Trip Report It's Never This Hot Here: A June 2022 Adventure

Hi! I am not sure how many remember me but I wrote my first trip report two years ago when my husband and I went on our honeymoon to Walt Disney World.

We had been talking about wanting to take a trip to Disneyland for a while and everything just fell into place.

In my husband's family when you turn 13 you get to pick a trip to anywhere in the US that you want to go. His niece ended up picking LA/Disneyland.

The plan was for my mother in law, sister in law, niece, and me to fly out to California. Spend a few days seeing LA and then spend a day at California Adventure and a day at Disneyland. My husband decided to fly out and we spent an additional few days at the parks.

We had a great trip! There was definitely some drama, some crowds, lots of slushies, lots of rides, some good ride photos, and most importantly lots of memories made.

I hope you will follow along!

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kbarry117

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I will go ahead and start with our travel day.

Tuesday June 21st

We were scheduled to depart from MCI at 7:30PM. I had been running around all day doing last minute errands and trying to tie up any loose ends at work. (I recently started a new position at the same community college I have worked at for 10 years). This new job comes with some more responsibilities so I was making sure everything was ready for me to leave.

Packing is also made difficult because of my pups. They both have some separation anxiety so trying to pack without them seeing is always a challenge

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Just look at those precious faces though.

So after a very chaotic day it was time to head to the airport. My mother in law had rented a car so we had to drop that off and we took the shuttle into the terminal. It was a very easy process.

After checking in and going through TSA we realized it was only 5:00pm.

There were two restaurants to choose from for dinner. (I cannot wait until the new airport opens).

We ended up going with the Mexican restaurant and we split some yummy tacos and quesadillas. We also had a wonderful 17 dollar margarita.

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My sister in law Liz and Niece Molly

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My Mother in law Ronda

After dinner we made our way back to our gate. Soon we were boarding and on our way to Chicago.

We made it to Chicago with no problems. We had just a short layover. Just time to grab a quick snack and take a little walk to stretch out our legs.

We boarded our flight to LAX without any problems. And then we sat and sat and sat.

They made an announcement that they had some paperwork problems. All in all we sat on the plane for close to an hour before takeoff.

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I was just ready to leave at this point.

We finally landed in LA at about 1:30am. We made our way to baggage claim and thankfully all of our luggage arrived quickly. We made our way to Uber/Lyft pick up and we had a short drive to our first hotel of the vacation.

We all fell asleep in anticipation of our first full LA day in the morning.
 

kbarry117

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
First LA Day Wednesday June 23

Despite our late arrival we agreed to meet down in the lobby at 9 for some breakfast. We had some really exciting things planned for today.

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Not the most exciting breakfast. But the hotel had free cold brew and oat milk! That made me very very happy!

After breakfast Liz, Molly, and Ronda went for a little walk around the hotel grounds. I went back up to the room to shower and get ready for the day.

After showering I went out on the balcony to read my book and relax a little.
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We had the most amazing balcony and view. Also side note I loved this book and basically finished it in two days.

After a little bit of rest and relaxation it was time for stop number one of the day.

Ronda's lifelong friend insisted on treating us to lunch at the Beverly Hills Hotel. We were all super excited and knew this would be a once in a lifetime experience.


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We had arrived a little early so we had sometime to just sit and enjoy the gorgeous lobby.

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After a few moments we were seated at a wonderful table outside and ordered some delicious drinks.

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I ordered this Spicy Margarita. Let me tell you it was life changing. In fact everyone ended up ordering one. It was so good.

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For my meal I ended up ordering the cheeseburger with truffle fries. It was amazing. Those truffle fries are probably some of the best I have ever had.

We really enjoyed lunch and all of the people watching. After lunch we took a walk around the hotel and enjoyed all of the scenery.
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It was the perfect way to start our trip.

After exploring we ordered a Lyft to take us to Rodeo Drive.
 

kbarry117

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
First Day Wednesday June 23rd Cont.

After our amazing lunch we headed down to Rodeo Drive. We went into a few stores. I think Louis Vuitton, Prada, and maybe one other one.

We quickly realized how out of place we were and decided to head to the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

We got to see an exciting place on our way.

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Liz and I are big fans of Selling Sunset so were excited to see their office building.


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This was the only star I took a picture of. But it was still cool to walk around and see all the names that we recognized.

We also headed to Grauman's Chinese Theatre.

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My inner theatre nerd was so excited to see Julie Andrews.

Next on our adventure we went to get a good view of the Hollywood Sign. We had so much fun taking some pictures.
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We decided to call it a day and head back to the hotel. We had heard good things about the restaurant in our hotel and decided to try it for dinner.

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I started with a yummy cocktail.

This restaurant ended up being primarily a seafood restaurant. I am allergic to all fish and shellfish so my options were pretty limited.


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Surprise surprise I ended up with another burger. We just decided that I was on a LA burger tour.

After our meal we decided to sit outside and just relax. We took in the gorgeous views and had some good conversations reminiscing about our day.
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Can't beat that view.

Coming up next: Our final LA day and the move to Disney.
 
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kbarry117

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Thursday 6/24

Today was the officially the day that we were moving to Disney! But first we still had one last day to spend in LA.

Our first stop of the day was the Santa Monica Pier. We walked the length of the Pier and decided to ride the Ferris Wheel.

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Such gorgeous views! Definitely a great way to see more of the Pier. Its a little expensive but I would still recommend.

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The rest of the group went to use the restroom and I decided to take a selfie in my happy place. I could watch and listen to the ocean all day and be perfectly content.

After our short visit to the pier it was time for some lunch. We decided to try an LA staple.

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We took another interesting Lyft ride. And the driver was kind enough to wait for us to get our food and then take us back to the hotel. We told her we were heading up to Disney later that afternoon and she offered to take us which was super nice.

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The burger tour continues. This was very delicious and yes that is an adult beverage from the hotel bar. It paired perfectly with the In and Out.

After lunch we made sure everything was all packed up and began our journey to Anaheim. Our same Lyft driver picked us up and we had an uneventful ride.

We quickly checked into our rooms and then headed back out.

The neighbors that my husband grew up with actually live in California and are pretty close to Anaheim. They invited us over for a cook out and to swim.

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After swimming they had this amazing spread for us!

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It was great catching up with them and dinner was delicious.

We headed back to the hotel pretty late but we had an early morning planned.

Next up: Our First Disney day!
 
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kbarry117

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Friday 6/25 Our First Disney Day!

(Sorry this first part is text heavy)

We had decided the night before that we wanted to be at the parks as close to "rope drop" as possible. I agreed to meet Liz and Molly in their room at 6:50am to get my hair braided.

Hair all braided we headed to the Concierge Lounge to get some breakfast before heading to the parks. No picture of breakfast but it was good and got us fueled up for a full Disney day.

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Waiting for the shuttle to arrive! We were staying at the Anaheim Marriott which is about a mile or so away from the parks. The shuttle was 6 dollars a day unlimited use and turned out to be really convenient.

This was the most packed shuttle ride of the trip but pretty soon we were arriving at the parks.

We went through security and pretty soon were scanning into California Adventure.

We did have Genie Plus this trip and I will admit I hadn't done much research. I had heard horror stories about it working at Walt Disney World and wasn't really sure what to expect.

As soon as we all scanned into the park we booked our first lightning lanes of the trip. We decided to purchase the individual lightning lane for Radiator Springs Racers and book a lightning lane for Guardians of the Galaxy.

We headed back towards the Radiator Springs area and stopped for a few pics along the way.



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We passed by Mater's Junkyard Jamboree and there was no line so we decided to make that the first ride of the trip! We had a blast!
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At one point Molly's ears flew off! Thankfully they landed on a good part of the track and didn't get run over at all.

Next up was Radiator Springs Racers. Test Track is one of my favorites so I was super excited for this one!

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We all absolutely loved it! The theming of this ride is just incredible. Definitely a favorite.

Our Guardians of the Galaxy Mission Breakout Lightning Lane was next. I had been dreading this one a little bit. You may remember my Tower of Terror picture and how scared I was.

But I was determined to give this one a shot and Molly and Liz promised to hold my hands!


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This was so much fun! I enjoyed it way more than Tower of Terror!

After we had scanned in for this ride we made a Lighting Lane for Incredicoaster.

We headed over to the Pixar Pier area. I was just in awe. California Adventure is so well themed.

On our way though we noticed that The Little Mermaid didn't have a wait at all so we hoped in some clam shells.

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I loved how my ears looked inside.

Coming up next: Pixar Pier.
 

kbarry117

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Friday 6/25 Continued:

After our brief pit stop with Ariel we made our way to Pixar Pier.

The Swinging Gondolas on the Ferris Wheel only had a 25 minute wait and we still had some time before our lightning lane so we got in line.

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This was so much fun. We had a blast screaming! Those swings and drops come out of nowhere and are scary!

Then it was time for Incredicoaster. We got through the Lightning Lane in record speed and basically walked right on.

This ride was so much fun as well! I think you can tell in the ride picture that I was just genuinely having a good time
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After this Molly and Liz decided to ride Goofy's Sky School. I didn't really have much interest so Ronda and I used the time to have a nice little break.

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We decided to split this churro while we waited.

About 20 minutes later Liz and Molly came back over. The ride had broken down right before they got to ride so that was a bummer.

We walked around and looked in some of the shops in Pixar Pier. We thought about doing Toy Story Mania but it was also down.

We were all in need of a snack and some shade!

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I found this pretzel and was a happy camper.

During our refresh in the shade we booked a Lighting Lane for Soarin.

We headed to the front of the park and had an amazing flight on Soarin.

At this point the heat was starting to get to us and we needed a break and some real food.

We headed back to the hotel via shuttle.

I had stayed in Ronda's room the night before but was checking into the room Matt and I would be staying in for the rest of the trip today. So while Ronda, Liz, and Molly went to get food I got in line to check in and to see if my room was ready.

While at check in the lady behind me was visibly upset that there was a line and she felt so entitled to not have to wait in line. She literally shoved me out of the way and went up to the desk and demanded to be checked in.

A few seconds later I was called up to the desk and the worker profusely apologized. I was just stunned at that point.

Joke is on that lady though. They refused to check her in and my room was ready.

I went and grabbed some food from the hotel. It was just an average burrito bowl but it hit the stop.

I relaxed for a little while in my room and pretty soon it was time to meet back up and hit the park again.
 

kbarry117

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Friday 6/25 Continued Again:

After a nice break it was time for Liz, Molly, and I to go back to California Adventure. Ronda had been napping and said she would meet up with us later.

Molly really wanted to ride Grizzly River Run and we were able to secure a Lightning Lane.

When we got over there the Lighting Lane line was crazy busy. I guess the ride had gone down and now everyone was wanting to ride.

Molly quickly decided she did not want to wait in the crazy line and she wanted to try Web Slingers.

Liz ended up getting her an individual Lightning Lane and I got one for myself.

We headed over to Avengers Campus and got in line. While we were waiting they made several announcements about one track being down and the stand by and single rider wait times would be higher.

Molly and I were through the queue pretty quickly.




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This was a fun ride up until the end scene. All of sudden it wouldn't let us shoot anymore. I guess something had happened so we just had to sit there and watch the final scene play itself out.

After the ride we met back up with Liz and I told her what happened and we thought maybe we should talk to a cast member. We each paid 18 dollars to ride this and we wanted the full experience.

The cast member was super friendly after I had told them what happened and they ended up letting Molly, Liz, and I go back on the ride. They just sent us through the exit and there was another cast member there waiting for us.

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We had another fun time on the ride. Every scene worked this time. Although we did get stuck for about 10 minutes at the end but that wasn't such a big deal.

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I won!

After Web Slingers we met back with Ronda to decide what to do. We headed into Cars Land and did a little more exploring.

We also took a few more pictures.
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Everyone was getting a little hangry again so we decided to walk over to Downtown Disney. It was packed. Not surprising for a Friday Night.

Liz and Molly ended up getting some ice cream for Salt and Straw and I got a smoothie from Jamba Juice

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We had some coupons for some appetizers at our Hotel Bar so we decided to just head back there since Downtown Disney was packed.


Coming Up Next: Our First Disneyland Day
 

kbarry117

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Sorry about the lack of update in a little while! Matt and I actually just got back from a lovely trip to NYC. We saw lots of Broadway shows, ate yummy food, and saw the Royals beat the Yankees.

Our First Disneyland Day

We were up early again this morning ready to take on the day.

We all had a delicious breakfast at the hotel and were on the shuttle to Disneyland about 8:00am.

We got into the park and did a little shopping on Main Street.

I had grabbed Molly's hand in anticipation of seeing the castle.

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After our photo session we headed towards Galaxy's Edge. We had purchased an individual lightning lane for Rise and had made a lightning lane for Smuggler's Run.

On our way we say that Big Thunder didn't have a wait and decided it was definitely worth the detour.
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Holy moly this ride was so much fun! I honestly enjoyed this version more than WDW.

After the wildest ride in the wilderness we made our way to Galaxy's Edge and Smuggler's Run.

They were asking for parties of two and Liz shot her hand up so her and Ronda went off to ride.

Pretty soon they were asking for more parties of two so Molly and I volunteered.


We all ended up being engineers.
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I am not sure what it was about this ride. I had ridden in Disney World as a pilot before with no issues. But holy moly this made me feel so sick. To the point where I almost wasn't sure I was going to make it through the end of the ride.

The ride finally came to an end and Molly didn't feel too good either. We decided we need to just sit for a minute and gather ourselves.

I ordered the infamous cold brew and Molly and Liz went in search of frozen lemonade.


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This was so good and for sure the pick me up that I needed.

After this it was time for Rise.

Rise was incredible as always. Sorry for the lack of pictures I was just totally immersed in the ride.

Coming up next: Matt joins the fun!
 

kbarry117

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Saturday Continued:

Matt had made it to the parks and we planned to meet up at It's A Small World for our next Lightning Lane.

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He ran into Aladdin on his way to meet us.

Soon we were all reunited and on our first ride together.
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I loved some of the fun characters in this version!

After our ride we headed Mr Toads Wild Ride which had a 10 minute wait and Pinocchio which also had a ten minute wait.

All of the other Fantasy Land rides wait times had shot up so we headed to Haunted Mansion to use our Lightning Lane. Even with Lightning Lane we still waited about 20 minutes.

After Haunted Mansion the rest of the family decided to take a mid day break.

Since Matt had just arrived we decide to stay in the park.

We grabbed a frozen lemonade and decided on a train ride. We waited about 30 minutes for the train.

We got off in Tomorrowland. Space Mountain was showing a 60 minute wait so we decided to wait.

The line was using a whole other room for the queue. That should have been our sign to not wait it out but we were committed.

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Had to get an in line selfie.

They were even selling water/snacks in the line. That luke warm water never tasted so good.

We had been in like for about 75 minutes at this point and we were both starving. We decided to go ahead and place a mobile order for Pizza Planet.

After about 90 minutes we finally got to ride Hyper Space Mountain.

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After our ride we spotted a photographer with no line and decided to get some pics!

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After our photoshoot we went to get our mobile order. I said I would find a seat outside while Matt picked up the food.

I found a spot and Matt got our food and found me. He dropped the food off and then went to fill up our drinks.

Somewhere in this process he decided we should sit inside. He still had our backpack on which had my phone in it so I had no way of knowing about his decision.

Finally after about 10 minutes of waiting I decided to take all the food and go on an adventure to find him.

Luckily I was able to find him and were finally able to enjoy our meal.

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I am not sure if it was because we were absolutely starving but this hit the spot. And the pride cookie was delicious.

We may have also tried a churro and a cream cheese stuffed pretzel but I don't have any photo evidence.

After our late lunch we heard from Liz and Molly that they were going to wait for Space Mountain.

We met up with Ronda and got her a snack and relaxed a little more.

After about 90 minutes Liz and Molly met back up with us and it was time for our Lighting Lane for Splash Mountain.

Now some of you might remember my Tower of Terror picture. I now present to you my Splash Mountain Picture:
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No one warned me that this ride was 10 times scarier here than at Disney World. I was terrified!

We were all soaked as well!

After our terrifying ride we decided to ride Pooh. We went into the little shop after and split a Raspberry Goofy's Glacier.

Molly and Liz were starting to get a little hangry so they mobile ordered from Pizza Planet.

Ronda and Matt went to get a corndog and Ronda wanted to get a spot for the parade.

I went and found a table for everyone to meet at.

Everyone enjoyed their snack and soon it was time for the Matterhorn.

After my experience on Smugglers Run earlier in the day and riding both Space and Splash I was feeling a little dizzy still and decided to sit this one out.

Molly, Liz, and Matt had a great time though!

After that we decided one more ride was in order.

Big Thunder Mountain! It was amazing at night!

I had been in the park for close to 13 hours at this point and was ready for bed.

Coming up: A little end of the night surprise.
 
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kbarry117

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
As we made our way out of the park we got some of the Mainstreet Electrical Parade

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When we reached our shuttle stop we were treated to some decent views of the fireworks.
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Soon enough we were arriving back at the hotel. Matt and I said our goodbyes to Molly, Liz, and Ronda. They were flying out super early in the morning.

Matt and I ended up ordering some room service chicken nuggets because #adulting

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We fell asleep soon after and were ready for our next California Adventure Day.
 

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