A Heat Wave, some Blips, and some Roundabout Waze: A First Time DLR/CA Trip Report 8/25-9/3! (UPDATED AND CONCLUDED 11/22)

[BroadwayHermione5]

And now the part you’ve been waiting for…..



OUR FIRST DLR PARK DAY!


And we are starting with the park that started it all: Disneyland!

We are so excited! My mom hasn’t been since she was a teen and DCA was a parking lot (one of my friends visited prior to DCA and had a wonderful discussion regarding trams and parking lots lol). We are all very excited! Can’t wait to get our celebratory (and for me and my dad our first time) pins!

I will also be doing my first Disney bound ever this day! One of my favorite films and characters is Mary Poppins. I adore Dame Julie Andrews as a performer, and when I was 4 at WDW I was afraid of every character (even the face characters!) until good old Mary calmed me down in EPCOT. I publicly bawled my way through Mary Poppins Returns at my local movie theatre alongside my best friend, and Saving Mr. Banks just breaks my heart thinking about it. I’ve also seen numerous friends and colleagues in productions throughout the years and even worked on the production that helped MTI shape the Junior and kids edition of the stage script for schools. So safe to say this character means a lot to me.

A couple of Christmas Ed ago I was gifted ears from Etsy that are her infamous white and red dress. I was just going to wear them with a Disney top and shorts, but then as mentioned in a previous comment, I spotted a white dress on Torrid that could pass for a version of hers. I have a red sash belt from a jumpsuit of mine. I own enough variations of red lipstick and brings enough Bobbi pins (actor problems lol). I could totally make this work. What would make it even better is if I get to meet her roaming around, but I will settle for photos in front of Jolly Holiday or the carousel (once again Saving Mr. Banks has a hold on me and that scene with Travers and Walt on the carousel omg I’m crying I really need to rewatch this and bawl my eyes out prior to the trip!)

We do have park hoppers and I do want to hop and maybe get Cars Land in at night at DCA. However my father has one request and that is to see the lowering of the flag so we are hoping to do that in this day as well.

We are still attempting Blue Bayou reservations though I don’t think that will happen.

Anyone has any genie plus tips and tricks we would greatly appreciate it!


Thanks and talk to you all soon!

BH5

 

[keishashadow]

Hi-tagging along after bumping into you on Carole’s PTR. Lucky you, what an interesting life you lead, how many people can say they love the work they do?

We are close enough to NYC that theater trips are usually an annual event for fans, although I haven’t been for years. Was able to snag harry styles tix (talk about a game of chance there with Ticketmaster lol) & wicked tix for GD & her mom coming up soon.

we love our rare trips to the west coast, sounds as tho you have a great one planned! glad to read when people mention they are going to venture ‘offsite’ both in LAX & MCO areas.

We do enjoy Knotts (their haunt event was epic the one time we caught it). Surprised tho so many WDW folks are adamant they wouldn’t be caught dead there. My fav was the mine train dark ride, not sure if it’s still in operation.

Approximately one hour with no traffic. Pray for us!

I’ll pull out my rosary lol. no idea how genie+ works at DL, I loved their old maxpass system. Not a fan at WDW.

DH has kept his CDL intact for decades just for giggles…he was so glad I talked him out of renting a car in that area after seeing the traffic. We did well using uber black there. On a positive note, you will have enough people to use the special, speedier lane.

We are still attempting Blue Bayou reservations though I don’t think that will happen.

keep trying, including day of, it’s our favorite dining experience there.

 

[Raeven]

BroadwayHermione5 here! Been on the boards for a while but only started realizing the value of PTR's and trip reports over the past year.

Hey I just found your PTR and I'm following along! We went to DL & San Diego in 2019 so maybe I can help if you have any questions, I don't know how much help I'll be though since I know a lot changed during the pandemic.

we did 3 day park hoppers to DLR with photopass and genie plus added on (which honestly wdw should've kept/incorporated that into their genie plus strategy. I am all for figuring out ways to fix the system and not have an overload of things but then combine it with photopass).

I agree! Photopass should absolutely be included in WDW's Genie+.

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

Hi-tagging along after bumping into you on Carole’s PTR. Lucky you, what an interesting life you lead, how many people can say they love the work they do?

We are close enough to NYC that theater trips are usually an annual event for fans, although I haven’t been for years. Was able to snag harry styles tix (talk about a game of chance there with Ticketmaster lol) & wicked tix for GD & her mom coming up soon.

we love our rare trips to the west coast, sounds as tho you have a great one planned! glad to read when people mention they are going to venture ‘offsite’ both in LAX & MCO areas.

We do enjoy Knotts (their haunt event was epic the one time we caught it). Surprised tho so many WDW folks are adamant they wouldn’t be caught dead there. My fav was the mine train dark ride, not sure if it’s still in operation.


I’ll pull out my rosary lol. no idea how genie+ works at DL, I loved their old maxpass system. Not a fan at WDW.

DH has kept his CDL intact for decades just for giggles…he was so glad I talked him out of renting a car in that area after seeing the traffic. We did well using uber black there. On a positive note, you will have enough people to use the special, speedier lane.

keep trying, including day of, it’s our favorite dining experience there.

Happy to see someone found me from Carole's post!

It is a very chaotic life but I do enjoy it! This upcoming Broadway Season has so much coming in I am gonna be budgeting so hard lol! ( and lucky duck getting HS tix!)

We very rarely venture offsite in Orlando (unless its to Universal-while we didn't enjoy SW the last time we do love BG and want to try Discovery Cove!) We are so excited to be able. to do things. While we were thinking Uber for a while, it was cheaper to rent a car and use the coin jar money for gas!

One of my best friends is from Ohio-while he has never been to Knotts, Cedar Point is owned by the same company so he said we will have a great time!

Gotta love the HOV lanes! They are godsends when we head to Williamsburg, VA! Traffic everywhere lately is insane (in CT both 95 and the Merritt are whole messes of yikes-684 is where its at right now!)

I always keep trying-its my specialty (I once got 8 people for BOG dinner about 2 weeks prior to the trip!) so hopefully fingers crossed!

Thanks for joining along!

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

Hey I just found your PTR and I'm following along! We went to DL & San Diego in 2019 so maybe I can help if you have any questions, I don't know how much help I'll be though since I know a lot changed during the pandemic.

I agree! Photopass should absolutely be included in WDW's Genie+.

Hi-thanks for joining along! We are about to hit a single digit countdown so I am sure I will have questions!

and yes omg photopass and genie plus should be connected in WDW. I understand making genie plus day to day as well as keeping rides on genie plus are making some peoples lives easier down there but they should have anticipated the demand!

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

Hey I just found your PTR and I'm following along! We went to DL & San Diego in 2019 so maybe I can help if you have any questions, I don't know how much help I'll be though since I know a lot changed during the pandemic.

I agree! Photopass should absolutely be included in WDW's Genie+.

Raeven I am an idiot I just realized this was you!!!!!



Forgive me been a couple crazy days!

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

Alright everyone-we are in the single digit countdown!!!!!!!


Which leads to the Wednesday of our trip which is once again Disney and I have DCA as our first park of today.


We are just excited to go! And thankful we have genie plus because as mentioned previously we are huge Monsters Inc/University fans and between that and the Nightmare before Xmas themed HM we are gonna be bolting on Friday lololol.

I’m really excited to see Avengers Campus, and as a fan of Mythbusters I know I will cry seeing that Spiderman animatronic that the late Grant Imahara helped build.

(Also while I love elotè, I’m really hoping the pretzel goes back to Buffalo Chicken at Pyms!)

And that’s it for our Wednesday! Only a couple more days to PTR and then it’s the final countdown!


BH5

 

[Raeven]

.

 

[keishashadow]

Cedar Point is owned by the same company so he said we will have a great time!

That is one scary coaster park indeed.

Just a few more days for you!

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

That is one scary coaster park indeed.

Just a few more days for you!

Yep-still a while to go though at the same time (single digits but not less than 5 if that makes sense lol)

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

Lol yes it’s me! You’re so close!!

So close! Still in the single digits though. Got some events and other things to do (like replace my phone battery lol)

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

WE ARE GETTING CLOSER!

Still in the single digits but more than 5 days if that makes sense!

Got a lot to do before then-you want to know what i should've done a long time ago but didn't-put my photos and videos onto a flash drive from my trip last year....this has been my morning lololol!

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

I AM BACK!

It’s getting closer and closer to crunch time!

My apologies for the delay-lots of chaos the past couple of days (todays chaos? I go to a car wash that has everything: the quick you sit in your car while it washes outside which I discovered today is probably the reason why I hate not being able to see where rides go, then the fancy you get out, and a section of vacuum area dedicated to humans just looking for a vacuum. Well as soon as yours truly got into line with a few others a car got stuck due to driver error in the fancy get out one and therefore caused chaos. Thankfully I made it through the you sit in your car one and got out really quick). It’s also my dogs birthday so it’s been celebrations and chaos galore!


Continuing on:

The next Thursday of our trip is Knotts! As mentioned previously, our Knotts tickets are a specialty weekday ticket, so we might switch this up and go Monday!

We are excited for Knotts between the history, the food, the variation in rides. It seems almost to me like it’s going to be in line with some of the bigger theme parks in my strand I’m super excited!

Might end up combining final day and departure day on my next post!

Thanks as always for coming along!


BH5

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

I’m back!!!!!

And I for my life need to find a small rollable hard cases carryon for future trips! The duffel bag and I are fighting again……



And this is it! The last part of the PTR…..since I’m gonna combine final day and departure day!

We are getting very excited and it’s also every chaotic with getting everything done!


Our last full day will be at DLR! Reservation starts in Disneyland and we will def go back and forth between the HM overlay and monsters Inc ride debuting this last day.

I did see that some Halloween decor is up, but as much as I worship the holiday, I’m happy we won’t be getting bombarded with Halloween stuff (Cars Land looks adorable with what I’ve seen so far).

Then the next day we depart! Not as early as our trip going to the west coast, but early enough to return the rental car. We have another layover on the way home that is long so we might eat in the airport there. And then home…..most likely landing just before midnight thanks time zones!



Thank you all for following along! Any suggestions and tips will be greatly appreciated! And most importantly I can’t wait to turn this into a Currently here and Trip Report!


Have a great rest of your weekend!

BH5

 

[Raeven]

And I for my life need to find a small rollable hard cases carryon for future trips! The duffel bag and I are fighting again……

I had the same experience with bringing a duffel bag on trips My back and shoulders were so sore after carrying it through the airport that I bought a rolling bag.

Have great trip! Can't wait to read the TR!

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

I had the same experience with bringing a duffel bag on trips My back and shoulders were so sore after carrying it through the airport that I bought a rolling bag.

Have great trip! Can't wait to read the TR!

We have *one* rolling tiny suitcase-already been designated for shoes and toiletries and maybe our extra bags that we will bring like our backpacks and stuff (WB is a little strict-and rightfully so- so we found the water bottle/ wallet combos!).


Curse you Vera Bradley for your duffle bags not being big enough but being nice enough at the same time ugh!

I discovered iFly but those seem better suited for international travel but we need to figure this out before our land and Sea next fall!

Thank you! I've decided I will do a little bit of current updates but I would rather wait and reveal everything once I get back!



and now back to packing!

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

As promised, I am letting you all know we are HERE safely! Jet lag is real! Thank you all for following along! Idk if I will do up to date things (I might do it on other posts that I promised to check out certain things for!) but I hope you all enjoy this journey once it turns into an actual trip report!


Edited for spelling because again jet lag is real! Lol

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

Sitting here waiting in the airport reminiscing about the great trip we had even with the mild blips (can’t you tell we loved avengers campus!)


Can’t wait to turn this into a Trip report-still working on a title lol.

Have a great holiday weekend all!

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

And we have a title!


Hope to get to reporting soon!

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

Hi all!

BroadwayHermione5 here! I am so excited to officially start this trip report! I would’ve started it over the weekend, but between jet lag and the holiday and laundry (so much laundry) and work and a bagillion other things I would start typing this up a bagillion times and have to stop!

You might be wondering why I titled it the way I did. I based it like the first few seasons on Young Sheldon where they would title the article off of three things (it’s been down to two since the pandemic). Well the first part is obvious: we hit the heat wave. Idk how my friends who live out there are doing it. The second is some blips. Besides the obvious love for Avengers Campus, we had some not so great experiences. Some were isolated and others on us (never on the fault of any CM/TM or employee), some were learning experiences (hello getting to the lower lot in USH if you are an ECV/Wheelchair user) and others were just we liked them but never again unless we were in need of something to do. The third is in regards to the Waze app. Look: I HATE Waze. It has a few good things and honestly if I know the area I will use it (for example Williamsburg, VA we know like the back of our hands, Waze is better there). I prefer Google Maps all the way (Apple Maps just annoys me). But my dad is a huge supporter of Waze, and eventually discovered why I don’t like using it because we wound up off the highway and in random areas (not that the areas weren’t bad, but when you don’t know where you are it can be scary). The only plus to Waze was discovering how many stoplights are actually in California and if accidents were causing delays.


Our trip was from Thursday August 25th through Saturday September 3rd. We had a wonderful time and definitely want to return with family (albeit not leaving on a Thursday because we realized what we like and don’t like).

I hope you enjoy this trip report as much as I enjoy reminiscing about it!


BH5