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Thread: Soarin' Over Disneyland...Tink Style

  1. #1

    Soarin' Over Disneyland...Tink Style

    Trip Dates: August 8 through August 15
    Cast of Characters: Me, Tink 36, my sister B, nephew C and brother in law E.
    Transportation: SouthWest from Hartford to Los Angeles
    Hotel: Paradise Pier 2 nights Comfort Inn and Suites at the Park Anaheim California 5 nights
    Experience: None really, I havent been to Disneyland since I was 11. I am a Walt Disney World Veteran
    For those who dont know me please check out some other Tink Trip Reports in the WDW section


    Pre Trip Report

    I blame it on social media. After the last D23 event, I made a decision that I would go to the next one no matter what! I had to go and experience the event, meet the people I follow on Facebook and Twitter daily who I dont know at all and most importantly experience the magic. With the Disney fan community you definitely have the opportunity to meet some wonderful people and be part of a larger Disney Family. When I first started thinking about going, I had no idea how my life would be changing but I felt that things were moving in the right direction and this trip was a big part of that. I wanted to make a big decision for myself inspite of whatever may or may not have happened. Little did I know my oldest sister was wanting to go as well but on her end it is purely for the history aspect. She has been an avid Disney fan since she was a little girl and knows everything...I mean everything about everything. So what would this mean for our annual sisters trip? Well...that we would do Disneyland instead of Disneyworld.

    Planning:

    I had no idea where to start. Planning for Disneyland seemed like planning to go to a foreign country. I know Disney World like the back of my hand and I have been going since I was a little girl. So many aspects of planning just terrified me. I wasnt looking forward to trying to pick a place to stay and coming to grips that it wouldnt be a Disney hotel. I knew that for a few nights during the Expo I could stay with my sister before her husband and son joined us. I just cant share a room with everyone snoring...I did it for 2 nights a few years back in Walt Disney World and I still have nightmares.

    This is how the cookies crumbled over the past year and a half:

    First thing I did:reserved a hotel, well many hotels actually, then cancelled, then rebooked. It is very hard to pick an economic hotel outside of Disneyland. I then scrutinized and obsessed about it on the forums and finally decided to just make a decision.
    Next: purchase the event tickets with early bird discount
    Next: Used all my SouthWest points to reserve a free flight
    Then: Finalize hotel to get great advance purchase rate
    Next: Purchased super shuttle tickets to and from the airport
    Finally: Purchased discounted 4 day Park Hopper from the D23 event discount link


    My sister, B, chose Paradise Pier for her stay so for Thursday and Friday Ill be there with her. Saturday at some point Im going to have to run back to the hotel, get my suitcase and go check in at the Quality Inn at the Park on Katella. I settled on this hotel because of the great deal I got on the rate and I walked it on Google Maps and it seemed very short. Price was key, I just hope I dont regret that. Oh well, its all paid for.

    B called Disneyland in July and we settled on the following dining reservations:

    Friday 8/9
    Breakfast Storytellers Caf
    Saturday 8/10
    Breakfast Storytellers Caf
    Sunday 8/11
    Breakfast Storytellers Caf
    Monday 8/12
    Lunch Blue Bayou
    Tuesday 8/13
    Lunch Carthay Circle
    Wednesday
    Lunch Carnation Caf


    I cant believe one month out we got everything we wanted. That just doesnt happen at WDW. As the time has come closer to departure, the excitement around D23 Expo is palpable and between the app, the brochure I downloaded, the updates Ive been reading, I cant calm my nerves down anymore. I am convinced that I am about to drop a small fortune on TinkerBell shirts, books and other collectibles. I am looking forward to attending many of the venue shows but most of all I am just excited to be amongst so many people who all love the same thing and who are all part of a large circle of friends thanks to sites such as MousePlanet, Twitter and Facebook. I am holding no expectations for Disneyland and do not plan to go into it with the mindset of comparing one park to the other. I want to just go, be, take it in and fall in love with it.

    Formerly tinkinparis

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  3. #2
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    Sounds like a fun trip. Have a great time. Looking forward to reading your report and I am going to go back and read your previous reports.


  4. #3

    Thanks Sue I"ll post some updates hopefully before the report!

    Formerly tinkinparis

  5. #4

    Alright so I am BACK!!!!!!!!!!!

    I am still recuperating because it was absolutely exhausting in a great way

    I will try to post some days tomorrow but until then, I'll leave you with a picture...





    to be explained...

    Formerly tinkinparis

  6. #5

    Day 1 Thursday August 8th

    I’ve started a new position in education and no longer get summers off so Thursday started as a normal summer work day for me. I woke up around 6, went for a nice walk, ate breakfast, finished packing up little details and toiletries and headed off for work. The plan was to work a full day and then have my boyfriend meet me back at my house and drive me to the airport which is literally 10 minutes from my house. This plan worked perfectly and apparently during the week at dinner time no one is traveling my local airport because I walked right through security.




    The flight was rather uneventful and since it was going to be quite long, I decided to bring my iPad instead of my iPod since Southwest is offering WiFi onboard now. This ended up working good however I didn’t know it was going to be $8. I thought that was a little steep. Thankfully I had 4 free drink coupons! The first flight crew team was hilarious and I wish I remember the one liners but before I knew it, we were landing in Chicago Midway and I had 38 minutes before my next flight took off. Perfect timing and beginning of a gluten free food nightmare for me. I picked up a salad, some chips and used the facilities before turning around and boarding the next flight. I finished my salad, launched Mouse World radio on my iPad and went to sleep after a glass of Merlot.



    I woke up about a half hour before landing at 10:20 p.m. at LAX. I had reserved a trip on the Super Shuttle and the entire baggage claim process and finding the kiosk was easy I just wasn’t expecting to wait for a shuttle...thankfully it came quickly and then we picked up another passenger, then another, then a couple and then a family of 3. I just played the Mouse World app on my Droid. By the time I reunited with my sister at Paradise Pier it was 12:05 a.m. We squealed as much as our tired bodies would let us and then passed out and went to bed. I have to say that the room was lovely and the view was not lost on me.



    Formerly tinkinparis

  7. #6

    Day 2 Friday August 9th

    Before I knew it 6:30 a.m. was upon us and I groggily got out of bed, threw on some lounge clothes and took the elevator downstairs to purchase some coffee. I was a little surprised that they dont do some type of refillable option but I didnt care and shelled out $3 for a plain coffee.

    Back in the room my sister was getting ready and was trying to explain to me how our day was going to go and what we could expect at the D23 Expo. Have I mentioned that my sister has the Sorcerer Pass? No? Well she did. Needless to say that we had POLAR opposite experiences at the Expo. I had a 3 day pass purchased during the early bird rates. Our plan was to have a big breakfast everyday at Story Tellers Cafe so that we wouldnt have to worry about eating the icky convention food. (We heard it was less than stellar) This plan really turned out to be a godsend for me especially because of my gluten allergy. We left the hotel and walked across the street to the Grand Californian. It is a very beautiful hotel and absolutely reminiscent of the Wilderness Lodge in Disney World.

    We were seated pretty quickly and the chef explained to me what I could and couldnt eat which I was very happy with. I was a bit sad that there were no gluten free bakery options but the pancakes ended up doing the trick.


    Characters make any breakfast better especially when you live so far away from any Disney theme park and dont get to interact with them very often. We saw the Brother Bear and his brother? I havent seen the movie. We saw Chip and Dale and even Brer Rabbit, Brer Bear and Brer Fox. Unfortunately I was having an awful picture week so I wont be posting those, but it was a treat to get my picture taken with the Brer characters since I think its been more than 20 years since I had last seen them.


    We walked to the convention center which took about 8 minutes and were met with mobs of people in lines. We asked and figured out which line was for the animation presentation that I wanted to see and I waited, and waited, and waited. Once the line started moving we all entered the arena quickly and the show started. This arena show was great and it was neat to get glimpses of so many upcoming movies. Many celebrities joined in the show and it was great to see them interact with fellow actors and to then see what they looked like as their animated characters. I saw snippets of the following movies: Finding Dory, Planes, Monsters University Short, Toy Story of Terror, Pirate Fairy, the Good Dinosaur and Inside Out.





    I ducked out of the arena at 12:20 because there was a 12:30 panel called Undiscovered Disneyland that I wanted to see. As I exited the arena I was able to see the show floor for the first time and it hit me like a ton of bricks. This was not going to be what I had expected. I thought it was going to be like the large national conventions I go to where you walk into what you want, the Expo is not like that. There were people everywhere! The show floor had enough activities and pavilions to get lost in for days! Exhaustion combined with low blood sugar and time change settled in as a bit of anxiety for me. I was very overwhelmed and on my own since my sister was guaranteed front area seating in every panel. I decided to take it all in and quickly learned that everything had a line of at least an hour...Ok, no big deal, Id plan accordingly but that also meant that Id be missing out on so many panels that I had planned to attend.


    I was in a bit of a daze so I picked up some water and headed over to the collectors forum to try and find the MousePlanet booth along with some other sites and bloggers I follow. The forum was HUGE! To be honest, I was so overwhelmed by the immensity of it all that I hardly took any pictures all 3 days. I did stumble upon Disney Consumer Products who were hosting a whole slew of items one of which was a Tinker Bell artist area. I met a Tink artist from Krakow, Poland which is where I am from! She was gracious and the artists that weekend would sign a print for free for each person in line!








    My sister texted me and we decided to meet up and have a coffee near her Sorcerer Lounge. I ate my snack I brought with me and she got me a Starbucks coffee. We sat for a bit while I composed myself and listened to how much she was loving the panels she was seeing. Finally around 2:15 I was feeling up to moving around again. I was able to get into the Marty Sklar panel about his new book and I really enjoyed it. With my new burst of happiness I decided it was time to get a linner since it was around 4:00. This started my downward spiral in eating with an allergy. Ill spare everyone the details but I ordered items that should have been safe and as it turned out, they must have contained gluten. The food was gross. I mean really gross. I wish I had known the area or noticed some other food options on the way in but the streets around the convention center were lined more so with hotels than visitor friendly resources.


    Once I was feeling better I headed over to Mickeys of Glendale which was the Imagineering store and picked up a sweatshirt after waiting 50 minutes. I was going to try and get into the Broadway show but a red shirt D23 cast member told me not to bother. My sister on the other hand said there were plenty of empty seats.

    For my own sanity I left the convention center and headed over to Downtown Disney. It is really cool how things are so close! It was after 6:00 by now so I thought I really should eat some dinner. I headed over to Earl of Sandwich and asked about Gluten Free options. Turns out I couldnt have any of the salad dressing so salad was out but I could have the turkey chili, which was yummy. I meandered over to the Disneyland Hotel in hopes of attending the meetup at Trader Joes. In the meantime I sat on a bench and made some phone calls back home. Bad idea. Around 8:00 p.m. I called it quits and dragged myself back to Paradise Pier and eagerly awaited the highpoint of my day!





    Formerly tinkinparis

  8. #7

    Day 1 Thursday August 8th - sister's story

    I actually arrived on Wednesday and checked in, got the groceries (via VONS grocery delivery - which worked great BTW), etc. When I was done, I went to Disneyland! I arrived a day early because Sorcerer's Package people started the D23 Expo a day early - on Thursday!

    This was my very first D23 Expo and I really didn't know what to expect. Being a Walt Disney and Disney parks historian/buff, I knew it would kill me if I couldn't get in an Imagineering panel at the D23 Expo, that is why I splurged big-time! on the Sorcerer package ticket. BTW, Sorcerer package ticket sold out in 15 minutes, more than 1 year ago. As it turned out there were only 300 Sorcerer tickets, which is a drop in a bucket, when you consider that approximately 50,000 people attended the expo.

    I arrived on Thursday at 9:00am for the first event. I did meet some lovely Disney people. However, it looked like the majority of them mostly cared about the shopping! and getting first into the show floor stores (e.g. Disney Store, Dream Store). We were then brought to these stores, on the yet to be completed show floor - mostly concrete and scaffolding - was this really going to be ready tomorrow morning?!? As soon as these major collectors heard the magic words, this is a limited edition! only 50 available! etc, they bought it, regardless (or so it seemed) as to what it was. And this obsession continued throughout the whole D23 Expo. Sorcerer ticket people invariably getting to the Disney Store line first, buying whatever was up for sale that day. Is all this stuff up on eBay, selling for $$$$? You could quite probably make a profit, even with the steep sorcerer ticket pricetag.

    But, shopping is not my thing. And eBay is a job I don't want to do. I don't really collect Disney stuff. I do buy lots of Disney history books and DVDs, but I continuously re-read/re-watch them, so I'm not sure that counts.

    I was here for the history! the Imagineers! the park discussions! which there was none of on Thursday, so I went to Disneyland!! instead. Love being in Disneyland/California Adventure. I especially love walking around the new Buena Vista Street, riding the red car trolley! (just like the tramwaj in my hometown of Krakow, Poland!). They did a beautiful, beautiful job with Buena Vista Street. It is a little town onto itself. Also, went on Radiator Springs Racers - Best Ride Ever! Also, really liked the Flying Tires (so like the Walt's Flying Saucers - that I have always wanted to go on!) I really figured out how to make those things fly! Easier with 1 person, I think.

    Back to Paradise Pier and dozed until Tink arrived. Yay!


  9. #8

    Day 2 Friday August 9th - sister's story

    Started the day at Storyteller's Cafe with Tink. Wonderful, quality, organic foods served. Glad we filled up, because it turned out there was no time for lunch any of the D23 Expo days - except for the occasional cupcake, handful of skittles, I grabbed from the sorcerers lounge. Saw John Lasseter with his entourage eating at the Storytellers Cafe table next to us. OMG! Should I take a picture? Get an autograph? Decided I didn't have the courage to go up to him. I knew he was preparing for his big presentation that he was about to give at the D23 Expo.

    We walked to the Expo on the nice "Disney"fied sidewalk to the Anaheim Convention Center, just around the corner from Grand Californian. Prior to coming to California, I had downloaded the D23 Expo App and had indicated my favorites with the Mickey Mouse sticker. This was my Friday plan:

    • Animation at the Walt Disney studios presented by John Lasseter.

    • Behind the Scenes of Mary Poppins, presented by Chief Disney Archivist, Dave Smith.

    • Undiscovered Disneyland presented by Imagineer Extraordinaire, Tony Baxter

    • Roy P. Disney remembers Roy E Disney

    • Disney Imagineering Legend - Marty Sklar - Dream It! Do It!

    • Meet Dave Smith, Tony Baxter, and Marty Sklar - get my books signed!

    • Meet Lab Rats stars at Disney Channel pavilion - my son, C, loves this show

    • Broadway and Beyond concert - starring Ursula, Mufasa, Mary Poppins, Tarzan, and Aida from Broadway


    Well, this plan did not last long! First, Sorcerer people were told that they had to signup online for the presentations they wanted to see in the 3 big venues and we were not allowed to double-book something that overlapped. Aaarrrggghh! Okay, which do I choose? John Lasseter talking animation or Dave Smith talking Walt and Mary Poppins? Which would you choose? As it turned out, I could have ducked out of one venue and gone into another one halfway through, which is what I started doing on subsequent days.

    Next issue, while you were comfortably sat in a panel with Marty Sklar, other attendees were lining up on the show floor where he would be signing. By the time you got there, the line was cut off! Same thing for the Disney Channel stars, unless you lined up way in advance of their scheduled time, you would not be meeting them. Oh well.

    Last issue, exhaustion. Lack of food. Hitting the Disney wall! Especially true by the 4th day.... Did. Less. Each. Day.

    This is what I ended up being physically able to do:
    • Animation at the Walt Disney studios presented by John Lasseter - this ran long, but I left midway to go see Tony Baxter!

    • Undiscovered Disneyland presented by Imagineer Extraordinaire, Tony Baxter - was a little late, and left a little early, but got to see his re-creation of the original Journey Into Imagination ride - worth the price of admission!!

    • Disney Imagineering Legend - Marty Sklar - Dream It! Do It! - was late

    • Found Dave Smith on the show floor and got at least one book signed!

    • Called C on my iPhone and did Facetime. Showing him Lab Rats stars at Disney Channel pavilion meeting other people. I couldn't get near them!

    • Broadway and Beyond concert - starring Ursula, Mufasa, Mary Poppins, Tarzan, and Aida from Broadway - Tarzan (aka Josh Strickland), this guy is phenomenal and versatile - he even sang a princess song in character! Mufasa singing "He Lives In Me! He Lives In You!" from Lion King - powerful song - sobs every time I hear it. Ursula singing "Poor Unfortunate Souls!" - so wicked.


    Day ended at around 8pm?ish. I dragged myself back to Grand Californian and got in to Napa Rose - Chef's counter as a walkin. Having not eaten since breakfast that morning. Napa Rose - Expensive! but Delicious! had the Short Ribs dinner - best ribs ever!

  10. #9

    Oh my gosh - I love these sister threads! I can't wait to hear more about the trip. Tink - your reaction to DLR is the same as my reaction to WDW - WDW is overwhelming to me, but I know DLR like the back of my hand...


  11. #10

    Disney always better with Tink!

    Quote Originally Posted by betsyrina View Post
    Oh my gosh - I love these sister threads! I can't wait to hear more about the trip. Tink - your reaction to DLR is the same as my reaction to WDW - WDW is overwhelming to me, but I know DLR like the back of my hand...
    Thanks betsyrina. I agree that Disney is always better with my sister Tink! It is not the same without her.

  12. #11

    Day 3 Saturday August 10


    UP and at'em again bright and early! We kept our same routine and enjoyed a great breakfast at Story Tellers. Today I decided to skip the arena presentation in hopes of getting on the show floor at 9:00 a.m. like we were supposed to as D23 members. As we were walking up at 7:58 a.m. I could tell that I wasn’t going to get in at 9:00, let alone 10:00 a.m. I was devastated. This was definitely not turning out to be what I thought and I quickly decided to try and not let this ruin my trip since the likelihood of me returning to California from Connecticut any time soon was slim to none.


    Being Saturday, the whole world was in line. I mean it, everyone. I decided to just enjoy the show floor and merchandise pavilions with the hopes of getting into 1 or 2 panels and maybe the evening concert. The picture I posted earlier accurately shows what we were all waiting in. I am sure many people didn’t mind the lines and enjoy conventions that I’ve been told are similar to this. I figured out it wasn’t my bag. I was able to finally enter the convention center a hair before 10:00 a.m. and my feet already hurt! Side note: I promptly threw out my sneakers when I came home and learned my lesson to not bring new, cushiony sneakers on a Disney vacation. Another side note: I found it interesting that to enter this huge convention center D23 had 2 front doors open and 3 people scanning our tickets. 3. That was all.

    I ran up the escalator and into the first panel I had wanted to attend: “Broadcasts from Buena Vista Street”. The room was barely half full and people sitting around me were joking that they were all still waiting in line outside. Sadly, I think this was the case. This panel was great and I enjoyed hearing the story behind the audio in Oscar’s at California Adventure because I had still never been there and it was all very exciting. The actors are all wonderfully talented.

    I’ll admit that because my sister had the Sorcerer pass that we did commit a rule bend….she had waited in the StagePass line for me so that I could a pass to get into the Voices of the Park Panel at 2:00 and so that I wouldn’t have to miss all of my morning panels by waiting in line. I’m glad she did because all of the StagePasses were gone by 11:00. She then got to go into the Live Action Film Panel and enjoy all of the announcements and celebrities.

    I continued to meander the show floor and gawk in awe and people who were in costume and just at all of the people in general. I got another Tink artist signing and then decided to wait in line to get my eye makeup done by Sephora with their new princess Ariel collection. This was fun and they looked great at the end! A great look for a wedding or a party but not so much for a convention...I didn’t care though. We were supposed to get Ariel hair clips but it was already 11:50 and they had all been given out. What was a bummer is that all of the makeup artists were wearing 2 a piece and I thought that they should at least give the ones they were wearing to the little girls.





    My Ariel Makeup


    Now it was time to wait in line to do the presentation I had traveled across the country for! Parks and Resorts!

    The entry video/audio blurb to enter this area made me cry. Yep, I’ll admit it. I had a moment and I thought it was a wonderfully magic moment.

    In order to do this pavilion justice you need to go to Youtube and enjoy a walkthrough. It was phenomenal and I wish that I had spent more than an hour walking around in there but I was just too exhausted. There was artwork, dispalys of rides never built, models, imagineers to talk to and an audioanimatronic of the hatbox ghost! On the way out you are spit into MIckey’s of Glendale and I bought a beautiful green sweatshirt. Here are some pics from my walkthrough.













    After some quick shopping it was time for my “Voices of the Parks” Panel. I headed up to wait in line to enter and thankfully a special guest made it very entertaining.



    This presentation was a total trip! It was just wonderful to see the actors doing all of the voices and spiels that we love so much. The stories behind their careers are very intriguing. Pete Grenaday made me cry. Could his voice be any more magical? I don’t think so.



    To cap the day off I decided to get in line for the Menkhen/Sherman concert. Getting in line at 3:45 turned out to be a blessing in disguise because I sat on the floor and dozed in and out. Everyone around me was doing the same and the people around me were very nice and saved my spot for some potty breaks and I did the same for them. Slowly but surely around 6:15 we started moving into the arena and my sister appears in front of me and begs me to go into the concert with her. Priority seating? Sure! We figured we’d ask if we could sit together and worst case scenario they’d say no. Magically, every CM said yes and the ushers inside led us to the back of the celebrity section which was mostly empty except for Marty Sklar sitting in front of us and Betsy Klein behind us.



    This concert was phenomenal. It is a must see on youtube. Trust Me!



    I was barely able to walk back to Paradise Pier and was thankful to take a cab literaly a half mile down the road to check into my new hotel: Quality Inn at the Park. Check in was quick and the room was clean and totally worth what I paid. The Choice Members advanced rate is a steal! I finally got to bed after 11:00 p.m. and I couldn’t have been more excited for my 6 hours of sleep.

    Formerly tinkinparis

  13. #12

    Sunday August 11

    The last day of the Expo is here!!!!! I think I may have gotten 5 hours of sleep so I was feeling absolutely wonderful to start the day as you could imagine. I didn’t want to miss our last reservation for the breakfast buffet at Story Tellers Cafe. I put some WDW Resort TV from youtube on my iPad while I was sipping my free coffee from the hotel which was quite good. Unfortunately I couldn’t eat anything from the buffet but I didn’t mind and I brought gluten free granola bars with me for the week. The walk from the Quality Inn to the Grand Californian took about 8 minutes. I met up with my sister and I enjoyed the delicious gluten free Mickey pancakes, an omelette, home fries, ham and bacon and I ate it all! We took a little longer to get to the Expo this morning but I don’t think either of us minded since it was the last day and we were both dragging. I was greeted by the usual line at 8:05 a.m. and the usual stand in line outside for no reason until 9:47.



    I sprinted up to Stage 28 to see the “Working with Walt” panel and thankfully it wasn’t full. It was a pleasure to listen to X Atencio, Marty Sklar, Alice Davis and Bob Gurr talk about Walt and project that they had worked on. I knew I wanted to hear more Imagineering panels but I also heard my body saying telling me to stop and that I hit the wall yesterday already. I grabbed a coffee and sat on the second floor on a comfy couch for about a half hour before heading to what ended up being my last panel; Creating Innovation. I was quite disappointed with this panel because it didn’t really seem to have a flow or purpose. It felt more motivational than explaining past or future projects to us. I decided that I was fully cooked with Expo and that I would head over to California Adventure for the first time!


    It was almost 2:30 so I decided a good sit down lunch should start my park day off right. Since I entered into the Park through the Grand Californian I somehow ended up in front of the Trattoria. I decided to go with it so I got a great table outside with a view of the park behind me. This ended up being one of the best meals during the trip. I had a gluten free version of the chicken sandwich which meant no bread because I learned quickly that Gluten Free options in Disneyland are not quite as extensive as in Disneyland. It was quite tasty and I was also able to have the lemon panna cotta. While I was eating my dessert I watched the Pixar Play Parade pass by.





    I wanted to wander the park and soak it all in so I decided not to use a map and of course when you exit the Trattoria you are right in front of Radiator Springs so I went in. What a beautiful place and I have to say that all of California Adventure flows well and the entire park is just gorgeous. It made me very sad for the glory days of MGM Studios in WDW. The park we have today is just a joke compared to California Adventure. My first ride was on Radiator Springs Racers thanks to the single rider line and I didn’t wait more than 15 minutes. Words can not express how much I loved the ride. All of it, from theming to technology and animatronics. It was just breathtaking. I hope that once Animal Kingdom is all spruced up with Pandora that the big wigs at WDW redo Hollywood Studios to be more like California Adventure. Next up was Luigi’s Tires. This wasn’t my favorite. It is a very slow ride and then you hit people and get stuck in a traffic jam before having to exit. I’m sure it is nostalgic with the Flying Saucers for many people but I just don’t see it lasting. I continued my exploration and ended up in front of a Ghirardelli so I couldn’t resist a peanut butter sundae I took a set and didn’t move for 45 minutes while I people watched. The mix of people at the parks here is very interesting and Californians are really beautiful people!

    It was a little before 6:00 p.m. so I decided to see what it was like to be able to exit one park and walk over to another while taking advantage of my park hopper. On my way out I enjoyed looking at the new Carthay Circle area and it definitely looks just wonderful. I got my hand stamped, exited the park and saw the Disneyland entrance directly in front of me. This was a total trip! How cool is it to be able to do that? It reminded me of the setup of Disneyland Paris which is exactly the same thing. I entered Disneyland and it was so cute! It definitely has it’s own identity and feeling as a park. It felt whimsical and historical all at the same time. Since the buildings on Main Street are not to scale you feel like you are in a magical recreation of something whereas the Magic Kingdom feels more like a real place. I took some time to look at the great detail and character of the buildings and decided to once again not use a map but just walk and explore.
    There was something to look at in every corner and crevice of the park. There seemed to be something to do every 4 feet.

    I took a turn towards Adventureland and fell into the Indiana Jones line The wait was about 20 minutes so I decided to try it. I met some very nice Californians in front of and behind me. The queue was great! The ride was incredible! The fire! The music! The skeletons! The huge boulder! OMG for real. I don’t know how but I ended up at Pirates of the Caribbean area so I explored the stores and all of the little restaurants look so cute. It took me awhile to find the ride entrance but I was excited when I did and saw it was a 5 minute wait. I have memories of this ride from my childhood so it was great to experience it again.


    I was feeling a little hungry and I was in front of the Hungry Bear and with a name like that, how could I have not tried it? They were very accomodating here and had a separate allergy free fryer so I settled on a basket of sweet potato fries. I took a seat near the river and enjoyed the view of Tom Sawyer’s Island.






    After my snack I decided to go on Pooh and I don’t want to compare but I think the Disneyland version is better because of the outdoor component. Californians are definitely blessed with nice weather and it was nice to see that so many rides make use of this. I continued my exploration and ended up in Fantasyland on a huge childhood favorite of mine; Mr. Toad!!!!!! There are definitely more guests accompanied by ambassadors here in Disneyland than in WDW. Which makes sense because of the celebrity factor and just the overall density of wealthy individuals in the area. You could go an entire vacation in WDW and never see anyone accompanied by an ambassador. I did see some celebrities this trip but to honest I didn’t really keep track because I figured they wanted to enjoy their time in the park. That night on Toad I saw a musician from Blink 180. Finally, I ended up in Tomorrowland which is gorgeous! I loved the lighting, the music and even the choice of rides was interesting compared to the Magic Kingdom. What a great land! It is really too bad that they couldn’t figure out how to keep the TTA. It was already past 9:00 p.m. so I decided it was time to crawl back home...literally.

    What a day! Going to Disneyland for such a big Disney fan is a very big deal and the magic and the history of the park are almost overwhelming. Both Disneyland and California Adventure are really beautiful parks. I think I was asleep before my head even hit the pillow...

    Formerly tinkinparis

  14. #13
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Aug 2012
    Location
    Drexel Hill, PA

    i really enjoyed your report about the D23 expo. I think you were very smart to prepare ahead of time for the panels you wanted to see. I am also enjoying reading about your reports from the park. I really want to do radiator springs racer when I go in September. I also love the TTA in WDW. Great job on your writing


  15. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by suejacken View Post
    i really enjoyed your report about the D23 expo. I think you were very smart to prepare ahead of time for the panels you wanted to see. I am also enjoying reading about your reports from the park. I really want to do radiator springs racer when I go in September. I also love the TTA in WDW. Great job on your writing
    Thank you!!!!!
    Formerly tinkinparis

  16. #15

    Day 5 Monday August 12

    I was actually able to sleep in this morning until 6:45! That felt great! I had my free coffee and a granola bar, got ready and walked over to Disneyland to meet my sister, her husband and son, who had arrived to join us the day before. We met up in front of Peter Pan at 8:05 a.m. and this was our first ride together of the trip. I love this ride so much. It’s classic and never gets old. What followed was a fast succession of rides that we tried to cram into the morning before the park got too busy. Alice in Wonderland, Finding Nemo Subs, Jungle Cruise, Story Book Land Canal Boats, Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Indiana Jones. Since neither my nephew nor my brother in law do any type of drops, my sister and I did Indiana Jones and Pirates alone. I think Alice is a wonderful ride and it makes great use of the tiny space it has. I think it gives Peter Pan a run for its money as my favorite…




    As we exited Pirates, we met up with the family to go to our lunch reservation at the Blue Bayou. You could imagine how excited we were to eat in this iconic space! I’m not going to go into detail but it turned into such a fiasco that I thought I was in the Twilight Zone. Everything from the service, to the food, to serving me gluten happened. It was not a magical moment and not handled magically by anyone. I am happy that my sister said something to the manager who couldn’t believe what just happened. I thought it was fishy that no one had told her or maybe they did and she just didn’t care until we questioned her. Needless to say I do not recommend eating here but I understand that many people probably really enjoy it.


    We exited the restaurant and tried to regroup our vacation and my brother in law did a great job of lightening the mood by turning the entire thing into a running SNL skit. It really helped me get my mind off of the almost immediate symptoms that are set off after I eat gluten.


    We slowly made our way over to the Haunted Mansion after exploring the gorgeous streets of New Orleans. The tiny shops are just great but I wish they sold more interesting merchandise. I would have loved to make a purchase here but nothing stood out to me. We were all a little tired so we decided to take a spin on the River Boat. My sister and I took a seat in the sun on a chair at the front of the boat. What a great relaxing ride. There were fun scenes to look at and the views were fun. We decided to call it an afternoon since the park was very crowded and the sun was out in full force. I walked back to the hotel and was out cold for a little over an hour before sprucing back up, grabbing a sweatshirt and headed back out to meet up with B, E and C for dinner.


    We settled on Taste Pilots in California Adventure for dinner but before B, E and C arrived I had time to grab a glass of Reisling from the Wine Trattoria and finished it while waiting in line for the Tow Mater ride. I was so excited that not only did they have an allergy fryer here but I could also have a gluten free bun! I slapped all the fixin’s I could on burger and I really enjoyed my dinner. We all had great food.

    After our food settled a bit we strolled through Radiator Springs and showed C the ride to see if he would like to try it. He said no. My sister and I split from C and E and the plan was that we would do the single rider at RSR and the boys could go do Luigis and Tow Mater. By now it was nighttime and the ride was great! We all met back up and then went on Toy Story together and Soarin’.











    To end the night we headed to Disneyland to watch the fireworks. It was great to see Tinker Bell and Dumbo fly but it was very strange to not have a huge castle as the backdrop to the show. We couldn’t pass up sundaes from Gibson Girl because they looked so good! It was huge and I think I finished about half. I said goodnight to everyone as they left and decided to try Space Mountain and see if the wait was manageable. Turned out I was able to get on pretty quickly and the ride is definitely smoother than Disney World but nothing beats Space Mountain at Disneyland Paris. It was already almost 11:00 p.m. so I decided I should head back and try to get at least 7 hours of sleep because my feet were waving the white flag.

    Formerly tinkinparis

  17. #16

    Day 3 Saturday August 10 - D23 Expo

    Quote Originally Posted by tinkaparis View Post
    Ill admit that because my sister had the Sorcerer pass that we did commit a rule bend.she had waited in the StagePass line for me so that I could a pass to get into the Voices of the Park Panel at 2:00 and so that I wouldnt have to miss all of my morning panels by waiting in line. Im glad she did because all of the StagePasses were gone by 11:00. She then got to go into the Live Action Film Panel and enjoy all of the announcements and celebrities.
    It actually wasn't a rule bend. The written guide book said one person in line could get stagepasses for everyone in their party. But it did feel sneaky. For you future D23 expo goers, I did find out another trick to getting a fastpass. Get in the D23 Arena line, which opens first, before the people entering for the show floor. Once in the building, cut over to the stagepass line which is immediately adjacent. You will, of course, lose your place for the D23 Arena presentation, but if a Stage 23 or Stage 28 presentation is your goal, then that is an option. As a Sorcerer package person, we could immediately enter upon door open, and I was wondering, how those people in front of me got there!?! So I asked them. It turns out, people used this to get to the front of the Disney Store line too - which boasted up to 2 hour waits all day - and were known to sell out of their "only 50 - limited edition items" before the doors even officially opened.

  18. #17

    Day 3 Saturday August 10 - D23 Expo

    Quote Originally Posted by tinkaparis View Post
    She then got to go into the Live Action Film Panel and enjoy all of the announcements and celebrities.
    Before I got to my first D23 Arena Live Action film panel, I decided to try one. more. time. to get at least Marty Sklar to sign his book - Dream It! Do It! that I just bought - available at D23 expo prior to publishing release. This is the longest line I waited in, about 1 1/2 hours. I was first in line, but Marty was late. I was told by Disneyland Ambassador, Sachiko White!!, that he was exhausted from the first day of the expo. He is 79 and walks with a cane for assistance after all. But, I wouldn't give up my first in line status! I would be late to the arena darn it! He finally made it. His peaceful, warm demeanour calmed me down. Is he the nearest thing we have to Walt? If you can ever meet him, do so.

    I was late to the Arena and found a front row seat! in the dark. The upcoming Live Action films - Thor, Captain America, Avengers, Star Wars, etc were all thrilling to see. And the stars - Angelina Jolie (her kids were at Disneyland!), the beautiful Natalie Portman, Sir Anthony Hopkins, Chris Evans (Captain America), Tom Hiddleston (love him!! - So British!) were a treat. Being an uber-Cinderella fan! I loved, loved, the paintings from the upcoming LIVE ACTION Cinderella. They used many of Walt's and 9 old men original paintings to design the sets, costumes, etc!! How cool is that! Also, everything about the upcoming Tomorrowland (super secret film, what is it? part National Treasure/part DaVinciCode? with Walt as the hero?) and Saving Mr Banks had me sitting on the edge of my seat. Films about Walt - Love 'it! About time!

    I met up with Tink for a quick coffee/snack from Sorcerer lounge. Then back for the Disney Legends ceremony at the D23 Arena. Billy Crystal - even funnier in person! John Lasseter - in tears remembering his friend, Steve Jobs. Glen Keane - animator extraordinaire of the Beast!, Tarzan (son was role model), Ariel (wife was role model), Rapunzel (daughter was role model). They all told stories of how much the parks and Disney meant to them. Lovely.

  19. #18

    Day 3 Saturday August 10

    Quote Originally Posted by tinkaparis View Post
    Slowly but surely around 6:15 we started moving into the arena and my sister appears in front of me and begs me to go into the concert with her. Priority seating? Sure! We figured we’d ask if we could sit together and worst case scenario they’d say no. Magically, every CM said yes and the ushers inside led us to the back of the celebrity section which was mostly empty except for Marty Sklar sitting in front of us and Betsy Cline behind us....
    This concert was phenomenal. It is a must see on youtube. Trust Me!
    The best part is I sat with my sister Tink, reliving all the songs, connected with all the best Disney memories! This was THE best moment of the whole D23 Expo!

    K and B.JPG

  20. #19
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    Beautiful Orange County, CA

    I love you and your sister's Trip Report!! I am so sorry for the fiasco at Blue Bayou. I can completely empathize with the awful symptoms that go along with eating gluten. Can wait for the conclusion of the trip


  21. #20

    Day 6 August 13

    I was up early again this morning and enjoyed some Walt Disney World Resort music courtesy to my iPad while I drank my coffee and stared at my swollen feet. Clearly my body was taking a toll from all of the walking and standing. I got to California Adventure around 7:45 a.m. and mistakenly found the line for the Radiator Springs Racers fast passes. I didn’t even know it existed but boy am I glad I found it. My sister found me in line and handed me everyone’s ticket so we could all go on together. The line went pretty fast and our time was for 11:20. E had the same idea as I did and we decided to head over to Fiddler, Fifer and Practical to get some coffee. It is a very nice perk to have Starbucks whenever you want.


    We enjoyed our coffee and then all got into a Red Car Trolley down Hollywood Boulevard. We headed over to Monsters Inc and I thought it was a cute ride. We decided to pass on Muppets although I’m sure my feet would have appreciated it. We strolled back down the street and wandered over to the Paradise Pier area. We started with the Little Mermaid and then did a circle around the water. I wanted to try the swings but C wasn’t too interested. He wanted to go on the ferris wheel but all of us were terrified so my sister agreed to wait in line with him and then send him on with another family. E and I decided to go sit and wait somewhere but I saw that the line for California Screamin was a really short line so I did that. It was GREAT! Definitely very reminiscent of Space Mountain in Paris but outside. I met back up with E and we saw my sister and C walking back towards us. Apparently he chickened out at the last minute. Totally understandable.


    We headed down to Toy Story which was only a 30 minute wait which was great because it is always at least 90 minutes in Disney World. It was time for Radiator Springs. E bowed out at the last minute but thankfully C agreed he would try it once.




    He hated it. But at least he tried it. My sister and I just can’t figure him out...he is intrigued by heights and speed but hates drops and hills. Go figure.


    It was time for our lunch reservation at Carthay Circle. The ambiance of the restaurant just breathes Walt Disney. I haven’t seen the original but it looks like an amazing recreation. Make sure you check out the bathrooms too, they are beautiful! We were quickly seated and the server told us to remember that Snow White was first premiered at the Carthay Circle and that the influence is everywhere. She told us to pay close attention to our table. It didn’t take us long to find the mirror mirror on the wall and the wicked queen. Very cool!



    The food ended up being quite a mixed bag for all of us here. The bread was delicious! The real bread everyone loved and I loved the gluten free bread as did everyone else as well. Our starters were the real hits of the meal and everyone had somewhat “meh” experiences with their entrees. I started with the heirloom tomato salad which was great, E started with the duck wings which he said he could have eaten a tub of and I forgot what my sister had. For entrees, B and E had the short rib ravioli which they said was good but the quality of the food doesn’t reflect the fine dining ambiance or prices. I felt the same about my pasta dish. The chicken tasted like it was already made and not fresh to order for my dish. Unfortunately C didn’t like anything on the kids menu so he ate bread. On the whole, it was a good meal but when you compare to California Grill or the Wave in Disney World, the food just falls short, which was a bit of a disappointment. We ended dinner with more coffee before heading out to Buena Vista Street for dessert. Everyone got ice cream and I got some peanut brittle and enjoyed it while sitting in the sun on a bench.








    We exited the park via Downtown Disney around 3:00 and went home for our daily afternoon break. As usual, I passed out for about an hour and a half before walking back at a snail’s pace to Disneyland. I decided to hop on the Railroad. I think I remembered this from my childhood trip so it was nice to experience again. I was going to take the grand tour but the conductor came on and told us that the last performance of the day of Mickey and the Magical Map was starting shortly at the the Toon Town stop. I decided what the heck and got off and found a good seat. It was a cute show and I’m not a big fan of shows at all. It is definitely a mash up and it’s clear they tried to fit in as many characters as possible but it was well done.





    After the show I wanted to check out Toon Town but it looked like too much walking so I turned around and found It’s a Small World. Once again, the ride itself it just so beautiful! The boats and the ride itself are so much smaller than Disney World so it has a great feeling to it. I also loved the character inspired dolls. I didn’t think they took away at all from the classics.






    My sister called and let me know they’d be in the park a little before 7:00 and that the plan was dinner at the Hungry Bear. That was fine by me because I had a great meal there the day prior. I stood and waited on the large deck and just took in the serenity of Critter Country. I don’t remember that area at all from when I was 11. I’m not quite sure it was the same land.

    We enjoyed our quiet dinner and then used a comp pass we got from Carthay Circle because C didn’t eat anything at Peter Pan. Next up was another trip down the rabbit hole with Alice. I don’t dare do it but I just want to reach my arm out and touch everything in that ride. My sister, E and C then went on the speedway and I went off to find the R2D2 popcorn bucket for my boyfriend who regretted not buying it on our April WDW trip. I enjoyed my popcorn while listening to the band playing at the Tomorrowland Terrace while I waited for them to get off the ride.

    Next, we headed back over to California Adventure to enjoy World of Color. Unfortunately I think the family in front of us were more like territorial bears than tourists and decided to unleash their fury on us. I’ll spare the details because that mother doesn’t deserve it but needless to say she was a debbie downer and tried really hard to spoil everyone’s night and it is never ok to speak to anyone in a threatening or demeaning way, especially in front of your kids. The show itself it just great. The music especially is well put together. I have to say that watching the show from the room at Paradise Pier was almost better because you got a complete view of the entire show. I think no matter if you are close or far away, the visual display of this show looks great! I think I was really tired because I almost enjoyed sitting in the room in a comfy chair more than standing on the concrete bridge.


    I listened to my body telling me it needed rest and decided to head back to the hotel and I was in bed and asleep in record time.

    Formerly tinkinparis

  22. #21
    Quote Originally Posted by tinkaparis View Post
    What followed was a fast succession of rides that we tried to cram into the morning before the park got too busy. Alice in Wonderland, Finding Nemo Subs, Jungle Cruise, Story Book Land Canal Boats, Mr. Toads Wild Ride, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Indiana Jones. Since neither my nephew nor my brother in law do any type of drops, my sister and I did Indiana Jones and Pirates alone. I think Alice is a wonderful ride and it makes great use of the tiny space it has. I think it gives Peter Pan a run for its money as my favorite
    Amazing how much you can do at park opening before everything grinds to a halt. I love Alice in Wonderland ride. C loved it too. I am so glad we got to do this together. I was so looking forward to that. It made my trip!

    Quote Originally Posted by tinkaparis View Post
    As we exited Pirates, we met up with the family to go to our lunch reservation at the Blue Bayou. You could imagine how excited we were to eat in this iconic space! Im not going to go into detail but it turned into such a fiasco that I thought I was in the Twilight Zone. Everything from the service, to the food, to serving me gluten happened. It was not a magical moment and not handled magically by anyone. I am happy that my sister said something to the manager who couldnt believe what just happened. I thought it was fishy that no one had told her or maybe they did and she just didnt care until we questioned her. Needless to say I do not recommend eating here but I understand that many people probably really enjoy it.
    .....
    We settled on Taste Pilots in California Adventure for dinner but before B, E and C arrived I had time to grab a glass of Reisling from the Wine Trattoria and finished it while waiting in line for the Tow Mater ride. I was so excited that not only did they have an allergy fryer here but I could also have a gluten free bun! I slapped all the fixins I could on burger and I really enjoyed my dinner. We all had great food.
    Will not even dare to try Blue Bayou ever again! The food was that bad. I am so sorry about the "fiasco".

    What a surprise Taste Pilots is! I really like their burgers. Also, on another day, I think C, E, and me had burgers at ESPN, which were phenomenal! Served with loaded baked potatoes. I vote ESPN venue most improved food! this trip.

  23. #22
    Quote Originally Posted by tinkaparis View Post
    E had the same idea as I did and we decided to head over to Fiddler, Fifer and Practical to get some coffee. It is a very nice perk to have Starbucks whenever you want.
    E loved, loved, loved Fiddler, Fifer, & Practical - he lived there! The Red Car Trolley engineers said that it is the 2nd most popular Starbucks in the WORLD! 1st most popular? In Times Square. E also loved Clarabelle's ice cream right next door.

    Quote Originally Posted by tinkaparis View Post
    We enjoyed our coffee and then all got into a Red Car Trolley down Hollywood Boulevard.
    I loved the theming of Lake Buena Vista Street and could ride the Red Car all day. Such a beautiful themed area. Where Main Street is from Walt's childhood, this is from when he first came to Hollywood. You could spend all day on LBV street.

    Quote Originally Posted by tinkaparis View Post
    It was time for our lunch reservation at Carthay Circle. The ambiance of the restaurant just breathes Walt Disney. I haven’t seen the original but it looks like an amazing recreation. Make sure you check out the bathrooms too, they are beautiful! We were quickly seated and the server told us to remember that Snow White was first premiered at the Carthay Circle and that the influence is everywhere. She told us to pay close attention to our table. It didn’t take us long to find the mirror mirror on the wall and the wicked queen. Very cool!

    The food ended up being quite a mixed bag for all of us here. The bread was delicious! The real bread everyone loved and I loved the gluten free bread as did everyone else as well. Our starters were the real hits of the meal and everyone had somewhat “meh” experiences with their entrees. I started with the heirloom tomato salad which was great, E started with the duck wings which he said he could have eaten a tub of and I forgot what my sister had. For entrees, B and E had the short rib ravioli which they said was good but the quality of the food doesn’t reflect the fine dining ambiance or prices. I felt the same about my pasta dish. The chicken tasted like it was already made and not fresh to order for my dish. Unfortunately C didn’t like anything on the kids menu so he ate bread. On the whole, it was a good meal but when you compare to California Grill or the Wave in Disney World, the food just falls short, which was a bit of a disappointment. We ended dinner with more coffee before heading out to Buena Vista Street for dessert.
    Carthay Circle. Beautiful restaurant. But with Napa Rose / California Grill pricess, I would rather eat at Napa Rose / California Grill. Carthay Circle was just not that good. C is like our canary in a coal mine. If he won't eat anything there, you know it can't be very good. FYI...C's favorite Disney restaurant is California Grill.

  24. #23

    Day 7 August 14

    And before I knew it, my alarm was going off and I realized that today was my last park day! While I was sad to be leaving, I was so exhausted from combining an Expo/Park trip I was looking forward to spending the entire next day just sitting and traveling cross country We all met up at Disneyland at park opening and went over to Peter Pan first. Apparently there was some type of power outage affecting a few Fantasyland rides so I was unable to tackle the Matterhorn. My sister and I broke off from C and E to go on Splash Mountain since no one else would go on it. It’s funny but this is the only ride I actually prefer at the Magic Kingdom. I thought the ride went too fast, there weren’t enough animatronics either. Unfortunately B was in the first seat so she got soaked while I only got a slight mist Once my sister dried herself off a bit in the bathroom we went on Winnie the Pooh.

    We met back up with E and C and decided to go on It’s a Small World, Pinocchio and Snow White. I realize now that I forgot to look for the Wicked Queen. Is she still in the window? My notes here get a little fuzzy so I don’t know why we all separated again but I needed to sit down so I took the train around the park and then sat on a bench on Main Street waiting for our Carnation Cafe lunch reservation and the others to arrive.


    The food here was pretty good and everyone ordered hamburgers, fries and shakes. Unfortunately my fries never made it to the table but no big deal. The burger was delish. Oscar came over to our table and spoke to my sister for almost 20 minutes. I couldn’t hear what he was saying but she explained it was a story about how Walt liked his place settings. Very cool. After lunch we all headed over for some ice cream and then E and C went back to the hotel room and my sister stayed with me to do some more rides that the boys were too chicken to do

    We headed over to Indiana Jones and this time around our car took the middle path and the “eye” opened! I saw the light! The other times I had been on this ride I was on the left and right paths and that “eye” never lit up. After that we decided to go to some shopping at the World of Disney because I wanted to send postcards back home. I bought 23 postcards to send and headed back to the hotel. I managed to write cute blurbs on 23 postcards, update my trip notes and take an hour and a half nap before heading back to the parks for the evening.

    For the last time this trip I cut through the Grand Californian and entered into California Adventure. I headed over to Guest Relations to send my postcards but learned that Disneyland is not it’s own town but rather part of Anaheim so the Post Card won’t be postmarked Disneyland, instead they stamp it for you. I thought that was a neat touch.

    I knew I wouldn’t make it through the night without a proper dose of caffeine so I headed over to Fiddler for some iced Starbucks coffee. I wandered around enjoying the pre-dusk glow in the sky and got into the single rider line at Radiator springs. I continued to explore the park paying close attention to possible dinner options. I spoke with the chef at the area behind Ghirardelli with the Mexican and Asian foods with the bread bowl. I don’t remember the name. I settled on the Mexican of course made with my gluten allergy items. The food was bland and pretty “blah” and I was bummed that I hadn’t had a real Mexican experience in California. On my way out of the park I stopped by Ariel and then headed over to Disneyland. Pirates was up first and then I headed over to Matterhorn. It was running so I hopped in the single rider line. The ride was painful. I wasn’t expecting to move around so much in my ride vehicle and I kept hitting my legs, knees and elbows on some part of my toboggan. I could see how the ride itself is fun and fast but I just wish it didn’t hurt so much.




    After the bruising I decided I needed something sweet so I set out on a hunt for a gluten free dessert. I actually ended up visiting almost every quick service restaurant and they are all so cute! I must not have been paying attention while going commando on so many rides but they all look like great places to eat. Unfortunately I didn’t find anything that was gluten free including at the Jolly Holiday Bakery but I did have a great discussion with the manager who happened to overhear and she said she hopes they do get something because she gets asked daily for gluten free options. Along my travels a CM told me about a flourless chocolate cake at the Golden Horseshoe. I ran over and asked if it was gluten free and they assured me it was. GREAT! It was yummy. I’m not sure it was gluten free but I didn’t care.


    It was almost 8:30 so I decided it was time to find a space for Fantasmic. I settled on the steps in front of the French Market and planted myself down. My sister called right before the show started and actually found me in the dark and we watched together. This show is meant to be seen on the grander scale as it is here. It was engrossing, beautiful and magical. The use of the boats and Tom Sawyer Island just makes the show. I can’t even compare it to the version we have at Hollywood Studios. We headed out of the park together originally wanting to do some more rides but I was too tired so we settled on the Tiki Room. We said our goodbyes and hugged and kissed before heading our separate ways to our hotels.






    Day 8 August 15

    I slept in today until about 7:30 before heading to Downtown Disney to grab a big breakfast. Lesson learned, I should have just gone back to Storytellers Cafe because I loved it there. But I didn’t and instead ended up having shells in a weird tasting scramble and bacon at Uva Bar. I took in as much of the Disney feeling as I could before heading back to my hotel and relaxing in the room watching the Today show until I had to head down for my super shuttle reservation and check out. The shuttle and flight back home were uneventful and I ended up sleeping most of the day.


    At the end of the day I am happy that the Expo actually got me out to California to visit Disneyland. The park itself however won me over despite the extreme food difficulties and several cast member snafus I encountered. The park cast a spell on me and I don’t think anything could have happened to change that. I look forward to going back to California and Disneyland again but I don’t think I have to ever go to the D23 Expo again. Thanks for reading!

    Formerly tinkinparis

  25. #24

    Thanks for posting your trip report, Tink! It was a pleasure to read (as ususal). I'm glad you loved DL - I love it too. I'm happy that there are similarities and differences between WDW and DLR - it makes it fun to go to both places. I can't wait to get back to DLR - hopefully soon - and hopefully I'll get back to WDW again soon too.


  26. #25

    Thanks for sharing your trip Tink. After your detailed report of the D23 Expo, I think it's not for me either. I know what you mean about the park casting a spell over you, I felt it too. There is something in the air there, just feels special. Congratulations on your new position too!

    TulaBelle
    Laughter is timeless, imagination has no age, and dreams are forever.

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