It'll Be Alright: Disneyland and Southern California for Christmas 2022

View of foggy/rainy LA from the Academy Awards Museum

Day 1

Very early morning, didn’t sleep great - We left the house at 4:45am to get to the airport for a 7:00am flight. We didn't have a lot of problems getting everyone up and going because we all knew we were going on vacation. We didn't have any issues with the Parking Spot or getting to the airport, but Kansas City is getting a new airport in March. It was obvious that they have let the current airport go. When we got to the gate, there was not a line for TSA Pre-Check and as we went through security, the TSA person said "welcome to the gate from hell". That was encouraging. There were no food or drink options, so Delta was providing complimentary options. I went to the bathroom and the toilets didn't flush. We couldn't believe how bad it was and it is embarrassing to anyone flying to or through our airport.
Flight is fine, Grady very antsy and asking if we are there a lot - Overall the flight was ok. We surprisingly enjoyed the plane. We flew on Delta to LAX. It was a newer plane and seemed to have more room than the typical Southwest flight. We all got to sit next to each other. Grady sat with my parents and Ellie sat with us. My brother's family was in the row in front of us. Sam and Josie napped for a little bit. Grady wanted to get there so he was antsy and wanted to get there so he asked a lot.
Easy getting off the plane and getting to luggage. Got to car rental great too. - The LAX airport has gone through a renovation and is now VERY NICE compared to KCI. We had no issues getting to where we needed to go and getting our luggage. The rental car shuttle showed up just as we walked out to find it. Good timing.
Rented a Kia minivan. The 2 vans fit all of us and our stuff. Grady napped on the way to the farmers market - We rented through Budget which was upstairs from Alamo. It was odd because the planes fly over and we had trouble talking to the nice ladies helping us. We rented a Kia minivan which worked out great. We put Ellie in the van with Sam and Spence and their kids. We took my parents and Grady. We fit all of our luggage, but I was worried for a minute.
Drove to the farmers market - really enjoyed it and the food was delicious. We all loved this stop - We headed into LA: drove by Randy's donuts, Grady fell asleep shortly after Randy's donuts, saw the dramatic scenery change from Inglewood to Beverly Hills, thought we saw the Brown Derby building (we didn't), and ended driving by CBS Television City next to the Farmer's Market. We had some trouble finding a parking spot, but it was worth it. We LOVED the Farmer's Market. There were so many delicious spots to eat. Lisa and I ate at a seafood restaurant. Several of us ate at a diner. Ellie and Crosby got sushi (Right???). It was a great stop and allowed us to get what we wanted.
Went to academy awards museum. Struggled with the kids at first, they turned it around and were better. Had some cool stuff - C-3PO, R2-D2, Okoye, Jack heads, Bruce the shark - After our lunch at the Farmer's Market we went to the Academy Award museum. It was only a couple blocks away so we got there, regrouped and started the tour. This was a very informative and thorough museum, but it was also dry and not kid-friendly. The kids were bored very quickly and started acting out. They were running around, causing trouble and not listening to us. We had to have a pow-wow with our kids to restart. They did better, but we had to explain what we were seeing and why. We finally got to an area the kids liked with animation displays and props from sci-fi movies, like C-3PO and R2-D2. They also had Okoye's costume from Black Panther and the Terminator head. They also had one of the shark models from Jaws. One of the docents told us the story that all of the models from the movie were destroyed except this one. It was found in a dump and reconditioned. When they got it to put in the museum, they had to take part of the wall out to get the shark in the museum. Pretty crazy. Overall we had a good time, but I would not recommend taking kids.
Walked to Tar Pits, had trouble figuring out where to go, enjoyed the museum, the kids liked it more than academy awards, it was more interactive. - After the Academy Awards museum, we walked to the La Brea Tar Pits. The path walked through part of the museum of fine art and it was a longer walk than we expected. We also had some trouble finding the tar pits museum. Once we got there, it was pretty cool. This was much more kid-friendly and it showed. They got to see prehistoric animal bones and displays. There were also activities and other things that were aimed at kids.
Drove around Hollywood and the studios. The newbies really enjoyed this part. Stopped at the Griffith park merry go round but it was under refurbishment - This is one of my favorite parts of driving around LA and this is something I wanted my family to see. I took them around some of the sights in Hollywood and LA. We saw: Hollywood blvd and the Chinese Theater, Universal Studios, Warner Brothers Studios, Providence Medical (where Walt Disney died), Walt Disney studios and animation studios, Griffith Park and the merry-go-round. We were hoping to see and ride the merry-go-round (since it is where Walt came up with the idea for Disneyland), but it was closed (looked like for refurbishment). We headed back to the highway to go to the hotel. I did take the wrong turn and we drove right in front of the Disney Animation building with the Sorcerer Mickey hat out front. It was pretty cool. It's sometimes good to accidentally get lost or take a wrong turn.
Drove to hotel, everyone seemed to like it. Grady was funny in the car on the way (‘I’m awake!’) - There was some pretty good LA traffic on the way to the hotel, but it moved pretty good. Several times on the drive, Grady called out from the back "I'm awake". He was keeping himself awake. Everyone liked the hotel, the rooms and the smell of the lobby. It is the best! Just smells like Christmas in the lobby.
Got checked in and dropped off luggage. Spencer and I went to Target. We got some snacks and drinks for the room, then dropped off cars. - We were slightly worried about dropping the cars off because there was no where to park so we had to double park. No problem. I did make sure to get my phone out of the car on this trip.
Walked back to hotel and met rest of group. Walked through Downtown Disney for dinner at Ballast Point, Grady fell asleep at dinner. - Dinner was pretty good. I got a poke bowl with crispy wontons that was delicious. Lisa said the kids mac and cheese was very good too. They have their own beers and they were ok. We were all pretty tired and slowing down. Grady ate dinner and then laid down and fell asleep at the table.
Walked back carrying Grady all the way back - After dinner we headed back to the hotel and we carried Grady all the way. We didn't have the stroller and he was asleep so we traded off carrying him. At one point I put him on my shoulders, but his head would roll off either side of my head.
We all crashed from a long day. - It was a fun, very full day and we crashed when we got to the hotel. We had a pretty good setup with each of us getting our own bed in the room (2 queen size beds and a bunk bed).