I don't think of myself as a "Disney Adult" – that is to say, I don't own anything with Mickey Mouse on it; however, Disneyland has become a bit of a travel staple for us. I suspect this is largely due to my wife having grown up in LA and both of us fondling recalling how great it feels to be at sea level.
My phone, a Samsung Intercept (or perhaps it was my Moto G), had one of the worst cameras in terms of light balance. My wife and I decided this would be THE trip where we splurge and stay at a Disney hotel instead of one of the nearby accommodations, and despite my best efforts, there was no chance my phone was going to capture the grandeur of Disney's Grand Californian Hotel.
The room was great. It had zero ants, which was a massive step-up from some of the other places we've stayed near Disneyland.
We've gone to Disneyland just enough times that some of the visits sort of blend together, but here some key highlights from this one.
This was the height of Game of Thrones hype. I thought this coffee provided to us in our room was the funniest thing ever.
Just out of frame is my wife's brother, who joined us for a day in the park. This was a better photo of my wife than the others I took in that line, so this is the one I'm sharing.
For the record, I'm not a fan of this ride. I do like The Twilight Zone, and the theming of the ride is great, but the actual ride is just too much for my delicate constitution.
Here is an example of a much better ride. It has everything you could want: great music, a somewhat problematic history, and all the ride water you can drink.
Unrelated to these photos, or the rides in general. This was pretty early in my days of running my own business, and I was so worried that a server or piece of software was going to go offline while I was away and I'd have no backup to bring it back online for me. So, I did the logical thing and bought a Google Nexus 7 tablet and had my wife lug it around in her purse all day.
I have a vague recollection of worriedly checking it after Splash Mountain to make sure it was still running.
I did end up needing to use it to restart a server a couple of times, so I guess it wasn't the craziest idea I've ever had. It should also be noted that most budget phones in 2014 really weren't powerful enough to do much of anything beyond phone calls and checking Facebook.
We had purchased a multi-day pass (they were slightly more affordable back in 2014) with the expectation that we'd have some downtime. On one of our days, nearly every ride worth riding had been knocked offline, leaving the few remaining rides with 2-hour long wait times.
Naturally, we decided waiting around in the park was a waste of energy and decide to check out Trader Sam's Enchanted Tiki Lounge and cool off for a bit. What we fatally forgot was that drink in California, unlike drinks in Utah, are not watered down.
Anyway, the short version of this story is that we had a lot of great drinks and then spent the entire rest of the day trying to survive. At one point, we sat on a park bench in Downtown Disney, watching some abstract clock slowly tick away while we tried to keep ourselves upright.
We did not make it back to the park that day.
All-in-all: great trip, would do it again. Except maybe take it easier on the drinks next time.
