-It Takes People To Make The Dream A Reality- DCP Summer 2018 Highlights Trip Report! (COMPLETE 6/6!)

[PlutosRHM55]

A Perfectly Painted Fantasmic Night... Almost
5/25/18: Post-Traditions Celebration

I'm gonna not ramble for a moment and let the videos and photos speak for themselves...

Click to watch!


Click to watch!


Click to watch!








Click to watch!


I cannot even begin to properly describe the emotions I felt when watching this for the first time. I had been OBSESSED with this parade since I heard Disneyland was getting it during the 60th anniversary. A lot had to do with my bitterness that Disney World lost SpectroMagic in the act of temporarily replacing it with the Main Street Electrical Parade, which I could barely stand, but then Disney social media mogul, Francis Dominic, started taking videos and snaps of this parade every night he watched it and I fell in love. To see it in person would be putting me in those videos that cheered me up even on the most difficult nights around that time. I was more than ready to be a part of the spectacular nighttime pageant of magic and imagination in millions of dazzling lights and astounding musical sound. Seeing it on the first night of me being a Cast Member at the Disneyland Resort with a group of people that would eventually become some of my closest friends out there... between then and now it was a moment to remember, which is saying something considering how much I watched Paint The Night as a Cast Member who worked MANY times along the parade route as well as made sure I saw it every chance I had. Paint The Night is in my opinion the best parade Disney has ever done and if you ever have to make plans around it to be able to see it on a trip DO IT. Even though I will say that the addition of the Incredibles float is wonky and needs some re-working (should've been put either after the Toy Story section or in between the Monsters float and the Cars section), it is the love of my life and I will defend her to my grave.

Like... this happiness. It doesn't come just from ANYTHING in Disney:

Click to watch!


After the parade ended and we had gotten ourselves ready to get a move on, we sped out of DCA to head over to Disneyland to make it in time for Fantasmic. Note that most of our group had drank a bit tonight and not everyone was entirely sober and that we were stuck in the worst of the post-parade crowd at the front of Disneyland. It was honestly the messiest I had ever seen the main gate at that night to the point where they had to have GSO (Disneyland's form of crowd control (aka as PAC (Parade Audience Control) at Disney World)) outside the turnstiles to make sure it didn't get too crazy. Unfortunately the crazy made its way to us in the form of two moms.

Fact of the matter is when we hit the turnstiles, we hadn't noticed any form of line or any organization to allow us in. It was a whole mob so we just tried to find our best way into it. Meanwhile, these moms had the belief that they had found a line. We hadn't realized and at this point, we'd already smooshed our way to the front while these women were getting WAYYY too pressed about us being in line ahead of them. Normally, I'd let them go ahead to avoid conflict but they were making a huge deal yelling at us and the Cast Members trying to manage the chaos constantly and Lakeland was not having it. Pushed mildly by alcohol, she had some choice words for these women. It was not a pretty scene. Luckily we got in without any scratches or issues with the CMs working the turnstiles but wow, it lowkey looked like we had a fight coming but we managed to stay out of the way of those women and made our way to the Rivers of America for the second showing of Fantasmic.

I forgot to mention but Katie on one of our previous party nights had twisted her ankle and was now in a cast, which was why things seemed to be moving a bit slower. She had gotten checked out so she was capable of moving, but she was in a lot of pain on this night so our hope was we could talk to a GSO CM who would let us into a spot where she could sit like in FP or elsewhere. Easier said than done since we had come in right as the Fireworks crowd was trying to get out and just others leaving the parks in general and making it over to Fant in time. We lost each other a few times, but we made it and eventually found a CM asking her about it. By some sprinkle of pixie dust, the CM let us into a patch of stairs that was blocked off to guests so we could let Katie sit and watch the Fant. Oh, really truly a blessed night. Everything just went so right.

To make it short, a few bathroom breaks and runs to get churros and such, we were all settled in for another fabulous nighttime spectacular from Disney: Disneyland's Fantasmic!

Click to watch!


Click to watch!


Click to watch!


Click to watch!


I've already written my whole thesis on how much I love this show and how happy I was on a second viewing that we were able to have such great SEATING and be reacquainted with that magic. We might've had a bad run-in on the way to see it but it was nothing but a bump in the road. We weren't bothered and we had Fantasmic. All was well.

After the show ended, I took immediate notice of the fact that everyone was heading out of the park when The Haunted Mansion had zero line. Everyone wasn't planning on leaving so we all hopped in line for my favorite attraction!

If y'all don't recall, when I was here in January, my Mansion had closed down because Jack Skellington was packing up all his tricks, treats and other Christmas goodies for the season to let Master Gracey back into his Mansion for the normal season so I hadn't been able to ride Disneyland's Mansion before. This was my first time!

Click to watch!


So yeah, FIRST TIME SEEING THE HATBOX GHOST!

Click to BOOMERANG!


Ooooohhhh, the DisNerd that still exists within me. She JUMPED OUT. I was so pumped to see ole hattie and he did not disappoint. Not to mention, I had a moment of major nostalgia and emotion when I realized Disneyland's Mansion has the original hitchhiking ghost effect. Like no updates or anything with the CGI and such, just animatronics hitching a ride on your doom buggy. I felt so at home, but I will admit I do prefer Disney World's. Disneyland's doesn't have the cool interactive queue nor a good portion of the scenes that World has. Also, I wasn't the hugest fan of how the paintings that change with the lightning or the busts that follow you in the queue were better off in the queue versus being in the attraction. You couldn't appreciate them as much. I still give Disneyland's props for the far more iconic and beautiful but eerie facade along with Hattie, but my loyalty is to the Magic Kingdom Mansion. Sorry bout it.



After the Mansion, we weren't really sure what to do so we started to head out maybe coming upon something piquing our interest along the way. I wanted to ride Hyperspace Mountain since that was another new one for me at Disneyland, but I believe it was down so we kept on going out. Then, someone brought up figuring out where Harbor Pointe was since that was the meeting location for the majority of us for our first day of training. Damion knew where it was so we decided to do some backstage exploring, y'know get some other use out of our blue IDs.

In actuality, it wasn't a super exciting occasion, more informational but being backstage at any Disney Park for the first time is an experience. I still recall what it felt like all those times going into a "Cast Member Only" area and not having to worry about being stopped or knowing you weren't allowed back there. For the most part, it was all peace of mind knowing where I needed to go for my first day. Granted Damion was with me on my day one so I had him to guide me to where I needed to be.

After that and finding our way to the pick-up loop, we called an Uber and headed back to Carnegie, ending our night in the best mood for us new/former Cast Members. But there was a lot more fun for tomorrow for some of us as the FIRST FULL DAY IN DISNEYLAND OF MY PROGRAM!

So get your reading glasses out, darlings. The library is open and we putting all this in the books!

Continue Here​

 

[cindianne320]

Following along! Thanks for taking us along, Timmy!

 

[missjackiemcg]

I'm not ashamed to say I'm ridiculously jealous of DL's Fantasmic. I'm not in love with the WDW version anyway, but DL's knocks it out of the park!! We need a do-over down in Florida, stat!

 

[missangelalexis]

Sounds like an epic night- PTN, Fantasmic, AND Haunted Mansion!! PTN really is such perfection!!

 

[PlutosRHM55]

Following along! Thanks for taking us along, Timmy!

And thank you for joining!

I'm not ashamed to say I'm ridiculously jealous of DL's Fantasmic. I'm not in love with the WDW version anyway, but DL's knocks it out of the park!! We need a do-over down in Florida, stat!

I AGREE. I felt the same way about WDW's so I was already ready to be blown away by DL's and I REALLY WAS. FAR more than I expected. Florida needs an upgrade BIG TIME.

Sounds like an epic night- PTN, Fantasmic, AND Haunted Mansion!! PTN really is such perfection!!

It WAS. I can't believe how much we did and yes PTN is PER!FECT!

 

[MeghanEmily]

Ooh wow! What a marvellous night! I've yet to see Paint the Night OR the California version of Fantasmic! so that would be amazing enough on its own, and then to end it off with HM.....ooh boy! I was excited just reading about it!

P.S. Also a friend recently just got me to start watching RuPaul's Drag Race, and I just finished bingeing season 8, and I totally thought of you multiple times.

 

[PlutosRHM55]

Ooh wow! What a marvellous night! I've yet to see Paint the Night OR the California version of Fantasmic! so that would be amazing enough on its own, and then to end it off with HM.....ooh boy! I was excited just reading about it!

Oh you've GOT to get over to Cali to see them. They are AMAZING. But yeah, WOW, a fabulous night! 20/10 would do again.

P.S. Also a friend recently just got me to start watching RuPaul's Drag Race, and I just finished bingeing season 8, and I totally thought of you multiple times.

Season 8 was actually the first season I kept up with live so 'tis special to me. My fave is season 5, if you are looking to choose a season to watch next.

 

[MeghanEmily]

Season 8 was actually the first season I kept up with live so 'tis special to me. My fave is season 5, if you are looking to choose a season to watch next.

Ooh! Noted!

 

[PlutosRHM55]

I'm A Princess. I'm A Jedi. I'M A DISNEYLAND CAST MEMBER.
Part I
5/26/18: First Full Day in Disneyland as a Cast Member

Spent a most magical night in Disneyland and now was already onto day two where I planned to spend a FULL DAY in the park.

It also was an opportunity for those of us who didn't have cars to figure out where the bus. I texted a whole host of people and I was invited to join a group at Blue Bayou later they said they weren't going to go to the parks until around the time of their reservation, but Lakeland and Skyler both said they were up to going back as early as I was so I had my little squad for the day.

I had gotten the Transit app so I knew the times in which the bus would be arriving to the stop so we planned ahead and gave us ample time to go finding the stop. I asked Damion for some help and his help aligned with where the app was directing me so we found it with no problem. We did take the long way but we found it nonetheless and got there right on time for the bus' arrival and soon we were off to Disneyland.

For the record, in case there are future CPs reading this, the bus we took is the 10 bus. It is the resort bus that has a stop near Carnegie, only requiring you to show your Blue ID to get on. It isn't the most reliable bus so most use the city bus but I got on fine with the 10 bus even if it meant waiting for ridiculous amounts of time for it to get there when it was supposed to get there at a certain time, but I adjusted to it.

ANYWAYS, we arrived at Disneyland, did our security thing and then held our breath for our blue IDs to work. No surprise, they still weren't working but they had us on the exceptions log so we didn't have to wait for hours for them to print off our park tickets and we were in the park. I'm guessing it was about late morning, early afternoon. Not bad for a group that was in the parks fairly late the night before.



We all had expressed equal interest in riding Hyperspace Mountain so we thought it best to head towards Tomorrowland and grab some FPs. Good thing we did because the FPs were going FAST over there. It was early afternoon and this was the FP we mentioned to grab...



Yup, we livin the usual Space Mountain life at Disneyland but also WE HAD AN FP FOR HYPERSPACE MOUNTAIN! Bless it up. After that, we decided it was to get on our "character hunting day", which is like everyday to me but for the other two that's what today was. We were in Tomorrowland so I asked if we could go into Launch Bay and meet Rey. I hadn't met her yet since she wasn't there when I was here in January, but I had to meet the Jedi queen. I HAD TO.

At Launch Bay, since this was the day that Solo was being released, they were giving out special buttons on our way into Launch Bay. We saw people walking around with them but had no clue where they came from. We assumed Launch Bay and we were correct. They were switching out the boxes of them at the greeter so we had to wait but we all ended up with the button. It was pretty exciting since I totally planned on seeing it as soon as I could (spoiler alert: I never got to see it in theaters lmao and I also managed to lose the button after the great decision to pin it to my backpack)



Solo buttons in hand, we went in search of Rey. We kinda timed it just right as she had a more moderate wait compared to the other Star Wars characters hanging out in the Bay at the time. It was written that Rey was only a 15 minute wait, while longer than Kylo's line, it wasn't as long as Vader's or Chewy's. We had no problem waiting only a few minutes for her. We'd eventually be face-to-face with successor of Luke Skywalker.







Meeting Rey was so much fun. She was engaging right as we walked in and I believe we saw a fairly cute little interaction before us then we got to say hi. I kinda took over the whole conversation since Lakeland was feeling a bit awkward about how to talk to Rey and Skyler ended up not being much into meeting characters as you'll soon realize in when and when she did not appear in photos with us. I've met characters a lot so I can jump in very quickly and Rey was more than willing to ask us if we were pilots to which I responded I was far more of a jedi. She was very impressed and we discussed the struggles of Jedi training, which led to our posed photo with us using the force.

Lakeland told me after she's usually much better about interacting with characters she's met before. Rey was a new one for her so she wasn't sure how to keep up a positive conversation. We'd be meeting plenty of other new magical friends that day, but I think this was a good start to our day. We had no interest in meeting anyone else in Launch Bay so we left and headed out. I wanted a pic with the Star Wars Wall though to cement my Jedi-in-training status.



I think I'm really getting the hang of it and I know Rey is too. We'll be Jedi masters soon enough. Yoda would be proud.

We headed out of Tomorrowland and made our way off towards Fantasyland since that was a bustling place for characters. We passed by Pixie Hollow and saw it was a short wait so we hopped right into line. This ended up being a magical dose of pixie dust because the Hollow very rarely has short waits and we just managed to catch it at the right time.

Click to watch!


I believe we had some fun conversations with the hosts at the Hollow before meeting Tink. I've always had good ones with them even being in the sunniest location for hosts. I also know we had some good ones because the host who went up with us to Tink took a fabulous video of almost the entire M&G that I can share with y'all!

Click to watch!


We were with Tink for probably a good five minutes. I don't remember at all what we talked about, but I know it involved my Princess and the Frog tee. Very out there conversation. It also wasn't just me involved in meeting Tink, Lakeland was very engaging so the conversation really was fun and inclusive. Skyler didn't talk at all, but I think she was enjoying watching us have our moments with Tink. I mean, our photo came out pretty cute.



We love awkward goodbye hugs lmao



Lakeland and I were just gushing after that. We were amazed by how much time she spent with us and how fun it all was. Oh, we were going to have such a fun day!

As we headed deeper into Fantasyland, past my beloved Matterhorn, we ran into Captain Hook, another character I never met before. We tried to catch up with him though it seemed he was heading to a specific spot. We weren't able to stop for a photo, but Lakeland managed to get an autograph. Other than that, he seemed a bit preoccupied and mobbed so we didn't bother too much. The Evil Queen also popped out at that moment so we decided to head to her. Then, I said, "Hmm, usually Hook is with Peter" and as if on cue...

Click to watch!


Click to watch!


Click to watch!


These are the things that only happen in Disneyland.

If you couldn't tell, we immediately hopped in line to meet the Queen. I finally took note of the fact that Skyler seemed put off by all our character M&Gs, but still wanted to be present and asked if she just wanted to take photos for us. She was totally fine with that. Lakeland and I also decided we wanted to do separate photos with The Queen. We mostly used my phone but I've deleted most individual photos that weren't of me so you'll only get mine in these cases. Lakeland did go first and it was HYSTERICAL. The Queen was her usual condescending self and very much wanted all the spotlight. Lakeland didn't know what to do especially when the Queen literally asked them to stand back-to-back THEN PUSHED HER OUT OF THE PHOTOGRAPH. She did not know what to do. It was too hilarious. She also took immediate note of my shirt, which was definitely the biggest conversation starter for the day (if you couldn't tell, I was wearing my "I would kiss a frog. I would kiss a hundred frogs if I could marry a prince and be a princess shirt.") It made for a quick segway to me getting to have my own conversation with the Queen and her displeasure at... well... me.

However, being a Queen myself, I was not going to let that ruin a new iconic friendship.






















I wish we could've gotten a video of this one, granted it was a total photoshoot if you didn't notice the constant posing. But wow, it was a blast and I think I found mutual respect with the OG Queen of Disney (sorry Minnie, but you never claimed the title). She did totally clock me on wearing a shirt that said I was a princess and I admit it did contradict things. WE'VE MOVED ON THOUGH, OK?

Continue Here​

 

[PlutosRHM55]

I'm A Princess. I'm A Jedi. I'M A DISNEYLAND CAST MEMBER.
Part II
5/26/18: First Full Day in Disneyland as a Cast Member

After bidding adieu to the Queen, we decided to go find Peter again. We didn't wait too long for the Queen and we still saw Hook around so we assumed Peter would be close by. Luckily, we had no trouble finding him. Unfortunately, he was mobbed per usual for autographs and photos when he just wanted to fly his way around. Lakeland and I continued to try to find our way to him in the midst of his conversations with others and himself and she finally caught up to him. Skyler kinda dragged behind as we began another conversation about frogs and kissing them. The topic of the day.

Click to watch!


Click to watch!


We ended up making many MANY circles all around Fantasyland just talking with Peter. It was crazy but that lost boy is so much fun. Finally, after our like third loop he was like "Hey, wait, where are you guys going?" I had been checking the app for when certain characters would be out next and I said we wanted to go see Aladdin & Jasmine to which he responded, "THEN LET'S GO THIS WAY" and ran off to the Castle and the Wishing Well. When we got there, he asked if we wanted pics. I was obviously the bigger fan and Lakeland mostly wanted to meet him to have her autograph book signed so I got my pic.



Back on brand, it would seem. We said goodbye to our new best friend Peter and then headed over by the Wishing Well. Aladdin & Jasmine were already out but their line was open so we hopped right in. In line, we discussed what other characters we would try to catch and we saw Fairy Godmother was going to be visiting by the Castle soon so we decided it would make a good point to visit her after meeting Al & Jas.

Skyler definitely was a third wheel during our last two meets with characters so I made sure to give her my phone as we went up to meet Prince Ali and his prize-not-to-be-won princess so she wouldn't have to awkwardly watch us meet them and be more "useful", not to objectify her. It just... she was better as our photographer than forcing her to watch us talk with the characters uncomfortably.













We had a nice little more normal conversation with Al & Jas. It was nearing the time where they had to return to Agrabah so they seemed a bit tired, but they were friendly. We told them about how we were starting our college program. It was pretty casual. Nothing exciting. Again, they had quite the magic carpet ride ahead of them so it was understandable. They wished us well and told us to avoid rubbing any suspicious lamps.

After meeting them, we were pretty worn going from conversation to conversation to conversation with characters around Fantasyland and Fairy Godmother wasn't coming out for some time now so we decided to change up the schedule a bit. It also would allow Skyler to not be so side-lined.

In needing to fill a small minute of our time before another magical friend dropped into Fantasyland...

Continue Here​

 

[MeghanEmily]

I mean, our photo came out pretty cute.

This is adorable.

A picture's worth a thousand words!

Love this! I think you definitely earned her respect as a queen on her level!

 

[thumper*]

HI Timmy just saw this link in your siggy on Meghan Emily's TR had to follow it to the fun. Bookmarking to catch up later. I so want to hear how your summer went in DL

 

[PlutosRHM55]

This is adorable.

A picture's worth a thousand words!

A queen truly not having it lol

Love this! I think you definitely earned her respect as a queen on her level!

Oh I DID. It was an effort, but I was going to prove myself one way or another.

HI Timmy just saw this link in your siggy on Meghan Emily's TR had to follow it to the fun. Bookmarking to catch up later. I so want to hear how your summer went in DL

Hello! So glad you found it and early enough there isn't too too much to catch up on yet.

 

[Momee]

You always have such amazing character interactions! Love the video of Tink!

 

[PlutosRHM55]

You always have such amazing character interactions! Love the video of Tink!

It's always been so much fun for me. Meeting characters at Disney is such a wonderful unique experience.

 

[missangelalexis]

Sounds like an amazing character day! Your photoshoot with the Evil Queen is fabulous!!

 

[missjackiemcg]

OMG the photoshoot with the Evil Queen! I'm dying! Ridiculous amounts of shade exchanged. I love it!

 

[PlutosRHM55]

Sounds like an amazing character day! Your photoshoot with the Evil Queen is fabulous!!

It was! And omg she was so fabulous. I love talking with her. 1

OMG the photoshoot with the Evil Queen! I'm dying! Ridiculous amounts of shade exchanged. I love it!

Oh SOOOOOO much shade. Really. I can't remember most of it. We love shady queens lol

 

[PlutosRHM55]

Remember to EAT When in Disneyland!
5/26/18: First Full Day in Disneyland as a Cast Member

In a decision that was made far quicker than me updating this trip report, we decided to do the obvious thing when next to the Castle, THE SLEEPING BEAUTY CASTLE WALKTHROUGH! I fell in love with it back in January and as an eventual regular park goer, this was such a great way to avoid the heat and get away from the crowds.

Click to watch!


I tried to trick Lakeland and Skyler with the Hall of Goons windows, but I think we saw a child get tricked by their family so it wasn't gonna happen. I showed them how it works for future victims so-to-speak hehe

When we popped out of there, we checked the Disneyland app and saw that Fairy Godmother should be over soon and we caught her just as she was coming through the tunnel leading out to Snow White's Wishing Well. Most were ignoring her and only wanted photos so we essentially walked right up to her.









She was the absolute sweetest as Fairy Godmother tends to be. It was my first time seeing her in the new outfit so of course I made a comment and as you can tell, she had to show us all the detailing with the mice and everything. We talked a bit about our CP and our prior college program as well as where we were from. It was lovely. Although I will miss the visits we had at Magic Kingdom, I still felt so blessed by her presence at Disneyland.

As we walked away, we noticed Belle coming through Fantasyland. Lakeland said she wanted her autograph so we ended up following her until we managed to pull her aside by the Carousel where she was more than happy to converse with Lakeland and sign her book. I got super cute pics of them in front of the Carousel but those photos were sent to Lakeland so I don't have them on me, just take my word for it that they were cute. Belle was pretty mobbed and seemed to be heading back to check on Maurice in his workshop so we made fairly good timing with her.

I had gotten some texts from Katie and the others who were planning to go to Blue Bayou for a late lunch today saying they were here and the reservation was soon so we started to make our way over there.

Click to watch!


We decided to quickly detour to see how long the wait was for the Royal Hall. It was pretty low and there was a "Royal Friend" alongside Ariel and Snow, whom we hadn't met that day so we decided to hop in line. Before long, we were let in and I near screamed when we entered into the first room because...

BELLE IN HER YELLOW DRESS!!!!

Yup, the royal friend was BELLE. IN. HER. YELLOW. DRESS.

Oh, I was so excited jumping up and down, squealing quietly to Lakeland as we waited for the family before us to finish talking with Belle. Finally, it was our turn!





Yup, that was it. So I should mention Lakeland was wearing her birthday button since her birthday was the day before I had Traditions so Belle took notice of that. Barely even looked at me then asked to take the photo. Like the most anticlimactic M&G ever. She might've had no time to explain that she had dinner plans with Beast and kinda shoved us along but WOW. Not what I expected meeting Belle in her ballroom gown would be like.

Snow was in the next room and she wasn't much different...







I'm sure you can tell but she looked a bit frantic and not too up for conversation. Needed some more gooseberry pie.

The last room was Ariel, my favorite in this squad. Hopefully she'd make this visit a bit more worthwhile.







She was off the bat the sweetest of the group really taking an interest in our day and telling us some stories about her and Flounder in Atlantica. The best part really was when she saw Lakeland's button. She was like "YOUR NAME IS LAKELAND?! Wow, that's so cool." Sis was so SHOOK. She kept on going on and on about her name. She apologized for the freakout but she thought it was so cool and we could hear her still going on as we left. It was hilarious. Definitely made up a bit for lackluster visits with Snow and Belle.

When we got out, I saw that Katie & co. had texted to let us know they were waiting at Blue Bayou and to meet them there so we made our way over from Fantasy Faire to New Orleans Square. They were sitting in the comfy waiting area and gave us an update on the reservation since we were early, but they checked in so hopefully we'd get early seating possibly. Skyler had said she wasn't going to participate since she was short on money but would sit with us for the time being. Frankly I should've joined her but I doubted I'd have another chance to go to Blue Bayou and I DID have just enough to cover a meal so might as well.

By the time we were called, Skyler had conceded and decided she'd get something small so she wouldn't spend too too much, which was my plan. I didn't want to go too too low in my checking account. I wasn't in the mood to start a program constantly asking for money or not having the funds for food.

We didn't get a water side table, we were definitely pretty far in, which was fine. Pirates was under refurbishment at the time so it wasn't a huge deal being near an empty attraction. We were poured water, given a basket of bread (DELISH) and left to peruse the menu for a minute, taking in a lovely Louisiana bayou veranda.



Our waiter stopped by not too long after and asked for our drink orders. Most got their usuals or just had the water while I got a Mint Julep, the first of many. My love for them very much became my brand as time went on. Bless the CM discount at the Mint Julep bar lol

After that, we took another moment to pick out what we were gonna get. I originally was gonna get Gumbo and only Gumbo but McKenzi said it wouldn't be that big. Like it was genuinely an appetizer. It was the best option but I hadn't eaten all day so I needed something filling. The Jambalaya was tempting me but it was PRICEY. I decided what the heck and decided that was what I was gonna get. Soon enough, all our drinks arrived. Look at this divine refreshment!



At that point, we all ordered. Lakeland & I twinned with our Jambalaya and Mint Juleps. I know Katie splurged since it was her reservation. McKenzi splurged a bit too. Everyone else took the discount route. We had a bit of waiting so we caught up on each other's days and discussed recent news because what else do college programmers talk about? Nothing. We also were doing our social media thing to pass time. Eventually, it came to pass that we ran out of bread and our drinks. The waiters came over refilling everyone's water when suddenly one came up to me and grabbed my already empty Mint Julep glass.

I said, "Oh that's a Mint Julep!"

He said, "Why yes of course!" Grabbed a different pitcher filled with light up cubes and REFILLED MY MINT JULEP WITH MINT JULEP.

I was shook. I had no idea we had free refills on MINT JULEPS. That had me sold on Blue Bayou. I stan'd from that point on and became the self-proclaimed mint julep wh0r3 on Twitter. It really was the defining moment of my entire program only on day two and not even in my on-the-job training or being that much of a Disneyland vet.

Anyways, I easily could've left Blue Bayou the happiest little lilypad but THE MAIN COURSE. Most had appetizers but they were all salads and I didn't have one. Nothing to report back on, but THEN... this was placed before me.



Probably not good as Tiana's but oooooooooo HONEYYYYYYYYY

This Jambalaya, she hit THE SPOT. I've always known I was destined to love Creole cuisine and one day I actually need to visit Louisiana and New Orleans, but for the moment I was living for the piece of it I was getting out in California in Disneyland's own re-creation. I ended up not being able to finish it it was so filling but I got it packed up, even if I wasn't going to be home for some time. I doubt it would go bad (spoiler: it didn't).

I also wasn't the only one who couldn't finish their meal. A POSITIVE! YAY SKINNY LEGENDS!

After everyone had gotten their fill, it was time to pay the bill. As expected, it definitely left me with little, but I made my bed and I was gonna sleep in it. There goes any money for merch I thought I might have before my next paycheck. WHOOPS.

In the end, was it worth it? Erm... I'll say yes because MINT JULEP REFILLS!!

Anyways, it was back out into Disneyland and we still had a whole day ahead of us. There was one character I HAD to meet having just had a taste of some of their favorite foods and she was coming out very soon so Lakeland and I decided to do that. The rest of them weren't in the mood, but said they wanted to watch the Pixar Play Parade so we planned to go meet up with them for that, hopefully having caught one of my faves for some chat.

So... did we?

You'll have to wait and see.

Continue Here​

 

[MeghanEmily]

What sweet pics with Fairy Godmother!! Too bad about your lame Royal Hall experience, but it sounds like Ariel definitely made up for the other two. And holy Blue Bayou!! Mint julep refills!? What IS this magic!?