Disneyland Trip Report - Day 6

Sunday, June 2 … Today is our last day. And while it’s always sad to leave Disney, we’re content and got our Disney fix this week. Some people might think we’re crazy to buy a five day park hopper ticket for only two theme parks. But guess what? There were things we didn’t see or do!

We did a lot of packing the night before, so this morning we were able to sleep in a little compared to other days. We had 9am breakfast reservations at the Storyteller’s Café Woodland friends breakfast. It was nice being able to walk right downstairs, and have a filling breakfast buffet. The service was good, the ambience was woodsy, the food was yummy, and the characters were fun. Who can ask for more? The highlight of the food was the omelet station – that chef knew what he was doing!

We met several woodlands characters including Chip & Dale, Koda & Kenai from Brother Bear, and Meeka (Pocahontas). Sean even invited Chip to sit down and join us for breakfast. They also did a few camp songs led by Ranger Raeleen, and marched around the restaurant with the kids. Sean gobbled it up!

This was a great way to soak up more Disney magic on our last day without going into the parks.

After breakfast, we grabbed our bags in our room and headed down to the lobby. They stored our bags for us, including a few of our perishable items we had left in our fridge, and we called a cab to take us to church.

We went to 11am mass at St. Boniface which was a 10 minute drive. It was strange leaving the Disney bubble, especially when you turn out of the driveway from the resort and you’re back in a normal world. At WDW you would have to drive at least 10 minutes to get out of the bubble. Mass was good, and we’re glad we went. A perfect way to thank God for the blessing of being able to enjoy such a fabulous vacation.

After mass we called the cab company again, and they came back to pick us up. We gathered our bags from bell services, and munched on our leftover perishables for lunch in the lobby. I took an excursion to Downtown Disney to pick up some last minute souvenirs, and then our shuttle arrived at 1:30ish to take us to the airport.

Can you believe we almost went to the wrong airport? A Super Shuttle arrived and we didn’t check the sign in the window (that said it was headed to John Wayne airport). And the driver didn’t check our names. He packed our bags in the back, and then we were jostling for seats since the van was nearly packed and Sean had to sit in his booster seat. As we were jostling another guest showed up and asked the driver if he was heading to John Wayne airport, and he said yes. My eyes got as big as saucers and said, “we’re going to LAX!”. So we untangled ourselves and our bags from this van, and waited about 5 minutes for the RIGHT shuttle to arrive. This time we double and triple-checked we were in the right van! This van was empty which was nice – no jostling for position. The downside is we picked up several passengers from other hotels who had been at a conference. A multi-level marketing conference. Ugh! So for 45 minutes we had to hear a sales pitch. Not so fun.

Our flight was at 4pm, and between checking our bags, security, potty breaks, and grabbing a sandwich for the flight we didn’t have to wait much for boarding. The flight itself was uneventful. The downside of flying back from the west coast is you lose 2 hours, so we didn’t get home until midnight.

And then the next day I received a call at 10:30 reminding me I had a 10:30 appointment for Sean’s Kindergarten assessment. I completely forgot about it.

Welcome back to the real world!

Disneyland Trip Report - Day 5

Saturday, June 1 ... The last hurrah. Our last day in the parks. We were at the gates by 7:45am for early entry hours at Disneyland. I can’t emphasize enough how much you can get done in these first few hours in the morning. We saw 12 attractions/ride within 2 and a half hours. TWELVE! Amazing.

Here we are waiting for the rope drop at the end of Main Street.

We started at Peter Pan’s Flight. They were actually delayed in opening this ride, which was slightly aggravating since we wanted to maximize our time this morning. And they weren’t telling us much so it was hard to tell if it was just delayed OR broken down. Needless to say it opened within a few minutes.  And we enjoyed it – it’s very similar to the Florida version, although more intimate.

Next up was Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride. We were excited to experience this infamous dark ride, but quickly realized why it was sent to its grave down in Florida. I just didn’t get it, and neither did Sean. Call me a traitor but I’m thrilled that The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh took it’s place at WDW.

Photo courtesy of Disney's Photopass+

Our next stop was Alice in Wonderland. Another classic Disneyland attraction you won’t find down in Florida. It was marginally better than Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, and I’m glad we experienced it. I don’t think I’ve ever watched the movie so I don’t really know the story. Maybe I would have liked it better.

We moved over to Tomorrowland, and were able to walk right on Astro Orbitor. A classic, and fun to zoom around and around. Yet again I have to give a nod to the Florida version as I think it’s a ton more fun to be way up high as opposed to loading at ground level.

Photo courtesy of Disney's Photopass+

Photo courtesy of Disney's Photopass+

Finally, we were able to experience Star Tours – one of Jeff & Sean’s most favorite rides. I believe it is now identical to it’s Florida cousin. There are many different scenes you can experience, and this time we had a new one we’ve never seen before... but we can't remember what they were. Jeff thinks it was the pod race. Alas, our memory is not the best! Here we are waiting in line with our 3-D glasses!

On to Autopia that opened at 9am (regular park opening) – it was only 8:45am so we had to wait a few minutes in line. This gave Sean time to check out all the cars and pick out which one he hoped to get. And wouldn’t you know it? The little bugger got it! A gold one that turns green depending on how you are looking at it. Very cool. We enjoyed Autopia more than the Tomorrowland Speedway down in Florida. It felt longer and more relaxing.

Photo courtesy of Disney's Photopass+

Back over to Fantasyland where we rode Pinocchio’s Great Adventure, and honestly I can’t remember it. I had to look up a video on YouTube and then I remembered it was a typical dark ride telling Pinocchio’s story. Disneyland has a LOT of these it seems, and they all start to blur together after a while.

Next up was King Arthur’s carrousel, and then Casey Jr. Circus train which was pretty boring. Although we can say we’ve been there and done that.

Photo courtesy of Disney's Photopass+

Photo courtesy of Disney's Photopass+

Finally, the piece de resistance in Fantasyland – it’s a small world! We loved it, and found it to be more more intimate than it’s cousin in Florida. It felt like we could reach out and touch the little singing people. It’s a classic, and one we enjoy no matter which coast we’re on.

Photo courtesy of Disney's Photopass+

Toontown opened at 10am, and we were right on time. We beelined it straight over to Roger Rabbit’s Car Toon Spin. Another dark ride, but this time you can spin and twist your vehicle around and around which was fun.

Photo courtesy of Disney's Photopass+

We stopped a Photopass photographer here to take our pictures, but we soon found out she didn’t know what she was doing. She said it was her first time shooting in Toontown and didn’t know any good spots yet. Plus most of her shots were not in focus. Epic fail. 

So we decided to take our own pics!

The last ride in Disneyland was Gadget’s Go coaster in Toontown which is a fun, zippy little kid roller coaster. Sean loved it.

Before we left Toontown we decided to stop by Minnie’s house again. Remember on our first day we had to leave Toontown before we were able to meet Minnie? This time the line was much shorter, and we had a great time exploring her house. And then we finally met Minnie out in her backyard garden gazebo. She’s also such a gracious host!

It was now 10:30am – can you believe how much we did in just 2 and a half hours? Unbelievable!

We took advantage of our park hopper passes yet again, and headed over to DCA. Sean was ready for a snack so we stopped by Mortimer’s Market on Buena Vista street to pick up a healthy snack. Lots of great options here. Sean zeroed in on the large dill pickle, and never looked back. Gotta hand it to the kid, it was pretty yummy as I sneaked a few bites.

Meanwhile, Jeff ran ahead to see if he could get fast passes for Radiator Springs Racers later that night. SCORE!

We moseyed on over to Redwood Creek Challenge Trail. This is definitely a welcome respite from the busy theme park. Once you step inside the area all noise magically disappears. We picked up a trail map and started to follow the clues around. And I’m happy to report Sean finished all of the challenges, and earned all of his badges! Then at Noon we joined the Widerness Explorer Ceremony with Russell (from the movie UP). Super cute. If you have little ones, don’t miss this area of the park and this ceremony. They’ll eat it up.

We attempted to jump in line for Grizzly River Run, but it shutdown a few minutes after we joined the queue. Honestly, I think it was a blessing in disguise. I hear you get soaked, and I didn’t really want to get wet. The only reason I agreed to was because we were literally right next door to our resort (this is where the resort entrance is located). But c’est la vie. It will have to wait until next time!

Instead, we went back to our resort and decided to stop at White Water Snacks for lunch. I grabbed the pesto chicken sandwich from the cooler, Sean ordered a grilled cheese, and Jeff ordered the hot chicken sandwich. I was starving so I started to eat before Jeff’s meal arrived. But then he kept waiting and waiting. He went up to check on it, and they said it was coming. And then we waited even longer. People who ordered after us were getting their food. So Jeff was starting to get ticked. He called over a cast member and asked her to check on it again. And she never returned. We finally find out the order got routed to the outdoor bar area, and was never prepared. Huh? They entered the order again and he had his sandwich in about 5 minutes. There was another woman waiting patiently too. Jeff made a comment to her about waiting even longer than him. And she replied, “It’s OK. I’m sure you paid a pretty penny for this vacation like I did, so I’m not going to complain when something goes awry.” UGH. Lady, I don’t care how much you paid for your vacation. You shouldn’t have to wait 30 minutes for a lousy fast food chicken sandwich no matter where you are.

So, Disney service failed us once this vacation. Too bad. Their reputation is virtually flawless in our experience. They did comp our entire lunch (mine and Sean’s included), so they made amends. We never did see that cast member who disappeared again. Curious.

We made our way up to our room to relax… and take a nap! Seems to be a pattern.

Before we headed back into the parks, we took some time to relax in the lobby of our resort, the Grand Californian. They have this awesome fireplace and a gentleman was playing the piano. I sunk down into one of the chairs in front of the fireplace and soaked up some relaxation. Nice.

In the evening we decided to stroll through Downtown Disney and hop on the monorail and ride it over to Disneyland. Jeff and Sean did this earlier in the week without me, and Jeff really wanted us all to ride it. We were in the very last car which was fun. Their monorail is much narrower than those down in Florida. Everything seems to be just smaller everywhere we go!

The monorail dumps you off in Tomorrowland, so we asked Sean what one ride would he like to go on before we leave and he said Space Mountain. The standby line said 30 minutes, so we said what the heck. We assumed it would be no longer, and more than likely shorter than 30 minutes. But we were wrong. SO wrong. We stood in that line for at least an hour. And it’s a typical old-time queue with nothing to keep you entertained except the people you pass. Luckily Sean was really excited about riding Space Mountain again, and willing to wait without whining. And he still hadn’t earned his souvenir yet so we had that “no more whining” threat hanging over his head. It worked. We finally got on the ride and we all loved it.

BTW, no clue what Sean is looking at in this picture. He was doing the same thing last time. It’s at the end of the ride where you drive through the tunnel with flashing lights so he must be looking at those instead of straight ahead. Strange kid.

We spotted the line for Matterhorn wasn’t bad (and we could actually see it unlike Space Mountain) so we decided to ride it again too. Sean was in roller coaster heaven!

On our way out of Disneyland we spotted Susie and Perla from Cinderella, who are rare characters down in Florida. And their line was pretty short so we jumped in. I’m REALLY bummed that we forgot to bring Sean’s autograph book because we weren’t able to get their autographs. You’d think I would have brainstormed another idea and had them autograph the back of a check registry or something. Uh, nope. I’m not that quick or smart. So we settled for a photograph. That’s most important anyway, right?

So, we cruised on over to DCA and headed back to Cars Land for one last time. Need I remind you how incredibly detailed the Imagineering is in Cars Land? It’s awesome really. You have to go to Disneyland for Cars Land alone.

We had dinner at the Cozy Cone Motel where they have four different cones serving different things in cones nonetheless. Cone #1 serves churro bites with chocolate sauce. I really wanted to try these but my tummy ran out of room! Cone #2 serves soft serve ice cream cones. I thoroughly enjoyed a hand dipped vanilla cone! Cone #3 serves chili “cone” queso in a bread cone and chicken verde in a bread cone. Jeff and I both had the chili for dinner and it was pretty yummy. Hit the spot and wasn’t a lot so we could enjoy dessert. Cone #4 serves pretzel bites with cheese sauce which is what Sean had for dinner. Hey, it’s vacation! They also serve Red’s Apple Freeze drink here which we ordered and Sean loved it. It was pretty yummy. Similar to Butterbear at Universal’s Harry Potter World but tangier. Cone #5 serves popcorn. There are a few picnic style tables here to enjoy your snacks and we were lucky that it wasn’t too busy and were able to grab a table. I can imagine during busy times it would be difficult to find a spot to sit and enjoy your food.

The line for Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree was pretty short, so we jumped in line and experienced this whippy little ride one more time. Can you see my light up ears?

Finally the time came for our Radiator Springs fast passes (if I remember correctly our return time was 8:30pm). Once again, it was incredible. But sadly, our car lost this time. We thought maybe we had a HUGE lucky streak and would win 4 times in a row. We took our loss as a sign it was time to go home.

We decided to head over to Paradise Pier and see if we could find a spot to watch the 9pm show. We knew we would be cutting it close, but we managed to get a fairly decent spot farther back than the first time so we didn’t get drenched this time. We were against a railing, so Jeff could put Sean on his shoulders without blocking anyone’s view. And we were tall enough to see over the people in front of us (plus it’s on an incline which is nice).

A great way to end the evening, and our last day in the parks!

Instead of sharing our lousy video, I've embedded a high quality video of the entire show from YouTube. You can click off the message boxes that appear. Enjoy!

On the way back into our resort we stopped to buy Sean’s souvenir – Tomorrowland Pluto. He really did stop the whining once he knew this little puppy (pun intended) was on the line. And he loves it. For about two weeks he would feed Pluto and put him to bed every night. The kid doesn’t like real dogs, so I guess this is the next best thing!

Disney Travel Journal

The past few years I designed and printed Disney autograph books for Sean to collect autographs of the Disney characters he meets on our trips. This year I wanted to do something different, and had the idea of creating a travel journal for him in addition to being an autograph book.

We had such a good time with this travel journal. And it will be fun to keep as a keepsake and look back on it years from now to see what he was thinking & doing at the age of five.

If you would like your own travel journal, let me know. I can update the date and place on the cover for you, and then you can order it through Blurb.

Disney Travel Journal | Make Your Own Book