I want to start off with saying what an absolutely fabulous time we had on Saturday. The rain must have kept some people away because the parks never really got busy. 

We got the MaxPass as we did on our last visit, and it was amazing and worth every penny. 

But more than that, it was just a totally stress free day in the parks. It really made us remember why we love Disney so much. 

We arrived early enough for rope drop, but couldn't head to the parks without a quick look at Star Wars Land. Wow!! 

The new parking structure is being built, so there is a new temporary tram loading area. It was kind of fun going the opposite direction on the tram. 

​It's the little things 

Do we look excited? =) 

Hi there California Adventure, we'll be back to you in a bit. 

Can't even remember the last time we "rope dropped" Disneyland. It's just as amazing as we remembered it. 

It was a beautiful morning

We hadn't done "non holiday" Haunted Mansion since probably 2011. So this was our first chance to see the Hatbox Ghost in his natural habitat. And it was amazing. 

Thanks to the MaxPass we rode this a few times throughout the day. 

After doing a few more rides we decided to head over to DCA, but not before checking out some of the amazing music on Main Street. 

It's food and wine time!!! 

Well, turns out we were a bit early, so we decided to use our MaxPass for Radiator Springs Racers we had secured while we were still at Disneyland. Love how that works. =) ​

Love the decorations for Food and Wine

We also hadn't done Soarin' Over The World, we absolutely LOVED it. Don't understand at all why some people don't like this. 

Our first stop

Both were delicious, think we both preferred the slider though 

Not even sure where to start with the Brie Toast with Fig, Mint and Almond Crumble. 

On the surface, it wasn't anything we were particularly gung-ho about. But we are always ready to try new things. And just like all of the Toast Surprises on this season of Top Chef, we loved it. It was one of our favorite things. 

(Our top 5's are posted below) 

Next up was the White Cheddar Lager Soup, Jalapeno Popper Mac & Cheese with Bacon, Watermelon Lemonade (so good) and the Light and Refreshing flight. 

How about some "Frushi", Strawbery Pie, Strawberry Fros'e, Avocado and Pepper Guacamole Burger and Spiced Oumph!!

Note: We had no idea what Oumph! was and had even less of an idea it was vegan ... we actually enjoyed it. So yay for our Vegetarian/Vegan friends. Good food for you too! =) 

But back to the burger, can we get this full sized and on a permanent menu? It was that good. 

Meyer Lemon Macaron was heavenly as was the Crispy Orange Chicken and Rice with a Garlic Cracker.

Both paired very nicely with the Meyer Lemon Ginger Mule. Very refreshing even on a not warm and sometimes rainy day. 

And then there was the Popcorn Lemonade Cocktail with Tequila. 

It was "interesting" to say the least. It wasn't awful, we are glad we tried it. But it essentially is just as advertised, it tasted like popcorn. 

Here are our top Five favorites, and more importantly, what booth you can find them at!! 

After all that food and wine you'd think we were done with our day, but it was just getting started!! 

Oh yeah, they are doing work on Pixar Pier!! We are very excited for it and hope we can make it back after it opens. 

Still one of my absolute favorite spots in any Disney park. It's just perfect. 

We also got to do Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout for the first time. LOVED IT!! 

After another spin on Racers, Soarin' and a few more snacks it was time to head back over to Disneyland for the evening. 

First stop, a trip on the Railroad. A must do every trip!! Oh, and to get some Star Wars pics!! 

Star Wars Land pics aside, we absolutely LOVE the changes to the railroad. 

While we were hanging out in Critter Country getting some pics we met a friend 

We spent the late afternoon riding Mansion again, Jungle Cruise, Tiki Room (another must see every visit), as well as Buzz, a yummy dinner and then of course, Space Mountain!! ​

We joined the dark side 

Selfies in front of the castle (we kept forgetting that we have Photopass with the MaxPass) 

And of course, the awesome nighttime balloons!! 

Thanks for reading, we hope you enjoyed our little report.

Be sure to check out the Food and Wine Festival this year, it's amazing. You can find out more information about this years event here. 

If you've visited be sure to share your favorite foods in the comments below. We'd love to hear about the things we missed, because lets be honest, you need at least 3 days to try everything.

​Oh hey, there are 3 days on the Southern California Resident Ticket Offer. =) 

We hope you had fun checking out this update, we had fun putting it all together. 

Be sure to share your top 5 media based rides below. We'd be interested to hear your picks!! 

Be sure to check back tomorrow for an update from our Knott's tours on Friday ... 

Written by Renée Girard

It’s just after 4am here on the east coast, and we just arrived at Epcot for the 10th anniversary of Disney’s Princess Half Marathon!

We just took a big group photo of all of the “Perfect Princesses”, aka people who have run the Princess Half every year!

​At the starting line with several thousand other runners way before the crack of dawn.

The Princess Half announcers are on stage and getting the crowd warmed up. We’ll be heading out in just about 20 minutes!

​Always great to see Jeff Galloway in the corrals before a Disney race! 

​Cinderella’s fairy godmother whipped up some fireworks and sent runners out on the 10th annual Disney Princess Half Marathon. 

​A nice morning jog at sunrise through the Magic Kingdom.

Belle and Gaston were greeting runners this morning outside of his tavern for the Princess Half 

Congrats to all who participated in the WDW Princess Half this weekend! We had a blast and will be back once again next year! ​

We began the morning with a walk-back into Patriot's ride area. The blue pain still looks fresh and vibrant, adding great color and brightness to the surrounding midways. We spent much of the day being ushered back and forth through Patriot's service road since Hometown Square is undergoing a massive repaving project. 

Now, we know you may have come here for Ralblazer photos, but we came for some food! 

The park is debuting a new funnel cake and churro location in the French Quarter, complete with some wild flavors. I really enjoyed the "strawberry shortcake" funnel cake and "hot chocolate" churro. 

And yes, that is a pulled pork funnel cake you see there. It actually worked really well, as the sweetness of the funnel cake and barbecue sauce paired nicely with the saltiness of the pork.  

Next up, we took a peak back in the coaster shop, where the park performs maintenance on the various trains that run on their rides. 

The shop was really fun, as it is decorated with signage from some of Great America's past attractions. 

Oh, and there may be some new trains parked in here...

Alright perverts, we know what you came here for. Despite the Florida Legislature recently declaring pornography to be a public health risk, we know our audience, and we're here to deliver for you. 

​Take your time. 

Moving on... 

Did you know that Great America has a secret apartment in the middle of Orleans Square? A remnant of the park's original days as Marriott's Great America, The Consulate is a vacant apartment that is being revived as a private event space for the 2018 season. 

Did you know that the 2018 College Football Playoff National Championship Game will be held at Levi's Stadium (in Great America's parking lot)?

The park was kind enough to put together a concept board for how they will be remodeling the apartment in time for my inevitable Clemson tailgate. Thanks Great America, I appreciate you! 

Moving back out to the park, there is still work being done on the removal of Logger's Run and the looping starship. While we are really sad to see the flume leave, these removals open up a ton of space for new additions. 

Speaking of new space opening up, we were also informed that 2018 will be the final season for the go-kart track

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the park, the map above shows all the space that will be wide open by the end of 2018. 

I'm thinking maybe a waterpark expansion for 2019 and a hyper coaster for 2020?

To wrap things up, we have your daily dose of Railblazer construction. The ride is coming together quickly, with the rockwork and theming being the main focus at the moment. 
​
I can't wait to come back and ride it soon! Hopefully we'll sneak in another construction update or two before the ride opens. 

Thank you for reading, and thank you to ACE NorCal and California's Great America for putting together such a fun tour! 

Lunar New Year Highlights 

The Year of the Minion? 

Poe is ready to welcome you

Amazing artists are on hand 

Mandarin Megatron is back! 

This is seriously the coolest thing 

Here we are, a year or more from Star Wars Land opening at Disneyland, there are over a million Annual Passholders, Disneyland is crowded every single day yet for some reason Disney keeps trying to trim the amount of Annual Passholders. 

They know that Star Wars Land is going to be huge, it's going to bring in people who aren't AP's, but what's going to happen when those people pay $150-$200 a day to get in the park only to find the park is filled with 50,000+ Annual Passholders and they can't do anything? 

This is pretty much what all tourists these days find. 

So in an effort to fix this, Disney has once again raised ticket and Annual Pass prices. Yet they've still not eliminated the one thing that would actually cause the number of Annual Passholders to go down, the payment plan. 

This has been a source of contention with many for the past decade. The payment plan makes it easy to justify the price of an Annual Pass, because you can spread it around. What it has done however is turned Disneyland into a "hangout". 

You now have a full generation of Disneyland fans who view it was something that's just "there", They can go whenever they want. The "specialness" of it is going away. It's no longer a "treat", it's just what they do on weekends and weeknights.

What's the answer? We don't know. All we know is that as infrequent visitors, we'd be way more willing to shell out $600-$800 for a day at Disneyland if we could enjoy a park that wasn't bursting at the seams with APs. As it is now, we go to the park once every 2-3 years. We'd definitely make multiple trips per year if the parks weren't as busy. I don't think we're alone in this. 

At the end of the day, we don't see the current AP model as sustainable over the long term, and I don't think Disney does either. 

So expect even more changes coming to the AP program sooner rather than later. 

With all of that said, let's let's look at the new AP prices: ​

Disneyland Resort

Disney Signature Plus = $1149
​Disney Signature = $999
Disney Deluxe = $729
Disney Southern California Select = $369

As we've done in the past, we're going to look at the Annual Pass prices for Disneyland and compare them to the other theme parks in Southern California. ​

​(click any of the links to be taken to the AP pages for each park) 

So let's break this down a bit. 

You can get a Universal Studios Hollywood Gold Pass, Magic Mountain Gold Pass Membership, Cedar Fair Platinum Pass, Legoland Standard Pass and SeaWorld San Diego Pass for a grand total of $918.99. 

If you won't be visiting any other Cedar Fair Parks other than Knott's, that drops your price $103. If you don't have small kids and don't need Legoland that drops your price $199. If you don't like roller coasters and don't want Magic Mountain, that drops it $97. 

Note: If you have a Costco Pass you can get the Universal Studios Hollywood Gold Pass for $199, which saves you another $100. (Thanks to Mike for pointing this out) 

The point is, there are other options out there. There are things to do other than Disneyland. 

If you enjoy going to Disneyland, if the price makes sense to you, by all means, keep your AP. Do what makes you happy. 

If you find yourself increasingly bitter about the rise in APs, then maybe it's time to look elsewhere to spend your entertainment dollars. ​

The AP prices weren't the only big news this weekend, DisneyParks showed off some new artwork of a few things at the D23 Expo in Japan. 

Details of all new Attractions at Walt Disney World 

​Pixar Pier at Disney California Adventure to open June 23

Alright, those are our thoughts on the price increases. Be sure to let us know your thoughts below. 

Do you think we've laid out some good alternatives for people who may be fed up with Disney prices? Are we totally off our rocker? Be sure to let us know that too. =) 

​Related Updates: 

• Epcot's International Festival of the Arts 2018
• Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party 2017 at The Magic Kingdom
• Trip Report: HalloweenTime 2017 at Disneyland Resort
• Sneak Peek of the World of Pandora at Disney's Animal Kingdom (Part Two) 
• Sneak Peek of the World of Pandora at Disney's Animal Kingdom