Disneyland Everyday

I've been to the parks a few times when there is no holiday overlay.  It's just plain old Disneyland. I've also been to the parks one time during the Christmas overlay. I have been to Disneyland many times during Halloween. Plain Disneyland is fantastic-in May they offer Hyperspace Mountain, my all-time favorite ride.  At Christmas there are a lot of peppermint treats, which are not my favorite, but the Christmas tree is cool.  But Halloween?  Oh yeah. It's not scary, just cool. Pumpkins and bats and stuff everywhere.  And the treats, oh man, the treats! One thing about Halloween is the villains come out a bit more. Mickey is no villain, but this is his Halloween costume: This churro is a Halloween time churro that I've only had one time and never seen again. Truth be told, it was just okay, but it was novel. It's the Red Hots churro.  They ground up the Red Hots candy and rolled the churro in it.  Then they gave me a little cup of cream cheese icing f...

Not only am I running low on pictures and videos, I'm running low on creativity as well. Have you noticed the posts getting worse and worse?  No? Well, I suppose that's good. Even still, I will keep plodding along until we finally hit the road on November 10. That reminds me that it might be good to refresh your memories as to our itinerary: Sunday November 10: meet in St. George. Dinner at the Cracker Barrel. We have a bunch of rooms reserved at an older, boutique hotel called Aiden by Best Western St. George. There are a lot of good things about this hotel: It has a year-round, heated pool and hot tub.  Fingers crossed they are in good, working order when we get there It has a free, highly rated breakfast It is very, very near my favorite donut shop Pink Box Donuts Monday November 11: Drive to California. Lissa made reservations at the Cambria Hotel. We will likely hit the White Castle gas station and we will definitely hit Downtown Disney and the Disney Plaza that night Tue...

So, it's possible I started this round of the blog posts a bit too soon. I'm running low on material! That sounds like a bad thing, but the fact is, running out of pictures to post means it's time to go back to the park and get a bunch of new pictures and videos! Here we have some more Star Tours pics.  Sorry if these are repeats, but again, low material. Now how about a video Lissa took while riding Dumbo? One thing I haven't written about in a long time was the trip when our van got a flat tire. It was to be our first morning in the parks and we walk out to the van and a flat tire. I didn't want to waste precious park time trying to get the tire fixed so I put on the spare and off we went. We drove around on that "Mickey Mouse" spare tire for three days before I was able to get to an actual tire store and get a new tire. Long story: Back at the Toy Story Parking Lot Once they finally arrived at the Toy Story parking lot, it took a few minutes to locate t...

Happy birthday Brandon! Nobody likes Disneyland more than Brandon. Long story time: Harbour Galley: A Feast Fit for Pirates They made their way over to the Harbour Galley for a feast of clam chowder in bread bowls and lobster rolls with chips. As they dug into the steaming bowls of chowder, everyone was in awe. “This is so good,” Jeff said, holding up his bread bowl triumphantly. “The bread bowl is genius,” Mandy agreed between bites. “I feel like I’m eating a hug.” “And these lobster rolls…” Lissa swooned, “I mean, wow .” As they were eating, a Disneyland duck nonchalantly waddled through their group, looking for crumbs. Lissa and Brandon, caught off guard, both jumped out of their seats in alarm. “Ahh! It’s coming for me!” Brandon shouted, hopping onto his chair. “It’s just a duck, Brandon,” Kevin said, laughing. “They live here, too.” But Brandon wasn’t convinced. “That thing has murderous intent in its eyes. I’ve seen enough nature documentaries to know!” Lissa ...

Toad is good. Fun ride. Short line. Put your hand in the toad's mouth so you can catch the flu or COVID or something. Good times! This is an interesting picture: Long story: Big Thunder Mountain at Night The families made their way over to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad , and as they walked up, the mountain loomed ahead of them, lit up like a beacon in the night. They waited in line for only a few minutes—complaining about how five minutes felt like forever, of course—before being loaded into the rickety train cars. “This is the wildest ride in the wilderness … at night!” Steve yelled as the train took off into the darkness. The cool night air whipped around them as the train hurtled through the tunnels and across rickety bridges. The shadows of the rocks made everything seem more mysterious and thrilling. As they rounded a corner, they passed the famous goat holding a stick of dynamite in its mouth. “There’s the goat!” Mandy yelled, pointing. “Remember last time it freaked me out?”...

Disney is good at selling stuff.  All kinds of stuff. Junky stuff we don't need. Good stuff that we keep forever. They sell magnets and hats and stuffed toys and pencil holders and boxes and bags and shirts and trinkets and everything! And, by simply putting the Mickey ears silhouette or some other Disney-branded thing on the item, they can sell it for waaaaaaaaay more than it's worth. Except, how can you put a price on a treasured memento that serves as a reminder of such a great trip to Disneyland?! The long story: The Chaos of a Family Picture in Front of the Castle With the rides done (for now), it was time for the ultimate Disneyland experience: the family picture in front of Sleeping Beauty’s Castle. But with four families, wrangling everyone for a photo was no small task. “Okay, everyone, gather up!” Mandy called, trying to herd the group together like a Disney-fied version of a sheepdog. But the kids were already distracted. Some were admiring the castle, others were ta...