He's Making Googly Eyes at Me! A Nov '16 TR - update 5/23 Arriving at DL!

[emilyhuff]

Where We Want to Eat!

Hello hello and welcome back! I have a very short list of places and foods that we want to eat and I am here to report about it!

Plaza Inn - Disneyland

First things first, the ADR booking window opened up and I managed to snag two ADR's at the Plaza Inn, one of course will be cancelled, but I do need YOUR help deciding which time is best!

Wednesday Nov 9th at 8:40am
Thursday Nov 10th at 7:30 am

So my thought process is that Thursday is probably better because with EMM and MM the park will probably open to those guests at 8 am.. so we will have an advantage. The only problem is that we will have already used our Magic Morning (on Tuesday) how will they know that we were in the park for a dining reservation when we are done? Does that make sense? Will we be able to ride rides after breakfast if the park isn't open to all guests?

Rainforest Café - Downtown Disney

I tried to make a reservation at Rainforest Café on our arrival day 11/6 for dinner but nothing was available. I do have a Landry's Select card so I think we will be able to walk up and be seated but I'd rather be safe than sorry. October is also my birthday month so I will have a $25.00 credit to use there as well (with the Landry's Select Card)!!! We love Rainforest Café (and T-REX for that matter). The closest one to us is in Atlantic City, about 75 minutes away, so we will definitely enjoy a meal here on our trip!

Cozy Cones - California Adventure
Bacon Mac and Cheese Cone

I have read some very mixed reviews about this one and the 'ayes' have it! I will definitely be enjoying one of these on our trip!

not my picture

Cove Bar - California Adventure

This really isn't to eat, but to drink! One of our favorite things to do! I could not think of a more relaxing time then sitting here sipping this enjoying this amazing view!

not my picture

Jazz Kitchen Express - Downtown Disney
The Original New Orleans Beignets

These look so tasty and to be honest I have read that they are better here than they are at Café Orleans! We are definitely going to give them a try, especially if the park doesn't open until 9am one morning, we will probably make our way to Downtown Disney and grab these before waiting in line!

not my picture

Naples - Downtown Disney

I'll tell ya, one of our favorite traditions at WDW is to eat at Via Napoli and share a pizza. Well when I was looking into dining options at DL, I came across Naples and I don't know if they are at all related but holy smokes they look identical! I haven't booked an ADR here yet, I am mostly waiting on park hours to be released but this will definitely be on our dining agenda 100%! I'm lookin' at you Margherita pizza and panzerotti!

My spirit animal:

not my picture

Tiki Juice Bar - Disneyland
Dole Whip Float - what else?!

Ghirardelli Soda Fountain - California Adventure
Espresso Escape

Two scoops of espresso chip ice cream, freshly homemade dark chocolate hot fudge, whipped cream and an Intense Dark Twilight Delight 72% chocolate, COME ON, who can pass this up!!!!

Trader Sam's - Disneyland Hotel

Again, just for drinks BUT we have been trying to get to the Trader Sam's in WDW since it opened but it never worked out so I am hoping we can make it to the original one for a drink or two, since ya know it's within walking distance!
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Other than all of these options, our hotel (Park Vue Inn) has breakfast offered every morning and I've read it's actually pretty decent! I am sure we will make good use of that!

We are also strangely obsessed with the Disney Chicken Nuggets and Fries combo... Don't judge us, there is just something about them that keeps us coming back for more! Although I must admit, looking over all of the menus on allears.net, I am not finding too many places that offer these, unlike WDW where they are available just about anywhere!!!

We are open to any other suggestions, we did look into Blue Bayou, mostly for the atmosphere but the food doesn't appeal to us!

Thanks again for following along!

Up Next: Park Hours

 

[klacey1]

I am also super excited to try Trader Sams and the Cove Bar!
Lol, I think the Disney chicken nuggets and fries are great too. They always seem to hit the spot!

 

[emilyhuff]

I am also super excited to try Trader Sams and the Cove Bar!
Lol, I think the Disney chicken nuggets and fries are great too. They always seem to hit the spot!

I really don't know what it is about those nuggets, although Wonks has me convinced its the ketchup that we smother them with!

 

[emilyhuff]

Park Hours!!!

I anxiously awaited many nights for the park hours to be released and they finally have been. Also super happy to report that by our last day all the rides we want to ride will be reopened! It's a Small World and Jungle cruise reopen on 11/10, I am guessing with the holiday overlay.... This makes me slightly anxious as our last day in the parks, 11/10, is the first day for the Holiday Celebration and while I love the idea that we will be there for that I just have a feeling the parks will be swarmed! All of these thoughts and this is the current state of our itinerary:



LOL, as you can see, we have gotten really far into the Disney planning process. I mostly feel like I don't really know where to start. I also feel like it's a lot harder to plan in advance because it is so easy to just hop from one park to the other.

All I know for sure right now is that we will likely use our Magic Morning passes on Tuesday 11/8. We will also likely cancel the Plaza Inn breakfast for Wednesday 11/9 and keep the one for Thursday 11/10. Since the park is open until midnight on 11/10 we will likely hop on a few big items right after breakfast and then go over to Cali Adventure to check out their holiday events and then take a nap and hit up Disneyland for the rest of the evening. If there is a holiday themed World of Color, we will likely try to snag FP for that early in the day and see that at night. See what I mean? So many thoughts and what-ifs.

I hope to actually sit down with Wonks this weekend and try to formulate some type of plan because I would really like to get a reservation scheduled for Naples. I'll report back sometime next week. I really can't believe how close our trip is!



UP NEXT: Life Update & Day 1 Plans!!

 

[Christiaan]

. Y'all need a plan so that you don't have to park jump back and forth. Last thing you want is to be exhausted from running back and forth from park to park.

 

[Frozen2014]

Loving your (pre) report so far. We're probably going to Disneyland for first time next summer and so feel your anticipation. Looking forward to hearing more. It's getting close.

 

[emilyhuff]

Life Update & Disney Day 1 Plans!!!

I'm back! I thought today would be a great day to update as yesterday, October 12th, I celebrated my 28th birthday!!! I had a great day celebrating with my coworkers who spoiled me with Disney Gift Cards, flowers, sweet treats and lunch at California Pizza Kitchen! Then Wonks took me out for dinner to my favorite little Italian place called From the Boot who serves complimentary wine on Wednesdays (convenient!). I had gnocchi with vodka sauce, it was so delish! And then we went home and had cake (a delicious pumpkin spice cake) with my family. It was a great day. Here is a picture of me and my sweet niece and nephew who helped me blow out my candles!



Wonks got me this CD as a gift, which I already have the WDW version and LOVE, and although there are some of the same songs, it really made me happy to know the next 23 days will be filled with Disneyland music!

Sidenote: 23 days! Holy cow!

(not my picture)

All in all, although I am not much of a birthday person, it was a great day! Next up: celebrating Wonks 29th birthday next Tuesday! An attorney I work very closely with got us Club Box tickets to the 10/23 Eagles vs. Vikings game, which I plan on giving him for his birthday! He is a die hard Eagles fan, here's hoping they pull the W! Getting free tickets to sporting events, concerts and shows like Disney on Ice is one of the many reasons I love my job.

Anyways - back to the regularly scheduled programming... or plans I guess I should say! I am here to report about our Disneyland Day 1 itinerary!

Monday November 7th

Park hours for this day:
Disneyland 10am - 9pm
California Adventure 10am - 8pm

We plan to sleep in a bit on this day, although I am sure excitement will take its toll and we will be wide eyed around 8am. We will plan to take our time getting ready and enjoy the hotel's hot breakfast (Park Vue Inn). Around 9:15am we will make the 5 minute trek to the security line and head on in. Then we will get in line for DISNEYLAND!

We plan to be in right as it opens at 10 am and mosey on down Main Street! This past weekend I asked Wonks what he would like our first ride to be and he said Pirates so I said OK! That gives us somewhere to start!

I assume we will head towards Pirates, stopping at Indiana Jones to grab legacy FP *simply can't wait for this, ah the good old days* After Pirates I assume we will have a little time before Indiana Jones so we will head towards the Haunted Mansion. Hopefully we will be able to complete that and Splash Mountain, and maybe Winnie the Pooh before the end of our Indiana Jones window.

After Indiana Jones, one of us will likely run over to Tomorrowland to secure FP for Buzz and Space Mountain. Then we will jump on the Jungle Cruise *Edit 10/24 - I forgot this was going to be closed until 11/9 for holiday overlay so we will not be doing this until then!* and likely get a Dole Whip Float to enjoy while watching the Enchanted Tiki Room.

I am assuming it will be around noon at this point and based on what time our next FP are, we will likely head to my personal favorite, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad!

After this Wonks will likely want to hit up the Frontierland Shootin' Exposition, which he is just so darn good at!

I am 99% sure there will be a rumbly in both our tumblies at this time so we will like head to the Golden Horseshoe (if it is open) to get our beloved Chicken Nuggets and French Fries. Also hoping I can talk Wonks into getting some Ice Cream Nachos, if they are available. YUM.

(not my picture)

Next, with full bellies, we will head into Tomorrowland and take advantage of our FP for Space Mountain and Buzz! Depending on the time we will likely make our way out of Disneyland at this time.

This is where things get iffy. We may head into California Adventure to try and obtain FP for World of Color and either Soarin', Radiator Springs Racers or Tower of Terror, depending on what is left. OR we may just head back to the hotel with the hopes of hitting World of Color on Tuesday night. It's hard to say. I know Wonks will want a break, especially since our hotel is SO CLOSE!

After we rest, which I am assuming is what will happen, we will head back to the parks and hit California Adventure. I am assuming it will be around 4 or 5pm at this point. We will see what the lines are like and probably head right to...... well it's hard to say, we will see what FP are available and likely just wing it knowing we will start our day here on Wednesday!

At the end of the night as California Adventure is closing around 8pm, we will probably jump back to Disneyland and head towards Fantasyland to see what the lines are like! If they are short, we will head onto all the "dark rides." Wonks is most excited for Mr. Toad so we will probably do that first! Once the park closes at 9pm we will make our way out, hopefully through the castle and just take our time.

So this is our first park day! Let me know if you have any touring suggestions, we are open to any and all!

Thanks for following along!

UP NEXT: Disney Day 2 Plans!

 

[klacey1]

Happy belated birthday!! Your first day plan sounds great! I'm jealous you get to sleep in a bit (DL opens at 8 our first park day, and this is after three days in a row of waking up super early for travel and two days of business)!
The Type A part of me kinda hates that DL has the legacy FP system, but I must admit, being about to get MORE FP+ is very appealing!

 

[emilyhuff]

Happy belated birthday!! Your first day plan sounds great! I'm jealous you get to sleep in a bit (DL opens at 8 our first park day, and this is after three days in a row of waking up super early for travel and two days of business)!
The Type A part of me kinda hates that DL has the legacy FP system, but I must admit, being about to get MORE FP+ is very appealing!

Thank you for the Birthday Wishes! The late park opening will make me even more anxious to get in. Wonks will be excited for the sleep up I know I'll be bright eyed as soon as I see the sun peak through the window!

 

[emilyhuff]

Disney Day 2 Plans!!!

Welcome back! I am back to report our tentative Day 2 plans!!!

Tuesday November 8th

Park hours for this day:
Disneyland 10am - 9pm, Magic Morning 9am - 10am
California Adventure 10am - 8pm

As mentioned previously, we bought 4 day park hopper passes which included 1 entry for Magic Morning! This was exciting to us and before we read about it we thought we could use it at either park, but lo and behold, we can only use it at Disneyland, AND only certain attractions are open during this hour! What a bummer, but we will make do!

We will again start our morning eating at the hotel (Park Vue Inn) with hopes to be done by 8:20am at which time we will head over towards the security gate. We will wait in line for Disneyland to open and at 9am we will take advantage of our Magic Morning! Hopefully we will be some of the first people in and will be able to get an 'empty' PP picture!

We will make a beeline straight too.... SPACE MOUNTAIN! Gosh I don't think this ride will ever get old, it is definitely in the top 5 list of favorites for both Wonks and myself!

After Space we will hit up the Matterhorn assuming that we didn't get to do it the previous day. Wonks really wants to ride the Finding Nemo Voyage, "because he never got to ride 20,000 leagues under the sea at WDW." If I can remember correctly, this ride takes forever and doesn't even sound like something he would enjoy doing, but When in Rome.

Depending on the time, assuming it will be nearing 10am, I think we will head on out and over to California Adventure. We want to grab FP for Radiator Springs Racers and World of Color. After we secure those, we will likely head onto Soarin' with the hopes that the line isn't too terribly long. Next we will head over to ToT and then make our way back towards Cars Land!

Once in Cars Land we will check out the two smaller rides and ride RSR.

Around noon we will head out of the park, checking to see what rides have later FP and make our way to Downtown Disney for our 12:30 reservation at...

NAPLES!!!! This was a must do for us because we are obsessed with it's sister restaurant, Via Napoli in Epcot! Here is a picture of Wonks with our huge delish pizza at Via Napoli:



We will probably order the Margherita Pizza and have some drinks. We know were basic.

After lunch we will make our way back into California Adventure to tackle Paradise Pier! I can't wait to ride California Screamin' and Mickey's Fun Wheel! After those we will attempt to get into the Cove Bar to have some fruity drinks!

Assuming it will be around 3pm after all these tasks we will head towards Grizzly River Run for a ride! After riding that we will make our way to the hotel to relax a bit and change if we get wet! Around 6pm we will likely head back to the parks and depending on wait times we will make our decision as to which park to enter. But given the fact that we will have World of Color FP, we plan to be back in Cali Adventure by 7:45 to see the 8:30 show! I can't wait for this!

This night we may try to hit up Trader Sam's after World of Color because we won't be able to enter either park until 10am the next day!

That's all for Day 2! Only 15 more days until our adventure begins!

Up Next: Disney Day 3 Plans!!!

 

[fallonkendra]

I'm late to the party, but I'm here! You are so close to your trip now, you must be so excited

Happy late birthday, we're the same age!

Pirates is a great ride to start with at DL, it's so much better than the one at WDW! I also love, love, love Indiana Jones (although I always need to hold on, because I get smashed around in those seats). I also prefer Space Mountain in California, I love the side-by-side ride vehicles instead of the single file ones. Splash Mountain is the opposite, it's single file at DL.

I find the fastpasses for Radiator Springs Racers can go pretty quickly sometimes, but you're going during a slower time so you'll be fine. On our last California trip, we only had one day to cover both parks, and we surprised ourselves with how much we were able to cover (and we hit some of the big rides - TOT, California Screamin', Space, Big Thunder, Indy, etc).

World of Colour blew me away. I saw it on our first California trip, back in early 2015 and it remains to this day my favourite night-time entertainment at any Disney park.

Reading your PTR makes me so excited to start planning for our Disneyland trip!

 

[Christiaan]

Happy Birthday!
Thanks to the Eagles for beating the Vikings! (I'm a Packers fan).
Dont forget Jungle cruise while you're on the Pirates, Haunte, Indiana adventure.

 

[emilyhuff]

I'm late to the party, but I'm here! You are so close to your trip now, you must be so excited

Happy late birthday, we're the same age!

Pirates is a great ride to start with at DL, it's so much better than the one at WDW! I also love, love, love Indiana Jones (although I always need to hold on, because I get smashed around in those seats). I also prefer Space Mountain in California, I love the side-by-side ride vehicles instead of the single file ones. Splash Mountain is the opposite, it's single file at DL.

I find the fastpasses for Radiator Springs Racers can go pretty quickly sometimes, but you're going during a slower time so you'll be fine. On our last California trip, we only had one day to cover both parks, and we surprised ourselves with how much we were able to cover (and we hit some of the big rides - TOT, California Screamin', Space, Big Thunder, Indy, etc).

World of Colour blew me away. I saw it on our first California trip, back in early 2015 and it remains to this day my favourite night-time entertainment at any Disney park.

Reading your PTR makes me so excited to start planning for our Disneyland trip!

Thank you so much for joining in! I always love to read your reports!!!!

We are so excited to ride Pirates, I have been on it before but I feel like Wonks will be blown out of the water!

I hope we are going during a fairly slow time! But what is a Disney park without some form of crowds!

I hope we get to see the regular World of Color and the Holiday version, if there is one! That's a lot to ask of Wonks, do does NOT like any shows or parades, haha!

I can't wait to hear where you are staying at DL! I'm tuned in!

Happy Birthday!
Thanks to the Eagles for beating the Vikings! (I'm a Packers fan).
Dont forget Jungle cruise while you're on the Pirates, Haunte, Indiana adventure.

LOL!!!!! I am thankful for the W! It was a crazy game, talk about butter-fingers.

Jungle cruise won't be open til our last day I am assuming for the holiday overlay! So we hope to hit it up then!!!

 

[emilyhuff]

Life Update & Disney Day 3 Plans!!!

Hello!!!! and welcome back!

A Quick Real Life Update:

My mom, my niece and I went to see Cinderella on Ballet at the Academy of Music this past Saturday. It was superb, the ugly stepsisters were played by male ballet dancers and they were hilarious!

Afterwards we went out for lunch to Max Brenner: Chocolate by the Bald Man and HOLY SMOKES it was super delish! We had the spinach and artichoke starter, then my mom and I shared the steak Panini and we ended up with a dessert called Euphoria or something similar, PB Choc Ice cream, toffee coated bananas, spiced nuts, Dolce De Leche Ice Cream.. it was great! Here is a picture of my niece, Caroline and I at lunch:



On Sunday, Wonks and I went to see the Eagles defeat the Vikings!!! It was a great game, great weather and we had great club level seats!



Now onto the good stuff, our Disney Day 3 plans!

Wednesday November 9th

Park hours for this day:
Disneyland 9am - 9pm
California Adventure 10am - 8pm

Another day where we get to 'sleep in'.... As anytime you sleep past 7am, is sleeping in! We will plan to wake and be at breakfast by 8am with hopes of leaving the hotel around 8:30 to be some of the first in line for... DISNEYLAND!

Since the majority of our previous day will have been spent at California Adventure I think our target will be to split this day between the two parks.

I think we will take it slow and just enjoy our surroundings on this day. I really want to try and get as many character autographs as I possibly can and I know Wonks will support me in this adventure because he loves me, I hope

I am sure we will hit all of our favorites from the previous days which I am sure are to include, Pirates, Space, Buzz, Matterhorn, BTMRR, etc.

We will probably break around 1pm or so and head back to the hotel for some leftover Naples pizza!

You can probably guess our next move.... CALIFORNIA ADVENTURE. I am pretty sure that Wonks will want to ride ToT and Soarin' as many times as possible as he really just loves them, and who am I to say no to that!!! We really won't have any plan but to again just take it all in and enjoy each others company!

We will likely end our day in Disneyland and just enjoy the atmosphere of being there at night time knowing that tomorrow it will be in its full holiday blast!

Before I sign off, I thought I would leave you with our weather forecast, mind you this is two weeks out but hey, it's looking pretty great:



Up Next: Our final Disney Day Plans!!

 

[fallonkendra]

I love the way the sports venues are set up in Philadelphia, with everything in the same area. I remember driving past it a few years back when I was in Philly for a few hours, and I was so impressed that they built the baseball/ football/ hockey/basketball arena/fields side by side. It just makes so much sense! I will say though, I'm happy I don't live in a city with professional baseball or basketball - I'd have no money from going to so many games! It's also on my bucket list to get to an NFL game sometime - I'm not a huge football fan, but we only have CFL (Canadian Football League) in the city I live.

You're only two weeks away from your trip! How exciting!

I'm so sad ToT will be down on my trip in January Make sure you go on it an extra time for me haha!

 

[emilyhuff]

I love the way the sports venues are set up in Philadelphia, with everything in the same area. I remember driving past it a few years back when I was in Philly for a few hours, and I was so impressed that they built the baseball/ football/ hockey/basketball arena/fields side by side. It just makes so much sense! I will say though, I'm happy I don't live in a city with professional baseball or basketball - I'd have no money from going to so many games! It's also on my bucket list to get to an NFL game sometime - I'm not a huge football fan, but we only have CFL (Canadian Football League) in the city I live.

You're only two weeks away from your trip! How exciting!

I'm so sad ToT will be down on my trip in January Make sure you go on it an extra time for me haha!

I LOVE that all the Philly stadiums are next to each other! It makes the atmosphere so AWESOME, especially if there is more than 1 event going on! I have only ever been to a few NFL games and I think they are fun, slow, but fun but I also like watching them better on TV! Now hockey games - I love to be present for the game because I yell and scream and cheer so hard!!!

I can't believe we're less than a week out now!!!

I definitely will go on ToT a bunch! It is one of Wonks favorites! Hopefully the lines wont be crazy and we can ride multiple times!

 

[emilyhuff]

Life Update & Disney Day 4 Plans!!!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!! I hope everyone's day is filled with lots of treats and no tricks

Welcome back! We are down to the wire, only 5 days left until we depart for sunny California!

A Quick Real Life Update! Having a busy October!

A couple of my co-workers and I did an Escape the Room last week. This is a locked room in which you have to find all the clues to 'escape' within 60 minutes, we picked the Egyptian Tomb (it reminded me of the Indiana Jones ride at DL!). We must work really well together because we were able to escape within 42 minutes! It was a great experience, we can't wait to go back and do the other 3 rooms they have to offer at their location in King of Prussia, PA! It is really hard to complain about work when you work with such a great group of people! Here is our victory pic:



This weekend my cousin (the one from the wedding in July) came down and we went to a little shopping center called Peddler's Village in Lahaska, PA. It is such a cute little town with all different kinds of stores and wineries! She also made the trek down to tell me she is expecting a little bundle of joy this coming April! I am so excited! Best news ever! Here is a pic of us from this weekend:



And now to update on our last Disney Day plans ...and lack there of.

Thursday November 10th

Park hours for this day:
Disneyland 8am - 12am
California Adventure 8am - 9pm

This is a true statement folks! My anxiety is already through the roof knowing our last Disney Day is also the start of the Holiday celebrations and the beginning of the Marathon weekend.

The only thing scheduled for this day is our Plaza Inn breakfast reservations for 7:10am. We will already have used our Magic Morning earlier in the week so this is as good as it gets for getting into the park early! We will enjoy our breakfast with the characters and take it all in knowing it is our last day!

Two rides on our wish list this day: It's a Small World and Jungle (Jingle?) Cruise!!! You may be asking 'is she nuts?' but Nov 10th is the first day these two are reopening from their refurb and it is imperative I see their holiday overlay! It is not often I get to the parks around the holidays so I must say I am quite excited for this.

There seems to be a LOT of holiday festivities planned for this day throughout the parks but here is what we are interested in:

We want to hop to Cali Adventure after breakfast (and maybe after IASW/Jungle Cruise) to obtain FP for World of Color - Season of Light, I read a few places that it is opening this night but it is not on the schedule so maybe we won't be doing this...

After that we want to be back in Disneyland by 1:30PM to see the Christmas Fantasy Parade

The only other thing we want to do but will not be upset if we miss it is the 9:30pm Holiday Fireworks at Disneyland. (this will really all depend on the World of Color show, I would rather see the holiday version of that!)

That's it! We will ride as many rides as we possibly can and probably try to see how many possible FP we can obtain in one day! It will be a real adventure.

I can't believe we are only 5 days away from our departure! I have already started packing and I know Wonks will wait until the day we leave to pack, lol! I plan on doing a full trip report when we get back, both Disney and non-Disney activities! I will probably update 1 more time before we leave! I really want to thank everyone for all your help in making our trip the best ever, we are so grateful!

Next Post: Today is the Day!!!

 

[emilyhuff]

Today Is The Day!!!!

We are just about T-minus 6 hours from departing for the airport!!! Our flight out of Philly leaves at 5:50pm EST and arrives at LAX around 9:05pm PST!!!!

Here is the current status of the bed:



The heat is on!

Tonight once we arrive we will pick up our rental car and head to Glendale!

Tomorrow, Sunday 11/6, we will be heading to Santa Anita park for the Seabiscuit tour and to hang out at the races (horseracing!) Today is actually the Breeders Cup which is a pretty big event in horseracing, I know Wonks is sad he will miss it but hopefully tomorrow will be just as fun.

Tomorrow after the races we will head to Lagunitas Brewing Company to check it out! We love their beers out here on the east coast!

Then we will head to Disneyland and check into the Park Vue Inn for the next 5 days!!!

Then on Friday 11/11, we will head to San Diego for the night and Saturday 11/12 we return back to PA

I hope you all will join me when I return for my Trip Report!

BYE!

Next Post: We're Back!!

 

[fallonkendra]

Have fun! Can't wait to read the trip report!

 

[Christina-B-Na]

Have agreat trip!!