Chapter 68
Eating Disney Food (and My Words)

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(Originally posted September 29, 2013)

After our success on Buzz Lightyear, we grabbed Fastpasses for Space Mountain before heading out of Tomorrowland.

As we passed the castle, we saw that the Fairy Godmother was meeting and greeting in Snow White’s grotto, so we went over there to take some pictures.

This particular “friend” of the Fairy Godmother was the same one we had met a year and a half before at Plaza Inn. We remembered because she resembles one of Tracy’s aunts.

Hanging out by the castle, I decided to take a few pictures of it because I feel like sometimes we find ourselves taking the beautiful “weenie” for granted.

We were ready for a snack, so we went to the Refreshment Corner and bought a Mickey Pretzel with cheese.

Those little beauties are always endlessly delicious.

After we had eaten our pretzel, we watched some of the Disneyland Ducks just enjoying their lives for a while.

Walking up toward the castle, we realized that the first Disneyland Ducklings of the season had hatched and were swimming around in the moat.

There were so many of them and they were SO adorable!

Going into Fantasyland, we rode Snow White and Casey Jr. Our new favorite part of riding Casey was yelling “woo hoo” along with the train every time he says it. Try it sometime. It’s fun. Next we went over to “it’s a small world,” and Tracy noticed that there was a bird who must have made his nest inside the dolphin topiary because he kept going in and out through its eye.

Ready for dinner, we made the decision to try a food that hadn’t been on our radar for many years—Disney pizza. After thinking it was mediocre (at best) when we had eaten it at Pinnochio’s Village Haus in WDW about five years ago, we had never bothered to try the generic pizza again. Then, upon reading several of the Frump reports in which they raved about the pizza, we got the urge to give it another chance. We walked over to Village Haus.

This was one of the first times we had set foot inside this particular restaurant, and I really enjoyed the décor.

We ordered a simple Pepperoni Pizza to split.

I have to say that I retract our original dislike of the Disney pizza. It was actually really good! I mean, we weren’t expecting high-quality pizza like from Via Napoli, but I would say the Disney pizzas are better than most of the big chains like Dominos, Pizza Hut, etc. We decided it would go back on the list of good potential cheap dinners in the parks.

While we ate, we had fun watching this little bird who seemed to have lost his tail. We may have fed him a pizza crumb, which he enjoyed.

Heading out from Disneyland, the castle looked particularly pretty as the sun was starting to set.

We went back to the car to get sweatshirts before returning to DCA. First, we went back to Paradise Pier and rode Toy Story Mania. We tried out the tips we had gotten from the Internet, and this time, we BOTH got the kitty prize for the first time!

We stuck around Paradise Pier to ride Jumpin’ Jellyfish, and then (for some reason) we thought we should give the Golden Zephyr another chance. This time, we decided for once and for all that the ride makes us nauseous and, it has been STRICKEN from the list!

Walking over to Soarin’ Over California, we rode next to a group of particularly precocious young children. As we were flying over the river rafting scene, one of them turned to the other and said, “I love this part because I can try to kick the people into the water.” With that, she swung her foot out as though trying to make contact with the rafters on the screen. Thus, a new tradition was born for when we ride Soarin’. Now Tracy and I take every opportunity we can to try to kick the people we are flying over. It has been added to our existing tradition of yelling “NEW YORK CITY” when we fly over L.A. (you can see my WDW trip report for an explanation of that one).

Hopping back to Disneyland, we rode the Jungle Cruise (and had a really good skipper), then went on Indiana Jones. We crossed over to Tomorrowland while the fireworks were starting, so we stopped to watch for a few minutes. Eventually getting across the park, we rode Space Mountain.

We topped off the night with a ride on Star Tours, and we got the Naboo ending for the second time ever. This would be part of a trend stating that now that we had been to Naboo, we would go there on every ride for the foreseeable future. Back on Earth, we made our way to the exit and headed home after a long and successful day in both parks.

The next day didn’t go quite as well. We arrived in the mid-afternoon and went to DCA. We hurried back to the Animation Academy knowing it was about to start. We still didn’t get to draw the Cheshire Cat, but we did draw Minnie.

Next, since Tracy had been wanting to ride Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree again, we walked over to Cars Land. I wasn’t planning on riding because it had hurt my neck the last time, but it looked like so much fun while we waited that I decided to go at the last minute. I tried to hold onto the bar as best I could to prevent as much whiplash as possible, but my neck still ended up pretty sore by the end. Tracy wasn’t thrilled with how she felt either, so we realized we might officially be too old for that ride.

Necks still smarting, we went to Paradise Pier and rode Toy Story Mania. In spite of all of our tips and tricks, we both still just got beavers.

We hopped to Disneyland and were thinking about getting a snack, but I realized I wasn’t feeling well and just needed to go home instead. Heading back to the parking structure after a short day, we vowed that we would plan better the next day.

Arriving on Friday (after both of us had gotten haircuts earlier in the day), we went to Disneyland and realized that it had been overrun with cheerleaders. We had read on Lines that this was a cheer competition weekend, and they weren’t kidding.

We started out riding the Haunted Mansion and then realized we were ready for dinner. We had wanted to try out the Caprese Sandwich at Jolly Holiday Bakery Cafe for a while now, and this seemed like the perfect opportunity.

It was really delicious! Definitely one of the best sandwiches I’ve had in the parks. I would highly recommend the entrée, and those chips are homemade as well, which makes them delicious too. All around, we were happy with our meal choice.

After eating, we went over to Fantasy Faire to say hello to Figaro.

One of our favorite things about this new area is the background music loop. They play several classic songs from the Disney Princess movies in a “renaissance style” using mostly classical guitar. I could literally listen to it all day, and I wish I could find a recording of the whole loop somewhere online.

Next, we went to Westward Ho in Frontierland and Tracy decided to buy a purse that she could designate as her “Disney bag.” Up until now, I had just been wearing the fanny pack each time we came to the parks and Tracy had been giving me her ID, etc. to hold. But now, she wanted somewhere to store a few things for herself. This was the one she decided on.

She’s been really happy with it ever since.

We went back to the car to get our jackets, and when we returned to Disneyland, we decided that we wanted to go try to see Rapunzel. Unfortunately, she had already gone in for the day, so she remains the one princess we’ve yet to ever meet.

Wandering through Big Thunder Trail, we found that Big Thunder Ranch was already closed, unfortunately. Luckily, I had a keen eye out as we kept walking, and I spotted this Disneyland Cat lording over one of the mineshafts.

Don’t see him? Here’s a closeup.

We were animatedly watching the kitty and taking pictures for several minutes, but everyone else around us just walked by without noticing. I swear, most people who don’t believe in the cats just aren’t able to see what’s right in front of them.

All the time we were at Disneyland this afternoon, I really wanted to ride Pirates, but the standby line was over 20 minutes and the GAC line kept stretching out the back door so I had to give up. Instead we rode the Jungle Cruise and had a VERY perky skipper.

Done with the Disneyland crowds for now, we hopped over to DCA. We checked the Animation Academy board (as had become our custom), and this time, we hadn’t yet missed the Cheshire Cat session! We made a note as to when we needed to come back, and then we walked to Cars Land and got GAC return passes for Radiator Springs Racers.

Heading to Paradise Pier, we rode Jumpin’ Jellyfish and Mickey’s Fun Wheel before going to Toy Story. Tracy and I both got kitties this time (Tracy won with the score on the left).

As we rode past the screen, Tracy not only got best in the vehicle but also “best this hour.”

I thought both of our scores were a little low to really be in the best of the hour category, so I casually asked Tracy, “What, did this hour just start or something?” Right after I said it, I realized it had sounded much meaner than I meant it to come across, but the damage was done. Now Tracy will never let me live my comment down whenever I do well on Toy Story.

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