Finne's Follies: A Magical Week

Downtown Disney

December began with two magical days.

The first was none other than the "happiest place on earth," the magical place that started them all --Disneyland. We drove down to Anaheim the day before and got a hotel room so we could hit the Park first thing in the morning without having to deal with those annoying issues of traffic and getting up early. Our hotel was walking distance. We checked in around 2:30 in the afternoon, and headed out to explore "Downtown Disney," which is essentially a shopping mall situated between Disneyland and its sister park, Disney California Adventure (DCA). When they say, "two or three blocks away," what they mean is a half mile. (Mark and I found out the hard way how pathetically out of shape we are.) A couple hours later and who knows how many steps (because I forgot to put on my step-counting watch), our feet were sore, my lower back was aching, and we wondered if we were going to be able to manage a whole day at Disneyland come morning.

The next day we decided to buy tickets to ride the shuttle that ran from our hotel to Disneyland. An all day ticket, with a senior discount, was $2.50 each-- and we were glad we did!

Steve and Al (son & daughter-in-law) were meeting us there, but since they have annual passes and visit fairly regularly, they came a little before lunchtime. Mark and I have both been to Disneyland many times, but neither of us has ever been to the California Adventure side, so we decided to buy "park-hopper" tickets so we could spend time in each area...and also because Steve made reservations for lunch on the DCA side and dinner on the Disneyland side. It turned out that we probably didn't need to make reservations, but you never know...and better safe than sorry.

We arrived when the Park opened at eight, headed over to DCA first. and visited as many attractions as we could before the kids showed up. It was great fun. If you get a chance to go, there are two rides there you have to ride: "Guardians of the Galaxy" and "Radiator Springs Racers". I think those were our favorites. Fortunately, it wasn't too terribly packed the day we were there (a Tuesday) and lines weren't too terribly long in most places (less than an hour).

Guardians of the Galaxy tower

Entrance to the Guardians ride

Radiator Springs Racers...just before the race

After lunch we all headed over to the Disneyland side of the Park and went straight to Galaxy's Edge, the new Star Wars Land. Be it known that I am directly responsible for crashing up the Millennium Falcon. I'm very sorry. The "Smuggler's Run" attraction is an interactive ride where guests act as pilots, gunners, and cargo handlers. Apparently I have trouble with "Up" and "Down". Still we all managed to survive the ordeal, and next time (if they let me on), I'll volunteer to be a gunner. 😉

Galaxy's Edge town

Entrance to the Galaxy's Edge interactive ride

After we emerged from Smuggler's Run,Stormtroopers were dispatched
to look for troublemakers... (maybe they were looking for me!)

Most of our afternoon was spent just walking and looking. Some of the attractions we might have visited were closed; others had lines that were longer than we felt like standing in. But I was able to get a good start on my pin collection. We spent a lot of time shopping.

Indeed it is!

A memento from my piloting debacle

Commemorating my 2019 visit

The Christmas season is a wonderful time to visit because the Park is decorated so beautifully. I'm told the light show at DCA is fabulous, but since everyone knows it's fabulous, it is also unbearably crowded unless you are fortunate enough to get premium seating, and we weren't. Maybe next time. Besides, we were all beat and ready to call it a day by 7:30, which is well before the light shows and fireworks.

The castle, all lit up

After Steve and Al left, we decided to hop on the Disney Express and take one last spin around the Park before heading out. It was a very enjoyable day. No matter how many times I visit Disneyland, it just never seems to get old.

We spent the night again in the hotel and drove home the next day.

The following Saturday, my lovely daughter-in-law, Alicia, who is a manager at the Six Flags Magic Mountain Park in Canyon Country, provided us with complimentary admission so we could accompany Katie, Brent, and Sophie, to Magic Mountain for Sophie's first theme park adventure. It was a chilly day, and none of us were well dressed for the weather, but we had a great time anyway. I had the honor of riding with Sophie on her first roller coaster ride (children's version).

"Did you have fun?"
"Yes."
"Do you want to ride again?"
"NO."

Sophie rode on several rides--we each got a chance to accompany her at least once. The holiday lights were beautiful and Sophie got her picture taken with Santa after making s'mores over a fire pit.

On the carousel with mom

Dinner is done; heading to the s'mores fire pit

Melting marshmallows for s'mores

Yum!

It was great fun until the end. By that time we were all freezing, but no amount of reasoning with a three-year old could convince her it was time to go home. The fountain of tears erupted amid wails of, "I don't want to goooo...I want to ride the airplane agaaiin...I want to get my face painted...I want to ride the airplane...I want to get my face painted....[repeat a dozen times or so]."

I can't wait to do it again! 😄

December got off to a good start. We're looking forward to spending Christmas with our kids and that adventure is just around the corner. But in my next post, which I'll try to finish in the next few days, I'll tell you about my little spill and its aftermath.

Safe travels to all our RV friends, and God bless you all!

More pictures...