Disneyland

On Tuesday (November 28th), Jonas and I (with Jeff in tow) headed to CA for some fun-filled days at Disneyland! This was always meant to be a trip with just Jonas and I, but after my vertigo hit, Jeff agreed to come along just in case. Disneyland is definitely not his idea of a good time, but he was such a good sport! And, I was so grateful that he was willing to join us so I could stress less about all the "what ifs" associated with my dizzy spells. I was so worried that I wouldn't be able to do any of the rides or that I would have a massive spell in middle of Main Street and Jonas wouldn't be able to enjoy the experience. Thankfully, none of that happened! In fact, after the first full day at Disneyland and CA Adventure, Jeff opted to stay back at the hotel for days 2 and 3 to manage the business. He did join us for an hour or so each evening, but for the most part, it was just Jonas and I. Like I mentioned before, we flew in on Tuesday. We arrived around lunchtime and headed to Downtown Disney to eat. Jonas wanted to return to Black Tap Burgers and Shakes to get the Oreo shake he loved the first time we came nearly two years ago. He loved it every bit as much now as he did then. After lunch, we had the rest of the day to kind of kill time. We did a little shopping in Downtown Disney then headed to an outdoor mall where we found an indoor play place. Jonas is getting a little old for these types of places, but it was either kill time there or do some more window shopping. Jonas chose the first option. He actually had a lot of fun and we were able to kill a couple hours before seeing the new Disney animated film, Wish. (I figured it was fitting to see the newest Disney feature while we were at Disneyland.) The movie was super cute and paid homage to so many previous animated films. After the movie, we had dinner then headed to the hotel to rest up for the first of our 3-day Disney adventure!

Days 1 and 3 of our experience started at CA Adventure. We got park hopper tickets and did both parks all three days, but we had to chose a park to start in and Jonas wanted to start there two out of the 3 days. Our first ride (and interestingly enough, our last ride on day 3) was Guardians of the Galaxy. We all (yes, even Jeff) love this ride! I think it's the ride we rode the most. It's so fun to feel the zero gravity as you get tossed up and down. I was pretty certain this wouldn't set off my vertigo, and I was right...and the day just continued that way! I was so extremely grateful that none of the rides made me feel super dizzy (although I did wisely opt out of all the spinning rides). We rode 18 rides in 11 hours that day! Jeff was a trooper. I know that was not his ideal day (in fact, I never saw him walk faster than when we were dodging the crowds to get out of the parks at the end of the day), but I was so grateful for his sacrifice so we could still make this trip happen. And, I really loved hanging out with him too. From Guardians, we headed to Spider-Man's Webslinger ride and the day unfolded from there. We all rode Soarin' then Jeff and Jonas went on the river ride before we headed to the Little Mermaid ride (this was a ride I had never been on before - along with Toy Story and Winnie the Pooh). Jonas then rode the Zephyr and the Swings on his own. He had to ride the Swings because the last time we were here, he was so upset that he had to be in a double swing with me due to his age. Now he was vindicated and could do it on his own. We then headed over to Pixar Pier to ride Toy Story before grabbing lunch and hopping over to Disneyland. Jonas absolutely LOVED Star Wards Land. His favorite ride was the Millennium Falcon. Going into this trip, he was certain he would love Avengers Campus more, but Star Wars was where he wanted to be. We rode both rides there before hitting Thunder Mountain RR, Pirates, and the Swiss Family Robinson Treehous. We then headed to Tomorrow Land. There we rode Buzz, Star Tours, Space Mountain, and Autotopia. In insisted that we end the night with It's a Small World. Jonas (and Jeff) wasn't too excited about that ride, but I told him it's different during the holidays...and he had to ride it at least once in his life (we didn't ride it the last time we went to Disneyland). Jonas agreed that it was pretty cool to see it all lit up and festive, but he made sure that I agreed that we didn't need to ride it again. By the time we finished, people were lining the streets for the parade, but Jonas was ok to skip that and the fireworks show. If I had been feeling 100%, I may have tried to stay, but I was ok to call it a day too.

The next two days, Jonas and I were on our own. We started the second day at Disneyland and headed straight to Star Wars Land once the rope dropped. We hit both of those rides again (we did the Millennium Falcon twice) then popped over to Thunder Mountain. After that, we (of course) had to grab another churro. We enjoyed trying the specialty holiday flavored churros. Our favorite was the chocolate peppermint one in CA Adventure, but Jonas was just glad to eat as many churros as I would allow. We still had time to kill before our Lightning Lane time for the Haunted Mansion so we rode the Winnie the Pooh ride, ate lunch, and went to Tom Sawyer's island to let Jonas play. Jeff finally met up with us to ride the Haunted Mansion. After that, we transitioned back to CA Adventure to enjoy another couple rides on Guardians of the Galaxy. Jonas even enjoyed a few shows and joined in on being trained as a Wakandan soldier. When Jeff realized that we would be hitting the same rides as the day before, he opted to return to the hotel to work on some bids. (Not surprisingly, he was happier there than in the park. He just doesn't love the crowds.) Jonas and I stayed for a few more rides. We rode on Soarin' again then went to Cars Land. Jonas was more than ok not to go to Cars Land, but I insisted that he at least go see the decorations and ultimately he agreed to ride the Radiator Springs Racer. I was grateful that he didn't insist on riding every ride in the park, but there were definitely some rides I wanted to make sure we hit...and thankfully, he didn't fight me too much. One of those was Peter Pan. I think I just love the nostalgia of this ride. I remember it being one of my favorites as a kid. I don't love the wait times for this ride, but Jonas had a good attitude and waited with me before we called it a day. After the ride, we hurried out of the park where Jeff met up with us for dinner.

Our final day was all about whatever Jonas wanted to do (with one little exception). We were scheduled to start our day in CA Adventure again. Jonas lamented his earlier decision to start in this park because he realized that he really wanted to hang out in Star Wars Land. Still, we had fun riding Guardians of the Galaxy and Spider-Man again. Our Webslinger car even got 8th place overall for the month (which seems impressive until you realize that it was the first day of the new month and we were there in the morning)! He was pretty excited about that. We returned to Pixar Pier where the Incredicoaster was finally up and running! We rode that and Toy Story again. Still, with all those rides, we had time to kill before we could hop over to Disneyland. I then noticed a sign for Santa. Jonas didn't really want to go with me (especially now that he's in on the secret), but he did it for me. That's probably the last picture I'll get with him and Santa. Jonas, however, did enjoy that Santa was set up at the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail where he could climb around and hang out. Finally, we got to switch parks and Jonas was in heaven! We literally spent hours hanging out in Star Wars Land. By day 3, my motion sickness patch had worn off so I was starting to feel the effects of the rides. Jonas wanted to ride the Millennium Falcon. Thankfully, it had a "single rider" line so I found a quiet place to sit at the ride's exit and he just went over and over and over again. I think he rode it at least a half dozen more times (in addition to the two times I rode it with him before I decided I was done). In between rides, he would interact with the characters (e.g., Rey, Kyloren, Storm Troopers, Ahoska, etc.) as if he were a real spy for the Resistance. He was in his imaginary element and loving it. We exited Star Wars Land to grab some lunch at Red Rose Tavern (Belle's tavern where we tried the "grey stuff" and it was delicious) and ride the Matterhorn before returning to Star Wars Land. Around dinner time, we finally left for good. We had lightning lane reservations for Buzz and Space Mountain (the last two rides he wanted to repeat in Disneyland). He was sad to leave...and so was I. I enjoyed watching him have so much fun on the rides and in his imagination. I know Jeff doesn't love it, but I like Disneyland. I don't love the crowds, but I do love feeling immersed in another world. Speaking of Jeff, we met up with him back at CA Adventure. We had made reservations for the World of Color (an evening water, laser, and projection show) Dessert Party. Basically, we got awesome seats (without having to stand in line forever or stand throughout the show) and a plate full of goodies as we watched an incredible show! None of us had ever seen the show and we were all amazed. Prior to the show starting, we still had time to hit at least one more ride so we headed back to Guardians of the Galaxy. We could have returned to Incredicoaster, but Jonas said he was finally done...and he wasn't kidding. He totally fell asleep on the hardest bench ever as we waited the final time before the World of Color show. Honestly, the show was the perfect culmination to our Disney trip. It was holiday themed and so engaging! Even Jeff was impressed. Over the last few days, I had wondered if it was worth it to cram in this trip with everything else going on...and I can honestly say it was. The spirit of the season was alive in the parks and it just infused all of us with the wonder and magic associated with this time of year. With mixed emotions, we left the parks. Jeff was more than ready to go. Jonas and I were a bit sad, but we were all excited to return home to the activities and traditions that awaited us.