It'll Be Alright: April 2023

small world at Christmas! Amazing!

Day 6

DCA - got in earlier than other day, close to rope - Our goal for the day was to do Radiator Springs Racers. We got to the park a little earlier and were able to get closer to the rope before rope drop.
Radiator Springs Racers - mad rush still about an hour wait - so good - We all got in line for Radiator Springs Racers (except Spence and Josie who got a Child Swap). We were surprised how fast the line filled and by the time it slowed down all of the extra line was open and we were not to the bridge yet. We waited in line and got to the last small shelter, there was an announcement that the ride was down. They said it was temporary so we stayed in line. About 15 minutes later, the ride started again and we made our way to the front. Total we still waited about an hour. We love this ride. It is worth an hour wait. Grady loved it this time too, which made it even better.
Mater’s while Spence did rider swap - The kids love Mater's ride. It is a little like Tea Cups, but a little less spinning. Grady rode with Papa. It was cute.
Ghirardelli’s- mocha and candy - Lisa got hot chocolate with espresso add in - best choice - Next we had to stop at Ghirardelli for coffee. My dad and I got cafe mocha's, but Lisa found out you can get a hot chocolate with a shot of espresso. Hers was SO good and much better than the mocha. She also found a grab bag of chocolates. You could get as many chocolate squares as you could fit in a Santa fabric bag for around $30. It was a great deal and she got a lot more than the sign suggested into the bag.
Lamplight lounge brunch - split tables - yummy - We had reservations for brunch at Lamplight Lounge. We have been in the past and love this meal at this restaurant. We were not disappointed. We did have to split up due to our party's size so the 4 of us added my dad and my brother's family added my mom. I got the crab benedict and it was delicious. Might have been better than the chilaquilles.
Felix navidad street parade - After brunch, we walked through the World of Color viewing area and took some great family pictures. Then we started walking around the lake and stumpled into the Feliz Navidad street parade. It was a fun show to watch and the kids enjoyed it.
Toy Story mania - Grady wanted to wait as long as it took; Spence won; Lisa got ‘Its Lemon’, said it was ok - Spence, Crosby, Grady and I rode together. The rest of the group went on to do something else (Lisa got "It's Lemon!" and said it was ok). The wait was around 45 minutes and Grady told me he wanted to ride and would wait as long as it took. What a great mindset for a 4 year old. He did too. He didn't complain or whine about the wait while we were in line.
Incredicoaster - Next we rode the Incredicoaster. The bigger kids love this one and the wait wasn't bad.
Poop break and Shawarma - We were heading to Avenger's Campus so I stopped at my private pit stop (the Grand Californian) to go number 2. I was meeting the group in line for the Dr Strange show so I grabbed a shwarma snack on the way. It was delicious.
Avengers Campus - dr strange show, characters - Thor, Black Panther, ant-man and wasp, mighty Thor, groot, iron man - We wanted to see the Dr Strange show, which is fun, and then move on because it was our last park day so we were trying to do as much as possible. We ended up spending quite a bit of time in Avengers Campus because of all of the characters. We got pictures with Ant-Man and the Wasp together. Spence and I talked to Ant-Man about Top Gun which was funny. Then we saw Mighty Thor go by, and Shurri as Black Panther. Then on our way out of the land we saw Iron Man talking to Groot which was funny.
Shops - We decided to head across to Disneyland so we walked through the shops on Buena Vista Avenue. We enjoy these shops. They remind me of Hollywood Studios in Florida and I loved going through those shops as a kid.
Back to Disneyland - small world - We headed back to Disneyland and headed to Small World to ride it as a group. We love this ride and wanted to do it again before the end of our vacation.
Small World lighting show - After the ride, we found a spot across the path from Small World to watch the projection show. It was really cool. Definitely worth doing. Then we just hung out for a while because we love the lights and decorations for the holiday overlay. This is Lisa's favorite part of a Christmas Disneyland trip.
Red rose tavern / ronto wraps / cold brew - Everyone was hungry after the show so we ended up splitting up because we all wanted something different. We stopped at Red Rose Taverne and got the kids dinner. They ate pretty quick then we went to Docking Bay 7 and Lisa and I got dinner and a final cold brew. We are finding the food in Galaxy's Edge is some of our favorite at Disneyland.
Grady got a lightsaber - After dinner, we decided to let Grady get a lightsaber with his gift card money. He had been talking about them and playing with them all trip. He didn't get the overly expensive "rea" lightsaber, but it is a higher quality toy lightsaber and he LOVED it. He was SO excited. We walked out of the shop and toward the Millennium Falcon and we saw Chewbacca. Grady got to meet him with his lightsaber. It was really cool. We took some pictures in front of the Falcon and then headed back toward New Orleans Square to meet our group to watch Fantasmic.
Fantasmic and fireworks - mom lost bag, found at tropical hideaway - We were walking into New Orleans Square looking for a spot to watch the show. We actually stopped in the same spot we did last time with Sam and Spence. Josie was asleep in the stroller so we used her as a block on one side of our group and our stroller on the other side. It worked great and we had a good spot to watch the show. The show was a little disappointing because some of it didn't work (the dragon being one thing) and the princess float for Beauty and the Beast didn't have the Beast on it. It was odd. Overall it's a good show, but it was not as well-polished as we are used to. My mom realized she lost her bag during Fantasmic. We were trying to figure out where it was so we backtracked and ended up finding it at the Tropical Hideaway, which was where we all met before going to watch Fantasmic.
Did some shopping and went back to hotel - After the show, we were all spent. We walked through a few shops, but we were all exhausted and ready for the hotel. We had a great time and loved every part, but 5 days in Disneyland with 5 kids is exhausting.