Summer Road Trip - Last Day at Disneyland

We were up early again but once again Melissa and crew were first in line. Their hotel is closer to the park then ours however it still takes a bit of effort to be the front of the line. By the time we got there they had already entered the park and were waiting by the ropes in California Adventure Land. This worked out very well for us as our goal was to get on the Radiator Springs Racers ride. It was the last of the big rides and one of only a few rides remaining in California Adventure Land for us to say we had ridden every ride at least once.

The only other ride that we had to focus on getting in line for was Toy Story. I don't consider this one of the big rides but it seems to be a fan favourite. It's similar to Buzz Light Year where you are shooting things to score points however it's much more fun as it's more like an interactive video game. You are presented a screen in pairs and you shoot things like plates and ducks as if you are on the mid way. The line up was manageable since it was so early and we got on with no problems. I had the high score for our car at 158,000. Nowhere near the high score for the ride that week of over 350,000.

We finished most of the outstanding rides and then headed over to Disneyland for the rest of the morning. We decided to take the train but we got distracted by a character for pictures and missed it by about 15 seconds. This means that technically it would have been faster to walk to New Orleans square but we were tired so we decided to wait the 10 minutes for the next train. I actually think they need to run this thing more often now that Galaxy's edge is in. The park is getting to be quite the walk from one end to the other.

Today was our last chance to get something in that Carter had been waiting patiently for. He wanted to build a droid however he wanted to make sure he did it with his cousin Kristen and this was the first chance we had to do that. It was initially going to be just the two of them but Ryan decided at the last minute that he wanted to. $99 per kid later and they were in the droid factory picking their parts. It's not a terrible price if it was Canadian but in US it's a bit steep even though the end result has a motor and a remote. At least this time the batteries are included.

We did our usual pool time in the afternoon and then headed back to California adventure for our last outstanding rides which included the Nemo submarines and another ride on Soarin over California. The submarine is actually quite ridiculous. You stand in line for a long time to get on a submarine and then you look out a tiny portal. I think you could get the same effect by climbing into a garbage can with an iPad and a video of the ride on YouTube.

We had seen the fireworks from various locations every night however tonight we managed to be right in the middle. There are fireworks coming from Toon Town as well as Fantasyland and we got to see them from in between. I think they are much better in the summer. This year there were various themes including Frozen and the Lion King. During frozen they had bubbles falling from the street lights to simulate snow. I was finished by about 10:30 but the kids and Kerry managed to stick around right til midnight. They made Space Mountain their last ride. Another fun trip.

Summer Road Trip - Kerry's Birthday

July 19th is Kerry's Birthday. July 18th is Melissa's birthday. July 17th is Disneyland's Birthday. It seems they were connected at birth which does not surprise me one bit. We were early to the park once again though this time Melissa had our back and was there early enough to be first in line. First in line is a hard thing to measure since there are about 50 gates to the park and even when they let you in you can only go so far before you get trapped by a rope. The goal is to ease everyone into the park instead of in a dangerous rush.

Our goal was the Millennium Falcon once again as we had really enjoyed this ride the first time around. This time I tried to capture all of the details that I missed previously. The ride starts by guiding you onto the ship through the same corridors that you see in the movies. They really want you to be immersed in the experience. Since only six of you go through this area at once it feels like you are about to crew the ship. We didn't do so well with our piloting this time. We'll have to do some research to figure out how to boost our score.

This is a fun time of year to see ducks at Disneyland. Most of the duck families have ducklings and they don't appear scared of the crowds at all. You see them crossing the paths going after popcorn all over the place. There are plenty of waterways to swim in and natural areas to have their nests. I imagine Disneyland has to do something about the population periodically. I might have to ask some questions the next time I have duck at one of their fancier restaurants.

We booked a time to visit the Cantina in Galaxy's age but had some time to kill so we headed over to Fronteirland for a few rides. While we were there we noticed a famous pirate by the name of Captain Jack Sparrow so we stopped for pictures. He did a good job of being in character. He seemed surprised that we wanted to get our picture with him and he made no effort to stand near you. You had to move towards him. He was quite crazy.

We made it back for our scheduled visit at the Cantina. It looks just like the bar from the original Star Wars series. There are only drinks to purchase and it's very crowded so you have to book a time to go. Once it's your turn they bring you into the bar to find a place to stand and you have to force your way up to the bar to place your order. There are both alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks and they are not your normal drinks. Callie had some sort of blue milk and it was not sweet like you would expect for Disneyland.

I had the Fuzzy Tauntaun. I should have done some research. It is a peach drink so I assumed it was just a fuzzy peach but it came with something called buzz foam. It's made a natural pain killer from the Szechuan flower and it makes your lips go numb. For me it also did a number on my taste buds and by the time I was finished it felt like someone was sitting on my chest. I wandered back to the hotel after that. We did get a warning from the bar tender but I don't think I took it seriously enough.

We spent the afternoon in the hotel and then went back to the park for a special event planned by Melissa. She had called ahead and found out that Flynn Ryder from Rapunzel was going to be at the park. Flynn is one of Kerry's favorite characters. I didn't realize until she did this that the characters are on a set schedule that you can ask about so if you have a particular character you want to see you can find out where they will be and when. Now most people that were there in advance were there to see Rapunzel so it was rather awkward when it was time for Kerry, Callie and Melissa to get their picture taken. Rapunzel was trying to position herself so that everyone could be around her with Flynn nearby. It was comical to see Melissa guiding her away and ultimately arranging for her to leave the shot altogether. Flynn was quite excited to realize that someone was there for pictures with just him.

We didn't have anything booked for Dinner however Kerry had seen a burger place in Downtown Disney that she wanted to try. They were incredibly efficient. You ordered and paid for your food in advance before getting in line for a table. Once you were sat your food showed up almost immediately. Beyond burgers, the other reason for going here was the rather impressive milkshakes. We ordered one for every two people because they were quite extravagant. The cake version had a full piece of cake on top.

We finished our day in California Adventure. Although the mornings have been quite free, things get busy in the evenings. We mostly wandered around as the big rides all had wait times beyond what we wanted to wait for. Callie and Carter were not super excited that it was only the smaller kid rides like the Carousel that had manageable wait times. One thing we've noticed this visit is that the fast passes seem to be used up quite early in the evening. Only one more day until our stay at Disneyland comes to an end.

Summer Road Trip - Melissa's Birthday

Thursday started an hour earlier for us. When you buy a five day pass, Disney allows you to come earlier on one of a select number of days. This meant we were at breakfast for 6:30 am sharp and at the park by 7:00 am. "Magic Mornings" as they call them are good because there are a lot fewer people in the park which allowed us to quickly knock off a few of the big rides like Space Mountain and Matterhorn as well as some of the hard to get on rides like all the rides in Fantasyland. Fantasyland is typically full of strollers and babies.

Thursday was also Kerry's best friend Melissa's birthday. Kerry had spent the day before getting things ready which included arranging for lunch, getting birthday pins from City Hall and having hats specially made. Kerry's birthday is the following day so the plan was to wear the birthday hats on both days. Disney staff are always very good at wishing happy birthday when you wear a pin or a hat. We even got happy birthday wishes from staff walking to the parking lot.

We had lunch at Cafe Orleans in the park. We had thought about going to the Blue Bayou which is a very nice sit down restaurant on the edge of one of the water rides however we decided the menu was too nice for our (me and the kids) simple pallets. The menu at Cafe Orleans was a bit posh as well but I took a chance on the Three Cheese Monte Cristo. It's essentially cheese deep fried in the same batter they use to make Beignets. It came with a blueberry jam dip and was covered in powdered sugar. It also came with grapes so I think that makes it healthy.

The rest of our day was spent in Disneyland with one of the highlights being pictures with some of the Pooh Bear characters. Pooh wasn't there so we'll have to go back but we did see Tigger and Eeyore. Eeyore borrowed Carter's Groot and tried to put it on his shoulder like Callie. He was somewhat successful. I always enjoy Carter's face in the character pictures. Pure joy. Only two more days to go with lots more to pack in.

Summer Road Trip - Star Wars Galaxy's Edge

Our second day in Disneyland took us to a different planet. One of the reasons we decided to go to Disneyland this year was that the new Star Wars Galaxy's Edge was opening. We realize it may sound crazy to try to visit when a new attraction is opening and I completely agree however we seem to have lucked out. Crowds have been small, ride lines have been short and we had no trouble getting into Galaxy's Edge on our first attempt. We made it into the park and onto the only ride in under 30 minutes.

The path to the new area takes you through Frontier Land and the transition from forest and rocks to a completely different planet is slow and subtle. I will admit I heard the phrase "Please stop running sir!" more than once, however in my defense this was because I kept stopping to take pictures and then had to run to catch up to the rest of the family. We knew we were in the right place when we saw Chewbacca standing on a hill welcoming us. The funniest phrase I heard from a cast member was "please slow down everyone. This is our least favorite part of the day."

There is surprisingly only a single ride open in the entire 12 acres of new park. There are plans for a second ride and I suspect they will add others in the future as there is plenty of  space. I'm sure it's on purpose because they always want to have a new reason for you to come back and visit. The line up for us was quick and as per usual Disney line-ups are an experience in themselves. There were droids, ships and plenty of bits of foreign technology along the way to keep you interested. You could even sit at the table where Chewy plays chess.

The ride itself was amazing. Not only does it really feel like you are walking through the hallways of the Millennium Falcon but the ride itself is interactive. You are one of six crew members, each with a specific role including Pilot, Gunner and Engineer. During the ride you have specific tasks to perform. I didn't realize until almost the end but as gunner you are actually firing a weapon on the screen and your actions as pilot have consequences as well. Each button click resulted in a laser fire on screen. Quite realistic. (For a spaceship firing at aliens anyways.)

Disney isn't content with just realism on the rides anymore. This time they took their magic to the restrooms themselves. Restrooms are typically subtlety placed and Galaxy's edge is no exception however this time the insides stayed in theme. The doors were rusted metal and they had painted all the equipment a utility black including the soap dispensers and hand dryers. I think they frown on people taking pictures in restrooms so you'll just have to take my word for it or go yourself.

The last part of the experience is of course shopping. Because you can't just have one ride in 12 acres. You have to have plenty of shopping as well. There was a whole promenade of shops to choose from with themed bottles of coke, stuffed animals and lot's of other memorabilia to choose from. There was an entire shop dedicated to just cute animals from the newest Star Wars movies. We avoided buying anything, however I may go back to get something small that says Galaxy's Edge 2019 on it, since we are here the first year.

When we were done with Galaxy's edge we spent a bit more time in the park before heading back to the hotel. After a nap and a swim we were back at the park to meet up with Melissa, Josh and her mom. They had just arrived today and our first ride attempt was the new Guardian's of the Galaxy. It's a drop ride which I hate so I sat this one out. We managed to get pictures with Groot after they were done. My favorite part was when he was yelling "I am Groot!" and gesturing at the bushes. I'm sure it was an amazing conversation.

The remainder of our evening was spent at on the California Adventure pier. The adventurous members of our group went on the Incredicoaster while Callie and I shopped for a new set of ears for her. She's decided she will get a new set with each visit. We also had dinner on the Pier. Callie and Kerry shared a bread bowl and I was once again disappointed that they don't have fish and chips on the pier anymore. I'm not sure how you can say it's the San Francisco pier without fish and chips. Even so, still an amazing day and looking forward to at least one more trip to Galaxy's Edge during our stay.

Summer Road Trip - On a Disney Mission

Tuesday was our first full day at Disneyland and it opened at 8:00 am so were up early for breakfast. The hotel we pick is about a 15 minute walk from the front gate but it has a few benefits that we like such as breakfast included with our stay. It's a hot breakfast that includes eggs, hash-browns, a meat of some sort and plenty of continental breakfast options. We were finished breakfast around 7:30 am and started our walk. We had a slight detour as Kerry saw a parking spot she liked and had to move the car. Only two more moves until we get the perfect spot.

We didn't decide on our first ride until we got into the park. Kerry decided we would do the Matterhorn since Carter has never been and there is no fast pass. Correction. There previously was no fast pass but we have since noticed that it does have one. We're also trying to get the family into the idea of 'single rider'. Many rides allow for four or six people but groups don't always come in even numbers so there is often a single empty spot available. If you are willing to break up your group you can ride quicker and more frequently. Only Carter remains a little hesitant.

We managed to get in several more rides all before 10:00 am including Big Thunder, Indiana Jones, Pooh Bear and Splash mountain. Splash Mountain was are most eventful. Kerry was absolutely soaked which seems to be pretty common for her. I also had another amazing picture taken of me. I don't like drops so I close my eyes and tense up at the point that they take the picture. Looks like I'm trying really hard to take a poop. We also tried to get some crushed pennies but the machine ate Carter's quarters twice so we had to inform the machine was broken and get our quarters back. 

We stopped off in New Orleans Square for Callie's treat. She wanted a mint julep and some beignets. It seems there is a fine line on how much powdered sugar is too much. Too much is when you accidentally breath deeply as you take a bite and the powdered sugar makes you start coughing. The ground is white in this area. We only stopped long enough to eat and run to catch the train that circles the park. Kerry was on a mission to get in as many rides as we could which apparently was 22 on our first day.

The park has been surprisingly clear and we have a few theories on why. One is that people are staying away because of the recent earth quakes. The second theory is that people are staying away because they think the place will be crowded with the opening of Star Wars land. My theory is that Star Wars land has added several dozen acres of new space which spreads out the people over a larger area. I suspect it is probably a mix of all three. Either way, lines up to about 11:00 am are short and we don't feel crowded. A good time so far.

Our destination station on the train was Tomorrow-land but Kerry decided half way that there wasn't a stop there so we should get off in Toon Town. There is apparently a stop in Tomorrowland so at least we know for next time. Toon Town is not that exciting though I do enjoy Mickey's house. I have several pictures sitting in Plutos bed. We also found Donald Duck hiding out on his boat the Daisy Duck. I'm using a wider angle lens on my camera this time around and it's making for some interesting perspective shots for the character pictures. 

We went back to the hotel for the afternoon and switched over to California Adventure Land in the afternoon. Our first ride was the Ferris Wheel. It's apparently 160 feet at the top and Kerry and Carter were not exactly thrilled to be there. Carter wasn't too bad but at one point Callie asked if she could switch places with me and she got a resounding no from Kerry. We weren't allowed to breath when the car was at it's peak. It takes a full revolution to load and then it goes one more revolution all the way around. Kerry would have been content getting off after the first turn. 

The highlight of our day came near the end of the evening. I decided to skip Guardians of the Galaxy because it's a drop ride and then the family got in line but also decided to skip because the wait looked to long. This left us passing a place called "Smoozies" which my cousin Celine had told us about on Facebook at the perfect time. She recommended the Cookies and Cream shake and it sounded good so we planned on sharing one. Turns out we were the last customer and they gave us all free smoothies rather than throwing them out at the end of the day. Score!

Summer Road Trip - Universal Studios

Monday was our first full day without car travel. Almost. We had a 1 hour drive from our hotel to Universal Studios. We've never been to this park and the main motivation was the Harry Potter area. It was done very similar to the one in Florida except that there is only one one park with no train connecting multiple parks. My overall impression of Universal Studios is that it's designed to change often as new movies come out. The Harry Potter area is an exception . These rides were built to last. I'm still amazed at the Hogwarts sitting on the hill. Incredibly realistic.

The next stop was the Simpsons area. The kids have watched a grand total of 20 minutes of the Simpsons. Not because we won't let them but because they just haven't been interested. This may change. The start of the rides all have family friendly(ish) scenes from the show and the kids couldn't stop laughing. I'm pretty sure Carter is going to find a YouTube video of all the Itchy and Scratchy scenes. The other fun part waiting for the ride was the Krustyland map which included rides like the "Tilt-n-Spew" and the "Long, Long Line".

I should probably explain my ride experience at Universal. They are a mix of roller coaster and movie screens and I don't really enjoy the combination of the two. My ride experience is
1) Wait in line.
2) Get on ride.
3) Close eyes.
4) Ride starts.
5) Open eyes briefly.
6) Get dizzy.
7) Close eyes
8) Ride ends

Luckily not all rides are like this. The most enjoyable ride for all of us was the Studio Tour. Universal Studios is not just a them park. It's built around a working movie studio and the tour takes you through the studio lots where the big sound stages are as well as past famous sets such as Jaws, Back to the Future, War of the Worlds and Psycho. The highlight for Kerry was that they were  filming a Christmas Hallmark movie with one of her favorite Hallmark actors.

Universal Studios is easily done in a day, especially if you get the 'Front of the Line' pass for an extra $70 per person. I don't really like this because it means extra money gets you extra privilege. I prefer Disney where most people have the same opportunity to get short line-ups via the fast pass. The front of the line pass also messes with the line estimates since people can just keep going to the front of the line. The Jurassic World ride showed as 120 minutes for us and only took 45 minutes. The ride was great and we were surprised at how quickly we made it to the front of the line.

Universal Studios was a fun day trip but I don't think we'll go back very often. It's a long drive from our hotel, the lines are long unless you pay to go to the front and the rides are not nearly as inventive as the ones at Disneyland. If we were in the area though we would stop by the City Walk which is there version of Downtown Disney. Lot's of great restaurants and a fun atmosphere that probably gets even better later in the evening.

Summer Road Trip - Travelling to Anaheim

Today's destination was Anaheim but we did have plans to take the scenic route. We had spent the night in San Francisco and the trip to Anaheim is only about 6 hours so we started our day on the Full House tour. Kerry and I watched it as a kid, and the kids both found it on Netflix in grade five and were also actively watching the new series Fuller House. There are probably lots of individual scenes shot in San Francisco but we only had time for the highlights.

The first destination was the "Painted Ladies" which is a set of row houses visible from a nearby park. In the opening scene I believe the family is having a picnic in the park and the houses are in the background. The nice thing about this destination was that we could check them out from across the street. This wasn't the case for the second destination which is the house exterior that shows in the series. There is now a gate on the front steps to stop the fans. We drove by and were only there for about 2 minutes and we saw another family stopping bye. The owners must hate that show.

Our final destination was Lombard Street. I have driven down it but Kerry was unwilling to drive herself or even be a passenger. We drove by the bottom where there were quite a few people just standing in the street for pictures. The thing I find interesting is that some people have driveways off this street. There are apparently plans to start charging visitors which makes sense. The funny thing about Kerry not wanting to drive the street is that I think some of the streets we took to get here were steeper and scarier.

We got out of town around 9:00 am and started down the I-5 to Anaheim. San Francisco was cool weather wise but our drive was not. We hit at least 40 degrees. Our trip was relatively uneventful except for the fact that we didn't stop for breakfast in San Francisco. We waited until we were on the road. Callie was committed to finding a Starbucks and was prepared to navigate to one however she decided she couldn't wait and we stopped at a McDonald's instead. Apparently the Starbucks was at the next exit. Callie was not happy.

The directions to our hotel are relatively simple. Follow the I-5 until exit 109B. That doesn't mean the drive is easy. As soon as you hit LA the traffic on the roads gets crazy. Despite going 10km over the speed limit it still felt like were sitting still on the freeway with vehicles passing us on both sides. We made it and checked into our hotel with some time for laundry, grocery shopping and a trip to Downtown Disney for a snack. We also gassed up our vehicle. We don't want a half full tank if the big one hits!

Summer Road Trip - Meeting Up With the Family

A bit of an unusual start to our summer road trip this year in that we didn't start it as a family. Our summer began with our annual trip to Prince George. After we got home I packed again for a trip to San Diego to attend a week long conference. The plan was for the family to drive to Oliver to drop off Oliver and then drive to San Francisco to meet me. This meant they had a three day, 2000 km drive while I had a 1 hour flight to get to our meeting place at the hotel in San Francisco. I had no complaints.

I arrived in San Francisco at 8:00a and had about 5 hours to kill while I waited for the family to arrive from Klammath Falls, Oregon where they had stayed the night. Did I mention that I had spent the night watching fireworks from my hotel room while they spent the night listening to what may have been fireworks or gun shots from their hotel room. They're still not sure. Again, no complaints from me.

Our first destination was the trolley cars. As soon as I guided the family to the parking for the hotel I ran the five blocks to grab tickets and get in line. In hindsight I completely forgot about the trick for the trolley cars. There is a starting point where everyone lines up but they never fill the cars because you can hop on and hop off at stops along the way. This means that you can either wait in line for an hour or just get on at the second stop with almost no wait. We did get a seat which is nice and we did use the time to catch up on stories about our trip so far.

The trolley cars take us through the steep hills of San Francisco and end up at Fisherman's Wharf. Our first destination was Ghirardelli Chocolate Factory.where we got in line for sundaes. A few additional tourist tips here include the fact that there are multiple entrances to the factory with varying line sizes. I also recommend sharing the desserts. Even through we were very hungry and I can usually hold my own with ice cream, there was plenty to share. Kerry and Callie had the salted caramel sundae and Carter and I had the cookies and cream.

Another tourist tip is that even when it's nice out San Francisco is not always the warmest of places. I'm not sure why, but Kerry and the kids all chose not to wear their jackets. Luckily there was a tourist shop at the end of Fisherman's what where they had clothing on sale for 70% off. Carter got a jacket and shared it with Kerry. As a bonus the jacket even came with four Ghirardelli chocolates in the pocket. It was also missing a button. We're not sure what the history of this jacket is but we think it has an interesting story.

By this time it was close to dinner so we started looking for a place to eat on the wharf. I had previously gone to Lou's Fish Shack and Kerry liked what she saw on the menu so we stopped in for dinner. I don't know if I can truly recognize fresh versus frozen fish but if this was never frozen I could tell. Best fish and chips ever. The breading was light and the fish was sweet and flaky. Kerry had the crab bisque bread bowl and loved it as well. It was at this point that the family realized why I had recommended we add San Francisco to the itinerary this year.

After dinner we continued on down Fisherman's Wharf to Pier 45. There is a great penny arcade there with machines ranging from the 1800's to the 1980's. I broke a five into quarters to give the kids and soon realized that I have perhaps made them too money savvy. They seemed content to pocket their money. We did get them to try a few items including laughing Sally. Carter tried waiting for someone else to activate her but could wait no longer. She was really quite frightening. We also had a fun time with the telescope for 25 cents. Carter said it was broken because all he could see was blue. I helped him turn away from the water so he could see Alcatraz.

We finished our trip down the wharf with Pier 39. It's mostly restaurants and souvenir shops though we did have fun checking out the sea lions. Apparently they can have 1,500 later in the year. We saw a few dozen sunning them selves on some specially made docks just for them. We also checked out the pet store where we were amazed to find Schnoodle merchandise. You know you've picked a trendy dog breed when there is signage and socks for sale with Schnoodle on them.

The trolley cars are $7.00 per person one way so we found a cheaper way back to our hotel via bus. Kerry managed to make friends with the bus driver and got all sorts of advise and local knowledge sent her way. We stopped off a few blocks from our hotel at Union Square which appeared to be getting a major overhaul. 

Our first day together as a family was great fun. Only one more day of travel until our final destination in Anaheim.