Here this week...some quick thoughts and observations

Mr Snappy

Kansas DisneyLand Junkie
Joined
Jun 12, 2012
I am typing this on my laptop at my AirBnB on one of two days we will not be in the parks. We were there Sunday and will be back Wed, Thur, and Friday. Some quick observations from a DL Veteran but not an AP holder and has to travel from Kansas to come to the parks.

1. CROWDS
I will add to this as we go, but Sunday was kind if weird. It was very busy (Disneyland), but most of the attractions had very reasonable wait times. Pirates was about 10 minutes, Haunted Mansion was walk on at about 8pm. Sunday was CHOC walk but honestly, we did not see that many of them after about noon.

We were also there the day the DL Railroad broke down due to a busted axle on one of the trains. This really stinks because we love the train. Hopefully it will be up and running the rest of the week. All other attractions were open.

2. SW:GE
Seriously, this land is incredible and MUCH bigger that I had thought. I think the layout and buildings are superior to Harry Potter and we LOVE Harry Potter (in FLorida, not so much in LA) I agree it is a huge disappointment not having Rise of the Resistance open yet, but the land itself is jaw-dropping. We went both day and night and while it is great at any time, you simply must visit it at night. One thing that was sucko was that we were 75% through the line of Smuggler's Run and it broke down. We will try later in the week, breakdowns happen on every ride (see train above). I tell you one thing that is 100% accurate that everyone complains about...the Blue Milk (and Green). That stuff is HORRID and a rip-off on top of that. I just had to try it and would not let anyone persuade me not to. I am warning you, before you buy the $25.00 large (that is NOT refillable) or you have a huge party who want to try it, JUST BUY ONE to start....you will probably save alot of money. Also, many of the "Legacy" light Sabres are sold out...don't get your hopes up if you have a certain one in mind. My son ended up buying "Rey's" sabre because it is esentially Luke's. It is VERY nice and in my opinion very worth the money.

3. RALPH BRENNAN'S JAZZ KITCHEN
Big disappointment. This place is essentially the same cost as Blue Bayou but with none of the atmosphere. VERY high prices for very mediocre food. My son and I had the Jambalaya and although the flavor was good, there was very little shrimp or sausage in either of our portions. My other son had the Blackend Chicken Mac & Cheese. Again, very little substance and lots of pasta. Wife had a Cesar salad with grilled Chicken and it looked liked the used 6 full heads of lettuce with a few strips of chicken. We wont be back.

4. THE PARK ITSELF
Very nice and clean. All of those crowing about how DL is supposedly reducing maintenance to try to save a buck are clueless. It's still the best theme park in the world.

I will try to update later in the week.
 
Thank you for your trip review! Sounds like you had a great trip. Although I will have to politely disagree about the blue milk. :-) I happened to love it. But I do think that buying *one* drink and trying it out before you spend that much $$ is good advice no matter what.
 


I'm hoping the merchandising issues in GE level out a bit by the time we make our trip in 6 months because I really want that Kylo Ren legacy saber.
 
We are flying down tomorrow and will be there on Thursday and Saturday....it's been since July 2017! so I'm expecting some changes (I mean, other than the obvious SWGE)
 


Sorry to hear about Jazz Kitchen. I never order rice or pasta dishes anywhere that contain meat because they always use a LOT of the carb filler and very little protein. The ONLY place this isn't the case at DLR is at Catal, with their paella. They give you a LOT of meat in those and they are fantastic! I often order salads at Brennans, so it is disappointing to hear about them skimping on the chicken.

I'm wondering if the Choc walk crowds were lower this year because a lot of APs usually walk, and maybe the blockouts kept them out of the parks. Who knows?

I'm with you 100% on the milks. So unappealing.
 
Interesting about Jazz Kitchen vs Blue Bayou. I actually had the Jambalaya at both locations and felt the Jazz Kitchen had slightly more items. I didn't think one was better than the other, both were pretty mild.
 
That is so disappointing to hear about Ralph Brennan's, that's our go to restaurant every trip. We will have to check out the prices, we always get the same thing. My husband gets jambalaya, I get steak, we have appetizers and a couple drinks each. It runs the same price as BB without the drinks and appetizers. They must have had a big price increase. We won't go to BB anymore because we don't think it's worth the price. I will be so disappointed if we have to look for another good restaurant.
 
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... I'm wondering if the Choc walk crowds were lower this year because a lot of APs usually walk, and maybe the blockouts kept them out of the parks. Who knows?...
They announced that there were 14,000 walkers this year -- which is a very good turnout -- but it did look like many people bought their discount tickets and left. One big difference this year is that participants could only buy one ticket, not the usual 5, with a wristband. So walkers could not bring in a whole family or group of friends. That may have reduced crowds in the parks. And the date of the Walk got changed with sort of short notice (it was supposed to be Expo weekend), so some people had plans for after the Walk and had to postpone their Disney day for later.
 
I am typing this on my laptop at my AirBnB on one of two days we will not be in the parks. We were there Sunday and will be back Wed, Thur, and Friday. Some quick observations from a DL Veteran but not an AP holder and has to travel from Kansas to come to the parks.

1. CROWDS
I will add to this as we go, but Sunday was kind if weird. It was very busy (Disneyland), but most of the attractions had very reasonable wait times. Pirates was about 10 minutes, Haunted Mansion was walk on at about 8pm. Sunday was CHOC walk but honestly, we did not see that many of them after about noon.

We were also there the day the DL Railroad broke down due to a busted axle on one of the trains. This really stinks because we love the train. Hopefully it will be up and running the rest of the week. All other attractions were open.

2. SW:GE
Seriously, this land is incredible and MUCH bigger that I had thought. I think the layout and buildings are superior to Harry Potter and we LOVE Harry Potter (in FLorida, not so much in LA) I agree it is a huge disappointment not having Rise of the Resistance open yet, but the land itself is jaw-dropping. We went both day and night and while it is great at any time, you simply must visit it at night. One thing that was sucko was that we were 75% through the line of Smuggler's Run and it broke down. We will try later in the week, breakdowns happen on every ride (see train above). I tell you one thing that is 100% accurate that everyone complains about...the Blue Milk (and Green). That stuff is HORRID and a rip-off on top of that. I just had to try it and would not let anyone persuade me not to. I am warning you, before you buy the $25.00 large (that is NOT refillable) or you have a huge party who want to try it, JUST BUY ONE to start....you will probably save alot of money. Also, many of the "Legacy" light Sabres are sold out...don't get your hopes up if you have a certain one in mind. My son ended up buying "Rey's" sabre because it is esentially Luke's. It is VERY nice and in my opinion very worth the money.

3. RALPH BRENNAN'S JAZZ KITCHEN
Big disappointment. This place is essentially the same cost as Blue Bayou but with none of the atmosphere. VERY high prices for very mediocre food. My son and I had the Jambalaya and although the flavor was good, there was very little shrimp or sausage in either of our portions. My other son had the Blackend Chicken Mac & Cheese. Again, very little substance and lots of pasta. Wife had a Cesar salad with grilled Chicken and it looked liked the used 6 full heads of lettuce with a few strips of chicken. We wont be back.

4. THE PARK ITSELF
Very nice and clean. All of those crowing about how DL is supposedly reducing maintenance to try to save a buck are clueless. It's still the best theme park in the world.

I will try to update later in the week.
DARN! So disappointed to hear about RB Kitchen, we had it booked for our Thursday Sept 5 dinner. I think I may rethink that and book Blue Bayou now instead....do you recommend BB?? Also bummer to hear about the Legacy light sabres, both hubby and my son have their hearts set on one , so I sure hope it's available when we are there.
Thanks for your review! I will look into Blue Bayou.
 
It may be that the legacy sabers come and go on a Disney whim. One day that have this, the next they don't, back again the day after. On the morning we were going home, we ran into the park for one last look. My husband got Rey, Kylo, and Vader. He is hoping for Luke's when we return the end of Sept.

As far as the milk, I was the only one who really liked the blue. I would like to try the green milk, but when I hear it is a citrus-type flavor, I am fearful that it will be a nasty lime flavor. If it was more like orange, I think I would enjoy it. Who can better describe the green milk for me? Do they give samples?
 
It may be that the legacy sabers come and go on a Disney whim. One day that have this, the next they don't, back again the day after. On the morning we were going home, we ran into the park for one last look. My husband got Rey, Kylo, and Vader. He is hoping for Luke's when we return the end of Sept.

As far as the milk, I was the only one who really liked the blue. I would like to try the green milk, but when I hear it is a citrus-type flavor, I am fearful that it will be a nasty lime flavor. If it was more like orange, I think I would enjoy it. Who can better describe the green milk for me? Do they give samples?

My son wants to try green milk tomorrow, so I will take one for the team and taste it, and get back to you!
 
It may be that the legacy sabers come and go on a Disney whim. One day that have this, the next they don't, back again the day after. On the morning we were going home, we ran into the park for one last look. My husband got Rey, Kylo, and Vader. He is hoping for Luke's when we return the end of Sept.

As far as the milk, I was the only one who really liked the blue. I would like to try the green milk, but when I hear it is a citrus-type flavor, I am fearful that it will be a nasty lime flavor. If it was more like orange, I think I would enjoy it. Who can better describe the green milk for me? Do they give samples?
The green milk does not taste like lime, but I'm not sure how to describe it. I prefer the blue milk and have ordered it more than once. But I have not ordered the green milk for myself again after trying it the first time. My kids love both of them and alternate which one they want.
 
Second day update: (Will be at the parks 4 days)

California Adventure:

This is always a half day for us as we have older boys...adults basically. We did not get the Max Pass at DCA as it is not worth it for such a short day. Park was pretty busy, but not insane. The sun was killer today and shade was hard to find. I will just comment on some of the new things we tried.

Corn Dog Castle: We have talked about getting corn dogs for literally years, but for whatever reason never did...until today. They are not cheap at $8.50 (ish) a piece but they are VERY good.

New Incredicoaster: We always liked the California Screamer version, but this is better. Great ride.

SOARIN: Not new to us, but they have they are currently running the California version and it is SO MUCH BETTER than the international one. Can we please keep the original?

DOWNTOWN DISNEY:

THE VOID: We did this for the second time and it was great. Too much to type here, but if you are into Star Wars and fully immersive virtual reality, do yourself a favor and go...JUST GO!

BLACK TAP: It was ok. Very expensive, but on par with Disney park prices but better quality. One thing that got me cranky was that we all got burgers and a simple shake and wanted just a cup of water to go with the meal. The literally gave us a cup the size of a dixie bathroom cup for the water. Come on, I dropped $115.00 for 4 burgers and milk shakes and get this for water? I also did not like the fact I had to order my food at a counter then the rest of it was at the table. This place should be fully table service for the cost.

Next 2 days are back to Disneyland...more to come friends!
 
@Mr Snappy - for the first time ever my wife hoped on Yelp before we even left Black Tap to rate it. What a hot mess that place was. Totally confusing ordering & seating system, beyond loud and you are spot on about the water. I lost count how many trips we made to refill them as it was a hot day. I know we'll never go back.
 
I completely agree about the cleanliness. We just came back from our trip and every time I went into the ladies room, at multiple locations throughout the day, there was a cast member going stall to stall cleaning and restocking. The bathrooms were the best I've ever seen them in a long time.
 
We are planning the Jazz kitchen express when we are there, hoping its decent and of course cheaper. Hoping to do Café Orleans though. I considered Black Tap but honestly nothing looked that appealing to me on the menu. I was really hoping that Soarin over California would be there but I think it's ending by the time we arrive. I think we'll skip the blue and green milk.
 

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