It'll Be Alright: Disneyland and Southern California

Friday February 2

Another early morning; kids were really slow moving; 2nd group in line at security - Even though we were slow moving, we were near the front of the line at security for the California Adventure entrance. We were pretty excited to be that close to the front.

Got in to park and walked through empty park to Avenger’s Campus - After security, we were standing at the rope before opening. Once the park opened, we went to Avenger’s Campus. It was really cool to see the park with no one in it. We got to Avenger’s Campus and I took a picture of my mom walking by the Spider-Man show area and she was the only person there.

Webslingers - We walked on to Webslingers with no wait. This is such a fun ride and it gets better the older the kids get. Grady loves this one!

Radiator Springs Racers - won again; Grady loved it - Next we went to Carsland because the park hadn’t opened yet and we wanted to get on Radiator Springs Racers before the crowd got there. Such a fun ride. We all love it and now that Grady is big enough, he loves it too.

Incredicoaster- Grady just barely big enough; he didn’t like it; a lot of fun though - Next we did the Incredicoaster with a very short wait. Grady wanted to try it because he was just barely tall enough. He did not like it; it was a little too much for him. The rest of us loved it and we hyped it up for Grady so he would still have a good experience.

Cookie Nom Nom’s and Carousel - begrudgingly got kids to go on carousel - The cousins were getting cookie nom nom’s and churros so I went to ride Jessi’s Critter Carousel. The kids didn’t want to do it, but I wanted to ride it with them.

Group waiting for Toy Story Midway Mania to reopen - Ellie and Zack go on Incredicoaster - so much fun - Toy Story Mania was closed, but we heard it was about to reopen so the group wanted to ride it. Ellie wanted to ride the Incredicoaster so I told her I would ride with her. She loves that ride so much and she is a blast to ride with. We had a great time!

Brunch at Lamplight - delicious but took a long time - We took a little longer than expected to ride the Incredicoaster so we ended up meeting our group at the table to eat at Lamplight for lunch. We had a little trouble getting seated together (we were told to ask early, but it didn’t make a difference). We also found the service was very slow, nice and friendly, but slow. The food and drinks were delicious, but the service was slow.

Family pictures, walked around DCA and then rest time at hotel - After brunch, we took some pictures in front of the fun wheel then went back to the hotel to rest a little. The kids were getting a little rowdy.

Back to Disneyland for Magic Happens parade - great parade! - We got ready and made it to Disneyland in time to see the Magic Happens parade. I had heard good things about this parade and it exceeded the expectations. This was a really cool parade with the floats, characters and great music.

Shopped Main Street - We walked through the shops on Main Street before heading to Adventureland.

Jungle cruise - great skipper! Scare away hippos like last 5 relationships, I love you, let’s get married, let’s open a joint checking account! - We decided to ride the Jungle Cruise. We have had fantastic skippers in California, and this one did not disappoint. She was amazing. She was very sarcastic and dry and had some great jokes. I little like Amy Schumer in delivery.

Treehouse - After the Jungle Cruise, we want to go through the newly updated Adventureland Treehouse. It is based on Swiss Family Robinson, but it is not exactly the same. It is a really cool treehouse, but not a make or break for a Disney trip.

Parade while waiting for dinner - better closer and at night - We went to check in at Carnation Cafe for dinner and got to watch the parade go by while waiting. It was cool to see the parade transition to a nighttime parade with lights and effects added.

Dinner at Carnation cafe - good dinner, not great, sandwiches and salad - We ate at Carnation Cafe. We were hoping to sit inside, but we sat out. We ate with the 4 of us and my parents. The others wanted to eat somewhere else. Grady was starting to meltdown and wouldn’t just calm down. Dinner was fine, but I was not in a great mood because of Grady’s behavior (reminded me of one of our trips where we bailed on this restaurant because of him). He was better at dinner, but back at it after. The food was fine, but not exciting.

Grady asleep in stroller; hung out in Star Wars land - We got Grady to calm down and lay down in the stroller. Our plan was to meet my brother’s family in Galaxy’s Edge so we had a long walk to get him to sleep. It worked! Thank goodness. We got to Galaxy’s Edge and walked around and hung out.

Watched Mix Magic fireworks - SO good!! - We wanted to see fireworks with Mickey’s Mix Magic show and it did not disappoint. We love this show and the fireworks are an added bonus. It was more fun because the kids got into it, dancing and singing along.

World of Disney and bedtime - After fireworks, we headed back to the hotel, stopping in the World of Disney (Ellie wanted to shop).