I'm posting a quick blog until any students arrive. I had 3 students say they would attend office hours, but as of now, nobody is here and it's 26 minutes into the hour.
Well, I did a solo Disneyland trip. It was fun and I am doing it again in 17 days. I did learn how to park in the Toy Story lot, which was very convenient. The entrance on Clementine and Katella was closed, I had to go down Katella to Harbor and turn South to Convention Way. It was easy from there.
I heard there were restrooms at the Toy Story Parking lot but I didn't see them. I didn't know that there would be a security checkpoint right there in the lot prior to boarding the bus to the park, but it was quick and easy (no line). Then when you get off the bus, you skip the security checkpoint and unload right near the restrooms in the Esplanade. I enjoyed that experience. I was on the bus at 7:22 am and took the selfie below inside the park at 7:36 am, so that was great.
I considered staying all day and park-hopping over to DCA but I already had reached 12k steps by noon and it was getting warm. I didn't want to sit in traffic on the I-5 going home and I wanted to be home before dark so I left around 12:30pm. I forgot to mobile order sweets from the Jolly Holiday first thing in the morning for pick-up later in the day but I did get my Tiana's order in right away.
Next visit I'll try the Pumpkin Chai Cream Puff at Jolly Holiday and maybe the Pumpkin Cheesecake Cold Brew at the Red Rose Taverne. I'm really into the pumpkin stuff right now. There's so much to see, do, and eat at Disneyland. You pretty much have to pick a few things as your priorities and then let the rest go. I saw too many guests having a bad day because they had a set schedule for their rope drop and were totally thrown off by some rides being down. As for me, I didn't really have any "bucket list" or "must do" items. I guess my priority was figuring out the Toy Story lot.
While waiting for rope drop, I googled all of the rides with single riders and tried to do those in addition to whatever ones my son didn't meet the height requirement for. There were some rides that were down first thing in the morning so I couldn't do them in the first hour (Big Thunder and Indiana Jones) but they opened eventually. I learned which ones were fun and awesome (Big Thunder) and which ones I probably wouldn't do again (Indiana Jones). Space Mountain was down so I didn't get to do that and I willingly skipped Star Tours. The line for Rise of the Resistance was just too long.
The first part of Finding Nemo was super peaceful but when it came to the actual animation part, I wasn't super impressed. I probably won't do that one again. Smugglers Run was awesome and I will definitely be doing that with Albert as soon as he is tall enough to go. Same with Big Thunder. It was smooth and fun and even waiting in the queue was nice. Very fun, loved it. Probably not worth a lightning lane though because it seemed like the queues merged very far back.
Honestly, if I never do Indiana Jones again, I'll be 100% fine with that. I have no idea why people enjoy that ride. The queue was awesome, gorgeous, and neat. The ride was horrible. Maybe it's just my personal preference but it was jerky and scary (not in a cute way) and unnecessarily loud.
Eating a Dole Whip ($6.50) while watching the show in the Enchanted Tiki Room was good vibes. I'm not sure if I would do that with Albert, but it was nice to sit down indoors and rest my feet. The canoes were awesome, I wish I could have gone around and around. The weather was absolutely perfect, not too hot. The guide told so many jokes, I was laughing the whole time.
The 7 greens gumbo at Tiana's was excellent ($13 with magic key discount). There was a live jazz band playing to entertain those guests who were waiting in the super-long line for the Haunted Mansion Holiday Overlay, and there was also jazz music playing at the restaurant, which kind of clashed, but it was all good. I had to show that my mobile order was ready for pickup before they would let me inside to sit down and the food was served in an ugly to-go container instead of on a ceramic plate, which was kind of strange and wasteful. I forgot to get the chicory cold brew.
I did single rider for the Matterhorn and I'm glad I did, it was worth the wait. The ride was fun and I'm glad I'm flexible and petite enough to fit in the bobsled. The ride itself was super scary, so I don't foresee Albert wanting to go on that any time soon. It was pretty fun watching families load up and go on the ride together.
On the way out of the park, I grabbed some Churro Toffee ($7.50 per square), a Halloween marshmallow wand ($7), and a caramel apple ($14) at the Candy Palace. Albert loved eating the M&Ms off the outside and took bites out of the marshmallow ears. After I cut it into 8 slices, he ate the apple itself. I love sharing this treat with him, but I have to eat it in the morning otherwise it's just too sweet.
In closing, I'm jazzed about Halloweentime. I did some work on Albert's Halloween costume yesterday and I'm pleased so far with how it's turning out. I got out the Halloween decorations at home and I'm enjoying the spooky season. Nothing crazy, just some pumpkins and fake candles. I want to make pumpkin waffles, pumpkin juice and pumpkin muffins.
