to look through the rest of the expo to see if there was anything else wanted & pick up our race shirts.
Originally, I thought I would have lost more weight before the start of this race. Well, that didnt happen so I needed to exchange my WL to a WXL but it was early enough from opening that my size was still available. While we looked at all the booths, there wasnt really anything we felt we had to have so we didnt spend anymore money as well we already had spent enough with just the official stuff.
We headed back to Paradise Pier so we could drop off all our goodies before we headed to the parks for my husbands first ever visit to Disneyland & my 2nd!
All Our Goodies
Tinker326
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 26, 2006
Hi Cupcake, I'm here to follow along in your awesome adventure!
We stayed at Paradise Pier when we went in 2011 and loved it..... We got so lucky and had a view overlooking California Adventure where we were able to see World of Color at night.
Love all your purchases from the expo! I am nervous about what I will spend at Princess....
We stayed at Paradise Pier when we went in 2011 and loved it..... We got so lucky and had a view overlooking California Adventure where we were able to see World of Color at night.
Love all your purchases from the expo! I am nervous about what I will spend at Princess....
Twoboysnmygirl
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 31, 2008
Yay!!! I'm here and subscribed! 
- Joined
- Apr 26, 2008
Yay! Welcome! Can't believe Princess is only 4.5 weeks away now!
Paradise Pier was perfect for us as the price seemed the most reasonable of the Disney Hotels and the walk wasn't that bad to the parks. It turned out to be really awesome for the Races as well.
Thats awesome to be able to see World of Color from your window! I'm sad World of Color was down for refurbishment while we were there but then again, it gave us little desire to be out late at night.
Have fun shopping at the Expo for Princess! I think I may end up being good at the Expo for Princess as I spent too much at Star Wars' Expo and they'll probably be all sold out of the really good stuff by time we get to the Expo on Friday.
Yay!!! I'm here and subscribed!
Yay! Welcome along!
- Joined
- Apr 26, 2008
Highs & Lows
We left Paradise Pier & cut through the Grand Californian on our walk to Disneyland. The park had opened at 10:00AM this morning & we were arriving a little before 11:00AM so the crowds were still light.
Once we walked down Main Street, we turned left and headed towards Adventureland so we could tour the parks in the clockwise direction.
Our first ride was Indiana Jones Adventure
My husband really enjoyed this adventure for his first attraction at Disneyland! I love this ride as well!
After Indy, we headed to Jungle Cruise as it also had no wait.
I loved the jokes at Disneyland! Not sure if it was because they were new to us or if they were actually good with the puns.
We headed to New Orleans Square to enjoy Pirates
After the nice long leisurely ride, we realized we still had about 40 minutes until our ADR for Blue Bayou so we went towards Frontierland to see how the wait for Big Thunder Mountain was since it was after lunch & I assumed the crowds would be getting worse.
Woot 10 Minutes!
It seems every time we go to WDW, Thunder Mountain has a 30 Minute wait when we don’t have FP+ scheduled for it so 10 minutes is awesome! I loved how their backgrounds and township are set up for this ride.
We headed to Blue Bayou early. We were in line to check in when one of the hosts was going through line asking if people had reservation and checking them off on the clipboard and telling them to go inside and they would be called soon. We were one of these people.
So 20 minutes past us and we saw 3 distinct groups of people come and be called to their tables including those with ADRs after us.
That seemed odd.
I get back in a (long) line at the front check in desk to ask what is up. It takes another 10 minutes to get to the front when I ask what happened and apparently I wasn’t actually checked in.
Needless to say, I wasn’t a happy camper. No apology was offered either. Not a good start. We were given an awful table next to the bathroom. Yet another strike against Blue Bayou and we hadn’t even ordered our food yet. To be honest, nothing on the menu really excited us either but we had already invested 40 minutes in this endeavour at this point so we were going to see if it completely struck out or if the food was worth it.
My husband & I ordered the exact same thing - the house salad & the Chicken Breast w/ Boursin Mashed Potatoes.
$80 later, it wasn’t worth it. The food was rather bland. For a girl that really doesn’t like mashed potatoes, the potatoes were the only really good part of the meal.
Blue Bayou is on a never again list for us if we return to Disneyland.
We left Paradise Pier & cut through the Grand Californian on our walk to Disneyland. The park had opened at 10:00AM this morning & we were arriving a little before 11:00AM so the crowds were still light.
Once we walked down Main Street, we turned left and headed towards Adventureland so we could tour the parks in the clockwise direction.
Our first ride was Indiana Jones Adventure
My husband really enjoyed this adventure for his first attraction at Disneyland! I love this ride as well!
After Indy, we headed to Jungle Cruise as it also had no wait.
I loved the jokes at Disneyland! Not sure if it was because they were new to us or if they were actually good with the puns.
We headed to New Orleans Square to enjoy Pirates
After the nice long leisurely ride, we realized we still had about 40 minutes until our ADR for Blue Bayou so we went towards Frontierland to see how the wait for Big Thunder Mountain was since it was after lunch & I assumed the crowds would be getting worse.
Woot 10 Minutes!
It seems every time we go to WDW, Thunder Mountain has a 30 Minute wait when we don’t have FP+ scheduled for it so 10 minutes is awesome! I loved how their backgrounds and township are set up for this ride.
We headed to Blue Bayou early. We were in line to check in when one of the hosts was going through line asking if people had reservation and checking them off on the clipboard and telling them to go inside and they would be called soon. We were one of these people.
So 20 minutes past us and we saw 3 distinct groups of people come and be called to their tables including those with ADRs after us.
That seemed odd.
I get back in a (long) line at the front check in desk to ask what is up. It takes another 10 minutes to get to the front when I ask what happened and apparently I wasn’t actually checked in.
Needless to say, I wasn’t a happy camper. No apology was offered either. Not a good start. We were given an awful table next to the bathroom. Yet another strike against Blue Bayou and we hadn’t even ordered our food yet. To be honest, nothing on the menu really excited us either but we had already invested 40 minutes in this endeavour at this point so we were going to see if it completely struck out or if the food was worth it.
My husband & I ordered the exact same thing - the house salad & the Chicken Breast w/ Boursin Mashed Potatoes.
$80 later, it wasn’t worth it. The food was rather bland. For a girl that really doesn’t like mashed potatoes, the potatoes were the only really good part of the meal.
Blue Bayou is on a never again list for us if we return to Disneyland.
- Joined
- Apr 26, 2008
So Many Rides, So Little Time - Fantasyland
After that awful lunch, we headed to Fantasyland to get some attractions done! The lines were still really reasonable for the attractions we enjoyed.
Getting out of the boat at Its A Small World, the lens cap to my camera decided to fall off. Its a 72 MM Lens Cap so it isnt a common one either. This made me nervous to really be using it as I also didn't have a filter on the end.
After that awful lunch, we headed to Fantasyland to get some attractions done! The lines were still really reasonable for the attractions we enjoyed.
Getting out of the boat at Its A Small World, the lens cap to my camera decided to fall off. Its a 72 MM Lens Cap so it isnt a common one either. This made me nervous to really be using it as I also didn't have a filter on the end.
- Joined
- Apr 26, 2008
So Many Rides, So Little Time - Tomorrowland & A Disney Classic
As we finished with many of the Fantasyland & Toonland Attractions that didnt have bad waits, we headed to Tomorrowland & visited Innovations so my husband could look at some of the Marvel stuff.
When we left Innovations, we enjoyed this on the walls as that would be us in less than 2 days time!
We picked up a fastpass for Star Tours
And then it was time for Disneylands Astroblaster
We had the worst game ever compared to how we do at WDW. I didnt even take a picture of our scores, they were that bad!
We still had some time before our fastpass so we grabbed a Diet Coke & Popcorn from the Tomorrowland Cart.
And then we looked through the shop by Star Tours and I was so close to buying this pillow:
I realized we already had enough stuff to get home in 1 suitcase and our carry-ons and we hadnt even gotten our medals yet or presents for some of our friends at home.
We went on Star Tours.
As we were leaving Disneyland to head to California Adventure, I remembered that Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln was on Main Street. As this is such a classic Disney attraction, I was happy to get to see it.
As we finished with many of the Fantasyland & Toonland Attractions that didnt have bad waits, we headed to Tomorrowland & visited Innovations so my husband could look at some of the Marvel stuff.
When we left Innovations, we enjoyed this on the walls as that would be us in less than 2 days time!
We picked up a fastpass for Star Tours
And then it was time for Disneylands Astroblaster
We had the worst game ever compared to how we do at WDW. I didnt even take a picture of our scores, they were that bad!
We still had some time before our fastpass so we grabbed a Diet Coke & Popcorn from the Tomorrowland Cart.
And then we looked through the shop by Star Tours and I was so close to buying this pillow:
I realized we already had enough stuff to get home in 1 suitcase and our carry-ons and we hadnt even gotten our medals yet or presents for some of our friends at home.
We went on Star Tours.
As we were leaving Disneyland to head to California Adventure, I remembered that Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln was on Main Street. As this is such a classic Disney attraction, I was happy to get to see it.
pepe3penelope
Princess Ariel at Heart
- Joined
- Jun 13, 2013
Really loving your experience so far. I loved seeing what you purchased from the Run Disney merchandise. What a score!
Loved seeing the park through your eyes, but soooo sorry you didn't enjoy blue bayou. We've never tried it ourselves because the menu and price hasn't appeale to us. However, I've enjoyed steakhouse 55 for dinner & Carthay circle restaurant and lounge.
Can't wait to hear more!
Loved seeing the park through your eyes, but soooo sorry you didn't enjoy blue bayou. We've never tried it ourselves because the menu and price hasn't appeale to us. However, I've enjoyed steakhouse 55 for dinner & Carthay circle restaurant and lounge.
Can't wait to hear more!
- Joined
- Apr 26, 2008
When I first heard about the characters being added to Its A Small World years ago, I was nervous about how it would seem. I thought they were well placed throughout the attraction. With it being the holiday edition of Its A Small World, we didn't have to hear the Its A Small World song over and over - it was mixed up with traditional Christmas songs as well.
I'm glad we had Thursday & Friday to get the majority of the parks done as once Saturday hit, the crowds flooded in!
Yeah - Blue Bayou is never again when we end up back on that coast. At least we tried it once for ourselves and didn't just go on reviews.
Really loving your experience so far. I loved seeing what you purchased from the Run Disney merchandise. What a score!
Loved seeing the park through your eyes, but soooo sorry you didn't enjoy blue bayou. We've never tried it ourselves because the menu and price hasn't appeale to us. However, I've enjoyed steakhouse 55 for dinner & Carthay circle restaurant and lounge.
Can't wait to hear more!
We scored a lot at the Expo for official merchandise. I'm glad we did that at Star Wars as I won't be there opening day for Princess Half Marathon Weekend so I know the really cool stuff will already be sold out by the time my coworker & I get there on Friday.
We tried both Steakhouse 55 & Carthay Circe for dinner this trip! I have no problems spending money on a good meal but spending that much on bad just annoys me.
- Joined
- Apr 26, 2008
No Signs of Slowing Down
After our visit to Disneyland, we headed across towards Disneys California Adventure. We had over an hour and a half before it was time for our dinner reservation so the first ride we headed to was Radiator Springs. We got into the single rider line as we figured that would be shorter than the standby & it was. It took us about 20 minutes to make it to the front of the line.
We enjoyed this ride but wouldnt wait more than 30 minutes to ride it again, which meant we ended up not riding it again during this trip as Friday, Saturday & Sunday were crazy with the lines.
We headed into the Frozen Fun area to not enjoy Frozen but to go on the Monsters INC, Mike & Sulley to the Rescue!
Same stuff as what we have in our vending machines!
We really enjoyed this dark ride as it was true to the movie for the most part!
We ended up heading to dinner about 30 minutes early but Carthay Circle had no problems getting us immediately seated upstairs.
While we were pretty much trying to cut down on our usual amount of drinking at Disney before the races, we figured getting a beer each was reasonable.
I went with a beer I had when we went to San Diego with my husbands work last May - Karl Strauss Red Trolley Ale. I loved it then & I loved it now!
My husband went with something new to us. PranQster by North Coast Brewing Company. It is a Belgian Style Golden Ale.
We were good and only went with one beer each and started loading our stomachs with water as well.
We started with the item that had been recommended by many on these boards - the Carthay Signature Fried Biscuits.
Carthay Signature Fried Biscuits
I liked the first two I ate but by the time I got to the third, they werent really hot anymore so it felt like a bland biscuit. I think I may be spoiled having grown up in Florida & living in Georgia for 4 years before moving to Naples, FL.
For my first course I went with the Steamed Potstickers filled with Gingered Pork w/ a Mango Lemongrass Voodoo Sauce. I really enjoyed these but didnt finish as I knew I had more food coming!
Potstickers
My husband went with the Chili for his first course. I havent seem him have chili in a very long time while out in a restaurant. He really liked this! There was a good amount of flavor throughout the soup.
Chili
For my main course, I went with the Fire Cracker Duck Wings from the appetizer section. When they named these Fire Cracker Duck Wings they were spot on. They were super spicy! I was glad to still have some of the sourdough bread on the table along with my beer to cool my mouth off! This was a good type of hurt spice though.
Fire Cracker Duck Wings
My husband went with the Free Range Chicken Breast w/ Adobe Sauce & Ancient Grains. This chicken was great according to him! Much better than lunchs chicken.
Free Range Chicken Breast
We skipped dessert as we both were full.
The service at Carthay Circle was excellent. He gave the right amount of attention and didnt pressure us to get more to drink after we mentioned we were in town for the races. Well worth it!
After dinner, we walked back to Paradise Pier as it was now about 7:30PM. We started to watch The Taste on the TV and ended up asleep about 45 minutes in but at least we could catch up with it on the DVR after we got home.
After our visit to Disneyland, we headed across towards Disneys California Adventure. We had over an hour and a half before it was time for our dinner reservation so the first ride we headed to was Radiator Springs. We got into the single rider line as we figured that would be shorter than the standby & it was. It took us about 20 minutes to make it to the front of the line.
We enjoyed this ride but wouldnt wait more than 30 minutes to ride it again, which meant we ended up not riding it again during this trip as Friday, Saturday & Sunday were crazy with the lines.
We headed into the Frozen Fun area to not enjoy Frozen but to go on the Monsters INC, Mike & Sulley to the Rescue!
Same stuff as what we have in our vending machines!
We really enjoyed this dark ride as it was true to the movie for the most part!
We ended up heading to dinner about 30 minutes early but Carthay Circle had no problems getting us immediately seated upstairs.
While we were pretty much trying to cut down on our usual amount of drinking at Disney before the races, we figured getting a beer each was reasonable.
I went with a beer I had when we went to San Diego with my husbands work last May - Karl Strauss Red Trolley Ale. I loved it then & I loved it now!
My husband went with something new to us. PranQster by North Coast Brewing Company. It is a Belgian Style Golden Ale.
We were good and only went with one beer each and started loading our stomachs with water as well.
We started with the item that had been recommended by many on these boards - the Carthay Signature Fried Biscuits.
Carthay Signature Fried Biscuits
I liked the first two I ate but by the time I got to the third, they werent really hot anymore so it felt like a bland biscuit. I think I may be spoiled having grown up in Florida & living in Georgia for 4 years before moving to Naples, FL.
For my first course I went with the Steamed Potstickers filled with Gingered Pork w/ a Mango Lemongrass Voodoo Sauce. I really enjoyed these but didnt finish as I knew I had more food coming!
Potstickers
My husband went with the Chili for his first course. I havent seem him have chili in a very long time while out in a restaurant. He really liked this! There was a good amount of flavor throughout the soup.
Chili
For my main course, I went with the Fire Cracker Duck Wings from the appetizer section. When they named these Fire Cracker Duck Wings they were spot on. They were super spicy! I was glad to still have some of the sourdough bread on the table along with my beer to cool my mouth off! This was a good type of hurt spice though.
Fire Cracker Duck Wings
My husband went with the Free Range Chicken Breast w/ Adobe Sauce & Ancient Grains. This chicken was great according to him! Much better than lunchs chicken.
Free Range Chicken Breast
We skipped dessert as we both were full.
The service at Carthay Circle was excellent. He gave the right amount of attention and didnt pressure us to get more to drink after we mentioned we were in town for the races. Well worth it!
After dinner, we walked back to Paradise Pier as it was now about 7:30PM. We started to watch The Taste on the TV and ended up asleep about 45 minutes in but at least we could catch up with it on the DVR after we got home.
Tink rules
<font color=teal>The kids in my family sometimes t
- Joined
- Dec 30, 2006
pepe3penelope
Princess Ariel at Heart
- Joined
- Jun 13, 2013
We LOVE single rider on RSR!
I LOVE Carthay Circle Restaurant. Their cheddar fried biscuits are to die for!!! MMMMMMM!
In October, DH and I took the day off w/o the kids for my birthday. Hello!!! All I wanted to do was go to Disneyland for my birthday at Disneyland. We had lunch at Carthay Circle and started out with the house bread. We tried the biscuits! Whoa...super yummy! We tried the firecracker duck wings, too! Also super yummy. THEN, last month I had Wednesday off (only get one of those every 4 months) so what else am I going to do? Hello! Go to Disneyland! 
No one else could take the day off with me, but I didn't care! I had a solo lunch at Carthay Circle! 
I had the biscuits, took my time & actually finished them! I couldn't decide about something new so I got the duck wings again! I was soooooo full from the biscuits that I only ate 2 maybe 3 wings! (what a waste!). It was nice to order from a menu that didn't revolve around worrying whether or not they had mac n cheese or cheese pizza! 
I LOVE Carthay Circle Restaurant. Their cheddar fried biscuits are to die for!!! MMMMMMM!
In October, DH and I took the day off w/o the kids for my birthday. Hello!!! All I wanted to do was go to Disneyland for my birthday at Disneyland. We had lunch at Carthay Circle and started out with the house bread. We tried the biscuits! Whoa...super yummy! We tried the firecracker duck wings, too! Also super yummy. THEN, last month I had Wednesday off (only get one of those every 4 months) so what else am I going to do? Hello! Go to Disneyland! No one else could take the day off with me, but I didn't care! I had a solo lunch at Carthay Circle! I had the biscuits, took my time & actually finished them! I couldn't decide about something new so I got the duck wings again! I was soooooo full from the biscuits that I only ate 2 maybe 3 wings! (what a waste!). It was nice to order from a menu that didn't revolve around worrying whether or not they had mac n cheese or cheese pizza! 
franandaj
I'm so happy, I could BOUNCE!
- Joined
- Nov 15, 2009
I'm sorry that you missed WoC during your trip, but I was thinking about this earlier this week. I'm having my 50th B'day Bash at DL in May and one of the key things is watching WoC from the Grand Villa one night. I was getting scared that it would be down for rehab during my b'day, but I'm glad to know that the rehab is happening now, so that by May it will be back up.
Blue Bayou is not known for food, the only reason to dine there is for the ambience, and if you don't get a table by the water, it's almost not worth eating there. The Monte Cristo is the best thing on the lunch menu. Most of the rest of the food is not at all memorable.
You did get on quite a few rides which was great! I hope that overall you enjoyed the trip. It sounds like you did pretty well on this day, but I can imagine that it got much more crowded as the weekend went on. We were there on the Sunday of the marathon in November and traffic was absolutely INSANE!! We only went into the park to play our concert, but we didn't actually go into the parks. I heard it was crazy busy.
- Joined
- Apr 26, 2008
We LOVE single rider on RSR!
I LOVE Carthay Circle Restaurant. Their cheddar fried biscuits are to die for!!! MMMMMMM!
Single Rider totally was worth the wait! We actually ended up in the same car with it too - just I was in the front with him at the back.
Thats awesome to be able to go just for the day so easily and eat what you want! I really love duck in general so the duck wings were amazing! I'm glad they don't tame them down to appease the masses like WDW has been doing with their food over the past year or two. Those biscuits were great when they were hot! Next time I'll probably try to keep them wrapped up better to keep in the warmth in.
I'm sure being able to watch WOC from your Grand Villa will be awesome for your 50th! Sounds like a perfect plan for that day!
Yeah, I knew Blue Bayou was going to be a risk for food part but between not being checked in, the awful table and eh service, it was a complete strike out on all fronts. The Monte Cristo would have been much too heavy for us to have during a race weekend so we sadly decided against it for both of us.
We got a lot of rides done on Thursday & Friday. I couldn't imaging having to drive around the parks on Saturday & especially Sunday of the half as the half ended up shutting down parts of Harbor Dr and other side streets. I would have ended up super annoyed if I was just a normal person.
My division for my company is stationed out of Southern California & my divisional boss was at the parks last Saturday (they were in Naples for a meeting this week) She had her niece & nephew visiting and said that Disneyland was really bad but they still had some fun in the parks. They thought it was awesome to see all those people wearing their 10K medals & shirts. They didn't go on Sunday because of the half.
- Joined
- Apr 26, 2008
Go, Go, Go
We woke up before 6AM as well, our bodies were still on Eastern Standard Time. We got ready and I decided I wanted coffee as I was a little chilly.
Heading Down The Elevators
We headed to DTD thru the Grand Californian and realized that the Star Wars 5K was going on right there. They allowed us to walk against the race crowd so we could get to Starbucks without an issue.
5k Racers!
We got my Caramel Macchiato and started to head to Disneyland for their extra magic hours to get the rest of Tomorrowland & Fantasyland done.
Mmm, Coffee!
Way Too Awake
Waiting For the Gates To Open
The park opened a little after 7AM and we headed straight to Tomorrowland. That seemed to be a different direction than the majority of the crowds so we were among the first 20 or so on Space Mountain that day.
Our next ride was something dear to me. When I was little, one of my favorite rides at Magic Kingdom was 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea but my parents always tried to avoid me getting on the ride as it always had horrible lines + probably was way lame for adults. Now I know Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage isnt the same but it was the same type of ride at least! There was 0 line this earlier in the morning so it wasnt long before we got into our submarine and were on our way to see the underwater volcano!
I really liked how it combined some parts of the original 20,000 Leagues Under the Seas, the Nemo attraction at EPCOT and some new stuff!
We headed to Fantasyland and ran into tankgirl prior to getting on Alices Adventures in Wonderland. She apparently broke Mr. Toad
and was on her way to enjoy more attractions as well. Alice had only a 5 minute wait for us once we got on!
As we know Peter Pan gets a horrible wait & there is no Fastpass for the attraction here - we got into that line and got to wait about 20 minutes until we got on. Apparently if you have a service animal, they get to ride on the ship with you for Peter Pan!
Peter Pan is such a short ride for as long of a wait it has but Im glad we got on with probably the shortest wait people would have after normal opening time of the parks.
Mr. Toads Wild Ride was up and running again so we got into that short line!
The last attraction for Fantasyland was the Storybook Land Canal Boats which ended up being the worst line we would be in at Disneyland during this trip. Luckily we had our phones with us to entertain us!
We both were hungry after this ride so we headed to the Jolly Holiday Bakery for breakfast before we headed to California Adventure.
My husband had the breakfast crossiant which he really enjoyed as it was filled with eggs & cheese! I had a mint chocolate whoopie pie as 1) I really dont like breakfast food that much 2) I wasnt really that hungry for a large meal and 3) It is vacation.
Upon leaving the park, I had an idea to check Lost & Found to see if my lens cap was turned in or something. Well a Canon 72 MM lens cap wasnt turned it yesterday but the cast member pulled out 3 bags of lens caps - one being all Canon Caps, one being Sigma, and one being other and said I was free to look through them to see if one existed as these were long ago abandoned. I found a 72 MM Sigma lens cap and she said take it even though we knew it wasnt mine! There were so many kit lens caps there that if I hadnt gotten rid of my kit lenses, I could have taken enough caps for life! It also meant I would feel ok taking my camera out on Saturday when we went to the parks.
We woke up before 6AM as well, our bodies were still on Eastern Standard Time. We got ready and I decided I wanted coffee as I was a little chilly.
Heading Down The Elevators
We headed to DTD thru the Grand Californian and realized that the Star Wars 5K was going on right there. They allowed us to walk against the race crowd so we could get to Starbucks without an issue.
5k Racers!
We got my Caramel Macchiato and started to head to Disneyland for their extra magic hours to get the rest of Tomorrowland & Fantasyland done.
Mmm, Coffee!
Way Too Awake
Waiting For the Gates To Open
The park opened a little after 7AM and we headed straight to Tomorrowland. That seemed to be a different direction than the majority of the crowds so we were among the first 20 or so on Space Mountain that day.
Our next ride was something dear to me. When I was little, one of my favorite rides at Magic Kingdom was 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea but my parents always tried to avoid me getting on the ride as it always had horrible lines + probably was way lame for adults. Now I know Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage isnt the same but it was the same type of ride at least! There was 0 line this earlier in the morning so it wasnt long before we got into our submarine and were on our way to see the underwater volcano!
I really liked how it combined some parts of the original 20,000 Leagues Under the Seas, the Nemo attraction at EPCOT and some new stuff!
We headed to Fantasyland and ran into tankgirl prior to getting on Alices Adventures in Wonderland. She apparently broke Mr. Toad
and was on her way to enjoy more attractions as well. Alice had only a 5 minute wait for us once we got on!
As we know Peter Pan gets a horrible wait & there is no Fastpass for the attraction here - we got into that line and got to wait about 20 minutes until we got on. Apparently if you have a service animal, they get to ride on the ship with you for Peter Pan!
Peter Pan is such a short ride for as long of a wait it has but Im glad we got on with probably the shortest wait people would have after normal opening time of the parks.
Mr. Toads Wild Ride was up and running again so we got into that short line!
The last attraction for Fantasyland was the Storybook Land Canal Boats which ended up being the worst line we would be in at Disneyland during this trip. Luckily we had our phones with us to entertain us!
We both were hungry after this ride so we headed to the Jolly Holiday Bakery for breakfast before we headed to California Adventure.
My husband had the breakfast crossiant which he really enjoyed as it was filled with eggs & cheese! I had a mint chocolate whoopie pie as 1) I really dont like breakfast food that much 2) I wasnt really that hungry for a large meal and 3) It is vacation.
Upon leaving the park, I had an idea to check Lost & Found to see if my lens cap was turned in or something. Well a Canon 72 MM lens cap wasnt turned it yesterday but the cast member pulled out 3 bags of lens caps - one being all Canon Caps, one being Sigma, and one being other and said I was free to look through them to see if one existed as these were long ago abandoned. I found a 72 MM Sigma lens cap and she said take it even though we knew it wasnt mine! There were so many kit lens caps there that if I hadnt gotten rid of my kit lenses, I could have taken enough caps for life! It also meant I would feel ok taking my camera out on Saturday when we went to the parks.
- Joined
- Apr 26, 2008
Conquering The Pier
We got into California Adventure and headed straight towards the Paradise Pier section to enjoy their attractions.
California Screamin had only a 5 minute wait so we were all over that!
This.Ride.Was.AWESOME! It is the 2nd longest steel coaster in the US which is so cool to us as Florida Roller Coasters arent as long. We both loved it but wanted to enjoy some more attractions with short waits before we went to enjoy this again.
We headed to Toy Story Mania where it had about a 20 minute wait to get on.
He beat my score but at least I was more accurate!
We decided to play one of the games on the Boardwalk - Bulleyes Stampede!
He won this game too!
So, I got him to go on Goofys Sky School. This seems to be a very off the shelf fair coaster type ride that was a bit painful for my chest with the bumps.
We went on Little Mermaid but its exactly the same as Magic Kingdom so we may skip it in future trips.
With those rides done, we headed out of the park and were going to Downtown Disney to decide on a lunch place and to get some shopping done
We got into California Adventure and headed straight towards the Paradise Pier section to enjoy their attractions.
California Screamin had only a 5 minute wait so we were all over that!
This.Ride.Was.AWESOME! It is the 2nd longest steel coaster in the US which is so cool to us as Florida Roller Coasters arent as long. We both loved it but wanted to enjoy some more attractions with short waits before we went to enjoy this again.
We headed to Toy Story Mania where it had about a 20 minute wait to get on.
He beat my score but at least I was more accurate!
We decided to play one of the games on the Boardwalk - Bulleyes Stampede!
He won this game too!
So, I got him to go on Goofys Sky School. This seems to be a very off the shelf fair coaster type ride that was a bit painful for my chest with the bumps.
We went on Little Mermaid but its exactly the same as Magic Kingdom so we may skip it in future trips.
With those rides done, we headed out of the park and were going to Downtown Disney to decide on a lunch place and to get some shopping done
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Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.
Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!
