After taking a several years long break from traveling due to COVID, I’m so excited to finally begin traveling again and share my trips on the blog! Max and I kicked off 2023 with a quick trip to the Disneyland Resort as a belated birthday treat for me and to check out the 100 Years of Disney celebration! We went a few days after the celebration officially kicked off and I’m so glad we did- it’s so special to get to experience special events, new rides, and limited edition snacks while at the parks!
Day 1
We kicked off our trip on a Monday and left in the middle of the night so we could miss traffic and make the most of our first day. While this was amazing because we literally hit 0 traffic (even going through LA!), I’m not sure if I’d leave that early again because we had to wait quite a while to check in to our room at the Grand Californian (which was booked to capacity, likely because of the celebration). Luckily we were able to store our luggage with bell services while we waited, park the car and head to Downtown Disney for our traditional Blacktap arrival lunch. Not to be a debbie downer, but the food wasn’t as good as it’s been for me during previous visits (less fries that usual and the chicken strips were a bit tough) and since it’s SUPER expensive I was expecting the quality to be a bit better. However, our shakes were excellent and they have a nice patio for outdoor dining which we enjoyed after being stuck in the car for several hours.
After lunch we were planning to peruse the Downtown Disney shops a bit more, but it started pouring rain, which is honestly pretty unusual for Southern California. We had left our umbrellas in the car, so we decided to just head back to the hotel to wait for our room. At this point it was around 1:30pm and the lobby was PACKED. We decided to head up the stairs and find a much quieter sitting area that overlooked the lobby with almost no one around where we waited for about two hours for our room (I read my Kindle and Max napped, lol). Once our room was ready, we were actually able to go straight to it and unlock it via the Disneyland app on our phones. We settled in, had bell services bring our bags up, and then Max went to work out (I have a strict no exercising while on vacation rule, but he loves the gym at the GC, which he says is super fancy with complimentary snacks, water bottles, top of the line equipment and a fridge full of cool towels to refresh after your workout).
While Max was at the gym I decided to hit up the pool, as it had lightened to a light drizzle and was nice and empty. The pool area at the GC is super nice and consists of several different pools, hot tubes, and slides and really makes you feel like you’re in the wilderness and not the in middle of Anaheim, lol. So I went out there in my winter hat, sweats, and piled towels on me to serve as blankets and spent a few peaceful hours reading under an umbrella to keep the rain away, and it was actually super peaceful! I also managed to finish my last read of January, In the Weeds (review coming in a few weeks!)
Since we had a heavy lunch at Blacktap, we opted to dine in the hotel lounge for dinner for a lighter meal. The lounge is our favorite place on property to eat while at Disneyland, as it has a laid back yet swanky feel, you don’t need reservations, and it has a decent sized menu. We split a cobb salad and desert, and then it was time to head to bed early since we were planning to rope drop Disneyland the next day!
Day 2
I’ll admit, when our alarm went off at 5am the next morning I wanted to die a little inside, but there’s no better way to effectively use your time at a Disney resort than rope dropping (rope dropping refers to arriving at the park before opening, where they’ll let you in 30-60 minutes before the official opening time and hold everyone at the end of main street until the park opens. That way you’re truly the first on the rides!). Since we were Disney hotel guests, we also got 30 minute early entry through a separate entrance. We were kind of bummed at first to learn that most of the major “E-Ticket” rides weren’t open during early entry (what is the point???), however we were able to knock out some Fantasyland rides (Mr. Toad’s and Snow White) and then line up at the entrance of Galaxy’s Edge so we could get on Rise of the Resistance as soon as it opened.
Surprisingly, this is the first time we’d actually been on Rise of the Resistance. Why, you ask? Because I REFUSE to pay for Genie+ (it’s a scan) and I ESPECIALLY refuse to pay for Lightening Lane and during our past few visits it was always super hard to get on and didn’t seem worth the effort since I’m not a big Star Wars fan and Max used to be but doesn’t like the new movies since Disney bought the IP. However, my brother had been begging me to ride it since he loves it and I figured if we were going to do it we should do it first thing so we didn’t have to wait in a crazy standby line. I have to say, it was pretty impressive, and the trackless rider system was really cool (although I hope they don’t discontinue the typical dark rides with tracks, I think they’re so charming!)
After RotR we decided to hit Winnie the Pooh and Pirates and then grab lunch at Bengal BBQ (it was like 9:45am but we were already starving from getting up so early!) We then went to city hall to upgrade our tickets to Park Hoppers (which we haven’t done in years but there were so many events going on during this trip we wanted to ensure we maximized our time in both parks!) After a few more rides and some shop browsing we decided to hit up Hungry Bear restaurant for the first time (I know!!) and try the special Disney100 funnel cake and specialty berry lemonade. When I tell you my body left my soul!! Both were SO SO SO good, and it was my first time trying a funnel cake! It had cookie dough ice cream on top along with whipped cream, crushed up chocolate chip cookie dust, and chocolate sauce…probably a million calories but worth every bite!
While at Hungry Bear our boarding group got called for the new Toontown ride, Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway! It opened just a few days prior to our arrival, and we were nervous about getting on since it’s only available via virtual queue or lightening lane. We snagged a virtual boarding group at the 7am drop via the app, and it was our last ride of the day before taking our midday break. The line was absolutely amazing and takes you through multiple themed rooms, and it also uses a trackless rider system like RotR. We loved it and it was a definitely needed anchor attraction for Toontown.
We always take a midday break during our Disney trip, and after spending 13+ years traveling to Disney parks together sometimes our time chilling at the hotel is our favorite part of the day, lol. Max once again headed to the gym while I enjoyed some pool time with my Kindle. We didn’t have many plans for the rest of the evening except to go to California Adventure for a showing of the new World of Color show, so we opted for another meal in the hotel lounge. We had an absolutely delicious dinner of pizza, salad and fries (my holy trinity of vacation foods, LOL) and then headed to CA to walk it off (although I definitely had a soft serve ice cream cone that I didn’t need!) We did quite a bit of walking and rode Monsters Inc and then it was time to line up for World of Color!
Disney is really loving their virtual queues lately, and we had grabbed a spot for the new World of Color show via the app earlier in the day. We were directed to the blue viewing section, and waited for about 20-25 minutes for the show to start. Now you have to understand that I am a World of Color STAN. I love the original and it’s a MUST for me every trip to Disneyland/California Adventure. I was excited to see it refreshed, but I hope the original comes back soon because I really don’t think it was as good (and it really felt like an excuse for them to push some of their newer movies, like Soul). What was most annoying was the amount of people who came in at the last minute and were pushing/shoving/pressing against us to see! Like sir, if you want a good viewing spot get here early like the rest of us! Also, the amount of folks absolutely HACKING without wearing a mask or even covering their mouths…did we learn nothing from the pandemic?! (I fully accept there is a risk of germs and high crowds at a theme park, but COME ON there are ways to be more considerate!!)
After the annoying crowds at World of Color we were pretty much done for the night and headed back to the room (staying on property is soooo wonderful at the end of a long day!) We had originally planed to rope drop California Adventure the next day but we were so exhausted we decided to sleep in and take the next day at a more leisurely pace.
Day 3
In some ways deciding to take it easy our last day ended up being the most enjoyable aspect to our trip- sure we didn’t ride a ton of rides but that’s not really why we love Disney parks, as we’re much more about the atmosphere, food and characters! We slept until 7:30am (which is late for us at Disney!) and Max went to get us breakfast at Jamba Juice in Downtown Disney while I got read in the room. After a quick breakfast of smoothies and acai bowls, we headed into California Adventure without a plan but just hoping to soak up the vibes!
At the time of our visit the Lunar New Year celebration was taking place in California Adventure and we loved it! There were so many amazing decorations, food options, and character sightings and it’s what we ended up focusing on for most of the day. After hitting up a few rides with very little wait (Soarin’, Little Mermaid) we purchased a Sip & Savor pass for Max, which is a $45 pass that allows you redeem for 6 different dishes at any of the stalls! I had a blast following him around and documenting his tastings, lol- it was our little moment pretending to be Disney bloggers ;). After lunch we had to grab another special seasonal sweet treat. We opted for the limited time banana milkshake at Schmoozies, and it tasted even better than it looked! The banana flavor was nice and subtle (which was great since often banana flavoring can taste SUPER artificial) and we got stopped several times by folks asking where we got it! It’s definitely our #1 recommendation for special seasonal treats. With shake in hand we also hit up the Lunar New Year character photo opp and got a cute photo with Mickey and Minnie (we JUST missed Ortencia, who’s this adorable cat who I believe is Oswald’s companion). I MUST get a photo with her in the future!
Once Max had his fill, we went back to the hotel for our usual pool + gym time. The weather cracked 70 that day and it was such a nice feeling laying out in the warm sunshine in January! I got a good chunk of reading done (The Fine Print- hitting those KU reads hard!) and it might have been my favorite part of the trip, lol. We also had to have the dreaded last day discussion where we decided how early to leave the next day (5am, ugh) and what our packing plan was.
Despite the looming post-Disney blues, we still had one night left! We traditionally have our “farewell” dinner at Tortilla Joe’s in Downtown Disney, and have been eating there for years during our visits. Unfortunately, this visit will probably be our last. The menu seems to have undergone some sort of overhaul because the dishes we always get were different (different sauces, different methods of cooking the meat, etc) and they charge for chips and salsa now!!! It’s already a super expensive restaurant for what it is since it’s in Downtown Disney, but paying $4 for chips and salsa just felt excessive.
After dinner we headed to Disneyland and jumped on some of our favorite nighttime rides (Jungle Cruise just hits different at night!) We also made sure to ride Splash Mountain, as we’re unsure when the Disneyland version will be closed for refurbishment into Tiana’s Bayou Adventure. We then headed to Main Street to watch the new 100th celebration castle projection show, which was amazing (but we wish there had been fireworks as well…I think because it’s technically the “off season” they are only doing fireworks on weekends). We then decided to head back to the hotel to get a good night’s sleep before our long day of travel the next day!
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