Disneyland Trip!!!!!

I know it's been a while - best of intentions and all that. BUT!  

Last week I spent my February Break week at Disneyland and Disney's California Adventure!! I plan all my trips with the help of Jacki York who is with  MEI Travel and Mouse Fan Travel and is absolutely amazing!!

I had technically been to Disneyland in September 2011 for the Half Marathon, but so much of that weekend was the expo and race and other touring - plus Disney's California Adventure was VERY different with Carsland only being built and since Disney had only owned Marvel for not quite 2 years, I doubt Avengers Campus was even Blue Sky at that time. So it felt like a first visit in so many ways.

Getting to the trip took some turns. I'd initially started planning this at the beginning of the school year - or maybe even over the summer - then I got "cruise-sick" and changed my break plans to a Marvel Day at Sea cruise. I got nervous about testing positive at the port (Disney Cruise Line is currently testing everyone at the port rather than requiring a test within a few days of boarding) and being stuck in Miami, so I changed to a cruise on the about to sail Disney Wish followed by some days at Walt Disney World in August and re-booked Disneyland! And while I did miss being at sea (and would have qualified for the 90-day recovered letter to avoid port testing), I'm not sorry I made the change!!

I got up very early on Sunday morning and had a car service reserved to take me to Newark. Soon enough I was on my flight and headed to John Wayne Airport. Once I landed, I got my luggage and then got a Lyft to head to my hotel in Anaheim - Hotel Lulu. It was super cute, the beds were comfortable, and the staff was all excellent! 

My room was not ready yet, but I was able to store my luggage and then I headed to Disneyland. For the bulk of the trip I had a 5-day ticket with Park Hopper and Genie+, but I wanted to be able to see the fireworks at Disneyland and they were only going to be on my arrival day, so I splurged on a single day ticket - and got Genie+ largely for Photo Pass.

 

It was awesome to just be in the park!! I did a few pictures and rode a few things, then headed to the Grand Californian for brunch at Storyteller's Cafe. Delicious!! Because I'm gluten-free (I did experiment with some gluten this trip since my issue is a wheat allergy and while my stomach had no problems with it (my biggest fear about trying it having been gluten-free since 2016), I could tell that my breathing was more challenging, which was my symptom of the wheat allergy - so no more of that experimenting), a chef walked me through the buffet and told me what he could make for me in the back. It was all so good, I really didn't need anything else to eat the whole rest of the day!!

Once I finished, I walked back to the hotel to see if my room was ready yet, and it was. I was in the North Tower, which is the same building as the lobby and it sits perpendicular to Harbor Blvd, so I really didn't have any noise to deal with. The hotel is about a 10 minute walk to the parks, which for this NYC girl who walks most places, that was nothing!

Back to the park for some more rides and then the fireworks. I did use Genie+ for a couple of things on Sunday, but I'd get the most use out of it during the rest of the trip. The fireworks and music and projections were amazing, and I'm very glad I spent the money on that single day ticket.

After a good night's sleep, I was up bright and early to walk to the Harbor Blvd security line. I made it a point to try my best to be there by 6:45, 7 at the latest as the parks were officially open at 8. Security would open at about 7:15 and we'd go through bag check and then head to line up at the turnstiles for whichever park you were going to for at least the morning. 

My "first" (second, but first full) day I was starting at Disneyland with the plan to hop to Disney's California Adventure - I'd been advised to see Avengers CAMPUS (It is technically an acronym which stands for Centralized Assembly Mobilized to Prepare, Unite, and Safeguard - and technically on all of Disney's printed stuff it is spelled in all caps like any acronym though 99% of people don't get that and spell it Campus like a college campus.) for the first time at night - and I knew if I started at DCA I would never be able to resist going there first.

The cast members at the turnstiles would scan as many people as they could before we were allowed through at 7:30, so as soon as I was scanned in, I was able to make my first Genie+ selection. Because I knew without a doubt I wanted to do Guardians of the Galaxy Mission: Breakout, and because I knew I could get to it without going through the rest of the Avengers area, I snagged a Lightning Lane (LL) pass for that. Since I was scanned into Disneyland, it automatically bumped me to the 1-2pm slot, which was fine. I headed towards the rope at the path into Adventure Land, and once the rope dropped, I headed to Indiana Jones. I was able to get Indiana Jones and Jungle Cruise done and then I could grab another LL. I'd learned in researching that if a ride is down during the window for your LL, at some point during that time it will convert to a multi-experience LL pass - with some limitations like not the paid Individual Lightning Lane (ILL) rides and a couple of other restrictions - so when I saw Roger Rabbit was down with a return time very close to my search I grabbed it. Sure enough I got a multi-experience LL a bit later at which point I could select another LL. I did stack a few more multiple experience passes, but while I was at Disneyland that day I did Haunted Mansion and It's A Small World with the LL passes.I grabbed lunch and headed to DCA and Mission: Breakout.

Absolutely my favorite ride between the two parks. The story, the details in the queue, the music!!! There are 6 possible songs you can get for the totally random drop sequences (spoiler alert: I got all 6 songs in my first 9 times on the ride!)... My friend (and the owner of MEI and Mouse Fan Travel) Beci calls it "a party in a ride" and she's not wrong!!

Once I rode that, I went out the way I had come and did some other things in the park. I used more Genie+ LLs on IncrediCoaster (awesome) and Monsters, Inc. (cute...a nice break for the feet), and did some regular lines as well. I was MOST excited to discover that they had kept the (distanced) meet and greet with Raya (from Raya and the Last Dragon) even after the Lunar New Year's celebration had ended. Raya is my favorite and I had been pretty bummed thinking that she'd be gone. But it was fabulous to "meet" her!!

Once it started getting dark, I placed my mobile order for Pym Test Kitchen and started to head to Avengers CAMPUS. Dinner was awesome and the land is AMAZING!!!! I took advantage of my multi-experience passes to hit Mission: Breakout a few more times, and waited in the regular queue when the wait time was not horrible. I went to the Dr. Strange show (pro tip - see it during the day and at night...there are some script differences between the two, and it's a totally different feel at night with various effects), and hit M:B a few more times before heading back to the hotel! 

The rest of the days were much the same, though I usually started in DCA the rest of the time. Carsland is cool at night - and being solo I was able to use the Single Rider Line at Radiator Springs Racers. I would hit Web Slingers at rope drop (head to the rope that will head to Carsland and stay on the far left - you'll hang a left into Avengers CAMPUS just after the rope and should be able to get Web Slingers quickly and without having to pay for an ILL

They can do some fun Photo Pass pics all around too:

I had some great food too. Pym Test Kitchen was my favorite! I did have a "New York's Tastiest" from the shawarma cart (see previous note about trying some gluten-filled stuff) which was good...I'm sad that it's not from a quick service restaurant so there would be a chance of getting it on gluten-free pita - though you could probably bring your own and flip the chicken onto it? I went to Boardwalk Dining at Lamplight Lounge and had a Sea Witch drink and lobster nachos. Made a trip to Trader Sam's at the Disneyland Hotel (so fun) and also had breakfast at Goofy's Kitchen. All yummy!!

Characters are making random appearances (Raya is scheduled kind of - the cast member over there should be able to tell you when she will be back) and you can wave, chat (in some cases) and do distanced selfies. Cast members are not required to take pictures with your camera, though some will.

They are by far the most prevalent at Avengers CAMPUS. There is a show with the Dora Milaje (you'd swear they stepped off the screen of Black Panther) which is really cool. There is a stunt show "Avengers Assemble" which right now is Black Widow and Black Panther vs. Taskmaster and a couple of lackeys (my guess is they may eventually have other characters based on the talent they have who are stunt-trained), and the aforementioned Dr. Strange show. There's also a really quick Spider-Man show with Spidey and the stunt-tronic, which you would NOT know is not a human if you didn't know already! But the characters also make random appearances, either on the building with the quinjet, in a jeep parked next to the building, in a couple of areas behind a chain, in the Ancient Sanctum, or on the same steps/seating area where the Dora Milaje show takes place. And because we're in a multi-verse (yes, we're all variants), characters who may not be alive in the MCU will appear. While I was there I saw Black Widow multiple times, Captain America, Iron Man, Spider-Man, Ant Man, Loki multiple times, Thor. Starlord and Gamora (just as part of the Awesome Dance-Off - I never saw them out at a picture area), Groot, Black Panther, the Dora Milaje (show only - not in a picture spot), Sersi, Phastos, and Kingo from Eternals, Dr. Strange, and Captain Marvel.

And the characters are sometimes in random pairings! At one point one evening I'd been talking with Black Widow on her own, and we heard a commotion and discovered that Thor was roaming the building above us. She rolled her eyes and said "He and his brother are always causing some kind of issue..." then bantered with him for a moment before turning back to me. Well, later that night, she was paired on the stage/steps with Loki! I got in line and had asked one of the guys behind me if he'd take a picture (one of my friends said I should totally do "the pose" with Black Widow), but the CM who was monitoring the line said he would do it...

Probably my favorite picture of the whole trip!!

I had to fly home on a red-eye on Friday night so I had stored my bags and then went back to Hotel Lulu to get them and grab a Lyft back to John Wayne Airport. I was so sad my trip was over!!!

Now, you're probably wondering about their Star Wars area. I will fully admit that I have zero interest in Star Wars (and even if I was interested, the land is as I understand it exactly the same in Florida, so I was not going to waste time on it either way). So no, I did not go near there. BUT I have to say - based on what I'm seeing about the Galactic Starcruiser in Florida, if Disney were to do a similar thing with Avengers/Marvel (yes, it would have to be in California or an international park at this time), they could have ALL my money!!! (Are you listening, Disney???)

But yes, it was a fabulous trip!! I would 100% recommend Jacki's services (or anyone with MEI/Mouse Fan is great I'm sure!!), Hotel Lulu, and Genie+ - at least in California (I have not gotten to experience it in Florida yet...and may not since my August trip is during one of the historically super low times...I'll do a day-by-day purchase if I get down there and it's insanely crowded - or if locals report big crowds the couple of weeks prior to my visit I may add it on. Since it doesn't include PhotoPass/Memory Maker in Florida if the parks aren't crowded I feel I won't need it.)

I was trying to insert pictures from my Facebook Album, but for some reason they would not post from there (and dragging all the ones I wanted onto my desktop was taking too long, so I only did that for a few). The complete album is here.