Disneyland Everyday

Here I am again, skipping on big plans for a cool post because I'm so tired!  It was a great day we had at the park yesterday.  Finishing off with Cars was cool!  "Disneyland is much better when you get to butt in line." Here's Disney California Adventure at night:

Well, I had big plans for this blog post when I woke up this morning.  Now, after a full day at the park, I'm just going to make a lame post. First, on our way to the park I saw this guy mowing the grass.  That's a big deal since it's January 29! Here's the picture at the entrance of the park.  We take one of these every time we go.  Most of us are in it:

Well, today we finally get to go to the park!  We have been talking about and planning this trip for some 150 days and today is finally the day to actually go on rides and eat the food.  Of course, it was not easy to get here.  We drove 10-12 hours with lots of traffic and the crazy California drivers.  Here are some highlights of the trip: We got up pretty early because we wanted to make sure Patti saw the beach and the ocean: One of the good things about the drive is that, for the most part, everyone drives really fast: Of course, there is a trade off for driving fast: gas prices.  We stopped in Baker for a bit of gas and to use the bathroom.  Patti was trying to text someone that we were in Baker and I said Baker had a special spelling: a-r-m-p-i-t.  Look at the price per gallon! Those are things about the ride that I pay attention to.  The kids, on the other hand, are oblivious to almost everything going on around them because o...

Well, this is the 151st post on this blog!  Today is the day we finally get to leave cold and dreary Utah and head for sunny, warm Southern California!  Since it was just last night that we took these pictures I think you will all remember taking them, but here they are, all in one spot.  These are the pictures of us the night before our trip.  In fact, as you are looking at this blog post we are likely driving along! Here we have mom, dad, Brandon, and Hayk: Here are Lissa, Christian, and crew.  The big sign says, "Diaz Family are headin' to Disneyland!!"  Christian's sign says "I'm only coming to pay for everything." Here is a picture of my family.  We are holding SOME of our snacks and a few Disney stuffed animals as well.

Here are all of the posts from recent days: Backpack, Key Chains, Crap for the Drive, Snack City, More Snacks, One More Snack Post, RideMax, and Road Trip...Again.  That is 8 posts in a row that don't really feature pictures of the family or park.  That's because I'm out of pictures and we still have a few days until we go to Disney!  In fact, we will hit the road tomorrow morning!  Then, we'll all need to be very aggressive with our picture taking so that I can keep this blog going all the way until our next trip!  So, take some time today and clear out your phone of all your old pictures so there's room for hundreds of new pictures and video! Next, you might have noticed that the title of this post is Anaheim Weather.  That's because I wanted to give updates on how the weather will be when we're there.  I have spent some 150 days worrying that the roads might be bad (Utah in January) or that it will be especially rainy while we're at the park....

The drive all the way down to Disneyland is kinda long, but not too bad.  There's plenty to see along the way.  The part that is the worst for me is between Mesquite and Las Vegas-it's not too exciting and the cell service is hit and miss.  Here is a map of what our planned stops will be.  Now, I know that things happen on a long drive that would push us off the plan, and that's okay, but I like to have a plan! I suspect we'll stop in Beaver for a drink and a stretch, and then stop again in St. George for lunch and gas.  Then, we'll stop again in Barstow, before going on to Anaheim.  The Barstow stop is to get gas because I don't want to be caught in SoCal traffic with very little gas.  I would like to be able to drive from Orem directly to St. George and skip the Beaver stop, but we have too many bladders, and many of those are very small! Our tradition in the past is to hit Golden Corral in St. George on our way home, so I'll need to figure out w...

Ridemax is some sophisticated software that uses an algorithm to maximize ride time (hence the name) and minimize wait times.  It's one short-coming is that it doesn't necessary minimize walking.  So, if we follow the Ridemax plan (and I think we should), be ready to walk a bit! First, you can make a custom plan name and you input the times you will be at the park: Next, you select the rides you want to ride, and the number of times you want to ride them.  If you make a plan that's "too loaded" the software will tell you and you'll have to go back and make new selections. You can also choose your touring speed, also known as how fast you can move a group of 20+ people around the park.  While you're at it, you can also add in breaks and tell the software where and when you'd like a break.  In this plan I said we wanted to eat at Cafe Orleans at 1pm: Once you put all of that into the software you get the results.  The output tells ...

This is the third (and last) day in a row that I'm posting about snacks at Disney.  Here are some more snacks that folks (mostly me and Lissa) want to try: Raspberry Rose Macaron (not to be confused with a macaroon) available at the Jolly Holiday Bakery: Adorable Snowman Frosted Treats is located in California Adventure and has the Pixar Pier Frosty Parfait, which is lemon soft-serve with blue raspberry swirl slush.  It looks awesome: Honorable mention: turkey legs, lobster nachos, tigger tails, veggie skewers, churros, pretzels, somehow pickles made this list, and ice cream! Some of these things can be ordered using the app and simply picked up as we hustle on by to the next ride!  Keep that in mind as we work our way around the park!

Yesterday I made a post about snacks based on a little text exchange we had several days ago.  This is a continuation of that post. Dole Whips are quintessential Disneyland.  Not even a week ago I made a post about how good they are.  Since our last visit to Disneyland they have made a few upgrades to the Dole Whip.  Now, don't fret, because the original is still available, but they have this new one that is pineapple and raspberry swirl.  I can't wait!  The Tiki Juice Bar has the original, but the new restaurant called the Tropical Hideaway (I posted about this restaurant several weeks ago) has the swirled ones.  They have pineapple swirled with either orange or raspberry.  I would like to try this! The first time we all went as a family we ate at the Hungry Bear Restaurant over by Splash Mountain.  The restaurant food was just okay-burgers and fries.  However, I got a strawberry funnel cake that was delicious.  I will eat o...

A little over a week ago we had a good texting session wherein we (mostly me and Lissa) were texting the group the snacks we would like to try.  It was fun and made me want to go to Disney today just to eat all the stuff!  Here are some pictures from that string of texts: These are Pomme Frites (pronounced as pohm freet, but I'll just say, "Gimme the fries, please!") and are found in only one restaurant (that I know of) at Disneyland.  Cafe Orleans is the place to go! Speaking of Cafe Orleans, they also have a bottom-less mint julep.  Now, it is important to point out that the refills are free because there isn't much that is "free" at Disneyland.  You can bet I'll have 5-6 juleps to wash down my fries!  Don't worry about there being mint in the drink because it's subtle, but oh so good!  Also, even though this is a post about snacks, we might as well eat lunch while at Cafe Orleans.  The food is good and it's a sit-down restaurant so...

It's a long haul to Disneyland.  A good 10 hours, and that's if you drive fast and never stop for gas or bio-breaks!  I think if we spend 10 hours in a confined space we tend to get cranky.  A good thing to do before we make the drive is hit a dollar store, and hit it hard!  The dollar stores tend to have quite a bit of cheap Disney stuff.  Figurines, plastic cups, coloring books, playing cards, and a bunch of other stuff.  The trick here is that you don't tell your kids you bought a bunch of Disney stuff.  You keep it secret until you're well into the drive.  Then, when they get cranky you start giving clues as to which figurine you're thinking about.  When one of the kids gets it right you pull out the figurine (or whatever toy) in question and give it to them.  Boom, instant happy! We have had good luck with Dollar Tree up here and it looks like there's a good one in Cortez too!

These key chains are a lot of fun!  You get a sealed bag with one key chain, and you don't know which character you'll get.  It's a fun surprise every time you open one!  If you ordered a backpack thanks to the post yesterday, you better hurry and order a few of these to go with it!  From the words of Jeremy Jamm, Jamm Orthodontics: "Amazon Prime, that's how!"  Links to purchase are below the pics. Here are the links to purchase: Key Chains 1 Key Chains 2 Key Chains 3 Key Chains 4

Even though I have posted a lot about all the good food you can get at Disneyland, it is still very necessary that we bring our own snacks into the park.  Dried mango, fruit snacks, Scandinavian swimmers, jerky, skittles, trail mix, granola bars, and a bunch of other stuff are all family favorites.  If you want to bring the phone charger you bought the other day, the Mio and water bottle, and all of those snacks you're gonna need a backpack!  I recommend this one: We have one very similar to this (same model, different color) and it worked great.  It isn't so big as to be a burden, but it's still big enough to carry all the crap you're gonna want for a day at the park.  Here is the link on Amazon: Disney Backpack Hurry and get one or two (do it right now!) so they will be shipped to you in time!  Lissa can weigh in here, but what has worked best for us is if the grownups have the backpacks.  The kids will get tired of carrying them and they mi...

Autopia was one of the rides that opened when the park opened in 1955.  Before the park opened the cars didn't have bumpers on them and when the testers drove the cars they pretty much destroyed them.  So, they added bumpers and opened the ride.  The ride was still chaotic, though, because there wasn't a rail in the middle of the track so you could drive all over the road!  As you can see, I'm a bit too tall for the car...

So, a Dole Whip may not sound too refreshing right now because it's the middle of January, but it's an iconic treat served at Disneyland.  Everyone has to try one at least once.  I like it because it's non-dairy, but also because it tastes good!  By the way, if you don't like pineapple do not try this!  On the internet the Dole Whip has been described as a "non-dairy, soft serve, frozen work of art."  They're pretty good.

Once this blog got going people started sending in more pictures.  As a result I got a few more pictures of the Buzz Lightyear ride.  You see, way back in October I only had one picture of the ride.  But now we have all of these to enjoy:

As you have seen over the last few months of reading this blog, we have a ton of pictures!  Here's the thing about taking pictures: it requires a lot of battery life.  And, it's not just pictures that drain your battery.  You will use the Disneyland app a ton, you will likely be texting other people, checking your email, even making a phone call or two.  Plus, you might play Pokemon Go or play the new games Disney created for when we're standing in line.  When you add it all up you will rip through your battery life in a jiffy!  That is why you need one of these: Here's the link to buy it from Amazon:  Small, Handy Phone Charger Since we are leaving in approximately 18 days now is the time to order one or two of these!  They are small, easy to carry, and will be a life saver!

I had to rummage a bit, but I found a few more Star Tours pictures.  We don't have very many from this ride.  When Star Tours first opened Disney didn't have licensing rights and had to "rent" rights to the ride.  Now, of course, Disney owns the Star Wars franchise and they are making sure to get as much money out of it as possible.  Also, is it strange to anyone else to see storm troopers wandering around Disneyland?

I can't believe how many pictures we have of the Teacups ride!

Guardians of the Galaxy is just the old Tower of Terror ride that has been made over to leverage the immense popularity of the Guardians movies.  It is known as an accelerated drop ride.  I have never been on this ride, but I would like to try it when we go in approximately 17 days!

There is a cool fountain right near Downtown Disney.  It's kinda in between the courtyard where you enter Disneyland on the left or Disney California Adventure on the right and Downtown Disney.  Frankly, it's totally in the way when there are a lot of people trying to catch a tram or get through security or get to Downtown Disney.  But, it's a cool fountain that the kids all seem to like.

I posted a while back that we don't have any pictures of Peter Pan's Flight.  I did find one.  We need to make sure we take some good pictures when we go so that we can keep this blog going!  By the way, less than three weeks to go until we're there! Peter Pan the movie (Disney's version) came out way back in 1953!  The ride was operational on day one of Disneyland, in 1955.  I remember going to Disneyland a few times as a kid, but I don't remember going on this ride.  Perhaps we skipped it because the line is always brutal?  That is, unless you have the celebrity pass that you can only get if you're a celebrity or if your kid gets the entire family kicked off Pirates...

After two days in a row of posts dedicated to closed rides I thought I better lighten the mood a bit!  Mr. Toad's Wild Ride will most likely be open when we go!  This ride was initially going to be a roller coaster, but Walt Disney demanded it be changed to a "dark" ride because he wanted Disneyland to be appropriate for all ages.  Walt was a smart man, but I'm glad there are some roller coasters at the park!  Anyway, it's a good ride...