Elk Grove Chris
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 31, 2011
Short trip-semi short report. Family in the parks on Sunday, January 30 for one day, I had a solo day and a half on January 27 and 28. This is the first trip report I have done in probably a decade, mostly just posting pics after the fact. I won't say much about my solo days other than they were amazing. Away from the parks almost exactly 2 years. Everything familiar yet some big differences on my return. It seemed like there was a lot of construction going on, many rides down during the time I was there. All CM's were in great moods and I only had positive reactions with all I encountered.
We stayed at the Marriot Courtyard on points. Great location, super friendly staff and very clean. They only had valet parking, which was ok. Rooms were nice, they upgraded us to a park view-we could see the Matterhorn, Space Mtn, and SWGE. Fairly short walk to the parks.
Not that many photos processed yet, I may add some more over the next week or so.
Our only reservation of the trip was Friday night, the 27th, at Napa Rose (believe me, I tried desperately to get some park reservations with no luck at about 40 days out). We had a regular table at 6, fairly long line for check in at 5:30. Chef counter was open-only one seating per night now, more courses though and I guess you can show up whenever, between 5:30 to 7:30. As stated by others, regular menu parred down. We had some great starters and seconds and shared two entrees between the three of us. Great time, great food, great service, got an extra glass of wine-was wearing my birthday pin.
This was the crudo of the day, the fruit played well with the chick pea puree (salmon):
This was the butternut squash ravioli, silky smooth, the goose meat was just a tad dry:
This was the wine country pot pie, the jus was amazing, the roasted veggies and chicken were really good too:
This was a split of the braised beef pot roast, so good:
This was the grilled filet, the hazelnuts were an interesting contrast, I really liked the poached pears:
And desert was the trio of chocolate, second best hot chocolate I have ever tried:
My daughter and her dance troupe had a concert on Saturday, which was the main reason we were there, Disneyland was a nice bonus. The dancing played a big part into our touring on Sunday as we knew she would be really tired. We were too.
We used Genie+ on Sunday for a group of five and I used it solo last Thursday and Friday. As has been stated, it is not quite like Maxpass, a weaker version for sure. Sunday was not super crowded, we were able to get return times almost immediately for any ride in either park we were in, from the early afternoon to about 7 when we left. The only ride that had a time of more than an hour out was IJA, which had multiple shut downs during the day. Not a fan at all of a single LL for each ride.
We had our daughter and her boyfriend joining us at 10, so that put a slight complication into touring, but not much. Given what I had seen go on Thursday and Friday in the parks, I knew it would be better for us to just use standby lines early in the day and avail of LL in the afternoon. It worked just fine using it that way.
Stopped at McD’s for breakfast, just down from hotel. We were at the parks at 7:15 for an 8 am opening and were held at the white tent before security opened about 10 minutes later. When it opened, we ended up being about 100 deep in line at the gates. In Disneyland around 7:35, still made it right to the front of the rope to Tomorrowland.
We did Space Mtn. right away-walk on. Wife does not do this one.
Star Tours-walk on.
Space Mtn-5-minute walk on
IJA-broke.
Pirates-broke.
Haunted Mansion-5-minute walk on.
IJA-still broke.
Snow White-about a 10-minute wait around 9.
Pinocchio-5-minute walk on.
Buzz-10-minute wait.
Astro Orbiter-10-minute wait.
Some light shopping then I headed to the Esplanade to get my daughter and her boyfriend as I had everyone’s tickets on my phone. My DW and DS did the Rockets, about a 15-minute wait.
Short wait to get back in the parks. This was his first trip back into the parks in about 4 years and we headed over to SWGE as he had never seen it before. Ronto wraps for them and we shared one. My DD got the veggie version, I took a bite and must confess it was the best vegetarian sausage I ever tried.
We purchased LL for ROTR-about a 30-minute wait from purchase at 10:30. We were on the ride in about 15 minutes. Standby was at 80 minutes around 11.
We then walked around SWGE a bit and used a LL for Smugglers Run, immediate boarding, about a 15-minute wait through the line.
We then walked around SWGE a bit and used a LL for Smugglers Run, immediate boarding, about a 15-minute wait through the line.
We then headed to Pirates-about a 10-minute wait. First time I was ever told I could not wait for the front of the boat, there was only one other party waiting and it was not crowded-but I did not care that much, just a bit weird.
We then headed to CA, none of them had seen Avengers Campus. I spent some time there on Thursday, but did not wait for any shows. No spoiler photos here.
We did a LL for Guardians along the way, immediate boarding. It took us maybe 20 minutes or so to get on the ride once in.
We purchased the LL for Webslingers and it was immediate boarding at 12:30, we waited maybe 15 minutes through the line. I won’t post any spoiler pictures yet.
We then tried Pym’s Kitchen, pretty good park food. It was pretty busy, we waited about 15 minutes in line to get to ordering, but the food came out quick once we ordered. We tried the not so small chicken sandwich, the Caesar salad, and the impossible meatball and pasta. Again, very impressed with the taste and texture of the impossible meat. Pasta was only weak point of the entire meal.
Walked around a bit to soak in the campus, mostly shows, which we did not wait for. Next visit (June) we will check out the shows.
We then did a LL for Incredieoaster, again, immediate boarding. It took us about 10 minutes to get through the line.
Little Mermaid-about a 15-minute wait at 3.
Ghirardelli-we split a Sunday, daughter and boyfriend split a shake. Took a breather and hung out for about 30 minutes, nice break in the shade. Not hot at all, but warm when on the asphalt and around all the people. I think the high was like 73, a bit cool in the morning at 45 when I first stepped out.
We then headed back to DL and were inside around 4, a bit more packed, several rides with 60 minutes waits. We did a LL for Space Mtn., immediate boarding, about 15 minutes to get on the ride.
We then did a LL for BTMRR, also immediate boarding, about a 20-minute wait to get on the ride.
We then did a LL for Haunted Mansion, about 15 minutes to get on.
Next up was LL for IJA, 30-miute wait. So we did some shopping and then sat down for a break. Wait in line for IJA was about 20 minutes. It was a little after 7 now and we were all tired from the rope drop and my DD from her dancing the previous day and little sleep.
We called it quits and headed to Ralph Brennan’s for dinner. It was an hour and 15-minute wait at 7:30, we stuck it out, got called for a table after 45-minutes. We were resting/slightly napping on benches by the Star Wars Outpost. Menu is a bit different than I remember, but pretty great all round. Not double chocolate suffle, but the chocolate bread pudding was a pretty good substitute.
All in all a great one-day visit with some tired feet. I think we did 20 rides altogether, with several stops for eats and shops, and several breathers in there too. Not as many rides as we were used to with Maxpass, but still a great day. We could have easily got in another 5-10 rides if we had really wanted to wait here and there. We usually would take a break mid-day back to the rooms and then stay until closing, but them being there only one day kind of made us switch up that thinking. It was really nice to get back to my happy place.
We stayed at the Marriot Courtyard on points. Great location, super friendly staff and very clean. They only had valet parking, which was ok. Rooms were nice, they upgraded us to a park view-we could see the Matterhorn, Space Mtn, and SWGE. Fairly short walk to the parks.
Not that many photos processed yet, I may add some more over the next week or so.
Our only reservation of the trip was Friday night, the 27th, at Napa Rose (believe me, I tried desperately to get some park reservations with no luck at about 40 days out). We had a regular table at 6, fairly long line for check in at 5:30. Chef counter was open-only one seating per night now, more courses though and I guess you can show up whenever, between 5:30 to 7:30. As stated by others, regular menu parred down. We had some great starters and seconds and shared two entrees between the three of us. Great time, great food, great service, got an extra glass of wine-was wearing my birthday pin.
This was the crudo of the day, the fruit played well with the chick pea puree (salmon):
This was the butternut squash ravioli, silky smooth, the goose meat was just a tad dry:
This was the wine country pot pie, the jus was amazing, the roasted veggies and chicken were really good too:
This was a split of the braised beef pot roast, so good:
This was the grilled filet, the hazelnuts were an interesting contrast, I really liked the poached pears:
And desert was the trio of chocolate, second best hot chocolate I have ever tried:
My daughter and her dance troupe had a concert on Saturday, which was the main reason we were there, Disneyland was a nice bonus. The dancing played a big part into our touring on Sunday as we knew she would be really tired. We were too.
We used Genie+ on Sunday for a group of five and I used it solo last Thursday and Friday. As has been stated, it is not quite like Maxpass, a weaker version for sure. Sunday was not super crowded, we were able to get return times almost immediately for any ride in either park we were in, from the early afternoon to about 7 when we left. The only ride that had a time of more than an hour out was IJA, which had multiple shut downs during the day. Not a fan at all of a single LL for each ride.
We had our daughter and her boyfriend joining us at 10, so that put a slight complication into touring, but not much. Given what I had seen go on Thursday and Friday in the parks, I knew it would be better for us to just use standby lines early in the day and avail of LL in the afternoon. It worked just fine using it that way.
Stopped at McD’s for breakfast, just down from hotel. We were at the parks at 7:15 for an 8 am opening and were held at the white tent before security opened about 10 minutes later. When it opened, we ended up being about 100 deep in line at the gates. In Disneyland around 7:35, still made it right to the front of the rope to Tomorrowland.
We did Space Mtn. right away-walk on. Wife does not do this one.
Star Tours-walk on.
Space Mtn-5-minute walk on
IJA-broke.
Pirates-broke.
Haunted Mansion-5-minute walk on.
IJA-still broke.
Snow White-about a 10-minute wait around 9.
Pinocchio-5-minute walk on.
Buzz-10-minute wait.
Astro Orbiter-10-minute wait.
Some light shopping then I headed to the Esplanade to get my daughter and her boyfriend as I had everyone’s tickets on my phone. My DW and DS did the Rockets, about a 15-minute wait.
Short wait to get back in the parks. This was his first trip back into the parks in about 4 years and we headed over to SWGE as he had never seen it before. Ronto wraps for them and we shared one. My DD got the veggie version, I took a bite and must confess it was the best vegetarian sausage I ever tried.
We purchased LL for ROTR-about a 30-minute wait from purchase at 10:30. We were on the ride in about 15 minutes. Standby was at 80 minutes around 11.
We then walked around SWGE a bit and used a LL for Smugglers Run, immediate boarding, about a 15-minute wait through the line.
We then walked around SWGE a bit and used a LL for Smugglers Run, immediate boarding, about a 15-minute wait through the line.
We then headed to Pirates-about a 10-minute wait. First time I was ever told I could not wait for the front of the boat, there was only one other party waiting and it was not crowded-but I did not care that much, just a bit weird.
We then headed to CA, none of them had seen Avengers Campus. I spent some time there on Thursday, but did not wait for any shows. No spoiler photos here.
We did a LL for Guardians along the way, immediate boarding. It took us maybe 20 minutes or so to get on the ride once in.
We purchased the LL for Webslingers and it was immediate boarding at 12:30, we waited maybe 15 minutes through the line. I won’t post any spoiler pictures yet.
We then tried Pym’s Kitchen, pretty good park food. It was pretty busy, we waited about 15 minutes in line to get to ordering, but the food came out quick once we ordered. We tried the not so small chicken sandwich, the Caesar salad, and the impossible meatball and pasta. Again, very impressed with the taste and texture of the impossible meat. Pasta was only weak point of the entire meal.
Walked around a bit to soak in the campus, mostly shows, which we did not wait for. Next visit (June) we will check out the shows.
We then did a LL for Incredieoaster, again, immediate boarding. It took us about 10 minutes to get through the line.
Little Mermaid-about a 15-minute wait at 3.
Ghirardelli-we split a Sunday, daughter and boyfriend split a shake. Took a breather and hung out for about 30 minutes, nice break in the shade. Not hot at all, but warm when on the asphalt and around all the people. I think the high was like 73, a bit cool in the morning at 45 when I first stepped out.
We then headed back to DL and were inside around 4, a bit more packed, several rides with 60 minutes waits. We did a LL for Space Mtn., immediate boarding, about 15 minutes to get on the ride.
We then did a LL for BTMRR, also immediate boarding, about a 20-minute wait to get on the ride.
We then did a LL for Haunted Mansion, about 15 minutes to get on.
Next up was LL for IJA, 30-miute wait. So we did some shopping and then sat down for a break. Wait in line for IJA was about 20 minutes. It was a little after 7 now and we were all tired from the rope drop and my DD from her dancing the previous day and little sleep.
We called it quits and headed to Ralph Brennan’s for dinner. It was an hour and 15-minute wait at 7:30, we stuck it out, got called for a table after 45-minutes. We were resting/slightly napping on benches by the Star Wars Outpost. Menu is a bit different than I remember, but pretty great all round. Not double chocolate suffle, but the chocolate bread pudding was a pretty good substitute.
All in all a great one-day visit with some tired feet. I think we did 20 rides altogether, with several stops for eats and shops, and several breathers in there too. Not as many rides as we were used to with Maxpass, but still a great day. We could have easily got in another 5-10 rides if we had really wanted to wait here and there. We usually would take a break mid-day back to the rooms and then stay until closing, but them being there only one day kind of made us switch up that thinking. It was really nice to get back to my happy place.
