We just got back from our Disneyland trip and I thought I'd try to write up my first official trip report! (Note: This got crazy long and I've re-organized things a bit to try to make it more readable and added more photos).
This was our third trip to Disneyland as family. My husband, kid and I first went when my son was 5 and had an almost comically disastrous time. DS was scared of almost every single ride. I'll never forget him cowering on the bottom of the boat the entire ride of Pirates of the Caribbean, while the younger kid in the row in front of us tried to tell him it wasn't so scary. Star Tours, Peter Pan, all dark rides were thumbs down from him, although he tolerated Big Thunder Mountain and enjoyed It's a Small World. His favorite thing about the trip was eating pizza and getting a toy.
Trip #2 was supposed to be March 2020. Disneyland announced the closure for the pandemic two days before we were supposed to check in to the Grand. We could have still stayed that first night but the park would have been closed starting our first planned park day. I think I took the news even harder than my son and I spent much of the pandemic planning out different Disneyland and Disney World scenarios that all ended up getting cancelled.
We did finally take trip #2 in June 2021, just a few days after they opened up to out-of-state visitors (we are in Arizona). DS was now 9 and was able to enjoy rides much more. We got to visit both Avenger's Campus and Galaxy's Edge and loved staying at the Grand.
For this trip, DS was now 10 and we were traveling with another family that we haven't seen much during the pandemic. We all wanted to wait for our boys to be fully vaccinated. I was excited to get the 30% Visa Cardholder discount at the Grand Californian ($399/night) as our friends really wanted to stay there.
Omicron definitely complicated our travel plans and I am still a bit shocked that our friends didn't cancel. Our plans were pretty touch and go right up until the day we left. My son had an exposure from a classmate the week before we were to travel, but thankfully tested negative the day before we left. His whole classroom ended up quarantining, which actually helped with some of my mom guilt for taking him out of school to go to DL!
My son has had the Disability Access Pass on previous trips, but we had a lot of difficulty using DAS last summer (difficulty finding the guest service kiosks, kiddo feeling very conspicuous being the only ones in the fastpass lanes). So I was excited to try the new process. We did the the online advanced set up and it was very easy (and only took about 40 minutes). They allow you to prebook two rides per day but I was a little lost about what to choose because it so hard to know when we would be where which days. So we didn't end up using some of those bookings.
We live in Arizona and it takes about 8 hours to drive to Disneyland. Our last trip we went into the parks for our first night, but we decided to just relax at the hotel this time. I'm glad we did that as it made for a more relaxing drive to not feel rushed, plus the parks closed at 8 pm and there wouldn't be much time.
We checked in to the Grand Californian around 4:30 pm and it was a much better experience than our trip in June. Check in was very fast and bell services had our bags up to our room quickly. We had booked a Woods-Courtyard room but I had never managed to make a room request. We lucked out with a Woods view though (room 4402), which is what I was hoping for. We had a great view into the Grizzly Peak area of DCA with the monorail running directly beneath our room. It was so fun to feel like we were in the park and we could hear the music from Soarin' from the balcony.
Our friends were running a few hours behind us, so we decided to grab some pizza from the Craftsman Grill (cheese pizza and the Impossible mushroom one). They were ok but not great. Then we hit the hot tub. The pool area was fairly quiet and I loved seeing all the lanterns lit up.
We got our PJs on and we decided to go out and find the 6th floor observation deck that we had read about from others on this board. Our friends arrived while we en route, so we detoured to the lobby to greet them. This was their first ever trip and the cast member made their check in extra magical for their two boys. She got a call from her "boss" on the phone saying that some characters were passing by and had left something special for them. She went in the back for a bit and returned with envelopes for the boys (including one for my kid) with signed character photos and also first visit buttons (plus an "I'm celebrating" button for my guy).
After that we convinced our friends to go to the observation deck while one of the adults parked their car. It was so beautiful seeing DCA all lit up and wonderful to see the kids so excited.
We helped our friends find their room and I sincerely wish I had called and requested that we were located near each other as they ended up quite a distance away.
After that we got settled in our own room and went to bed. I'm an incredibly light sleeper and always struggle to sleep in hotels so I had a rough first night (despite two sound machines). Our first GCH trip was incredibly quiet because the hotel was only at about 25% capacity. This time we could hear some noise from other rooms (mainly people in the hallways/doors closing). There was also a mechanical sounding noise that happened periodically that only seemed to bother me and I eventually got used to it.
This was their first ever trip and the cast member made their check in extra magical for their two boys. She got a call from her "boss" on the phone saying that some characters were passing by and had left something special for them. She went in the back for a bit and returned with envelopes for the boys (including one for my kid) with signed character photos and also first visit buttons (plus an I'm celebrating button for my guy).
As you've read here with so many changes after reopening, I'm glad Cast Members are still providing the extra Disney touches. Magic moments like that will stay in children's memories for a lifetime.
Such a cool view of Monorail going under your room/through hotel property too.
Day 2 (part 1) - Taking photos in DCA and a few rides
We woke up early (one hour time difference with Arizona) and were treated to a foggy view of DCA before sunrise. After about an hour, DH went down and got some breakfast from Craftsman Grill and brought it back from the room. I noticed that room service is now back, but the prices were much higher so we never did that).
Our park reservations were for DCA to start (park hoppers) and our biggest goal was to do Carsland with our friends since their kids love Cars. Their family has a different rhythm though, so we headed into the park while they were still waking up. We aimed to enter right after rope drop and the line at the private entrance was minimal.
My kid was bummed that Grizzly River Run not running, but we headed to Soarin'. We had prebooked a DAS for this at 9 am, but the app told us it was down and issued us a Multi-Experience pass. Oddly Soarin' did appear up though and we walked on. Great first ride of the day!
My son got a vintage Polaroid camera for Christmas and he was excited to take some photos with it, so spent some time around Carthay Circle area taking shots of characters (him with poloroid, me with my cell phone).
We next headed toward Pixar Pier. We noticed several Photo Pass park photographers with no lines, so we stopped and got photos at the waterfall and Avenger's Campus. My kid wasn't willing to do any photos last time so I was excited to get some family shots.
We booked a DAS for Toy Story as we were walking and I must say it is so much easier to do this on the app rather than finding a guest services umbrella. This was our first time ever doing Toy Story and it was fun, although I'm embarrassed to say I forgot to put on my 3D glasses on and spent like 2/3 of the ride trying to figure out why the graphics were so bad.
After that DH rode Incredicoaster alone (10 minute wait). My son rode Incredicoaster last time, but swore he never would again (even though he thought it was "epic"). In fact, he was a bit anxious that Dad was even riding it but that passed quickly. DS and I headed over try out Jumping Jellyfish. I've been hoping to entice him to ride Guardians and he loved a similar kiddie fall ride at Legoland previously so I thought this might give him a good idea of what it might be like on a small scale. But as we started to get on he immediately jumped off saying the drop was too big. Guess no Guardians this trip...
We headed back toward the Pixar Pier entrance to wait for DH to get off Incredicoaster. We stopped to look at some Lunar New Year merch and debated buying some pins. Then we snapped a selfie with Mickey's Fun Wheel in the background.
After finding DH again, we headed over to Avenger's Campus. I wanted to try the breakfast plant-based breakfast shwarma (DH and I both vegetarian). It was super delicious and made me sad that we only had one morning in DCA since it is only offered at breakfast. We watched the Spider-Man stunt show while eating that and grabbed a quantum pretzel from Pym's.
At that point, our friends were in the park and we all headed over to Carsland. We stopped for some more photo opportunities and the boys were excited to meet Lightning McQueen. We then rode Radiator Springs Racers (friends also have a child that qualifies for DAS and they had booked it when they entered the park and we booked our DAS after Toy Story). This was one of my favorite rides as our two families ended up racing at the end and that was super fun.
We all booked DAS for Monster's Inc. and headed over toward Hollywood Land. My kid spotted a Black Widow poster so I had to run over to take a quick picture (my favorite Marvel movie/character).
By the time we arrived at Monster's Inc. our return time had arrived. It was the first ride on Monsters for everyone but me and we all loved it. We immediately booked DAS for Webslingers after the ride.
The kids were getting hungry and we decided to split up for lunch because we all have different food tastes (with three different very picky kids). DH and I were still full from the shwarma so we just got a kid's pasta at Pyms. Avenger's Campus wasn't too crowded and we were able to get a table with a nice view of the Black Widow/Black Panther show up high near the Quinn jet.
After eating we walked over to Guardians to catch most of the Guardians of the Galaxy: Awesome Dance Off! I'm a huge Guardians fan, so was super excited to see this as it wasn't happening on our last trip. Our friends caught the end of it too and we all went together over to Webslingers. The DAS/Lightning Lane line went fast and everyone loved the ride.
We decided to take a hotel break at this point. DS unfortunately had a huge meltdown once we got back to our room, but I was grateful it didn't happen in the park and even more grateful that it was the only one the whole trip (but apologies to anyone who heard my kid screaming for like an hour at the GCH).
Once things were calmer, I ran out to get some ice cream at Salt and Straw and was excited that they several non-dairy options for the month of January. I only tried two of them, but yum!!
As you've read here with so many changes after reopening, I'm glad Cast Members are still providing the extra Disney touches. Magic moments like that will stay in children's memories for a lifetime.
Yes it was really so nice of her to do that. We had lots of small moments with cast members throughout the trip (wishing us a magical day, making jokes, complimenting my kid's pins, ears, shirt, etc.) and no negative times other than occasionally getting incorrect info.
Day 2 (part 2) - New Orleans Square and Galaxy's Edge
After a pretty long hotel break, we met up with our friends and all walked to Disneyland together. I'm glad that we got to walk down Main Street for the first time with them.
While we were strolling in, I spotted a gentleman walking out while making a video and realized it was the guy from #FreshBaked! (David Erickson). I've watched several of his videos during the pandemic, first trying to glean any bits of info about when DLR could allow out-of-state visitors and to see what the parks were like post-COVID. It felt like a tiny brush with celebrity and I excitedly explained what I saw to my kid (who's big into youtube and shared my excitment about seeing an influencer) and my friends (who had no idea what I was talking about).
Screen grab from the subsequent FreshBaked video (22:52 mark) where you can see me looking back right after we passed him, DS in the Mickey ears next to me and DH on the right in green.
We all booked DAS for Thunder Mountain and headed that way. Our return time was quick and we were able to get on quickly. My friend wasn't sure how her kiddos would do with roller coasters, but all three boys loved it.
We had booked Haunted Mansion DAS from the Big Thunder queue, so we headed over to New Orleans Square. Last trip we got stuck for like 20 minutes and DS was a bit reluctant to ride it again. The ride stopped for a few minutes while we were on it this time, but thankfully not very long. Everyone liked the ride and I hope to some day see the holiday version.
We discovered the wonder of mint juleps and beignets last summer (largely thanks to me reading about them here) so DS desperately wanted to get some "bayonets" as he calls them. We mobile ordered from the Mint Julep Stand and picked things up quickly. The seating area was very crowded and the 8 of tried to squeeze around a 4 top table. I definitely prefer having my "bayonets" in the morning.
While at the Mint Julep stand we booked DAS for Millennium Falcon. We spent a lot of time in Galaxy's Edge last trip, but this was the first time for our friends. Their kids don't know Star Wars at all, but they were still in awe of it all.
The DAS/Lightning Lane for Falcon went very fast (pretty much walk on). Our party was too big for us all to ride together, so we split up. It was just our family of three for our ride and DS and I took pilot (my first time) and DH was the gunner. I was a pretty terrible pilot and got really dizzy doing it, so never again for me! DS was pretty disappointed in my performance and had fun teasing me about the rest of the trip.
We saw Chewie on the way out of the ride, but no Rey. The whole trip it seemed like there were way less characters compared to our trip in June (park wide not just in GE) and I wondered if they might be having staff shortages with the current Omicron spike. But still we were excited to see Chewie!
We were hungry and our friends decided to head to DTD to find some pizza while we stayed behind to eat at Ronto Roasters. The Ronto-less wrap did not disappoint and DS was actually willing to eat some of it his this time around.
DS was pretty spent (ok, we all were) so we headed out of the park via Main Street. We must have just missed Mickey's Mix Magic on our way out.
We still had our Multi Experience pass from the morning and DS decided he wanted to do Soarin' since that was the ride the pass originally came from. We park hopped back over to DCA and had maybe a 10 minute wait in the Lightning Lane. I was really hoping for row 1 this time, but we were in row 2 again. Still it was a nice way to finish off the night, especially without Grizzy River Run (DS's fave).
We went back to our room and went to bed so we could rest up for day 3...
Day 3 (part 1) - Disneyland morning plus Blue Bayou
We woke up early again (sadly no fog) and repeated Craftman's grill breakfast in our room. Our goal today was to stroll into Disneyland at the tail end of rope drop and we probably should have left our room earlier. I think we left around 8:45 and by the time we got to the GCH entrance into DTD the line wrapped well into the courtyard. Thankfully it moved fast and we were into the parks within maybe 30 minutes.
I noticed once we were in the park that the DAS option didn't pop up right away. That happened the day before and I was convinced something was wrong, but after about 15 minutes both days it showed up.
DS wanted me to book the Winnie the Pooh ride on DAS and had a hard time understanding my explanation that we should book the most popular rides first (I guess Pooh is the most popular ride in his mind).
I was able to delay this plan a bit thanks to the DAS option not popping up and we headed to the Jungle Cruise, which was top of my list (wasn't open when we went in June). It was a short wait (5 minutes) and fun ride. I haven't been on in a long time, so I'm not clear what the recent changes were. Our guide was making lots of the corny jokes, but the sound was kind of muffled (maybe due to mask? maybe my hearing not so great) and most of the jokes just flew by my kid.
I booked a DAS for Rise of the Resistance as we walked up to Winnie the Pooh. That was pretty much walk on and a family favorite since I love Winnie the Pooh (might just still sleep with an old Pooh Bear that came from WDW in 1980) and my child has apparently inherited this love from me despite not reading the books or watching much of the animated stuff.
Our friends had entered the park and were just about to get on Pirates. We decided to get more mint juleps and beignets while they finished so we could all do Rise. Unfortunately, Pirates broke down and they were stuck.
DS was restlessness so we walked up to Galaxy's Edge and used our Rise of the Resistance DAS (the wait time was pretty quick surprisingly). On the way, DS spotted Winnie the Pooh over in Critter Country so we stopped by to say hi.
The Rise lightning lane took us right up to the pre-show with no real wait. We rode Rise twice last trip, but I had forgotten most of the details so it was awe-inspiring once again. And there was an element near the end that must of been broken before as none of us remembered it.
We headed back toward Critter Country hoping our friends were off of Pirates, but they were still stuck, so we did our pre-booked DAS for Haunted Mansion. I rode in my own doom buggy this time and had fun noticing details I don't usually see.
We had booked a DAS for Indiana Jones after Rise and were able to get in line by the time we made our way there (friends still stuck on Pirates). I can see what people have been saying about the Lightning Lane for this ride. It merges with the regular queue so quickly! The posted standby wait was 40 minutes and we probably waited 20 minutes in the lightning lane. I feel like stand by was pretty much walk up until the merge point as well.
Despite the longer wait DS seemed to do ok. On our last trip we waited for Indy and right when we got in the jeeps the ride broke down. We sat for maybe 15 minutes and DS got increasingly anxious until we had to leave so we never rode it. I also have only ridden once before and had a terrible experience after a 90 minute standby wait behind a drunk couple and had found the ride super bumpy and migraine inducing.
But thankfully this ride was super fun! I swear it was a different ride than the one I was on before (maybe due to sitting in a different spot? maybe the company I was with?). DS absolutely loved it and said it was his favorite of the trip.
By the time we were off our friends had been evacuated from Pirates, but had already gone to another part of the park in search of food. We headed to Tomorrowland so we could find some pizza. We mobile ordered from both Alien Pizza Planet for DS and Galactic Grill for me and DH and and found a nice table outside of Galactic Grill where they used to do Jedi training. DS was a bit sad that they stopped offering that as he never got to do it (it was too loud for him on the trip when he was 5 but he sat and watched it from far way over and over again that trip).
After lunch, DS really wanted to hang around Tomorrowland so we could do the VISA reward card photo opportunity (he loves "VIP" things). So we went over to Autopia. DS insisted on doing his own car, so DH and I had a few glorious minutes of alone time driving behind him. We booked Star Tours next (always fun), then Buzz Light Year (first time for all of us, not really my cup of tea).
It was finally 2 pm, so we did the Visa cardmember photo opportunity at Star Wars Launch Bay. There are no characters right now, but the magicked in some stormtrooopers and K-2SO into the shots.
We had a 3 pm Blue Bayou reservation with our friends and DS seemed to be fading quickly so we slowly walked over to New Orleans Square and grabbed some popcorn. We caught the Disneyland band going down Main Street on the way.
We grabbed a table outside of the Royal Street Veranda to people watch and snack and wait for our friends. DS was very interested in hearing all about Club 33 (which I only know about what I read here and online) but we never found exactly where it is.
Our friends were running late (we only had a reservation for 5 so they dropped part of their party back at the hotel) and Blue Bayou definitely would not seat us until everyone arrived. I was getting nervous that they'd give our table away and that we'd have a long wait, but they seated us right away once they arrived.
I've only been to Blue Bayou once before (last trip we had to cancel our reservation since DS wasn't up for it) and I know a lot of people say the food isn't great. But we had a fantastic time. Our table was one in from the water and Pirates was running again so we could see the boats floating by. Our two friends regaled us with the story of their evacuation (stuck for more than 45 minutes). The cast members had to tie the various boats together and then have people climb from boat to boat until they could get off. It sounded quite dramatic! Thankfully their kids didn't totally freak out.
Our wait staff was great and we were able to order quickly. DS got a the kids pasta meal and a mint julep. Three of us ordered the plant-based cauliflower grits (plus a side salad) and I ordered the signature julep which was made with blood orange juice. Our other friend got the flat iron steak.
It was so peaceful to just relax under the "night" sky and beautiful lanterns and catch up with our friends. The food came quickly and I loved the cauliflower dish. My only regret was that the reservation was so early and I wasn't hugely hungry. The blood orange julep was so good that I didn't even share it (other than allowing DS and DH tiny sips). The only down side was the kid pasta, which looked kind of crunch. But DS didn't complain.
Once we were done we decided to take a hotel break and walked back to the Grand with plans to check out the Lunar New Year things in the evening...
Once we got back to the hotel we decided to take a quick pool break since it was closing so early all week (8 pm). We hoped to make it to the slide before it closed at 5, but weren't moving fast enough, so we settled on the hot tub.
While we were lounging, our friends rallied and headed back into Disneyland. We debated hustling and trying to meet up but we were moving slowly and really wanted to check out some of the Lunar New Year festivities.
We headed in to DCA close to 6:30 and popped over to the Redwood Creek Challenge area. This was closed on our last visit and it was really pretty at night with beautiful lanterns all lit up (I'm guessing for Lunar New Year?). DS didn't feel like playing in the area so we didn't stay long. There seemed to be a long line to meet Raya and she couldn't be seen from where we were standing.
We continued on toward the Lunar New Year food booths hoping to find some things to nosh on. We've never been for any food festivals and didn't quite realize how things worked. DH and DS stopped to do a fan-making activity and I went over to the noodle stand to hop into what I thought was a short line. But I quickly realized this was just the line after you ordered, the real line to order was on the other side. That line moved quickly and I ordered the garlic noodles for DS. We wanted to also try the Kung Pao tofu from Paradise Gardens, but I was disappointed that they wouldn't let us order it from there. I took the receipt and found the food pick up line. It wrapped around the booth and then down the area in front of Mickey's fun wheel (maybe 40-50 people deep?). It moved fairly fast and we waited about 15 minutes.
We got the noodles right before the procession started. They were pretty plain and bland, perfect for my kid who only really likes noodles and pizza. The portion size was about one cup of noodles and DS ate about half, with DH and I finishing off the rest.
While we were eating the noodles, the music for the Lunar New Year procession started and we could see Tigger leading things off down by Goofy's Sky School. We were all so excited!
The procession is short (less than 3 minutes) but they turn around and come back, so we watched it twice. I thought it was very well done and I loved the music, the dragons, the dancers, and all the flowing colors. It was nice to see it after dark because the dragons light up.
After the procession, DH and I were still hungry. We were worried the line for the Kung Pao Tofu would be super long, especially as I had hoped to possibly do the last time of Animation Academy before the night was done. So headed over to Hollywood Land.
We mobile ordered the plant-based Philly Dogs from Award Wieners on our way over and then waited and waited. This was the only poor experience with mobile ordering the entire trip. There were only a few customers waiting and people who were ordering walk up were getting their food while I still waited. I checked with the cast members twice and there seemed to be a general sense of confusion in the kitchen. Our window for Animation Academy came and went. At one point it looked like the staff were starting to clean up and not working on any orders. I asked again and then finally got our food (maybe after 25 minutes).
The dogs were tasty, but I scarfed mine super fast as I was on a mission to sneak over for one ride on Guardians of the Galaxy before going back to the hotel. The app said the line was 60 minutes, but I was betting it would go faster. DH and DS left to go back to the hotel and I walked quickly over, hopping in line at 7:55.
Just as I expected, the line moved quick (I think maybe because they stop taking Lightning Lanes at park close?). I didn't even have time to look at all the cool things in the line this time around and I was up to the upper level line within 15 minutes. I got to move up a tiny bit as a single rider as well.
I rode Guardians twice last trip and it is my absolute fave. I especially enjoy the night time vibe and it didn't not disappoint this time. It felt more intense than I remembered, but all the more fun! At the end of the ride, the two gentlemen next to me looked over and exclaimed "That was something... extra."
I strolled back to the hotel through the GCH entrance and we all quickly got ready for bed. I couldn't believe how quickly the trip was going and that we only had one park day left...
Day 4 (part 1) - Plaza Inn Character Breakfast + Disneyland with friends
Our last park day had arrived. I had not slept well the night before and we were all up early. We had a 10:20 breakfast reservation at Plaza Inn for just the three of us, but I was worried this would cut into the time we could be visiting with our friends in the morning (they weren't interested in the character breakfast). I jumped on the app and was able to snag a 9:20 reservation after refreshing a few times.
We decided to try and get going a bit earlier than the day before, leaving our room around 8:20. The line to get through security was much shorter and the lines at the gate were about the same. We entered the park around 8:45.
We popped into the Disney cinema for a minute and watched a few of the cartoons then headed toward the castle. DS spotted a photographer so we stopped to get some quick shots. We made our way down Main Street and DH got a kick out of watching all the people crowded near the castle for rope drop (we always avoid it ourselves).
It was still before 9, so DS and I decided to explore one of the shops near the Plaza Inn while DH watched the mad rush of people. I had never been in Plaza Point before and thought I was going to die when I saw all the Disney Christmas merchandise. We bought two ornaments at different places in the park last summer and had already decided we would get one on future trips to remember things by. There were a few different ones on display at the front that can be customized and I also loved several character themed ones in the back of the store (particularly the Winnie the Pooh ones and the Rescuers).
I couldn't possibly decide, plus didn't want to carry around something breakable, so we headed over to the Plaza Inn to see if we could check in early. None of us had ever done a character breakfast before – we had breakfast at Storytellers last summer but that was before they brought back character dining.
We had no problem checking in about 10 minutes early and we stopped to get our photo with Minnie (not my favorite photos, but it was still fun).
We asked to be seated outside and also to have consult with a chef since neither DH or I can do dairy/eggs. After a few minutes, a cast member came out to discuss our dietary needs. They offered us the vegan/gluten free mickey waffles and said they weren't really sure about which things on the buffet might be dairy free. I suggested maybe they could do a tofu scramble as we have seen others get that online and he agreed they could do that, saying he always forgets about that option.
I took DS through the buffet lines to get waffles, eggs, jello, and fruit. By the time we got to our table we had the first parade of characters come by. I'll admit I chose Plaza Inn over the other character dining options because they usually have Winnie the Pooh characters and so I was happy to see both Pooh Bear and Tigger!
Our special-order food arrived and the scrambled tofu looked better than I expected (soft tofu, mixed with spinach and vegetables). Overall, I thought the food was tastier than our previous visit to Storytellers, but their menu had been very limited back then (before they brought back the buffet). The total price $114) was way more than I want to spend on breakfast, but we had a fun time and I'd probably do it again.
We had two more parades of characters while we were eating and I appreciated that they stopped and posed for photos. We saw Chip & Dale, Pluto, Daisy Duck, and Perla, one of the mice from Cinderella.
While we were finishing eating, our friends texted to say they were riding the Monorail into the park. We walked over and met them by Galactic Grill where they had grabbed a quick bite to eat. We all booked DAS for Star Tours and then went to find the bathrooms (it is amazing how much time is spent finding bathrooms when two families travel together!)
Once I got to Star Tours I had some trouble with our DAS. I swear I selected Star Tours, but the return time to redeem was showing as Big Thunder Mountain. I don't know if it was glitch or user error. Our friends had Star Tours, so we decided to plead our case to the cast member at the Lightning Lane/DAS entrance. He graciously let us go ahead and just had us cancel the active return time.
The lightning lane was longer than the previous day, but still moved fairly quickly. It was our friends' first ride and it was fun to see them look over all the things in the queue. When we rode Star Tours when DS was 5 we thought he would love it (he loved everything Star Wars, legos, books, etc) and rode it as our very first ride. Big mistake! He screamed "Get me off of this" the entire ride. Thankfully we had a better experience last summer.
The seven us took up an entire row in the shuttle and suddenly we were flying off to a battle on Hoth. At first, I thought it was a repeat of the ride we had the day before, but the second half was different. Everyone loved the ride and the boys asked to immediately ride again.
But we all quickly got distracted inside of the Star Traders shop as we exited the ride. We had seen a "Baby Yoda" beanie the day before that both DS and I wanted to get. While I was purchasing that the cast member at the register noticed my Ahsoka Tano (character from Clone Wars/Rebels) T-shirt and mentioned that they just got some Ahsoka mickey ears in stock. He noted that they were designed by Ashley Eckstein, the voice actor for the character, and said I should hurry as they were sure to sell out. I don't really like wearing head band style things (hurt my head/ears), but they were very cute and I do love Ahsoka, so I decided to get them (that guy should get a commission!).
I put on my new ears and we decided to head to Big Thunder Mountain (intentionally booking a DAS for it this time) with a wait time about 50 minutes out. We headed toward Fantasyland and did the Sleeping Beauty walk through for a few minutes. It was the only time I've ever seen this experience semi-crowded. We breezed through it quickly as the kids were not really wanting to stop and look at things.
We passed Belle and Gaston as we headed out to Frontierland. I didn't feel like we saw as many characters in Disneyland overall, but I still love how they are doing the character interactions now. I find them easier to spot and get photos and they are just as exciting for my kid.
After a bathroom break, our return time was ready for Big Thunder Mountain. The Lighting Lane line was a bit longer than the day before, but moved quickly (under 10 minutes). And we all loved Thunder Mountain the second time.
Our friend's kids had been begging to do the Mark Twain steamboat and it was docked, so we raced over and got on. I did the canoes on our last trip, but none of the rest of the group had been around the Rivers of America, so it was fun to see it all.
I did not realize the DAS process changed. Just went and read up on it. I definately like the new way better and its nice to "see" it in action in your trip report. Enjoying your trip report. Thank you for sharing.
Day 4 (Part 2) - No Matterhorn, but Animation Academy
After the steam boat, we took a break for water and popcorn (and another bathroom break). I'll admit I was starting to feel a bit grumpy about our slow pace and numerous breaks. Plus DS was being incredibly indecisive about what he wanted to do, typically responding "I don't know" when I asked about what DAS to book or "Maybe" to all my suggestions. I reeeallly wanted to ride the Matterhorn and he kept waffling on whether or not he would. He finally decided he wanted to though and we booked the DAS while eating popcorn.
When we made it over to the Matterhorn, the line to even check into the Lightning Lane was long and seemingly not moving. We realized after a minute that no cars were running and my friends suggested we jump out of line . I wanted to wait a bit longer, especially as the ride wasn't showing as down on the app. But the rest of party was already climbing over the very tiny fence to get out of line, before I could even finish my sentence. And of course the second we did that the cars started running and the line started moving.
Despite my sunglasses and face mask, I wasn't able to hide my irritation and feel bad that everyone in my group noticed. I think it was a combination of sleep deprivation, feeling overheated, and starting to get hungry. DS really, really wanted to hop over to DCA so we could do the other Visa card member photo opp (I wish I had looked at the time frame before I told him it existed as we only had a 30-minute window with it ending at 1:30). We decided to part company with our friends and head that way and then grab lunch.
There was definitely longer lines to get into DCA right at 1 pm when park hopping starts. But the line moved fast and we made it over to Hollywood Land in plenty of time for the photo. I was feeling less stressed by then. DS was really into getting the photos and hamming it up for the camera, so that definitely lifted my spirits.
notice my new Ahsoka ears...
After the photos, we headed over to Avenger's Campus for some food. DS had really wanted one of those infinity gauntlet drink holders on the last trip but never got one because of a miscommunication between the two parents – a fact I've been reminded of so many times over the last 6 months. So we decided to get some shwarma for DH and I and get the gauntlet for him (he was over the moon). We mobile ordered from Pym's while doing this and then headed over there to find seating. Things were busy so it took a few minutes of stalking tables to find a spot.
Our shwarma was tasty and DS ate all of his pasta this time around. We watched another show from the Avenger's building while eating (Black Widow and Black Panther fighting Taskmaster). For some reason, Avenger's Campus always feels super warm to me (even in January), so after finishing lunch I suggested we do some quieter indoor activities. I'd been wanting to check out Animation Academy so we headed back to Hollywood Land.
I had never been inside the Animation Academy building and it looked like there was a lot to explore. We hopped in line for the next animation "show" starting in 10 minutes. This was the first time for all of us and didn't know quite what to expect. Once they let us in we grabbed our paper and took a seat in the middle of the auditorium. The animator was drawing Sully from Monsters Inc., which was at least a movie we were all familiar with.
I am far from artistic and for most of the session I doubted an actual character would emerge. The animator was encouraging though and we were all having fun drawing. DS got a little frustrated with his at first as he tends to be very heavy handed when using a pencil and his initial lines were super dark. He asked to start over and there were extra supplies nearby so we grabbed him a fresh sheet.
In the end, I was proud of all of our drawings. I wish we had done this earlier in the trip as I definitely would have done this more than once and also would have looked at the schedule for my fave characters.
After we were done, we headed into the Sorcerer's Workshop. I had read about the "secret" Beauty & the Beast library and wanted to see it. We first tried the animation activities in the workshop. I had a hard time getting mine to work, but DS did so easily.
The library was beautiful and fun. All three of did the interactive display that determines which character you are. DS was Simba, DH was Gaston, and I was the Evil Queen (guess I should have chosen less evil answers). The library was slightly dark, so DS had a chance to try lighting up his infinity gauntlet and pretending he was snapping me out of existence.
DH was considering sneaking off to do Guardians, but felt daunted by the wait time. I was considering getting Genie+ for one of us so we could have the photo pass for the day and so at least one of us could ride more things if DS pooped out. So I quickly booked Genie+ on the app and booked a time for DH.
We tried to do Turtle Talk, but it had just started and we didn't feel like waiting. DH's Guardians return time was coming up quick, so we split up and DS and I wandered over to Mickey's Philharmagic. This was another DCA activity I had never done (wasn't running during our last trip). DS and I really enjoyed the music and scenes from all the different movies.
After that DS and I went in search of a churro, which he kindly shared with me and I tried to pretend didn't have dairy in it (sorry digestive system!). DS was interested in possibly getting a Winnie the Pooh stuffy we had seen as we walked into DCA, so we started heading back to the entrance. We ran in DH while we were walking (Guardians was awesome according to him).
DS had a gift card with his souvenir budget and had been amazingly good on this trip not begging us for everything he saw but rather weighing his options carefully. He still had enough to get the bear, so he decided to go for it. I was pretty touched that he wanted to get a Pooh Bear just like his mama (mine shown next to the new one, circa 1980 from WDW).
By now it was almost 4 and we decided we needed a much-deserved hotel break. Plus we wanted to try and get to the slide at the pool one time on this trip (it closed at 5 every day). We got into our swim stuff and made it in time. What were we thinking?!? Yes the pools are heated and the sun had felt warm earlier in the day, but brrrrrrrr. I couldn't bear to get into the water beyond my ankles, but DS and DH each made a few trips down the slide. When DS first hit the water he looked like a cartoon character practically leaping out of the water in the middle of the pool. We all soaked in the hot tub for a good while after that.
Day 4 (part 3) - No fireworks, but a lovely ending
After the pool and regrouping a bit in our hotel room, we headed back into Disneyland via the Monorail. It wasn't running on our last trip and DS and DH had never ridden it before. My last (only) ride was probably in the early 1990s when it still stopped at the Disneyland Hotel.
The walk over to the Monorail station from the Grand was quicker than I thought it would be. I didn't realize it was right across from the Lego Store, which we had visited on our previous trips. There were a lot of people waiting and we ended up in the very last car. It was a nice ride, but I wish we had made the return trip to see it go through the Grand (and under our room!).
While we were riding over, DS was still debating whether or not he wanted to ride the Matterhorn. His concern was whether it would have any big drops and I realized he thought the cars sent all the way to the peak of the mountain. After talking it through a bit more, he decided to ride and I was stoked.
We still had our DAS from the early afternoon and this time there was no line to scan for the Lightning Lane. Once we were scanned in, the line moved quickly and we were on the ride in about 5 minutes.
It was getting dark and the ride was actually faster and more intense than I remembered. I was nervous the whole ride that DS was going to hate it and be so mad... But as soon as we came to the end, he was screaming how much he loved it. Hooray! I, on the other hand, might be ok not riding it again. I definitely prefer Thunder Mountain.
Our friends had ridden Space Mountain the day before with their boys (age 5 and 9) and it had not gone well. Both boys found it very scary and even though DS had been waffling on trying it, I decided to quit while we were ahead and not suggest it.
While we were on the Matterhorn, DS had noticed Alice in Wonderland and asked to ride that. This was exciting for me as he had not wanted to do any Fantasyland rides on this trip or the last trip. We quickly got a DAS return time and the wait was very short.
We entered Alice through the exit and the castmember said they did not have a scanner for the DAS. He suggested we just go ahead an cancel so we could book the next ride. DS seemed to enjoy the ride and after he seemed game for more of the small rides, so I booked Storybook Canal Boats (another ride closed when we came last time). The DAS return windows seemed to be going even faster than it said when we booked (30 minute wait) but by the time we walked over there we could scan in.
We again entered through the exit and were put in a boat with another DAS family. I've never done the canal boats at night and it was beautiful to see all the different fairy tale scenes lit up. I think I prefer the daytime though for being able to see more details. But it was a peaceful ride and is still one of my favorites.
It was getting past dinner time and we needed to figure out a food plan soon. But DS was game for more of Fantasyland and DH suggested we ride Peter Pan. We booked it right after we scanned into the canal boats and looked at things in the Mad Hatter shop and other kiosks while we waited. DS expressed some curiosity about riding the tea cups, but there is no way DH or I could stomach that. So he settled for sitting in the tea cup in Fantasyland.
Peter Pan didn't disappoint. It is one ride I never did as a child (first time for all of us was when DS was 5) and I love the feeling of flying over London. This used to be one of our son's all time favorite movies, but he was unfortunately scared of all the dark rides on that first trip when he was younger. He enjoyed it this time though, even though he no longer lives for all things Captain Hook.
We decided to head over to Critter Country to get quick service food from Hungry Bear. While we were exiting toward Frontier Land, I was stopped by a fellow guest who noticed my Ahsoka ears. She was super excited and wanted to know where I got them, showing me all her Ahsoka pins. I told her to head over to Star Traders ASAP and I hope she was able to get some! DS was thrilled with the attention and my ears were so "famous." He wanted to make sure I wrote about on my "Disney Nerd blog" (aka the DIS boards).
I mobile ordered Hungry Bear while we were walking but the return window was about 45 minutes out. We had never eaten here and I had been excited to try their Impossible burger. DS was wanting onion rings but the app would not let me choose those as a side with the plant-based meal. I also couldn't customize DS's burger to remove all toppings.
Once we got near there, I decided to just hop in line so I could ask for our customizations. DS and DH wandered over to the Pooh bear shop to browse. The line took maybe 10 minutes and unfortunately they were out of onion rings entirely. But I was able to get a burger with no cheese or lettuce and got a fancy watermelon lemonade with whipped cream for DS. I was also able to easily cancel the mobile order on the app.
We found some nice outdoor seating and I wish I could say the food was good, but it was by far the worst food I've ever had at Disneyland, ever... The burgers were cold and practically inedible. The buns were stale. The patties were crunchy. But I was hungry so I persevered. Ironically, DS thought his burger was great and ate the whole thing. I'm hoping maybe they were short staffed and things were worse than usual.
I booked Millennium Falcon while we were eating just in case DS wanted to ride. He was quite happy mostly walking around and we headed back up to Galaxy's Edge. I always enjoy it at night and we had a nice time slowly walking through some of the different merchandise stands. I feel like there is still a lot of areas I haven't explored.
We did end up riding Millennium Falcon one last time. DS and DH were both pilots while I did gunner. I got a bit dizzy this time though for some reason, but recovered quickly.
I was torn about really wanting to stay for fireworks or meet up over in DCA to ride a few things with our friends (girls only, no kids). But it sounded like my friends were worn out anyway and not going to be able to meet up. So we headed back to Fantasyland to wait for the fireworks show. We booked a DAS for Snow White along the way.
DS decided to ask a cast member if the fireworks were still happening, but they said they wouldn't know until right before. It had been windy off and on all day, so I had prepped him that there was a large chance they would not happen.
We got on Snow White through the exit and enjoyed the ride. I have not ridden it in maybe 15+ years so I wasn't sure what all had changed. I could see it still being scary for some kids. But thankfully DS had no trouble with any of the dark rides this trip including this one.
We decided to head to Main Street to try and watch the fireworks. The area was definitely packed and a bit overwhelming. We still had more than 15 minutes to go and I saw the Plaza Point store and remembered that I still wanted to get an ornament so we made our way over there.
DS and I agreed to get a castle ornament and he wanted to get it customized. I was worried about the time for that as we were all so tired. Earlier in the day a cast member had said we could purchase one of the already customized ones (with "2022" and some other decorations). The evening crew was less certain about that, but they did it in the end, just adding the cost of the already done customization.
The crowd was even bigger as we exited and they had put up ropes all long Main Street (I'm always amazed at how quickly they can do this). I thought maybe this was good sign that the fireworks were a go! We moved over near the Plaza Inn stroller parking to try to find an unobstructed view. Unfortunately, right when we got in position they announced that the fireworks weren't happening but that Mickey's Mix Magic would start shortly.
We decided to start heading out and catch the show as walked down Main Street. I've never seen Mickey's Mix Magic and had no idea what to expect. Once the music and projections started, I realized it was more of a production than I had thought! We ducked under the rope along Main Street so we could move out of the flow of traffic and watch.
DS had a blast dancing to the music and I thought it was super fun! I mean it is no Fantasmic, but it least had a tiny bit of a nighttime spectacular feel. And it as a nice way to cap off the end of our last park day.
As we walked out, we popped into Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln. Our friends had mentioned that they had done this earlier in the trip and I wanted to check it out. I think the show was already in progress as the theater doors were closed, so we checked out the Disney gallery instead. They were having a Haunted Mansion exhibit and I'd like to spend more time in the gallery in the future. We sat on a bench wishing we had a magic carpet or transporter to get us to our room (feet so tired!). We decided not to wait any longer and headed out of the park.
DCA was closed so we headed back to the Grand via Downtown Disney. We decided to go right to bed rather than start packing and thankfully after such a busy day, I slept great!
After a great night sleep, we woke up just before sunrise. We didn't have park tickets or dining reservations this day as usually DS likes to just get going when vacation is done. But I kind of wish we had something special to see us off.
We did have a splendid sunrise over DCA that we watched from our balcony. We also got a kid's breakfast from Craftsman Grill again, while DH and I did oatmeal in the room and toasted some bagels (packed an extension cord and toaster that we could then use from the balcony).
We were all packed up by 8:30 and DS wanted to see if we could get a churro in DTD before we hit the road. DH stayed behind to call for bell services to help with our bags.
DS and I got through security easily (no line, park had opened at 8), but discovered the churro stands weren't open yet. We decided to head over and look for some pins as amazingly we had not spent down our gift card yet. We saw that the Jazz Kitchen Express wasn't open but must have been soon as a line was forming. I remembered that they sell beignets and we briefly jumped in line, but DS wanted to keep moving.
DH texted that he wanted a Star Wars pin blind bag set as well, so we went to the Pin Traders stand down by the Lego Store. We found the pins DH wanted and decided to split two more blind bag boxes between DS and I. One was a Lunar New Year set and the other was a 2022 pin set.
We thought about walking over and checking out the Disneyland Hotel, but we got an update from DH that he was already in the lobby and working on getting the car. We didn't know what to expect, as bell services was super slow in June (about an hour) but the staffing must be much better now.
We decided to continue our quest for one last treat. The line at Jazz Kitchen was now longer, but we noticed that a churro stand was also getting started. So we got a churro and DS was sweet about wanting to save some for daddy.
When we got back to the Grand Californian lobby, DS and I grabbed a space by the fire place. We opened our pin boxes and debated who would keep what. The Lunar New Year ones were Minnie (DS called dibs) and Daisy (not my fave). The 2022 ones were Dumbo (again I let DS pick first) and Mike/Sully, which was fun.
DH was back with the car and was just waiting for bell services to get our luggage back out so we could load up. He was excited for his pins (Darth Vader and C-3PO, he was a bit bummed as he was hoping for Boba Fett).
We exchanged some texts with our friends and it seemed like they weren't going to be down for awhile, so we didn't get a chance for an in person goodbye.
The car was all loaded and we bid farewell to the Grand and Disneyland. Thankfully our drive home was smooth and uneventful. DS slept for a good chunk of it, which didn't surprise me after walking so much for three days.
I exchanged several texts with my friends on the drive home, reminiscing about the brief but sweet times we had together and plotting our next Disneyland adventure.
Day 2 (part 2) updated as I totally forgot that we saw the YouTuber from Fresh Baked as we were walking down Main Street on our first day. I swear I was almost as excited as the time I saw Michael Jackson in the park in the early 1990s. I was able to find the video and you can see my family pass by him around the 22:50 mark, with me craning my neck to look back while I was thinking "Wow, that's my favorite YouTube Disney guy!"
Great trip report SM! I recognized you from your pic as we worked together at UALib. My family and I are headed there in March also rebooked from March 2020.
Great trip report SM! I recognized you from your pic as we worked together at UALib. My family and I are headed there in March also rebooked from March 2020.
How busy was it at the parks during the Lunar New Year? We're worried about doing a January trip with the festivities going on, but can't seem to find a time that Disney doesn't have anything that might boost the crowds.
How busy was it at the parks during the Lunar New Year? We're worried about doing a January trip with the festivities going on, but can't seem to find a time that Disney doesn't have anything that might boost the crowds.
The crowds felt medium to me, particularly compared to our recent summer trip. The Lunar New Year booths would get crowded with long lines for food. Other than that, I never felt like things were very crowded.
But of course, the hours are shorter that time of year and there are some rides under refurbishment. And you are right, I think Disney is managing the hours, calendar, events, and staffing to maximize attendance as much as they can.
Overall, I think January is a solid choice. I'd do it again. Just keep in mind that some things like Fantasmic, parades, and fireworks will likely only be on weekends at this time of year.
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