Disneyland Anniversary GE Halloween 2019

BetaCygni

Mouseketeer
Joined
Dec 22, 2014
Remembering a happier time when the parks were still open...
And looking forward to when they open again! :)
 
Pre-Trip Planning
Once I found out that Galaxy’s Edge was opening in Disneyland in Summer 2019, I was over the moon. A new land at Disneyland is a once-in-a-lifetime event, and as a huge Star Wars fan, I had to see it in its opening year. Flying the Millennium Falcon was a longtime dream of mine, and the Rise of the Resistance ride sounded incredible!

DW and I would be celebrating our 28th wedding anniversary in October and we'd never been to Disneyland during the Halloween season, so that seemed like the perfect time to go! Anniversary, Galaxy’s Edge, and Halloween combo!

DS and DD had graduated from college and were off on their own adventures, so it would just be the two of us.

Our anniversary is on Sunday October 13th and the new Oogie Boogie Halloween Bash is on Thursdays. The perfect plan seemed to be flying down on the 13th for a nice anniversary dinner at Napa Rose. We'd hit the parks on Monday-Thursday, with the big finale as the Halloween party on Thursday the 17th.

I pulled the trigger on January 11, 2019 on our five-night reservation at the Grand Californian (GC). We don’t go to Disney that often (every 5 years or so) so this was a splurge; normally we’d stay at the Disneyland Hotel. We’d stayed at the GC once before on the Adventures by Disney Backstage Magic tour in 2015. It had been refurbished since then so we looked forward to the updated rooms, etc.

One advantage of reserving this early was that we missed out on at least one price increase for tickets. 😉

For our anniversary dinner I’d read about something called “Chef’s Counter” at the Napa Rose. DW is a great cook and works as an assistant at a local cooking school:

https://wdwnt.com/2018/04/disneyland-resorts-best-kept-secret-the-chefs-counter-at-napa-rose/

This experience sounded fantastic. A good clue in that article is that unlike other Disney restaurants, there isn’t a 60-day window for making reservations. Instead, on the first of the month, the next two months of reservations opens up. You also have to call the restaurant directly instead of calling the Disney Dining number. So I set up a reminder for August 1st to call and make the reservation. I played some telephone tag, but by August 6th I had the reservation.

As the article says, all I needed was my name and telephone number to reserve this.

One update from the article is that early seating is at 5 PM.

Another review:

https://www.disneytouristblog.com/napa-rose-chefs-counter-review/

Rise of the Resistance Delayed!
In July, Disney announced that the Rise of the Resistance (RoR) ride would be delayed until January 2020 at Disneyland. Argh!

This was a blow to our plan. I was sure that October would “certainly” be late enough for everything in Galaxy's Edge to be on-line. No such luck. ☹

So this is the disadvantage of booking early. Of course our anniversary date is fixed, so we didn’t have any leeway in any case.

We would still have all the other things in Galaxy’s Edge and the Halloween overlays and party, so all was not lost. 😊

We would still be together for our anniversary at the Happiest Place on Earth! 😊😊😊

We can visit Galaxy’s Edge in the future and have RoR to look forward to. DD got into the Disney College Program starting Jan 2020, so when we visit her, we can go on it in FL! I like that plan! 😊

Mid-August - September
I forget the exact date, but Disneyland was very late publishing the schedule for Fantasmic in October. We haven’t seen it for a while and I heard about the Fantasmic Special Viewing on the River Belle Terrace Outside Patio at 8 PM.

https://mickeyvisit.com/river-belle...River_Belle_Terrace_Fantasmic_Dining_Packages

It sounded like a nice relaxing way to watch the show. The part that wasn’t relaxing was that 60 days out, they still hadn’t published the entertainment schedule for the week of our trip so I couldn’t make the reservation. I called anyway, and the cast member said that was unusual that the schedule wasn’t out yet. She said to keep checking the website.

I checked every day until one evening in September it was finally on the website! It was too late to call Disney dining (you have to call to get the special 8 PM seating), but I got on the phone the next morning and grabbed a reservation. Yay! 😊

9/13/19
They finally opened up World of Color at DCA for the nights the Oogie Boogie Party wasn't going on! I grabbed a table at the Carthay Circle restaurant for 6:10 PM on Wednesday October 16th. That gave us a great reserved seating area. WoC begins at 10 PM that night. While we wait for WoC, we could ride the Incredicoaster at night (I heard it is better at night), the Golden Zephyr ride which DW wants to see (more fun at night) and ride Guardians of the Galaxy: Monster’s After Dark.

That was the last table service reservation we needed! All our other meals would be counter service.

9/25/19
I’d been reading some reviews of the Oogie Boogie Bash to try and figure out the best way to see everything we want. One thing that seems a no-brainer is to watch the second Villainous World of Color show at 10:45 PM. The party on Thursdays is over at 11 PM, so that would be the last thing.

9/27/19
We needed a fun activity for Sunday afternoon while we wait for our Anniversary dinner, so I booked the Ralph Breaks the Internet experience at the VOID in Downtown Disney. A couple of years ago, when we were at WDW with the whole family (including DS & DD), we tried the Star Wars version. It was a blast!

I was still waiting for the two-week window for Oga’s Cantina & Savi’s workshop to open up so I could make reservations on Monday October 14. Based on what I'd been seeing on the website, Monday September 30th was the day I could make them. It’s annoying that the website (or the app) for Oga’s lets you pick a day beyond 2 weeks and then just tells you there are no reservations. At least the Savi’s web page has the dates too far in the future crossed out.

Since that was Columbus Day (I didn’t realize that when I made the initial reservation) and the Touring Plans crowd calendar has Disneyland as a 10 out of 10, I was sure reservations would be necessary. Of course with the low attendance at Disneyland this season, who knows.

The good thing about the holiday is that there would be fireworks that night. That would be the only night with fireworks, so it would be great to be in Galaxy’s edge and see the fireworks shoot out over the Millennium Falcon.

This person is making ID cards for Galaxy’s Edge on Etsy:

https://www.etsy.com/shop/KatrinsCuriosities?ref=simple-shop-header-name&listing_id=724734378

Here’s a story about their adventure in Batuu:

https://kotaku.com/three-months-of-prep-made-our-star-wars-galaxys-edge-t-1838364921

I decided to add a pilot’s license to my Smuggler cosplay outfit.

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I can’t wait to show my license to a stormtrooper and see the reaction! :)

9/30/19
Today the 14-day window for reservations for Oga’s Cantina and Savi’s workshop opened up. I got on-line around 7:15 AM and was able to snag my lightsaber experience @ 4:40 PM on Monday October 14th and Oga’s @ 5:55 PM. We would ride the Falcon ride after that, then have dinner at Docking Bay 7. Then ride the Falcon again!

We would try and get a picture in front of the Falcon that evening when the fireworks start.

10/7/19
I finalized our touring plans using the TouringPlans.Com website. I got a reservation at Catal for lunch on Wednesday @ 12 PM. I was able to score an earlier reservation for the Carnation Café for Thursday: 12:50 instead of 1:20 PM. That would give us more time to rest back at the hotel before the Halloween Party.

I had 10 rides scheduled on Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run during our trip, all using the standby line. Hopefully that will give us enough chances to sit in all the positions and develop some skill to help our crew get a high score. I’m a flight-sim fanatic, so I expected Smuggler’s Run to be an E-ticket!
 
Here We Go!
Sunday 10/13/19 – 28th Wedding Anniversary!
It was finally here! Our anniversary trip to Disneyland!

Our flight down was uneventful and we got a Lyft from John Wayne Airport to the Grand Californian Hotel.

I think our Lyft driver wasn’t familiar with either end of the route. He had trouble getting out of the airport parking structure and making the turn to the hotel. But he was fun to talk to. Besides being a graphic designer, he has a side business in making “custom” action figures. He takes existing figures (like Ironman) and re-sculpts the head and body to match the client. I thought to myself, you have to have a pretty big ego to get an action figure of yourself, but I guess there are plenty of people like that in L.A. 😊

We checked in and told the cast member we were celebrating our 28th wedding anniversary. She made us buttons that we wore all week (except the Halloween Party), and we got lots of compliments and congratulations. I asked about our reservation for the Chef’s Counter at the Napa Rose that evening @ 5 PM. They tried calling the restaurant, but there was no answer so the manager walked over to double check and called back to the front desk while we were there. Great Disney service!

While we were waiting, we were told there was a special delivery for us. It was a signed picture of Mickey & Minnie Mouse in front of the castle! 😊
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We got our room keys and were told we’d get a text when our room was ready. Then we could go right up and call bell services to deliver our bags.

Our room wasn’t ready yet, so we left our bags with bell services and headed to Downtown Disney for lunch. We shared a delicious southwest chicken salad and banana bread from La Brea Bakery.

We still had time before our 3 PM “Ralph Breaks the Internet” VR experience at the VOID, so we went over to the entrance to Disneyland and took a photo with the pumpkin decorations.

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There was a geocache nearby, so we searched for a particular brick. This cache was placed by a couple as part of their wedding celebration at Disneyland:

https://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC7B8D8_happily-ever-after

To log the cache, you have to take a picture of their brick and post it on the geocaching website:

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We still had some time, so we wandered over to the Lego Store and found the Hulk is still there:

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And the new 4700+ piece Star Destroyer ($699.99):

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It was just before 3 PM, so we went to the VOID and got matched up with another couple to take on Ralph Breaks the Internet VR experience. It was fun, but I didn’t think it was as much fun as the Star Wars experience that we did in FL just after it came out (December 2017). The visuals weren’t as crisp, and the story progression was confusing.

Just after we returned from our trip, Disney announced the new Avengers: Damage Control VR experience. It will be fun to try that next time.

We headed back to the hotel. Our room should have been ready by then (they said 3 PM), so we hung out with the Oogie Boogie cake (supposedly all edible) for a few minutes before calling the number they gave us.

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I waited on hold for about 10 minutes. Then we got into line at the front desk behind three other groups. A cast member came over when we were first in line and checked on her tablet. She found that our room was ready and gave us the room number. I never got the text.

Our room was great. Plenty of room to spread out with a king-sized bed. I reserved a “garden” view, and we were right over the monorail which goes through the hotel. There was very good sound insulation. We only thought we might have heard the whoosh of the monorail going under once or twice during our stay.

We had about an hour before our Napa Rose dinner, so we washed up and got into the best clothes we brought. We went down and waited in the bar area for about 10 minutes before being seated. Details to follow, but to sum up the whole experience in one word: Fantastic! Followed by Must Do / Highly Recommended! 😊

On our way down, we stopped at Guest Services and reserved a spot for the Monday afternoon “Art of the Craft Tour.” at the Grand Californian:

https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/b...nces-for-disneys-grand-californian-hotel-spa/

We both like Craftsman architecture, so we thought it would be a nice break from touring the parks.
 
Sunday 10/13/19 (cont.) – Napa Rose Anniversary Dinner
After we were seated, the Sous Chef came over and asked us about our individual likes and dislikes for seafood, game, and allergies. Based on that information, the chefs designed individual menus for each of us. I wouldn’t say they were custom creations. They seemed to be small versions of what was on the regular menu. Getting your own unique set of courses was a very cool part of the experience.

He encouraged us to ask questions of the chefs, which we did a few times.

We ordered one wine flight to share between us. We aren’t big wine drinkers, so sharing a glass was a good option for us. It was poured into a single glass that we shared (we often do that when going out).

We were next to another couple who was celebrating a birthday, and they shared a wine flight too. Our waiter was also a sommelier, and he did a great job pairing the wine for the four of us even though we had different dishes. He gave great service all night even though he was handling other tables.

Besides a yummy bread service, there were six courses in all, plus a sorbet palate cleanser before the main course. We had lots of fun watching the kitchen work. DW works at a cooking school and loves seeing the techniques that chefs use.

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We started out with appetizers. I got granola with pomegranate, hazelnut, and cream and DW got an avocado eggroll. Mine was light and tasty and she enjoyed hers too.

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Next was a seafood course. I got a scallop with mashed potatoes and golden mushrooms and DW got a grilled sea bass, shrimp, and lemongrass. The scallop was done to perfection and I love scallops. I could have eaten 3 or 4 more! 😊

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The third course was “game”. I said I didn’t like game so I got an excellent cabbage, tomato, and roasted beet salad with endive and goat cheese. DW got frogs legs (which she said tasted just like chicken! 😊) with garbanzo beans and bacon.

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I’m not sure what the 4th course was called, but I got Wagyu beef chunks with dumpling (basically stew) and DW got Cavatelli pasta with duck sausage. Mine was super yummy. That was the first time I’ve had Wagyu beef.

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to be continued...
 

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Sunday 10/13/19 (cont.) – Napa Rose Anniversary Dinner (cont.)

Then we were served an apple cider sorbet palate cleanser, which was very refreshing.

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Around this time, the kitchen was preparing dishes for a banquet of 26 people. They had every counter covered with plates! The head chef (Gloria Joe) hovered over them, instructing them how to manage so many servings at once. While we were eating, she was barking out orders and checking each dish before it was served. She found time to take our picture after we asked a question:

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Then it was time for the main course. I got a wonderful filet with a Tuscan cheese fritter (yum!) and DW got a steak with roasted artichokes. Both were excellent.

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Then it was time for dessert. Our waiter came over and DW pointed out that the Sous Chef hadn’t asked about our dessert preferences. She said she hoped there would be chocolate involved. 😊

Our waiter blustered a little (in a fun way) and said we shouldn’t worry. They then brought out a dessert for each of us, along with a shared plate of three different ice creams (chocolate, vanilla, and salted caramel). As you can see, they were served on plates wishing us a Happy Anniversary, which was a nice touch. I got a berry crumble cake with caramel swirl vanilla ice cream (super yummy!):

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And DW got a cheesecake, not chocolate, but still delicious.

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Here’s the shared ice cream plate:

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In conclusion, all I can say is WOW! It exceeded even my high expectations for the meal.

Returning to Our Room

When we returned to our room, we were greeted by a heart and two swans covered in rose petals on our bed:

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In addition, the floral arrangement I’d ordered before we left on our trip was there with the card I specified:
Happy Anniversary at the Happiest Place on Earth

😊

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What a magical surprise at the end of a magical day!
 
Monday 10/14/19
First Day in the Parks! DCA opened for Early Entry at 7 AM. DW didn’t want to wake up before 6 AM on vacation, so 6 AM it was! 😊

As usual we were using a custom Touring Plan from TouringPlans.Com. As long as you are willing to get to the parks first thing in the morning, you can really zip through a lot of attractions without long waits. After lunch we go back to the room for a nap/swim and then hit the parks again in the late afternoon and into the evening.

We got through a short line for security and to the Grand Californian Hotel park entrance around 6:45 AM. There were about 30 people lined up. About 6:55 AM they let people go to the right towards Pixar Pier. Our touring plan called for Soarin’ Around the World first, so we waited until 7 AM when they let everyone go. While we were waiting, since we’d already had our tickets scanned, I used our MaxPass to check the return time for Radiator Springs Racers. We need a return time of 9-10 AM, but the Disneyland app showed a time of 8-9.

We had a very short wait for Soarin’ Around the World. Everyone was seated in the center section and the view was great, no pincushion effect. I still wish they had Soarin’ Over California in at least one theater.

We headed for Carsland and stopped for this photo before it got crowded:

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We zipped down to Mater’s Junkyard JamBOOree. Lots of fun as usual, with Halloween music which was new for both of us. DW got the red “line” card that cast members use to see how fast the line is moving. In this case there was no wait. We got on immediately. We love this ride. It is so simple but the back and forth motion always brings a smile to our faces.

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Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout is a new ride for DW (I’d ridden it once before and really liked it). We had to backtrack to the fountain hub in front of the Carthay Circle Restaurant because the direct connection from Carsland to HollywoodLand is blocked by the Avenger’s Campus construction. We zipped through the preshow and were immediately loaded into the pre-show room with the movie and Rocket Raccoon.

They seemed to only be running one elevator, so it was slow going for a while. Just as we got to the end of the queue, they opened up another and we had our up/down experience. My stomach didn’t like it as much this time and I forget what song they were playing. DW said she didn’t have to ride that again… 😊

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By now Radiator Springs Racers FP return times were in our zone, so I grabbed one of those as we hiked across the park to Toy Story Midway Mania. We waited about 20 minutes in the standby line. In retrospect, I should have gotten a TSMM FP using MaxPass and then as soon as we got that scanned, gotten one for RSR. That would have saved time. This is the first time I’ve used MaxPass and it was definitely a learning experience. Often you can get a return time 5 minutes from when you get a MaxPass so you can just keep grabbing them one after another as you zoom through the rides.

On the way we stopped for a picture in front of Pixar Pier. The PhotoPass photographer was startled that we stopped. I guess most people are just rushing at this time of the morning. He took over a dozen pictures:

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I got a pretty good score of 163,100, but someone else in our car (on the other side I guess) beat me by 300 points. ☹

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Then we hiked back to use our FP for RSR. We got the paint side. I’d learned since our last trip that the custom painted hoods are by Cool Car Legend Chip Foose, so I kept an eye out for them. They are great, but I missed getting a picture. Our car won the race which is always fun. We love this ride too and vowed to ride it at night (which adds an extra dimension) later in our trip. I remembered where the picture is taken and raised my hands as DW was ducking down to save her hat blowing away. 😊

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It was a short walk to Luigi’s Honkin' Haul-O-Ween Ride. I'd ridden it before, but not with the Halloween overlay. The line ran very slowly, as it seemed that about 25% of the cars are missing. I’d read online that they’ve been having maintenance problems. It was new to DW and we had fun dancing with the Halloween themed songs.

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Back through the hub to Turtle Talk with Crush. I love this show. It is so innovative. There were few kids in the audience, so Crush called on me and DW after we raised our hands. I asked him what his favorite song was and he rattled off a bunch of made-up groups who sing songs about the sea. He asked me what my favorite song was and I said “Surfs Up!” I should have said any song by Dick Dale, the King of Surf Guitar! I’ll be ready next time. 😊 I’ll also be ready to take video so I can capture the whole experience in case I get called on again.

DW asked Crush what his favorite food was. I don’t remember what he said, but he asked DW what her favorite was and she said Chocolate! When Crush followed up by asking her if she ever got tired of eating it, she replied Never! 😊

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Monday 10/14/19 (cont.)
We were already in the Animation Building, and something we'd enjoyed on a previous trip was drawing a character. During Halloween they offer characters from the Nightmare Before Christmas. My favorite from that movie is Zero the Dog, and we were lucky that he was up next. Here’s my rendition. I had a lot of fun drawing it.

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It was time to grab our MaxPass for Grizzly River Rapids Run. That was to be our last ride before lunch so we could head back to our room to change (if necessary) before eating. I got it on the way to Disney VISA card meet and Greet behind the Monster’s Inc. Ride. You never know who you’re going to get for these, but the line is always short and you get a PhotoPass photographer to take your picture with a character or two.

We got Minnie and had a lot of fun taking pictures with her:

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On our way over the Pacific Wharf area, DW declared she needed something from Ghirardelli. This was my big chance to get my favorite milkshake at the Disneyland Resort: The Sea Salt Caramel Banana Shake! Delicious!

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As you can tell from our Napa Rose dinner, DW loves all aspects of preparing food, especially baking. So the Boudin Bakery Tour was a must do! We got our free piece of bread and spent a few minutes watching the balls of dough turning into yummy loaves.

By now our FP window for Grizzly River Rapids Run had opened up. It had warmed up some and I’d brought along some disposable ponchos. I didn’t see a sign for them, but I remembered where the free (for 2 hours) lockers are by the entrance. We deposited our stuff and walked straight through the FP line onto the rotating platform as we put on our ponchos.

We got paired with a family of four who had a great time with us bumping and turning through the rapids. On the big fall, no big wave appeared to drench anyone, but a lot of water slopped over the side through one of the openings to drench everyone’s shoes.

I used my new GoPro Hero6 camera to record the action. The video turned out great!


I think Disney dialed things down because it wasn’t that warm. Anyway, we all had fun. On the way out we donated our slightly used ponchos to some people in line. They were very appreciative.

We weren’t that wet, so we went directly to Downtown Disney for lunch. I was set on getting my favorite selection at Earl of Sandwich: The Full Montagu.

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DW felt like pizza so she went to Napolini. I met up with her after getting my sandwich, but with the hike and the line at Earl of Sandwich, she was already done by the time I got there.

Art of the Craft Tour
We had time to drop our things at the room before meeting up at Guest Services for the “Art of the Craft” tour of the Grand California hotel. In retrospect, taking an hour-long walking tour of the hotel after walking all over DCA that morning probably wasn’t the best plan. But our tour guide Alyssa was very knowledgeable and enthusiastic about the choices and materials used to build the hotel.

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The next thing on our touring plan was a 4:40 PM reservation at Savi’s Workshop in Galaxy’s Edge, so we went to our room, took showers, and rested for a couple of hours.
 


Monday 10/14/19 (cont.)
Galaxy’s Edge!
I’d been super excited about Galaxy’s Edge ever since I first heard about it in the Parks presentation at D23 in 2017.

My plan for getting into Disneyland that afternoon was to take the Monorail. Needless to say, at Disneyland, the Monorail isn’t a form of transportation. It is really just another attraction. Riding from Downtown Disney to the parks is not a great plan since the people coming from the parks don’t have to exit. Anyway, we had to wait for a second monorail to barely get on after waiting for 20 minutes.

I still love the monorail and have great memories of riding it from the old Disneyland hotel when I was growing up. I wanted to enter Galaxy’s Edge for the first time from Critter Country, so we had to hike all the way across the park. In retrospect, not a great plan. Oh well. Entering from Critter Country is still the best way to go, since the land is slowly revealed to you as you transition from the outskirts to the heart of Black Spire Outpost.

After asking a helpful citizen of Batuu where we could find some “scrap metal”, we got to the courtyard outside Savi’s.

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I’d done a lot of research before going, and knew I wanted to build a “Protection and Defense” style lightsaber because I think it looks the coolest. So I selected that type and was given a pin with that symbol on it. We waited about 15 minutes and we were ushered into the builder’s temple. DW accompanied me as an observer.

I won’t reveal any spoilers (I scrupulously avoided watching any videos or reading any descriptions of the experience beforehand), but the experience is very magical and uplifting. The materials are very high quality and you get a carrying case that does a great job protecting your saber. I selected a blue kyber crystal because I think Obi-Wan Kenobi is the greatest Jedi of all time. I won’t build another lightsaber, but I wouldn’t mind having Obi-Wan’s lightsaber hilt. I may purchase that as a souvenir on a future trip to Batuu. It’s sold at Dok Ondar’s.

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We had some time before our 5:50 PM reservation at Oga’s Cantina, so we wandered around Black Spire Outpost. I tried using the Datapad to hack some things and tune into some transmissions. It was quite fun. I could see spending half a day on a future trip doing it. On this trip I just did it when I had time and opportunity. I would like to acquire all the transmissions because they appear to reveal a backstory to the land.

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I learned quite a bit about Black Spire Outpost by reading the Book “A Crash of Fate” by Zoraida Córdova. It’s a Young-Adult novel, but I found the story interesting, especially all the details about Oga and her gang. I also read the “Black Spire” book by Delilah S. Dawson about Vi Moradi. I’d recommend that as well. It should tie in well with the Rise of the Resistance ride.

That helped because Vi snuck in front of us during the First Order show in front of the Tie Echelon ship. I don’t have a photo of that, but I caught it on video. Very cool to see her and Chewie roaming the land. We just saw Rey once in passing, but we didn’t spend much time in the Resistance Area since the Rise of the Resistance Ride isn’t operating yet.

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But it’s really too bad they don’t have a regular stage show up above Black Spire Outpost like they did once during the opening ceremonies. It would add much-needed kinetic action to the land.

We got in line for Oga’s about 15 minutes early and were led in right on time. We had to squeeze into a spot with only room for about 1.5 people at the bar, but it was fun seeing the bartenders work.
DW ordered “The Outer Rim” since she likes margaritas and I ordered a “Jedi Mind Trick” since I like grapefruit:

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She liked hers. Mine was so-so (as other reviewers have said). We don’t normally drink cocktails (or drink alcohol much at all) so after this (and all the wine last night) we didn’t have anything else for the duration of the trip.

We enjoyed the music by Rex the DJ. I think that was a great choice by the Imagineers vs. trying to have an alien band.

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Overall, I think the Cantina Experience is great and I’m definitely planning on going once each trip to Disney. Next time I’d order a non-alcoholic drink like a Jabba Juice (orange juice with pineapple, kiwi, cantaloupe and blueberry popping pearls).

After Oga’s it was time for some food. We walked over the Docking Bay 7, found an inside table and used mobile order to get our dinner. I ordered the Smoked Kadu Ribs and DW ordered the Roasted Endorian Tip-yip Salad.
I wanted the Oi-oi Puff for dessert. DW was just going to share a bite or two, but decided she had to have the Batuu-bon. As she told Crush, she never gets tired of eating chocolate! 😊

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We weren’t sure what the green-looking stuff was, but it turned out to be sponge cake with green food coloring (almost no taste). A cool “alien” addition to our desserts. I really loved mine. DW said hers was “okay” but not anywhere close to the best chocolate dessert she’d had.

I really like hot dogs, so I’m looking forward to trying a Ronto Wrap the next time we visit Galaxy’s Edge.
 

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Monday 10/14/19 (cont.)
Smuggler’s Run!
After dinner it was time for the grand finale of our visit to Batuu: Smuggler’s Run! I’d been dreaming about this ride ever since I heard about it. At this time of night (around 7 PM) the standby line moved quickly. It was hard to do any datapad work that required scanning boxes since we were moving so fast. I had just enough time to hack the Millennium Falcon and make steam come out of a blast damage hole. That was fun.

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I also thought we’d be able to hack the pod racing engine most of the way through the queue, but it just did its own thing while we listened to some repair techs working on it. They were nowhere to be seen. On the last day of our trip, I was able to capture the main sequence where they start up the engine on video.

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We made our way into the pre-show with Hondo explaining our job. The animatronic Hondo is incredible. So lifelike. I’m very familiar with Hondo, since I've watched the Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels TV series. I think he’s a really interesting character in the Star Wars Universe and I’m glad they found a way to fit him into Galaxy’s Edge. I even read “Star Wars: Pirate's Price: Star Wars: Flight of the Falcon” by Lou Anders in my quest to read as much canon material about Batuu before visiting. 😊

As we approached the staging area, the Force was with us and on our very first flight we were selected as pilots!

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A friendly crewmember took our picture at the iconic Dejarik Chess table and our first-time pre-show experience was complete! I made sure my Datapad was up so I’d get credit for our mission from Hondo.

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Our group was quickly called (the ride throughput seemed very robust) and we hustled down the corridor to the Falcon cockpit. We got Hondo’s final briefing and loaded in. I took the right-hand pilot's seat, since pulling the handle in the Millennium Falcon to jump to lightspeed is every Star Wars fan’s dream.

The first time through is mostly a blur, but our crew got two coaxium canisters! I had read a few descriptions and that is apparently the best you can do. We made over 10,000 credits but lost about 2500 due to damage. It was a blast!

The most exciting moment was pulling the lever to go to lightspeed! I let out a big Whoo-Hoo each time! 😊

I was anxious to do it again, but DW felt her tummy was a little unsettled so we went out in front of the Falcon to get our pictures taken. The PhotoPass photographer saw me take out my lightsaber and tried to guess which color kyber crystal I selected. He guessed Green. Wrong! Blue! 😊

He spent a lot of time with us and took some photos with and without flash with my lightsaber providing the light.

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We’d had a long day and decided to go back to our hotel. Tomorrow was Early Entry for Disneyland at 7 AM. DW suggested that we ride Pirates of the Caribbean on the way since it was almost a walk-on. A woman after my own heart! 😊 It was a great way to end the day at Disneyland.
 

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Tuesday 10/15/19
Early entry for Disneyland (7 AM)! The touring plan goal this morning was ride three Early Entry rides, do Smuggler's Run again, then other Disneyland rides up until lunch at Bengal BBQ in Adventureland.

We were up at 6 AM again and got to the entry gates around 6:45 AM. That turned out to be later than we should have. In the weeks leading up to our trip, I’d read numerous reports of the crowds being very light, but this week they returned to a more normal level. It affected our touring plan some, but we were able to get on every ride and to every show we wanted over our four days with a few repeats of our favorites (especially Smuggler’s Run!).

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The first ride in our plan was Peter Pan. Because we weren’t at the front of the queue at the front gate, by the time we got there we waited 20 minutes to get on.

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This is DD’s favorite ride and although she wasn’t along on this trip, I had to ride it. It is one of my favorites too. There is just something special about flying over the landscape of the story in a pirate ship!

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Then we crossed into Tomorrowland to ride Space Mountain. That also had a 20-minute wait. This was the first time for both of us on the Hyperspace Mountain overlay, which was held over instead of switching to Ghost Galaxy like in years past. We both really liked this version of the ride. The real model of the Tie Fighter near the end was a fun surprise. And of course, the music is great.

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By the time we got out of Space Mountain, it was after 8 AM and regular visitors were streaming into the park. The line to get into Galaxy’s Edge was backed up way into Fantasyland, so we shifted gears and decided to ride the other Disneyland attraction with a Halloween overlay: The Haunted Mansion!

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On the way over I grabbed a MaxPass for the ride. It was pretty much a walk-on, but we probably saved 5 minutes by getting a FP. We both loved the Nightmare Before Christmas overlay. It was our first time seeing it and the Imagineers did an outstanding job.

As soon as our tickets were scanned for the Haunted Mansion, I scored a MaxPass for Big Thunder Mountain with a return time of about 15 minutes. We waited just a few minutes to enter the FP queue and walked right onto the ride. Big Thunder is a family favorite and it was just as fun as it has always been.

I love the Tomorrowland Subs, so we crossed the hub to walk right on for a trip under the Sea with Nemo and Friends. I have really strong memories of riding this a child and the Nemo upgrade has kept things fun.

I was able to get a MaxPass for Star Tours with a 5-minute return time, so we were off into the world of Star Wars. With the last Skywalker Saga movie coming up, it looks like they had the ride pegged to Jakku & Crait, with a final landing in Batuu like we saw at WDW in December 2017 when The Last Jedi was released. Those are fun (especially the sequence on Jakku), but it would have been nice to have the random program running. We normally hit this ride 2-3 times during our visits to get the different destinations, but just did it once this time.

We got in line for Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters with a posted 15-minute wait, but I realized I should get a quick return MaxPass for it instead. We stepped out of line and got in the FP line.

As soon as we got our tickets scanned, I got a MaxPass for Indiana Jones with a return time of about 15 minutes. I was learning how to maximize MaxPass! 😊

DW is a whiz at this ride. At WDW, she got 999,9999 and got a Galactic Protector sticker! I was controlling the way the ride vehicle is pointing, which makes it a little more complicated to aim and fire. Anyway, she beat me handily.

Next, we went to Adventureland for Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Forbidden Eye. Once again, I grabbed a MaxPass to our next ride (Splash Mountain) right after our tickets were scanned.

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We zipped through the FP queue until we got to the room with the movie and the merge point. I helped another couple (their t-shirts said they were on their honeymoon) by telling them that they better stay on the same side of the center railing or they wouldn't be able to ride together.

The vehicle loading was slow (there were some short stops in the ride while we were on it) but we ended up in the front row with the groom of the honeymoon couple in the driver’s seat and his new bride next to him.

This is one of the best rides Disney has ever built. It has everything. At the end it is always fun to tell whoever is in the seat with the steering wheel “Great Driving!”. That got a good laugh out of the two of them. 😊

It wasn’t that hot yet, so Splash Mountain had a short standby wait, but we still saved 5-10 minutes by having a FP. I think they had the splash setting dialed down because it was still early in the day. We didn’t get wet except for some mist in a few places. It also helped that we were in the back of the log.

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This is another one of the Imagineers' greatest creations. It is always a Must Do!

We’d hoped to ride on the Columbia Sailing ship since DW had never been on it, but it was in drydock, so we “settled” for the Mark Twain. I was hoping to spot the new magician who roams around Frontierland and sometimes is on the Mark Twain, but we didn’t see him.

We’d been walking back and forth the park all morning, so we were glad to find a couple of chairs open on the bow of the ship. As we lazily made our way around the Rivers of America, I thought back to my childhood visits and how much fun we had on Tom Sawyer’s Island, especially the barrel bridge! 😊

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After our trip around the island (I caught one glimpse of a spire of Batuu), we made a short stop at the Frontierland Shooting Gallery. This is another great memory from my early trips. The newest version with the animated sequences when you hit something is really clever and lots of fun.
 
Tuesday 10/15/19 (cont.)

After ten attractions it was time for lunch. I'd wanted to eat at Bengal BBQ for the last two trips after hearing rave reviews. We finally made it. We both had the two-skewer rice plate with chicken and veggies. I added a Jungle Julep which was really refreshing. We both enjoyed our lunch and we’d definitely eat there again.

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After a fun-filled morning it was time to go back to our hotel for our usual midday rest. I went to the pool for a short time, going down the waterslide a couple of times and swimming around a little. Very refreshing. I like the slides at the Monorail pool in the Disneyland hotel better.

We were back in Disneyland around 3:45 (this time we walked instead of taking the monorail! 😊). We wanted to catch an episode of Storytelling at the Royal Theater. DD told us this was a great show, especially the Rapunzel version. We lucked out and the 4:15 show was Rapunzel.

Unfortunately we waited in the courtyard near the food cart. We assumed we could walk into the theater from that entrance, but in fact the line was forming on the other side of the tent. In the end, it didn’t matter much and we were able to get seats for the show.

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DD was right. It was really a hoot! All the players were top-notch and the story was told in a fun way. Highly recommended!

Afterwards, we again took advantage of our Disney VISA card and went to Star Wars Launch Bay to the exclusive Meet and Greet for cardholders. It was super dark where we were checked in. We had to wait while the cast member explained to the person in front of us in line that they need to have a Disney VISA card over and over. But after a few minutes we were ushered into the presence of none other than Darth Vader himself! I was surprised how intimidating it felt.

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He took note of my shirt (showing the battle between him and Luke in the Empire Strikes Back) and thanked me for my support of the Empire. Then he wanted to know if I’d seen a rebel spy. Since we’d been to Batuu I told him I might have spotted one. He said that associating with members of the Rebellion will NOT be tolerated.

Then he posed for a picture. Wow! What a great experience. Next time, I need to have someone video the whole encounter.

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After catching our breath, I told DW that we could go over to another part of the Launch Bay and get our picture taken with Chewbacca and get a hug. She readily agreed. This is in the regular meet-and-greet area that is open to anyone.

We told Chewie that we’d gotten two crates of Coaxium for Hondo while piloting the Millennium Falcon and he gave us a roar of approval. Later he posed for a picture. This was a much more relaxing and fun encounter.

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Combining these two meet and greets was a lot of fun and I consider it a must-do from now on.

We had lots of time before our 8 PM Fantasmic Dinner Reservation at the River Belle Terrace. At this time of day the Fantasyland attraction wait times are way down from the morning, so we knocked some of those off to free up more time later in the trip.

First up was the Mad Tea Party. When we took our kids when they were three, we all fit in a single teacup. I took a picture of all our hands on the wheel, so that has become a family tradition:

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The teacups are a lot of fun. Usually we turn the wheel in the opposite direction of the way the big wheel is spinning to cut down on the g-forces. Next time I want to ride this at night, when I’ve read it’s the most magical with all the lights.

DS’s favorite Fantasyland ride is Mister Toad, and it’s one of mine too. I’ll never forget telling him he was doing a great job driving the toad-mobile on our second trip when he was five years old. Guilty! 😊

On one of my Disney podcasts, I’d learned that Pinocchio’s Daring Journey was not an original Fantasyland attraction. It was added in 1983 when Fantasyland was rebuilt from scratch. I’m pretty sure we went on it when the kids were little, but we'd skipped it ever since. It was time to give it another try. We enjoyed it, but my favorite Fantasyland dark rides are still Peter Pan followed by Alice in Wonderland and Mister Toad.

I’d learned that over the course of the day the wait time for Smuggler’s Run goes down, so it was time for another trip to Batuu! I also wanted to buy a red kyber crystal so I could have a red lightsaber as part of my Darth Goofy Halloween Costume. I was also planning to buy a RFID read/write device so I could change the code inside the kyber crystal to get different colors. So we stopped at Dok Ondar’s to buy a red Kyber crystal.

From what I’ve read online, the identity of this probable Jedi Priestess in front of Dok’s hasn’t been revealed yet. But it sure is a cool-looking statue!

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We didn’t spend a lot of time inside Dok’s. When I was there, you had to go to a special register to buy Kyber crystals and you could only buy one at a time. They kept them behind the desk. I was also hoping I’d get a black kyber crystal, but it turned out to be a regular red one. Maybe next time. I’m not going to buy more than two since I’ll be able to reprogram on of them to have the black kyber crystal code and I can paint it black. 😊

In any case, I now had my red kyber crystal and my Darth Goofy costume was complete!

Here’s a link to a video of my lightsaber with a red kyber crystal:


The Falcon ride queue moved quickly like last time. As we approached the crew assignment spot, the castmember called out for a “party of two”. We quickly raised our hands and skipped in front of a few other groups. Then I remembered that when they call for a party of two, that party will be the engineers. A little bit of a letdown after being pilots the first time, but a major goal of this trip was to sit in every position, so it was our chance to be engineers.

I found the engineer position fun, and DW liked it better since it didn’t affect her tummy as much. You are farther back in the cockpit, so the motion is reduced. Also, you don’t have to watch the screen as much as when you are pilot or gunner. The engineers are key members of the crew, since they have to fire the tow cable at the right time to capture the coaxium car from the train. And you have to keep fixing the ship as it gets damaged. I was able to hit all the flashing buttons fast enough to keep my side of the ship at 100% fixed for the whole mission.

Once again, we got two cannisters of coaxium and about 8000 credits from Hondo. Not bad! 😊

It was getting closer to our dinner reservation, but we decided to go to Tomorrowland and ride the Astro Orbiter at night. This is another family tradition. The ride is so much more fun at night with all the lights of Tomorrowland and Fantasyland.

The queue was 25 minutes long. I was getting antsy about our Fantasmic reservation. I was pretty sure that your table location was based on when you made your reservation (earlier gets a better view), but I wasn’t sure. DW said we wanted to share a rocket. That turned out to be a mistake (we barely fit and my downhill leg was severely squished until we took off and could level out), but in the end it was nice to ride with my sweetie. 😊

We hustled over to The River Belle Terrace and found out I was worried for no reason. We checked in with plenty of time to spare. We were seated in the left front corner table. I’m 90% sure I must have been the first person to make a reservation, because this seemed to be the best table for watching Fantasmic.

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We both ordered the Beef Brisket Sandwich which wasn’t that good. The meat was dry and the “seasonal vegetables” consisted of overcooked broccoli and half mushrooms (which I don’t like). In retrospect I should have done more research on which entrees were good and at least ordered the coleslaw.

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I got the Cookies and Cream Pudding and DW got the Maleficent Dragon. Both were good but not great.

What was great was the view of Fantasmic! Wow. I would definitely book this experience again. It was very nice to be able sit in a chair after dinner and just watch the show without having to worry about getting there early and jostling with other people to get a good view. You are just elevated enough to see everything on the water.

I took some video highlights I’ll post on YouTube later.

Another benefit of this package was the ability to wait after Fantasmic and see the Halloween Screams show. I knew that there wouldn't be fireworks on a Tuesday night, but there is still a projection show. I'd seen videos of the show from main street, and the version of the Rivers of America wasn’t that great. It was confusing and didn’t have any fun things like The Jack Skellington Pumpkin King head and Zero flying from the castle instead of Tinker Belle. Oh well. Next time I’ll make sure we see them from the hub. We’ll go on a night when they have two showings of Fantasmic and fireworks. We’ll watch the fireworks, then watch the second showing of Fantasmic.

The park was closed after the show, so we walked slowly down Main Street, enjoying the Halloween nighttime atmosphere before exiting the park and going back to our hotel for a well-deserved sleep. We’d been on sixteen attractions, come face to face with Darth Vader, got a warm hug from Chewbacca, and saw three shows (Storytelling at Royal Theater, Fantasmic, and Halloween Screams). The best part is that my sweetheart and I did it all together. A great day at the Disneyland! 😊
 
Wednesday 10/16/19
Early Entry for DCA (7:00 AM). The original plan was to go to DCA for the first hour of Early Entry, then go to Disneyland to do more attractions. We didn’t feel like repeating any of the DCA rides that morning, so instead we slept in until 6:30 AM and went to Disneyland for the regular 8:00 AM opening. We were a little closer to the front today, because we got the Disneyland entrance around 7:30 AM.

We were able to enter the park at 7:45 AM. Everyone stopped at the hub for “rope drop”. We walked through the castle to line up at the Fantasyland entrance to Galaxy’s Edge. That is the quickest way to Smuggler’s Run in the morning. They route anyone coming in the other two entrances that way (you can’t walk through the market area).

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The line was long but moved very quickly. We were behind a couple as we approached the crew assignment area, so I thought we both might be assigned to be gunners. However, there was a single woman in front of them. So she got to be one of the pilots and the couple in front of us took the other pilot and one of the Gunner positions. DW said I could be the other (right) Gunner and she took Engineer again.

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Since it was my first time, I selected automatic targeting. I knew from our first ride as pilots that Gunners had to fire missiles at the train to detach the car that the Engineers had locked onto with the tow cables.

Then we were off on our mission. I pretty much kept hitting the fire button the whole time. We got the first coaxium car, but the pilots had trouble lining up the second one so we missed that and ended up in the asteroid field. I don’t know how good my score is, but I ended up with a positive 1600.

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We had a lot of time this morning, and the line wasn’t long, so we got back into the Smuggler’s Run line to try again to get pilots so we could switch positions (DW pulls lever for lightspeed).

We were behind a family of four (twin teenager daughters, mom, and dad), and we were paired with them as engineers.

I was a little disappointed, but it turned out to be a really fun mission. The two teenagers were the pilots and had just gotten their drivers’ licenses. They also screamed almost the whole mission, blaming each other for hitting things. It was hilarious. Since I was confident about what to do as Engineer, I recorded the whole thing on my phone camera. I’ll post that on YouTube.

We got one coaxium cannister and ended up in the asteroid field again after the sisters couldn’t get lined up on the second train.

After our second mission, I used my datapad to tune into a couple of antennas in Black Spire Outpost and get some more transmissions. One of them was encrypted and required solving a tangram-style puzzle.

I wanted a t-shirt souvenir from Black Spire Outpost, so we went into the Jewels of Bith store in the market area. I found a nice simple one with the skyline of the area and "Black Spire Outpost" below. On the sleeve is Batuu spelled out in Aurebesh. The cast member put it in a regular Disney Parks plastic bag. I remembered they had reusable bags so I asked for one of those. The cast member thanked me for helping “save the spires” by buying the bag. 😊

I have to agree that the reusable bag is probably the souvenir with the best value (It was only $1.62) since I could use it for groceries back home. 😊

Before leaving the land, we decided to try the Blue Milk. My original plan was to get one glass of blue and one of green and try them both, but since they are kind of expensive ($7.99) we decided to just get the blue kind.

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From the ingredient list, that seemed like the one I’d like best. I had a lot of trepidation about blue milk because many people have written negative reviews of it and I don’t care for coconut taste.

I’m happy to report that I really like the blue milk! It is very refreshing and doesn’t have any type of weird aftertaste (another worry I had). The closest thing to it I’ve had before is the Blue-Raspberry Slurpee at 7/11.

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It is not nearly as good as frozen butterbeer, but I would definitely have it again if I needed a refreshing drink. I’ll go ahead and try the green milk the next time I visit Batuu to see if l like that better/worse.

We decided to ride the Haunted Mansion again. I grabbed a quick-return MaxPass for that. As we walked out the Critter Country exit, we stopped at the entrance to the Rise of the Resistance Ride.

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I told the cast member standing nearby that I was looking for the rebel base. After a brief hesitation he said they are still setting it up. “Come back in January,” he said (when the Rise of the Resistance ride opens) 😊

Haunted Mansion Holiday was just as much fun as the first time.

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We briefly got stuck in front of Jack and Zero so we got a great view of these figures.

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Here’s a short video of that:

There was another short return FP for It’s a Small World, so we headed over there. I like this one a lot better than the one in WDW since it has so many more figures. And of course it’s the 1964 original.

DW wanted to go on Roger Rabbit Cartoon Spin. The FP window was too far out, so we got in the standby line. I remember when this first opened. We were on one of our trips with the kids and it was always over an hour wait. This time we waited about 15 minutes and got into Lenny the Cab. DW was driving. It was a fun ride, but not my favorite. I enjoy Mr. Toad a lot more.
 
Wednesday 10/16/19 (cont.)

Lunch Break
We had a noon reservation at Catal in Downtown Disney (DW selected this restaurant), but we had just enough time to go to the Tropical Hideaway so I could get my must-have Dole Whip! This time I got the raspberry-pineapple swirl and I have to say it is my new favorite.

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We shared it as we watched the Jungle Cruise boats go by and listened to Rosita tell us about her day. 😊

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We approached the entrance of the Catal building and the hostess for the bar said she didn’t have our reservation but could quickly seat us. We hadn’t been to the restaurant before. I asked her again if this was the Catal Restaurant and she somewhat sheepishly said we had to go upstairs.

The restaurant was almost empty, so we got quickly seated inside since it was getting warm outside. I ordered the Crispy Chicken Buffalo Wrap and DW ordered the California Omelet. My wrap was okay, a little spicier than I like, but I should have known. DW enjoyed her Omelet. Not fantastic food, but good.

Then it was time for our mid-day break/shower back at the hotel. Ahhh.

During the break I was monitoring the FP return times for Radiator Springs Racers. We wanted to ride at night for our repeat ride. We needed a time after dinner. When the right window showed up, I scored the FPs we needed from my bed in the Grand Californian using MaxPass! Technology is wonderful! 😊

After our rest, next up was the 5 pm showing of Frozen at the Hyperion Theater in DCA. Following some suggestions on-line, we got there about an hour before the show. We passed by the Carthay Circle Restaurant where we were eating later for our World of Color Dinner package.

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As we arrived at the end of Hollywood Blvd., a Guardians of the Galaxy Dance Off was happening. The cast did a great job of bringing in some members of the crowd to dance with them. Fun show.

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After that, we waited near what we thought was the entrance to the queue as we watched the previous show let out.

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But as has happened a few other times on this trip, the real entrance was somewhere else! Through the doors of this building.

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Fortunately this time, we figured it out after about 15 minutes. Once we were let into the split queue, everyone ahead of us wanted to be in the Orchestra section. We were first in line for the Mezzanine, which is what we wanted.

We entered the theater about 15 minutes before showtime. We got in the front row of the Mezzanine, which turned out to not be the absolute best because the railing blocks part of your view. It would have been better to be a couple of rows up.

Still, our view was great.

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What a great show! I saw it with DD a few years ago. It was even better than I remembered. DW loved it too.

We exited the theater and strolled down Hollywood Blvd. to the Carthay Circle. We arrived right on time and only waited 5 minutes to be seated.

Both of our dinners were great. Lightyears ahead of the River Belle Terrace (which is no surprise 😊). Our desserts were especially good. DW got the chocolate parfait and I had the apple tart with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

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We had plenty of time before the 10 PM World of Color show, so it was time to do some rides at night. We started out by using our FP for RSR. We were in the second row and got Ramone’s paint job again. As we rushed through the night air for the race, we pulled ahead just at the finish to win again! 2 for 2 for the trip! 😊

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As we walked out of Cars Land, I remembered a special thing in the motel office. It's a model of the “Brakes Motel” which is a spoof of the Bates Motel from the movie Psycho.

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I had grabbed a quick-return FP for Soarin’, so we flew over the world again. We were in the right-hand section, but right at the inner edge, so the pincushion effect wasn’t bad. Soarin’ is always a favorite.

DW had been interested in riding the Golden Zephyr, so that was up next with no waiting. It’s fun at night. There were so few people on it that we could have gone again.

Instead we went over to the new Emotional Whirlwind ride. It’s a simple spinner ride, but at night with the balls lit up it is extra fun. The “host” emotion for our ride was Panic. They cycle through the different emotions, which gives it some re-rideability. But we didn’t have time for another ride that night, since it was about 30 minutes until World of Color.

We entered the reserved section and were directed down the steps to “Wet Zone,” which we both said we didn’t want. They allowed us to stay in the overflow area for the Carthay Circle World of Color section, which are the steps leading down to the main area. This place is perfect. DD and I were here a few years ago. We just sat on the bottom step while we waited, then stood on it for a perfect view of the show while being safely in the “dry” area. 😊

It’s been a couple of years since I'd seen World of Color. I was struck by how bright the lights on the water jets were. Wow! The show was spectacular as usual. It’s a must see for us every time. We usually go to the Wine Country Trattoria for dinner, but this anniversary trip was a special occasion.

That was it for Wednesday. One more day, but first off to sleep…
 
Thursday 10/17/19
Last day! Early Entry (7 AM) at Disneyland and then the grand finale: Oogie Boogie’s Bash at Disney California Adventure. Whoo Hoo!

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The touring plan for this morning wrapped up the Fantasyland attractions we hadn't ridden yet: Dumbo and Alice in Wonderland. Both were essentially walk-ons and great fun as always.

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Next, we did the Matterhorn Bobsleds. Only the Fantasyland side was working since some of the façade of the mountain fell off a few months ago. It wasn’t as rough as I’d remembered, and the splashdown is the best finish to a rollercoaster of all time! 😊

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Then it was time for something smoother: The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. Simple but fun. I wish Disneyland had gotten at least the version that’s at Walt Disney World, but we still like it.

We wanted to ride the Incredicoaster to see the new theming. I’d read that it’s better at night, but that wasn’t going to work out unless we went during the Halloween Party. Since it had been a few hours after we’d eaten breakfast in our room, I nabbed a FP using MaxPass for a window starting at 11 AM.

Meanwhile we went on the Jungle Cruise, which was only about a 5-minute wait. Our skipper was great. She was really funny.

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I wanted to ride the Disneyland RR through the new section where it makes a left turn by the Rivers of America, so we backtracked to the New Orleans Square station. We got lucky and only waited a couple of minutes to board. We even had time to grab some Pumpkin Spice Mickey Beignets! Super Yummy!

OMG! The train is making a Left Turn! Actually it was less dramatic then I imagined but it was still fun. The new section with the trestle and the waterfall is beautiful. We got off at the Tomorrowland station because it was time for one of my other favorite rides: the Autopia!

I have really vivid memories of riding this as a kid. It was such a powerful feeling to drive your own car! I hope they never get rid of it. It would be a good idea to switch it over to electric cars, but with simulated putt-putt sounds and vibrations. That would be a lot better for the cast members.

It was posted as a 15-minute wait, but it took more like 25 minutes. They were only running one track when we arrived but opened another one as we got to the bridge over the road. That really sped things up. DW was the last car in one group and I was first in the next one.

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I didn’t see her until the traffic jam at the end. I once again took a time-lapse video of my ride.


Our Incredicoaster FP window opened up, so we left Disneyland and crossed over to DCA. We stopped for a quick picture of Walt & Mickey and me.

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DW and I didn’t really like the Incredicoaster. The g-forces weren’t that much fun. It was hard to see any of the theme elements in the tunnels and the sound was garbled. I’ll give it one more chance on the next trip, but only at night where hopefully you can see things in the tunnel better.

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After that we crossed back over to Disneyland and watched the Tiki Room show. A family favorite! The cast member gave us the background history of the show, which was nice. There was a large group of kids who were wearing red “Disney Performing Arts” t-shirts. Apparently, they were participating in Disney Performing Arts Conservatory program.

https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/b...ory-returns-to-disneyland-resort-this-summer/

We had enough time before our 12:50 PM lunch reservation at the Carnation Café to pilot the Millennium Falcon one more time! Up to this point I’d been right pilot, gunner and engineer twice. I was hoping the Force would be with so we could be pilots again. The standby wait time was 60 minutes.

Winding through the queue, we got one last look at the Falcon. It still amazes me to see it parked there:

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We also finally got to see a complete Pod Racing Engine Test while in the queue. Here’s a video:


As we moved into the building, I noticed we were behind a family of 5. I decided that if we stayed behind them, we would likely be pilots because they would pick up one person from the single rider line. When we entered the pre-show with Hondo, I made sure we were right behind them as we exited into the short corridor to the crew assignment station.

Lo and behold, it worked! The Force is strong in our family! This time I picked left pilot and DW sat in the co-pilot seat and got to pull the lever to go to lightspeed!

I found controlling left to right was much easier than up and down, because you’re never quite sure whether you are supposed to go over or under an obstacle.

We had our best mission ever! We got two coaxium cannisters and didn’t damage the Falcon as much. I was ready for when it was time to hit the brakes (which the left pilot does) to avoid hitting the train car. Our score was our highest ever-- 9700 points.

As we were exiting the building, I checked my Disney Play app to get our credits but apparently it had crashed. ☹ Bummer.

It was time to say goodbye to Black Spire Outpost. At least until we visit DD in FL next year when she’s in the Disney College Program! 😊

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Thursday 10/17/19 (cont.)

Main Street Exit
We walked back through Cinderella’s Castle towards Main Street. We turned and took one last look until next time.

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We checked into the Carnation Café about 10 minutes before our reservation and got seated right on time. I ordered Walt’s Meatloaf and it was just as good as it was the last time I had it. I also ordered a Vanilla Malt, which was wonderful since it was starting to heat up outside. It was huge, so DW and I shared it.

At this point, DW wanted to go back to our room. I wanted to see the Path of the Jedi film as a fun refresher before Episode IX. I'd never seen it before. It has been panned by some reviewers, but I thought it was great.

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Then it was time for me to leave Disneyland for now. But I'd be back! 😊

Oogie Boogie’s Bash Halloween Party - Pre-Party
I put on my Darth Vader t-shirt over a dark long-sleeved top with black gloves and my Goofy knit cap. Then I put the red kyber crystal in my lightsaber and my costume was complete!

DW had bought a Captain Marvel costume and looked great in it.

Our plan for the party was to see the Coco Musical Celebration at 4pm and the Mariachi Divas at 4:15 pm. DW was tired so we got out of the room a little late and the Celebration was already underway. It was impossible to get a good view at this point, so I sat down in front of where the Divas would play later while DW went to the craft booth and got a spirit animal mask. It turns out that seating area is where the Coco performers walk by on their way to the show, so I got to see the Miguel puppet walking along.

After the Coco show, the Divas came over to the stage but only played one song (they had just provided the music for the Coco show), but they were great anyway.

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During our break, I’d gotten a FP for another spin on Toy Story Mania. We took the short walk to Pixar Pier. On the way we ran into the Green Army Men show. Wow! They were so good. They brought two guys out of the audience to perform and had lots of fun teasing them.

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Here’s a short video of them:


I did better on Toy Story Mania this time (171,700 vs. 163,000), but still got beat out by someone else in our car. 😊

It was about 5 PM by then and the Oogie Boogie Bash was scheduled to start at 6 PM. We didn’t see a place to get our Halloween Party wristbands near the Grand Californian Entrance to DCA, but we were planning on going to the Blue Sky Cellar to get them anyway. The line was short so we were out of there in about 10 minutes.

We still had plenty of time, so we walked over to Hollywoodland to get a picture of DW in front of the Captain Marvel jet.

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There was a family there dressed up as light and dark side Star Wars characters. They generously offered to take our picture and we reciprocated.

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During the party, my goal was to get three pictures with characters:

  • Mickey & Minnie
  • Goofy from Kingdom Hearts
  • Oogie Boogie (he was in the Treat Trail in the Animation Building)
Mickey and Minnie were over the Grizzly Peak area, so we headed that way stopping for a picture in front of the Headless Horseman. He’s one of my favorite Halloween characters.

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Thursday 10/17/19 (cont.)

Oogie Boogie’s Bash Halloween Party
By now the party was almost starting.

We walked around just past Soarin’ and found a line forming at the Mickey and Minnie photo location. At 6 PM it started moving as party goers got their pictures taken.

As we approached Mickey and Minnie, we got hugs and then I pulled out my lightsaber and ignited it. Mickey stepped back like he was scared! 😊

I raised it over my head and the four of us gathered for a picture.

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We asked a cast member where the Kingdom Hearts photo location was and walked over there, looping around Grizzly Peak. By now it was getting dark, and the waterfall was lit up in a spooky fashion.

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As we approached the photo spot, it was around 6:20 PM and the line was about 50 people or so. Donald Duck was posing for photos with guests. I figured that each character is only out for about 30 minutes, so by the time we got to the front of the line, Goofy should be there!

This was confirmed a little while later by a cast member who was walking down the line telling people that Donald may not be there by the time we get to the front. I called out Yeah! and she smiled and complimented me on my Darth Goofy costume.

When we got to the front of the line, she was there and said she remembered my enthusiasm. When it was our turn, I walked right up to Goofy with my lightsaber extended and said, “How about an action shot?” Goofy, who carries a shield in Kingdom Hearts, pretended like he was blocking me. It was just as I had envisioned it!

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Then we posed for a group photo:

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We’d gotten both of our character photos done in great time. The plan now was to go to the Villain’s Grove, but the line seemed long, so we went on our first Treat Trail. It had the Evil Queen from Snow White. She was really funny. When a couple picked up their small child so she could get a better look at her, she said “Oh, now you’re just teaching it to be lazy.” 😊

The treats were good, but I got way too many Snickers bars. I’m not allergic to peanuts, I just don’t like them.

I wanted to ride Guardians of the Galaxy: Monsters After Dark, but DW had had enough of that ride. So we split up. She headed to Cars Land to ride Luigi’s at night, while I went down Hollywood Blvd. to the Guardians Building. The ride was a walk-on and the preshow was cleverly repurposed for the new storyline.

I didn’t enjoy the ride as much as the regular Guardians ride, since during some of the stops the view was just dark and the music wasn’t nearly as much fun as the original. I decided to look bored in the ride picture. 😊

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DW and I met up afterwards in front of Award Weiners. She didn’t end up going on Luigi’s, but just people-watched instead.

I wanted to see Oogie Boogie, so we entered the Animation building treat trail. He looked at me and aid my costume was atrocious, but he meant that as a complement! 😊

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Here’s a link to a short video of Oogie Boogie:

It was about 7:15 so our plan was to eat dinner before grabbing a spot for the Headless Horseman and the Frightfully Fun Parade. I wanted to get my one Corn Dog for the year, so I went to Corn Dog Castle. DW went to the Paradise Garden Grill to get a seasonal dish. We ate in that area, and then exited to find a spot along the parade route. As people online had noted, the parade route is so long that there is no problem finding a spot. We were right by the Little Mermaid ride.

The Headless Horseman and crew came down the street right on time. It was a spooky as it could be!

Here’s a video of the Headless Horseman:

After a few minutes the parade floats came by. They were fun and very elaborately themed. The most amazing were the stilt walkers. They did a choreographed dance that was very impressive.

Here’s a video of the parade (including the Headless Horseman):

At this point the plan was to do Villain’s Grove (since we’d missed it earlier), some more treat trails and then finish up with the 10:45 showing of Villainous. But DW was getting tired and we had to get up pretty early tomorrow, so we decided to watch the 9 PM show of Villainous. We were able to walk up 5 minutes before the show and get a great spot behind one row of people up against a railing.

The show is a little disjointed, but I liked it. Especially because it has lots of Oogie Boogie in it!

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At this point DW wanted to go back to the room, so we split up because I wanted to visit Villain’s Grove. The line was moving *very* slowly. It was very eerie and spooky, but not in a frightening way. I used my red lightsaber to light my way. I got lost at one point, but eventually found my way out. I thought it was fun and I hope they keep improving it.
 
Friday 10/17/19
Our Disneyland Anniversary Adventure was done. The original plan was to eat breakfast at Tangaroa Terrace at the Disneyland Hotel (I wanted to try the French Toast!), but we realized our flight was too early. So we packed up and called for a Lyft to the airport. It took about 45 minutes. This driver knew exactly where to go. With three people in the car, we could use the carpool lanes.

Summary
Celebrating our 28th Wedding Anniversary at the Happiest Place on Earth was truly an incredible experience. All the planning paid off and we had a wonderful time. The Halloween Party was fun, but if we did it again, we’d do it earlier in our trip and take that morning off instead of rope dropping.

Riding Smuggler’s Run was even more fun than I expected. I had 10 rides scheduled in our touring plan. We only got 5 in, but that was enough to sit in all the different seats in the cockpit. I can’t wait until they add new missions (there were three mentioned at various Disney events leading up to the opening of Galaxy’s Edge).

The next seasonal celebration I’m interested in experiencing is Christmas at Disneyland. I can’t wait to see snow on Main Street! We’ll stay at the Disneyland Hotel and definitely save enough time to have French Toast at Tangaroa Terrace on the last day! 😊

Smuggler’s Run Bonus
A week after we got back, I was checking the Disney Play App Datapad to see how many credits I’d gotten from flying the Falcon, hacking various door panels, and doing some jobs around Black Spire Outpost. To my surprise, an award of 9700 credits popped up from our last Falcon ride! I guess the app had crashed part way through the experience, but it had registered that I was left hand pilot before crashing.

Whoo Hoo! 9700 credits on one mission is good enough to get a “Pirate” rating, which of course I assigned to my profile! 😊

I earned a total of 32,312 credits for the week. Not bad. 😉

Postscript
Because of the Corona-virus, DD had to exit her Disney College Program Early. :worried:

She was having a blast as a cast member on Star Tours! 😊

We still have our reservations to visit her in late June 2020. 8-)

Fingers crossed that WDW is open by then and she’s called back. 😉
 

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