A couple more pictures from Jolly Holiday…
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I live in Olympia. Recent transplant from Illinois.
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The illini threw me off… What do you think of the west coast?
Day 4 January 31
Today was our only DCA morning. We were in line by 6:30, about 4 groups back. We chatted with the family that was behind the family behind us the previous day – they were from the same small town, and went to the same high school. My DisSis and I decided to split up a little this morning, because she wanted to do Guardians first, and I didn’t want to walk that far that fast… I was the first in line for the early entry group to go toward the back of the park, and she was first in line to go toward the left side of the park. She was the first in line for Guardians, and I took my time walking back to the pier, taking some pictures and even doing a little shopping. I waited for her to get to Incredicoaster. I sat there and watched the same few families run off the ride, and run back up the ramp to go again. They were having a lot of fun. I can only do this ride a couple of times total per trip. It’s fun though, and I would have been one of those people as a kid.
I was watching for my sister, and as soon as I saw her up on the pier, I got in line and started walking into the ride because I knew she could catch up. When we were seated in our car, a man walked up and she said he was right behind her on Guardians, and he pointed at her and said “you walk fast”. We intended to ride Toy Story Midway Mania next, but it was closed, so we walked over to Pixar Pal Around, and rode the non-swinging side. It was a walk on and we were in a car about 8:00.
We walked back to see if Toy Story was open, and it wasn’t, so I rode Jessie’s Critter Carousel and she rode Incredicoaster again. I waited for her on a bench near Toy Story, and when she came over a cast member walked up and started teasing me about sitting already. I told her that we really wanted to do Toy Story, and she said it could be closed for hours. So we walked over to Carsland to ride the attractions there, and when we got there both Radiator Springs Racers and Luigi’s Rollickin’ Roadsters were down too. We decided to try Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree along with every other person in Carsland, so the wait was long and getting longer. We bailed.
We decided to ride the Little Mermaid and regroup. At this point, I was thinking about leaving the park, because I was getting frustrated. I also decided to change my park reservation for the following day to DCA, because I really wanted to experience the Carsland rides and Toy Story, and not have to spend the whole day in the park walking from end to end to do what I wanted. My body was getting tired. I also wanted to enjoy some of the Lunar New Year booths, and we had an ADR for Goofy’s Kitchen today, so it wasn’t going to be today. We stopped and purchased two cards for Lunar New Year, and my sister kept one and I took one. We split up at this point, and I made a Genie+ for Soarin’ Around the World and walked there and rode it, and then I decided that I wanted to go to Off the Page again, so I made another Genie+ for Monster’s Inc., and rode that. I texted my sister and told her she could use my Genie+ for anything else she wanted to do in DCA. I got a couple more postcards and a full size print in Off the Page. The print is of Moana and her Grandmother, and I absolutely love it. I will ask my husband to have it framed for me as part of my Christmas gift. He did this with some prints I got at WDW the last time I went, and he has a good eye for choosing frames. My sister rode the Incredicoaster several more times, just walking off and walking right back on and used my Genie+ for Goofy’s Sky School. She also used one of our Lunar New Year tabs for the Quesabirra Egg Roll at Lucky 8 Lantern, and she said it was one of her favorite food items of the trip. Meanwhile I walked back to the hotel. I took my time and took a bunch of pictures. I love photographing flowers, and there were so many interesting ones.
I rested and finished writing postcards. I always send a bunch of postcards when I’m on vacation. They are getting harder to find (and I’m not going to pay $6.99 per postcard for the good art ones that I’ve been buying for my bulletin board), so I bought a box of Disney Postcards on Amazon and addressed and stamped them before we came down which was a huge time saver. I also ate a couple of leftovers from the dessert party. Our ADR for Goofy’s Kitchen was for 12:15, so about 11:50, we went down. I wanted to drop off the postcards, so they would be mailed, change my park reservation to DCA for the following day, and we also checked our balance, because I was paying with my Disney Rewards and needed to figure out how much could be paid with that. I also returned one of the hats I got for my husband, because I found a different one I liked better (and I thought he would like better). After we returned the hat, I checked in on the app, and by the time we walked in, I got the text that they were ready for us. We both enjoyed the food more at Goofy’s (comparing it to Plaza), but thought the character interaction was better at Plaza. We still enjoyed our time quite a bit. We saw Goofy, Pluto, Dale, Minnie, and Chip. While we were at Goofy’s Kitchen, we tried for the 1:00 Virtual Queue for Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway, and my sister was able to get one. It was for backup boarding group 181, so we were hoping we would be called after we got back to the park.
We both rested and showered (I fell asleep again). While I was in the shower our boarding group got called, but our time frame was over at 5:40 and our ADR for Carnation Café was for 6:20, so we thought it would be tight even if we could make it to the park in time. We left the room at about 5:00, went to the front desk to pay the balance on our room and then took the monorail back to Disneyland. We arrived about 5:39, and decided not to even try to get to our virtual queue, because even if they let us on, we then didn’t know if we could get to our dinner reservation on time. So we checked in for the party in Tomorrowland – they had that process down to a well-run machine, so we were out of there in minutes. We walked over to Main Street, and did some shopping and then went to Carnation Café. We ordered beverages (diet coke for DisSis and water for me), and waited a little before we ordered our food. I ordered the Braised Short Rib ($24.00) and my sister ordered Fried Pickles ($9.00) and Baked Potato Soup ($9.00). My short rib was delicious, and she reported that her food was delicious as well. She especially liked the soup, but we went there mainly because she wanted the fried pickles. After dinner we went to the Tiki Room and then the Jungle Cruise.
Next up was Pirates, and when we entered the queue is was just after 8:00 and they were checking for wrist bands. The posted wait was 20 minutes, but we were on a boat in less than 15. We then rode Big Thunder with less than a 15 minute wait, and then waited for the 9:00 cruise on the Mark Twain. While I was waiting for that, my sister found two of the vloggers she follows and talked to both of them for a bit. After our cruise, we headed toward Main Street to see the special fireworks, and after standing there for a while, they announced they would be canceled right at 9:35 (the scheduled start time). This was a huge disappointment, because we had decided not to watch the fireworks on Sunday in the park, because we would have a chance at the party.
We staged ourselves on the Tomorrowland side of Main Street, because we intended to do Tomorrowland after the fireworks, so we headed to ride Buzz Lightyear. It was about a 10 minute wait. We then did Star Tours, and that was also about a 10 minute wait. We walked toward Fantasyland around the back way, and stopped in the Star Wars Launch Bay to get a Magic Key Collector item there. We decided to split up for a little bit and I rode “it’s a small world” and my sister rode the Matterhorn. We met back up at the Mad Tea Party, and it was a pretty long line, so we rode Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride and Snow White, and called it a night. My goal was to stay in the park past 11:00, because my husband didn’t think I could make it that late… lol. As we were walking out of the castle, we saw a Horse-drawn trolley, and hoped on that to the front of the park.
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Now it is back on the schedule.
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Yay! I hope you get to see it. I thought it was quite good.
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Day 5 February 1
Today was our last day. I ate a piece of cheese, and one of my desserts from the dessert party in the room, as I was getting ready and finishing packing up. We left the room around 6:15 and went to Bell Services to store our bags. Once we got there, my sister went to stand in line at security, while I got our bags stored. After they had taken back our bags, I headed over to meet her. We were the fourth group in line at security. We were splitting up again today, because I wanted to do DCA again. She was meeting my nephew and his girlfriend at DL. I was sad to not get to spend the day with them, but I also knew that I would slow them down, and I really wanted to do more at DCA than DL. She tried for the virtual queue for Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway for the three of them while we were in the line for security and she got it. She walked down to meet them, and I casually walked to DCA.
I was the third person in line at DCA, and chatted with the cute couple in front of me. It was their first day, and they had created a scavenger hunt as a competition between them in the parks. Once in, I headed to the path towards Went to the Soarin’ Around the World and I was the first one there. I walked back to Soarin’ as soon as the cast member said I could, and I was the first in line. There was no one behind me, but there were people there soon who came from the Grand Californian. They weren’t seating the center section yet, because it wasn’t functioning properly, so we rode on the left side, but I had the centermost seat. I exited and got in line again and this time I was top row center section, and the center of that section with open seats on both side. Wonderful! By now it was 8:00 am and I casually walked back toward Pixar Pier, and browsed in the store by Grizzly River Run (if I had room and there was another color, I would have bought another sweatshirt there – so cute).
I walked to Toy Story and did that first, basically a walk on. I scored 108,100 and had the highest score in my car (ha – it was just me). I then walked on Incredicoaster and rode that. I then decided to walk to Carsland, via the Wharf and took pictures along the way. I really like going into Carsland that way – it’s so peaceful. I went up to the Radiator Springs Racers queue, and the cast members there said they weren’t open, so I just waited there. I ended up being the first in line for Radiator Springs Racers, and walked in behind the cast members, because it didn’t open right at 8:00. I rode with another family and we got stuck at the end of the ride for a while in the car. I had purchased a Lightning Lane for 9:15, so I used my paid LL to ride it a second time. On this ride I was behind a cute dad with his daughter. He was so sweet with her, and she was having so much fun talking with him and playing with him. She was our driver and we won our race. On my first ride, I was in a blue car and we got our tires changes and in the second ride I was in a red car and we got a new paint job. Luigi’s was down again, so I walked past and went to ride Mater.
By now it was just before 10:00, so I explored some of the Lunar New Year Stands to see what I wanted. I then rode the Little Mermaid and by the time I was done there, it was almost 10:30, so I headed the Lucky 8 Lantern and was the first in line. I really wanted to try the Mandarin Mousse Cake ($6.25), and I had heard they run out of this quickly. I ordered that and Quesabirra Egg Roll ($9.00), using two tabs from the cards (I had both with me) and they were both delicious. I sat on a bench right there in the shade to enjoy them.
Next, I purchased the Blueberry Cheese Egg Tart ($5.90) and Original Egg Tart ($4.50) at Kayla’s using a credit card, because I didn’t want to waste my tabs on items that were less than $6.00. I then purchased Shrimp and Pork Wontons ($8.75) and Bok Choy and Mushrooms Dumplings ($8.75) at Wrapped with Love, with two more tabs, and then the Pepperoni Pizza Bao Bun ($9.00) at Prosperity Bao and Buns with another tab. I sat on a bench overlooking Paradise Pier to enjoy all of those items. I particularly enjoyed the Shrimp and Pork Wontons and both of the Egg Tarts. The Pizza Bao was my least favorite, but still quite good.
Next I purchased the Garlic Noodles ($7.50) and Raspberry Oat Milk Tea ($6.50) at Longevity Noodle Co., using two more tabs. I found a place in the shade to rest and eat the garlic noodles and drink the tea, and sat for about 45 minutes just watching and resting. I really enjoyed the tea – it was one of my favorite things during the trip. If I wasn’t starting to get full, I would have also gotten the Spicy Dan Dan Noodles.
The rest did me a lot of good, and I really wanted to watch the Lunar New Year Processional. By now, I had made arrangements (and we got Genie+) to meet my sister and crew at Guardians of the Galaxy, so I asked a cast member and found out that the Processional would start by Guardians at 12:20, so I headed that way. I walked slowly, taking in the sites and stopped to Mickey Mouse Shaped Sweet Potato Macaron at Bamboo Blessings, using one more tab. I sat down for a bit to enjoy part of this – it was also delicious and so pretty.
I refilled my cup with ice water at Pym Test Kitchen and sat on the bench to the left of Guardians to sip my water and enjoy the Lunar New Year Processional. I don’t think they were supposed to allow me to sit there, but I think because I was by myself, and the Processional had already started by the time they noticed me, they let me stay. I then enjoyed Turtle Talk with Crush, and walked back to the same spot to wait for my sister and her son and his girlfriend.
Meanwhile, my sister, nephew, and his girlfriend enjoyed the following attractions at DL:
• Space
• Alice
• Rise
• Big Thunder
• Jungle Cruise
• Pirates
• Matterhorn Bobsleds
• Mickey and Minnie
• Tiki
I can’t provide any other details because I wasn’t there, but I know they got a dole whip and something else to share to eat at some point, but it wasn’t enough because my sister was hungry. I do know that this was the order they did the attractions.
When they got there, we rode Guardians. It was much quicker than the other evening, and got a Genie+ for Soarin’ Around the World when we entered the queue for Guardians. My nephew and his girlfriend got a beer while my sister and I started walking toward Soarin’. I had time to use the restroom and fill my water bottle as well. We rode Soarin’ with them and were in the center, row 2. When we were exiting, we saw Dale walk by and my nephew’s girlfriend was excited to see him. My sister and nephew both got another beer, and we sat outside of Smokejumpers and chatted for a bit. They were going to do some rides on Paradise Pier, and booked my sister’s and my Genie+ for Toy Story and their own Genie+ for Incredicoaster, so they could do them both quickly and do them twice if they wanted to. We said our goodbyes, and then my sister and I walked into Disneyland, took the Railroad to Tomorrowland, and took the monorail back to the hotel.
We got our bags from Bell Services, and waited for our shuttle. We got to the airport in plenty of time, got through security and shared a small pizza and she ate a salad. We flew home uneventfully, but the flight was packed full because an earlier flight had been canceled that day. Our flight landed about 20 minutes early, which was nice. My husband picked me up at the airport (and my brother-in-law picked my sister up), and we were home a little before 10:00. I was tired, but I was excited to be home and see our puppies (we have 15 month old and 8 month old Irish Doodles, biological sisters from a litter apart) – they were happy to see me too.
I will post some final thoughts tomorrow, after I have a chance to think about it and write those. Thank you to anyone who has read this far.
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Thank YOU for taking the time to write a trip report! It’s been so fun to travel vicariously.
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I live in Olympia, too, and also went to U of I!
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No Way!
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it’s a small world after all… 
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Final Thoughts
• I’m not as young as I used to be. I was physically better prepared for my last WDW trip in 2019. I went with my 17yo son for 12 days, and I was able to keep up with him. This trip was harder, and I wish that I had prepared better. I had a lot of excuses, some good, and some not so good, but I should have done more walking to prepare. For my WDW trip, at my ADR day (back when it was 180 days), I set a goal to walk 10,000 steps ten days in a row ten times before the trip. That was the perfect goal for that trip, and it prepared me. I will do something similar for my next trip to Disney.
• I don’t think I will pay for a party again at Disneyland. It was way more crowded than I was expecting. The last time I did a party there was during my trip in 2017, and I did the Halloween Party (the last year it was held at Disneyland), and that was very fun. I could be remembering wrong, but it didn’t seem nearly as busy. We were hoping to ride Peter Pan, but the line never went down. Maybe if we could have stayed out until 1am, it would have, but we called it quits early. It was also really disappointing that the fireworks were canceled at the last minute. That was a big selling point, and while I don’t want them to do anything unsafe, it makes the cost sting a bit more.
• The World of Color Dessert Party was also pretty disappointing. The food was fine, but the service and the organization was abysmal. I saw at least a dozen ways to improve the experience, so hopefully someone with Disney will figure it out. It would be more likely to do this in the future, if they improve the experience.
• Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway was one of my favorite experiences. Disney’s attention to detail is so thorough in this attraction – the ride is fun and sweet, the queue is outstanding, and the thought behind where to place it was outstanding. I hope I can do this in the future.
• I also thoroughly enjoyed the Lunar New Year Celebration, including the food booths, the information and décor around the parks, the Processional, and the Hurry Home Celebration just before World of Color. I hope to experience this again as well.
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I’ve done the dessert party a couple of times and always had good service. But I did do the first show & lined up to check in a little before check in time. It could be second show is more hurried because they need to clear the area before seating the next group.
Fantastic photos! I really enjoyed them.
You kept mentioning that you used a “tab”. What does that mean?
We did the first show. We had to ask for our plate and for someone to take our drink order. We had to ask someone else to get a second drink. It just seemed extremely disorganized. I wanted to line up early, but our dinner time got pushed back too. It was just a series of unfortunate events, unfortunately.
I’m not sure if there is an official name, but we bought lanyards with cards with tabs, and the cards cost $45, and you could use the tabs to pay for the items as the Lunar New Year Food kiosks. There were 6 tabs on each card. I hope that helps.
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Makes sense. 
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Thanks for such a detailed report of your trip! I’m sorry the fireworks were cancelled on your party night. Even when you’ve seen the fireworks recently it’s a bummer, so I definitely understand the sting (and of course also understand why they have to cancel them when they do).
Tale of the Lion King ALWAYS seems to cancel their first and/or last show of the day all the time & I’m sorry this was also a cancellation for you. It’s been on the list for us to watch ever since it came back and we’ve gone at least 5 trips with it back & have yet to make it to a show that they didn’t cancel (because we mostly only try for the first or last show) and we also tend to forget it doesn’t run on certain days and say oh we’ll just try tomorrow and then it’s not on at all. If it’s still on the schedule for this weekend, we’re making it a priority to see on our quick trip.
I loved how you utilized the train & railroad together to get back to your hotel and makes me excited to do the same the next time we decide to splurge & stay at the Disneyland Hotel.
All the food you had was so good too it’s making me excited for our trip this weekend where we will hopefully try some of the Lunar New Year festival food as well. We are huge fans of getting the lanyards and using tabs for festival food so nice to know it’s an option here again.
Glad you got to enjoy the trip with your sister with some good solo time as well! And when you said you wished you were better prepared, we always come home vowing we will walk more leading up to trips to be better prepared and it always seems to slip our minds. So I hear you there!
Oh, and did your sister set a record for how many times a person can ride Matterhorn in a trip? She is made of stronger stuff than I. I love how fun it is & it’s definitely iconinc, but even in my mid-30’s, I am good for about one ride every 2-3 years with what it does to my body. Then I am just happy to enjoy it as an icon & eat its namesake treat- Matterhorn Macaroons.
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Yes, I think she might have. She said that sometimes she doesn’t do it at all or much because it’s hard on her, but she was really enjoying it this trip, so went back a lot. I think she did Incredicoaster as many times at Matterhorn. I’m good with one or two times on Icredicoaster per trip, but I do enjoy that one. It’s not as hard on my body as Matterhorn. I was trying to decide if I would ride Matterhorn or Space Mountain this trip, and decided that if I could easily do them on my last day, I would try, but since I decided to go to DCA, it didn’t work out. Maybe for the best.
Thank you for all of your other comments, and I hope you enjoy your upcoming trip. I really enjoyed the Lunar New Year offerings, and I hope you do as well.
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Oh, and one other comment - The Disneyland Hotel is a perfect place to stay for a sisters trip, because we split the cost, making it much more reasonable than paying for the whole thing with people in your own family. I typically stay off-site, because I can’t pay those prices normally. I also used my rewards from my Disney VISA to pay a significant part of my portion.
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