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Old 24 Dec 18, 10:23 AM  
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bambikate
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The 1200 Mile West Coast Adventure: Day 10: One uber, two uber, three uber, four!

Day 10: One uber, two uber, three uber, four!
Wednesday 29 August 2018

Driving to Disneyland, Check into Courtyard by Marriott, The Loop Churros, Trader Sams Enchanted Tiki Bar

Index

We woke up at around 5:30am, stuck some cereal in one of the biodegradable bowls we brought with us and shovelled it down as quickly as we could.



We were in our car by just after 6am and drove round to the front to check out. The man asked if everything was OK with our stay and I just said yes. I really couldn't be bothered to say anything and it was probably just us not being used to camping and nature rather than anything they did wrong…

We left asap and decided we would pick up a coffee en route rather than having a mouse-flavoured one

We ended up leaving the resort at 6am. While packing the boot we couldn’t get the car to properly lock. It was making us quite stressed as we just wanted to go and we didn’t want it to encroach on our Disney time so we just shut it and hoped for the best.

Every slight bump on the road we kept looking backwards, fearing the boot would pop open and all our luggage would fall out.

Andy kept saying “I swear it’s coming open” but I didn’t notice anything. We pulled over to Starbucks to grab some drinks and went straight back onto the road.

Then… we re-joined the freeway and on the slope to join the freeway the boot popped open! OH MY GOD! We were so stressed. At that point I could imagine not getting to Disney and missing a whole day of our holiday. Then Andy got out of the car to investigate, I was terrified he was going to get hit by one of the massive trucks zooming past who were beeping at him (I think they thought we had pulled over for a picnic!) When Andy got round to the back he realised it wasn’t the entire boot, it was the window in the boot that had opened (We didn’t even know it had one!) He slammed it shut and it felt pretty secure so he jumped back in the car and off we went! It wasn’t rattling anymore and I felt such a huge sense of relief!

The traffic was pretty bad on the way (what a surprise!) We tried the pastries from Solvang the day before. They were very average and we also discovered the one we had pointed out and were looking forward to eating, was not in the bag… she’d picked the wrong one it tasted like soap.

We didn’t point at this one








We pulled over in Malibu for a toilet stop. The toilet cubicles were so low and I had a playsuit on…. if anyone had come in they literally would have just looked over the top and seen everything! It was hilarious. Luckily we were the only ones there

Andy spent some time practising locking and unlocking the car and it was working perfectly. Thank the lord!

There were some beautiful homes in Malibu and it was really interesting driving through.









We finally arrived at about 10:20am at the gorgeous Courtyard By Marriott Theme Park Entrance



We pulled up to the front and gave our keys to the valet and our bags to bell services to look after for the day. We went to collect our tickets from the front desk, the guy at the desk was lovely. He said we may actually be able to check in now! He checked the rooms and found one but it only had a shower. Normally that would’ve been fine but we had a Lush bath bomb to use so declined and were just as happy to check in a little bit later on.

Our tickets!



We popped to the loo, got our tickets in hand and we were ready to hit the parks!

We started the seven minute walk to the park, it was so easy and we loved having a hotel so close to the action!

We were super excited to actually be here!



Security was fast yet thorough and we were soon queueing to scan our tickets to get into Disneyland Park!





Wow! We are in Disneyland!

It’s an absolutely beautiful park. It was also pretty quiet, which was great!













We did have MaxPasses booked for the whole five days which was a Godsend and included unlimited Photopasses (Disneyland’s version of Fastpass+ which allows you to book fastpasses on your app but only when you are in the parks so no booking ahead. The great thing about this is that it’s unlimited and you can do two different parks in one day.



Unfortunately we were about a couple of weeks away from the Haunted Mansion Nightmare Before Christmas overlay was ready… even more gutting than that was the Matterhorn was down for refurbishment - the number one ride we were looking forward to! (We found this out a few months before we went)



Anyway! Our first ride of the holiday and our first taste of using MaxPass was Splash Mountain! Yay!

]







We LOVED this version of Splash! Single seats in boats of six people with way more drops and you get absolutely soaked before you even get to the big drop! SOAKED I TELL YOU!



OK, so first ride down and it was awesome.

Something we loved about Disneyland Park was the wandering characters, it was so nice to just randomly see characters walking around. Our first taste of this was Tigger and Pooh who were strolling past The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh and gave us a little wave!



There was no wait for The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh so we walked straight on





Another great thing about this trip (which we discovered on this ride) is that Izzy and Imogen were finally old enough to sit next to each other on rides!

Excited in our own little honey pot!



We actually really liked this ride it was cute and funny



I particularly like the Heffalumps and Woozles part







Next up, a little browse round the shops







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Edited at 10:52 AM.
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Old 24 Dec 18, 10:26 AM  
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Uh oh… more cute Disney soft toys!



They had a good selection of pet clothing and accessories















We loved the theming here, it was supposed to be underground and therefore there were carrots in the ceiling



It wasn’t quite lunch time yet but with there being so many amazing things we wanted to try we were basically going to just graze all day every day

First up, the amazing Bengal BBQ

We chose the bengal beef skewer, safari skewer, pork belly skewer and jungle julep





We managed to find a seat inside











It was all so lush - we shared everything so it wasn’t particularly filling. Whilst eating we checked what MaxPasses were available and lo and behold. There was one available for Indiana Jones ride, which was right next to us and it started in about five minutes time! Perfect!





Everything about this ride was brilliant - the interactive queue, the effects, the ride! Ahhh I loved it so much.







Next up, Jungle Cruise! There was hardly a queue and we had a great seat next to the skipper. The ride was mostly the same but it didn’t have the cave at the end!









Our next MaxPass was for Space Mountain so we made our way over to Tomorrowland!



We loved this version of Space Mountain! Better than WDW IMO! The girls were super excited they got to sit next to each other! It was really nice to be sitting next to Andy on a ride too!



I screamed the whole way round it was amazing.

We came out of the ride and as we were still doing OK for time, we decided to hop on to Buzz Lightyear







One more browse in the shop before we go

Oh Baymax, you so cute!



Lotso



Matching family Incredibles pyjamas



More wandering characters


Cute Up Balloon



We went in to go and see the English Toffee being made. I was videoing and one of the ladies spotted my Pixar nails through the glass and was trying to get me to show her one at a time and chatting to the other Cast Member about them.

Our plan was to visit The Loop Churros (an amazing churro place we’d discovered on Instagram), drop the car off with Alamo (on West Katella Avenue, around the corner), walk back, check in and then head on over to the Disneyland Hotel to have dinner at Trader Sam’s!

On the way out I had to stop for a quick nailfie with the Pixar Fest sign



We left Disneyland Park at 2:17pm, walked back, collected the car from the valet and drove to the Fullerton branch of The Loop Churros which had recently opened. It took about 20 minutes.







We were so excited to be here as the desserts looked incredible!









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Old 24 Dec 18, 10:27 AM  
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Andy went for the “Double butter” for $5.75, which was cookie butter (Lotus Biscoff spread) drizzle, peanut butter cups and biscotti cookie ice cream and a churro.



Imogen chose a cinnamon churro with Nutella for $3.75



To drink we got a Guava lemonade with souvenir bottle, which was incredible and so refreshing.



I chose the Rose Gold Mermaid churro sundae with guava glaze chocolate pearls, soft serve and mermaid decorations (For the ‘gram!)



Izzy chose the “birthday chilled loop” which was cake batter flavoured glazed and sprinkles churro, balls and lollipop with swirled vanilla and birthday cake ice cream.



They looked so fab and tasted just as good. Izzy’s was a bit too sweet for her plus it was enormous so she gave the rest to Andy. At first, when Imogen saw our Sundaes I think she was worried hers was a bit boring but then realised how tasty hers was and was super happy with her choice.

All in all, although probably a bit too much ice cream, it was 100% worth the trip out there and I’ve just seen they’ve opened up their third LA branch. Good for them. Probably the most Instagrammable desserts ever!



Full of ice cream, we drove back to W Katella Avenue Alamo to drop our car off. It was super convenient and we would miss our lovely car but we just wouldn’t use it for the final days of the holiday so it seemed like a waste to valet it for 5 days.

They checked over the car and all was good. It took five minutes and was really easy.

The walk back took 17 minutes and was easy, if not a bit hot.

We got back to the hotel to check in at 4.25pm. It was the same guy as earlier and it took a couple of minutes to be allocated a room. He asked if we had a car with the valet. I explained we did but only for a few hours as we’d checked it back in with Alamo. He said he would make sure we weren’t charged $40 for valet parking. (As it turns out we did get charged and I had to complain via email and eventually by Twitter when I didn’t get a response. I eventual did get a refund and an apology from the manager)

We had a waterpark view room, which we had paid slightly more for.





Originally we had the Howard Johnson Waterpark Hotel (next door) booked but decided to upgrade to this one just because the rooms and the waterpark looked so much better plus every room came with bunk beds, which was perfect for us.

Our room did not disappoint, it was gorgeous. Imogen was probably most excited about the fact it came with mini toiletries , which meant she could have more body lotion to take home and add to her slime!





















The room also had its own dining area, which was so handy and a shower over the bath as well as a double shower separately meaning we could have two showers running at once, great for getting us all ready quickly.





Our tickets

[url=https://www.thedibb.co.uk/p/2aSMQHr]

We all took it in turns to shower and get ready and we unpacked our luggage.

We could have easily walked to the Disneyland Hotel but decided that an extra drink and a leisurely Uber seemed more appealing.

Ready to go!



Our Uber arrived quickly and cost just over $5. It was wonderful seeing this historic hotel for the first time and we spent a bit of time exploring the beautiful lobby and grounds.





When we got to Trader Sam’s, inside was initially full with bar seating only (no kids at the bar)

I was slightly disappointed we couldn't sit inside but there was live music outside and it still looked cosy with the flam lanterns so we found a table of four outside and plonked down there and looked at the menu.

Andy decided to have one more try as he saw a big group of people leaving from inside. He emerged a couple of second later frantically signalling for us to come over and he pointed at a table for four that had just become free. Yessssss!

We had reserved some spending money to buy some new mugs but were disappointed to find out they were all sold out apart from the Uh-Oa mug which we already had. (albeit a slightly updated version)

This included the ones they serve them in, so they brought over the themed drinks in plain glasses… come on guys!

Now probably the most frustrating thing that happened to us on the holiday. We got ID’d, (No biggie! We thought this might happen and had brought our driving licences with us and handed them over.)

“I’m sorry we don’t accept those, do you have your passports?”

“No, they are locked in our safe in our room at another hotel”

She said “Sorry I can only accept government issued identification - US driving licences and every other country needs to show passports, even Mexico and Canada”

Frustrated, I tried to reason with her and assure her that ours were government issued and had been gratefully accepted at EVERY SINGLE DISNEY RESTAURANT WE HAD DRANK AT FOR THE PAST 12 YEARS!

I explained we had this evening planned for months and hadn’t even considered bringing our passport. She apologised and just flat out said it’s Disney policy I’m afraid. She offered to get her manager, I said no it’s fine but she brought him over anyway. He was very polite but there was no way he was going to overrule what she was saying so it was a bit pointless really.

I know it wasn’t the end of the world not to have alcohol but this was probably our only chance to have our favourite cocktails here. I felt like crying out of frustration.

The manager left us to decide what we wanted to do. As I saw it we had two choices: Order soft drinks and just accept that this wasn’t to be the night we had planned, or go back and get our passports and turn it into the night we planned.

Izzy kindly volunteered to come with me so I booked an Uber and Andy stayed at our table with Imogen and I left him in charge of ordering the girls drinks and choosing all our food. I wasn’t going to let this spoil our night. I know if that’s the policy then that’s the policy but there was just no common sense. I had a (nearly) ten year old with me, I clearly didn’t have her when I was 11 years old.

Whilst waiting for our Uber we could see him on the app driving around in circles, i think he was lost. The Disneyland Hotel valet asked us if we needed help and kindly called the Uber driver for me to direct him in! He was really kind and helpful.

The Uber cost us another $5 and we pulled up and the valet from the morning opened the door for us. He had seen us on our way out a little earlier and said “Back so soon? Where’s the other half and the little one?” I explained and he couldn't believe it, he apologised that this had happened and I think he was genuinely shocked. I said it’s not his fault and we ran to the lift and straight to our room to open the safe a retrieve our passports. I took all four just in case I brought the wrong ones in panic.

We booked another Uber on the way back to the lobby and he was already waiting outside when we got there.

As we arrived at the Disneyland Hotel, we were greeted by the lovely valet again. We fast walked all the way to the restaurant and when we got inside they were just bringing out our food! Perfect timing!

Our original server came back over, she was being so over the top friendly and trying to crack jokes but I was hoping my unimpressed face was enough to tell her what I was really thinking.

She inspected our passports and accepted we were old enough to drink and took our cocktail orders.

Izzy and Immy chose mocktails.

Izzy went for Skipper Sipper - Tropical juices, organic agave nectar, Falemum, mint and freshly squeezed lime juice topped with soda water.



Immy had Polynesian Punch - Sam's Gorilla Grog and hibiscus grenadine



No souvenir sippers left either but we did get tiki stirrers to keep.

I chose the Pirahana pool - Strawberry vodka blended with pineapple juice, cream of coconut, strawberry puree, and blue Curacao



Andy had Krakatoa Punch - Reserve and spiced rums, tropical juices, Orgeat (almond) syrup, organic agave nectar, and freshly squeezed lime juice.

Not quite as magical without the souvenir glasses but the effects around the car were still in full swing and we still got the souvenir ice cube to add to our collection at home!

For food, the girls has kid’s cheeseburgers and shared our appetisers

We had the panko crusted Chinese long beans with Siracha aioli



Pork gyoza with ponzu sauce



Sweet and spicy asian wings with togarashi aioli



Fried spring rolls with togarashi aioli and Hawaiian sweet and sour dipping sauce









The food was all really good.



We decided not to bother with a second drink and paid up and left.

It was very pretty at night outside.







All in all, I would say we 100% prefer Trader Sam’s Grog Grotto in the Polynesian over Trader Sam’s Enchanted Tiki Bar at Disneyland. Perhaps it was the the ID debacle or the lack of souvenir cups but it just didn’t give us the same ‘feel’.

We went for a litte stroll around the resort and then in the gift shop



I love this dole whip bag



We booked our fourth and final Uber of the day and headed back to the hotel.

The waterpark was still open so we got changed and the girls had an absolute blast! What a great park.





This was the view of Space Mountain from the water play area

[url=https://www.thedibb.co.uk/p/M7YsKH]

A brilliant first day at Disneyland
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Old 24 Dec 18, 10:54 AM  
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Great day, love your reports x
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Old 24 Dec 18, 10:34 PM  
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Your first day sounds amazing. The FP scenario sounds fantastic too, that you could get what you want at such short notice.

What a pain to the trader sams issue! We have actually had a similar problem at the Polynesian (& Epcot France) but they accepted a photo of the passport photo in the end!

Looking forward to more
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Old 25 Dec 18, 12:42 AM  
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Great report on Disneyland. Loved your T-Shirts too. What a palaver over the ID, its such a pain isn't it. You'd think they'd accept our driving licence, no-one wants to carry passports with them.
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Old 25 Dec 18, 11:39 PM  
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What a day! How exciting to finally be at Disneyland!

How incredibly annoying at Trader Sam's

Jo xx
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Old 26 Dec 18, 07:20 PM  
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A fun day at Disney except for the ID issue. Love your bags so cute. The hotel looks amazing.
We had the same thing happen with a vehicle we had the light kept coming on and we never realised it was the glass luckily though we weren’t on a freeway 😲a bit scary.
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Old 27 Dec 18, 09:12 PM  
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How frustrating with the ID but exciting to be at Disney
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Old 28 Dec 18, 09:29 PM  
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What a fab day! The US ID thing is so silly. Glad you still managed to enjoy it. The food looks delicious.
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