Southern California January 2017 - Day 2: San Diego Zoo

Ellie at the San Diego Zoo

We woke up Sunday morning and everything was all wet outside.  It was cloudy and sprinkling outside.  We checked the weather and the chance of rain was higher in Anaheim and LA than it was in San Diego.  The radar looked like the rain had all stayed north of San Diego and it was mostly dry.  We decided to take a chance and drive to San Diego for the day. We wanted to go to the zoo, so that was what we did.  We got ready and when Ellie was ready, she hopped into the stroller and told us she was ready.  We went down to the lobby and ate breakfast.  Overall they had a pretty good breakfast.  We ate there almost every morning.  They always had cereal, waffles, toast and bagels and then there were eggs and some type of meat and a side of potatoes.  It was pretty good for a complementary hotel breakfast.

Ellie was ready o go!

After breakfast, I went and got the car and we loaded up.  We headed to I-5 from Katella and went south.  We stayed on the 5 all the way to San Diego.  It was pretty cloudy all the way with an occasional sprinkle.  I had heard it was a pretty drive, and maybe it was the weather, but I didn't think it was all that exciting.  We drove through some nice beach towns and it was cool to drive by Camp Pendleton.  We actually saw some military helicopters flying over Camp Pendleton.

We made it to San Diego in a little over an hour and a half.  We drove passed SeaWorld and through part of Downtown and then in to Balboa Park to the zoo.  We found a place to park and when we got out of the car, it was quite chilly and windy.  There was no rain though, that was a bonus.  We all bundled up and headed to the zoo.  On the way in we actually went the wrong way because there really isn't a lot of signage and there weren't a lot of people going to the zoo.  We got to the entrance, bought tickets and walked in.  We looked over the map and devised a plan.  Ellie wanted to see the pandas, lions and tigers so they were the priority.  We also didn't know how long we would be there because of the weather.  We decided to go to the pandas and then around through the Polar Bears and back through the African animals.  Then if we had more time we would go to other areas.

Gloomy entrance to the Zoo

Our Zoo tickets

Our first stop was Pandas.  As we walked through this zoo we found it is very hilly.  The pandas were down a steep hill that you had to go passed the pandas to the entrance of the exhibit and then back up the hill to see them.  It was a pretty cool exhibit.  We saw some other bears and Asian animals and then the pandas.  There was one out and he was eating bamboo.  There was a zookeeper talking about him when we got there and said cut through bamboo similar to how a chipper cuts up small trees.  It was pretty impressive.

PANDA WATCH!

After seeing the panda, we moved on looking for tigers or lions.  I found a path that said it went to the tigers so we went that way.  There was a family of monkeys and African otters.  Then we found hippos.  After the hippos were the tigers.  The tigers were on a hillside and they were really close and cool to see.  They were pretty active.  It might have been lunch time.  Then we saw a sign for gorillas.  This threw up a red flag to Lisa, our navigator.  When we looked through the map, we found that this path had lead us to the complete opposite side of the zoo.  Darn.  We started looking for the gorillas because they were supposed to be close.  We kept looking and then made it to a restaurant that was 3 or 4 stories.  We were pretty frustrated at this point.  The path lead us to the restaurant and seemed to stop.  We went to the top of the restaurant and there was a smaller cafe.  We also found that just passed the cafe was the gorillas.  Thank goodness.  We decided to stop, reset and have lunch.  It was pretty tasty.  Ellie had pizza that came with several kids snack in a zoo bag with a zoo cup.  Lisa and I split a meatball sandwich and a large coke, which we could get $1 refills (Sweet!!).  We all ate well.  It ended up being a good stop.

Ellie and momma looking at hippos

Here kitty, kitty.

We finished up and went to see the gorillas.  They were really active. There was a momma walking with and carrying her baby, which was really cute.  Then there was a silverback male that charged another one and sat right in front of him.  We watched the silverback and realized he was pooping right in front of us.  It was pretty yucky (and funny).  After the gorillas we saw some more monkeys and then the flamingos.  These were the brightest colored flamingos I've every seen.  They were bright orange.  It was crazy.  After the flamingos, we made it back to the front of the zoo.  Our new plan was to walk back through the African animals, back to the polar bears and then take the sky tram back to the front to see the penguins.

This guy meant business (he even did his business)

Momma gorilla and her baby

Getting a ride from momma

Ellie and daddy going into the monkey area

The brightest colored Flamingos ever.
Must be some really orange colored shrimp

We headed to the African area.  This was pretty cool too.  We saw a big area that had elephants and then there was a cage that had a jaguar on one side and 2 lions on the other.  The jaguar was sitting right outside the door.  He was waiting to be fed.  It was beautiful.  His coat was almost metallic.  The lions were cool too.  The male was up on a platform and the female was prowling around the outside.  She was very active.  It was cool to see.  She even pawed and growled at something.  Kind of spooky actually.  We saw some sloths, and then headed to the Arctic area. There were some other animals on the way, but we made it to the Polar Bears.  They were all sleeping.  Darn.  We found the sky tram, and it was closed due to high winds.

Going to see the elephants

Look elephants.  The elephant gates looked like Jurassic Park.

Just lunging on this throne

This girl was feisty.  ROAR!

Probably the prettiest animal we saw.  (Jaguar)

We started to walk back to the front and the pandas were on the way.  Before we got back to the pandas, we stopped in a gift shop and Ellie wanted to "take the pandas to her home".  That was her line for the week to say she wanted something.  We left the gift shop and right before the pandas there was a leopard area.  Somehow we missed it before.  It was really cool.  They had 2 of my favorite animals:  the snow leopard and the Amur leopard.  There were at least 2 of each and they each had their own cage with rocks and trees to walk on.  There were also catwalks (I know, get it), that connected the pens, but were blocked. One of theAmur leopards was walked to and from the catwalk.  It was really cool to see.  The snow leopards were sleeping, but I always like seeing them.

"I want at my house" - Ellie

Leopard catwalk.  So cool.

Amur leopard walking around.

Snow leopard sleeping on his rock.

Check out the snow leopard's tail.  It is crazy.

Through the park,there was quite a bit of construction.  There was a lot of new areas being add.  We also went to find the penguins.  They were not easy to find.  They were near the front, but there were no signs.  Probably because it was the smallest area I have ever seen for penguins.  There was a sign that said they are building a new penguin habitat, but the current one was very small.

We stopped at the gift shop on the way out and got a couple of things. We got a lot more out of the zoo than we thought we would.  It was around 5:00 so we got almost 6 hours at the zoo.  As we walked out of the gift shop, it started raining.  We made it out to the car and headed back to Anaheim.

"I want this at my home" - Ellie

It was a gross drive home.  It rained all the way, and it was a steady rain all the way.  We ran into a couple of traffic incidents.  For some reason in California, if there is a traffic problem, they shutdown the entire highway, clean it up and then reopen the highway.  It was weird.  We were getting hungry and decided to try and find an In N Out burger.  We stopped at the one in Laguna Hills.  It was a pretty nice area.  The burgers were good, but nothing to go too far out of my way to get.  I have had others that are better.  Ellie doesn't eat burgers, so we stopped at McDonald''s across the street and got her nuggets.

And........................done.

We made it back to Anaheim and by then it finally stopped raining.  We stopped at the Target on Harbor Blvd and picked up a few items for the week.  Then we drove to Downtown Disney.  On Sunday, it was National Polka Dot Day so Downtown Disney had some Minnie inspired items.  We decided to go check it out.  When we got there, a bunch of stuff was closed and others had towels and mops out.  It looked like there had been a huge flood.  In actuality, there had been.  While we were gone, the LA area had record rains and Disneyland actually closed early due to flooding issues.  It was kinda crazy.  We missed out on the Minnie inspired items, but we still got a couple of Sprinkles cupcakes to take to the room.

My first experience with Sprinkles cupcakes.  Pretty delicious.

After that, we walked to the Disneyland Hotel, just to check it out.  I had heard you could get Dole Whips there.  When we got there they were closed.  Dole Whips are at the coffee shop until 4:00pm.  We walked through the gift shops (Ellie got a princess pen) and then got in the car and went back to the hotel.  Another full day.

Mickey's Sorcerer hat at the Disneyland Hotel.  The lights sparkled.

Small World art in the Disneyland Hotel lobby.

Tomorrow, the Aquarium of the Pacific.

Southern California January 2017 - Day 1: Flight & DIsneyland

"To all who come to this happy place, welcome.  Disneyland is your land." - Walt Disney

We're going to Disneyland!!!

Our first day started at 6:45am CST.  It ended at 12:15am PT.  As you can tell, we did a lot our first day.  Our flight was at 9:45am CST out of Kansas City.  Lisa's mom was nice enough to drive us to the airport and we made it with plenty of time.  We had signed up for TSA Pre-Check before our vacation.  We wanted to do this because it would be easier to go through security with Ellie.  This was great.  It really threw me off because I am accustomed to stripping down and putting everything in the bins before going through the metal detector or scanner.  We didn't have to do any of that.  I just emptied my pockets, put our bags on the scanner and we moved on.  It was great.  Lisa and I got coffees at Starbucks and Ellie had a snack before our flight.  We boarded with pre-boarding because we had a small child with us so we all sat together.  This flight was already starting off better than our flight in September because Ellie was between us and we had plenty of space.  Ellie did pretty good on the flight.  She colored, played on the iPad and watched a movie.  She did pretty good.

Ellie ready to ride the airplane

We changed planes in Phoenix and Ellie liked taking the moving walkways to the other terminal.  Lisa got a turkey wrap for a snack, and she and Ellie shared it.  There was a huge wall of windows at the end of the terminal so we spent the layover watching the "big" and "small" planes come and go.  She enjoyed watching the planes and seeing the different sizes of planes.  The flight from Phoenix to Orange County was only an hour, but it seemed a lot longer.  Ellie wouldn't sit still.  It was nap time at home and you could tell.  We were able to keep her occupied for the hour flight, but if it had been longer, it wouldn't have been good.

Puzzles on the plane

Look at those piggies

Coloring and watching Dory

We arrived in Orange County with no problem.  None of us had been to that airport before and it is really nice.  We decided it is what KCI should be.  It has 3 connected terminals, easy drop off and security.  And it is really nice and clean.  It looked like there were a lot of private planes that went in and out of this airport too.  The rental car was a little confusing.  We found the luggage carousel, but then had to go outside and follow a path around one terminal to another terminal to find the rental car counters.  We were also trying to find our stroller rental lady.  She was meeting us at the rental car pickup, but we did not know where that was.  After we checked in at the counter, we had to go across the street to the parking garage and go to the bottom floor.  Right outside the elevator was the Alamo pick up area and there was Jewel, our City Stroller lady.  She had both the car seat and stroller ready to go.  She was very nice and the items were clean and in good condition.  We then found someone to help us with a car who told us we got a free upgrade to either a Hyundai Sonata, Chrysler 300 or Chevy Impala. I picked the Impala because I knew was a large car with lots of room.  It was a newer model and really nice.  Smooth to drive and the seats were really comfy.  It even had a Bluetooth stereo so I could connect my phone to listen to music or make phone calls through the stereo.  Once we were buckled up and settled, we were off.  Next stop, our hotel.

Ellie helping daddy with the luggage on our way to find the rental car

The drive from the airport to our hotel was only about 20 minutes, but most of it was on I-5.  Their highways are much larger and busier than ours are.  Thankfully we got there on a Saturday so traffic wasn't bad.  We got off on Katella Ave and drove to Harbor Blvd, where our hotel was located.  It is a great location, only 10-15 minute walk to the parks.  We were staying at the Residence Inn next to the Convention Center.  The hotel just opened in August so it was brand new.  It was very nice.  I got out and checked in.  They actually upgraded us to a room on a higher floor with a theme park view because our room was not ready when we checked in.  We got the luggage out of the car and I parked the car in the hotel garage ($18 per day to park at the hotel).  Our room was on the 7th floor and it was in the northwest corner of the building.  What a great spot.  We had two rooms, a kitchen area and the bathroom was attached to the sleeping room.  There were windows on 2 walls of the living room and 1 of the sleeping room.  They looked out on to the back Cars Land and California Adventure.  It was really cool.

Our hotel room: living room

Our hotel room: sleeping room

View of California Adventure form our room

View of Cars Land and Tower of Terror from our room

Our plan for the rest of the day was to take a nap and then go to Disneyland for the evening/night.  I had requested a pack n play when I checked in and they said they would send one up.  We ended up waiting almost 2 hours for the pack n play.  I had to call 2-3 times to ask about the pack n play.  Ellie was not a happy bear.  She was tired and kept asking for her bed because she didn't have one.  We tried to get her to sleep on the couch or our bed but it didn't work.  By the time her bed showed up, it was too late and we gave up.  We decided to go to the park.  We loaded up our backpack with our camera, sweatshirts and jackets, got Ellie in the stroller and took off.

We walked to Katella and Harbor and then went north on Harbor to the entry way to Disneyland.  It was only about a 10-15 minute walk.  We went through security and then got to the gates.  On the way to the gates, we could see California Adventure on the other side of the esplanade.  It was weird to see the other park so close.  At the gates, our tickets were on our phones, so we presented them to the ticket taker.  They scanned them and gave us paper tickets, then took our pictures to connect to the paper tickets.  Each time we used our ticket, our picture showed up on their scanner so they knew it was our ticket.  It was a pretty slick system.  We went through the gates and under the railroad tracks into Main Street.  We made it.  We were in Disneyland.  It was almost surreal.  I have been to Disney World 20 times or more, and this was exactly the same and completely different all at once.  Walt built it.  It was smaller, so much smaller, than I expected.  We walked by the firehouse, where Walt's apartment was, and by Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln, which was used at the World's Fair.  Main Street felt much more like a square in any small town of America, more so than Disney World.  We also noticed walking down Main Street there were people lining the street on both sides with blankets spread out.  The Electric Parade had just moved back to Disneyland and this was the 2nd night.  We walked in around 4:30pm PT, but the parade didn't start until 8:30pm PT.  They were there more than 4 hours to see the Main Street Electrical Parade.  Crazy stuff.  I wouldn't wait 4 hours to see anything.

Going through Security

Disneyland Train Station

Our tickets.  Of course Lisa got the storm trooper.  :)

Then I looked for the castle and at first didn't see it.  It is so small.  Cinderella Castle at Disney World is massive and you can see it from a great distance.  Sleeping Beauty Castle is much, much smaller and it almost blends in with everything.  We made it to the hub and looked around.  It was so weird because you could see the entrances to all the lands from the hub, at Disney World they are set back from the hub so you have to walk closer to them before you know you are going to Adventureland or another land.  And the strangest thing was that the Astro Orbiter is basically in the hub.  When looking at the castle, you look to the right and it is right there on the other side of the street next to the Plaza Inn.  We decided to get corn dogs at the Little Red Wagon on the hub.  They were delicious.  They came with chips or apples so we got one of each with our 2 corn dogs.  Ellie really liked the corn dog and she loves the Mickey dried apple packs.  It was a good meal for her.  We then headed through the castle and into Fantasyland.  It was so small and intimate.  There were more dark rides than Disney World too.

Hub with people waiting to see the parade

Disneyland hub with Partners statue

Dinner at the Red Wagon Corn Dog stand

The whole reason to be in the park this day was to ride Small World, so we headed back to it.  Small World is on its own behind Fantasyland.  It is outside too and we got to see 'it's a small world holiday'.  They still had the Christmas lights up and they were spectacular.  Lisa said just seeing and riding Small World made it worth adding that day to our trip.  It was really cool.  The inside of the ride was different too.  Not only was the regular ride longer and different, but there were holiday decorations added throughout the ride.  They also added Jingle Bells to the song, so it was a mix of "it's a small world" and "Jingle Bells".

Small World with Christmas lights

What a great display of Christmas lights

Ellie on Small World

Soaking it all in.  Not a lot of emotions.

After Small World, we went back to Fantasyland and rode the Storybook Canal boats.  It was cute, but not too exciting at night.  We did find the queue lines for Disneyland rides were much narrower.  This was not great for us Midwesterners.  After the canal boats, we rode the Carousel.  Not only does Ellie love carousels and the line was short, but the carousel was the reason Walt built Disneyland.  It was fun.  Ellie really enjoyed it.  After that we rode Pinocchio.  This was a dark ride, and it was a little creepy.  It's been a long time since I've seen the Pinocchio movie, but the ride was pretty dark, not just in the lighting.  A little too dark for me.  Through the rides, Ellie didn't show a lot of emotion, except for the carousel.  She looked pretty tired.  She said she liked Pinocchio though.  Then she asked for popcorn and we told her we needed to find some.  We found a churro stand, so Lisa and I got one.  It was yummy.  We then went to look for popcorn, and by the time we left the churro stand, Ellie was asleep in the stroller.  Lisa and I decided to walk around and check out the park  It was crazy how fast we covered the park because of the size..

Tea Cups at night

Storybook Canal boats at night

In line for the carousel

Excited to ride the carousel

Family picture on the carousel

And........................done.

We walked to Frontierland, then to New Orleans Square and on to Critter Country.  In Critter Country, we stopped in Pooh Corner, where they had candy and treats.  I got a Tigger Tail.  It was 3 marshmallows on a stick, dipped in caramel, then dipped in chocolate, then sprinkled with orange colored sugar and then drizzled with chocolate to look like Tigger's tail.  I love the chocolate covered marshmallows and this was fantastic.  Very rich and sweet, but very good.  One Tigger Tail was plenty.

Loving me some Tigger Tail

After that, we walked back through Adventureland, and to the hub.  We walked across the hub to Tomorrowland, and the electric parade was starting.  Caught a glimpse of it, and that was all we needed (not our favorite).  We walked through Tomorrowland and then back to the hub.  We stopped at a restroom and then the fireworks were going to start soon so we found a spot outside of the Plaza Inn to watch the fireworks.  It was actually a pretty good spot.  We couldn't hear the music too well, but we could see the fireworks.  They were good; not as long of a show and not as tall of fireworks as Disney World, but still a good show.  They packed a lot into that show.  After that, we headed out of the park, and decided to walk through Downtown Disney since Ellie was asleep.  It was pretty cool.  It was small because it is the walkway from the Disneyland Hotel to the parks.  They have some cool shops, restaurants and snacks.  After that, we headed back to the hotel.  At this point, we were bundled up with all of our clothes and Ellie had her jacket and blanket on because it was pretty chilly outside.  I believe it was in the 40s by the time we got back to the hotel.  It was a full day.  It started at 6:45am CST and ended at 12:15am PT.

Before we went to bed, we checked the weather to decide what to do and the chance of rain in San Diego was lower.  We were going to try and drive to San Diego and hope the weather would stay nice.  It would be a decision for the morning.