Dan Solo 11/15

Welcome, foolish mortals, to another Disneyland loner trip update! This week is the beginning of the holiday season at DLR, and everything is lavishly decorated and just brimming with tons of holiday spirit. Even the Scrooge-iest person will get into the holiday spirit at Disneyland.

This solo trip I felt a lot less self conscious. I didn't feel like I was being judged or anything because I was really into the atmosphere. I took a lot of photos, both digital and film! I've been taking photo classes and we've mainly focused on film. I've started to gain this passion and appreciation for photography. Be prepared for a long update!


Main Street Christmas tree. It's huge! And it smells great. I can't even fathom how many ornaments are on there.



Main Street's decorations are so charming.

I spent a good hour just hanging out in New Orleans Square. Actually, most of my day was spent in NOS.

NOS has the BEST decorations in the entire park. Hands down.

I really want this hat. So cute.

I told you the decorations were the best.

Each balcony is different. They each reflect the residents "living" there.

Everything is very detailed.



Above the entrance to the Court of Angels.

Even simple balconies like this have nice little details.

So awesome.

I really like the Voodoo vibes of this balcony, with the branches and bottles.

The French Market decorations are very similar to Haunted Mansion Holiday's

Fastpass distribution is only ever open for HMH. Haunted Mansion's line moves pretty quickly so Fastpass is usually unnecessary. I should've gotten pictures of the Fastpass area, it's really well themed.

I made many more trips to HMH, like 3 or maybe 4.

I love the live jazz band that plays in NOS, it really adds to the vibes.

The Pumpkin King.

Jack is seriously such a delight to meet. He's so fun to talk to! He was digging my all black ensemble and said I looked so mysterious. He even wished me a terrible day! I saw Jack and Sally walking through NOS arm in arm, and holy cow they are the cutest thing ever. Jack has this walk where he extends his legs a lot to appear taller. Sally takes delicate little steps with her toes slightly pointed in. When going up the stairs, Jack put out his hand to help lead Sally up the stairs. SO CUTE. I also saw Jack later in the day walking to the Court of Angels to take a break, and he said he liked my noose. By noose he meant my scarf.



Sleeping Beauty's Castle is stunning with all the snow. It looks even better at night when the icicles are all lit up. The icicles look pretty bad during the day.

The Pearly Band. They're awesome. Even better when they perform with Mary Poppins and Burt.

OH GOD THOSE ICICLES ARE SO UGLY.



Burt! I was following him around Fantasyland, he's a really funny guy. At one point he randomly sat with these older ladies and began having a conversation with them. I asked him for some photos and he was very impressed with my film camera. He even shook my hand! I said "Woah, I just got really lucky!", and he replied with a wink and a tip of his hat.


it's a small world holiday is so cute. It's really charming and everything about is super cheery.

I love the iasw Cast Member hats so much. They also have cool belts with a cool print of a bunch of different flags from around the world.


This snowman replaced the snowflake tree that was there for years. It looks really nice, but it also kind of feels like a cheesy lawn ornament.


One of the lights is out! Noooo!

Toontown has some really silly and well themed toony Christmas decorations. Some say Toontown has the best decorations in the park, but we all know they're wrong because NOS has the best. Of course.

Wait....what is this...This isn't the awesome tree they had last year...

WHAT. IT'S SO UGLY. SO TACKY. THIS IS BAD SHOW.
Disneyland is trying to pass these off as new decorations in their press release. They're trying to play them off as the first time Toontown has had trees. Which is a lie. They're tacky leftovers from the now gone Toontown Fair at WDW.

Oh Goofy, your decorations are so....goofy.


"Oh! Your noose, it's so loose! Your heads going to fall off!" Sally is great, she's very adorable and just as curious as Jack is. When taking the second photo, I asked if we were thinking of our Bone daddies, and she replied "Oh I'm always thinking of Jack! He's in Halloweentown now, would you like me to say hi to you for him?" YES PLEASE.

Back to HMH! It was 5 minutes pretty much all day. So of course I took advantage and went on a million times.



So beautiful. I love DL's Mansion with all my heart. Wanna know a secret? The first time I ever rode HM, I was so scared I cried the whole time. Who knew it'd be my favorite ride ever?

Also as I'm blogging I'm listening to the Haunted Mansion ride soundtrack.

I found Fairy Godmother and Cinderella hanging out in Carnation Plaza. There wasn't a very long line surprisingly.

Fairy Godmother called me a princess! I love how Cinderella's dress is so nice and detailed. The fabric is very luxe, it has a faint pattern on it that adds texture. Also I love the shoes any and all characters wear. Especially the princess shoes.

I think this is the longest update I posted. Thanks for reading!

strange and unusual

Happy belated Halloween!

This post is late because I've been busy getting a job and all that fun stuff. Yes, I am finally employed!

Anyways, I didn't do much for Halloween except hang out with some friends and hand out candy. I even went out in public in my costume, except no one could tell it was a costume. It was actually the first time I ever wore a maxi skirt and it was totally comfortable. My camera kept hitting stuff and was a pain to wear around my neck, since I always just wear it on my arm when I'm shooting.







[hat: Modcloth, shirt: Forever 21, skirt: H&M]

beetleguese

Well ghouls and boys, it's that time of year again. Halloween is about a week away and this year I have decided to be Lydia Deetz from Beetlejuice. I'm currently trying to put my costume together. I feel like this was a good choice because I'm really digging gothy vibes, especially since it's fall.

"tell me something about yourself"

Thanks Kylene of Eh My Gawsh! for the award :3

The rules are:
1. Thank and link back to the person who awarded you.
2. Write 7 random things about yourself.
3. Spread the love to 15 more bloggers.

7 random things:
1. I have had a Disneyland AP for most of my life.
2. My absolute favorite ride is Haunted Mansion
3. Every time I go on Haunted Mansion, I do the Ghost Host spiel
4. 1/3 of my closet is sweaters and cardigans
5. Halloween is my favorite holiday
6. I always buy a pickle from the Fantasyland fruit cart whenever I'm at Disneyland
7. When I'm online I spend a ton of time on Discussion Kingdom and Lookbook

Single Rider 10/12

Yesterday was my very first solo trip to DL. It was a very interesting experience, much different from going with a group. I got there early in the afternoon and already felt different. It was a more private experience, almost liberating in the sense that I was able to do whatever I felt like doing. I'll lay it out, pro-con style.

Pros:
-I was able to take my time to take in all the atmosphere and all the details of each land. If I noticed any new details or fresh coats of paint, I was able to privately geek out over it and really just take it all in.

-Going at my own pace. I didn't have to worry about what anyone else wanted to do because it was my trip. I wandered through Tomorrowland for a good 30 minutes just because I could(and because I was waiting for my Space Mountain fastpass return time)

-I like doing Meet&Greets. Go ahead and call me a Pixie-Duster, but there's something really fun about meeting your favorite characters. I also just really like being photographed, so there's that. I always feel like people aren't as excited about Meet&Greets when I want to do them, so doing them on my own was kind of guilt-free in a way.

-Single Rider for Indiana Jones and Splash Mountain. I didn't take advantage of Single Rider for Splash, but I did go on Indy.

Cons:
-Feeling alienated and almost pitied by other guests who are in groups. I almost felt like they were looking down on me in a way. I quickly got over this, but it was still a little strange.

-Sitting with strangers. I'm a pretty socially awkward person, so sitting with strangers is a really uncomfortable situation for me. This happened when I was on the Disneyland Railroad, and an entire family sat in the row I was sitting in. I was then forced to make small talk, which was mostly "Where are you visiting from?" "Holy cow, it's hot today!", and "Are you getting off at this stop?"

-Single Rider for Indiana Jones. It's convenient, but I ended up waiting about the same as stand-by, which was about 30 minutes. I met a woman who was just as passionate about DL while waiting, and she explained to me that the way they did Single Rider before was much more efficient. Apparently the Splash Mountain Single Rider queue is much quicker and much more efficient. I really should have taken advantage of Splash Mountain, it was soooo hot.

-Did I mention it was hot? Like upper 90's. In October.

Now for some photos!





Ghost Galaxy kept having delays, both times I went on. Maybe they were running too many cars? Adding cars? I'm not really sure.



My favorite little corner of the park, Snow White's Grotto

















For each character I met, I drew a little picture the page I wanted them to sign in my little notebook. I think they really appreciated it, especially Jafar :3







The two photos above are Photopass pictures taken by a Disneyland photographer, that's why they're slightly smaller.





The gates, from Main Street Station. This is when a family sat next to me on the DLRR. Luckily I was getting off on the next stop, New Orleans Square Station.





Yeah, I met Jack. Twice. He recognized me the second time. I was really really excited to meet him, he's such a delight. The weird mask takes some getting used to, but I've grown to like it because it gives him this kind of curious, surprised face much like the "What's This?" scene. Jack is also just really fun to talk to. He asked what I was planning on dressing up as for Halloween, I told him Lydia from Beetlejuice. He asked if she was a monster, and I replied that she hangs out with a monster of sorts. "Hangs? With what kind of rope?" This caught me off guard, of course. "From the ceiling or a tree?" Umm what? I guess a tree. "How DREADFUL!" he said with delight.
That's why he's my favorite ♥



I'll end this report with the Partners statue, all decorated for Halloween.

Thanks for reading!

Passhole

Just renewed my AP :3
Premium, with free parking! I'm very excited, especially since I'm driving(finally). I plan on going tomorrow to take advantage of the lull in the crowds during the week. Hopefully it won't be too awkward to go alone.