Dear Adventure Avenue,
After being able to go to Touch of Disney for a second time, I now not only have some great food and drink recommendations, but also some tips and tricks to help you if you are going to the Touch of Disney Experience! Check out my previous post on Touch of Disney for more tips and tricks here.
On this trip, I got to spend the day with my dad trying some of things my uncle and I didn’t have a chance (or room in our stomachs) to try!
Before you leave home tip: Bring water! You don’t want to have to buy bottled water in the park!
Parking and Entry
As I mentioned in my previous post, the Touch of Disney tickets say the park opens at 11:30, but they do open earlier! It is definitely beneficial to arrive near the parking structure early and circle around until the Mickey and Friends parking structure barricade is taken down.
After passing through 3 stages of entry: Temperature screening, dog sniffing, and bag check (with basically no line), we made the 15-20 minute walk to the park gates. Instrumental Disney music played in the background as we made our way to our magical experience.
First Stop: FOOD
As soon as we got into the park, we decided to have something for lunch. I mobile ordered my dad the Grilled Beef Tenderloin Slider from Cluck-A-Doodle-Moo and for myself, the Sweet and Spicy Chicken Wings from Golden Dreams!
Tasty Tip: If you want to try the Sweet and Spicy Chicken Wings, go there first because this cart gets REALLY busy! Even my order placed about 15 minutes into our park entry took longer than my dad’s to get.
The Grilled Beef Tenderloin was just “okay”. We both thought that it was really small too. The wings on the other hand were delicious!!! The portion size was great as well: I was able to share 2 wings with my dad and still had plenty!
We ate our food in the Redwood forest where we spotted Donald Duck in between the trees.
Trick: Eat your food in the Redwood forest – especially on a hot day! It’s shady and I found there were often less crowds.
After eating we took a lap around Pixar Pier where we saw Joy looking every joyful! We made our way over to Hollywood Land because I wanted to show my dad the Falcon and the Winter Soldier photo setup.
Hollywood Land Activities
As we walked down the street towards the backdrop, we noticed there was no line for that photo experience, so we decided to use the photo experience option included in our tickets to get our picture taken.
After getting our photo in front of the backdrop, we went over to the Falcon and the Winter Soldier setup. We were surprised to see there wasn’t a photo pass person there, so we took photos of each other individually.
My dad liked this section of the park because they were playing Marvel music from Wanda Vision and Falcon and the Winter Soldier. He probably could have stayed here all day – except there was a surprising lack of seating!
Disneyland Backlot Premiere Shop
I wanted to check out this shop since Disney opened up California Adventure’s Buena Vista Street. It really was just a shop, and I didn’t find anything that I couldn’t live without.
After the Backlot Premiere Shop, we made our way over to Ghiradelli for some ice cream. On our way there, we saw some adorable baby ducklings! There were so many of them. We watched as one by one they all tried – most succeeding – to jump up into the planter. Then there was just one little guy little left who seemed to have the most trouble, but after a few more jumps, the little duckling made up with the rest of the flock.
Ghiradelli
My dad and I were a little disappointed at the limited selection available at Ghiradelli – and the fact that they didn’t take the Touch of Disney dining card. We ended up trying the Ocean Beach Sea Salt Carmel Sundae, and the sea salt made the sundae! We both agreed there should have been less chocolate sauce and more caramel and sea salt!
Enjoying the Sights
After enjoying our ice cream we went over to the scenic Cars Land rocks and got another photo taken using our photo pass. There was a bit of a line for this photo pass, but it was nice and shady!
Photo Pass trick: Save your photo pass as your phone’s screen saver for easier and faster access after your photo has been taken!
We also got our picture taken on the main Cars Land street!
Disney Drinks
After more walking and enjoying all the Disney sights, my dad decided to get an iced coffee from the Cappuccino Cart stand near Pacific Wharf. My dad quite enjoyed his Iced Caffe Mocha!
While my dad enjoyed his iced coffee, I placed an order at Cluck-A-Doodle-Moo for the Watermelon Agua Fresca. This must be a popular item because I had to wait a little while until it was ready. After my dad finished his coffee, we walked around Pixar Pier until we came to the dining area across from the swings and next to the Inside Out area.
We found a nice shady spot to sit and I went and picked up my delicious Watermelon Agua Fresca! I was worried it might be too sugary (I don’t care for sugary drinks), but it was perfect! This drink was on the more expensive side, but I was glad I got it because it was refreshing on such a hot day, as well as very tasty!
No Touch of Disney Merch!?
I wanted to get some sort of mug or commemorative item to remember my Touch of Disney experiences, but my dad and I were both shocked to see that Disney didn’t have any! We even asked a cast member and they were as surprised as we were that there was no Touch of Disney Merchandise.
Touch of Disney Dinner
My dad made the correct choice for dinner which was the box of fried chicken from the Poultry Palace, and I got the Asian beef tacos from Cocina Cucamonga which were too spicy for me. The fried chicken was so moist and there was a lot of it!
Tip: If you and a friend are down to the final dollars on your cards, you can combine them if you order in person! The app doesn’t let you combine them through mobile order.
Touch of Disney Dessert
As we let our dinner settle, we checked out Off the Page. My dad almost bought an $8000 painting, until he saw it was said expensive price!
For dessert, I knew my dad and I had to have the Carrot Cake Funnel Fries because they are that good! The mobile order app said they wouldn’t be ready for an hour and we were getting a little tired. Luckily, the line to order regularly was short, so my dad waited in line while I scouted for a table.
The Funnel Fries were just as good as I remembered! They were the perfect way to end our day!
We headed back to the parking structure, on the seemingly longer road back as the instrumental music played, making our Touch of Disney day come full circle.
Until the next Adventure,
A
From March 29, 2021
Leave a Reply