Happy 55th Birthday Disneyland!!!! Another Photo Heavy Trip Report! July 15-19

[DisneyFan86]

Hello and welcome to another photo filled trip report! It was another fun trip that was filled with celebration, awe, a little sadness, and extreme heat! Let's get started shall we....

July 15: At around 3am, we start our journey from home for a 6 hour drive to the DLR! By 6 or 7am, we reached the Grapevine on I-5!


Pyramid Lake



I've never been to Magic Mountain. One of these days, I'll stop by to check it out.




By 9am, we arrive at out hotel and head off to DL!







Our first stop was at City Hall to pick up our buttons



Afterwards, we headed to Great Moments With Mr. Lincoln











Next, we headed over to the Jungle Cruise. Normally, I don't really get into the jokes and what not from some of the skippers but the skipper we had was genuinely funny. I think his name is Josh but I can't really remember.












Next, we headed for Indiana Jones, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Haunted Mansion







Afterwards, my Mom took a little break while I went on Mark Twain Riverboat! It was nice to see her running again after being under refurb on my last trip.












Right before the Indian Village, I noticed something a little off hiding behind the trees. Though it's hard to see in this picture, I caught Flotsam and Jetsam sleeping in the back.









After that, we headed onto Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Pinocchio's Daring Journey, Snow White's Scary Adventure, Peter Pan's Flight, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, Alice In Wonderland, and my favorite in Tomorrowland Captain EO.





After we changed the world, we headed to Star Tours for our final "first" flights. As much as I have gone on this ride for as long as I can remember, I've never been in this part of the queue.



IT'S A TRAP!!!!



After passing the Moon of Endor, into comets, and battling the empire it was time to head over to DCA for our WOC dinner. We still had enough time to ride my Mom's favorite ride: Toy Story Midway Mania!






Next, we headed to Ariel's Grotto for our dinner. This was by far the best dinner I have ever had at the DLR!!! We both had the Santa Maria Tri Tip and it was absolutely delicious! I didn't really have any of the appetizers as I'm a picky eater and didn't see anything I would've liked. The dessert was really good although the chocolate was a little too rich for my taste. I also had the Blueberry Martini (I think that was what it was called) with the light-up ice cube which was pretty good. Overall, it was worth the money just for the tri tip.







After dinner, we headed back to the hotel to drop off some merch we bought and took a quick break before heading back to DCA for WOC.







Around 8pm, the WOC pre-show began. I really like how they have the characters lit up with lights. We were team Genie but I think Mike Wazowski
won the competition.








After the pre-show, the excitement was building for World Of Color. I was looking forward to seeing this show since it was announced, despite what I've heard about the show. Then, the lights went out all over Paradise Pier....it was show time!!!!

























I thought the show was absolutely amazing! It does lack somewhat of a story but it was still amazing none the less. My favorite sequences were the Buzz Lightyear vs. Emperor Zurg and the Villians sequence (especially the fire finale after Chernabog).

After the show, we headed over to GlowFest to see what all the rave is about!











Personally, I enjoyed GlowFest. I will admit though that there were a few people who may have had a little too much to drink (I admit it, I was one of them but I really wanted to get those light-up martini glasses to go with my light-up ice cube!) but it wasn't something that caused any problems with other guests and the CMs. It's nice for the young adults.

And that is it for day 1. Overall, it was a fantastic start on what would become a wonderful trip. I believe that WOC was worth the wait and the dinner package was more than worth the money. Hopefully, I'll have day 2 up sometime tomorrow. Hope you enjoy the pictures!

[ScottG]

Epic TR, keep up the good work!

[loveforfamily]

Great trip report....thanks for posting...i absolutely loved all your pictures

[Hayley B]

Great and beautiful pictures. Thanks for sharing with us.

[DisneyFan86]

Sorry for the delay...got a little sidetracked.

Day 2: After an exhausting first day, we decided to start off the day little slow so we went into DCA and went to see It's Tough To Be A Bug.










After the show, we explored Flik's Fun Fair. This is only my second time going through here (the first being a few months ago) and I really like the theming here. It's very creative and well done to make you think that you are as small as a bug. Maybe on the next trip, I'll actually go on some of the attractions here.














Next, we headed to Blue Sky Cellar to get a sneak peek at The Little Mermaid and some of the other additions coming to DCA.












After that, we headed to Toy Story Midway Mania!





As always, I won Even got best in vehicle!




At this point, my Mom wanted to take a quick break so I headed for Silly Symphony Swings!



I find it amazing how just changing the theming can make a difference in a ride. Much better than the Orange Stinger theme (plus it's based on my all time favorite Mickey Mouse cartoon)

Next, we headed to Soarin Over California! As always, I had to get a picture of Grizzly Peak whenever I walk by!



After Soarin, we left DCA to Disneyland and went through the Disney Gallery and took a ride around the park on the Disneyland Railroad.





This was our train.




After our trip around the original Magic Kingdom, we were a little hungry so we went back into DCA for our WOC picnic!




My Mom had the Taste Of Asia picnic while I had the Lunchbox Classic (I'm kinda on a diet....at least trying to stay on a diet )





After a quck lunch, we headed back to Disneyland and went straight to It's A Small World.


















Next, we headed into Toontown!








Afterwards, we headed for Indiana Jones!







After Indy, we did a little shopping and went back to the hotel to drop off some more merch and grabbed my tri-pod before we headed back into DCA for WOC!!! When we get to Paradise Park, we thought we were in blue sections but as soon as the pre show started, we were Team Tigger.





Didn't take anymore pics because I wanted to see the show without looking through the lens this time. After WOC, we went to Glowfest to get some more pics. This time, I made sure I brought an extra memory card since I filled it up the night before.















As I said in my last trip report, I love the DLR when it's lit up a night. To me, it takes on a different life at night with all the lights and neon and what not. So after checking out Glowfest I spent the rest of the night taking night shots from DCA to Disneyland!











I figured that I might as well go into Sleeping Beauty's Castle while I was here.







And more night shots!!
















And that is it for Day 2! I'll try to have Day 3 up within the next few days. Hope you all enjoy the pics!

[Treasure]

Nice TR thus far.....really nice evening pics....Thanks for posting.

[kelly]

Wonderful TR... THe pictures are amazing

[DisneyFan86]

Wow...this is gonna be a very long 1st page....

Day 3: Today is the big day, Disneyland's 55th Anniversary!!!! I meant to start the day by getting to the gates by 7am but I ended up waking up at 7! I ended up being at the gates at 8 and as I walked in, I noticed two large lines: one for the Disney Gallery for the 55th merch and artist signings (which is one of the reasons why we came here) and one for the Mad Hatter shop for the 55th Anniversary Mickey Ear hats. To make a long story short, I chose to get in line for hats that I could've got at any time during the day and missed out on the Disney Gallery merch .

Afterwards, I went on a mission to find the 55th Anniversary AP pins. After seeing the line at the Buzz Lightyear shop, I thought that maybe PT Flea would have it so I got in line to get inside DCA. By the time DCA opened, my Mom had caught up to me (she was still kinda sleeping when I left). I get to PT Flea and they tell me that they don't have the AP pins. A guy in front of us told us that they have it at the BLAB shop. To make this story a little short, I went to both BLAB shop and the Frontierland pin shop and both ran out and I ended up only getting the Tinkerbell 55th Anniversary pin in Downtown Disney (if anybody had the 55th AP pin, I'm willing to buy/trade for it lol).

After the somewhat epic fail, we went back to the hotel to bring back some of the merch we got and went to breakfast. Then, we headed back into DL and missed out on the little celebration at the bottom of the Main Street station (3rd fail). We were heading over to the Enchanted Tiki Room when this caught my attention.



All the screens were showing the same footage at different scenes. It was amazing to see DL when it first opened (and seeing Ronald Reagan years before becoming our 40th President).

After the little detour, we went on Enchanted Tiki Room and the Jungle Cruise.



Next, we went on IJA. We nearly got to the loading station at the end of the ride till it broke down. They emptied the car in front of us but told us that we would be moving shortly. Then a maintenance CM walked by and shut down our car.




After a while, the maintenance CM came back and activated the cars again. I have to give the Imagineers a lot of credit when coming up with ideas on attractions. After the CM activated the car, it made sounds as if the car is starting up and idles for a few seconds. Afterwards, we headed to Pirates and made a first time stop for a mint julep.



I've never had one of these before and now, I can't stop drinking them. Next, we headed to Haunted Mansion.





Next, I went on Splash Mountain while my Mom took a quick break. Afterwards, we headed over to Main Street to sing Happy Birthday!





After singing Happy Birthday, a bunch of characters started coming out.





After the little "surprise", we went into DCA to go see Aladdin!
























Next, we went to see Muppet Vision 3D and went on Monster's Inc.!













Then, we went to Paradise Pier for Toy Story Midway Mania! I won again...



And got best in vehicle again!



Afterwards, we went back into DL and finished the rest of the night on Star Tours, Captain EO, and Fantasmic!






After Fantasmic! we ended the night with some shopping.

Sometime later in the day, I should have the final update up.

[cadjoe321]

Great pics

[Disneycool]

Awesome Pics

[DisneyFan86]

Again, sorry for the delay. Here's the final update!!

Day 4: We started the day pretty late around noon since we were still a little tired from last night. We get to DCA around noon and stopped at Soarin' to get fastpasses. We then went on Grizzly River Run!






Next, we headed over to Paradise Pier to go on Toy Story Midway Mania and Screamin' California!






I won again and got best in vehicle!




Next, we head over to Soarin' and then to the Trattoria for our WOC Dinner! I had the Seafood Pasta while my Mom had the New York Roast. The food was pretty decent though I much prefer Ariel's Grotto. However, the dessert was very delicious.





After the dinner, we did a little pin shopping before heading back into DL to ride Star Tours for the last time. After our last "first" flight, we were on our way to Haunted Mansion and Pirates till we were blocked for the little Voluntears "parade".












Next, it was off to Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean!




Afterwards, we head back into DCA for WOC. But before we head over there, we watched the dancers at Sunshine Plaza!







Then, it was on our way to Paradise Park for WOC!




For some who may or may not know, there was a little glitch when they started WOC on this night. It was very minor and was delayed for a few minutes for them to reset everything.













After WOC, we headed for Downtown Disney to do some shopping before heading back into the hotel.












Overall, it was an amazing trip with World Of Color and Glowfest while at the same time, a little sad to see Star Tours go. It's gonna be different not going on Star Tours on our next trip. I hope you all enjoyed this Trip Report.

[Alice in Wonderland]

Seriously, best TR ever! I've never seen so many pictures! (: Amazing job.

[royaldisneyfan]

Fantastic shots DisneyFan!



Love ^^this shot especially! Very nice work!

[CaptainEO,ATIS]

Yay, Captain EO. And goodbye Star Tours. One ride opens and one closes. And they are both from the same year.