Here is part 2 of my Disneyland Trip Report for June 9th, 2013. You can read the previous trip reports here.
We had a 12:30 reservation at Goofy’s Kitchen located in the Disneyland Hotel. We got there a few minutes early and we were to check in and get our picture taken with Goofy. The kids told him all about eating at Chef Mickey’s in Walt Disney World so he was excited for them to try his cooking. He enthusiastically informed us that he was the better cook.
Goofy’s Kitchen is a buffet meal and they were offering a selection of both breakfast and lunch foods. When you go, be sure to try the breakfast pizza. It’s amazing!
The first character to visit our table was Chip. In case you didn’t know, Chip’s nose is black just like a chocolate chip. He was so playful with the kids and even danced a jig with Jacob.
Chip was followed by Dale and then Pluto. Jacob was so excited to see Pluto again (he had just seen him a few minutes earlier) and Pluto was excited to see Jacob. He even licked my son’s face which was received with a fit of giggles.
Next came Mulan. Mulan only meets in Epcot in Walt Disney World so we had only met her a couple of times. How nice was it for her to be at a character meal! I was always blown away by the diversity of characters at this meal.
Rafiki visited our table next (he was the very first character our kids ever met back on our first trip in 2009) and he looked through Jacob’s hair to pick out the bugs. Such a silly monkey!
Baloo snuck up behind Rafiki and surprised both of the kids. We had never met Baloo before so it was a nice treat! The kids danced with him and tried to share their food with the hungry bear.
Finally the Mad Hatter made his way to our area. I was the most excited to meet him. Emily had the pleasure of meeting him in 2009 (at the Unbirthday Party at Grand Floridian) but the three of us had not been able to meet him that day. My husband had told the waitress it was my birthday so she came out singing and holding a cupcake while the Mad Hatter was at the table.
This is when one of the most magical moments I have ever had happened. While she was singing to me, the Mad Hatter had an absolute fit about it being my birthday. He sunk down to the floor and started crying saying it is only unbirthdays, not birthdays! We were laughing hysterically at him and he was such a character! Hubby got it on tape and as soon as I figure out how to upload videos from my Mac to You Tube without it throwing an error, I’ll share it.
We left Goofy’s Kitchen agreeing that it was one of the best character meals we had ever had. I loved the diversity of characters. The Cast Member working the hostess desk told me that everyday they have different characters and they never know who they will have until that day. She said you could eat here multiple times in one trip and have a different experience every time.
The Disneyland Hotel was absolutely gorgeous. My son LOVES maps so when he found the big map in the lobby, he was blown away. He spent time devouring everything on the map and talking about all the attractions and where they were located in both Disneyland and Walt Disney World. He is my GPS.
After browsing the lobby of the hotel, we headed to the monorail to ride it into Disneyland. The monorail station is located in Downtown Disney and you must present your park ticket in order to ride. We waited patiently for our turn to ride (it doesn’t hold as many people as the monorail does in WDW, in fact, it doesn’t even look like the WDW monorail which was so weird to us). While we waited, I struck up a conversation with the family behind us. I always enjoy learning more about other guests and their plans for the day.
When the monorail arrived, I was surprised to see that guests were still allowed up front of the Disneyland monorail (and in the back car too). Apparently Disneyland considers their Monorail an attraction where WDW considers it transportation which is why guests can still ride in those cars. We opted not to wait and instead boarded the middle car. The inside of the monorail was nothing like what we expected and it even had windows that rolled down (hubby said it did not have air conditioning). The ride was wobbly and much more tilted than we were used to, but it was a lot of fun.
Once we reached Disneyland, boy oh boy was it crowded! We decided to head over to Toontown since the kids were aching to see Mickey and Minnie’s houses. And of course as we entered Toontown who should we see with no line? Yep, Pluto! He was following us everywhere! After we got hugs (no more autographs as this was our third time that day to see him) we went and toured Mickey’s house.
Mickey’s house was so cool (and a lot like the one in Walt Disney World that they removed for the Fantasyland expansion) and there were framed photos of Pluto and Minnie throughout the house. The kids had a great time reading his books and checking out all his displays. We were going to try to meet him but the a/c was out and no matter how short the line was, when there is no a/c inside a building that is equipped to have a/c, I just hightail it out of there.
After Mickey’s house, we went to explore Goofy’s house and Donald’s boat. The kids spent over 30 minutes playing with the other kids and having a great time exploring. There was ample seating for the adults so we had a nice break while they ran off some steam.
Once they were ready to go, we got on the train and took a ride to the front of the park. The train is so different from WDW’s and the seats face to the right side of the train (like the train in the Animal Kingdom). There are some awesome displays to ride though and the kids and hubby were surprised. I like to do my research before a trip but I keep the details to myself until we see them. It’s some wonderful Disney magic!
Right as we got off the train, the parade was approaching Main Street. We were able to grab a front row seat and a couple Churros and enjoyed the parade with barely any wait.
We loved this parade. The floats were so elaborate and festive and the characters were so friendly! The kids felt like every character acknowledged and waved at them.
After the last float passed us by, we gathered up our stuff and hopped over to California Adventure. Hopping at Disneyland is amazing. You literally walk out of the gates at Disneyland and walk about 300 feet into the gates of California Adventure. It is so easy! Of course because it is so easy, both parks are usually equally crowded now that the Racers are open.
When we entered the park, their parade was about to start (it features Pixar characters). We were able to grab a front row seat and enjoy this parade with little wait too! Talk about another Magical Moment!
Between both parades, the kids liked the Pixar Parade the best. I think it is because they sprayed the kids with water guns. That’s always fun on a hot day! I loved seeing the Monsters University characters and hubby was excited to see Buzz and Woody in the parade.
After this parade, we headed to Flo’s in Radiator Springs for dinner. Her restaurant is absolutely beautiful inside and the details are amazing. The kids really enjoyed their home cooked meal and hubby loved this bar-be-que. We grabbed a seat by the window so that we could people watch as we ate. Surprisingly the restaurant was not very crowded at all.
After the meal, we explored Radiator Springs. We visited all the shops (we even lost Jacob for 30 seconds which scared us all, he was crying when we caught up to him) and checked out all the details of the area. Did you know that the third blink on the caution light really is slower just like it is in the movies?
We also joined in with the dance party going on right in the middle of Radiator Springs. The kids had so much fun with this!
Finally it was 7:30 and time for us to ride the Racers for the third time today with very little wait (considering the line remained over an hour all day, this was a huge accomplishment). I rode up front with Jacob and I couldn’t stop smiling the entire ride. Disney hit the nail with this ride and I just hope they decide to build it at Hollywood Studios. It is just so amazing and I hope they don’t keep it on just the west coast.
After the Racers (we won and we went through the paint shop), we waited for them to light Radiator Springs. It took our breath away as they turned on each of the neon lights. If you are in Radiator Springs around dusk, be sure to wait for them to turn on the lights. It’s awesome!
It was now 8 pm so we headed to the viewing area for World of Color. We had downloaded the app Heads Up so we played the game while we waited for the show to start. The wait wasn’t too bad and before we knew it, the show was starting.
World of Color is the most beautiful show I have ever seen. It is amazing how they are able to project scenes from Disney movies onto sprays of water. For some reason, they decided to include the death scene from The Lion King, so of course I was boo-hooing for the rest of the show. I always cry when I see that scene.
The show lasted 30 minutes but it felt like it only lasted 5. It was so captivating and the kids loved it! It was cold though, we didn’t expect Southern California to get so cold at night!
The area holds 4,000 people but there is plenty of exits and it didn’t take us long to get out of the park. We were able to leave our car at Paradise Pier after we checked out (they gave us until Midnight) so we were in the car and on the road within 15 minutes of the ending of the show.
We drove the mile to Peacock Suites, our inexpensive resort that we called home for 5 nights. The room was twice the size of Paradise Pier and the beds were so comfortable. We were able to spread out and get a good night sleep after an amazing first day at Disneyland!
So to recap the day, here are all the attractions we were able to enjoy in order:
- Ride luigis
- Meet mater
- Ride racers
- Meet lightning
- Ride maters
- Dad gets in line for Fastpass to RSR by 7:50 am ( 9:30)
- Ride maters
- Ride maters
- Toy story mania
- Mom goes and gets Fastpass to World of Color
- Swings
- Swings
- Ride goofs
- Ride jelly fish
- Ride zephyr
- Snacks at Cozy Cone
- Mom fast pass racers (7:30)
- Ride racers
- Visa meet and greet by monsters inc
- Meet mike
- Meet jake
- Camera shop
- Meet Pluto
- Little Mermaid
- Goofy’s Kitchen 12:30 pm at Disneyland Hotel
- Monorail for disneyland
- Met Pluto
- Mickeys house
- Donald’s boat
- Goofys house
- Rode the train
- Watched the Disneyland parade
- Watched Pixar parade
- Ate at flos
- Toured radiator springs
- Dance party
- Rode racers
- World of color
Thank you so much forsuch a great re-cap. My family is going in a couple weeks, and we’ve never been to California Adventures. We have been to Disney World, and I have been to Disneyland, but California Adventures was not around when I went to Disneyland last! So I have been scrambling to find what was good there, and what to do. (My Disney World trip I studied for 13 months, and planned every detail! where this one we haven’t done as much and I am worried!) So thank you! I appreciate this a lot!
Awesome report Kristen! The Roger Rabbit ride at Disneyland Park is also on a separate FastPass system. If you’re staying onsite, World of Color FastPasses are available 90 min prior to park opening. I went in right at 7am when EMH started and grabbed the FastPass then headed to RSR which thankfully was open for EMH. EMH are very important at Disneyland as you can get a lot accomplished in an hour before the general crowds enter Cars Land.
How were you able to get a fastpass for races(17) when you already got one for world of color(10)? I thought you couldn’t get a new fastpass until the 1st one was used? I’m starting to plan our first trip to Disneyland so any tips would be great!
At Disneyland there are a few Fastpasses that aren’t connected to each other. The Racers, California Screamin and World of Color aren’t connected to the system. That means that at 9 am, you could go and get a FP to Racers followed by a FP to World of Color, followed by a FP to Screamin, followed by a Fastpass to something else like Tower of Terror (all collected from 9 am to like 9:30 am back to back). Isn’t that awesome?
that is awesome, thanks for explaining!
I am really enjoying your trip report! Thank you for taking the time to give us all the details!
Thank you sooo much for sharing your vacation with us! We are going in November for 3 days, therefore your tips are greatly appreciated ;-)
Great re-cap, thank you!
Amazing first day at Disneyland! I like how coordinated everything is so you guys can see and do so much in one day.
Don’t feel bad about crying during the Lion King death scene. I find it very sad too. In fact, a few years ago we finally got the chance to see the Lion King broadway show when it came to town and I cried twice. I couldn’t help it. Have you ever seen the broadway show? When the show starts it takes your breath away, it is so amazing! So I cried when the show started and also during the death scene. In fact, if you ever get the chance to see the broadway show, I highly recommend it. You will never forget it.
WOW!! You got to see and do a lot!!