Wednesday, October 9, 2024

Zone 2

What is Zone 2 and why is it important? How does it relate to weight loss? How does it relate to marathon training?

I made a video about the Magic Mile and why it's important. I shared the video with my run club. A magic mile is a time trial that you do every 3-4 weeks. You can take that one simple number and plug it into a VDOT calculator or JeffGalloway.com to determine what pace you can expect to do for different distances. The advantage of the magic mile is that it's very simple to measure. And it's an accurate predictor of performance on race day.

using Strava and Jeff Galloway's calculator to yield a long run pace

After recording, editing, posting, and sharing that video, I attended the LA Road Runners Thursday chat with coach David and he showed a graph of his heart rate and lactic acid from running and cycling. The way he explained it was kind of confusing to me, so I wanted to do a bit of WRITING TO LEARN, hoping that I would be able to understand all the colorful designations on the graph a little bit better.

graph of lactic acid concentration in blood and heart rate

Heart Rate-based training zones are a big thing now. Apparently, the big thing in exercise science a few years back was HIIT which is high-intensity interval training. Now the big thing is Zone 2 training.
  • Zone 1 You can easily hold a conversation with someone.
  • Zone 2 Roughly 65% of the calories you burn are fat.
  • Zone 3 Talking in this zone takes effort, but you could sustain this pace for hours?
  • Zone 4 You are no longer burning fat to fuel your effort. Lactic acid production increases dramatically as you switch to burning carbohydrates for energy.
  • Zone 5 Your heart is beating at 90-100% of the max heart rate. Talking is out of the question. Cannot hold effort for more than a minute or two.
The goal of the coach's chat was to discuss speed work and how that plays a role in training for a marathon. A way to lengthen your baseline (extending the scope of zones 1 and 2, preventing lactic acid build-up) is to train in some of your workouts at or near the anaerobic threshold. You can achieve this by running intervals or doing a HIIT workout. The LA Marathon training plan I'm following has only 15% of the workouts doing speed work or intervals. I have been trying to incorporate some of this as hill workouts.
  • R-pace (repetition): VDOT = 10:43 mile
  • I-pace (interval): VDOT = 11:07 mile
  • T-pace (threshold): VDOT = 13:32 mile
  • HMRP (half-marathon race pace): VDOT = 16:23 mile
  • MRP (marathon race pace): VDOT = 16:32 mile
  • easy: VDOT says 14:13 ~ 15:30 miles
VO2max is the “maximum volume of oxygen” an athlete can use per minute relative to body weight to produce energy during an all-out, sustained effort of a few minutes that is well above the anaerobic threshold. This has to be measured while running on a treadmill or biking on a stationary bike while hooked up to a ventilator and doing your max effort. It's very uncomfortable but I actually participated in a research study on cyclists while I was in graduate school. They measured my VO2max to qualify me for the study, to see if I had the aerobic capacity, in fact, of a trained cyclist. Then they measured my bone density to see if there were significant differences in the arm and leg bone density of runners vs. cyclists. The PI was Dr. Michael Liang at  California State Polytechnic Institute, Pomona.

A higher VO2 max is indicative of a higher anaerobic threshold, which, by definition, means a higher level of lactic acid tolerance. Functionally, this means that a level of exertion that used to be anaerobic (for you when you were a beginner) can now become aerobic with longer duration potential.

Lactate Threshold is defined by a specific concentration of lactate in the blood. (2 mmol/L) So you have to have blood drawn to measure this. Functionally, this means when you are putting your body through more stress, which takes longer to recover from.

Below your aerobic threshold, exercise is sustainable ‘indefinitely.’ Even very lean people have reserves of fat stored. However, if we can only store 2000 calories as glycogen in the muscles, this is why people tend to hit the wall at mile 20 of a marathon if they're running too fast (zone 3 or above), because the rate of calorie burning is 100 cal/mile. The point of fatigue will be determined by muscle glycogen stores, and at some point, you’ll hit a wall where exercise cannot be continued due to glycogen depletion.

See, the marathon training plan from the LA Road Runners is so confusing to me because it's like an alphabet soup. Last Wednesday's run was supposed to be 10 min easy + (3 min T-Pace + 2 min HMRP)x3 + 4 min T-Pace + 10 min easy. I don't hate math and I hate looking at this. If it were always the same, I would program my Seconds Pro app and then go from there, but this is just too confusing.

10 min 15 min mile = 0.66 of a mile 
3 min / 13.5 min mile = 0.22 of a mile 
2 min / 16.5 min mile = 0.12 of a mile
4 min / 13.5 min mile = 0.29 of a mile
total distance                 2.63 miles

Honestly, I just can't do this math at 4:30am and it doesn't really work with the distances I have that I regularly run. Is this just to make sure we're not getting bored or is it really doing something for the anaerobic threshold? Last time I trained for a half marathon, I just ran through the city every other day. Sometimes with my dogs and sometimes without. I did two weekday runs and one long weekend run. I did about a 5k on weekday mornings before work and between 10 and 13 miles on the weekend. I had no training plan, no coach, no goal. Back then, my only goal was to maintain my sanity while finishing my PhD.

Okay, admittedly this blog post is a real jumble of ideas. But in all that confusion, I came out with an answer to my question, why am I going for a speed limit of 20:54 per mile in long runs? That seems very slow to me. The answer is that it keeps me in zone 2 or below. I've been tracking my heart rate as I walk Albert to school and as we go on long walks on Saturdays. If Albert is in the jogging stroller and we're going along at a pretty good pace (let's say less than 20-minute miles) then we're in zone 2.

heart rate zones from a 4 mile walk

The data above is from a 4-mile walk where we did about 18-minute miles. It was a conversational pace, we were chatting the whole time. I don't know how SamsungWatch5 sets the heart rate zones, whether these are defaults, or whether they're based on my age and max heart rate. I guess it's the formula 220 - age, which for me is 220 - 44 = 176.

I was starting to get bummed out because I've been running for a year now and I haven't experienced any significant weight loss. I was starting to accept the fact that just like breastfeeding where some people drop weight right away and some people maintain or gain weight, maybe I was that type of runner who doesn't lose weight while training for a marathon, maybe I am just destined to maintain or gain weight. But now this reveals that I might just need to slow down to stay in a fat-burning heart rate zone.

Coach Bennett on the Nike Run Club app is always telling us to run the mile we're in and have a goal for each run, even a goal for each mile. Don't worry about how fast you're going because sometimes faster is not better. You want the workout you're doing to meet your goal for that workout.

The only reason I was trying to get faster is that the LA Marathon has a time cut-off of 6.5 hours. So to run 26.2 miles in 6.5 hours, I would need to be running about 14.9 minute miles. So I've been obsessed with getting to that pace or faster for my training runs. It's very easy to get caught up in PRs if you look at your training data on Strava. There are no awards for going slower. But there might be rewards if what you are looking for is losing fat (inches).

Wednesday, October 2, 2024

Consumables

In other news that nobody cares about except me... I made a list of the running shoes I've purchased and how I have evolved from Brooks Ghost to Brooks Ariel.
http://bitchonabike.blogspot.com/2009/11/mission-inn-run.html

The internet says you should replace your running shoes every 300–500 miles, or roughly every 4–6 months if you run 20 miles per week. But it adds that heavier runners may wear out their shoes more quickly. I replace mine about every 200 miles because it seems like I start feeling the impact of running on sidewalks and streets around that time. It's not worth getting shin splints.

4 pairs of Brooks Ghost running shoes

3 pairs of Brooks Ariel running shoes

Shoes
  • June 2019 silver ghost 11 = $99 via Zappos
  • May 2021 grey pink blue ghost 13 via Nordstrom = $130
  • Dec 2022 white black blue light ghost 14 via Zappos = $109 
  • Oct 2023 white purple coral ghost 14 via Brooks 178 miles = $98.49
  • March 2024 black Ariel 23 via Fleet Feet Encino 250 miles = $160 
  • June 2024 grey green Ariel 20 via Amazon 194 miles = $92
  • August 2024 grey pink sulphur ghost 14 via Poshmark = $45
  • Sept 2024 grey pink Ariel 23 via Amazon = $119 
Brooks Ghost 14 with Shoe Shwings from Sparkle Athletic
I added wings and I only wear these for teaching






I've written before about what qualities of sports bras are good for larger-chested women. I haven't written about how things changed when I had my son and have been a breastfeeding mom for several years now. The sports bras I like now have front-closure. They're very supportive but also very constricting. I can only wear them for a short time before they start to hurt. I recently added a few lighter ones from Freya active, which have a back closure. They're good for warm weather when I want something more breathable.

The crazy thing is that the internet says you should replace your sports bras every 6 months to 1 year. That's why I have so many. But since I roll them up and put them together with shorts and a top, I like having many different ones. I feel like they can last longer if you have a larger collection to rotate through. Another great thing about the SheFit bra is that you can wear it as a swimsuit top. The straps are rigid due to the velcro, so they're not stretchy. They're not going to get "stretched out." So I do feel like they last longer. But they also feel very industrial.

Bras

Enell size 4 - high impact
🖤Black 2/18/21
💜Purple Reign 4/8/22
🏳️‍🌈Pride 2/14/23
💂‍♂️Black Camo 3/13/24
🌚Midnight Run 6/18/24

Shefit 3 Luxe - ultimate
💗"Confident" pink 2/18/21
💕Rose Taupe 2/18/21
🍉Watermelon tie-dye 4/11/22
🌷Pink floral 4/11/22
🎾 pastel lime 8/10/22

Freya Women's Dynamic Wireless Sports Bra 38J
🐆 Pure Leopard Aqua 3/13/24
🔥 Hot Crimson 3/8/24

What I like to do is arrange my running outfits with shorts, bra, and tank top in a leggings organizer so I don't have to figure out what goes together in the dark when I go out for my morning runs. I tried running without a tank top a few times this summer but unfortunately my light up vest band made a few chafe spots on my torso, which was no bueno.


I might as well toss the inventory of sunglasses into this post. 

May 2022
Zeus = white / purple BFGs
Donkey = orange / blue
Tats = pink / pink
Flamingos = pink / blue
Dinotopia = teal / purple
Kraken = purple / purple

May 2022
Falkor = blue / blue
Bourbon BFG = blk / org
Orange crush BFG = org / blu

June 2022
Onyx = black / black BFGs
Knock = brown BFGs
Bourbon BFG = blk / org
Nessy = teal / green

June 2023
Thorny = red / green / gold
Fireworkin = white / blue

August 2023
Flamingos = pink / blue
Dinotopia = teal / purple

May 2024
Bloody Mary = red/purple
Nessy = teal / green

The reason why I put these under consumables is that they break, get lost, get scratched or otherwise gifted to friends and family. The only ones I still have that are wearable are Bloody Mary, Nessy and Dinotopia. Fireworkin and Flamingos are scratched but I haven't thrown them away yet because they're cute and I let Albert wear them if he wants to. They're important because as polarized lenses, they protect my eyes from sun damage. And at $25 per pair, they're more affordable than shoes and bras.


I guess the final topic would by the CRZ Yoga shorts that I love. They're compressive in the midsection, which holds my FUPA from jiggling while I run. I get XL size with 8" length. I prefer the ones with the phone / wallet pockets on the sides. They're great for walking around Disneyland too. I've gotten so many compliments on them while in the parks. I had planned to wear them as swimsuit bottoms but this one pair started to get a hole in it so I tossed it in the trash. The last thing I need is to get chafing from skin rubbing while on a training run or during a race.



Why do I need so many? Well, I guess the answer is that you only need 3. One to wash, one to wear, and one for a spare. But in the case that I'm running or working out every day, I would need at least 5 in rotation to get through the work week. Considering some are wearing out, it's good to replace them. I used to have an IKEA Pressa which is an octopus with 8 arms. I would put my bra and shorts on the clips and hang the tank top over the arm. This is also a good way to dry them I guess after a run so they don't stink up your laundry basket. I prefer the 8" length over the 10" which feels hotter (not sexier) in the summer. Definitely was on the fence about the lighter colors, which do show the cellulite more. But those I tend to wear under a running skirt, so they don't show much anyway.


I have acquired several sparkle skirts. For the sparkle running skirts I have turquoise, yellow, lime and baby pink. For the specialty skirts, I have magical shapes, mermaid, red with white polka dots, the 2023-24 squad print which is pink teal black and purple polka dots on a white background, the 2024-2025 squad print which is bright rainbow colors on a black background, an Encanto print, and a Forest print. I want to add many more because I'm obsessed with colorful stuff, sparkly stuff, and collecting. I would get the Tangled Flowers (purple) and a matching tank top. I want the Frozen Snowflakes print skirt for my Holiday Half Marathon. But at some point I have to pump the brakes, write a blog post like this and ask myself, is this something I really need for my marathon training, or is this just silly and not something that will help me get my miles?

closet where sparkle skirts hang with kids clothes

Of course, each skirt has a matching hat or visor, so I had to get a hat organizer. I was also amassing a large collection of headbands and friendship bracelets and it was hard to find the ones I wanted, so I got an organizing rack for headbands too. I have an organizer for my sunglasses and I actually love it. My husband made it custom for me when he had access to a machine shop in grad school. The Headsweats visors fit me too tight, resulting in a headache after just two or three miles, so what I do now is cut the elastic and sew in an extender. Some of the extenders are pieces of ribbon with reflective elements and other extenders are just elastic.

hat organizer

bracelet and headband organizer

rack for Goodr sunglasses
RIP Falcor and Two Tats

I got the brilliant idea to train for the LA Marathon as a way to shed the post-baby pounds that lingered after breastfeeding. But I'm starting to realize that just like breastfeeding, some people lose weight while training for a marathon and some people gain weight. There's no guarantee that training for a marathon will lead to weight loss. And the truth is that I'm still breastfeeding. Not much anymore, not even every day, but we haven't completely weaned yet.

Tuesday, October 1, 2024

Bigger and Smaller Races

I have to admit, the number of runners in the Santa Monica Classic freaked me out. It was so crowded I almost had a panic attack right before the race started. It got me thinking about how many runners registered or finished each of the races I've already done and the races I have upcoming.

An example of a smaller race is the Corona del Mar Scenic 5k, which has a very hometown feel. The starting line is a simple balloon arch. There are no fireworks.
  • CdM Scenic 5k = 1,010
    • Men's - 601
    • Women's - 409
A few others with a hometown feel I used to do that I really liked were
  • Glendale Downtown Dash 5k = 1,033
  • Riverside Raincross 5k = 591
  • A Run Through Redlands Half = 476
    • 10k - 802
    • 5k - 1,731
Getting into larger races, you have the three events leading up to the LA Marathon. Together these events make up the Triple 5k Tour of LA / Conquer LA Challenge.
  • Santa Monica Classic 5k/10k - 2415 + 3046 = 5,461 (race is in September)
  • Rose Bowl Half = 9,207 (race is in January)
    • 5k - 1,632
  • LA Marathon = 20,475 (race is in March)
    • LA Big 5k - 6,545
Students Run LA is a program for students in public schools to train alongside their teachers to run the LA Marathon. The Holiday Half Marathon is part of their race schedule.
Run Riverside County Challenge
  • Mission Inn Run = 3,950 (race is in October)
    • 5k - 2040
    • 10k - 1091
    • Half - 819
  • Citrus Heritage Run Half = 516 (race is in January)
    • 10k - 492
    • 5k - 805
  • Palm Desert Half = 541 (race is in February)
    • 5k - 599
Thinking of other glamorous events that I may want to do in the future:
  • La Jolla Half Marathon = 3,568 (race is in May)
    • Starts at the Del Mar Fairgrounds - Finishes at La Jolla Cove and this has been on my radar since 2013
  • Run Malibu Half = 2,763 (race is in November)
    • 5k - 1,509
  • Mountains 2 Beach Marathon = 1,689 (race is in April) in Ventura
    • Half = 1,544
    • 10k = 192
    • 5k = 174
  • Ventura Marathon = 977 (race is in February)
    • Half = 1,691
  • Malibu Moves (race is in October)
  • Seaside Marathon (race is in May) in Ventura
    • 12th annual will be in 2025
  • Valencia Half Marathon (race is in June)
  • Pride of the Valley 5K (run is in August) in Baldwin Park
    • 29th Annual was in 2024
  • Mardi Gras Madness 5K/10K in Valencia (run is in February 2025)
    • 15th annual will be 2025
  • Chinatown Firecracker 5k/10k (race is in February)
    • 47th annual in 2025
  • Hope the Mission - Drumstick Dash LA (race is on Thanksgiving)
I'll make a special category for trail races, which I think are great for some people but maybe not for me unless someone special talked me into doing it.
  • Red Rock Rumble (trail race in June)
  • Chesebro Half Marathon in Thousand Oaks (trail race in April)
  • Catalina Island Half Marathon & 10k (trail race is in November)
  • Moorpark Mammoth Run (trail race is in October)
    • 11th Annual in 2024
  • Verdugo Mountains 10k (race is in May)
  • Griffith Park Trail Marathon Relay (race is in June)
SoCal Triple Crown is a race series in San Diego. I've been wanting to get back down to San Diego and I asked my mother-in-law for recommendations and she suggested the San Diego Half but I'm not sure which one of these she was referring to. She said it was a point-to-point run where you start at Point Loma (a high elevation) and you finish at Balboa Park (a low elevation). 
  • GOVX San Diego Half Marathon = 3,355 (race is in March)
  • America's Finest City Half Marathon = 3,631 (race is in August)
    • This has been on my wish list since 2012
  • Carlsbad Marathon = 997 (race is in January)
    • Half = 3,411
    • 5k = 1,166
    • Double Down Challenge is 5k + half (16.2 miles)
Beach Cities Challenge is a race series in Orange County which my nephew recently mentioned that he would like to complete. I've done the OC Half but not any of the other ones.
  • Surf City Marathon = 1,544 (race is in February)
    • Half = 8,341
    • 5k = 3,587
  • OC Marathon = 2,916 (race is in May)
    • Half = 9,589
  • Long Beach Marathon = 2,511 (race is in October)
Then you have runDisney races, which are just on a whole other level. We don't have the Tinkerbell Half marathon weekend (which was a women's empowerment event) anymore but we do have two race weekends here in SoCal now.
  • Disneyland Halloween Half Marathon = 11,162 (race is in September)
    • 10k = 7,802
  • Disneyland Half Marathon = 11,186 (race is in January/February)
    • 10k = 6,601

Planning Your Racecation

Let's talk dollars and cents. We did not renew our Disneyland Magic Keys because I wanted to spend the equivalent amount of money on race registration fees instead.

I've written about the races so far in 2024

Cost of each racecation:

  • $1466 Disneyland (with two park days)
  • $284 LA Big 5k (no hotel)
  • $522 OC Marathon (without running the race)
  • $640 CdM Scenic 5k
  • $1063 SMC Classic 10k/5k (with no hotel)
  • $3975 for the year, which is only half over

Why were these races so expensive if the registration fee was only $377 for the whole year? Well, that's because I included things like gas, parking, hotel, costumes, shoes, sports bras, and food. I got a little carried away preparing for the Santa Monica Classic, but it was my birthday month and I bought a whole bunch of sparkle stuff. It is a balancing act to allocate funding to:

  1. Consumables (food, shoes, sports bras) which are temporary investments and need replacing 
  2. Experiences (travel costs including hotel, gas, parking, race registration) ephemeral
  3. Permanent items (race photos, clothing) could be useful, reusable or simply memorabilia
  4. Memberships (squad and run club) which provide information and a sense of belonging

As we always say, everyone has hobbies. Some hobbies are more expensive than others. The two races I want to register for next are:

  • Citrus Heritage Run (January 5, 2025) Half-marathon $97.68
  • Palm Desert Half (February 16, 2025) Half-marathon $69.90
Maybe my reason for these two races is stupid. But there is a special challenge medal for doing three races in Riverside county and I'm already registered for one of them, which is in less than two weeks. Of course, since these events are so far away (distance-wise) we would need hotels along with them. The Citrus Heritage Run is cute because it's where we got married. And the Palm Desert run is of interest to me because I think Palm Springs in February will be delightful. I want to take my son to the Palm Springs Tram and go up the mountain to hike in the cable car. I think he'll get a kick out of it.

There is a concept in the running community of a "catered training run" that you're not just out there running 18 miles, but you're using one event as a training run for another event. And you don't have to do those miles alone, and you don't have to do those miles unsupported. I don't know if it's a formal term, but it does seem to permeate the runDisney community, ostensibly because while training for Dopey you need to run/walk a lot of miles, which gets boring.

In debriefing our previous racecations, we have done a reverse packing list, where I wrote out everything I brought and added items I should have brought. With the idea that we will eventually optimize the items that best support the racecation.

What we learned is that we should just always bring swimwear even if we think we won't use it. Bringing some kind of comfort item like a nightlight makes early bedtimes a breeze. We have to remember to bring vitamins, medications (prescription and over-the-counter), and electrolytes. A box of toys was a big hit for kiddo. I would love to write more but I have to get ready for class. So grateful it is nearly the halfway point in the semester. I can actually see the light at the end of the tunnel already.

Kayla Kaiser crossing the finish line of the Santa Monica Classic 2024


Monday, September 23, 2024

Park Delights with Little Ones

Favorite chill spots at Disneyland Park

While you are waiting for rope drop, mobile order something to pick up later in the day at Jolly Holiday. They sell out of some treats early!


If you Rope Drop Fantasyland, you can do all these things in the first hour

Carousel

Snow White

Pinocchio

Mr. Toads

Dumbo

Casey Jr Circus Train

Canal boats

Mad tea party

Alice in Wonderland

Peter Pan


Red Rose Tavern

Go to the left at the entrance. There's a back room. It's quieter. There is a water bottle refill station. The restrooms are great. We chill here with some tater tots until everyone poops


Outdoor nap spot

Between Fantasyland and Frontierland. There's a Guest Relations kiosk. Great people watching. There's a shaded bench for you to sit and great ambient noise.


New Orleans Square

Harbour galley - Soup in bread bowl, cookies

Tiana's palace - open 10am-9pm

Mint julep bar (Beignets) - open 8am-10pm

I love the restrooms here. There is a drinking fountain you can use to refill water bottles

You could ride Haunted Mansion or Pirates


Pirate Lair on Tom Sawyer Island

Mobile order something to eat and take the ferry over to the island

There are restrooms and a bottle filling station but no food (bring your own)


Rivers of America

I’ve never seen Fantasmic! but there are some dining packages

Mark Twain Riverboat

Sailing Ship Columbia

Davey Crockett Explorer Canoes

Ship to shore marketplace = Breakfast chimichanga and frozen lemonade

There's a little view of the river from the marketplace where there used to be tables. The fresh cool air coming off the river is really nice to stop and snack.


Frontierland

Restrooms at Rancho del Zocalo, but there’s usually a long line there

The chill thing to do here is watch the ducks

Albert got a kick out of playing with the cannon

You can find a shady bench

We’ve never eaten at River Belle Terrace, Cafe Orleans, Plaza Inn, Blue Bayou. Pretty much any place that requires reservations.

We’ve never eaten at the Golden Horseshoe, but I heard they have a root beer flight right now which sounds really fun


Royal Theater

we’ve never done, I just don’t think Albert has enough patience to sit for a show

If you bring quarters, you can do the shooting gallery at Frontierland and some other fun stuff in Adventureland inside the Bazaar.


Hanging around the Hub

Food from Quick Service / Food Carts

Maurice's Treats - open 8am-9pm

Churros near sleeping beauty castle - opens 8:30 am

Little Red Wagon Corn dogs - opens 8am - midnight

Pretzels near big thunder MTN - opens 11am - 11 pm

You can ride the Main Street Vehicles.


Toontown

Cafe Daisy

Bottle filling station near Chip & Dale gadget go coaster

Also low stimulation cave and picnic area way at the back of Toontown

These restrooms are so crowded

You can sometimes see characters like Goofy and Pete

We’ve never waited in line to see Mickey and Minnie at their house(s)


Disneyland Railroad

Good for an afternoon nap

Or if it’s really hot, we take a nap inside the waiting area of Great Moments with Mr Lincoln

Main St characters (we usually catch them in the afternoon before the 3:30PM parade)

We get popsicles if it’s hot from the food carts on Main St (strawberry sugar-free) and sit at the train station. We get popcorn from the cart for the walk back to the hotel


Troubadour Tavern

(near Toontown and the Fantasyland Theater) has good, kid-friendly food

Baked potato

Chicken nuggets and mac

Prince and Princess restrooms (we love these)


Adventureland

Swiss Family Robinson treehouse, be prepared to climb it at least 6 times

Tiki Room + Dole Whip (you have to mobile order it)

Jungle cruise

Bengal bbq You can mobile order and then sit inside, it’s shady

Restrooms are closer to the Tiki Room and castle


Tomorrowland

(this is pretty at night when all the neon lights are on)

Autotopia

Galactic Grill (good to mobile order and sit outside)

Pizza Planet (one pasta dish can feed two people for sure), Albert does a good nap here too

Inside the restaurant is dark and air-conditioned & there’s ambient sounds that put him to sleep

Nemo

Monorail

Buzz Light-year

Restrooms are behind Autotopia and usually not crowded


Small World

you can get a lightening lane for this I think

Parade - find out when it is and plan to be somewhere to avoid or watch it.

King & Queen restrooms near Alice in Wonderland. This is my fav parade-watching spot


Toddler in front of Small World in Disneyland

Main St near Tomorrowland

Baby care center - you can get diapers here if you run out. They will give you a sticker. If your child gets lost, this is where you can find them.

Silhouette studio - 8am- midnight


Usually we get ice cream at Gibson Girl on the way out


Galaxy's Edge

is another great nap spot. It has ambient noise that puts my kid out!

If he’s in the stroller and getting fussy, we get a blue milk and walk through Batuu until he falls asleep. I think you can also watch the fireworks from back here now. You can mobile order food and drinks here that’s good for adults. Kids might not like it because the food is all weird

Droid depot the robots will interact with your kid.

Milk stand

Ronto roasters

Docking Bay 7

Water bottle refill stations at both restrooms, rarely are these restrooms too crowded


Critter Country

*I think most of this is closed at the moment

But I wanted to say that the Hungry Bear was great for kids, we enjoyed sitting on the second level overlooking the train, the riverboats, and they have some ambient nature sounds that are very relaxing. I love the bathrooms on the ground level, closer to the river.

Favorite chill spots at Disney California Adventure Park

Fiddler, fifer & practical cafe (Starbucks) in Carthay Circle. 

We love getting a snack while waiting for rope drop.


Paradise Gardens Park

Rope drop The Little Mermaid and ride it for a while. They will let you circle around again and again if there’s no line. The line gets long later in the day, so we usually do this one first.

There's a cappuccino cart near the bridge to Sanfransokyo square if you need a coffee


Pixar Pier

restrooms by Paradise Garden Grill and Goofy’s Sky School are okay

Jesse’s Carousel (there are nice restrooms behind the ride)

Toy Story Midway Mania (if you can get a Lightning Lane)

Pixar Pal A Round (do the NON SWINGING)


Sanfransokyo Square

The Bakery Tour - 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM

Get a Baymax or Mickey Vampire Bread and feed the ducks

Restaurants open at 10:30 AM - Aunt Cass Cafe takes mobile orders

They have mac & cheese in a bread bowl that is kid-friendly and big enough to share

The Baby Care Center is next to Ghirardelli Soda Fountain and Chocolate Shop and across from The Bakery Tour. There’s a nice spot to change a diaper, a family restroom with a tiny potty, high chairs for feeding, etc.

The bathrooms here have a water bottle filling station


Grizzly Peak

Redwood Creek Challenge Trail - make sure mom & dad have on sturdy shoes or be prepared to lose your child for a while. This is a ropes course with lots of stairs. Great to get wiggles out.


Our best nap spot in DCA is in the Grand Californian Hotel Lobby

It’s cool and quiet and pretty. You can get snacks right there at the Grand Californian Great Hall Cart or you can get food from the GCH Craftsman Grill. You can order food from the poolside GCH Craftsman Bar even if you’re not a hotel guest. But that’s going to take longer.

There are so many little courtyards within the hotel grounds for kids to toodle around. It’s shady most of the day. You can access this from Downtown Disney too so it’s a great spot to know about whether you have a park reservation or not.

You do have to go through security to re-enter the park from the hotel but it’s worth it.

There’s a water bottle filling station in the hotel gym.


Another great nap spot is the walking path behind Grizzly River Run. Apparently it used to be the smoking area, but it’s not anymore. There is a unique sound of the flume ride that provides enough white noise to get a kid to sleep. Plus the humidity from the water ride makes that area significantly cooler. You can park the stroller on a bridge over the splash zone and whoever is not sleeping can watch people doing down the drop


Sometimes you can find a photo-op with Goofy or Pluto near the airplane near Soarin’

There’s a really quiet spot near the restrooms across from Soarin and Smokejumpers

It’s like a closed alleyway that goes nowhere but there’s a bench there. Great spot for breastfeeding or eating a popsicle and avoiding the crowds and noise

It’s between the gift shop and the restrooms.  I think there might be some lockers there.


Going back through Carthay Circle and down Hollywood Blvd

Hit up the Disney Jr Dance Party. It’s quite loud but short and fun for the kids

Animation Academy is a fun place to chill out. It’s cool and dark. I’ve never got Albert to nap in there but it feels like it could work for some kids. You do have to park your stroller and leave it outside, so that’s a drawback. 

We've never done Turtle Talk with Crush but that's also in this building


Turning the corner to Sunset Blvd

It’s a good spot to watch any DCA parades. 

There’s a Shawarma Cart that you can get breakfast or lunch. Really yummy

There’s an open courtyard behind the shawarma cart and the Hyperion theater that sometimes isn’t used for anything. It’s a nice place to sit and eat and you can sometimes find shade there


Avenger’s Campus

We usually get some food at Pym test kitchen and watch a show at Avenger’s Headquarters

Black Widow and Black Panther do a thing on top of the building near the quinjet

Spiderman does a thing at Web Slingers, it’s short but the kids get a kick out of it

Starlord does a thing in front of mission break out, a dance-off

The Ancient Sanctum is a garden that is nice and quiet (low stimulation). I heard Dr. Strange used to do a magic show there but I don’t think it’s running now. Still nice to see

The restrooms are by Web Slingers, but they tend to have long lines


Cars Land

It’s hard to love Cars Land because my kid always wants to buy something and he’s not big enough to ride the Radiator Springs Racers

If it’s winter, I try to do Cars Land at sunset because you get to see the neon come on and people do a funny dance to the Sha-boom song. It’s worth trying to time it that way.

If it’s hot we eat inside Flo’s V8 Cafe. 

The tables and theming are really cute and the food is definitely kid-friendly. 

The restrooms are there in Flo’s but sometimes they have really long lines.

I think there’s a drinking fountain or water bottle filling station there.


Cozy Cone Motel

is hard to navigate but they have some fun snacks

Cone 1 = churros

Cone 2 = ice cream

Cone 3 = queso (mac & cheese in a bread cone)

Cone 4 = chimichangas and frozen adult beverages

Cone 5 = popcorn

You have to know which cone you want in order to mobile order food, but it’s worth it.

Definitely mobile order because if you do walk-up it can take over 10 minutes for your food

It’s worth waiting in line for the photo op with Mater, Cruz or Lightning

You can ride Mater's Junkyard Jamboree or Luigi's Rollicking Roadsters but they're very jerky


Hollywood Backlot

It’s nice if they have entertainment on the Hollywood Backlot Stage

That whole area is chill because there’s only Monster’s Inc as a ride.

We usually get food from the Studio Catering Company (a food truck)

There are sometimes tables right there or you can sit in the bleachers for the stage

I like Mickey’s Philharmagic. It’s dark in there and the show is music so the kids love it

There are some little tables right there and that area is mostly shaded


We usually hit Trolley Treats on Buena Vista St to get some Churro Toffee for the ride home


Night Stuff and Fancy Adult Stuff

If you know anyone with a Magic Key, the magic key terrace is nice

I’m sure you could enjoy dinner at Wine Country Trattoria, but I’ve never eaten there

We’ve never eaten at Carthay Circle Lounge or Lamplight Lounge or Storytellers Cafe

I’ve never seen World of Color, but there are dining packages you can get

For dining reservations, you want to grab those 60 days before your trip and I just never remember. You can ask to be put on a waitlist for walk-up and they may or may not call you


Disneyland Hotel

We love to order the sweet potato fries and sit out by the pool at Tangaroa Terrace

They have low chairs that are good for kids and the music / vibe is nice

I heard the Coffee House at the Disneyland hotel just reopened with a good menu

The Adventure Lawn Gazebo is a great wiggle spot for kiddos. As long as there’s no wedding


Pixar Place Hotel

Small Bytes is a bodega type store

Sketch Pad Cafe is a quick service

Great Maple is a sit-down, I think you need reservations

I've never been to any of these because they've only recently opened.