March 90s Nite and Skywalker Ranch! UPDATE 7/14 TR COMPLETE

[OhioStateBuckeye]

Chip & Dale are some of my faves to meet. How cool to see them in their RR gear!


I seriously need to watch A Goofy Movie again

Chip and Dale are just the best characters to meet. They're so crazy and just with it.

We watched goofy movie before we went on that trip and I forgot how good it is.

It's a musical, so points.

It's fantastic, it perfectly captures the coming of age/family road trip feel.

My family went on many road trips growing up and it makes me very nostalgic.

That's a huge character haul. I don't know why Disney makes it so difficult, especially when they don't bring some of them out, ever. The rain pics of DL are cool. I have never seen it in the rain. It looks so different than MK somehow.

They do have to make it difficult to see characters at these events. Like paying 10 more characters will break the bank.

Disneyland just has that certain charm and history to it. It might sound weird but I think the nighttime and rain really bring that out.

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

Today was a day for sleeping in. We really needed it after the long night.

On today's agenda: Jazz Kitchen lunch and WOC dessert party!

We got ourselves up and going. Our friend was checking into the Disneyland Hotel today so she brought all her bags. We didn't want to pay to park at the hotel, so we headed towards the garage and got re-routed to the Simba parking lot. This was interesting, as I had no idea where the Simba lot actually was and had never parked there. For those others of you who had no idea where it is, it's right next to the Paradise Pier hotel. I actually liked this lot better than the parking garage.



We were very quickly into Downtown Disney and headed towards our first park of the day: DCA!

We got our maxpass when we entered and found an Incredicoaster pass for a half hour from now.

So we slowly made our way over there.












Wow. That is...a picture. None of us look too happy. I enjoy the ride. The Incredibles overlay is fine. I actually liked it before because it reminded me of some of the Cedar Point coasters. That was an amusement park on the shores of Lake Erie and some of the coasters went out right over the beach and the water.

We saw Mr. Incredible and Frozone meeting with a short wait.

Frozone ended up leaving at the last minute. Cold.

Some of us went to get snacks, but we needed to meet the funkiest little eyeball.

Most awkward hugs ever. But he tried. Which is what counts. Ok....I don't know how to rotate pictures with new DISboards. This picture was right side up when I attached it. Anyone know?





At this point we needed to break off for our lunch. The other three were going to get some things done in DCA since Nate and Carolyn were leaving that night.

We slowly walked over towards the Grand Californian's exit. I really enjoy the National Park inspired areas.



We made our way to Jazz Kitchen. We were a little early but were seated right away in the main dining room.

I can't recommend this restaurant enough. Our waitress was very friendly and I love the food and atmosphere.

Sigh. I hate this ten picture limit per post.

 

[dolewhipdreams]

Wow. That is...a picture. None of us look too happy.

You actually look like you're in a little bit of pain?

Frozone ended up leaving at the last minute. Cold.

Okay was that intentional? Frozone....being....cold....

Sounds like a nice, relaxing morning

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

I had the shrimp po boy sandwich.




Brian had the BBQ Shrimp and Grits.




We both loved our meals. The lunch menu at Jazz Kitchen is cheaper than the dinner one, so if you're looking for a more affordable meal try lunch.

Since we were in downtown disney, we decided to take the monorail back to the parks.

We were able to walk right up, and ride in the front with a mother and her little boy.

I loved the monorail so much this trip. It had Mickey through the years on the sides.










We took a picture of the mother and boy and she offered to take one of us too.

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

I love the monorail at Disneyland. You get to see some behind the scenes stuff, then you take the fun loop over Tomorrowland.

Since we disembarked right at Launch Bay, we couldn't pass up a trip inside.



They have a small portion of the Galaxy's Edge model in there.



Oh my gosh...you guys...I cannot WAIT to see Galaxy's Edge. I've been watching all the videos and I am so excited to go.

Anyway...

Sabine's helmet. I love Rebels so much. Yes, it's a cartoon but it's fantastic. I highly recommend watching. It also has my favorite droid, Chopper.




Also from Rebels, how sweet is Ezra's first lightsaber?? He has to make it himself, so not only is it a lightsaber but it also has a blaster on it.

And bonus, a ghostly, creepy reflection of myself!




We decided to meet Rey. No interest in meeting Kylo Ren even though we could walk up. Not big Kylo Ren fans.

Sigh. I swear, some trip report I'll do a 'Rachel takes terrible pictures' post. Actually, it'll probably have to be several posts.







We had got a maxpass for Star Tours earlier and it was time.

I love Star Tours. It's always a shame though, the line moves way too fast when you're in the room with the luggage scanner. I always want to watch that a bit longer.

I believe we got the Force Awakens and the Last Jedi scenes. Do they even play the older ones anymore? Or are we just unlucky. I think my favorites are Hoth and Coruscant.




Another thing I don't get, we finished with Star Tours and were able to get a max pass for Buzz right away. The line was huge though...so either all those people have a fast pass for something else or just don't like to skip the line.

 

[dolewhipdreams]

I love the monorail at Disneyland. You get to see some behind the scenes stuff, then you take the fun loop over Tomorrowland.

Oh that's a cool view! I've never ridden it before but we might have to.

We decided to meet Rey. No interest in meeting Kylo Ren even though we could walk up. Not big Kylo Ren fans.

Oh cool that you can meet Rey in DL!

So I have to tell you that I wanted to start watching Clone Wars or Rebels but both shows have disappeared from all the streaming sites. I was really bummed because you both made me excited to watch it. Silly Internet, ruining my plans.

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

I love Gonk droids. I also love that the fast pass machines are Gonk droids.

We decided to head towards the front of the park. All the fab 5 and chimpunks were wearing their Mickey Birthday Celebration outfits.

We met the chimpunks without too long of a wait. They were in fine form again.





Brian was pretty convinced that this Goofy also may have been pretty good friends with Tale Spin Baloo from the 90s party.



I really wanted to meet my favorite, Donald, but he wasn't out and about.

We did see Pluto, he was just running around window shopping and interacting with guests.



We peeked around the corner near the piano at Coke Corner and saw that Alice and the Mad Hatter were meeting with only one other group in line.

We talked about unbirthdays, as one does. I told him I'd just had my actual birthday, and I don't think the Hatter likes birthdays because he said good, now you get to celebrate your unbirthday for a really long time before the real one comes again.



We were feeling a bit hungry so decided to head to the Tropical Hideaway again. Don't have to twist my arm.

This was the pineapple and orange swirl. Loved it, but still prefer the citrus swirl at WDW.





Sweet lumpia: really not my favorite but Brian enjoyed it. I think the cream cheese flavor is too overwhelming for me.



Oh Rosita.



OK, I am off to try to figure out how to rotate pictures with this new DISboards.

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

You actually look like you're in a little bit of pain?


Okay was that intentional? Frozone....being....cold....

Sounds like a nice, relaxing morning

I actually love Incredicoaster. It's just my face It does weird stuff and I have no control over it.

And haha, yes, that was an attempted pun.

Oh that's a cool view! I've never ridden it before but we might have to.


Oh cool that you can meet Rey in DL!

So I have to tell you that I wanted to start watching Clone Wars or Rebels but both shows have disappeared from all the streaming sites. I was really bummed because you both made me excited to watch it. Silly Internet, ruining my plans.

The monorail at DL is more of a ride than a transportation method. You can also still ride up front if there is space. 4 people can ride up there a time. Just ask the CMs who are loading if there is room.

Wait, Clone Wars is gone from Netflix?! That sucks. Rebels has always kind of come and gone from the Disney XD streaming. The only good thing is I bet both will show up on Disney+.

Kinda wish I had blu rays, I'd let you borrow them. The first season of Rebels was kind of a bit iffy, it had to find it's footing. Then it's so good.

Same kind of with Clone Wars. I could barely get through the first two seasons...then just....so incredibly good. I would almost maybe even say just read a synopsis of the first few seasons of Clone Wars and then jump in on the third.

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

We had collected some DCA max passes so we needed to head on over that way. As we left, it was like characterpalooza near the train station. It was so epic, Cinderella was meeting with the Fairy Godmother and one of her mice friends (it's either Suzy or Perla, I can't tell them apart. Mouse fail).

Sadly, by the time it was our turn Cinderella left. But it was ok, still a good photo op and one that you'd never get in WDW.








Then we saw Mulan! I got to tell her that I met her in Ping garb last night. We both agreed that she should go out like that more often.





DISboards please stop rotating my pictures. I'm sure there is a 'reflections' joke in here. If you don't get that, it's a big part of Mulan's movie. When will my reflection match who I am inside, all that.

Sadly, Nate and Carolyn had left at this time.

Oh gosh, I just realized that my pictures got out of order in their file.

So let's rewind....Back to this morning. I forgot a chunk of our morning. I took some pictures of the DL hotel as we walked to the parks from the Simba lot.








Before Incredicoaster, we'd gone on Mission breakout. I think we were actually able to walk on twice in a row.





I love Mission Breakout. It is a fabulous ride and I would ride it over and over if I could. I love how there are different songs and different drop sequences. I just smile the whole time during this ride.

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

Anyway, we did Incredicoaster after Mission Breakout. And now we are back on track.

As we entered DCA, we met up with Daisy.





Even though we were going to have our WOC dessert party soon, we were all a bit chilly and decided we should have a real dinner anyway, so we went to Flo's.

I had the Ramone's Low and Slow Club. You can't really go wrong with a club and this one was good.



Brian has the Cobbe de Ville salad (such clever names). He enjoyed it, since he likes salads. I guess opposites really do attract?

By the way, I need all of you to know that I always pronounce salad like Sall-uhd in my head. That is how Spongebob says it in an episode when he is told to start serving it at the Krusty Krab. He had never heard of it.



Emily got the Ka-cheeseburger. She said it was a pretty poor choice.



I just noticed this detail on this trip and I love it. There is a giant rearview mirror up on the wall. Love it.



We hung out and ate very slowly. The night was pretty chilly and we were still a bit tired.



We found a maxpass for Soarin and headed that way.

We asked to wait for the front middle. I did enjoy this attraction better that way, Emily had never sat in the top middle and said it was a lot better. I just don't really like it. If you've never heard my Soarin rant before...here it is in a nutshell.

I just hate that most of it it fake. The entire Taj Mahal is fake because they weren't allowed to film there. It's just....why not pick something else?! There are so many other world wonders and you CGI one of them because you aren't allowed to film there. Then every single scene has fake stuff. The elephants are fake...seriously? You couldn't find real elephants? Fake polar bears, fake whales, fake people on the great wall, fake boats. Ugh. I'll stop. But hate it. I miss the original.



After the ride we headed over to get in line for our WOC dessert party.

 

[dolewhipdreams]

We peeked around the corner near the piano at Coke Corner and saw that Alice and the Mad Hatter were meeting with only one other group in line.

Wow incredible character haul!

Sweet lumpia: really not my favorite but Brian enjoyed it. I think the cream cheese flavor is too overwhelming for me.

Is this anything like the pongu lumpia in Pandora?

Kinda wish I had blu rays, I'd let you borrow them. The first season of Rebels was kind of a bit iffy, it had to find it's footing. Then it's so good.

Yeah I think it’s only available to rent and while I do want to watch it, I’m not about to pay per episode to do so I’ll just wait til Disney+

But it was ok, still a good photo op and one that you'd never get in WDW.

Wow so true! I get why characters in WDW are the way they are but the randomness at DL is so much more magical

When will my reflection match who I am inside, all that.

So let's rewind....Back to this morning. I forgot a chunk of our morning. I took some pictures of the DL hotel as we walked to the parks from the Simba lot

Whoa you never told me there would be time travel

By the way, I need all of you to know that I always pronounce salad like Sall-uhd in my head. That is how Spongebob says it in an episode when he is told to start serving it at the Krusty Krab. He had never heard of it.

Thank you for clarifying. It’s an entirely different experience now

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

We lined up for our dessert party reservation about an half an hour before we were supposed to be let in. We really didn't have anything else to do and we were all cold and dragging at this point of the night.

There were a decent amount of people lined up before us. The line started moving right when they said it would. There were two rows of tables, most of them were 4 people high tops. There were about 4 low tables in the front row middle. We wanted a high top in the first row and were able to get one of the last ones. It was near the low tables in the middle.

This is what the view in front of us looked like. There was about a 10 foot empty green space, then the disabled seating area.



Some people have reported being sat with other groups, but we were a group of 3 and our 4th chair remained empty. Here is the menu that is sitting at the table when you arrive:



For drinks, you could get a glass of wine or an alcoholic beverage, pop, water, coffee or hot chocolate.

And a fun wheel challenge instructions. We didn't do this and I'm not even sure if this works anymore.



There are also bread baskets on the table.



We all chose the alcoholic drink and were able to have 2. It wasn't that strong, and it was just ok. We also got hot chocolates, which tasted amazing and were excellent for the cold night.




We'd brought back our 60th glow with the show ear hats. They are kind of heavy and we didn't feel like wearing them, so we left them as embellishments to the table. We turned them off once the show began.





Our waitress was lovely and we had a nice time sitting and waiting for the show.

So...I thought the desserts all kind of sucked. I had heard they weren't the greatest, and we weren't here for the food. We were here for the good view and the seats.

Which I actually enjoyed a lot. I am only 5'2, so I always worry about being able to see shows at Disneyland. Not only do you usually have to camp out for about an hour before show time to get a good view, you usually have to stand while doing it. Which can suck after a long day of walking and standing.

I think it was worth the price just to have a seat, hot chocolate, and a guaranteed drama free good view. I wouldn't do this every trip, but every once in a while I think it would be worth it.

I didn't take a lot of pictures, I just wanted to enjoy the show.

But here are a few just to give you an idea of the view:









That was it for us. We were all worn out and tired. After the show we left the parks and our friend went to her DL hotel and we hoofed it back to the Simba parking lot and back to our La Quinta. .

 

[dolewhipdreams]

This is what the view in front of us looked like. There was about a 10 foot empty green space, then the disabled seating area.

Oh great view!!

Here is the menu that is sitting at the table when you arrive:

THANK GOODNESS those grapes are seedless

And a fun wheel challenge instructions

Oh I kind of hoped this was a drinking game. The actual game doesn't sound like much fun.

I'm glad you got to enjoy a nice seated view of WOC, even though the desserts were just so-so

 

[soniam]

Your Incredicoaster pictures at least look better than my Rock N Roller Coaster pics. I always look like I'm holding on for dear life. Oh wait, I am I haven't eaten at Jazz Kitchen yet, but I hear so many good things about it. It looks really good. The Cobb salad at Flo's is good. That's what I had last summer. We sat outside and watched RSR. However, it was hot then. I am not happy to see that it's cold. I have thought a SoCal Spring Break trip sometime would be nice, but it looks colder, or maybe as cold, as Orlando was in March The dessert party looks nice. I don't know how Disney manages to suck the life out of desserts though

 

[Jaina]

I finally caught up on everything!! 90's night looked uh-mazing, and I would have stood in a pretty long line to take a picture with Scrooge McDuck. That is really lame that the line was super long but you didn't know for sure which character you were going to get! And I don't think I realized Mulan ever met as Ping, but that's awesome!
I don't really like the celebration outfits. Minnie's is cute, but the others I'm just not feeling. But I love Chip and Dale in almost anything they wear. They are my favorite!
The dessert party looks really cool. I think I would like to try that sometime. I am only 5'3, so I feel your pain about not being able to see well...

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

Your Incredicoaster pictures at least look better than my Rock N Roller Coaster pics. I always look like I'm holding on for dear life. Oh wait, I am I haven't eaten at Jazz Kitchen yet, but I hear so many good things about it. It looks really good. The Cobb salad at Flo's is good. That's what I had last summer. We sat outside and watched RSR. However, it was hot then. I am not happy to see that it's cold. I have thought a SoCal Spring Break trip sometime would be nice, but it looks colder, or maybe as cold, as Orlando was in March The dessert party looks nice. I don't know how Disney manages to suck the life out of desserts though

That is the disappointing thing about DL. Depending on the time of year it can be quite hot during the day, then cold at night. It's a little annoying always having to pack and dress in layers, especially when you're like us and don't like to carry a lot in the parks.

Disney really doesn't do great desserts for these dessert parties. We even had someone in line with us bring a cupcake from somewhere else to eat at the Dessert Party.

I finally caught up on everything!! 90's night looked uh-mazing, and I would have stood in a pretty long line to take a picture with Scrooge McDuck. That is really lame that the line was super long but you didn't know for sure which character you were going to get! And I don't think I realized Mulan ever met as Ping, but that's awesome!
I don't really like the celebration outfits. Minnie's is cute, but the others I'm just not feeling. But I love Chip and Dale in almost anything they wear. They are my favorite!
The dessert party looks really cool. I think I would like to try that sometime. I am only 5'3, so I feel your pain about not being able to see well...

90s Nite was so great!

I'd do another of these after hours parties in a heart beat.

The celebration outfits made me think of that toy for toddlers, where they push the little thing and the colored balls pop up and around.



Ok wow, didn't think that'd come up googling but apparently 'toddler ball pop push toy' worked.

The dessert party was definitely worth it for the peace of mind and the relaxing seat/view.

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

Sleep: 5 hours 30 minutes.

Ah Disney trips. You are exhausting.

Today we had a late Storyteller's breakfast at 10:30, and a late dinner at Lamplight Lounge at 8:45 pm.

We drove to the Disneyland Hotel to meet up with our friend. She offered to take us over to the parking garage to use her CM ID for free parking, but at this point we were worn out and decided we'd just pay the $25 to park at the DL hotel. And some magic for us...the gate computer system ended up being down/broken for the remainder of the weekend, so we never got charged!! Yippee hooray!



First up was making early magic hours at Disneyland at 7. We missed the opening by a few minutes but decided to wait it out for Peter Pan anyway. Usually my strategy is to enter the line right before the park closed, but we weren't sure if we'd be at DL when it closed this night.

The wait at Peter Pan didn't look that bad so into the line we went. I thought this tree actually went really well with the castle scrim.



Looks kind of like the thorns.



I love the Peter Pan attraction so much. I actually prefer the one at WDW, though I appreciate the star field of DL's, I love the flying over London scene more at WDW. DL's is very flat while WDW's has more definition of the buildings.







Next up was Mr. Toad's wild ride. Don't drive drunk, kids.

Gelatoni was in the parks with us today and I embarrassed everyone by letting him take a selfie with Mr. Toad.



We decided to continue onto Pinocchio. Those poor kids/donkeys.

What a terrifying ride.



Snow White was down, so we skipped that one and headed towards Frontierland. Brian needed to stop for a breakfast corn dog at Stage Door Cafe. We discovered this great wall:



Loud Bang fireworks. Please never stop making puns, Disney parks. Delightful.

POTC had just opened. Couldn't pass up the short wait so on we walked.



Love this guy.



I never understood this scene. Why is the floor above you caved in? Are these guys in some basement and they're drunk (a given) and exploding parts of the structure above them?

Next up was a little Haunted Mansion.

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

Stacy from WDW hotel TV says it best: Ca-lassic

We had booked a FP for RSR, so we headed towards Main Street and got a ride from a good friend.



Geez, it's kind of a long walk from Haunted Mansion to Carsland, even with the help of our handsome friend above.








We took a leisurely stroll over to the DCA exit. We checked in and only waited a few minutes before we were seated.

I was hesitant to book this breakfast, it's a character breakfast and it used to have some interesting characters. Usually a combination of one or both Brother Bears (yeah, the only place you could meet them), Chip and/or Dale, Pluto and sometimes Meeko. They'd recently changed it so now it was just Mickey, Minnie, Chipmunks and Pluto in adventure gear.

Disney...why does every single character meal have to have the fab 5 characters?! I don't get it. Sigh. We decided to give this breakfast a try again because the food is phenomenal. Best breakfast buffet ever.



Dale had to get a part time job working the check in desk. Rough times for chipmunks.

I didn't take too many pictures but I had to take one of this. I guess they're serving cereal milk?! Very unusual, but tasted good.



Before long the characters started coming by. Hilarity ensued. I always have the best interactions here. A few trips ago, the baby Brother Bear Koda was carrying a fish around with him. Chip and Dale stole it and ran around the restaurant hiding it and giving it to guests.

Then on our last trip Brian was getting food, Kenai (the older Brother Bear) came by and sit down with me. He promptly spilled my apple juice EVERYWHERE. That's what you're paying the big bucks for guys. It was a great time though.

This time was no exception. Gelatoni proved a big hit.



Pluto played with Gelatoni for a solid 5 minutes. Sorry kids, world traveling stuffed cats need attention too.

Then Chip came over and decided that he was going to run off with Gelatoni. He picked him up, turned his back on us for a few minutes. When he turned back around, Gelatoni was nowhere to be found.



Where could that cat possibly be?!

He then casually walked away with Gelatoni.

When he came back, all the other characters were with him.

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

The hunt for Gelatoni was on.





Finally Minnie put her foot down and told Chip that Gelotoni needed to come back.





After all that excitement, our waiter brought Emily and I birthday cupcakes!! I'm not kidding when I say these were the best birthday cupcakes ever.



Ok. Best birthday cupcake ever, smallest trip report picture ever. I have no idea what is happening.

But the cupcake was delicious.

Next up our friend had booked us the VOID virtual reality Star Wars experience. We literally had to do this, since our friend works for the part of Lucasfilm that made that game and the Wreck It Ralph game.





I highly recommend the VOID experience! It was so much fun. There can be up to 4 people on a team. We had 3 and they didn't put anyone else with us. You get to have a harness with a helmet/visor. Not to spoil too much, but you walk from room to room while shooting at stormtroopers and cracking codes and it's just a lot of fun!

At the end we got our picture.



If you gave them your email, they also sent you a little wanted poster and how you did in the game.



I got the label: Marksperson. I'll take it.

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

The Disneyland hotel is the best, so we decided to explore a bit.



Yep, even the hallways are a treat.



And the light fixtures!!



Before long we found ourselves at Trader Sam's. How did that happen...very peculiar.

Sadly, there was no space on the inside so we sat on the outside.











And the piece de resistance:



This is the newish Sea Monster's Embrace. You can also get the krakken mug, which I had to have.

We also got to see our first DL cat, Sammy!! Pretty sure he's in charge of the bar.

So it was starting to get dark. We had been accumulating max passes, so it was time to head back to the parks!!

According to my pictures, we did Big Thunder, and then went immediately to RSR. I mean, I don't think the pictures lie...but why in the world we do that?!

It crazyiness. So who knows what really happened that night, but here is a picture of my baby Guido: