Trip Report "It's Feeling Too People-y Out Here"

I'm back from California and ready to report! Our December trip is only 48 days away, so my goal is to finish this TR before the next one begins.

Let the fun begin!

When: October 11-15, 2024
Where: Disneyland and Disney California Adventure
Who: Me (Annie) and my husband (Ian)
Why: Our 5-year wedding anniversary! Also, Ian had been working in San Diego for a month and I was so burnt out on solo parenting my almost 3-year-old back home. I really really needed a break!

Here we go...

This trip started out with a whole bunch of stress. The week before I left was crazy with work and school. I had work events every night, along with classes for my PhD and projects due. All while juggling my threenager all on my own

I had booked an early Friday morning flight out to San Diego for this trip. I work remotely on Thursdays, so it was perfect. Nora goes to daycare on Thursdays, so I planned to pack and get ready between meetings.

Nora had other plans.

I got her up for school on Thursday morning and she could hardly breathe. She was sobbing through barely breathing and couldn't calm down. I immediately called out of work and took her to urgent care.

She ended up getting a steroid breathing treatment and leaving with a diagnosis of croup.

Such a trooper. The breathing treatment helped but she still sounded so awful. Spoiler alert, I got home last night and she still sounds pretty bad my poor baby.

Once we got home my mom came over so I could pack and do some work like I had planned. I ran to the store to get some travel items and my mom guilt came out in full force. I got Nora a little present for being so good at the doctor.

She loved it!

The doctor recommended getting outside for some cold air for her lungs, so we did just that.

And caught the Northern Lights!

It was a SUPER stressful day and the guilt really was eating me alive, but I knew my parents could handle caring for Nora and would keep me up to date of any changes.

Friday morning my dad picked me up at 3 AM to head to Boston

Security was pretty uneventful. I first flew to Philly, then Philly to San Diego.

I had a window seat and watched movies/read my book until my 6 hours were up.

Finally made it!

To be continued...

 

[Tuvalu]

 

[k8einwdw]

She ended up getting a steroid breathing treatment and leaving with a diagnosis of croup.

Bless her Croup is no fun, I hope she gets to feeling better soon!

Also,

 

[Wicked Sisters]

What a stressful start. Hope Nora is feeling much better soon. Can’t wait to read some more.

 

[joshsprincess921]

Can't wait to hear more. You are super Mom! I hope she feels better soon. She's growing so fast!

 

[cgersic]

Threenager made me laugh out loud. I'm not sure I've heard that before, and I have a great niece who completely fits that bill! Nora is looking so grown up until you see her on the urgent care bed. Poor baby!! Not sure what number I am, but count me in as excited for this report!

 

[annienevells]

Welcome all!

Where were we?

Ah yes. It was time for my $25 .4 mile Uber ride to Ian's hotel I didn't have another option! It was NOT walkable and Ian was still at work.

Once I got settled into his room, I decided I needed to enjoy the warmth (since it was 30 degrees when I left Maine at 3 AM)

(showing Ian I made it safely LOL)

I was the only one by the pool because by California standards I think it was probably cold out, but not by New England ones! I enjoy my book and the rays until Ian texted me saying he was heading home and wanted to take me out for some REAL Mexican food before our drive to Anaheim.

We had a bit of a tearful reunion before heading off for an early dinner. We have done these trips MANY times before, but this one (especially with a toddler) has been significantly more difficult. It felt nice to be reunited.

We went to a little hole in the wall and had a great meal. We kept saying it felt like we were on a first date

SO YUMMY.

Bellies full and traffic reduced, we hit the road for Disneyland! It really was not too bad of a drive, all things considered (Friday night, start of a holiday weekend, etc).

We stayed at a Good Neighbor hotel. I would not recommend the Motel 6 Anaheim Maingate to anyone wanting to use it for anything more than a place to sleep LOL. We are spoiled by good hotels but this was pretty rough. We also ended up taking an Uber to and from the parks almost every time because we were a little uneasy. It did the trick and we were fine, just wouldn't stay there again!

We were exhausted and planned to make it to DL for rope drop (8AM for non-hotel guests) since you cannot book a LL until you scan into the park. Honestly, we kind of thought as Good Neighbor hotel guests booked through the DLR app we would qualify but no such luck.

Before an early bedtime, we stepped outside our room to briefly view some fireworks.

We were ready for a fun first day, also our actual anniversary!

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Fun start!

 

[CAlvares]

That’s too bad your little one woke up feeling sick! Croup can definitely take the energy out of them! It was great to see she was still up for a playground visit! I have to say the Frozen Little People gift was such a nice idea! I’m sure it made her day!

I totally get being “warm enough” for you vs. The locals. We live in Winnipeg and visited DL 2 years ago in November and my daughter insisted on going to the - not heated- pool everyday! The kicker is that the pool was in the shade most of the day, so it really did feel like they were freezing in there (I refused to go in and was on “towel duty” for when they got out of the pool! lol).

Hoping we’ll have better luck at WDW this December, and at least the pools are all heated!

 

[cgersic]

Little People were my absolute FAVorite toys when I was a kid. They really allow for imaginations to go wild (at least they did for me!)

 

[erstwo]

Yay! More please!

I need something to pass the time until the 'ultimate toddler meetup' (or maybe at this point - the ultimate WDWmagic trip reporter meet up??' trip happens in a few weeks! LOL

 

[Swissmiss]

I can’t believe how Nora looks more and more like a mini you !

 

[Katiekitten]

Following along.

I hope Nora starts to feel better and I can't believe how big she is getting!

 

[annienevells]

So sorry for a slow start to this report!

Ian just got home and we are a very happily reunited family



Promise to update today!!

 

[annienevells]

Okay! Time to report on our first official Disneyland day.

We woke up to chilly temps and super foggy skies. It looked like it would clear and heat up by 9ish, so I did not wear a sweatshirt.

We made it out the door and into an Uber by 7… only to wait at a broken traffic light for 10 minutes

Our Uber driver navigated around the situation and eventually we made it to our destination.

Security was much slower than WDW, but eventually we made it in and were able to book our first Lightning Lane of the day (MMRR for 9AM) and enter the virtual queue for Haunted Mansion Holiday with a BG of 131.

Our first order of business involved celebration buttons.

We strolled slowly down Main Street taking it all in.

We had decided that our RD ride was to be Space Mountain, so we joined the crowd waiting at Tomorrowland.

SO foggy.

It was at this point that we realized just how busy this weekend was gearing up to be.

At exactly 8AM they unleashed the crowds, and I heard nonstop admonishments from CMs to other guests about running

By the time we made it in line, it was about a 25 minute wait.

 

[littleroo]

OMG! Now that reunion was a tear jerker!!

 

[annienevells]

We had so much fun on Space. Ian kept commenting how much smoother it is than the WDW version

After our Space adventure, we headed over to Buzz which was at a 15 minute wait (Space was up to 120 minutes )

We did not perform well, but Ian did beat me at least.

After Buzz, it was time for our MMRR Lightning Lane. Ian requested a ride on the omnibus first though!

Sitting up top with a great view!

We love to do the small things when in the parks, as they typically stick with us in our memories.

After our quick ride, we headed back up Main St back to Toontown.

 

[annienevells]

Ian was pushing for a ride with this guy, but we had a LL to make!

A thing I LOVE about Disneyland - seeing characters organically in the parks. We casually walked past the Mad Hatter chatting it up with guests on our way through.

We also spotted Aladdin while en route to Toontown.

We grabbed a quick teacup picture. There was a Photopass here, but his camera wasn't working so he offered to use my phone. Fine by me!

We finally made the long haul back to Toontown.

And onto MMRR we went!

It was a mirror ride to WDW, so lot's of fun and we enjoyed it thoroughly!

By the time we emerged, the sun was FINALLY starting to come up and it was warming up.

We looked around the gift shop and found two sweatshirts we loved and promises we would come back before the end of our trip to purchase them. Who would end up going home with a new sweatshirt? Stay tuned...

We went over to Roger Rabbit because the app said 15 minute wait, but it was up to 60 minutes by the time we got there. Nevermind.

 

[cgersic]

LOVE Ian's shirt!!! Pluto is my favorite and I can't seem to find him on much. Nora's homecoming was just the sweetest!!

 

[Wicked Sisters]

OMG that video is the best ever