New Year's is over, kids are back in school, it's a great time to visit DisneySea. We're stuck between two events at the moment with nothing special going on but sneak peeks at the two spring events: Pixar Playtime and Duffy's Heartwarming Days. Both events start up on the 11th (two days from now).
There were very mixed opinions online when the Pixar Playtime event was announced. I have to admit, I wasn't super thrilled, but then the pictures of the park decorations started ticking in, and I decided to reserve judgment until I'd seen it in person.
Since the event hasn't started yet, a lot of the decorations were still partially covered up today. Suggesting that they might end up adding in more playtime pieces before the event starts up proper.
Welcome banner above the entrance to Mediterranean Harbor.
Banners in different colours with the event logo all around the Mediterranean Harbor.
Making my way to American Waterfront, I noticed that New York Deli had been overtaken by Lightning McQueen. They'd even given him his own sandwich!
Lightning Sandwich, roasted pork and cheese. That's all the info the menu will give you. I can tell you, it was pretty delicious. It was topped with a sweet barbecue sauce complemented with a sour cream-like dressing, and crisp fried onions. Nice, nice.
Let's move on to the CONTROVERSIAL DECORATIONS.
American Waterfront has been turned into a gigantic board game with the Pixar ball (???) as a center piece. This looks a lot more jarring in pictures than it does in real life. I'm really excited to see how these decorations will be used once the event starts. The covered pieces have tickled my interest. I WANT TO PLAY SPELLING TOSS???
Love the oversized board game pieces. There are also pieces of the game board missing! The board tells you to look for the missing pieces in other parts of the park.
The food, though. I love themed food, and DisneySea has a huge menu of themed food for this event. I had to try the James P. Sullivan bun.
How could you not when it looks like this.
Peppery, chicken-y, corn-y... blue. Yup. It replaces the usual Chandu tail (which I have to admit I've never tried... hahaha). I am told this is similar in taste, but still a little different. I enjoyed it! This will most likely be my go-to snack throughout this event.
On to the next food item... that I shared with a friend, because honestly. There is TOO MUCH FOOD.
Mike dim sum, apricot Sully themed roll cake from Vulcania Restaurant
I'm pretty sure the dim sum is the exact same dim sum Vulcania served during Sea's 15th anniversary, though admittedly the Mike face suits the green focal piece better than the Goofy overlay did during the 15th. It has a nice visual impact in any case, but if I'm going back, it'll be for the roll cake.
I barely scratched the surface of the Pixar themed food this trip, I'll be working my way through it the next couple of months. The desserts all look adorable! The drinks! Oh my goshhhhh.
Cape Cod is spared the Pixar treatment, as this is home to the Heartwarming Days event. IT'S SO CUTE.
THE TREE IS SHAPED LIKE STELLA LOU. WHAT ARE YOUR DREAMS?
TIPPY BLUEEEE. I need to come back earlier in the day some time to get a better shot of him. This is what sneak peeks are all about. They're important for planning out the next couple of park trips.
I can't decide if these scarecrows are scary or cute.
I ended up riding Tower of Terror twice today. It's very easy to miss, because it's not really advertised or mentioned anywhere, but Tower of Terror is currently running a special version, called Level 13 . The pre-show has some additional effects, and the ride itself is more thrilling than usual. I have a love-hate relationship with this ride. I love the view, the atmosphere, the music, and the special effects (like, a lot). But I don't like being weightless between the drops. I do love this special version, though. I'll try to get some more rides in while it's still available. IF I DARE.
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It's January 4th, and I have now officially made my first Disneyland and DisneySea visits of 2018! My main mission for the day was to watch the New Year's greeting parade at Disneyland, but I want to try to collect all the Today guides again this year, so I needed to visit both parks.
You'd think I'd know where to go to get good pictures of parades by now, but nope. I ended up by the entrance to Westernland, which was actually a really good location, super nice backdrop since the greeting parade went around the parade route in the opposite direction than usual. The sun set behind the castle literally seconds before the parade stopped in front of me. Perfect timing, extremely tricky lighting.
The parade was led by Goofy and Max. I love their outfits!
Donald and Daisy followed in a parade car. The parade music was played by the marching band.
PLUTO'S LION DANCE OUTFIT, THO
OFF TO BITE SOME CHILDREN FOR GOOD LUCK, BAIIIII
Minnie's kimono is gorgeous.
Apparently this is the first time Clarice has appeared in this greeting?
Super cute.
I looped around the park, and then headed over to Sea. My first park meal of 2018 was the Donald shrimp burger at Huey, Dewey and Louie's Good Time Cafe. I'd never had it before, it was nice (though not as good as the crab croquette thing they served during Halloween last year!!).
Star Tours currently running a special version because of Last Jedi. The Standby line was at 60 minutes. The decorations look nice, though.
I miss StarJets.
New Year's decorations by the entrance at land.
New Year's decorations by the entrance at sea.
My first attraction of 2018 was Sindbad's Storybook Voyage. They seated me in the middle of a boat with no one behind me! I used the opportunity to snap some pictures.
I went to see Out of Shadowland and called it a day afterwards. For future reference, row 13 seats 8-15 are great seats for this show. Have they changed the sound production or music arrangement? Something felt different, but in a good way. They're still running with the new version of the script that no longer matches the CD version of the show, hahaha. But I still enjoy it. I caught the last performance of the day, and the Yuu performer in particular was amazing.
All in all, a successful trip to the parks. I would have gone on more attractions, but both parks were incredibly busy. At least I got my main mission for the day done!
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Long time no post! It's a new year, and I wanted to start fresh. Let's dump all the stats.
Last year I kept track of all attractions I rode and shows I watched in a journal that I brought with me to the parks, I have a couple of ideas on how I can improve this process for this year, which makes me excited. In the meanwhile, let's look at the stats I collected in 2017!
I can't believe I rode Haunted Mansion 19 times (and that's not counting the Holiday version)!!
The spread between land and sea is also interesting, confirming that I still prefer Disneyland for solo visits. I often find DisneySea a little lonely when I'm by myself. The rides are also not as solo trip friendly, in my opinion, despite there being more single rider options than at land ....
This whole year is a bit of a blur. StarJets' last mission and Pirates Summer stand out to me as my favourite things that happened at the parks this year. StellaLou of course was also a welcome addition, though I only ever saw her greeting show once. Maybe I should make it a priority to see it a couple of times before it disappears in March.
I didn't take as many pictures as I would have liked, partly due to lack of storage space, but that's been worked out now, so I'm ready to fill up my photo journal with new park impressions.
If any of you collect your own Disney stats I'm curious to know how you're keeping track! Keeping track during the year is easy enough, but compiling it all at the end was a mess. My journal needs some serious tweaking.
I've included the full list of stats below! How does your Disney year compare?
Disneyland Attraction Count:
Haunted Mansion: 19
Pirates of the Caribbean: 11
Space Mountain: 10
Haunted Mansion Holiday: 6
Big Thunder Mountain: 6
Country Bears: 4
Western River Railroad: 4
Snow White: 3
StarJets: 3
It's a Small World: 2
Gogo Coaster: 2
Philarmagic: 2
Roger Rabbit: 2
Splash Mountain: 2
Enchanted Tiki Room: 2
Pinocchio: 2
Peter Pan: 1
Fairy Tale Hall: 1
Castle Carousel: 1
Star Tours: 1
Winnie the Pooh: 1
Teacups: 1
Dumbo: 1 (first!)
Monsters Inc: 1
DisneySea Attraction Count:
Indiana Jones: 9
20.000 Leagues: 6
Sindbad's Storybook Voyage: 5
Journey to the Center of the Earth: 4
SeaRider: 4 (new!)
Venetian Gondolas: 3
Transit Steamer: 3
Tower of Terror: 2
Scuttle's Scooters: 2
Electric Railway: 2
Jumpin Jellyfish: 1
Toy Story Mania: 1
Shows:
Shine On: 6
Usatama: 5
Electrical Parade: 5 (1 rainy day version)
Out of Shadowland: 4
Big Band Beat: 3
Fantasmic: 2
Happiness is Here: 2
Minnie Oh Minnie: 2
Other seasonal shows, seen about 1-2 times each.
Special events:
Magma Sanctum
Usatama Chase
Pirates Mystery
Greetings:
Donald - Woodchuck
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👻 2017/11
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