Today we're in California, Theresa's off work, and we're all set to have some fun at Disney!
When I asked Ian which park he preferred, we had the following exchange.
Ian - which one has Toy Story Midway Mania? DCA
Ian - and the Incredicoaster? DCA
Ian - and Guardians? DCA
Ian - and Web Slingers? DCA
Ian - and Radiator Springs Racers? DCA
I guess it's pretty clear which park we're going to visit!
For the longest time, we've had a tradition when we exit the carpool lane on I-5.
"Who's going to Disneyland?!?" - then everyone in the car raises their hand.
Disney's Dynamic Pricing structure is the main reason we're here on a Thursday instead of any other day. It's $104 to get in today instead of $184 on Friday. We are hoping that means fewer crowds and shorter lines, but if the entry into the parking garage is any indication, we're mistaken.
$40 parking is painful.
Walk or Ride? After all the theme parks and running around we've been doing this week, Ian was keen to take the tram.
Ian - It's the first ride of the day, right?
Security was no problem and we hopped on the first tram we saw.
Before we go into the park, we've got to pay a visit to our little memento at Disney. Our stone has lasted years beyond what we were expecting.
And we're in! For an extra $34 each, we've also bought the Lightning Lane passes for everyone. Sadly it's not one where you can just show up to a ride. You have to make reservations for a certain time and then show up then. You also only get 1 time on each ride, so if you want to go again, expect to wait in the regular line.
Frustratingly the big rides, Guardians of the Galaxy and Soarin over California, are showing no more times available for the day. That's a bit of a bummer. We know we want to ride Toy Story Midway Mania for sure, and the return time is 2 hours out. We can't get any new Lightning Lanes until we redeem it, so we'll see how much use we can actually get out of this pass today.
You know what's a good ride with shorter lines? Mater's Junkyard Jamboree!
Despite showing a 20 minute wait, it only took us 10 minutes to board. I don't know how they remember it (maybe reading past blog posts), but both kids tried to find the green-eyed baby tractor. We were towards the back of the loading group though, so no luck with that.
Later Mater!
Hoping Radiator Springs Racers wasn't a long line, we walked over to check the standby and single rider queues. The regular line was already up to 90 minutes and the single rider stretched almost back to the entrance. Yikes! We'll try again later. You can buy a Lightning Lane pass for it, but it's on top of your other one. At $23 each, it would be almost $100 for us to get into a shorter line, and we're not ready to do that yet.
Instead we saw that the Incredicoaster only had a 30 minute standby line. It did take all of 30 minutes, but we got the back row!
And our Lightning Lane passes today include photo downloads for all the rides.
Fun, but pretty tame compared to some of the coasters we've been on lately.
Could either of you smell those warm cookies when we were going up the lift hill on the coaster?
Ian - No, but I can smell them now.
We've got to enjoy a Jack-Jack Num Num cookie ($8.75) right after we ride, right?
Walking around the boardwalk, it was unfortunate that the Emotional Whirlwind was down for refurbishment. The Golden Zephyr isn't too bad though.
Theresa stayed safely on Terra Firma while we soared above.
She took pictures as we flew overhead.
Our Lightning Lane reservation is almost here, but not quite. What's a ride that we can do that doesn't have a long line? How about Alli's very first ride at Disney? Jessie's Critter Carousel used to be King Triton's Carousel of the Sea.
Alli is just a little bit bigger than her first visit here, despite me still thinking of her as my little girl.
She rushed toward the pink bunny.
Off to Toy Story Midway Mania! Using our Lightning Lane got us very close to the front of the line. We partnered up with Theresa and Alli going together, and me and Ian together.
I was very relieved when I saw that Toy Story Midway Mania was finishing refurbishment on the 24th of April. Ian really wanted to ride this one.
And it was fun seeing the updated ride points that are celebrating Disney's 70th anniversary! Certain targets instead of being 1000 or 2000, would have a 70th anniversary "sticker" over the front numbers making them worth 7000 points each!
We know many of the secrets you can unlock, and noticed that the robot on the Little Green Men Ring Toss game goes much faster than before, so it's more difficult to rack up the big points.
Despite that, Ian still put up his highest score ever!
Theresa is our ace though.
Coming in at over 300,000 point and earning a Bear.
So close to being the best of the hour.
It's nearly lunchtime, so this would be a good time to take a break and eat. The Sourdough Bakery was always a favorite with their soup and bread bowls. I was really hoping for a cheddar broccoli or cheddar beer soup today, but it was either Clam Chowder or Chicken Tortilla Soup today. No thanks. We opted for a sliced round ($7.49), a Turkey Pesto Sandwich ($13.99), and a Kids Turkey Sandwich ($8.49).
Alli however wants pasta, so it was over to the Boardwalk Pizza & Pasta where we picked up Spaghetti with Meatballs ($12.49).
Alli - Does it come with breadsticks?
Joe - No, you would have to order those separately ($5.79), but we have plenty of sourdough bread you can eat with it.
Ian was so disappointed with his kids meal turkey sandwich. It didn't have tasty sourdough bread at all, but these flat, whole wheat disks of bread and only 2 pieces of turkey. He swapped it out for the Pesto sandwich as soon as we offered it to him.
And with the extra slices of sourdough bread, Alli and I turned her meatballs into a meatball sandwich! They turned out really good!
Time for our next Lightning Lane, and it's over in Avenger's Campus!
Time to give our arms a workout and go on Web Slingers!
Hello Peter Parker!
Whew! We sure were tired after battling all those spider-bots.
Quick wave to Spider-man as we left.
Remember when this used to be A Bug's Land? Remember before that even when it used to be farm with tractors and other things? At least they still have the grape vines growing beside the path.
It was a quick Lightning Lane reservation to get on Ariel's Undersea Adventure. We got it out of the way so we could find the next ride.
Do you kids remember playing in Redwood Creek?
I wasn't sure if they'd be over the maximum height requirement, but they are still able to ride the Smoke Jumper Swings.
And go down the slides.
And up and over all the nets that tower above the walking paths back here.
Ian took his first ride on Guardians during a Dapper Day weekend back in 2017. He was 3 years old, just a few days away from turning 4. Theresa had taken Alli back to the room for a nap, and I had Ian all to myself. He really wanted to ride Guardians and ended up loving it!
Climb on the rock walls.
So one of the good and bad things about Disney's Lightning Lane system is that just because something says it's no longer available, doesn't mean that's the case for the rest of the day. The good part is that you can get lucky and score a Lightning Lane for something you really wanted to ride. That bad part is that you are constantly on your phone, refreshing, refreshing, refreshing, until maybe something pops up with availability. Theresa and I both spent so much time on our phones, refreshing the screen, seeing nothing, refreshing again, nothing, refreshing again, SOMETHING IS AVAILABLE!, go to reserve it, NO LONGER AVAILABLE, sigh, refreshing again. Eventually we were quick enough and I caught a Guardians of the Galaxy Lightning Lane reservation. Whew! Let's go kids!
Alli was just a little over 4 years old when she rode it for the first time, but that was in December 2019 right before the world shut down. We didn't get too many more chances to ride it after that, so she said she didn't really remember it.
Lucky enough to get the front row and a great picture!
That was fun! Their favorite ride of the day!
Afterwards we wandered back into Cars Land to see how Radiator Springs was looking. 110 minutes for the standby line and the single rider queue is still almost at the entrance. Yikes!
But we got our clearance at the security doors. We were led into The Collector's Office, where we see that Rocket breaks out of his cell and escapes. Unfortunately it was the alternate version that plays on the screen when the animatronic Rocket is broken. I had been pointing out to Alli where to look ahead of time and the cast member could see we were disappointed when it was the B version. She asked if we really wanted to see the other version and let us exit back to the lobby to the "other" Collector's office where we got to see the proper pre-show version with the real Rocket.
Another ride on Mater then!
The kids were lucky enough to be near the front, followed the green-eyed baby tractor the whole time the guests in front of us were riding, then rushed to it when the gates opened and it was our turn.
Theresa and I will ride together in another tractor. I think there's a country song about tractors being sexy.
Thanks for the rides baby tractor!
Our next Lightning Lane was over a Goofy's Sky School, a mouse coaster that Theresa can actually ride.
And while we were waiting in the queue, constantly refreshing our phones, Soarin Over California finally made a quick appearance! We were quick enough to snag 4 Lightning Lane passes for it right after!
And since it's the only time we're going to be riding, we were okay waiting an extra cycle to get the front and center view.
The very best view. I love the smells as we soar. I definitely could smell the pine trees as we went through the forest, but missed the citrus smells as we flew over the orange orchards. The kids didn't even flinch when the golf ball was heading their way.
All day long, Ian kept asking if he could ride the Grizzly River Run. Theresa and Alli definitely didn't want to go. I don't love it because somehow I'm a magnet for the water. I always end up getting soaked.
Today though, the geysers at the end must have been turned off or something. I didn't get soaked! And it was the other people in our raft that had a wall of water go down their backs!
Oh! And if you didn't notice, I'm bounding in Hades colors today!
My sunglasses went missing somewhere between Soarin and Grizzly River.
I thought I might have left them in the underseat compartment on Soarin when I squeezed my backpack and hat underneath. I chatted with a cast member at the entrance and he let me walk through the exit, wait until the show was over, then slide into the theater and check under my seat. Score! Thank you! Wouldn't want to be without these for the rest of the trip.
The grandparents sent along some money for treats, so the kids were happy to get a little something to snack on. Ian has fond memories of extra buttery Disneyland popcorn. Thanks Gram and Pop Pop!
Monsters Inc has Lightning Lane? Sure enough! We claimed ours and made a quick trip through Monstropolis.
Hi Roz.
Then it was over to the Incredicoaster where we redeemed our very last Lightning Lane of the day. It was a bit stressful and I hated having to be on the phone all the time refreshing, but eventually we got a Lightning Lane for every ride at Disney California Adventure that offered it today.
The kids and I got the front row while Theresa watched from the sidelines.
Yeah!
Alright, we've been avoiding it all day. We need to do Radiator Springs Racers before we go. Alli grabbed a Fruit Bar ($6) before heading into the line, and I picked up a loaf of sourdough and a pocket full of butter to snack on while we waited.
The line was still showing 110 minutes for standby. That's too much.
The single rider line is a little shorter than it has been, but still longer than I'm used to seeing.
Theresa was playing around with the $23 Lightning Lane passes, but we can't redeem them for another 20 minutes. Let's just hop in the Single Rider line and see what happens.
I was surprised at how fast we moved through the queue. I guess a 6 seater just needs a lot of single riders. The regular standby queue was crawling. At the front of the line, cast members would take 20-30 people from the paid Lightning Lane, then let just one party of 4 go from the regular line. Ouch.
We got lucky and Theresa and I were able to sit in the same car, front and back.
As did the kids right behind us!
There's just one more ride that Alli has been requesting every time we've walked by it today. The jumping jellyfish!
Why? I don't exactly know. It's a kiddie ride compared to the big rides she goes on now, but she still wanted to ride and still had fun on it.
Ian and Theresa bouncing right behind us.
The park is open for another 1:30, but we've done all the rides we wanted at least once. I wasn't lucky enough to get virtual reservations for the World of Color show at 9pm tonight. Everyone is starting to get peckish and I think we can find some food we'll all be happy with outside the park.
Ian - Do you think there's a cake inside the hotel?
Joe - I really don't know. But we should go find out!
Inside the lobby of the Grand Californian, it's not a cake, but it is a big decoration of rice cereal, marshmallows, and lots of fondant.
We're celebrating 100 years of Winnie the Pooh!
Can you find all 22 bees?
It's not too difficult. Not like all the Hidden Mickeys you have to find on the Gingerbread House each year.
I thought the pastry team did a really good job getting the colors, shapes, and details of all the characters correct.
We walked out of the Grand Californian hotel remembering all the fun times we've had here. There's just one more thing we have to do! Remember what it is?
Off to the Disneyland Hotel Gazebo! This would be our hangout spot after each trip, where the kids would run around the grass and have races, and tire themselves out for the ride home.
Hi Bunny!
Glad to have everyone back here. Good memories.
I was first! No I was first!
Time passes by pretty fast! Glad we can take time for new adventures and remember the old ones.
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