Celebrating 20 yEARS: A DLR Anniversary Trip

When we passed by here the conductor asked us to wave at the CMs. He said they are so sad and miss everyone. :frowning:

We were sad it was broken, too.

7 Likes

:rofl::rofl::rofl:

2 Likes

It sure is. Also the dinosaurs? It all fits into that ‘same, but different’ feel between DL and MK.

2 Likes

I love Alice. One of my very favorite dark rides. I never considered that it was because of how well it tells the story, but you are right. I alsoove how stylized it is. And being next to those teacups just expands the themeing.

I hated this ride for some reason. I think my back was hurting and the jerkiness made it worse.

Together your opinions lead me to believe I must try Pinocchio!

I love all the random characters at DLR. They are just so dang charming!

4 Likes

Because Marathon Training Doesn’t Take Vacations…

Almost 2 hours later I was in the gym!

There was a sign that masks were required, but there were several people inside who were not wearing them, so I took mine off too.

At our gyms in NH, you only have to wear them to walk around the facility; if you’re on a piece of equipment or lifting you can take them off. Three attendants came in and out (there was not one posted there permanently) and none said anything.

Eventually it was just me and one guy left and an attendant came in and told ME (but not him??) to put my mask on. Okay. Not one to give the CMs a hard time – they are just doing their job – I put it back on. But I took it off once the other guy left. I was alone in there and I was running; I was not wearing the mask. I figured if she came back and said something I would just end the run then.

She never returned and I got my 7 miles in and felt good!

13 Likes

A Very Special Dining Experience: Napa Rose

We got ready for dinner next. This was our Big Special Anniversary Dinner and we were heading to Napa Rose! We clean up okay.

We checked in on the app and then lounged in the lobby while we waited for the table to be ready. We had some pics done by the tree, and yes we broke the rules and took off our masks inside for these pics.

There were a lot of people in the lobby doing the same. Had we been scolded, we’d have complied. And we put them right back on when the pics were done. We have done All The Things in this Worldwide Group Project for the last 2 years, and dammit I was going to take a moment to get some special pics on a special night and let the slackers be damned.

We were seated right at 8pm for our 730 reservation. I was a little worried as we walked through the dining room that we were going to be in the middle of the noise, but we ended up in this little nook, all by ourselves and in the hands of the amazing Michael.

I started off with a cocktail, choosing the Pushing Up Roses featuring Tanqueray, Cointreau, Lillet Blanc, Pernod, and Fresh Lemon Juice and garnished with (my favorite!) Luxardo cherries. It was perfection!

I noticed this ginormous champagne bottle behind us with all these autographs on it. It was from Tommy Lassorda’s 80th birthday celebration and was signed by many Dodgers!

Napa Rose offers both a prix fixe option and a la carte selections. Shane opted for the prix fixe option, which gave him four courses from which to make selections. He started off with the Artichoke Parmsan Fritters and I shared a few bites. They were flavorful, and cheesy, and reminded me of artichoke dip, but in a ball and fried up. So good!

We both then had the Cavatelli Pasta featuring forager mushrooms, prosciutto and parmesan cloud. Life changingly good!

For my entrée I enjoyed the Tamarind Glazed Duck Breast with chantarelle mushrooms, bok choy, and cashew cucumber mint relish. It was perfectly prepared and offered a fantastic balance between savory, sweet, and tangy. I cleaned my plate!

Shane had the Filet with Garlic Mashed Potatoes and a vegetable side which neither of us could identify and which is not on the online menu. Parsnips? They were good :woman_shrugging: The filet was almost fork-tender and delectably seasoned with an au jus that you would want to drink from a chalice. He also ate every bite.

We each enjoyed a glass of wine with our entrees. I had the Federalist Zinfandel and he had the Route Stock cab sav. Both were the perfect compliment to our meals. I should say here that I selected my wine, while Shane – in a rare plot twist – asked for a glass of the recommended pairing to his entrée. He is not one to do that, and I’m glad it turned out. Maybe he’ll try that more!

For dessert I enjoyed the Chocolate Monkey Bread with a cup of decaf. He had an Apple Pie Tartlet and, yes, a glass of milk! He almost always orders a glass of milk with his dessert when we are out, and I love it - especially at an upscale place where it is always quite unexpected. It almost always gets a little laugh from the server who also usually concedes that it’s the perfect drink to accompany most desserts!

I cannot say enough good things about this meal. It was truly one of the best meals, and best experiences, I’ve ever had anywhere. This was a 2 hour experience that felt neither too long nor too short, but just right. Everything about it was perfection: the setting (especially in our own little nook where we could observe the dining room but not be in the middle of the action), the pacing, the food and drinks.

And I cannot not say something about our server Michael, who made sure we were comfortable and well-informed every step of the way. We are not uncomfortable in these settings, but if you were someone for whom this was a first-time kind of experience, you’d have been put at ease immediately. He was charming and friendly, conversant without being intrusive, knowledgeable (when Shane asked for the wine pairing, he rattled it off without missing a beat), and impeccable at his trade, clearing plates and changing place settings almost without being seen! I do not know of a way to thank him in the cast compliment way that we do in World, but if you do please share that with me. I would love for him to get the recognition he deserves!

We were originally planning to go into the parks for a bit afterward, but let’s face it: we are not that energetic anymore. When we were at Trader Sam’s we were talking about this very thing with the bartender. He is our age and said that when he was younger he could – and did – drink a whole lot more in quantity and stay out til all hours. Now, though, he and his wife prefer a GOOD drink (over many low-quality drinks), a nice dinner, and bed by 10:30pm. Knowing that Sunday was our “clean up” day, we opted to head back to our room, settle in for the night, and get a good sleep so we could hit it hard on our last day.

19 Likes

I love everything about this! Beautiful photo of you two! :heart: Makes my heart happy you had a fabulous time at Napa Rose. Excellent food and service there always. Worth every penny spent there. :heart: I like to give a cast compliment by using the #castcompliment and tagging all the Disneyland things.

6 Likes

your trip looks lovely! thanks for sharing it. hope you and shane had a great time!

3 Likes

I wholeheartedly concur. Probably in my top five dining experiences. Another Disney one would be Remy on the Dream. I have never experienced a meal this quality in WDW

4 Likes

We both really LOVED WebSlinger, but we both agreed that there was no way we were willing to wait an hour for it again. That left the only other option: rope dropping.

I wasn’t sure if we would pull that off, but the old adage is true: early to bed, early to rise. And without any effort at all to be hasty, we were up, out, through the GCH entrance to DCA, and at the rope by 0756.

image

They dropped the rope at precisely 0800 and we walked the few steps to queue up for WebSlinger. We entered the preshow 40 minutes later, and were bum in seat at 8:48ish. So, under an hour but just barely. Those few minutes less and not being totally exhausted made it a much more tolerable wait though, and it is a fantastic ride! Our whole-car score improved, even though we had only 3 riders, and my personal score was much much better.

image
image
image
image

We didn’t see anyone wearing the for-purchase webslinger thingie in our whole time on property, and I can’t imagine it improves the ride enough to be worth the $65pp startup cost. You’ll have plenty of fun on this one without dropping extra cash, so save your money for churros!

We headed to Guardians next for a repeat ride on that. On the way we passed The Wasp.

image
image

Have I mentioned how impressed we were with character presence during this trip?

Guardians was once again fabulous. This time I was able to position myself in the preshow so I could see our favorite asshole, Rocket. After an 18 minute wait we entered the lift. This time we got Burning Love which was fun – but I think I liked Free Ride more! This is definitely a repeatable ride and I am only sad we didn’t get to do it a few more times. Love it!

image
image
image
image
image

We headed back to Cars Land to take a spin on Mater. Cute ride! Something like a 5 minute wait here. Saw some kid lose his glasses and, after being missed by several ride cars, saw those glasses get smashed to smithereens in the last 10 seconds of the ride. Poor buddy!

image
image

We wanted another ride on Incredicoaster so we headed over there next, passing through Pacific Wharf on the way. We stopped to take our iconic wheel-o-death photo and you almost can’t tell the waterway is an ugly dry space right now.

image
image

Incredicoaster was a short wait and a wild ride! I absolutely love this coaster!

image

We hit up TSM next. It was too long a wait, made longer by the aforementioned demon children just ahead of us. We passed them by right at the end when they called for a party of 2 (this happened a LOT here at DLR and has never happened to us at WDW where they seem to always only be looking for a single). But when we got to the loading area the ride went down for almost 15 minutes. We eventually boarded, though, and had a fun time. Shane’s shooter-thingie was not aimed right and we found this one to be far more jerky than the WDW one. But it’s still one of our faves. Also I won, as always.

image
image
image

We headed over toward Pacific Gardens to snap up my early-lunch-snack-thing with our Sip and Savor pass. I opted for the street taco with Spanish rice and beans. This place had a stupid wait. You cannot do mobile order for your Sip Savor item, and they had ONE person working at the register. It was a good street taco, but the wait was irritating and took away from it a bit. Also I didn’t care for the rice. The beans were really good though.

image

We headed over to Grizzly River Run as we were heading to the hotel after this, having timed it in case of soakage. It was a posted 35 minute wait and we waited 20. I ended up in the Seat Of Soak, and was the only person in our raft to be more than slightly damp. My shorts and my whole back were dripping wet! It was a good thing we were going right into the hotel!

Shane went to pick up some lunch for himself at Earl of Sandwich and I hopped into bed for a little nap.

We headed back out around 3, stopping on the way in at Treats For Santa for Holiday Mix for me and at the churro stand for a churro for him, using our final Sip and Savor passes. I had heard so much about how very good the Holiday Mix was and I was excited about it … only to find that it’s just a sweet version of chex mix featuring Cap’n Crunch, Golden Grahams, Coco Puffs, M&Ms, and marshmallows with some kind of sweet glaze thing to hold it somewhat together. It was very meh at best and I was kind of pissed I used my pass on that.

image

Shane, however, made a wiser choice and got a peppermint churro. It was VERY yummy and although I would not say that churros are my life, they do do them better at DLR than WDW.

image

While he was waiting for his churro, I met Judy Hopps. I love her! And I love the song from her movie, Try Everything by Shakira. It’s one of my anthems for marathon training: “I won’t give up no I won’t give in til I reach the end and then I’ll start again! No I won’t leave. I want to try everything. I want to try even though I could fail.”

image
image

18 Likes

This is my first time popping in here, but I have LOVED following along on Instagram. I’m so happy for your time together and happy anniversary!!!

5 Likes

You do scrub up well! Lovely pics!

4 Likes

I love Free Ride the best on Guardians so I’m you got that song the first time!

Judy Hops! I was hoping we would see her when I was there with my friend cuz she really loves her. We didn’t but we did see Oswald and he was her number one priority.

5 Likes

LUCKY!

6 Likes

This is truth!! It’s one of the things I really miss about DL!

2 Likes

Agree about Cars Land! What an awesome day you guys had!

2 Likes

Our Last Evening at DLR: Sometimes the Plan Doesn’t Work Out, But You Still Have Fun

Things went a little sideways from here on out. Still a great evening, but not quite the evening we planned.

Our first stop was to be, at DH’s request, Radiator Springs Racers. It had at that moment a 90 minute wait but TP predicted it would go down to 60 in about an hour from then. So I joined the wait list for Lamplight Lounge, which if I recall was showing a 90 minute wait, and we headed to Buena Vista Street so I could get my Starbucks DCA mug. That took longer than expected, but DH filled his time meeting princesses so I guess it worked out.

We still had, based on the prediction when I joined it, quite a wait for the Lamplight Lounge and he really wanted to get in line for RSR so that’s what we did. It was both of our trip so I am trying not to be grumpy about it even still, but this was a mistake. About 10 minutes into the wait we got a text that our table was ready at Lamplight. In retrospect we should have left the line and gone to the lounge, but with TP’s predicted wait time going back up by about when we’d have been finished we decided to stay put and try to re-join the wait list when we got near to boarding the ride. Rookie mistake: not noting that the lounge closes at 5. So we never did get over there.

Our wait for RSR was crazy long (75 minutes??), but in the end I’m glad we did it. We got the Paint room this time (having gotten Tires our first time) AND we actually raced another car which kicked up the fun factor by several notches. This is really a most fantastic ride. They need to fix Test Track – there’s no reason it can’t be this fun somehow too.

In place of Lamplight I had joined the wait list at Carthay Lounge, which showed a 15 minute wait when I added my info but when I hit submit ramped up to 65 minutes. Dammit!! So instead we were going to get drinks at Hollywood Lounge and we meandered in that general direction, passing through Avengers Campus one last time. And I’m so glad we did, because we got to see the Guardians Of the Galaxy Dance Off. What a fun little show that is!!! We loved it and we wouldn’t have seen it if things hadn’t gone the way they had. You’re always where you’re meant to be, even if you don’t understand it at the time. No coincidences.

Because also this: I was not thrilled with the thought of Hollywood Lounge. I was feeling pissy about missing out on Lamplight and would have been happy with Carthay but the wait for that would keep us from DL for too long. Hollywood was just settling, and I was being a spoiled brat over it and said, “Let’s just forget the drinks and go to DL now.” And we headed in that direction. And just as we were passing by Carthay? I got a text that our table was ready! Magic, I guess :blush:

We had a lovely table out on the terrace where we could watch people and enjoy a last celebratory cocktail for this trip (because no cocktails in DL except at Oga’s, which we didn’t have tonight). This would be a most fantastic place to spend a good bit of time sitting and visiting and watching people — and characters! — pass by. Right in the middle of the action, yet tucked just enough out of the way to be intimate at the same time. Might have been my favorite lounge! Our drinks were fantastic, too. He got the Pimm’s Punch (left) and I got the Carthay Mai Tai. This was a bit of a liquor reversal for us as he tends toward the rum stuff and I – as you may know – like the gin. But we both enjoyed them quite a lot!

We snapped a few photos and then headed off across the vast and intimidatingly expansive (:wink:) esplanade and into DL.

12 Likes

Love the pictures!!

Did you know that Hallmark has an ornament of this statue this year? It is on my Christmas list. :grin:

8 Likes

I did NOT know that but I should snag it if I can find it!! We got an ornament from actual DL but that would be a sweet memento as well! Thanks for the heads-up!

4 Likes

Thanks for the trip report! We are going for the first time over spring break & I’m overwhelmed & nervous about the whole thing. I hate waiting in line….like most impatient person ever! We only have 3 days there since we are doing other CA things so that adds to my stress.

2 Likes