Day 1 – March 30, 2017 – Part 1
It has been a while since I posted an update to my Disney trip reports with everything going on lately with work and family things. IT was time to get away for a while and what better place to go is to the
Disneyland Resort during the Disney California Adventure Food & Wine Festival.
This trip was a last second trip in which I was originally planning on coming down with my dad to go to his friend place. But it changed since he has a planned trip that is going on right now which is good so I can go by myself and enjoy being away from home.
It is nice to have the DCA F&W Festival back at DCA since it stopped in 2010 and returned last year. I went with DAW last year and this time it was just me which is not crazy since I have done a lot of solo trips to the DLR. My last one was back in October which I barely spent a few hours. But this time it will be four days in SoCal.
I started my travel to my grandmother’s house in Livingston on Wednesday night so I can get ahead start to SoCal which saves me 1 ½ hours of driving from Sacramento to Livingston and it would take me about 5 hours to get to Anaheim from Livingston.
At 7am the next day, I started the long 5 hour drive to Anaheim through heavy traffic on Highway 99 to I-5 to Anaheim. The first thing I did was head on over to the Mickey and Friends Parking lot which was quite crowded that afternoon around 1pm. I knew that it was going to be very busy at the DLR with Spring Break crowds on all the days but this was the best time for me to get away.
When I got to the park, I didn’t bring my equipment with me so I can go through the security gate quickly and try a few kiosks before I head on over to my hotel in Placentia which is about 15 minutes up north of the DLR.
The parks were crowded that day from getting into DL and DCA. But I head on over to DCA.
Before I went on over to the kiosks, I had to go to Paradise Garden in Paradise Pier in order to get my AP Sip & Savor lanyard. There was a special area for AP holders in order to get the lanyard as well as free stuff like the DCA F&W Festival buttons. It was a good thing I got since I get 8 tabs to choose from the kiosks (only for food and not for alchol). It costs $45 which is a lot for a lanyard but if you choose the more expensive dishes at the kiosks, you will save quite a lot of money. I actually did buy two lanyards which I was hesitant on the second one but it was well worth buying the second one.
The first kiosks that I have went to that day in the afternoon was Sweet & Sourdough kiosk which had the White Cheddar Lager Soup served in a Mini Boudin Sourdough Boule. This is a little different from last year’s cheese soup which didn’t have bacon in it. But it was still good.
White Cheddar Ale Soup with Bacon in a Boudin Sourough Mini-Boule
After finishing that, I head on over to the Bacon Twist kiosk which had the Smoked Bacon Mac & Cheese with Barbecue-Seasoned Crispy Onions. The Mac & Cheese was one of my favorites during the DCA F&W Festival. Unfortunately I got it once since I wanted to try the others.
After I finished the Mac & Cheese, it was time for me to head on out of the parks and head to my hotel in Placentia. Some of you returnees wonder why I was staying at Placentia instead of staying right across the street from the DLR. I wanted at first to stay right across the street but the prices of the hotels were so high which ranged from $180 the cheapest right across the street during Spring Break. So I went with another alternative route and chose to stay away from the DLR. It did save me a few hundred dollars but it did cost me a lot of time which you will find out shortly.
I stayed at a Best Western hotel in Placentia which I have stayed in the past and it is way nice over the other four BW hotels that are right by the DLR from BW Park Place Inn, Anaheim Inn, Stovall’s Inn and Pavilions.
After I got settled in my room and rested after that long drive from NorCal to SoCal, I left the hotel around 5pm and this was a mistake at first. The traffic going to the DLR was just crazy which the Mickey and Friends Parking Structure was already full and didn’t take any cars so I had to drive to the Toy Story parking area. It was quite a while since I have parked at the Toy Story lot and it shewed with the Spring Break crowds if the DLR is not letting any guest’s park at the Mickey and Friends structure.
When I parked my car, there was at least over 200 people waiting to get on the Toy Story Bus to the DLR which was crazy. So I just walked to the DLR which is way better over waiting for a Bus.
It was around 7:00pm I got in at the park which was kind of late that day but I was able to get in with no problem at DCA. It was quite busy that night which some queues for specific kiosks had at least over 30 people in line.
The first kiosk that I went that night was at the LA Style at Hollywood Land which was the only kiosk in that land. I had to get the Chicken Teriyaki Slider with Spicy DOLE Pineapple Jam. This was another one that I liked during the event which I had to get a second time.
Later that night, I knew that Alison
@franandaj was at the park that night along with DISer
@Steppesister and so I had to say hello to them.
They were waiting for the fireworks that night at the Hub so I had to stop by and see them. It was my first time meeting
@Steppesister and we all had a nice talked that night.
After the talk was done, I decided to head back to my hotel since I was quite tired that day. So I barely stayed at the parks for about an hour and a half which was quite short and it didn’t make sense for me to go just for a less than 2 hours. But it was nice to see Alison and meet Steppesister at DL.
It was easy to take the bus back to the Toy Story lot over getting to the DLR from the Toy Story lot and I got back to the hotel at Placentia around 9:30pm and called it for the night.
I wasn’t there that long and didn’t take too many pictures which was kind of unusual for me but it was nice to get my lanyard that afternoon and try three different dishes at the DCA F&W Festival. But I had a fun time talking to Alison and Steppesister that night at DL. Meeting them at the park was great and hopefully in the near future that our trips might cross one day.