On the night of August 9th my sister and brother and I went and looked around what was left of the themeing in the outside parts of the original Disneyland Hotel. A lot of the stuff has already been removed to make room for the rethemeing/remodeling they are in the process of doing. Many of my pictures came out very blurry but still might be of some interest.
Me and Dillon spent a little while that night exploring the public areas of the Grand Californian Hotel
The lighting fixtures in the lobby
On Tuesday morning we got to California Adventure just before it opened at 10am and spent the whole day there. We started the day by getting a family picture with Mickey Mouse on the bridge that leads to California Screamin'.
Then we headed to the back of the park. Kylee and Dillon took the twins on the carousel as we waited in line for Toy Story Midway Mania. I rode with Mom and had a higher score than her. It was the first time we rode it since they updated it with characters from Toy Story 3 and changed out the Bo Peep game for the Dino game.
We liked the changes to the ride and Dillon quickly figured out that if you hit both the lava balloons that "flow" out of the top of the volcano, and then hit the ones that replace it you get the same effect that you got in the Bo Peep game when you hit all the balloons on the cloud. It will "rain" a bunch of balloons at once.
THey have a giant toy box photo-op just past Mickey's Fun Wheel.
We saw the Alladin show that day and Turtle Talk with Crush as well as several other attractions in that park. We had our World of Color Picnic meals late in the day and saw the 9pm World of Color and pre-show from the bridge in the Blue section. We then checked out Glow Fest before mom took the kids back to the hotel. (More about the food later) I didn't take any pictures DURING the show so I could take it in better since this was our first time seeing it.
We asked about 3 or 4 cast members what the best spot we could get with our Blue section tickets to see the show with little kids. All of them told us that the bridge was good because no one would be in front of us. It isn't center but for the most part its a good view.
For the 9pm showing they do a 15 minute preshow at about 8:30pm. They have a couple of high energy announcers up on the stage in the high school musical/Celebrate style costumes and they bring out several larger than life light-up puppets to represent the different colors.
Genie = Blue Section
Tigger = Orange Section
Lumiere = Yellow Section
Mike from Monster's Inc = Green Section
Sebastian = Red Section
I couldn't get a good enough view to photograph or video tape all the puppets but found this on youtube.
After the show the water looks like this as people gather their belongings and clear out.
The other two days of our 3 day Summer Pass Plus tickets were spent mostly in Disneyland but me and Dillon and Kylee did go back and forth to DCA a bit to ride the bigger rides the kids don't like.
Over the three days we experienced a lot of shows and attractions:
At DCA:
World of Color at 9pm on August 10 from the bridge. (Blue Section).
Glow Fest August 10th, 11th, and 12th (mom and the kids were in there on the 10th. Just me and my adult siblings went to it the other two nights)
Alladdin at (I believe) 3pm on August 10. The audience was quite into it and cheered the Genie on a lot
Turtle Talk with Crush
Muppet Vision 3-D (with Kylee and Dillon)
It's Tough to be a Bug! (with Dillon...another 3-D show)
Monster's Inc (me, Kylee and Dillon only)
Twilight Zone Tower of Terror (once with Kylee and Dillon and a couple more times with just Dillon even though I don't really enjoy this ride. Dillon would never do this ride on previous trips)
Toy Story Midway Mania (we all did this one and then me and Kylee and Dillon did it again on the last night...it's my favorite and i'd have done it ten more times if i could)
California Screamin' (The three of us single-rider lined this one)
Maliboomer (Dillon got me on this one even tho I hate this more than Tower of Terror because it will be going to Yesterland next month)
Soarin' Over California (whole family...perhaps not Kylee?)
Grizzly River Run (me and Dillon single rider lined this and Dillon was DRENCHED!)
Blue Sky Cellar (me and Dillon)
Mission Tortilla Factory (me and Dillon...gotta love free fresh tortillas)
The Bakery Tour (me and Dillon...fresh sour dough bread samples yum)
Inside the waiting/pre-show area of Muppet Vision 3-D
The Cars Photo-Op is near Soarin' Over California
The wait for Cars photo-op:
Some of my family got one last ride on Mulholland Madness before it gets rethemed to Goofy's sky school:
Monster's Inc:
Bread Factory:
Blue Sky Cellar
Random DCA pictures:
Glow Fest:
At Disneyland:
Magical Fireworks on August 11th from a bench next to the Turkey leg cart at the hub (neither Dumbo nor Tinkerbell flew)
Fantasmic at 9pm on August 12th (and caught the fireworks through the trees...both Tink and Dumbo flew but it is hard to see from New Orleans)
Celebrate: A Street Party (I only saw a bit of it as I passed on the 11th. Mom, Kylee and the twins watched it on the 12th while me and Dillon went off to do some of the rides the kids don't like.)
Main Street Cinema (just a walk in theater that currently features footage from the earliest days of Disneyland. Usually has classic Mickey cartoons...me and Dillon checked it out one night and the whole family went and checked it out the next. Daniel was mad because he wanted to see the Mickey cartoons. Fortunately he got his wish the next day when I took him to Mickey's house, These videos have run since July 17th of this year and will be removed and the cartoons put back after Labor Day)
The Disneyland Story featuring Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln (me and Dillon did this right at midnight so didn't get to check out the gallery really. Mom saw it by herself and found it boring. Me and Dillon enjoyed it however. It presents history in an interesting way.)
Disneyland Railroad (road as a family from New Orleans to Tommorrowland)
Haunted Mansion (whole family did this)
Pirates of the Caribbean (I think the whole family did this..not sure if Kylee was with us though)
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (I think I did this ride twice on this trip...the twins had to do it 3 or 4 times)
Splash Mountain (we did this as a family with fastpasses and mom bought the picture)
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (Whole family did this together right before one of the many times Kylee went back to the hotel)
Indiana Jones Adventure (we did this as a family. This was the first time the twins rode it and were very frightened in line. We tried once before on a previous trip and it broke down when we were in line and this time when we went to use our fastpasses the ride broke just as we got to the line so we had to come back later. The twins loved it though and had to do it again)
Minnie's House (just me and the twins)
Mickey's House (just me and the twins)
Casey Jr. Circus Train (me, Dillon and the twins did this while mom went to buy them tshirts)
It's a small world (did it as a family)
King Arthur Carrousel (also done with the twins while mom was shopping..me and Dillon took them all over fantasyland)
Mr. Toad's Wild Ride (me, Dillon, twins)
Pinoccho's Daring Journey (me, Dillon, twins)
Snow White's Scary Adventures (me, Dillon, twins)
Pixie Hollow (me, Dillon, and the twins went to this Tinkerbell meet-and-greet while mom held a bench for fireworks)
Autopia (me and Dillon)
Buzz Lightear Astro Blasters (whole family..and then again as our last ride just me and Dillon before heading back to the hotel to meet mom and get the keys to head home! It was after dinner the first time and Dillon got 49th highest score of the day. He's REALLY good at that game!)
Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage (whole family)
Captain EO (me and Dillon did this and then took mom and the twins to see it the next day)
Space Mountain (me and Dillon. We got in, moved up a few feet to where they check your safety bar and were taken off the ride and stuck in the hallway with everyone else being removed then re boarded the ride several minutes later and rode it with no further glitches)
Big Thunder:
Autopia:
Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage:
The Tommorrowland water boulder:
Pixie Hollow:
In front of King's Arthur's Carousel:
Mickey's house:
What I haven't talked about much yet is food.
On the first night we ate at the local McDonalds before heading to Anaheim.
The first morning there we just ate snack cakes and such that we brought with us for breakfast.
We then had the picnic meals we had ordered ahead of time for a late lunch. The process of getting the meals was easy. We followed the signs and the cast members directions and took the emails we had printed before hand to the register and the cast behind the counter quickly bagged up our meals and gave us our Blue section tickets for World of Color along with our meals. There are nice shaded tables there to sit and enjoy the meals. Mine was the Little Squirt's Box which was a collection of snacks. It included a souvenir World of Color light up bracelet, sliced apples, string cheese, a yoplait yogurt, gold fish crackers, a confetti vanilla cupcake and a juice box. The twins had the same only chose milk for their drink. Mom, Kylee and Dillon all got the European Antipasto which had cured meats, regional cheese, pepperronicini, artichoke heart and sun-dried tomatoes,Carr's® water crackers, balsamic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil, Caprese salad skewers, fresh mozzarella and baby heirloom tomatoes, Chocolate-dipped tiramisu and a bottle of Coke. Pictures and descriptions of all the picnic choices can be found on Disneyland's website(here). The kids options weren't bad. The cupcake tasted really fresh and all the others are prepackaged stuff that's hard to go wrong with. No one cared much for the European ones tho. Too experimental. We were all still hungry after the picnic "meals" though. They are only snack sized portions really.
Mom and the twins also had hotdogs from Award Weiners before meeting us at the Alladin show. Kylee got something on one of her many trips back to the hotel. That evening Dillon bought some honey feta french fries from the Greek food truck that was out at the Glow Fest. The honey was warm. The cheese was cold. He liked it until the fries got cold. I tried it but don't like the feta. Wouldn't be bad with just the honey on the fries if you eat it before it cools off.
Me and Dillon walked to McDonalds on our way back to the hotel. I was starving by that point despite having a backpack of snacks I carried and snacked throughout the day. I needed a real meal though. The McDonald's on Harbor Blvd is just a couple minutes walk from Disneyland and is open later than the park. Just be sure to cross the street at that first intersection because otherwise you have to pass McDonalds and backtrack from the next light which is quite a distance away... especially after a long day walking around at Disneyland.
On the second full day we had breakfast buffets at the resturant in the Anaheim Plaza Hotel where we stayed. The food was decent and the staff there were friendly. They had cereals and pancakes and french toast and muffins things like salsa and beans as well.
We had dinner at Pizza Port in Tomorrowland . We almost always eat at Pizza Port when we go to Disneyland. It's the twins favorite. Everyone was starving. Mom, Dillon and Hannah shared a salad. Mom and Hannah and Fettuccine. Me and Daniel had Spaghetti. I believe Dillon also had spaghetti. They give you a good size portion here and me and Daniel usually share one meal and mom shares one with Hannah. We ended up buying a second adults spaghetti though because we scarfed it all down.
On our final day Dillon went to McDonalds for us all to pick up McDonalds and then had to go back because they'd left out our 3 orders of Cini-melts we had paid for (2 of which was what I planned to have as MY breakfast). He'd gone through the drive-thru and that McDonald's appears to always be very busy, especially during the hours when Disneyland is about to open or just closed. I think it's the nearest fast food joint to DLR.
We ended up eating dinner at Plaza Inn on Main Street after much argument with the twins. Me and Daniel shared the marinera pasta. Hannah got to get her Fetucini. Dillon also went for the marinera pasta and I believe both mom and Kylee had the Roast Sirloin Strip. Pizza Port uses the traditional long spaghetti noodles and Plaza Inn uses Penne Pasta. Plaza Inn pasta meals include a garlic bread stick that is very good. There was an older man working there, cleaning off the tables and offered us free to-go cups when we were finishing up. I did not know they offered this. He brought us the regular paper cups you gets at the quick-service resturants and we were able to fill them and bring them with us. I did know that both Pizza Port and Plaza Inn offer refills on your drinks, while you are still in the restaurant. We always refill our sodas at Pizza Port before we leave.
