Disney Trip 2023

AND THEN last week I was back in LA for a minute and Collin took me to do the full Disney.
But first, some of us had to go to Day Care.

And then we were on our way to the Happiest Place on Earth! Glad the trams are up and running again and everyone’s got their ears right once more.

We started our day at California Adventure where we made quick work of Webslingers, Soarin’, Radiator Springs and Guardians. AND ate lunch at Pym’s Test Kitchen.

And then it was time to Get Real and go over to Disneyland! It was both a clear, beautiful day and an ominously cloudy day. True California weather magic for a truly magical California adventure day.

Our first stop was going to be Rise of the Resistance but it was broke down when we got to it, so we walked across Star Wars Land and then. It started hailing! Or snowing? Or something? Wintry mix? Slushing? Whatever it was, it was surprising weather.

And then we cut across Fantasyland to get to the new Runaway Railroad Ride which was ALSO shut down. Disneyland was off to a bumpy start! So we backtracked, and rode Haunted Mansion and Pirates, got a snack at Bengal BBQ and took a Jungle Cruise.

Then we walked over to Splash Mountain, it was closed, and finally got our Rise of the Resistance ride.

And THEN we bounced back and had our Splash Mountain ride, plus Winnie the Pooh.

And then we made our way across New Orleans Square, Frontierland, and Fantasyland to try to get on Runaway Railway once more and guess what? We did and it was totally cool!

Then we took a Small World cruise.

Then I took a long-awaited roundtrip ride on the Disneyland Railroad.

Then it was dark. And we rode Pinocchio, Thunder Mountain, the Matterhorn, and one more Runaway Railway ride.

And then it was time to tell Disneyland good night. What a night! Did you know there’s a tall person water fountain by the parking garage? How lucky for me!

But, before calling it a night: a few tacos from Brothers Cousins! (The true Happiest Place on Earth?)

Disney Trip 2022

I was out in Los Angeles last February and, through the magic of Collin, was able to go to California Adventure on day and Disneyland another. The idea was to go both days with Liz, but the weather and air travel had other ideas. So day one was a magical California Adventure adventure with Mom and Dad.

A proper Disney day begins with an early, early morning in San Marino. And getting in some of your day’s reading.

Collin met up with us at the Mickey & Friends parking garage. I love the feeling of Disneyland in the morning! The cool sunny ear, the feeling of possibilities ahead of you.
We were there in their early post-pandemic days where some ridiculous policies in place, like no tram to the park. So you start your day with a dang long walk. I’m glad my knee was operating fairly well back then.

Rope drop took place in the park—for a minute we headed with the throngs to Radiator Springs but then decided to start with the new Spider-Man ride, instead. It was pretty cool! Dad was very impressed by the effects during the ride’s pre-show.

Then Dad had his first ride on Tower of the Galaxians. And THEN we took our Radiator Springs Ride. What is it about that Radiator Springs Racers ride? It’s just go the Disney magic all bottled up so tight. They really outdid themselves with it.

Then we rode the Ferris Wheel which I LOVE but also comes stocked for people who do not love it. Then we passed through Chinese New Year-oriented celebrations, tried to ride Soarin’ except it broke down the minute we were taking off (we were able to come back and ride it later) and then enjoyed lunch at the Pym Test Kitchen, which is fun!

After lunch we rode most the rides a second time, plus some more rides that I don’t have pictures for, and did some exploring. Did you know that California Adventure embraces both kinds of otters? Meaning: the Good Kind and the Horrible Kind.

A fun thing about California Adventure is you can do everything a couple of times and around 3pm say “You know what? That was fun. Let’s go home.” It was nice to have a nice time with my nice parents. I probably hadn’t been to a Disney park with just the two of them since the time they took me when I was 3 and we went on Space Mountain and I didn’t ride another roller coaster until I was 13. This time went a little more smoothly!

Okay so then a few days later Liz had made it to California and we were up early for a trip to Disneyland! This time Dad decided he’d stay home and read, but Mom is a Californian and not one to pass up a Disney opportunity! Collin met us at the park once again and we took that long walk together and he got us right into the park. What a guy!

I love this little sign! Going to Disneyland is so exciting! Look how excited Mom is! They did rope drop right up at the edge of everything. We headed straigh to Space Mountain and I just don’t get how the line can already be so long when it seems like we’re some of the very first people to get there.

From there, a nice little visit to the Matterhorn

Then we passed through Fantasyland and checked out the new, less scary version of the Snow White ride. A service dog was learning to ride rides there!

And then…we took Mom to Galaxy’s Edge! It was her first time in Star Wars land, she was really impressed. I had been there late summer of 2019 during a quick evening visit before Rise of the Resistance had opened. It was great to be back and have a chance to check that ride out. And we also had a real fun time on Smuggler’s Run, too.

After that, Haunted Mansion, Pirates, and a corn dog lunch!

Then we rode Thunder Mountain. A bummer about Disneyland is that it can get to around 3pm and you’ve got to get one of your party to the airport and you feel like you just got there. Oh well. It was still a Ton of Fun! Aaaaand who knows…maybe I’ll go at Disneyland again soon?

Rose Parade 2023

Hello, for this latest entry of my non-sequential blog I’d like to show you pictures I took at the Rose Parade this year. It was great to be back for the first time since the pandemic…I think it was my first parade since 2017? Maybe.

The day begins with an early morning walk up to Leslie’s Pool Supply, the spot where we’ve been parking our chairs in collaboration with the McGregors and the Collettes for the last while. The pre-parade excitement along Colorado is one of the best parts of the whole day.

The Stealth Bomber had to take a break this year so instead we had two B-1 Lancers do a flyover…officially this marks the beginning of the parade, but down at our spot we know we’ve still got a good while so we took a little walk to PCC by way of our old parade watching spot at Colorado and Allen, snuck into the Church Institute building to use the bathroom, and moseyed on back to our spot at Leslie’s.

Back at Leslie’s the parade-anticipation begins. One of the McGregor grandchildren turned out to be an old high school friend of Liz’s. And we had other new friends in the bunch. Plus old friend! Soon the official Rose Parade police motorcycles rolled by and it was time to sit down and enjoy the parade!

And here we go! It’s the 134th Tournament of Roses Rose parade!

When the golden band arrived there was some kind of big breakdown somewhere and the parade was held up for quite a long time. So people start drifting out into the street. It proved an excellent opportunity for a picture with La Cañada raccoon float.

Ok! Back to business, everyone sit down and let’s go!

Illinois had a float! IYNYN (If you nose, you nose.)

And then, just like that, the parade was over! What a nice time we all had. Thank you for scrolling all the way to the bottom of this post!