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Old 15 Feb 21, 05:40 PM  
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#21
mossy51
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Here we are, still in the midst of the pandemic. No where to be, no people to see. I'm trying to make myself have a day off and so I thought...I know...surely it's time to treat myself and write up a bit more of our trip report.

It is amazing how far one girl can drag it out...this satellite delayed report is brought to you by 'utter boredom' and 'missing Disney fatigue'.

So, let the hit and miss trip report continue...yes there are missing receipts and missing food photos...I hang my head in shame...what was I even thinking!

Tuesday - Beach Day

We had planned for a park free day today and after researching nearby beaches, we decided to head to Balboa Pier.

First, was an easy morning of room service breakfast in bed. I use the word 'easy' and 'room service' loosely because 1. DD wanted room service, 2. DH felt that calling someone to bring you food to your room was a bit boujee and we couldn't possibly have someone (whose job it is) bring us food (unlike...erm restaurants?). At this point I was literally losing the will to live and just wanted us to make some kind of decision so that we could eat and go out! All this to say...we ordered breakfast over the phone and then I went down and got it from the restaurant!





DD had an omelette with hash brown and DH had a breakfast skillet mash thing which was nice but a bit greasy. I didn't have anything probably because I was trying to save money and or fed up with the five year process that was people deciding whether or not it was okay to order room service! I can't remember the price exactly but I'm going to guesstimate that it was about $25. It might have been a few dollars more but let me have this one because the budget isn't horrifically over today, it goes majorly downhill on our last full day! Edit: I just found the price on a spreadsheet it was $34.50.

It was actually really nice to take a day out of the parks and just chill. The beach was lovely and the car park (right next to the beach) was cheap, which I wasn't expecting and was pleasantly surprised by.

We had a nice walk along the beach and then up onto the pier. At the end of the pier was a Ruby's Diner where we had planned to eat lunch.



Honest review - the restaurant had a very strange vibe to it that made us all feel a little bit uncomfortable. Food was okay but didn't sit especially well...could have been the weird vibe. It just seemed like everyone working in there really didn't want to be there and they didn't want you to be there either. Very strange! Could have just been a bad day but definitely wouldn't go to that restaurant again.

We got some things to share (partly due to the weird vibe). Chicken strips, fries, calamari sticks a large milkshake and strawberry lemonade. Total cost $45. Not worth the price but you were clearly paying for the location.









We enjoyed a bit more time on the beach and then headed back to our hotel.

Being lovers of all things BBQ we were meant to go out for dinner at the Old Crow Smokehouse. However, DH and DD needed some 'home base time' so we ordered it to collect instead. It was easy to find but the car park was rammed and it took me a while to find a parking space. When I went in it was a very large 'barn style' restaurant with really high ceilings. I waited at a side table and the server was really attentive and bought me over some iced water while I waited. It was sad that we couldn't eat there as I think the others would have liked it but it wasn't a 'cosy' feeling restaurant if you know what I mean so it was probably for the best.

We ordered a build your own meal for $26 where you could pick and mix your mains. We got 1/4 lb pulled port, 1/4 lb beef brisket (nom), sausage link, mac and cheese and coleslaw. We also got a charred salad with smoked shrimp and a side salad. Total came to $60 with tip.











It was really nice. When you think that ignoring the tip dinner was only $10 more than lunch that totally blows my mind as the food was in a totally different league.

Some where along the way I also bought a drink of Sprite for $2.16.

Total spent for Tuesday - let's call it $139.15

Spent so far:
Friday $100 (does include $50 laundry gifts to spend in Florida next August) That didn't work out too well for me!
Saturday $122.57
Sunday $119.08 is it time to do the walk of shame yet? Maybe I'll leave that for Monday's report!
Monday $183.09 did someone forget to tell the OP it was a $100 challenge? :d
Tuesday $139.15 ...trust me my 'budgeting' gets worse!
__________________
WDW SSR - Aug 2015 Best Family Holiday Ever! WDW SSR & Texas - Aug 2017 Once in a Lifetime Holiday the Sequel! Disneyland California - Oct 2019 Well that escalated quickly yolo trip! Disney Magic Staycation Cruise - Aug 2021 Disneyland California - April 2022 Ain't no stopping us now. Seattle and Alaska cruise - July 2022 - wow! Disneyland California - Oct 2023 Just the two of us. WDW Boardwalk - Apr 2024 2+the adult child

Edited at 03:45 PM. Reason: I found the price of the hotel breakfast. ;)
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Old 15 Feb 21, 07:15 PM  
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mossy51
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Wednesday - Last full day. What is it they say? GO BIG WHEN YOU’RE GOING HOME…okay, hold my dole.

All I can say about this, from a $100 a day point of view, is that I was literally horrified when I looked at how many receipts I had for this day! It was always going to be over the budget because we had booked dinner at Blue Bayou. We’d had some people from America stay with us the previous year and they had given us $200 as a thank you. That should mean that we still had $100 to play with on top of the $200. So I guess it should be a $300 day today?

This was our last full day and we planned to spend it in both parks, starting with Disneyland. We had booked a table at Carnation Café for breakfast so that we could have Mickey Waffles. Nom.

DH had an Oscars breakfast with coffee, DD had Mickey waffles with sausage and orange juice and I had mickey waffle and bacon and sausage. Giant Mickey Waffles…who knew such a thing existed? Not me, however, ah I don’t know, I think I prefer the smaller ones. This was okay but only warm not hot and not as good as the ones I’ve had a Chef Mickeys for breakfast. Total cost $60.50.



After letting breakfast sit for a couple of hours it was time to share two dole whip floats. $14.63. Shortly followed by a Mickey Ice-cream sandwich for DD $5.00.



We shared some chicken nachos and a soda a couple of hours before dinner to tide us over. $14.49. I’ve just seen I paid with a $100 note…ooo check me out splashing the cash lols!



Dinner was at Blue Bayou. Somewhere we’d all really wanted to eat. It was expensive but we knew that. I’m not sure I’m a fan of eating in dark restaurants where you can’t really see your food, however the atmosphere and theming were fab. Glad we’ve been but it’s a bit like CRT, good to go but I don’t feel the need to do it again.

DD had chicken, I had rib eye steak and DD had surf and turf. I wish I’d had the jambalaya as it sounded good and I had originally planned on having it. DH had crème brulee for pudding but the rest of us were too full. Total including tip $195. Shamefully, we didn't get any pictures of the food, I think it was because it was so dark!



Then it was time to head over to California Adventure for a few hours as we had a reservation at Ogas Cantina later that evening.

We picked up two coke grenades and outpost mix popcorn. Couldn’t quite decide if we liked the popcorn or not. We went for the blueberry/spicy mix. Total cost $18.82.



We also picked up some Meiloorun juice (this is so nice!). $5.92.

Last, but by no means least it was time for Ogas Cantina. By this time, we were all a bit tired as we’d already been in the parks for over twelve hours. However, this was all about the feels and the experience of being in Ogas Cantina! I had a slight panic when I couldn’t find the reservation details and the cast member couldn’t seem to find our details either. Fortunately, I managed to find an email with the reservation confirmation on it and everything worked out fine. From all the 'pre-stress events of stuff that happened before we went on holiday' I genuinely panicked and thought perhaps I'd booked the wrong day or turned up a day late. Thank goodness it all worked out, although I was ready to beg to be let in!

Obviously, things will have changed since then but at the time it was very busy queuing and inside. We basically were given a ‘slot’ at the bar and by that I mean there was enough space for one out of three of us to actually stand at the bar. When seating became available we were going to grab it but we were ushered straight back out again as that was for other people heading in. It was cool to be in there and hear the music but it wasn’t a comfortable experience as we could barely stand together let alone anything else. We got a couple of drinks and the Happabore sampler and a cookie. We ate some of it and then headed home. Total cost $66.



A whopping total for the day of $380.36!

Okay, so Blue Bayou was $195 of that, but that still makes it $185.36 for our $100 a day!

Spent so far:
Friday $100 (does include $50 laundry gifts to spend in Florida next August) That didn't work out too well for me!
Saturday $122.57
Sunday $119.08 is it time to do the walk of shame yet? Maybe I'll leave that for Monday's report!
Monday $183.09 did someone forget to tell the OP it was a $100 challenge? :d
Tuesday $139.15 ...trust me my 'budgeting' gets worse!
Wednesday $185.36 or $380.36 (all in)
__________________
WDW SSR - Aug 2015 Best Family Holiday Ever! WDW SSR & Texas - Aug 2017 Once in a Lifetime Holiday the Sequel! Disneyland California - Oct 2019 Well that escalated quickly yolo trip! Disney Magic Staycation Cruise - Aug 2021 Disneyland California - April 2022 Ain't no stopping us now. Seattle and Alaska cruise - July 2022 - wow! Disneyland California - Oct 2023 Just the two of us. WDW Boardwalk - Apr 2024 2+the adult child

Edited at 03:48 PM.
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Old 15 Feb 21, 09:56 PM  
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Thursday 31st October 2019 – Last day

I had a master plan of saving and using our ‘early park entry’ ticket for today. One last jaunt around California Adventures. We planned to eat breakfast in the park.

Little did I realise, until it was helpfully pointed out to me, that our ‘early entry’ ticket was only valid for the Disneyland park not California Adventures. I suppose that’s one way to make it to rope drop! We stood around for a good 40 minutes with the gathering crowds, waiting to get into the park. Not quite how I planned the start of our last day but it was fine. I’m normally much more organised than this but sometimes life just happens and also I hadn’t quite made the connection between Disneyland and the Disneyland park.

Anyway, breakfast was Ronto wraps, we finally managed to tempt DD to one (without sauce). They are so good, I think my favourite version is the breakfast Ronto wrap. Total $40.37.



Whilst walking around we bought a drink of vitamin water $4.75.

We shared a corn dog and a large drink before we headed out of the park for the last time. $15.39.



At the airport we picked up another drink and then a Chinese noodle bar type dinner. Didn’t take a photo, standard ha. $59.12



Total spend for the day $119.63. I mean how do you even over spend on a half day?!

Spent so far:
Friday $100 (does include $50 laundry gifts to spend in Florida next August) That didn't work out too well for me!
Saturday $122.57
Sunday $119.08 is it time to do the walk of shame yet? Maybe I'll leave that for Monday's report!
Monday $183.09 did someone forget to tell the OP it was a $100 challenge? :d
Tuesday $139.15 ...trust me my 'budgeting' gets worse!
Wednesday $185.36 or $380.36 (all in)
Thursday $119.63
__________________
WDW SSR - Aug 2015 Best Family Holiday Ever! WDW SSR & Texas - Aug 2017 Once in a Lifetime Holiday the Sequel! Disneyland California - Oct 2019 Well that escalated quickly yolo trip! Disney Magic Staycation Cruise - Aug 2021 Disneyland California - April 2022 Ain't no stopping us now. Seattle and Alaska cruise - July 2022 - wow! Disneyland California - Oct 2023 Just the two of us. WDW Boardwalk - Apr 2024 2+the adult child

Edited at 03:48 PM.
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Old 15 Feb 21, 10:09 PM  
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Summing up:

We had a great time and I’d definitely pop over to California for a short week again. The weather is perfect in October, some nights it got a little chilly but wow compared to spending three weeks in Florida in August it was cha-mazing! As it was Halloween we also had the bonus of seeing people dressed in amazing costumes when we were leaving the parks in the evening. I even managed to see a couple of Christmas decorations on our last day too!

So as I mentioned we’d definitely go again for another half term trip. We also still want to do some kind of Californian road trip and given all the changes at WDW we’re also considering going to Los Angeles for a bit longer and taking in a few more sights and parks including Disneyland instead of going to Florida.

I have to say it was a great get away and exactly what we needed at that moment in time. Genuinely #blessed Also, given that our amazing 2020 trip to Disney World, which included a Disney Cruise, was cancelled I’m so glad that we impulsively booked this trip.

Anyway, how did we do with our $100 a day spending budget? One word – badly!

All in – based on 7 days our budget for food was $700. Plus the $200 Blue Bayou meal.

What we actually spent *hangs head in shame* $968.88. Plus Blue Bayou = $1163.88.

So ultimately we went over by $268.88 but there’s probably (almost definitely) at least another $50 dollars spent on vitamin waters and dole whips! So basically an extra $50 a day!

I hope you found this trip report helpful and you enjoyed read it. I can only apologise for the missing photos of food and receipts! It’s been so nice to look back on our trip and re-read it; if you’re thinking of writing a trip report I’d definitely recommend it…although maybe don’t take quite so long to type it up like I did ha ha!

__________________
WDW SSR - Aug 2015 Best Family Holiday Ever! WDW SSR & Texas - Aug 2017 Once in a Lifetime Holiday the Sequel! Disneyland California - Oct 2019 Well that escalated quickly yolo trip! Disney Magic Staycation Cruise - Aug 2021 Disneyland California - April 2022 Ain't no stopping us now. Seattle and Alaska cruise - July 2022 - wow! Disneyland California - Oct 2023 Just the two of us. WDW Boardwalk - Apr 2024 2+the adult child

Edited at 03:50 PM.
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Old 15 Feb 21, 11:42 PM  
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CosmicGirl
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Well done for picking up where you left off. There's no need to feel bad about the delay, it's nice to see some food action on here after so long. I haven't even *started* our WDW Nov/Dec '19 food report

It's a shame your food budget turned out to be too low but on the other hand, anyone reading this will now know they have to scale up. So your spectacular failure will help others to do better. Some day. Soon. Right...?
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Old 31 Jul 21, 11:19 PM  
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@mossy51 just came across your report. Thanks for sharing and I really enjoyed reading it - probably a good thing I have only just found it rather than waiting nearly 2 years for updates 😛

Wonder if I should plan something similar for next year? Bread and gruel only trip report!
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Old 3 Jan 22, 06:06 PM  
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mossy51
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Originally Posted by Madfish View Post
@mossy51 just came across your report. Thanks for sharing and I really enjoyed reading it - probably a good thing I have only just found it rather than waiting nearly 2 years for updates 😛

Wonder if I should plan something similar for next year? Bread and gruel only trip report!
Ha ha, yeah...trip report with a satellite delay!

You should definitely do one...bread and gruel sounds great!

We're going again next month. I've budgetted $220 a day this time! Hopefully that will be a bit more realistic.
__________________
WDW SSR - Aug 2015 Best Family Holiday Ever! WDW SSR & Texas - Aug 2017 Once in a Lifetime Holiday the Sequel! Disneyland California - Oct 2019 Well that escalated quickly yolo trip! Disney Magic Staycation Cruise - Aug 2021 Disneyland California - April 2022 Ain't no stopping us now. Seattle and Alaska cruise - July 2022 - wow! Disneyland California - Oct 2023 Just the two of us. WDW Boardwalk - Apr 2024 2+the adult child
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