Since we were in southern California for the Rose Parade, we decided to extend our stay for a few days so to go to Disneyland! We wrapped up our jobs with SABD by mid-afternoon on January 2nd, and Mark drove us down to Anaheim. We were pretty tired from all the work of the previous days (not to mention that Mark marched nearly 6 miles in the parade), so we didn't do much the first evening besides settle in at the hotel and walk down the street for dinner at Denny's.
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we stayed at a Fairfield; it was
less than 10 minutes to walk to the parks |
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| the hotel had some cute Disney touches |
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| I loved this tree in the hotel lobby! |
Mark was also wise enough to plan a rest day for us on the 3rd, so we didn't have park tickets. Instead, we went out for breakfast at Mimi's (just up the street). Then we decided to walk through Downtown Disney. We hadn't realized we'd get stuck in a long line for security, but once we were through that, it was a great time to be there--not at all crowded, and we could really admire all the Christmas decorations. Shops started opening just about the time we got to the opposite end, so we were also able to go into the few Disney shops we were interested in and buy our souvenirs for this trip. Once we got back to the hotel, I took care of some laundry and did the last couple of hours of class prep I needed to finish. We walked a bit further to a little Mexican place for lunch. I think we just took it easy for the afternoon...maybe we watched a basketball game? We were so tired!
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| one of the shop windows |
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| characters and Christmas trees everywhere! |
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| another shop window |
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| cool dragon on top of the Lego store (made of Lego!) |
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| Lego Buzz & Woody |
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| Frozen characters |
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| loved seeing lots of desert plants and palm trees! |
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the stores were even decorated for
Christmas on the inside! |
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| selfie with Mark and a 70th anniversary sign |
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me with the Hulk
(this may be my favorite ever pic
of me mimicking a statue's pose) |
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super-tasty nachos
(fresh chips, steak, various salsas) |
The next morning--Sunday--it was time to hit the theme parks! We started our day at California Adventure, which we'd remembered really liking when we came back in 2017. We bought the paid "Lightning Lane" pass with our vacation package, so we were able to ride a ton of rides without waiting in long lines. We hopped over to Disneyland after lunch, and one great thing about these parks is that they are so close together--just across a big plaza. So it's super fast and easy to go between them. Again, we were able to ride a ton of rides, including two that have impressive Christmas overlays: the Haunted Mansion Holiday (re-themed as Nightmare Before Christmas) and It's a Small World. We tried to stay late for fireworks, but it had rained off and on for most of the day, and between our wet shoes & feet and our overall tiredness level, we called it a night earlier than planned. We did manage to see a great projection show on It's a Small World for Disneyland's 70th anniversary and a short show they do on the castle to show off the holiday lights.
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| selfie with Mark and the DCA Christmas tree |
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selfie with Mark at Pixar Pier
(this area had been re-themed since our last trip) |
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bridge to San Fransokyo Square
(another area that has been updated) |
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| an outer wall of San Fransokyo Square |
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| snow car in Cars Land |
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| the Cars Land decorations were some of my favorites |
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Cars Land Christmas movie posters
(if you can read the words, the puns are great) |
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| more Christmas decorations in Cars Land |
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| main intersection in Cars Land |
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| close up of decorations in Grizzly Peak area |
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| even the Chinese take-out place had extra decorations! |
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Chinese for lunch
(mostly sheltered from the rain) |
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| selfie with Mark and Grizzly Peak |
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| 70th anniversary banners |
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| the Monorail, running between park entrances |
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| selfie with Mark and a 70th display |
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| squinty selfie with Mark and the train station |
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| selfie with Mark and the castle |
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| selfie with Mark on Storyland Canal Boats |
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one of the scenes on Storyland Canal Boats
(a very cute ride they don't have at Disney World) |
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| some Haunted Mansion Holiday decorations |
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| close-up of Haunted Mansion decorations |
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| Christmas parade at Disneyland |
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| Ana, Olaf, and Elsa in the parade |
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| Goofy's gingerbread house |
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| princesses in the parade |
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| Santa! |
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| Christmas in It's a Small World |
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| New Year's in It's a Small World |
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| more Christmas in It's a Small World |
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| me with Minnie's house in Toon Town |
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| the famous monte cristo sandwich |
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| Main Street at night |
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| Christmas tree at night |
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| close-up of Christmas wreath |
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| holiday lighting on It's a Small World |
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| the 70th anniversary projection show |
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| Walt, Mickey, and the castle |
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| Christmas lights on the castle |
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| another shot of the castle at night |
On Monday, we went back to both parks--this time starting in Disneyland, then hopping over to California Adventure after lunch. Again, we were able to ride lots of rides. Thankfully, the weather was so much better, and that made it easier to slow down a bit and enjoy the atmosphere--both the regular park theming and the Christmas decorations. This day, we toughed it out till 9pm for the evening show, World of Color, Happiness--a special version for the 70th. We were kind of dragging from dinner onward, but the show was definitely worth seeing! It's hard to describe--no fireworks, but super impressive water and lighting effects, plus a nice storyline with the characters from Inside Out.
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| walking through the line for Indiana Jones |
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| in line for Pirates of the Caribbean |
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| Walt & Mickey statue |
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a fantastic, funny stage show
retelling Beauty and the Beast |
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| about to walk through the castle |
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famous hand-dipped corn dogs
(they really are good!) |
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| selfie on the monorail |
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| selfie with Mark and the castle |
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Mark & me with the Incredicoaster
and Ferris wheel in the background |
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selfie with Mark and the
Guardians of the Galaxy ride |
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Mater drove right by us while we
were taking a break on a bench |
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theme park pizza for dinner
(mine was a slice of "holiday" special) |
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| lanterns in San Fransokyo Square at night |
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| Cars Land decorations at night |
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| Grizzly Peak decorations at night |
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| more Grizzly Peak decorations |
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| Ferris wheel at night |
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| Pixar Pier at night |
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| World of Color: Happiness |
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| World of Color: Happiness |
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| World of Color: Happiness |
Tuesday was just a travel day, leaving our hotel around 9:30am, getting the rental car returned, and checking in at the airport with plenty of time. We had a direct flight that actually arrived about 20 minutes early in Detroit, and we were back in BG by about 10pm--tired enough to go to bed not long after that. We're so glad we added on these Disney park days, but it was a long time to be gone, and there's no place like home! Now, it's a bit hard to believe that the spring semester starts tomorrow, but it'll probably be good to get some kind of routine going again.
On the other hand, we're in the middle of another big project: moving! We're buying another house in BG and putting ours on the market soon. That'll keep us pretty busy for the next month or two--I'll post some more details when I have the chance.
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