disney day date with the old lady

i'd been dying to ride the new incredicoaster that was part of the newly re-themed pixar pier at california adventure.  it was also an existing ride that had been given a face lift to incorporate an "incredibles" storyline, so it's not like i hadn't ever been on it.  but i also hadn't ridden the old "california screamin'" in a really long time - the bean, while having ridden it once, is still a little skittish about being turned upside down during a rollercoaster.  and i'll admit it...i really hate rides that start off by launching you at a high speed.  it's so sad that i've become such a wuss in my old age.

so on the monday after returning from vacation, the old lady and i dropped the bean off at camp and headed off for a mommy & me disney day trip.

since we'd arrived fairly early, it wasn't hard to secure a fastpass for the ride.  about an hour after we entered the park, our window opened and we headed on into the queue.

the old lady said that it was a little bit of a bummer to go through the fastpass line because most of the storyline for the ride is told during the regular waiting area for the standby line.  the wait at that point was already 45 minutes, so i figured i'd get the story another time, like maybe during one of our rope drop sundays.  the launch at the start of the ride wasn't as scary as i'd built it up in my head (or they slowed it down, who knows), and because it'd been so long since i'd ridden it it seemed like the first time all over again for me.  it was really fun, and we both giggled our way through it between screaming our heads off.

as we started heading from the pier in search of something to have for lunch, we noticed that the line for the new lamplight lounge wasn't too long.  this is the restaurant that used to be "ariel's grotto," with a outdoor bar in the back that's popular with all the guests who love the adult beverages.  we decided to put our names in and found that if we were willing to sit in the bar and not go downstairs where a full lunch menu was available, we could be seated right away.  and with plenty of time to have a drink and burn it off before leaving to pick up the bean from camp, we went for it.

the new menu was bright and colorful, with lots of fun cocktails to pick from.

i went with the "teaser," while she ordered "the last word."  both were refreshing and delicious.

and my fun fact for the day:  if you don't finish your drink before you have to leave (like to run to a ride for a fastpass window or something), they'll give you a clear plastic cup and you can walk around the park with it.  yay!

at the lucky fortune cookery in the wharf area, the old lady finally got to try "harryhausen's chilled noodle salad," which featured these fun iridescent noodles that changed color when she poured the sauce over them.

i opted for the chicken rice bowl on the kids' menu because i wasn't super hungry.  it was really good, healthy and just the right amount of food.

after browsing a bit through the shops, it was time to go.

as much as i miss the old california theming in the park, i have to admit that it's really fun to check out all of the colorful pixar decorations throughout the redesigned pier.  and now i can't wait to go back and ride the incredicoaster again.  yay for new disney stuff!

checking off more pixarfest food boxes

while the bean was away at camp, the old lady and i set aside thursday evening to head down to our favorite place to soak in a little disney magic and grab some dinner.

when we got into disneyland, the pixar play parade was going on.  most people were huddled along main street, while a handful of us were just trying to get through the area to get to other attractions.  we ended up at the tunnel just past the mad hatter store, which is always a fun shortcut to avoid all the traffic on main street especially during parades and fireworks.  we were among the last few folks to cross, so when we got across the street we turned around and realized we were in the perfect spot to watch the rest of the parade.

i kinda look like i'm pooping here.  heh.

when the parade was over we headed through the tunnel to find some grub.  this was the first time i'd been through that way in the daylight, not to mention without a zillion other people.  i love looking at the vintage attraction posters that are displayed on the walls.

when we emerged from the tunnel, we were greeted by a colorful bunch of balloons.

and then we realized that while we'd seen the end of the parade, it was still coming down main street. we ended up having to wait a few minutes before we could cross the street, and saw a few of our pixar friends again in the process.

our destination was refreshment corner, so that the old lady could try one of the pixarfest's special menu items:

i opted for one of the bacon mac & cheese dogs instead, since i hadn't had one in at least a couple of years or so.

it was really crowded that evening, and breezy and chilly (for so cal, anyway) to boot.  we walked around a bit and then decided to take a ride on the mark twain steamboat.  as it traveled through the rivers of america, we got a glimpse of the new star wars-themed "galaxy's edge" land.

we decided to stop at plaza inn to grab some dessert before heading home.  this is the pixar lemon-raspberry cake:  lemon, blue vanilla and red velvet cake layered with raspberry puree and cream cheese frosting, and that familiar pixar ball done in white chocolate on top.  it was really good, and perfect for sharing.

on our way out, we walked through downtown disney to browse in the new disney dress shop and home store.  there's lots of super fun merchandise in there, and we giggled at this mug that the old lady couldn't help but model for me.

there's still lots of pixarfest food and snacks for us to sample, so we're planning on hitting up the parks a lot between now and september 3rd.  nothing like eating our way through all the disney special events!

a perfect pixarfest day

we decided to hit up pixarfest again on a sunday morning for rope drop.  it's our favorite way to visit the 'land, and even though it's an early morning it always ends up being totally worth it.  we were up and out of the house by 6:45, and with zero traffic we were pulling into a sweet parking spot in no time.  when we got to the main gate the lines weren't too terrible yet, and the turnstiles opened a few minutes later.

because we'd taken advantage of maxpass again, we had time to meander slowly down main street and take a nice sunday morning stroll.  we even had time to catch pluto for a photo op:

and then we decided this was a nice spot to take a couple more shots.

with our fastpass for space mountain secured on the app, we walked right onto star tours for our first ride.

one of the nicest things about arriving so early is this - nice wide open spaces with no crowds to fight through as we walked from one ride to the next.

matterhorn!

when you hand your kids your phone to take pictures, you later find gems like this.

the restaurant next to space mountain has been temporarily pixar-fied into pizza planet from toy story.  we made a mental note to come back here for lunch later.

space mountain!

next up, the wildest ride in the wilderness!

after that, we managed to ride the indiana jones ride without it breaking down on us again.  yay!  and then as we walked past the castle we came across one of the horse drawn trolleys, sitting there empty and waiting for passengers.  although we didn't need to go back down main street, we got on anyway because we could.

when we got off, i managed to sneak up to the horse to say hello.  i was so close to him that i could feel him breathing on my neck, and i snapped this really fast and stepped away.

the bean wanted to get a similar shot, but the cast member caught sight of her and told her she was too close.  oops.  sorry, kid.  to make up for it, she ran into the disneyland fire department building to climb on the fire truck and pretend to ride down the pole.

since we'd already gotten on all of the rides we love the most (and it was still not quite 10:00!), we decided to get our next fastpass across the way in california adventure.  since we had some time to kill, we went into the theater in the hollywood studios area to watch a collection of pixar shorts.  "lava" always makes me cry, because i'm a sap like that.

we stopped in at cars land to pick up some snacks, and the old lady and her special friend opted for the champions corn cup - fresh corn, spicy mayonnaise, cotija cheese, chili-lime spice and fresh lime.

this is doc's wild grape tonic - sprite, grape syrup, and a grape-flavored foam topper.  it was pretty tasty.

and then we shared an old favorite -dill pickle-flavored popcorn.

over at cocina cucamonga, the old lady stood in line to pick up one of the new coco-themed tres leches parfaits - vanilla cake layered with caramel and rum cream and topped with a white chocolate disc featuring miguel, the dog from the movie.  this was easily our favorite new item of the day.

inside blue sky cellar, we got a sneak peek at what pixar pier will look like when it's unveiled this summer.

on our way to redeem our fastpass for the guardians ride, we ran into an old friend.

and then we walked through bug's land, which is scheduled to close later this summer to be transformed into some sort of marvel-themed area.  i'm glad we'll get one more summer to run in and play in the water areas.  we used to love coming here just for that.

i always love seeing this little guy as we wait in the fastpass queue for the ride.

one more fastpass before lunch:

and then we went back to disneyland to get some pizza planet grub.  this was the new cheeseburger pizza:  a sesame-seed crust with american and cheddar cheese, caramelized onions, diced tomato and a burger patty with ketchup, mustard and pizza sauce plus a special burger sauce and pickle.

the green miso pesto pasta was simple but tasty.  the pasta is tossed in a spinach miso sauce and topped with bacon, peas and parmesan.

our alien macaron came with a broken antenna.  boooooo.  it was filled with a blackberry-lemon curd...not my favorite.  but it sure was cute.

speaking of aliens, they were hovering right above us.  ooooooooo.

and the posters are all alien-themed.  this was my favorite.

we stopped at the candy palace for a few last to-go treats, and watched as the candymakers worked on some fresh rocky road treats using housemade marshmallows.

all in all, another perfect disneyland day with the winning combo of maxpass and rope drop.  by the time we left around 3, the place was jammed.  we'd gotten to ride everything we wanted, eaten a lot of great stuff, and avoided crowds.  does it get any better than that?  i think not.