Festival of Holidays at Disneyland
The holidays are in full swing at Disneyland and we soaked in a little of that, even though it wasn't exactly the most perfect day. I wish I could have done a little more, but that's what next time is for. Unfortunately, we didn't get out until late because our gardener was over and he was blocking the driveway. Plus we hit traffic and spent about fifteen minutes in the parking structure. Bag check and the tram went pretty quick though.
The first thing I wanted to show my mom was the new facade for the new Haunted Mansion queue space. I'm not sure exactly how to describe it. There's sculptures and flowers and a planter, and it looks really nice. The full queue might be ready soon. Tiana's Bayou Adventure is also now open, however it was down at the time in the morning. It looks pretty with the walls down though. We also popped into the new Ray's Berets and Louis's Critter Shop. I liked all the merch in the latter. And we checked out the Tiana's Foods truck near the ride exit.
For the third time, we hoped to catch a ride on Rise and we thought we would have it this time because there were people in the queue, but alas it had broken down... again. I'm starting to think we should stop trying to get on this ride in the morning. One of my agenda items was to ride the train, so that's what we ended up doing. The reason is, you can now see a glimpse of Tiana's Bayou Adventure. You can barely see anything though because there are trees obstructing the view, and at that time because the ride was down, there was no music either.
We got off the train on Main Street and then went across the way to DCA for our food feast. The first thing we tried was called the Chicken Chicarron. It was breaded chicken bites drizzled with marsala sauce, herb chutney and basmati rice. The chicken was a bit hard to eat, but the flavor was good. Spicy though, but not so much that I couldn't eat it. Next we got the pork al pastor pineapple slider. That was... meh. I can't even quite pinpoint why it wasn't that great. Maybe it was mostly because of the chunky meat and the corn brioche bun was weird. We didn't finish it. Our final savory bite we got was the holiday duet, which was two different kinds of macaroni cheese. The first was the kugel macaroni and cheese, which was a favorite from last year. The other was the queso chorizo (made with the Impossible meat like the original) fundido macaroni and cheese. Similar to what they'd have before with the cheese and chips, only it's macaroni and cheese. This was also good, but I wasn't a fan of the cilantro they put on it. It also had some corn chips on top. The kugel is still the best.
Finally for dessert, we decided to get the cookie dough yule log. Now this was actually yummy and surprisingly light. It had mousse and buttercream frosting and some cookie dough inside. That was probably my favorite. The foods this year were a bit mixed. I'm not sure if I'll try more next time, but there are a couple of non kiosk foods I'd like to try.
After eating, we eventually made our way back over to Disneyland again. We went to check Rise and it was open. The wait time said 35 minutes, but it only took about 22 minutes. Finally, we got to ride it. Then I wanted to ride It's A Small World Holiday and the timing couldn't have been better because the Christmas Fantasy Parade was about to start. We got to catch a little of that while we were in line and that's always nice. I didn't check the wait time for the ride, but it only took us about 5-10 minutes. That was the last ride we did for the day.
Next, I was ready for a cold brew. I had written down several different options to try, but had decided on the Peppermint Mocha Cold Brew, which was at the Jolly Holiday. We waited in a really grueling line and when we got to the end of it, we were told the Peppermint Mocha Cold Brew was sold out. That was disappointing after waiting all that time. So, instead I opted for the Pumpkin Cold Brew and my mom got that one too. It was still good, if sweet. I would have thought my mom would have said it was too sweet, but she loved it.
We took one last trip over to DCA to check out the gingerbread house at the Grand Californian. Of course it isn't finished yet, but I'm sure it will be next time. We also picked up dinner from the kiosks to take home. We got more kugel macaroni and cheese and three beef brisket sliders. I have had that before I knew it was good. It needed a little more ketchup though. We then went home after that, but got a bit blocked by the Mickey and Pixar characters holiday cavalcade trying to get out of the park, so it took longer than usual. I do wish we could have done a little more like go on more rides, especially because it seems like the parks have been a bit less busier than usual. I wish we could have taken advantage of that, but there just wasn't enough time. I still enjoyed the holiday vibes though. We're actually going back again in just two weeks, and that will be our last visit for the year.
The first thing I wanted to show my mom was the new facade for the new Haunted Mansion queue space. I'm not sure exactly how to describe it. There's sculptures and flowers and a planter, and it looks really nice. The full queue might be ready soon. Tiana's Bayou Adventure is also now open, however it was down at the time in the morning. It looks pretty with the walls down though. We also popped into the new Ray's Berets and Louis's Critter Shop. I liked all the merch in the latter. And we checked out the Tiana's Foods truck near the ride exit.
For the third time, we hoped to catch a ride on Rise and we thought we would have it this time because there were people in the queue, but alas it had broken down... again. I'm starting to think we should stop trying to get on this ride in the morning. One of my agenda items was to ride the train, so that's what we ended up doing. The reason is, you can now see a glimpse of Tiana's Bayou Adventure. You can barely see anything though because there are trees obstructing the view, and at that time because the ride was down, there was no music either.
We got off the train on Main Street and then went across the way to DCA for our food feast. The first thing we tried was called the Chicken Chicarron. It was breaded chicken bites drizzled with marsala sauce, herb chutney and basmati rice. The chicken was a bit hard to eat, but the flavor was good. Spicy though, but not so much that I couldn't eat it. Next we got the pork al pastor pineapple slider. That was... meh. I can't even quite pinpoint why it wasn't that great. Maybe it was mostly because of the chunky meat and the corn brioche bun was weird. We didn't finish it. Our final savory bite we got was the holiday duet, which was two different kinds of macaroni cheese. The first was the kugel macaroni and cheese, which was a favorite from last year. The other was the queso chorizo (made with the Impossible meat like the original) fundido macaroni and cheese. Similar to what they'd have before with the cheese and chips, only it's macaroni and cheese. This was also good, but I wasn't a fan of the cilantro they put on it. It also had some corn chips on top. The kugel is still the best.
Finally for dessert, we decided to get the cookie dough yule log. Now this was actually yummy and surprisingly light. It had mousse and buttercream frosting and some cookie dough inside. That was probably my favorite. The foods this year were a bit mixed. I'm not sure if I'll try more next time, but there are a couple of non kiosk foods I'd like to try.
After eating, we eventually made our way back over to Disneyland again. We went to check Rise and it was open. The wait time said 35 minutes, but it only took about 22 minutes. Finally, we got to ride it. Then I wanted to ride It's A Small World Holiday and the timing couldn't have been better because the Christmas Fantasy Parade was about to start. We got to catch a little of that while we were in line and that's always nice. I didn't check the wait time for the ride, but it only took us about 5-10 minutes. That was the last ride we did for the day.
Next, I was ready for a cold brew. I had written down several different options to try, but had decided on the Peppermint Mocha Cold Brew, which was at the Jolly Holiday. We waited in a really grueling line and when we got to the end of it, we were told the Peppermint Mocha Cold Brew was sold out. That was disappointing after waiting all that time. So, instead I opted for the Pumpkin Cold Brew and my mom got that one too. It was still good, if sweet. I would have thought my mom would have said it was too sweet, but she loved it.
We took one last trip over to DCA to check out the gingerbread house at the Grand Californian. Of course it isn't finished yet, but I'm sure it will be next time. We also picked up dinner from the kiosks to take home. We got more kugel macaroni and cheese and three beef brisket sliders. I have had that before I knew it was good. It needed a little more ketchup though. We then went home after that, but got a bit blocked by the Mickey and Pixar characters holiday cavalcade trying to get out of the park, so it took longer than usual. I do wish we could have done a little more like go on more rides, especially because it seems like the parks have been a bit less busier than usual. I wish we could have taken advantage of that, but there just wasn't enough time. I still enjoyed the holiday vibes though. We're actually going back again in just two weeks, and that will be our last visit for the year.