Matt's 2019, Spring Dapper Day Trip for Char's 10th Birthday with Napa Rose/Club 33!!

This is for all the lurkers... more pics, less pics, kill this TR, keep it going, what do you want?
 
Keep doing what you're doing, for sure! Your attention to detail is incredible. Not sure I would have ever thought to look that closely at the Exit sign to check out whether or not the bullet holes were authentic. :)

I loved seeing the Eeyore sign. I have lots of memories trudging through the old parking lot to/from Stovall's growing up.
 
Since you asked (and I am a lurker), keep doing what you are doing. I dream for the day that I am able to stop and look around while at Disneyland like you do. I don't go frequently enough or with people who want to spend that kind of time taking in the surroundings.
To me, it's the little details that make Disneyland so captivating. I just love it all. Oh to be an imagineer!!!!

Keep doing what you're doing, for sure! Your attention to detail is incredible. Not sure I would have ever thought to look that closely at the Exit sign to check out whether or not the bullet holes were authentic. :)

I loved seeing the Eeyore sign. I have lots of memories trudging through the old parking lot to/from Stovall's growing up.

I wish I could have a month at the park to fully immerse myself in every little detail. I just can't get enough of the hidden gems which separate it from lesser parks.
 


Keep it going..and the more pics, the better! I always love your reports!

Thanks, if there's anything I'm guilty of, it's taking a LOT of pics. Sadly, I'm limited to 10 pics of Club33 I can share, so I'll do some collages for the food courses, and then use the rest of my allotment for my favorite Club pics. Wish they would remove that restriction like the olden days, but I realize they don't want the club overly publicized.
 
Thunder FP matured, it was time to ride the WILDEST RIDE IN THE WILDERNESS!!! And last mine car to boot. I LOVE the back, it's the fastest feeling.

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Char stared that goat down so hard, and then spun around right before the next curve

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This lift hill is the best spot to watch the fireworks from if you happen to ever be on BTMRR during the show..

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Love the T-rex skeleton. One of my fondest memories from my youth!!

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Afterwards, it was time to get Char's ears for this trip. What did she want of course????? STITCH!!

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It was now time to Park Hop as we wanted to hit the Incredicoaster before we had to head to the room to rest and freshen up before dinner. On our way out, the Dapper Dans were performing by the Firehouse. I just love the DLR live entertainment.

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I just love the Mickey and Minnie on the lamp posts in Main Street Square.

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We crossed the Esplanade and into DCA. We made our way through the East-side shops as Amy wanted to check for Vera purses as her wallet was getting a bit long in the tooth. Sadly, Vera seems to have moved to being a WDW thing and no longer offered at DLR.

Afterward, we headed for the Pier. This was our first time seeing Pixar Pier. I know I spoke out against it initially, but I actually like it. Its way more engaging now and more food offerings are a major plus. More on the Pier later in this TR. We grabbed FP, and decided to check out the rest of the Pier changes while we were waiting for them to mature.

Char loves the giant stone Pixar ball.

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In a mere 15 mins, our FP were ready, so our first ride on the Incredicoaster was on!!

Love the new show building/vignette here where previously there was nothing.

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Dash on the first lift hill.

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And Elastigirl on the second lift hill.

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Violet coming out of one of the drops.

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And the final vignette as you are coming back into the station.

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Impressions: It feels faster. As I would find out later in the trip, it's best done at night. During the daytime, the effects/scenes are kinda lost due to the lighting.

It was time to head back to the hotel, but on the way we stopped for another egg shot (this time Chip and Dale) by Grizzly.

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We got back to the room around 6:45, and proceeded to relax a little, get stuff recharged (including ourselves), and then proceeded to get ready for our Napa Rose 8PM reservation. We left only a few minutes before 8, and stopped in the lobby for a quick pic.

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And a quick pic of the ladies in front of the Napa doors.

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And the menu broadsheet out front.

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Promptly at 8, we entered, gave our name, and waited.... and waited... and waited...while waiting, I snapped a few pics of the ladies.

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Twelve minutes after our reservation time, we were finally seated. We were seated at a four-top in the relative middle of the main dining room, a first for us. We were handed our menus, and started to decide what we would all get. Charlotte is normally pretty adventurous, at least trying most things, but I feel like she stuck pretty conservative on this meal.

Here were the menus:

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Hmmm... we examined them, and arrived at our choices... In the meantime, Amy and I ordered some drinks. I would have a Manhattan, Amy a Sidecar, Char a Lemonade.

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During the wait for our appetizers to arrive, I took a few pics..

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On to the appetizers.....

Amy got the Grilled Diver Scallop with Porcini Butter Bacon Whipped Potatoes, and English Pea Coulis.

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I got the Braised Wagyu Beef Cheeks with Forager Mushroom and Baked Herb Dumplings.

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So... reviews... Napa used to have a pair of Scallops, over Lobster Stock and Vanilla Risotto which was AMAZING. This wasn't AS GOOD, but was the winner of the appetizers. Every part of it was good. Char tried some, but decided scallops were "too slimy" for her.

The Beef cheeks, were tender, but I personally felt lacked flavor. It could have been a choice chuck roast braised for a long time for all I could tell. Wagyu should be heavenly filled with fatty flavor. I was disappointed honestly, and sad I didn't get the Scallop too.

In between courses, more pics...

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Check out those earrings.

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On to the main courses...

I would have the Roasted Colorado Lamb Rack Chops, Slowly Braised Lamb Shoulder, Vegetables, and Zinfandel Jus, paired with the En Route Pinot Noir by Far Niente.

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Amy would get the Heirloom Berkshire Pork Loin Stuffed with Spring Braised Greens, Colcannon Whipped Potatoes, English Pea and Spring Onion.

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Charlotte would have the Petit Filet of Angus Beef with Steamed Broccoli, and substituted Pasta with Marinara sauce and Cheese in place of the Mashed Potatoes.

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We also elected for some of the Truffled "Mac & Cheese" Orecchiette Pasta with Parmigiano-Reggiano for the table. Enjoyed by all. I love making it at home... my way.

Reviews... My lamb was PERFECTLY cooked and delicious as was every part of the dish. Anybody who personally knows me knows that I and my family eats a LOT of rack of lamb (two racks this past Sunday alone). This was just as heavenly as what we cook at home if not maybe ever so slightly better. I like to think I have rack of lamb on LOCK DOWN, but I’m always open to trying it wherever presented to compare. The braised shoulder was a SOLID accompaniment for this, and I may honestly start doing that at home after having this. SO GOOD. Big thumbs up, I think the whole table wished they had chosen it.

Amy's Pork on the other hand… I felt it had good flavor, but stuffing it with greens, didn’t work for me. Amy felt the proportion of the meat to filling was off. Way too much pig, which is probably the first and last time that will ever be typed by a member of my family. The colcannon was really tasty, and the flavors were all great together, but it managed to get lost in the thickness of the pork. The English pea was one of Charlotte’s favorite items of the entire meal.

Charlotte's food, much to her liking, cooked perfectly as expected.

Some more pics while we wait for dessert...

Intense Char..

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Happy Char..

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Charlotte's Dessert was the Balboa "Beach Sand" Tahitian Vanilla Bean Crème Brulee "Ocean" Graham Cracker "Sand", some fun Fish and a Beach Umbrella. She took some convincing to select this as her dessert, but it was definitely the right call.

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Amy and I finished out with a Coffee which had a nice biscotti with it.

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I am reading, and enjoying, but also going kind of crazy trying to get ready to leave for our trip tomorrow morning! I can't believe you have another 10-year-old, and she looks so beautiful! Actually, I had your trip report open somewhere on my computer yesterday, and hadn't had a chance to finish catching up, when my 2-year-old managed to trigger our printer... So there are now 7-8 pages of your beautiful pictures, in our best laserjet black and white, in the recycling bin... :rotfl2: I am going to try to appreciate more of the little details on this next trip that you always seem to capture. We'll see how that goes with 5 kids, haha.
 
I love those Mickey and Minnie additions to the lampposts.

Such fun Tiki Room inspired clothing! My sister made a dress for my daughter using a remnant of fabric used for the Tiki Room CM costumes back in the day. 60s? It's red with white Hawaiian flowers and has "Disneyland" and "United Air Lines" and "Enchanted Tiki Room" printed on it multiple times.
 
Given we had called it an early evening after Napa, and were back in the room shortly after 10PM, we were able to get a decent start the following morning. Charlotte occupied herself with eating the chocolates that Napa had given us the night before.

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Full of caffeine and sugar (this seems to be a trend), and were on move by 6:33AM, for a 7AM EMH at DCA.

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On the way through the lobby, I made note to check out the giant Mickey cake at some point during the trip.

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Char was curious about the Princess Breakfast Adventures, but that wasn't in the cards for this trip.

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No time to enjoy one of my favorite places in the Grand.... the Hearth.

We're late, We're late for
A very important date.
No time to say hello, good-bye,
We're late, We're late, We're late

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On the way through DTD, spotted another of the hidden eggs. We really should have carved out the time to do all the hunts. Oh well... I should book 5 days at all times...

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Early morning is my absolute FAVORITE time at the DLR. The night crews are just finishing up from their tasks of beautifying the parks prior to open, and there's just something magical about the twilight hour right before the sun peaks above the horizon...

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We were rewarded with a relatively empty DCA EMH queue despite it being relatively late for an EMH to start queueing. Guess we weren't so late after all.

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Charlotte and I took the time to check out the empty Esplanade, and wandered over to DL to snap a pic by the gate.

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Nothing like an EMPTY Esplanade to run..

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Back into the queue, Amy snapped some pics of one of my favorite shirts. It would get a lot of compliments today.

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Finally, we were ready to go while the chosen family of the day does the count-down. We've been up front at the gates on both sides of the Esplanade so many times, but we've never been picked. One of these days I hope....

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The park was now open and Char shot off like a rocket. She moved those short little legs pretty quick this trip. I was seriously impressed.

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She may have broke into a run at the end to get a pic with Stanley while we waited for Amy to catch up.

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We ended up letting a family slip in front of us as a result, but no biggie!! Second family on Racers is still the first of the day!!

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This is for all the lurkers... more pics, less pics, kill this TR, keep it going, what do you want?

Keep doing what you are doing! Living vicariously through your trip reports. We, too, usually go for Dapper Days, but not this April, sadly. Planning for fall, but that is So far away!
 
We followed the CM, and the family in front of us down the path, and were loaded into our own car for our race. Charlotte pretended to be driving from the middle seat.

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The rock work never gets old.

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Wish they would put the lighting a little higher in the show building. Unless you are riding at night, the transition from bright sun to dark ride, you miss so many details.

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Love me some tractor tippin'

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Watch out for Frank though!!!

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Getting Mater jumping the moon is always a challenge.

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Radiator Springs is so great, and the interior show building captures it perfectly. I wish they would do a Lizzy, Sally, and Doc meet and greet like they do for the Red, Lightening, and Mater.

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Red does a good job watering those taillights.

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Since I'm never in pics, here's one of me...LOL.

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How many times have I ridden this attraction and I've never noticed the "Fettuccini Alfredo" banner? Notice something new nearly every time.

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And we are off!!!

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AND WE WON!

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We turned right back around after the exit, and headed back for another run at it. We practically walked back on. I found a hidden mickey in Char's hair while waiting for the car to come around.

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If this is how she's gonna drive, I'm scared!!

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Mack is always going the wrong way...

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And those tractors... still love them

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Hey....Imagineers.... WHEN IS THE SMOKING RING GONNA COME BACK?

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Mater is still at it... doesn't he ever get tired?

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Loved these paint samples..

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Ramon directing the paint robots..

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Char having a blast!!

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We didn't win this time, but it was a good race!!

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After Racers, we were still in our Magic Hour... It was ONLY 7:30, and time to head over to the IncrediCoaster!!

Charlotte was on cloud 9 after two trips on Racers.

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On the bridge over Paradise Pier, (Ahem... now Pixar Pier), a CM was standing over a spilled drink taking photos of passersby. We took them up on their inconvenient situation.

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Keep doing what you are doing! Living vicariously through your trip reports. We, too, usually go for Dapper Days, but not this April, sadly. Planning for fall, but that is So far away!

Thank you!! Glad I can supply some Disney between your trips. We are likely only going to be back next Fall since this Fall is Amy and My solo trip for a single day to do 21 Royal, and then the whole family is off to Aulani!!!
 
Thank you!! Glad I can supply some Disney between your trips. We are likely only going to be back next Fall since this Fall is Amy and My solo trip for a single day to do 21 Royal, and then the whole family is off to Aulani!!!

That sounds like fun! I am looking forward to those trip reports too!
 
Warning!! If you are made queasy by rollercoasters, stop reading now... This entire post will be the Incredicoaster....

So we literally walked on the Incredicoaster. AND... got our favorite seats... at the VERY BACK... It's so much faster feeling in the last row. While I miss Doogie Howser giving the spiel, the new one does pretty well. Attraction feels faster also.

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Love this view of the Fun Wheel of DEATH in the morning.

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And this view of the parks CANNOT BE BEAT!!

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DUCK!! That girder looks awfully close to me.

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Up we go!!

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Down we come!!

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Hidden Mickeys!!

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Love this view of the Grand!! Can see the Grand's DCA observation patio too.

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The bay looks so peaceful!

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That's a lot of Jack Jacks!!

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Charlotte seems unimpressed.

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And do we need to get out of the ride vehicle? NOPE!!! Nobody was waiting!

Love this vista.

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And this one.

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Up and over we go AGAIN

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Don't know that I've ever shot this particular frame before...

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It really is the happiest place on Earth.

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Leading up to that precarious drop. I'd honestly be curious to see how much room is between the top of the ride vehicle and this girder.

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Up we go again..

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And over we go... again...

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Char was much happier this time...

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One last time... still no need to get out...

I do love EXTRA MAGIC HOUR!!!

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It never disappoints.

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I love reading your trip reports. I need to ask about that last post
How in the world did you take photos while on the incredicoaster? Did you use your cell phone? I'm always so worried about dropping stuff on rides that I never take ride photos. How do you do it??
 

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