Planes , Trains and A lot Of Unexpected Adventures West Coast Updated Saturday July 2 Travel Home

[Bad Pink Tink]

Friday July 1

Today was my last park and as normal I had made a reservation for Disneyland Main Park. A few weeks before my trip Disney announced that Pirates of The Caribbean would be reopening today.

Oh goodness, what excitement on my last day. Usually I am following a ride online but now I get to be part of one.

So as a result I was up and out of my room by 7am, got my coffee and a pastry and headed over to join the madness.

This morning I decided just to see what would happen if I actually made an effort to walk with purpose down Main Street and join a rope drop crowd.

I fund myself at the edge of the Adventureland crowd at the Jolly Holiday hedge, kinda near the top of the crowd.

Over the years of going to concerts and events, I am used to being in large crowds and having to hustle for a spot. Its amazing how muscle memory returns and I just automatically know where I feel safest and how I can walk with purpose when I have to.

The opening announcement plays and then we were off. It was a bit mad and crazy but again muscle memory and I just automatically weaved my way around and through people, and somehow managed to get to the entrance of Pirates and be in the top group, again at the side. This was my view at 8.10am

I was close enough to the entrance to see the Cm's inside, doing preparations. They kept trying to get the crowd to move by saying to come back later and check the App. Again my experience from concerts and events came in handy, I just knew not to move. The crowd did shift a bit and I did get a bit closer to the entrance and I could see the Cm's open the main doors and then above us on the bridge I watched them set up the rope barriers. Again I just automatically knew not to move.

I had plenty of time to look around and people watch. It was so funny to see so many YouTubers, some I recognized, most I didn't. There was even someone standing behind me live streaming, but I didn't recognize the voce.

Finally about 8.50am the atmosphere changed and then at 8.55 the cms opened the rope barrier and we walked through the whole rope barrier area, up over the bridge and then back down to the normal chain barrier queue.

Both side of the chain barrier were open and I just went right, which I somehow feel is a shorter walk than the left side.

At 9.am I was in the boat loading area. The atmosphere was amazing. Each time a boat was loaded and moved off a big cheer went up.

I could see the boats coming back to the loading area and I couldn't believe that the boat I was loaded into was still part of the first rotation. It was empty when it arrived at the loading.

This was so cool, to be part of the first boat rotation, be in the first group of people to ride Pirates after the big closure.

After the madness of Pirates, I had a walk around the shops in New Orleans Square and then saw that Haunted Mansion had a 5 minute wait so I went there next.

I was getting a bit hungry by now so I decided to see if Jolly Holiday was till serving breakfast. I got

Fruit and Yoghurt Parfait
Latte

While I was having my food, I checked the App and booked Big Thunder Mountain Lightning Lane.

Refreshed I next headed to Frontierland and had a look in the shops and then made my way over to Big Thunder Mountain.

That was an interesting ride, I was in the front row of a carriage and the group behind me were first timers. It was so funny hearing their screams and reactions.

As I walked back through Frontierland I saw that the Mark Twain was on the way to the loading area, so that was my next thing. As I have an umbrella I decided to sit at the chairs right in the front. Theres no shade here so most people avoid this part, but I was fine under my umbrella (ella ella hey ho... ooppps ahem back to the trip report )

While I was on the Mark Twain I checked the App and bought Rise of The Resistance Individual Attraction Lane.

I also saw that Story Telling at The Royal Theatre was due to start soon, so again something new to me.

This was closed on my January trip and in the before times I never got around to seeing this.

The 12.45pm show I went to was a retelling of Tangled. All the children were sat t the front of the stage and I managed to get a seat at the back.

Theres about 4 actors, Rapunzel and Flynn and then two others who take turns narrating and playing the other parts. Its a fun retelling , with gags and slapstick comedy.

After the show I needed to use the restroom and I walked over to the themed Alice restrooms beside The Materhorn. As I came out, the mini Cavalcade was just passing by, which was great timing.

I had a 2pm reservation at Cafe Orleans so I walked back through Adventureland and New Orleans Square and had a wander through the shops.

At Cafe Orleans I had
Ratatouille Farro Risotto
Market Vegetables, Blistered Cherry Tomatoes and Wilted Greens

Vanilla Crème Brûlée
Vanilla Custard, Caramelized Sugar and Seasonal Compote

Mint Julip

A nice surprise was that I got refill of the mint Julip

While I was having my food I checked the App and booked Buzz Lightyear Lightning Lane

When I was finished I went over to Tomorrowland to redeem my Buzz Lightyear Lightning Lane.

After Buzz Lightyear, I checked the App and booked an almost immediate return Lightning Lane for Star Tours.

I scan in for my Star Tours Buzz Lightning Lane and within about 10 minutes Im assigned pod C, the CM checks the yellow straps, closes the door and we are off on our adventure.

Or so we thought.

The screen goes down, but then it goes back up and there is an announcement that this flight has been cancelled, and the doors open. Everyone sits there for a few seconds and then we all unbuckle and stand up.

Most people just leave, but about 15 of us just stand in the unloading area confused as to what to do.

I see a CM at another pod and ask her but she is loading her own pod and has no idea what happened with ours. A Team Leader appears and she says to ask him.

The team leader is confused as well as it seems to be just an issue with our pod, pod C. He tells us to wait in the side area and then goes to make a phone call.

He comes back and tells us to go back to the front entrance and the cm's there will tell us what to do.

So 15 of us, still with our 3D glasses walked together through the shop, out and back down to the front of the Queue. When we tell the cms who we are they direct us to a cm door and tell us to go up the stairs.

Well this is an adventure

At the top of the stirs we find we have by passed the whole queue and are back in the ride loading area.

The CM at the first pod has no idea what is happening, 15 people come up through a CM only entrance and now in his pod. He gets on a phone and eventually he gets told what has happened and assigns us rows in his pod.

Eventually we are off on a proper Star Tours adventure

It was now 4pm and after all the excitement of Star Tours, I decided to get a snack and sit for a while at The Hub.

I went to Maurices Treats beside The Royal Theatre.

I got Garlic Bagel Cheese Twist with a side of Cream Cheese.

After sitting for about 40 minutes, just enjoying the atmosphere and people watching, I took my time going back to Galaxys Edge to redeem my Rise of The Resistance Lightning Lane at 5.55pm.

Rise of The Resistance I had a wander through Black Spire Market Place and used the Data Pad feature on the Play Disney App to "hack" a few places.

Then I went over to Millennium Falcon. The single rider line was empty so I walked straight to the group assignment area. Again I managed to talk to the group and switch to Pilot.

After Millennium Falcon ride I came out and saw a photopass photographer, so I did another photoshoot.

I walked back through New Orleans Square and Adventureland. It was very crowded so I decided to just keep going and go out to Main Street. I avoided the crowds by staying in the shops.

I hadnt planned it, but just as I came out of The Emporium by The Fire Station, I realized that Main Street Electric Parade was about to start. I managed to find a space to sit on the wall near Guest Services.

Again I managed to get an good last minute viewing spot for the parade.

After the parade decided to stay for the fireworks but I moved into the centre hub so that I could see down Main Street.

This was a new viewing place for me, I have never seen the animations projected onto the Main Street buildings.

It was now 10pm and I decided that watching the fireworks was a great way to end my trip so I joined the stream pf people leaving the park.

When I got back to my hotel, it was time to pack up and get things ready for check out and my journey home tomorrow.

Park Day 4 Summary

• Standby x 2
• Single Rider x 1
• Genie + Lightning Lane x 3
• Individual Attraction Lightning Lane x 1
• Cavalcade
• The Royal Theatre
• Main Street Electric Parade
• Fireworks
• Photopass

[Bad Pink Tink]

Saturday July 2
Today is my last day and my travel day.
Check out is 11am but I was on the move and ready to leave by 10am.

I got everything together and went down to the front lobby and asked about bag storage. Just like on my arrival day, the staff member put my small roller beside my large roller and wrote 2 bags on the bag reclaim ticket. Fine by me, although I did have change for the lockers, which I dint need.

Once my bags were sorted, I went over to Downtown Disney.

I walked through World of Disney again and then next door to Starbucks for a late breakfast, as I had missed the hotel breakfast.

I spent a while just people watching and enjoying the atmosphere of Downtown Disney and then had a look in Marceline’s and The Dress Shop.

I had arranged to meet a friend a 12pm, so we headed backed to Starbucks and had a good catchup.

Just after 1pm I said goodbye to my friend, and it was time for some last-minute shopping. I wanted to bring home some treats from Marceline’s like I did in January.

I forgot to take a photo of the Rice Krispie Treat and the cake pops, but I did take a photo of the Grogu Caramel Apple. This time I asked for the plastic container that Marceline’s hd on the plain Caramel Apples to bring Gogu back to Ireland. His ears were a bit squashed but other than that he travelled ok.

I was back at the hotel by 2pm and after getting my bags from the luggage store I went into the rest room to change from Disney clothes to my travel clothes. I also had to repack a few things to make my bags ready for TSA checks.
Once I finished repacking, I sat for a while in the lobby, as I had booked Midwilshuttle for a 3pm pickup.

The car arrived on time, and it was the same driver who brought me from Downtown LA to Anaheim.

Traffic on the freeway was ok, but it took 20 minutes from the freeway off ramp at LAX to get to Tom Bradley International Terminal. Traffic started building just after Terminal 2.

Once inside it was very busy, but I managed to find my airline check in and bag drop area.

I joined the queue and sent my friend a text to let her know I was at the airport. She arrived 10 minutes later, while I was till in the queue, which was good timing.
After getting rid of our bags, we then headed upstairs to TSA security check. No issues there as both of us travel a lot and are well used to TSA. Despite the chaos downstairs it only took us about 20 minutes to get through, which is fine.

Neither of us had been in this terminal in years, as the flights to Ireland usually go from Terminal 2, so we were a bit disorientated. The main shopping and food concourse is huge, but we managed to get some food and then check the monitor to find our gate.

It was just as well we had plenty of time before our flight, as it took us 20 minutes to walk from the food and shopping area to our gate area. We were not expecting that!

Our flight ended up being delayed by an hour due to the late arrival of the inbound flight.

It was a full flight, but we had planned this trip back in January, so my friend was able to book the window seat beside me. On this plane, economy seats were 2 4 2, so we didn’t have a random person in our row.

We were served our main meal about 2 hours into the flight. I chose the chicken and rice, which was nice. My friend ordered a Gluten Free meal and got poached salmon salad which was a nice surprise.

When we arrived in Dublin, it took a while to get off the plane as everyone was a bit disorientated. We were quickly through passport check as we both have Irish passports, but there was a big queue over on the other side as half our plane were Americans.

After all the horror stories of bags going missing, we were both surprised to see our bags already going round on the carousel as we walked up to it.

Then it was out of the airport to find a taxi home. My friend was staying with me overnight before getting the train to her family the next day.