"Why is EVERYTHING better here?" First trip to DL, May '14

[petals]

If my math is right, you're going starting on November 17th. Crowds at DCA (according to touring plans) are between 1 and 4 until Saturday the 22nd. Getting a FP should take no time at all, unless you have to keep checking back to get the section you want. As long as you're willing to put in the time to line up 90 minutes prior, you will have no problem at all. (Our crowd levels were 6 and 1 on Monday and Tuesday, respectively.)

Good guess lol! I'm planning on starting with DCA on the 18th because I reckon there's less rides that we'll want to do there so it will be slightly more relaxing after travelling all day on the 17th so will try see WOC that night.

Luvin Lego Belle and Beast.. I think beast became my new favourite character (Second favourite nobody can replace Stitch) after the musical society did Beauty and the beast last year!

 

[bellebookworm9]

Good guess lol! I'm planning on starting with DCA on the 18th because I reckon there's less rides that we'll want to do there so it will be slightly more relaxing after travelling all day on the 17th so will try see WOC that night.

Luvin Lego Belle and Beast.. I think beast became my new favourite character (Second favourite nobody can replace Stitch) after the musical society did Beauty and the beast last year!

DCA is definitely the park where it seems easier to take things slow. A more relaxing atmosphere overall. Stitch is PB's second favorite character (his most favorite is Ursula). I would love to see a live production of B&TB.

 

[bellebookworm9]

By 6pm we were down in the Beach Comber Club. Tonight’s hot appetizer was Southwestern Spring Rolls. PB ate literally about 25 of them. I tried one, and it was good, but just way too spicy for me.

I believe this was the night Frozen was playing on the TV. There was an adorable little girl, maybe 4 years old, her slightly older brother, and their parents in the lounge. Frozen was almost over, at the part where Hans is about to kill Elsa, and the mom was trying to explain to the little girl what was going on. Then of course, Anna turns to ice and the little girl just yelled out, “ANNA! ANNA’S DEAD!” All of the adults in the surrounding area lost it. Mom was trying to explain that she wasn’t dead, and it would be okay. Too funny.

I wanted to go check out Trader Sam’s Enchanted Tiki bar over at the DL Hotel, so that’s where we went when PB was done chowing down. Seeing as it was only 6:45 on a Wednesday, I was hoping it wouldn’t be too crowded, but no such luck. There were only two seats left in the place, which is tiny to begin with; both were at the bar, but on opposite ends. PB sat down in the other seat but quickly returned to me after his neighbor overshared that he would be leaving soon because he was “in the mood” to go back to his room with his wife.

PB was going to order whatever comes in the souvenir tiki glass (maybe the Hippopatomai-tai?) but they were out of the glassware, so he declined. I, on the other hand, came ready to order the Piranha Pool. I’m not a big drinker and I don’t like an obvious alcohol taste, so I ordered the thing that sounded most fruity and least liquored up: Strawberry vodka blended with pineapple juice, cream of coconut, strawberry puree and blue curacao.

And another shot outside in the light:

The atmosphere inside was very fun. A couple of Uh-Oas were ordered while we were there, which led to great ceremony, including the drinks being served on fire, and the bartenders squirting everyone at the bar with spray bottles-be prepared to get a little damp!

I’m having bittersweet feelings about this bar coming to the Polynesian as part of its refurb. I like it because it’s fun and different, but I wish it would stay unique to DL at the same time. Anyway, we stayed inside for a bit but it was getting a little loud so we went outside. I ordered a Slow Roasted Kahlua-style Pork Sandwich from Tangaroa Terrace next door. It was topped with BBQ sauce and “tropical slaw” on a Hawaiian roll, and also came with fresh fruit.

Now, for some reason, I thought tropical slaw was going to be fruity. I think that I was expecting it to be like the Kahlua Pork slider from Epcot’s Food & Wine festival a couple of years ago. That was topped with pineapple chutney and spicy mayo. Unfortunately, this was all veggies, and peppers were very prominent, which I hate. So I ended up scraping off the slaw but the sandwich was just okay.

Our plans for the evening were to go back to the room and watch The Middle at 8pm. It was the hour long season finale where they go to Disney World. Neither of us watch this show on any kind of regular basis, but we’ve seen bits and pieces and enjoyed it. Plus, I happened to be visiting WDW when they were filming! PB was there too, obviously. So we stopped in the lounge on the way back up to the room to grab sweet treats for our viewing party. It was around 7:45 when I went on the TV Guide website for some reason…only to find out that the show airs an hour earlier, at 7pm, in California. Argh! PB ended up watching it on Hulu later that night, and I watched it after I returned home. It was just okay, in my opinion. I thought the episode of Modern Family where they visit Disneyland was much better. We had been in the entrance plaza of MK one night when they were filming there, so I was hoping to catch us in the crowd, but no luck.

After that disappointment, we just hung out until World of Color. We had our very own audio channel, and there was one for Magical as well, if people wanted to/were able to see that from their room.

Seeing it from the room was really cool, I could see some effects that I missed the night before, like the glowing orbs in the audience. Friend Like Me was super cool too, just the patterns of the lights from up high. We could even kind of see the projections! Of course, I took a handful of pics for your viewing pleasure- really, just a handful!

Once the show was over, it was time for bed. DCA had a grad nite happening that evening, so we could hear the screams from the coasters loud and clear, even with the windows shut and the curtains closed. Thank goodness I had ear plugs! Thursday morning we’d be going back to Disneyland for Early Entry.

 

[bellebookworm9]

Thursday morning we didn’t get up quite as early as we had for EE at DCA, but maybe we should have! In the lounge, the family with the cute little girl was there for breakfast, and this morning it was her older brother who had me cracking up. He was counting on his fingers and said, “Look Mom, I have nine fingers!” She replied with, “Are you sure? You should have ten!” He counted again, and still got nine.

When we arrived at the Esplanade, the lines were already quite lengthy. We joined the line farthest to the left…and of course, we picked the line that decided it only needed one turnstile operating. I got another Mater ticket today, but six days, and only one repeat? Not bad at all! Our first stop was the Matterhorn. Rather than follow the hordes racing to the Tomorrowland side, we went around to the Fantasyland side. We were already behind schedule a bit from the turnstile delay, and I think our wait was 15-20 minutes, rather than 4.

Here’s our bobsled:

PB was super excited to ride this! So what did we think? Yeah, we hated it. We’ve done it once and will never do it again. Super jerky, the seats were uncomfortable, I kept sliding right off of mine, and it wasn’t very exciting. I’ll stick with our Yeti at Animal Kingdom. The line for Dumbo was already quite long, so we skipped it and moved on to the Mad Tea Party.

Not spinning, that’s my cup of tea!

Alice in Wonderland is down for an extended refurb.

We were 15 minutes behind when we got in line for Mr. Toad, another ride that PB was oddly excited about. He really wanted to get drunk and go to Hell!

Well, PB wasn’t let down with this one, he loved it! I had no idea what was going on, having never seen this movie or read the book. I don’t see why people are so mad it was removed from WDW.

Continuing on to Snow White’s Scary Adventures and Pinocchio’s Daring Journey…which both happened to be having technical difficulties.

We skipped Peter Pan’s Flight because I’ve heard it’s almost exactly the same as ours, and while the wait was certainly not as bad as MK’s can get, it was still longer than we were willing to wait! I wanted to visit Fantasy Faire and see who was meeting, but it was only Cinderella. Boring. We explored the nearby area instead.

Somehow PB was already hungry again, at barely 9am, so we stopped at Maurice’s Treats to get a snack. To drink, Boysen Apple Freeze, which is almost identical to Le Fou’s Brew at Magic Kingdom. Ours has a “hint” of toasted marshmallow, while theirs has wild berry syrup mixed in. It’s frozen apple juice topped with passion fruit-mango foam. I love apple juice, but this just isn’t a drink I care for at all.

Cheddar Garlic Bagel Twist, which was surprisingly good. I thought I’d read somewhere that they are tough and dry, but I loved this. Unfortunately, I only got a small bite before PB ate it all!

We stopped for a photo in front of the castle, where PB artfully hid his food behind our backs:

And then almost got trampled by the crowds who were rushing in for official park opening. Pixie Hollow was our next stop.

Our wait was about 10 minutes.

Iridessa was the first fairy we came to, and I’d never met her before. She didn’t have a PP photographer, but her handler was happy to take our photo.

Then of course, there was Tink.

 

[bellebookworm9]

We ventured in to Tomorrowland, and all I really wanted was a cream cheese pretzel. I sent PB to get FPs for Space Mountain while I tracked down a pretzel cart…but it wasn’t open yet. Buzz Lightyear’s AstroBlasters was next on the list and the wait was pretty short. I liked this version better than ours. At the end, I emailed our picture to myself but it didn’t show up and I thought it was lost. But it showed up about a month ago, two weeks after it was taken!

Amazingly enough, I had the higher score! PB can max out on ours, but he didn’t realize that the gun doesn’t keep firing if you just hold down the button here. I attempted to shoot the diamond shaped targets, and it seems I didn’t do too badly! It was early still, but we decided to make our way back to Toontown to be there when it opened. On the way, we passed the Fantasyland pretzel cart, which was also closed. We did notice that there are churro carts everywhere at DL. I know they’re a big thing there, but man, I didn’t know just how big! Merida was out this morning, and her line wasn’t too long, so we stopped for a photo.

Waiting for Toontown to open:

At exactly 10am, Minnie and Goofy came out to greet us!

Goofy stopped in front of his house, where he had crashed his car into the mailbox. PB said something about how Goofy can’t drive and he was clearly not amused!

We headed straight for Gadget’s Go Coaster. It’s very similar to our Barnstomer, which PB loves, so I knew we’d have to ride this one too!

We were the first ones to board!

Once our quick, zippy ride was over, we headed to Mickey’s House…unfortunately, his house must have been too messy for guests, as we were directed around the back to the garden and movie barn. Apparently it only took us 20 minutes to wait, meet him, and exit, but it felt much longer.

Passing by Goofy’s House:

The queue for Roger Rabbit’s Cartoon Spin:

That is a much more lengthy queue than it first appears to be. Just when you think you’re reaching the boarding area, surprise! You’ve just entered another room. We waited just about 15 minutes. RideMax had advised getting a FP, but it really wasn’t necessary to do so, and the return time was quite a ways from the current time.

I watched that movie for the first time last summer, and the ride was just as weird as its namesake.

Minnie’s house only had a posted 10 minute wait, but PB thought the line looked longer. I didn’t think so but agreed we could move on anyway.

I was sad when our Mickey & Minnie houses were demolished for Storybook Circus, but their Toontown put ours to shame for sure. Of course, they also had more time to build theirs, where as ours was a hastily put together and re-themed afterthought. Anyway, we went back to Tomorrowland to use our Space Mountain FPs…only to find that it was temporarily down. -1 for Disneyland; I’ve never seen as many rides down at one time due to technical difficulties as I did here. What to do next?

 

[bellebookworm9]

I suggested we go back to Fantasyland and see if Pinocchio and Snow White were up and running yet. On the way, we passed the hub and I suggested we stop and get some pictures taken. This was another great photographer who spent a lot of time with us!

Peace from Cali!

“To infinity…and beyond!”

And he even did a cute magic shot for us!

Pinocchio and Snow White were still down, but there was another photographer by the Sword in the Stone, so we had a quick photo shoot with her.

After that, Pinocchio had just come back up, so we got in the short line.

Cute, but since it’s been over 15 years since I last watched that movie, the story was a bit lost on me. We decided it was time for lunch and made our way up to the Jolly Holiday Bakery Café.

On the sign out front, I saw “Merry Cherry Lemonade” but didn’t see it on the menu inside, so I ordered the “Practically Perfect Punch” instead. Apparently there was a mix up, and I got the lemonade anyway!

PB had the Oven Roasted Turkey Sandwich with a side of chips. He really enjoyed it, said the turkey was fresh carved rather than cold cuts.

And I had the Jolly Holiday combo of a grilled cheese sandwich and tomato bisque.

Yummy! I had heard the sandwiches are pre-made and kept under a heating lamp, but this one was definitely fresh. After lunch we headed back to Space Mountain, which was operating again. Their queue seems even longer than ours, if that’s possible! But it moved pretty quickly once we got into the rocket area:

So, you can’t see me, but we LOVED it! Neither of us cares for WDW’s Space Mountain. It’s jerky and I always feel like I’m going to hit my head. But this one was so smooth, the soundtrack helped enhance the feeling of being on a mission to outer space, and I didn’t feel like I was going to hit my head so I didn’t spend the entire ride ducked down. This was definitely something we wanted to do again! But for the time being, we went and got Mickey ice cream sandwiches.

Autopia was right there and it had a very short line, maybe 10 minutes?

There was some confusion in the loading area though. We wanted purple cars, and there was one in the fourth, unopened lane. The CM said, “Oh, we’re just about to open that lane” and directed us to it, only to find out that it was a false alarm. So I was directed to row 1, and PB to row 6, in lane three. Then the car that was supposed to be the last one didn’t stop where it was supposed to, so I got sent to row 7, right behind PB. Neither of us got a purple car but that’s okay.

We liked this version better than at WDW. Big surprise, right? The cars were easier to handle (I swear, ours are harder to drive than a real car!), the track was longer and more interesting, and the line was obviously way, way shorter-I did keep stalling out though, but I think that's just me. With that unplanned ride completed, we made our way back to the Fantasyland Theater, where Mickey and the Magical Map would be starting soon.

 

[bellebookworm9]

We had a very brief wait before they let us into the theater, and we were able to get seats close to the front on the left side.

Yen Sid discussing the magic of the map makers:

Map-maker apprentice Mickey:

Mickey tries to paint in a spot on the map and gets into all sorts of trouble, starting with a trip to the jungle:

There’s Spot, taking us on another adventure…

To see Pocahontas…

And Mulan…

And Rapunzel and Flynn to round things out!

Then we took a journey under the sea:

These bubbles were so cool!

It seems like next we went to Hawaii to meet up with Stitch:

After all that, Mickey learns that by not painting Spot, he’s earned the right to be a full fledged map maker complete with his own paintbrush, since he’s discovered the magic in the map.

Mickey gets to choose where to take us on one last trip, and he picks Louisiana with Tiana and friends!

We adored this musical! After the show, it was 1:30, so we’d been in the park for what may have been a record 5.5 hours! As we headed back up Main Street, the double decker bus happened to be stopped by the castle. Having never been on a Main Street Vehicle, I insisted we take a ride!

I’m wearing the streamers that they shoot out over the audience at the end of the Magical Map.
In the entrance plaza, there was a Photopass photographer, so we stopped. PB had really wanted to get this photo opportunity. I was just pleased they didn’t turn out crooked, as is so common Magic Kingdom.

Then we walked back to PPH for our afternoon rest.

 

[petals]

DCA is definitely the park where it seems easier to take things slow. A more relaxing atmosphere overall. Stitch is PB's second favorite character (his most favorite is Ursula). I would love to see a live production of B&TB.

We will be travelling for 14 hours the day before so relaxing is good for the first day

Our group is only a local musical society but it was amazing being part of the BATB musical, our Beast is an Amazing singer and it was my birthday the week of the show so the whole week was just fab.


Luvin your updates. I really hope the bears are still with Merida in november.. I'd want to meet Merida just for the bears lol

I love the Pascal Magic shot... I'm torn on whether to pre book the photopass plus but I reckon if I ask like every photographer I see to take pics and do magic shots and what not it might be worth it

 

[bellebookworm9]

We will be travelling for 14 hours the day before so relaxing is good for the first day

Our group is only a local musical society but it was amazing being part of the BATB musical, our Beast is an Amazing singer and it was my birthday the week of the show so the whole week was just fab.


Luvin your updates. I really hope the bears are still with Merida in november.. I'd want to meet Merida just for the bears lol

I love the Pascal Magic shot... I'm torn on whether to pre book the photopass plus but I reckon if I ask like every photographer I see to take pics and do magic shots and what not it might be worth it

The bears should still be there, I know they have them at WDW as well. They're just props though, they don't move or talk or anything. We thought PP+ was a much better deal at DL. If you get all the ride photos, that pays for itself basically. And I thought the photographers were better at DL, way more into interaction.

 

[bellebookworm9]

Our plans for the evening included dinner at Steakhouse 55 at the Disneyland Hotel. After getting mildly dressed up, we headed over. Got a little lost looking for the restaurant, but we made it eventually! With some time to kill, we browsed the gift shop and took some photos.

These teacup chairs were too cute!

This was a HUGE map of Disneyland. I was so far back to get all of it in the picture that I was almost outside!

I believe we checked in almost exactly at 5:30 and had a seat in the lounge area. Looking toward the entrance of the restaurant from our seat in the lounge.

We were seated about 10 minutes later, in a comfy booth with this photo of everybody’s favorite redhead above us!

Does anyone know who that guy to the right is? We couldn’t place him.

A purple lamp over the table:

Lamp on the table:

Bread service; the loaf was a bit burned, particularly on the bottom, but it was still good.

We went all out for this meal! PB had the Seared Scallops With Citrus Wasabi Soy Glaze and Scallion Cream for an appetizer.

I chose the Steakhouse Salad With Bacon, Cucumber, Tomato, Red Onion, Tillamook Cheddar. At first they tried to give me the wedge salad but I quickly pointed out that it was not what I had ordered. If I wanted a head of lettuce, I’d go buy a head of lettuce!

There we go! This salad was perfect, fresh, and the ingredients went together very well. Plus it was huge! I couldn’t finish it all or I never would have been able to eat my entrée! I decided on the 12oz Roasted Prime Rib. It came with a side of au jus and horseradish cream, but I didn’t use either one because it was so good on its own!

And PB even outdid me price wise by getting the Pistachio-crusted Rack of Lamb:

We split a side of the Yukon Gold Garlic Mashed Potatoes:

Somehow we still had a little bit of room for dessert! PB chose the classic Vanilla Bean Yogurt Cheesecake - Berries, Vanilla Creme Anglaise.

I was a little more adventurous and chose the "Root Beer" Baked Alaska. I’d never had any kind of Baked Alaska, so I wasn’t really sure what to expect, but after looking it up online, I think this is not really a traditional version.

On the left was the root beer ice cream with browned meringue. I loved this part! In the middle were two little triangles of pound cake. This was pretty dry. And on the right was a root beer float shooter. Can’t go wrong with that!
The meal was amazing overall and I definitely recommend it for an adults night out. It was certainly expensive, even after PB’s discount. I believe our total was almost $120 including tax and tip, with 20% off.

Back at the room we worked on packing and watched Buzzfeed videos on Youtube. Most of them were silly food videos, of Americans trying snacks from other countries, or the British trying our snacks. We also saw a funny one about “if adults got excited like children do”. At 8:45 we watched World of Color again. I would move to California and get an annual pass just to see that show on a regular basis! There was another grad nite that night, so I was prepared with my earplugs again. The next day would be our last and it also happened to be the 24 Hour Rock Your Disney Side Event!

 

[amandaw]

I have to join in for the end of this TR! I have really enjoyed reading all of it tonight. Looks like y'all had a really fun trip.

My family is planning our 1st trip to DLR after many trips to WDW and I'm very excited! I think it's going to be fun to experience so many new things and find the differences in the similar attractions @ WDW.

And I just have to say that the beginning of your TR really grabbed me when you said you're going to school to become an audiologist. My DS (he's 6) was born with a neurosensorial hearing loss in his right ear. He underwent all sorts of test last year to see if we could pinpoint the source and/or to see if there are any underlying syndromes causing it. While they couldn't pinpoint the exact reason for the loss, the good news is that there's no scary underlying syndrome. Anyway, I just know what a difference a great audiologist can make for a family and just wanted to say best of luck to you in your schooling and career path!

 

[bellebookworm9]

I have to join in for the end of this TR! I have really enjoyed reading all of it tonight. Looks like y'all had a really fun trip.

My family is planning our 1st trip to DLR after many trips to WDW and I'm very excited! I think it's going to be fun to experience so many new things and find the differences in the similar attractions @ WDW.

And I just have to say that the beginning of your TR really grabbed me when you said you're going to school to become an audiologist. My DS (he's 6) was born with a neurosensorial hearing loss in his right ear. He underwent all sorts of test last year to see if we could pinpoint the source and/or to see if there are any underlying syndromes causing it. While they couldn't pinpoint the exact reason for the loss, the good news is that there's no scary underlying syndrome. Anyway, I just know what a difference a great audiologist can make for a family and just wanted to say best of luck to you in your schooling and career path!

Welcome! I admire your dedication for reading it all in one night. Now that I've been to both, people are constantly asking me which I like better. While WDW is my "home", at the moment, DL has won out for me.

I actually would like to be a pediatric audiologist. I'm doing a summer internship with cochlear implants right now and have met a lot of kids and families that way. That's part of what I like about this job; when you start with a kid, they may literally be with you for life! I'm glad that there's no underlying syndrome for your son, because they can indeed be scary-and numerous. Thank you for your pixie dust!

 

[bellebookworm9]

Friday morning I was up at 8. PB got up soon after; we did our last minute packing, and then took one last look out the window.

PB called the front desk to let them know we were checking out at 8:55am, and we went downstairs to drop off our bags at Bell Services. Then we meandered across the street to the Grand Californian. Our breakfast that morning was going to be at:

We decided we would do one character meal, and this was it. I’d heard good things about the food and the characters aren’t ones you see every day. Some photos of the exterior:
“Hearth and Home”

“The Life So Short, The Craft So Long to Learn”

“By Hammer and Hand Do All Things Stand”

Our ADR wasn’t until 9:30 and it was only 9, but we were there and hungry, so we went up to the podium and asked if we could be seated early. One of the hosts started to make a face like that was going to be a problem, but he quickly turned out to be just kidding and said it would be no issue at all. This quote is in the waiting area.

It took them literally two minutes to get us a table! Pretty lanterns overhead:

Jacob came by and introduced himself as our temporary server while Pao was on her break. He had orange juice in hand but was happy to get me some apple juice when I asked. This beautiful tile work was over the buffet:

My first plate-PB was like, “That’s all your eating?!” “No, this is what I’m starting off with!”

PB was at the buffet when Chip came by, about 20 minutes after we had been seated. I asked a girl at the table next to me to take my picture, which resulted in this super unflattering photo:

My next plate had bacon (very good), hash browns (yucky, no flavor, tasted like soggy cardboard), pancakes (one was great, the other was cold), awesome French toast, and a Mickey waffle.

I know PB had some eggs benedict that he raved about. Meeko came by about 10 minutes after Chip…and this one is more flattering, but blurry.

Oatmeal with golden raisins and brown sugar:

It was almost 10 by the time Dale came to see us…and now my eyes are closed! Why couldn’t we get a good picture?

We’d been there for an hour and only seen three characters. At some point Pao came by to drop off our check and really wanted to rush us out! Kenai, Koda, and Br’er Fox still had yet to come over to us. That was something we didn’t care for here, was the lack of organization of how the characters made their rotations. Between the general confusion and the occasional parade and song, it was a slow process. Finally, Koda came by around 10:15. Being scary bears!

We got cute “Storytellers” buttons, and PB was very excited that Chip ‘n Dale are in their Rescue Rangers gear. Also, we had plans to get Dole Whips, so we wrote on our “I’m Celebrating” buttons to commemorate the occasion.

It was quickly approaching 10:30 and we were getting antsy. Kenai was in the general vicinity so he was kind enough to grant us a picture on our way out.

We never did get to see Br’er Fox. Then it was over to Disneyland!

 

[WDWJonasGirl]

Hi Gretchen! I'm enjoying it so far

 

[bellebookworm9]

Today on my ticket I had Guido, and PB had Snow White, which I was super jealous of.

At Disneyland, we had three goals: Get a FP to ride Space Mountain again, and then ride Pirates of the Caribbean and it’s a small world, since they had both been closed for refurb up until this day. The FPs were good for like 2:40, so with those in hand, we made our way to Pirates. The posted wait was 30 minutes, and the extended queue was set up. Eventually we made our way into the building.

I timed our wait on the TP app, and I believe it was only like 23 minutes. I took a few pictures on the ride but most didn’t turn out.
This guy died in his bed, surrounded by riches.

Davy Jones in the mist:

And Jack Sparrow:

Once you get past the bayou part, the rides are very similar. But for us, it was that long, detailed bayou part that gave Pirates at DL the edge!

Continuing on to it’s a small world:

I think the posted wait was again, something like 25 minutes, but I timed this one too, and it was about 13. We passed the time by talking to a family near by, and once again, the husband of that family asked if we were married. I liked the topiary animals in the queue.

It was right around here that we got to skip a bunch of people because they needed a party of two! I didn’t get pictures of all the Disney characters in the ride, but I saw all of them except Peter Pan and Tink, so not too bad!
Cinderella, Gus, and Jacques:

Looking back at Alice (and the White Rabbit), who I couldn’t get a good picture of when I was on top of them-hadn’t quite figured out what setting I needed my camera on!

Pinocchio and Jiminy Cricket (that little green blob on the right towards the top):

Aladdin, Jasmine, and the Magic Carpet:

Mushu kite:

Mulan and Mushu (behind the flower):

Simba and Pumbaa (Timon was hiding):

The Three Caballeros:

Ariel:

Lilo & Stitch:

Marlin and Dory:

Jessie, Woody, and Bullseye:

 

[amandaw]

I've heard some people love the character meals @ DL compared to WDW and others hate that they're not as organized. I think we'll probably only do 1 next year since my DS does not prioritize meeting characters.

We are very excited to ride PotC @ DLR! And I'm very excited to go on IaSW there. That's one of my favorite rides and I can't wait to see the DLR version!

 

[Mut1ny]

Great report

 

[Viva Las Disney]

Really enjoying your TR, I think you did more in 6 days than I've done in 6 different 3 day trips, fortunately I'm going again on Thursday because after your TR I already have a list of new things I want to try.

 

[GaRain]

Have enjoyed your TR so far.
Can't wait to see it all in person!
I think you may have helped make my character breakfast decision for me though - Goofy's kitchen and not Storytellers.

 

[petals]

I really want to do Storytellers for the Brother bear characters but thinking maybe an earlier reservation now if the parks open at 10