Eating My Way Through DLR

[stlouie]

Continuing the discussion from Prepping for My Solo Trip:

My solo trip to DLR was last week, November 8th - November 10th. I was trying to be in the moment so I didn’t do a live trip report. I haven’t been to DLR since 2012, as such it was a very emotional homecoming.

My goals for the trip were to eat my way through DLR and fit in rides, shopping, characters, and people watching around the food. I was anxious about mobile ordering and using the DLR app.

Monday, November 8th
The night before, I tested the speed of my Verizon LTE vs the hotel’s WiFi. The hotel’s WiFi was much faster.

I woke up at 6:45 am and got Boarding Group 88! I was so excited.

DL opened at 8 am. I didn’t get to the turnstile until 7:50 am. There were maybe 3-4 people at each turnstile. CM scanned my electronic ticket and gave me a real ticket! Hello, Sleeping Beauty Castle!

Guests were held at the end of Main Street until 8 am. I have tea in the morning but don’t normally eat until 10ish. So, I couldn’t eat yet. I got to enjoy JC, Pirates, HM, Pooh, and by 10:15 am. This includes meandering the stores to window shop.

I loved seeing where I was in location to the attractions and the wait time for the attraction. I found the wait time pretty accurate.

After I was done with HM, the wait time shot up!

Some characters…. Loved not having to stand in line to take pictures of or with characters!

Time to eat! My first mobile order was after MF. It was a learning curve to judge when I such set the arrival window. The first order was set too far in the future.

While waiting for my order, my BG was called!

But the ride was down after I ate. I went to ride Star Tours and Astro Blaster. I visited with this mischievous dude.

While waiting for my corn dog order, I saw some balloons in the colors of my Alma Mater.

Time to eat!

Time to walk! New Orleans was packed! It was like trying to leave the park after fireworks type of crowds. I nearly fell into the lap of this lady in a wheelchair! Every time I walked by this area, minus first thing in the morning, New Orleans had this type of crowds.

From entering the queue of ROTR to exiting the ride, it was about 35 minutes, much quicker than I two rides at WDW in 2019 when it first opened.

I sadly couldn’t eat anymore. I went on a mission to find rides with about a 10 minute wait time: Carousel and Teacups. Matterhorn was a 15 minute wait. I waited.

Then, I went to Toowntown!

And where are Chip and Dale?

Time to eat again before heading to CA Adventure.

I decided to wait for Radiator Springs Racers. I was done in 45 minutes. And why do I always end up on the right side during the race? I was done with Webslinger in 80 minutes. Cool ride! I went to ride Little Mermaid and Soaring. Soaring was supposed to be a 20 minute wait. But right before the CM divides the groups into the 2 rooms, the ride goes down and guests are stuck mid ride! Guest bailed but I stayed. One room stayed down and only 2 out of the 3 sections in the other room was working. I was pleasantly surprised that the ride ends with Sleeping Beauty’s castle! But I emerged from the ride 40 minutes later. At least I wasn’t stuck on the ride.

I mingled with the characters in the plaza before calling it a night!

I considered the kitchen sink but I just couldn’t… All of my food choices today were delicious!

[QwertySC]

@stlouie

Where/what is this. It looks delicious.

@stlouie

This sighting would be worth the whole trip IMO. She’s so special to my family.

[QwertySC]

Also want to add it is nice to see you. I was wondering about you last week. I haven’t been around as much as usual either.

[Julianne_fki]

I think that’s Docking Bay 7 and the pot roast? Looks delicious!

[Julianne_fki]

I love Marie too! I wish we’d seen her. My friend and I were there the same timeframe as @stlouie but we never made it to Toon Town. At least we saw Oswald which is my friend’s absolute fave. And we traded for an Ortensia pin! Did not know, but Ortensia is Oswald’s girlfriend!

[stlouie]

Tuesday, November 9th

I got through the turnstile around 7:55 AM and went to stand in line for Webslinger. The line extended to the start of the Avengers Campus. I bailed.

Instead, I got to ride TSM twice, the Ferris Wheel, Silly Symphony, Goofy’s Driving School, Soaring, and Radiator Springs twice in the single rider line. 8 rides in less than 90 minutes! This included window shopping and people watching, too. Disney is serious about mask wearing on its rides! My row mates were blurred out.

Time to eat!

I interacted with Mickey and Pluto. Pluto was such a ham.

Spiderman was doing a meet and greet. I got a snap of him!

Webslinger’s wait time was 60 minutes. I ordered my food while waiting in line. I got to the pre-ride show in 55 minutes. Then, the ride went down but no announcement was made. I could see the loading platform through the window. They weren’t loading. At 11:58 am, I wondered if I would have enough LTE to get a Boarding Group. I scored!

I had to change my meatball sandwich pick up time because I didn’t know if I would be off Webslinger in time to get it by 12:15 pm.

Yummies!

Forgot to take a photo of my Strawberry Banana Sensation from Schmoozies. It was getting hot and I was eager to drink it.

The tree is lovely.

I think I did myself proud while watching Snow White.

I left CA Adventure around 1:30 pm and went to DL.

I pulled myself away from Main Street and went to ride Pinocchio’s, 20 minute wait. The ride went down and people bailed. I stayed. And I was done after a total of 15 minutes!

Then, it was time to eat again! I’ve had the Monte Cristo twice before, once in Niagara, New York and the second time at Touch of Disney April 2021. Both were nothing to write home about. But everyone here raves about it. I managed to snag a reservation at Cafe Orleans. And yes, the Monte Cristo was delicious here and so were the fries! I am sold on the sandwich. (Yes, I had to change my shirt!) And I did not eat the whole sandwich!

My boarding group got called while I was eating.

Decided to go on MF before meeting with Julianne_fki.

Met up with Julianne_fki and her friend Denise for drinks at Oga! https://forum.touringplans.com/t/winchester-house-half-moon-bay-disneyland/81958/31

They only allowed us to stay 45 minutes after ordering drinks. It was not enough time to talk. We were having so much fun! We were hoping to meet up again during our upcoming two trips but we were always off by a week! Someday soon again…

I went to get a Dole Whip before meandering my way to Dumbo, Roger Rabbit, and Go Cart. I went back to Main Street for a snack. I wanted the raspberry macaroon but they were out. I was told to get one before noon! The tomato basil soup is delicious. I ate half of the sandwich and nibble on the other half while waiting for Mr. Toad.

I closed off the night with Peter Pan.

All of my food choices were delicious today, too!

[stlouie]

@Julianne_fki

Ortensia is Oswald’s girlfriend

Didn’t know that either!

[stlouie]

@qwerty6

Where/what is this. It looks delicious.

Like Julianne_fki said, Docking 7 pot roast. It was delicious! I have never made pot roast or eaten much of it. But we had it in Yellowstone this summer and I had it at DLR last week. I’m going to look at recipes for pot roast. Someone have a favorite? Please pass it along!

Marie was so sweet!

[stlouie]

I’ve been busy with work and preparing for two trips, one being DLR and another last minute trip next month to Miami and Key West with DSis. I convinced her to fly home through MCO so that we can have 2 1/2 days at WDW at Christmas!

[QwertySC]

Oh yes! We love pot roast. It’s so simple. Do you have a Dutch oven pot? You can do slow cooker too, but I prefer oven.

[stlouie]

Yes, I have a Dutch oven! I use it often.

[Julianne_fki]

It was so fun meeting up with you! I do wish they had allowed us to linger. Oh well. I’m sure we’ll meet again.

We had a pretty short wait for HM after we left you. I’m so glad we were able to ride it again. It is Denise’s favorite and who knows when she’ll be back again. (I’ll be back on Friday - LOL!) Then we grabbed Wetzel’s Pretzels and ate them on our little patio with the lights and sounds of Silly Symphony Swings!

[stlouie]

Wednesday, November 10th

I was at the turnstile by 7:50 am for DL. I was held with the mob at the entrance to Fantasyland. I got to Alice at 8:04 am and was done by 8:09 am. I went on to ride Snow White, Storybookland, BTMR, Astro Blaster, and Star Tours. Did you know that Snow White’s Evil Stepmother peeks out here and there from a window on the second floor?

BTMR had a great wait time! When I got off the ride, the wait time had jumped to 45 minutes!

I was done with these rides around 10:40 am.

Time to eat!

I absolutely loved the raspberry macaroon! It was my favorite sweet from the trip.

I ran into Tiana.

I leisurely wandered every single store on Main Street and coveted so much stuff!

I went to DTD and the Greg Norman without the bun at Black Tap. So, so good! I did think about the milk shake but decided I needed to eat another kitchen sink!

After wandering the stores in DTD, I went into CA Adventure and wandered some more.

Anna was so animated! She talked about her coronation, the chocolate fountains, her dress, her hair… Elsa, well, she was rather quiet.

I loved all the different outfits Minnie showed up in!

I wanted to ride Luigi’s Rollickin’ Roadsters. So, I did! It was a cute little car dance. I wanted to ride Mater but it was down.

I was thinking about having something savory but didn’t want anything fried. The Festival of Holidays was doing a soft opening. I picked pork belly with garlic fried rice. It was so, so, so SALTY! I threw it away.

While reading the menu, I saw a guy with this macaroon. It looked tempting. He said it was his third one! Yep, I went and got one but saved it for later because I wanted something savory.

I picked beef wellington. Promising but tasted like gravy from a powder mix. It wasn’t bad, bad. I finished it.

Time to eat my last dessert! I picked a strawberry topping so that it wouldn’t be so filling. I ate most of it while watching the characters. I’ve seen most of them during the afternoon and they don’t have different outfits. Goofy had a different outfit, though.

I went back into DL at 7. I finally saw Chip and Dale!

I wanted to ride the train. While in line, I worked to upgrade my ticket to the Enchant Magic Key. The Enchant Magic Key is $649. Disney applied my 3-day park hopper ticket value at $365. I owed $284 for the upgrade and I could pay it off monthly. I was extremely disappointed that I could not activate my AP discounts until the next time I make a reservation and come through the turnstile!!! My AP is retroactive to November 8, 2021 and good for a year. As such my discounts should start immediately!

I ended the night listening to people interact with the characters as they left DL.

With the exception of a couple of items today, I’ve had a great eating trip!

[stlouie]

@Julianne_fki

I’ll be back on Friday

I wish I could go with you!

[QwertySC]

That Elsa is without question the least convincing face character I’ve ever seen.

It looks like a delightful day.

[stlouie]

Thursday, November 11th; Remembering those who gave their all for our freedom.

Since it is a holiday, DSIS, DD, and DS joined me for breakfast.

Every 20 minutes, the characters came out and dance around the restaurant greeting guests. We were sitting in a booth facing backing the entrance to the restaurant. Someone startled me by banging on my booth back. I turned around. It was Dale. He laughed at me and danced away! We had a great time. The food was decent. I had a pile of bacon to start off my meal.

My kids, after sampling everything, said to stay away from the desserts! Sorry, Minnie, you need some more pastry chef lessons!

I went to San Diego after brunch. I stayed a couple of days to eat some more, while hanging out with DD. I drove home yesterday. Now, I’m trying to gather myself to go back to work in the morning!

ETA that the picture from Goofy’s Kitchen is currently free!

[Julianne_fki]

We had a hard time deciding between Storytellers and Goofy’s Kitchen. I was glad in the end we had Storytellers since we ended up at the Grand Californian.

I felt the same about the MK and the discount! We couldn’t upgrade until we left the park since there were no MK reservations available. So we couldn’t save even a few dollars on our food and merch.

[stlouie]

A few final thoughts…

1. I didn’t have a touring plan. I had an overall plan for Day 1 and basically took it as it came. I had a plan going into Day 2 but I chucked it 3 minutes after I got in line for Webslingers. Day 3, I did some must do rides and a few repeats. I found the touring pace to be rather relaxing, compared to other Disney trips with my family. And I really got more done than I thought I would get done. I could have done more but I didn’t want to.

2. Lightning Lanes are coming soon. The signages are up. I’m not looking forward to that and Genie+. I liked that all guests did stand by. I felt that stand by only normalized the wait times. I still maximized my rides by touring smart.

3. I hated being on my app so much! I spent a lot of time looking at wait times to figure out my next attraction and ordering food. If my family was with me, I feel that I wouldn’t be present with them.

4. I love not having to stand in line for characters! Most of them are so entertaining and willingly ham it up for the cameras. You can easily get their pictures and/or get a picture with them. They are also great at interacting with guests.

5. While I missed my family, it was great to have “me” time at Disney! I could have used their help to eat, though.

6. I miss parades! Why are they not back?

7. Rides seem to go down more often than I remember them going down in the past.

8. While masks are required indoors, they are not required outdoors. I would say that outdoor masking is about 75%. There is no such thing as social distancing. There is no room to do so, for the most part!

[Wahoohokie]

Thanks for the great report! Glad you got to hang with @Julianne_fki at Oga’s…some day maybe all 3 of us will be there are the same time.

[Julianne_fki]

There was a parade when I was there in October. I didn’t see the whole thing so it might have been a short one. I wondered if maybe a Christmas parade was starting last Friday with the other Christmas stuff.