"That's not supposed to be HERE!" A WDW Native's First Trek West! ~ New 8/13!

[elphie101]

Cool, I had no idea that Splash Mountain was different at disneyland. I'll have to look for the differences! And I'm one of the that miss the Mr. Toad ride at Disney world. But I love the Winnie the Pooh ride so at least it's an acceptable exchange in my mind

I love Pooh too! DL's version of Pooh is different too (but that's me getting ahead of myself).

Splash felt drastically different at parts - at it's core it was the same scenes/songs/characters but with the addition of a few scenes/songs and without some of the extra drops and dips - I would say it's at least 6-8 minutes shorter (and you know Splash is a pretty long ride itself once you get in the log at WDW!)

Ahhhhhh...there's MY Haunted Mansion!!!!!

Love it!

And it was a BEAUTY!! Haunted Mansion especially was something that was more exciting BECAUSE it was so different - almost like you wouldn't expect a house that looks like that to be haunted - but obviously we had our suspicions going in


****

Hi all! And here I was hoping to come in with an update today I've been trying to update mainly while at work, since Kevin and I are MOVING OUT next week (!!!) and my home hours are pretty much dedicated to packing, packing, sleeping and packing, but work has been getting steadily busy lately as the school year is about to start (I'm in college admissions). I promise to bring you an update by the weekend at the VERY latest! Thank you all for reading!

 

[elphie101]

After some grim grinning ghosts we trekked back to the land of the future to the one, the only (well, not only) Space Mountain!


California 2013 126 by elphie101, on Flickr

Based on my time stamp of this photo, we were still a few minutes early for our FastPasses, so we headed into the shop to poke around. Kevin and I are HUUUUUGE Vinylmation collectors, so we were eager to see what Disneyland had to offer that WDW hadn't had when we had been there back in January.


California 2013 127 by elphie101, on Flickr


California 2013 128 by elphie101, on Flickr


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Time to head in! Clearly we had bought something..........most likely some Vinylmation, knowing us.


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I'm telling you, I don't think there's a bad way to photograph the Matterhorn!


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Holy 2-seater rocket Batman!


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The verdict: it was different, but IT WAS AWESOME!! We both appreciate thrill rides a lot, and we thought Space Mountain was amazing! As you can tell by our redneck ride photo:


California 2013 136 by elphie101, on Flickr
Consider us won over!

It was now about 7:00pm, but to us it felt like 10:00pm, and we were utterly spent. It was still our departure day after all! We decided to take a leisurely monorail ride so that we could stroll through Downtown Disney on our way out, and grab a bite to eat at Fairfield Inn's Pizza Hut when we got back (which Kevin had been very excited to see).


California 2013 137 by elphie101, on Flickr
It amused me how obviously this building used to hold the Carousel of Progress (since it was one of "my" rides back at WDW)


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While waiting for the monorail - probably one of my favorite photos from the whole trip!


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California 2013 140 by elphie101, on Flickr
There's my Carousel!

The monorail came and we hopped on board, waving to our hotel as we passed by, and before we knew it we were both getting our very first glimpse at California Adventure.


California 2013 141 by elphie101, on Flickr
I tried to take more photos as we went closer to the actual park, but none of them came out very good.


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All of a sudden we were in the Grand Californian, which was exciting to see - I would simply love to stay here some day, and Kevin really liked the themeing, as his favorite hotel in WDW is Wilderness Lodge.

We got off the monorail and made our way through Downtown Disney, just taking our time and getting to know the place. It was a gorgeous night for a stroll, the weather was simply perfect and the sun was setting in such a beautiful way (which I appreciate so much more in hindsight; as I said before the weather definitely went downhill after our arrival day).


California 2013 143 by elphie101, on Flickr


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We didn't do too much shopping since we were pretty tired and knew we would be back, but we had to poke into D Street (aka Vinylmation headquarters), and knowing me I probably made the first of many window-shopping trips here:


California 2013 147 by elphie101, on Flickr


California 2013 148 by elphie101, on Flickr
I love how the Grand Californian is literally in the middle everything, in a way that no hotel in Florida really is


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California 2013 150 by elphie101, on Flickr
Buh-bye California Adventure - we'll see ya tomorrow!

As soon as we got back onto Harbor Boulevard, our energy levels definitely crashed without the Disney magic to keep it going. We trudged back to the Fairfield Inn, and ordered some dinner for ourselves at the Pizza Hut.


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Exhaustion: The Photo


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A small selection of the snacks available at the Pizza Hut location - for the trip report of course!


California 2013 153 by elphie101, on Flickr
Your menu options. Kevin got a cheese pizza for himself, I got an order of breadsticks.

We carried our food back to our room, where it was delicious and perfect for the moment (sorry no pictures!) and then we promptly fell asleep. By the time we actually got to bed, we had been up over 21 hours, so no alarms were set that night. We had quite the full day ahead of us!

Coming up next: A first time park for both of us! Where will we eat breakfast? Will Jenn remember to take photos? When will we ride Radiator Springs Racers? Just how much park crossing will we actually do? Tune in next time!

 

[cardramblues]

Love the trip report! We are also WDW vets making our first trek out to the Mother Land in Feb. I know you stressed about picking a hotel, we are kind of doing the same now as well (with 2 kids). Sounds like you were happy with the Fairfield, anywhere else you recommend after seeing it live? Also, don't be shy about offering advice, would love to hear any tips here or there that you happen to think of.

Otherwise, keep it coming!

 

[luulu1999]

Love the trip report! We are also WDW vets making our first trek out to the Mother Land in Feb. I know you stressed about picking a hotel, we are kind of doing the same now as well (with 2 kids). Sounds like you were happy with the Fairfield, anywhere else you recommend after seeing it live? Also, don't be shy about offering advice, would love to hear any tips here or there that you happen to think of.

Otherwise, keep it coming!

Im not the OP but we are looking into the Stanford inn and suites really good prices its a longer walk but has the ART and from what I have been told is within walking distance to the toy story lot where you can ride the tram for free

 

[elphie101]

Love the trip report! We are also WDW vets making our first trek out to the Mother Land in Feb. I know you stressed about picking a hotel, we are kind of doing the same now as well (with 2 kids). Sounds like you were happy with the Fairfield, anywhere else you recommend after seeing it live? Also, don't be shy about offering advice, would love to hear any tips here or there that you happen to think of.

Otherwise, keep it coming!

It's so hard to say, since we didn't obviously see the inside of any other rooms/hotels or deal with their employees. The only other hotel we interacted with was the Tropicana (which I've heard good things about) when we stopped there on our way to the parks so Kevin could buy his morning Mountain Dew (since Pepsi products aren't sold on Disney property), and the clerk in their convenience store seemed friendly enough. We really wanted a hotel that we would be walking from in order to get the exercise, and not to be using a shuttle.

I realize I didn't mention it earlier, but the biggest factor I think in our selection of Fairfield Inn was the fact that one of my good friends/former FL roommate stayed there previously and came back with positive remarks. While I do love the reports and reviews from the DIS, her report was definitely the deciding factor.

Hope that's of some help! Good luck with your search!

 

[elphie101]

When we eventually passed out the night before, we were determined to sleep in. Even though we were planning our day at California Adventure (and thus doing the Radiator Springs mad-dash that morning) we were utterly exhausted from our full travel/park day and wanted to let our bodies rest and recuperate.

I opened my eyes at 5:45am. Damn you EDT body clock!

I thought about going back to sleep, but seeing as I had slept close to 9 hours I felt rested enough. Since Kevin was still passed out, I decided it was a good time for one of my new favorite vacation activities: taking early morning photos. When we went to WDW last June, I had also woken up far earlier than Kevin one morning, so I walked around Pop Century at sunrise and took photos that ended up being some of my favorites from the whole trip. I wrote Kevin a note just in case he woke up, then grabbed my camera, phone, and room key and left.


California 2013 154 by elphie101, on Flickr
The sun was just starting to rise it was so early - and threw me off as for some reason, I was expecting it to rise from the other direction (even though I knew we were east of Disneyland.....hooray for geography!)


California 2013 155 by elphie101, on Flickr
As you can see, it was still fairly dark on the DLR side of the street


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For reference, that's the Camelot Inn & Suites on the left, and the top of Paradise Pier in the distance on the right

I gave my mom a call to catch up with her (since it was about 9:00am back home) and after speaking with her for a few minutes I decided that since I wasn't able to see much of the parks from the third floor to take the elevator to the top level in hopes of seeing more.

This was a very, very good idea!


California 2013 161 by elphie101, on Flickr


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You could see all of the tallest structures in California Adventure all lit up, plus Paradise Pier, the Disneyland Hotel, even the top of the Grand Californian (though it may be hard to tell - look near the Soarin rooftop!) If anyone is interested in the Camelot Inn & Suites, you can also see their elevated pool in the photos. This was also when I discovered I had a panoramic setting on my camera, as you can tell

There wasn't as much to see over in the Disneyland side (Space Mountain, the Matterhorn, and the crane being used in the Big Thunder refurb) but I had to take a photo for symmetry's sake:


California 2013 169 by elphie101, on Flickr

There's also an unofficial hidden Mickey that you are able to spot from the higher levels of the Fairfield Inn - I don't want to give away the surprise, but if you find yourself staying/visiting the Fairfield, make sure you travel up and look out from the hallway!

Having taken about 40 photos of the skyline of California Adventure, I decided to return to the room, where Kevin was up. We discussed what we wanted to do for breakfast, thinking about trying the make-you-own waffles that the Pizza Hut Grab-n-Go (not real location name) offered down the hall from us. I was itching to eat more Disney food (shocking I know) so I pulled up menus and hours online to check out some of our options in Downtown Disney. Nothing was open till around 8:00am, which was when we wanted to be in line at the turnstiles, with one exception: Whitewater Snacks at the Grand Californian. They opened at 7:00am, and they had Mickey waffles. Why have waffles at your hotel when you are a 10 minute walk away from Mickey waffles? We were sold!

All dressed and ready to go, we set out for Downtown Disney!


California 2013 174 by elphie101, on Flickr
Sheesh, maybe I should have slept a little later.......but this photo merits posting as it is the first appearance of the ears! (If you don't count my intro photo from the first post.......which frankly I forgot about till now!)

We set off down Harbor Blvd and under the Disneyland gate, when we suddenly realized a small problem we hadn't thought of - it was still over an hour and a half before the parks opened to the non-Disney hotel guests who would be using our entrance, and there was already a small line of people waiting to be let through bag check and security. We had no other way to get across to Downtown Disney (that wasn't walking around the park - talk about inconvenient). For whatever reason I was convinced they wouldn't let us through, but Kevin asked if we could pass to go eat breakfast at Grand Californian - and they let us in! Point for Kevin Thanks to our early entry status, we were able to get some great shots of an almost-empty entry plaza.


California 2013 175 by elphie101, on Flickr
Soon to be mobbed I'm sure!


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California 2013 177 by elphie101, on Flickr
If I had a pirate name, they'd call me Shadow Long Legs


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California 2013 179 by elphie101, on Flickr

We walked into the Grand Californian and after we figured out which way to go, came into the lobby. We were absolutely floored - this is a Disney hotel for sure!


California 2013 180 by elphie101, on Flickr


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This was where I could see how it's the sister hotel to the Grand Floridian as opposed to the Wilderness Lodge despite their design similarities - that floor is unmistakeable


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The utterly beautiful front desk


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Man, would I love to stay here someday! We made our way back outside to Whitewater Snacks.


California 2013 186 by elphie101, on Flickr
If you're anything like me, the hotel pool is a very important part of your vacation (even though we never made it to Fairfield's), so here's a shot of the GC's - though what you aren't seeing is the locked gate I stuck my camera through in order to get an unobstructed shot


California 2013 187 by elphie101, on Flickr
The rooms above Storyteller's Cafe

We got to Whitewater Snacks and placed our order - 2 orders of Mickey waffles, plus a coffee for me and a milk for Kevin - then grabbed a seat. I love how they bring your food right to you!


California 2013 188 by elphie101, on Flickr


California 2013 189 by elphie101, on Flickr


California 2013 190 by elphie101, on Flickr
From All Ears: "Mickey" Waffle - with maple syrup and lightly sprinkled with powdered sugar. $5.99/Coffee - Regular or Decaf $2.79/Milk - $2.49

Based on the description we were both expecting one big Mickey waffle, so we were slightly surprised to see four mini waffles - but they were delicious! Hot and fresh, super fluffy, and perfectly filling. I also munched on a few of mine and Kevin's grapes, and we declared this a breakfast to repeat!

It was now just about 8:00am, an hour before California Adventure's official opening time, which meant it was time to head back to the turnstiles. Let the waiting game begin!

Coming up next: Will Radiator Springs open on time? Will we get decent FastPasses for it?

 

[Chaitali]

I love the early morning photos! I have a habit of doing that on vacation too. And thanks for the tip on breakfast at the Grand Californian. Sounds like a good plan.

 

[TexasErin]

I just wanted to say that I am loving your trip report. Great writing and I love your pictures. We're surprising the kids by going to DLR instead of WDW next year. I have learned so much from your report. Thank you for taking the time to do it!

 

[Belle83]

Great pictures! I just got back from Disneyland and also ended up with way more pictures of the Matterhorn than the castle.

 

[heaven2dc]

Having fun reading your TR! It's fun to live it through a CM's eyes (which I still wish I could be one day!) - and fun that you did what I did when I visited DL for the first time this summer (as a California passholder) which is enjoy the differences instead of comparing them to WDL.

Loved the early morning pics you took So neat that you got to go through the gates to get to your breakfast of Mickey waffles

 

[elphie101]

I love the early morning photos! I have a habit of doing that on vacation too. And thanks for the tip on breakfast at the Grand Californian. Sounds like a good plan.

I would 1000% recommend a Grand Californian breakfast - I'm hankering to go back and try it again, because since we've gotten back I've realized how DELICIOUS eggs are, and that opens SO many menus options! (I'm looking at you breakfast burrito)

I just wanted to say that I am loving your trip report. Great writing and I love your pictures. We're surprising the kids by going to DLR instead of WDW next year. I have learned so much from your report. Thank you for taking the time to do it!

Thank you so much!! So glad to be of any help! I'm sure if they love WDW they'll adore DLR just as much!

Great pictures! I just got back from Disneyland and also ended up with way more pictures of the Matterhorn than the castle.

Thanks!! It's just so hard NOT to photograph - especially in pretty sunset lighting!

Having fun reading your TR! It's fun to live it through a CM's eyes (which I still wish I could be one day!) - and fun that you did what I did when I visited DL for the first time this summer (as a California passholder) which is enjoy the differences instead of comparing them to WDL.

Loved the early morning pics you took So neat that you got to go through the gates to get to your breakfast of Mickey waffles

Hello and You know it's never too late to join WDW! I have the door open in the back of my mind that someday I'll retire to Orlando and return to the parks - one day or another I'll be back! I think DBF and I both knew that if we focused on what was different from "our" parks in a way of looking at what was missing or left out instead of appreciating all the new experiences we were able to have - especially regarding things that were as they were during Walt's time - that we wouldn't be using our trip to it's full potential!

***

Hello all! I can't tell you how excited I am to see people following along! I had the thought that I would be able to get another update in over the long weekend - but since Kevin and I moved into our own apartment this weekend life has been CRAZY busy with unpacking and making various grocery/Target runs Oh the joys of starting out new! I promise to come back with an update (or maybe two) this week, as the two of us will be headed to WDW in 11 days and I want to get the bulk of this report done by then!

Thank you all again so much for following along, and tune in next time for another update!

 

[elphie101]

Our bellies full of Mickey waffles, we set out for our just-under-an-hour wait in front of California Adventure to head to Cars Land with the masses.


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Waiting to catch the monorail going through….


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Action shot!


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Just after 8 AM, the gates at Disneyland (which had extra morning hours) –


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And the California gates – we liked the looks of these crowds much better!


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Based on my pictures, they let us through the gates around 9:20/9:30 – we got held up behind a few families taking photos for their tickets, but pretty soon we were booking it down Buena Vista street with everybody else.

We (ok I) had made the decision to try the famous ‘Wide Right’ technique I read about on the boards, even though there was the risk of a delayed opening on Radiator Springs. The thought of getting multiple rides in was just too tempting to pass up. So we made our way to the very tip-top right corner of the rope blocking our way to Cars Land – as wide and as right as we could go!


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California 2013 198 by elphie101, on Flickr
The road ahead! You can see the queue for RSR Fastpasses on the left of the picture – when they let us into the park they made the announcement that anyone wishing to get FPs first time should stay to the left down Buena Vista Street, where there were CMs helping to structure the FP line.

Sure enough, with a little time left to wait a CM came over and announced that RSR would not be opening on time, and inviting anyone who wanted to to join the Fastpass line. Having been on the other side of a ride not opening on time, I told Kevin we would just wait it out to see if it opened slightly after the park did, and we could always grab FPs early enough in the day to ride again in the afternoon - or even at night. I was obsessed with the idea of riding at night, since I heard nothing but great things about seeing Cars Land lit up while on the ride. 15 minutes before rope drop, this was the scene behind us:


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Oh thank you Eastern Body Clock for forcing us to be morning people at DLR! For reference, the people standing under the covered walkway are in the FP line.

9:00 am came.......and we were off! Merrily marching down the street at a barely-slowed walk, with CMs helping us keep our pace (with that "Don't Even Think About Running" pixie dusted smile) as we turned down Route 66. +1000 points to the Imagineers on this one - Cars Land looks AMAZING!

A line of RSR CMs were waiting for us between Luigi's and Ramone's to prevent us from going any further down the street while the ride had not yet opened, and (politely) made it clear that standing in front of them was not going to be allowed. So in an effort to kill time, we started taking pictures of the area. Red was out to be photographed (though I don't know if that was a typical occurrence to just to calm the non-RSR riding masses).


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California 2013 202 by elphie101, on Flickr

If we're going to be waiting around anyway - we might as well ride something! So (again, wanting to stay in the area) we hopped onto Luigi's Flying Tires.


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We breezed through the queue pretty quickly, which was a shame as it was so cute - I imagine there's lots to keep you busy if you have a longer wait - and spent no more than a few minutes (approx. one ride cycle) in the little holding pen waiting our turn.


California 2013 207 by elphie101, on Flickr


California 2013 208 by elphie101, on Flickr

We were let loose onto our tire and did our best to hover around. I think this ride definitely works better if you aren't trying to fit two adult (or adult-sized) people in one tire together - we noticed the tires of children or Adult + Child were moving far faster than we were; we just weighed too much. We thought it was cute and if we had more time/some smaller travel companions to divy up our ridership we probably would have returned.


California 2013 209 by elphie101, on Flickr
Lightning was meeting in front of the Cozy Cone (periodically changed out with Mater)

We got in line for Mater's Junkyard Jamboree before Kevin decided it was too much of a kiddie ride, and while I did have a 'RIDE ALL THE RIDES' quest in the back of my head I had to agree with him. So we milled about the area a bit, torn. I decided to compromise when we saw on our wait times app that Tower of Terror had almost no wait and hey, it was close by. We could ride the Tower then come back and check on RSR. So we made our way to Hollywood Land by way of Bugs Land.


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Cute little billboards in style of both lands!


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A Bug's Land has some fantastic themeing - I tell you if we had been with kids who were at all interested in the kinds of rides they offer we would have spent a ton of time here. As it is we walked through it so many %@#& times to get to other areas of the park it felt like we spent more time there than anywhere else!

In no time we made it to the Hollywood Tower Hotel and decided to see if any rooms were available.


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California 2013 215 by elphie101, on Flickr
They really ought to speak to their housekeepers here...


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I LOVE the boiler room in DL's version - so big and vast and not as cramped as the WDW one can seem sometimes


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Hooray for redneck ride photos!

Verdict was: a grand old time! Enough so that when we got out of the ride and saw that FPs were less than an hour out (and knowing that a good number of CA's Fastpasses were disconnected) we decided to grab a set!


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California 2013 220 by elphie101, on Flickr

I loved LOVED the trolley, it was just the cutest thing ever!

Having satisfied our thrill ride adrenaline rush for the time being, we decided to head back to Cars Land to check on everyone's favorite late-starter.

Coming up next: Will RSR be open? Will be make better use of our Fastpass usage?

 

[DHSbutcher]

Hello! Fellow WDW CM here. Were headed out to DL next week! I was wondering what kind of trouble they gave you at the front gate getting in with your tickets? Noticed you mentioned this back on page one or something! And also in FL at studios, they serve buffalo chicken nuggets at Backlot Express, just so you know for your next visit

 

[DHSbutcher]

Hello! Fellow WDW CM here. Were headed out to DL next week! I was wondering what kind of trouble they gave you at the front gate getting in with your tickets? Noticed you mentioned this back on page one or something! And also in FL at studios, they serve buffalo chicken nuggets at Backlot Express, just so you know for your next visit

 

[elphie101]

Hello! Fellow WDW CM here. Were headed out to DL next week! I was wondering what kind of trouble they gave you at the front gate getting in with your tickets? Noticed you mentioned this back on page one or something! And also in FL at studios, they serve buffalo chicken nuggets at Backlot Express, just so you know for your next visit

Hello! I literally JUST found out about the buffalo nuggets at Backlot Express after I posted my most recent update - something I will 10% be trying on my next trip.

We had a bit of a kerfuffle at the turnstiles only because of not using the correct phrasing of how many we were - I don't remember exactly what was said, something along the lines of "me plus one" instead of "2 of us" or something silly like that!

 

[DHSbutcher]

Hello! I literally JUST found out about the buffalo nuggets at Backlot Express after I posted my most recent update - something I will 10% be trying on my next trip.

We had a bit of a kerfuffle at the turnstiles only because of not using the correct phrasing of how many we were - I don't remember exactly what was said, something along the lines of "me plus one" instead of "2 of us" or something silly like that!

OH okay great glad to hear it wasn't too big of a deal!! Now that they just switched our maingates I have no idea what to do, but I'm just bringing everything! And yes those buffalo nuggets are pretty good! I'd recommend sauce on the side instead of having them tossed but their perfect if you're craving them!!

 

[luulu1999]

yaay can't wait to find out about RSR

 

[elphie101]

OH okay great glad to hear it wasn't too big of a deal!! Now that they just switched our maingates I have no idea what to do, but I'm just bringing everything! And yes those buffalo nuggets are pretty good! I'd recommend sauce on the side instead of having them tossed but their perfect if you're craving them!!

I would also chose sauce on the side, since that's how they are served at DLR - perfection!

yaay can't wait to find out about RSR

Just in time! Update coming up next

 

[elphie101]

Kevin and I set off back through A Bug's Land to see if Radiator Spring Racers had opened yet. In my head I had visions of a chain dropping in front of the entrance as we walked up to it, and us being able to walk right on the ride, and perhaps experience it a second time before the line grew too long.

Yeah. Can we blame time-zone exhaustion on this one?

The human barricade of CMs was gone from the area, but there were still a few mulling about letting people know that yes, RSR was still down. Poopie.

It was nearing 10 AM at this point, and Kevin was starting to get nervous that my game of Wait-for-an-RSR-FastPass-Return-After-Sundown chicken would result in us missing out the ride entirely, so I threw in my towel and we went off to join the line (still down on Buena Vista Street!) to grab our FPs.


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As you can see based on the little time stamp on the bottom right of the FastPass, we pulled these 4 minutes before 10:00am, in the first hour of park opening, on a non-EMH day. Make of that what you will!

Satisfied that we would at least be riding RSR at some point, it suddenly dawned on me that we had yet to grab our FPs for World of Color that evening. It was the only show of the night, and since I had the next three nights mentally reserved for Remember Dreams Come True (in the event they were canceled because of weather) I wanted to make sure we could see WoC tonight. So we headed over to get our first glimpse of the Paradise Pier area as we made our way down to Grizzly River Run.


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At this point we were now holding FPs for Tower of Terror (10:15-11:15), Radiator Springs Racers (4:35-5:35) and World of Color (9:15 show). But why stop there?

I knew that historically California Screamin was a disconnected ride, so I suggested that we head over to see if we could get FPs for it and, if not, we could always grab them after a few more minutes when our ToT window opened up. Guess what?


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It's been a while since I held 4 FastPasses at once! (Yes, I know WoC 'technically' doesn't count.........but it does to help me make my point!).

Now at this point, we could have headed over to Tower of Terror to use our FPs, but we had been in the park for an hour already and spent the majority of it on that side of the park. Our attention was drawn a little ways down the Pier, at a ride we recognized.

Toy Story Midway Mania. Wait Time: 30 minutes.

I must point out again at this point in the TR that Kevin and I are seasoned WDW-travelers. At this point in the day in Florida, TSM would realistically have at least a 60 minute wait, more likely 80 minutes. So to us, this was a no brainer.


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California 2013 227 by elphie101, on Flickr


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The wait was definitely a true 30-40 minutes, but I have to say standing in the sun, weaving in and out of the queue umbrellas it felt longer. I have to give the edge to WDW here, our queue is AWESOME. And air-conditioned.

On the brightest and best side, the ride itself is still the same, and we still loved it. And just like in Florida, Kevin still beat me.


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I can always claim better accuracy though!

We had about 20 minutes left in our FP window, so we headed back over to Tower of Terror to ride. Then, based on our preview FP, I'm going to say we headed BACK over to the Pier for our ride on California Screamin' (sorry all, if I haven't mentioned before I'm basing this TR solely off my photos and not on notes, so if I didn't have photos.......it gets a little fuzzy). We both enjoyed Screamin', and said we would ride it again - but somehow it was never a high enough priority that we made it back.

Once we were off the coaster, we were HUNGRY. Lunchtime was at hand! After having pre-reviewed the area menus the night before for Kevin-friendly restaurants, I suggested Boardwalk Pizza & Pasta, as it was nearby and got decent reviews on the boards. Kevin heard 'Pizza' and 'Pasta' and was all in.

We headed over to the restaurant and made our selections; for any CA newbies like me, Boardwalk P&P is set up where all the dishes are set out for you to grab, under hot lamps. Additionally, there was a little draft beer station, besides your usual soft drinks. Kevin grabbed a cheese pizza, and I assumed I would do so as well - and then I saw it.

The Chicken & Sun-Dried Tomato Pasta.

At the time, I wasn't huge on chunks of tomatoes, or sun-dried tomatoes in general (now I love them) but something about it just looked so delicious. So I decided to give it a try. We both also decided it was too far in our vacation to not have an adult beverage, so we grabbed a Bud Light (me) and a Peroni (Kevin). It was nice to see that not only did they card us when they poured our drafts, but also when we paid.


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From AllEars: Chicken Sun-Dried Tomato Pasta - Campanelle Pasta lightly tossed with Sun-Dried Tomato Cream Sauce. $9.49/Cheese Flatbread Pizza - $7.99/Bud Light - $5.75/Peroni - $7.00

Our review: Kevin loved his pizza. He even said that he usually doesn't like flatbreads and stays away from them, but this was the best flatbread he had ever had.

What can I say about my pasta. It was, hands down, 100000% over the moon and back the best thing I ate all trip. Period. End of story. I can't even tell you what exactly was so good about it, it was just simply divine. It made me want to sing and skip down the streets singing it's praises. Maybe I'm crazy, but to me it was THAT. GOOD. I insisted Kevin try it (even though he doesn't like tomatoes either - there were no chunks in this pasta) and he agreed it was amazing and would get it himself next time.

Long story short: do your vacation a favor and try this pasta. It was heavenly.

Once we came down from Food Cloud 10, we decided it was time to grab another FastPass, and picked something new to us and close by:


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We were 40 minutes out from riding at that point, so we wandered back up the Pier to do some browsing in the shops and to model some ridiculous hats.


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Some of the cutest California Adventure souvies


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Look at that cutie!


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Trolley-conductor Jenn!

Since we had about 20 minutes to kill, we decided to hop on Mickey's Fun Wheel before we went to use our FPs - and, thrill seekers that we are, we chose a swinging gondola. The wait was only about 15 minutes.


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Up up and away!


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Don't these photos look familiar to you?

Now let me reiterate for you: we are thrill-seekers. My favorite part of a roller coaster is that feeling as you go down a drop of your stomach leaping up into your throat.

We DID NOT like the swinging gondolas on Mickey's Fun Wheel. In fact, we referred to it for the rest of the trip (and to this day) as Mickey's Death Wheel because of it.

To us, the sliding and swinging made us both feel very insecure, because you are swinging ALL over the place - and as I keep saying, we LOVE thrill rides! Being over water didn't help much either, and while the views were spectacular, I was way too nervous to fully enjoy them. I still say you should try it for yourself if you are at all interested, but if anyone in your family is even on the fence about thrill rides (or heights in general) stick with the non-swinging gondola. That side usually has a shorter wait time from what we observed.

After we got off the Death Wheel, I made a case to Kevin: I was completely exhausted. It was a little after 1:00pm but after our early morning and the pesky time change I felt dead on my feet. Plus it was far cooler than the day before and especially after being so high in the air, I was freezing and thought a change of pants were in order - we could come back in time for our RSR FastPasses later in the day. He agreed and we made our way out of the park, with one quick pit stop:

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Kevin grabbed himself a drink in one of the souvenir cone cups - so freaking cute! I wish I had a photo of it.

Even though I was essentially sleep-walking at this point, I still was dragging my feet to leave the park, so I took my time enjoying Buena Vista Street like we didn't get to that morning.


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CA's Partners Statue


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We'll be back real soon! Don't you worry!

I would say it was about 1:45/1:50 by the time we made it back to the room - and I promptly passed out right on the bed. Goodnight for now!!

Coming up next: Conquering Cars Land and California After Dark!


*****

Ok, life update! As I mentioned before in my last update, Kevin and I leave FRIDAY for a 3-night whirlwind trip to WDW with his parents. I highly doubt I'll have another update before then, though I may be able to squeeze one in tomorrow (I'll be home after an emergency dentist appointment - why do you always lose fillings right before a vacation? ) though that may just be wishful thinking. Either way, once we get back it'll be full steam ahead!

As always, all my thanks for sticking around and see ya real soon!

 

[Todd Lee]

I'm enjoying reading your trip report. Can't wait to read the next installment!