It'll Be Alright: Disneyland and Southern California

Thursday February 1

Rainy day, slept in a little, G-“the parks should have been closed today” - We woke up the next morning to find it was raining. We slept in a little because people to not rush into the parks in the rain.. At one point Grady said, “the parks should have closed today”.

Bundled up and headed for parks. Grady got wet, raincoat not great; kids wanted to go back to hotel; Galactic Grill - dry but not great food - When we reached the security entrance to Downtown Disney, we found it was pouring rain. We all got our rain gear out and bundled up. Some worked better than others. It rained so much that it started seeping through rain coats. We found that Ellie and Grady’s gear was not good enough. Grady was soaked. He stayed under the stroller cover to stay dry, which it didn’t fit the stroller very well. We got into the park and went to Galactic Grill for breakfast. We were out of the rain, but the food wasn’t very good. The kids were done. They were cold and wet and wanted to go back to the hotel. There were no lines for rides so we talked the kids into staying.

Star Tours - We started with Star Tours because it was close and inside. Surprisingly, it was not super warm, but it was dry. We had a good time on this ride. And to make it better, Grady was the spy!!

Buzz - Next we rode Buzz Lightyear. It was also inside, but there was no line so it didn’t take long.

Runaway Railway - so cute, great queue - We found there was no line at Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway in Toon Town, so we headed that way. We got a little wet on the way, but the rain started to let up when we got there. We had ridden this ride at Walt Disney World, but the facade and queue were completely different. It was the El Capitoon Theater and there were “props” from Mickey cartoons. It was sooo cute. We enjoyed the ride. I would have liked to have seen more of the queue, but there was no line. After the ride, we got Ellie a really cute raincoat because she was wet and freezing.

Star Wars - cold brew and Rise of the Resistance; Grady was mesmerized - After Toon Town, we found Rise of the Resistance did not have a very long line so we headed to Galaxy’s Edge. We mobile ordered a cold brew and got in line. I went with the boys and they loved it. Grady was in awe and looked like he was in a trance. He loved it.

Winnie the Pooh and candy - dark chocolate marshmallow like old Tigger Tail - Next we rode Winnie the Pooh, Josie couldn’t ride Rise of the Resistance so she was looking forward to Winnie the Pooh. It is really cute. We then went into Pooh’s Corner and I found a dark chocolate marshmallow wand. It was delicious, very similar to the old style Tigger Tails. Ellie got a Rice Krispie Treat.

Snack at Bengal BBQ - Ellie loved it! - We were still hungry and we were walking through Adventureland so we got a snack at Bengal BBQ. Ellie was obsessed. I had to go back and get more for her. We found a new favorite snack for her.

Tropical Hideaway - pork Bao, lumpia and chili-mango dole whip - Delicious!! - I was still hungry after our Bengal BBQ snack so we stopped at Tropical Hideaway for a snack. The bao was delicious. Lisa loved the pineapple lumpia and I tried the chili-mango dole whip. It was good, but a little weird. It was also huge.

Indiana Jones - Grady so excited; he was unsure most of the way and then at the end had a hesitant thumbs up. Then we asked him and he said ‘ten million thumbs up!’ - Before our trip, Grady found he really liked the Indiana Jones movies. He has watched all (except Temple of Doom) and at one point wanted to be Indy for Halloween. He was very excited to go on the ride. There were serval spots he looked scared, but in the end, he loved it!

Shopping, flag retreat and walk back to hotel - After Indy, we decided to walk back to the hotel. We needed to get ready for dinner and World of Color at DCA. We walked through the shops on Main Street and happened to be at the hub in time to see the flag retreat. This is a treat to see anytime you are at Disneyland. My parents were very impressed, especially since dad is a veteran. After the flag retreat, we walked back to the hotel.

Dropped off rain gear; changed in to warm gear - We had dried out, but it was supposed to be chilly. Lisa really bundled up.

Dinner at Wine Country Trattoria- good not great, got WoC package - We had booked dinner at Wine Country Trattoria to get reserved tickets for World of Color. Dinner was ok. The options were not great. We were also outside so most of us were freezing.

Part of group shopped; part rode Mater - After dinner, we split up. Some of us went to ride Mater, others went shopping. I was with the shopping group. We didn’t have a lot of time before World of Color.

Rode Ariel, Ellie asked to ride with me; I sang some; we had fun - We had a little extra time after we were done shopping and decided to ride the Little Mermaid. I got to ride with Ellie. She “loves” this because I get to sing all of the songs to her. She loves and hates it; I love it!

World of Color - found our area for the dining package tickets; great spot/view; like the show, don’t love it; Ellie almost fell asleep, Grady almost fell asleep but the Star Wars part brought him back - World of Color is one of my favorite things at Disneyland. I was very excited to see the new version of the show titled “World of Color ONE”. Overall, it was good. It did not have the emotional strings of the previous version, but it was good. It had sections with Disney, Pixar, Marvel and Star Wars. I understand they tried to include more IP’s, but it wasn’t quite the same.

Short walk back to hotel; lobby gift shop; bedtime (took kids a long time to go to sleep) - Such a great feeling to know that after World of Color it is only a 5 minute walk back to the hotel when staying at the Grand Californian. We stopped in the lobby gift shop (I got a Tervis cup) and then went back to the room for bed.