Deep Fried Dinner at DCA, Grand Californian Guest Exclusive View of World of Color, & Mother/Daughter Night Out

Day 13 {Part 2} - Thursday, September 22, 2016

After finishing up our deliciousness at Cafe Orleans, just before making our way out of Disneyland, we enjoyed a ride aboard an historical vehicle!  

{via Disney Parks Blog}

We rode down Main Street in the Disneyland Fire Department's Engine No. 1, the very vehicle in which Walt Disney posed for his final Disneyland photo!  (If you're interested in reading more about that, click through the Disney Parks Blog link above.)

As a lover of Disney history this ride was an extra special part of our time at Disneyland!

An Afternoon at Downtown Disney District's Build-A-Bear

It was Princess' turn to choose and fill a bear of her own.  Being a girl after her dad's own Star Wars loving heart, she chose Boba Fett!  

As we walked to our villa we admired this culinary creation under construction.  This entire scene is made of rice krispy treats covered in fondant!  I'm so amazed at the skill of the talented Cast Members who craft such stunningly sweet art!

We freshened up, grabbed Jason, and headed back out for some more fun in the sun this go around at Disney's California Adventure...

DCA has such an adorable Monsters Inc. ride!  I was glad we were able to enjoy it on multiple occasions, as it's one of those we don't have at WDW.  We've always loved that movie.  In fact, Princess was "Boo" last Halloween!

Just a mouse and her man!

Dinner at Corn Dog Castle

We'd heard great things about DCA's Corn Dog Castle and had anticipated a freshly dipped dog that night! 

Little One and I went to grab a table while Jason and Princess ordered our eats.  Jason knows me so well.  He saw a "Cheddar Cheese Stick" and without even asking ordered me one!  You can see in the photo above, one of these is not like the others!  I enjoyed every bite I took of both the corn dog and cheese stick, but will say I had my fill of fried cheese that day!  Remember what I had earlier for lunch? ;)

Watching World of Color at Disney's Grand Californian

After dinner we headed back to the hotel to watch World of Color from a different perspective!  This was our view from the Grand California's viewing deck.  It's a hotel guest exclusive viewing area that requires a room key to access it.  It's such a fun space to watch from and gives breathtaking views of all the action below!

No, DCA didn't catch fire. ;)  Spoiler free for anyone who hasn't seen World of Color, I'll just say that this photo was shot during one of my favorite parts of this nighttime spectacular! 

I am in love with World of Color and really enjoyed seeing it from this different vantage point!  We also loved playing with our camera to get a great view of different things in DCA Park!

Downtown Disney District Mother/Daughter Date!

If you've been around for a bit you may remember that Princess and I have a tradition of doing some shopping and sweets indulging at Downtown Disney after the parks close.  We were excited to keep this going while at Disneyland!  It was especially simple since their Downtown Disney District was right outside our hotel's door!

World of Disney

I bought this pretty pink throw and love it!

Sweets with my Sweetie!

Cheers to chatting over chocolate ice cream!

WonderGround Gallery

Princess is a talented artist and is always drawn to artsy goodness, which made our visit to this gallery shop a highlight of our evening!  

We closed down the shop and left with postcard prints of our favorites.  If you visit a WonderGround and swoon over the art that's a bit more than you care to spend, I'd highly suggest checking the carousels of postcards as they sell many prints in that form for $5.  They look fantastic framed!  

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  The next day of the trip I'll be covering is our final day in the Disneyland and Disney's California Adventure Parks!  Plenty more pixie dust to come!  Can't wait to share the finale of our trip and our time at Mickey's Halloween Party!

Trip Report Tuesday: California Day 12 {Part 2} A Downtown Disney Date & World of Color

Day 11 {Part 2} - Wednesday, September 21, 2016

After lunch at Blue Bayou in Disneyland, Jason and Princess returned to Grand Californian to relax for a bit while Little One and I went for a mommy/daughter date at the Build-a-Bear Workshop in Downtown Disney.  

I let her have her pick of any bear in the building as a sweet souvenir.  She chose this soft, cuddly one.  For an outfit she picked one themed after Mal from Descendants, along with a wig and hair extension clips to complete her look.  I couldn't pass up the super cute Downtown Disney Build-a-Bear backpack they offered there for $5.  After all, there couldn't have been a more adorable way to carry this beary cute souvenir back to our villa!

After reuniting with Jason and Princess and a bit of lounging for us all, we headed back through the hotel's private entrance to California Adventure Park for their nighttime spectacular, World of Color!

We went straight for a fastpass for a viewing area.  You still have to wait for a rope drop for that area, but we got there plenty early so that when entrance was allowed we could stand exactly where we'd planned.  We knew we didn't want to be too close to the front where the fountains are located as we'd heard you can get pretty wet.  So, we decided on the second viewing area up, which in my opinion was perfect!  

While waiting for the show to start they turn Mickey's Fun Wheel into a game, essentially the Simon memory game on a much grander scale!  You watch sections of the wheel turn colors and then you do your best to repeat the pattern on your phone from their website.  The guest with the highest score is then allowed to control the color of the ferris wheel for a moment from their phone!  So cool!

Whoever came up with the idea for this game was a genius as it made the time spent waiting fly by!

We got to our desired viewing spot quick enough to be up against a fenced in floral area near a sidewalk that they wouldn't allow anyone to obstruct.  This gave us a really great view of the wheel and the show!

Pretty Princess awaiting showtime!

I didn't get any snapshots during the show as I was too busy soaking it in and soaking my face.  Ha!  I cried happy tears through the entire thing.  It was just so incredibly magical!  The spray of all the fountains illuminated with scenes and songs from our favorite Disney movies, and had us laughing and cheering throughout the show!  My husband will share footage in an upcoming video on our YouTube channel, Eat, Sleep, Dis, Repeat!  

After the show, everything (California Screamin' rollercoaster, Mickey's Fun Wheel, the fountains) looked so pretty all twinkly, sparkly, and colorful!

The perfect end to an evening at the Parks!

Ralph Brennan's Jazz Kitchen Express // Downtown Disney

We decided to grab dinner at Jazz Kitchen Express while walking through Downtown Disney before returning to our hotel.

This place was hopping!  They offer only outdoor seating, which is fairly limited.  Yet, the people dining at this express eatery seemed to all be eating in "express mode" too.  The table turnaround time was pretty quick.  Thankfully we didn't have to wait for a spot.  The chicken and fries I had were pretty yummy, but the real reason (in my opinion) to stop here is for a bag of beignets!  Mmm!  I could sure go for some right about now!  

Thanks so much for coming by for this edition of Trip Report Tuesday!  Hope you'll be back next Tuesday for more Disneyland fun and another delicious table service dining experience!