It'll Be Alright: Disneyland February 2020

Sleeping Beauty Castle in her full glory.

Day 5 - Friday

Incredicoaster - We started the day at DCA because it opened early. It was a pretty easy entry. I got down early and got in line with Grady. Ellie and Lisa caught up. I got drinks for everyone before we went into the park. Ellie wanted to ride the Incredicoaster, so we got a FastPass and did Rider Swap with her. She loved that ride. It was so cute.

Inside out - After Incredicoaster, we decided to just wander through the park and do what we wanted and it came up, so the next ride we walked by was the Emotional Whirlwind. We did stop at Bing Bong's on the way, which is a really cute store. The Emotional Whirlwind is much better in the morning with no line and no sun. It was fun.

Swings - Next, Ellie and Lisa did the Silly Symphony Swings and Jumpin' Jellyfish. They both enjoyed them. There was no line so they just hopped on. They had not done the Silly Symphony Swings and they both liked it.

Zephyr - Next was the Golden Zephyr. We had not done this ride before so we decided to do it. There was no line again so we hopped right on. We all enjoyed it. It was almost too much height for me, but I made it.

Ariel - After that, we completed the circle and rode Ariel. There was no line again and since we could all do it, we did. A cute fun ride as always.

Meet Mickey - Lisa was hungry and we wanted to try and ride Monsters so we walked back around to the front of the park. When passed the fountain on Buena Vista Street and saw characters out. Then we saw my brother's family waiting to meet Mickey. We joined them and got a couple really good family pictures with Mickey.

Donald donut - After seeing Mickey, we went to Schmoozies! to look for their specialty donut. We were lucky enough to get the last one and man it was huge. It was Donald Duck tail and feat on a cronut filled with lemon and blueberry jellies. It was really good. Ellie loved it.

Ellie and Lisa - Radiator Springs - We got a Fast Pass for Radiator Springs Racers and Ellie and Lisa got in line to do it. They were in line quite a while so we didn't get to use our rider swap.

Zack - Ghirardelli coffee - While Ellie and Lisa rode Radiator Springs Racers, I went with Grady to get a coffee. I have wanted to get a coffee from Ghiradrdelli for a couple of years and this was finally my chance. I ordered a mocha because I had heard the chocolate in the mocha was really good. I let it cool a little (as some of you know, I can't drink really hot coffee) and it was SO good. This was almost a hot chocolate with a little coffee. I will get it again.

Zack and Ellie - incredicoaster - It was almost time for brunch at Lamplight Lounge, but there was no line at the Incredicoaster. Ellie and I went over and rode it before lunch. That ride is so much fun with her.

Lisa - check in to lunch, Grady fell off table - While we were riding Incredicoaster, Lisa took Grady to check in to Lamplight Lounge for brunch. They seated her and my brothers family and when Ellie and I got there, Lisa came out with Grady from the bathroom. Come to find out, he was standing on the chair at our table and fell and hit is chin on the table and started bleeding. It wouldn't be a Disney trip without one of our kids bleeding. When they got back, I took Grady (because Lisa was pretty frustrated with him) and I couldn't get him to calm down and sit. It was naptime and he hadn't eaten much. So I left with Grady.

Zack take Grady to hotel for nap, Lisa and Ellie ate - I put Grady in the stroller and went straight back to the hotel and to our room. He cried and screamed all the way back until we were almost to the room and he finally calmed down. When I got to the hotel, 2-3 people in the security area said "Oh! It must be nap time!". Yep, it was. Now, Grady had been napping in the stroller and sleeping in the bed with LIsa. He didn't fight me getting ready for a nap, he seemed ok with that, but he wanted to sleep on the bed and that wasn't going to happen. He got our of his pack-n-play 4 times before he finally gave up and fell asleep. Meanwhile, Lisa and Ellie had a wonderful relaxing brunch at Lamplight Lounge. Ellie at all of her french toast and said it was really good. Lisa got chilaquilas and a mimosa flight. She really took advantage of the situation. She did bring me leftovers of the chilaquilas and they were really good. After brunch, they did some rides including Goofy's Sky School. I was sitting on the balcony and I could see the ride so we waved at each other when they were on the ride. It was kinda cool.

Grady lunch - Ellie Grizzly - Grady slept for a little over an hour and then Lisa and Ellie came up to change clothes and get us. Ellie put her water clothes on and rode Grizzly River Run with Spencer and the cousins. Lisa, Sam and I stayed with Grady. Grady wanted a hot dog to eat so I went to Award Wieners and got him the kids hot dog. This was the cutest little hot dog and it came with a milk and an orange. Grady at the whole meal. He was a new little person after his nap and a meal.

Disneyland - We decided to go across the esplanade to Disneyland for the evening. We wanted to do some more rides there and try to see Fantasmic.

Big thunder - First, we got a Fast Pass for Big Thunder Mountain. Ellie loved that ride. It is so much fun with her. The pictures of her on this ride show why you take kids to Disney parks.

Pirates - Next we rode Pirates of the Caribbean because the line was pretty short. This was the first time Grady had been on it and he was really cute. He sat on my lap and didn't know the drops were coming so he grabbed on to me and put his hands out because he felt like he was falling. Both kids enjoyed this ride a lot. We found that Grady learned to say "pirates" too.

Matterhorn - Then we got a Fast Pass for the Matterhorn. When we came out of Pirates, everything was all wet. Come to find out, it had rained quite a bit while we were on Pirates. Thankfully we covered the strollers and they weren't wet inside. We went to ride Matterhorn and it sprinkled a couple times while doing that. Ellie did not remember this ride from last time, but she really liked it. She even said the Yeti wasn't scary, which was good to hear. I thought he was a little scary.

Dinner - plaza inn - After Matterhorn, it was getting dark and it seemed like a good time for dinner. We went to the Plaza Inn. I really like this place. I got the fried chicken again and it was delicious. Lisa got it too and really liked it. Ellie got pasta and really liked it. Grady again was a pain at meal time. He wouldn't sit in his chair or eat. I at fast so I could watch him and then we left. It was something. After dinner Grady was eating a carrot and apparently he choked on it a little and threw up. Yuck. It was on him and on the stroller.

Rain - After dinner, it started raining again so we walked toward Adventureland to walk through the shops in Adventureland and Frontierland. These are some unique shops rather than the same-old same-old stuff in the parks.

Jungle cruise - We also found there was no line for Jungle Cruise, so we parked the strollers in the covered parking out of the rain and got on the ride. I like this ride all the time (especially at Disneyland) and it is a different experience at night. Grady wasn't sure about it at night.

Pirates - After Jungle Cruise, we went to meet my brother's family to watch Fantasmic. They found a really good spot and we holding space for us. We still had about an hour before the show started and Pirates was only 25 minutes. Most of us decided to go and ride it so we left my brother with his son and the strollers to hold spots. We got a little nervous in line because he was texting us saying to hurry because people were trying to crowd into our spot. The 3 strollers helped a lot to hold spots. We all enjoyed the ride and Grady did even better his second time. He kept saying "Pirates!" throughout the ride. It was cute.

Fantasmic - When we got done with the ride we rushed back to our spots and there was still enough space for us. We did spread ourselves out as much as we could to make sure no one crowded in around us. It worked really well and there was a rope behind us so the cast members kept anyone from crowding us since there was a walkway behind us. The show started and it was great. The one catch was the dragon wasn't working so we didn't get to see it. After Fantasmic they play Mickey's Mix Magic in the same spot so we stayed and watched it. Ellie and Crosby went to sleep in the strollers, but Riley and Grady were dancing like crazy to the show. They were fun to watch.

Beignets - We were going to get beignets before the show to eat during it, but the line was long and we didn't want to lose our spot. We got some after the show and took them back to the hotel to eat them in the lobby. It was a nice end to another full fun and challenging day.