A Romantic Trip Report: From Our 1996 Disneyland Meet-Cute to This Year’s Sweethearts Nite

I met my wife Rebekah at Disneyland in November 1996 at Coke Corner. We spent much of the next 13 months together at Disneyland. I proposed to her in August 1997 right where we met and we got married that December. Disneyland is a very special and romantic place for us. So we were very excited to have the chance to attend one of this year’s Disneyland After Dark Sweethearts Nites on Tuesday, January 30th. Our goal was simple – just have a good time, the two of us, at this special place. Note: The performance hoodie I’m wearing in these pictures was provided to me by RSVLTS. And the Minnie Mouse sweater Rebekah is wearing was provided to her by BoxLunch. Sweethearts Nite’s hours were 9 p.m. to 1 a.m., but your ticket allows you to enter Disneyland at 6 p.m.. Disneyland was open for regular guests until 8 p.m., so that meant two hours of enjoying the park with the day guests. At 8 p.m., the day guests were no longer permitted on the attractions but event guests were. Then at 9 p.m., it officially kicked in with the special music, lighting and entertainment. We arrived around 5:30 p.m. and the entry lines were long but not crazy. They started letting event guests in shortly before 6 p.m.. Immediately after entering we were given a lanyard and guidemap and a wristband was put on us. Our goal was to ride Big Thunder Mountain and Indiana Jones and grab a snack before the event kicked off. Our main goal for the event itself was to see as much as we could and try as much event-exclusive food as we could. Going and rides during the event and meeting characters were not a high priority for us. Our first stop was Big Thunder Mountain Railroad which was unfortunately down. Not an auspicious beginning. Indiana Jones was also down, so we headed over to Royal Street Veranda where they had the seasonal (but not event specific) treat, Pimento-Cheese Fritters. That sounded yummy and just the right amount to carry us the next couple of hours. Unfortunately, they were out of them. With those plans out the window, we decided to head to Tiana’s Palace (where we had eaten the previous day and loved it). Rebekah ordered the Beef Po Boy and I got the Buttermilk Cornbread. By now, it was nearing 7 p.m. and both attractions we wanted to ride were still not running, so we decided to take in the Enchanted Tiki Room, which is never a bad idea. Our next stop was Small World Mall where we sat on a wall and tried to plan some eating. It was possible to Mobile Order some of the event-exclusive food in the app, but the pickup times for some of the locations were hours away. That just seemed weird to me, would it really be that busy?? But the times got later and later, so we decided to mobile order the one thing most important for us to try from Cafe Daisy in Toontown. The order was placed at 8 p.m. and our pickup time was 10:55 p.m.. So far Sweethearts Nite had not gone as planned. Was this a sign of things to come? 8:30 p.m. now and the event food is available so Rebekah got a Strawberry Sweetheart Cheesecake Churro with Strawberry Cheesecake Dipping Sauce from a cart while I went to Rancho Del Zocalo for the Mickey Shaped Strawberry Cream Puff. We ate them outside at Rancho Del Zocalo which was a perfect spot because of the numerous heaters they have. The churro has a dense coating. As a result, you don’t get as much cinnamon because the fried dough is rolled in crushed sugar cookie. I thought the result with the sauce was awesome. I’m a huge churro fan and this was a nice twist on it. Rebekah enjoyed it as well and noted the tangy, sweet strawberry topping buried in the sauce – so be sure to dip deep. The cream puff was “interesting.” The outside wasn’t my favorite but I did enjoy the filling. Rebekah thought there was a nice balance between the amount of dough and filling and enjoyed the pastry shell much more than a flaky croissant or profiterole. By the time we finished, Big Thunder Mountain was up and running so we finally got our ride in. Our wait, shortly after 9 p.m., was around 15 minutes. Right across from Rancho Del Zocalo was the Jazz Night Club. Setup on the Mark Twain dock, it featured a jazz band, dancers and tables. We only spent a short time there, but it looked like a great place to relax for a while if that’s what you were looking for. Quite a few people were there hanging out. The themed lighting around the river provided by the Fanastmic! light towers also set a great mood.

One of the highlights of Sweethearts Nite is the opportunity to get pictures with famous Disney couples. However, we had heard the lines for that can be enormous and that’s just not how we wanted to spend our evening. But as we walked around New Orleans Square, we noticed Tiana and Naveen hanging around in front of Tiana’s Palace with only a couple of people waiting. So we happily jumped in and got this picture, which I love. I had seen a TikTok prior to the event showing a very lonely Jesse from Toy Story in the Golden Horseshoe. There was literally no one else in there. So I wanted to drop in and see if that was still the case. Happily, it was not. Jesse and her piano player were performing for quite a few guests. She was also happy to pose for pictures. We didn’t eat anything here, but the Raspberries & Cream Funnel Cake from the next door Stage Door Cafe looked wonderful. I saw another guest with it and snapped this picture. Maybe next time.     The one picture spot we absolutely did want to do was get our picture inside Herbie the Love Bug, one of Rebekah’s favorite characters. So we headed that way next and along the way saw the lighting and projections on Main Street and Sleeping Beauty Castle. Beautiful! Especially as pink is my favorite color. On our way to see Herbie, we passed Tomorrowland Terrace’s “Our Love is Out of this World Dance Party.” Lilo, Stitch and Angel were on stage along with a DJ and the crowd, while not large, was having a fantastic time. A little later we stopped for a few minutes and kinda got into it. The DJ was doing a great job. That’s another place I could’ve hung around for a long time.

But our goal was Herbie. The line was about 20 minutes. Once at the front, the photographer put us into three poses and we were very happy with the results. One interesting note – the Cast Member at the front of the line asked how our day was going. I told him the lines for photo spots were shorter than I expected. He said that was definitely not the case on the first event night. So keep that in mind – the clientele for the first night might be even more drawn to the photo spots than on other nights (all Sweetheart Nites are sold out so it wasn’t a smaller crowd overall). We finished with Herbie around 10:30 p.m. and continued to explore. On our way towards Small World Mall we saw a photo spot on Luca’s vespa had a pretty short line, so we stopped and ended up with three more fantastic pictures. It was almost time for our 10:55 p.m. Toontown food pickup but we had to take a moment to get a picture of Rebekah in her BoxLunch Disney Minnie Mouse Polka Dot Women’s Cardigan (which she got a ton of compliments on) in front of Small World – one of many BoxLunch Galentine’s Day exclusives. Finally, we made it to Toontown for the most anticipated of our event treats from Cafe Daisy. The line to order was HUGE! The line to pick up at mobile order was non-existent. Great move to put in that mobile order, hun! This being our most anticipated treat, I was anxious to see if it lived up to our expectations. Rebekah thought the Fried Heart-Shaped Ravioli would’ve been even better if it was super fresh and hot, but was still quite good having sat at the mobile order window for a bit. It’s a cute, heart-shaped ravioli in a heavily seasoned breading with a hint of red peeking through when you bite them. A bit of spicy-ness lingers but doesn’t overwhelm and the accompanying marinara is powerfully tomato. I felt they were excellent – spicy but not too spicy. Lived up to our anticipation. I was really looking forward to the Tunnel of Love Strawberry Donuts as well. The strawberry donuts were delightfully presented in a daisy shape with each donut a petal. They weren’t too dense but Rebekah was disappointed because they were chilled and she found the topping too gooey sticky. I really enjoyed the creamy topping, particularly the strawberry chunks. The pink color really completed it, these were a lot of fun to eat. We exited Toontown just as the Royal Processional was ending and it would be followed by the Royal Ball. I had seen pictures of just how crowded this area could get for the Ball, so this wasn’t high on our list, but I’m glad we got to see it from a distance for ourselves. One fortuitous thing … the processional ends by going through the Small World parade gate, then the princes and princesses have to make their way back to the Mall for the ball. The area they walk by was empty and we happened to be there just as they were walking by. So if you just want to see them and not hang out, that might work out well for you. Our main goals completed, we did some more exploring. The last treat we wanted to try was the Strawberry Shortcake Dole Whip. I was really excited about this as I’m a big Dole Whip fan. When I saw them making it and realized it was actually made with Strawberry Shortcake at the bottom and covered in strawberry sauce, I was super excited. But this was the one disappointing thing I had all night. It was just so-so at best. Dole Whip was apparently not meant to be on a shortcake. For merchandise fans, there were a few event items available. There was also a Girls Crew Jewelry Trunk Show in the Emporium. Before leaving, there was one more important picture to get. As mentioned above, Rebekah and I met at Disneyland in 1996 at Coke Corner. The shops on Main Street all have an address, and we recently realized the address for Coke Corner is 217. It’s actually our son who realized it while looking through pictures – it stuck out in his mind because his birthday is February 17th – 2/17. So 28 years after we met, we had to get this picture on Sweethearts Nite. We walked out of the park just after midnight having had a wonderful Sweethearts Nite. I would not hesitate to go again. If I do, I might try to meet more characters. I would definitely try some different picture spots and foods. And as long as I am with the same sweetheart, I know I would have a wonderful time.