Life With My Boys

Saturday, July 4, 2026

Las Vegas/Disneyland Vacation Day Three (Part One)

CJ was the only one who did rope drop today. The rest of us met him at California Adventure at about 9:00.

CJ, Zack, and I were just here last night, but for the rest of them it was their first time (this trip anyway - Chris and Jon have been there before).

The most disappointing thing about our time in Anaheim was the weather. Yesterday was beautiful, but for the remainder of our time had very overcast mornings and the weather was pretty cool - not warm at all. That was my opinion anyway. Long sleeves were worn a lot by all of us.

The first things we did was hit up Soarin over California again. Yesterday we had to sit in the 3rd row, but this time CJ asked for the 1st row. The downside to sitting in the 2nd or 3rd row is that you can see the feet of all the people in front you. It's still wonderful, but slightly annoying.

We went to the Boardwalk so the men could go on the Incredicoaster while woman watched and waited.

We did Toy Story again and then walked through a bakery and could watch the different stages of making sour dough bread - free sample on the way out = yummy!

I do not remember the order from here, but the rest of morning included...

- Cars Land - it was very well done and pictures do not do it justice.

Radiator Springs Racers ride was a favorite for all of us (Prachi skipped it but went on it later and loved it too)

Ride through credit: LMGVids

Mickey's Philharmagic was a shock to me. In the Magic Kingdom it is always packed! Here, we were probably 6 out of probably 40 people in the auditorium.

Monsters Inc Mike and Sully to the Rescue was a ride I enjoyed very much and is not at the Magic Kingdom.

Ride through by DocumentDisney

We also did Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin

Credit for ride through again goes to Document Disney.

We all left the park about 12:30 and walked back to the Marriot for an afternoon break.

Las Vegas/Disneyland Vacation Day Two (Part Two)

Evening

After some rest and relaxing, we all assembled in the lobby at about 5:30 and walked to Disneyland - the "short" way this time (not through Downtown Disney).

Sadly, we had barely gotten through security when Prachi had to sit because she was not well. She seriously did not look well. Later we figured it was a combination of motion sickness from the morning rides and not being well hydrated. At any rate, Chris walked back to the hotel to get the car and take Jon and Prachi back to their room. it would not make sense for Chris to walk back again, so this evening it was just Zack, CJ, and me and we kept it light.

We started the evening with one of my favorites - Soarin.

Over California!!! Years back, EPCOT replaced their Soarin with AI generated images from around the world and I did not enjoy it nearly as much! I was so excited to enjoy this ride again (and two more times after this).

Video credit: Theme Park Steve

And for the fun of it, I'm including one of Soarin Around the World - also from Theme Park Steve

After eating, we walked over to the boardwalk and I was finally face to face with the iconic scene I see over and over again.

It was a beautiful cloudless evening.

The next thing we did was Goofy's Sky School

I won't put the Ride video on here. Let's just say it was, again, a lot of jerking back and forth. It isn't that I didn't enjoy it but at one point my shoulder and arm hit pretty forcefully against the side of the ride vehicle and, having fibromyalgia, that REALLY hurts and the pain can last for a few minutes.

The order from here is unclear but at some point CJ and Zack went on the Incredicoaster and then we all went on Toy Story Mania.

Ride Through credit: DocumentDisney

About 9:00 Zack and I called it quits and walked back to the Marriot stopping at the Seven Eleven on the way. CJ stayed until close.

OUR VIDEO

Las Vegas/Disneyland Vacation Day Two (Part One)

Sunday June 28

We packed A LOT into Day One so I need to divide it into two parts...

MORNING

This day was an early one. We were all up and assembled in the lobby by 7:10. We began a long walk to enter Disneyland through Downtown Disney. It was a gorgeous morning; slightly cool to begin the day but the sun was out and warmed things up quickly.

We walked along a beautiful palm tree lined street. The first thing that shocked me was that they still manually check every single bag instead of sending it through a machine. It slowed things up, but the number of people going through security is not nearly as high as Orlando.

We got there in time for rope drop and it was so worth it - Cinderella's castle was pretty underwhelming compared to Orlando.

My very first Disneyland ride was Alice in Wonderland. I was glad it was a ride that is not in Disney World and is new to me.

Ride through from Attractions 360

Then we walked over to Toon Town and went on Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway.

POV ride through from TPM Vids

Next up was a short walk to Storybook Land Canal Boats

I was interested in this ride because it is not at the Magic Kingdom. It wasn't an exciting ride which I already knew, but I would much rather that seats were in a row so everyone could face forward, Instead, the seats were around the edge of the boat which meant there Had to be a lot of the turning completely around to see the things your back was facing.

POV ride through from DocumentDisney.

After getting off the boats, we walked over to Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters.

I suck SO bad at these aim and shoot games so......moving on.

POV ride through again by DocumentDisney

We did Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage

I am not including a ride through video. It was a cute ride but at times, pretty hard to see through the bubbles. Next up was another ride that is not at the Magic Kingdom - Pinnochio's Daring Journey.

POV ride through from DocumentDisney

Then it was time for CJ's favorite ride - Indiana Jones: Temple of the Forbidden Eye. It was a similar ride experience to Dinosaur at Animal Kingdom. It had a good story line and great effects, but was very jerky and I thought my neck was going to snap (showing my age).

POV Ride through from Disney Parks

Another ride I was looking forward to was Haunted Mansion. The facade was completely different than the one at the Magic Kingdom, but for the most part, the actual ride was similar. The big difference was the transition between the party scene and the graveyard scene and I highly preferred the Magic Kingdom one. But still, a favorite because of the nostalgia.

POV Ride through from DocumentDisney

Believe it or not - we were not done yet!

For a while now, CJ has been telling us that Pirates of the Caribbean is far superior at Disneyland when compared to the Magic Kingdom and he was right. In Disney World, you are just launched into the Pirate's experience. Here, you begin by floating along a deep woods bayou when you are suddenly dropped into the middle of the pirate's story and shenanigans and ends by being raised by a ramp back into the bayou. Very well done.

DocumentDisney again for the ride through

Picture credit: Orange County Register

Picture Credit: Disney Wiki

As an added interest, there is the Blue Bayou Restaurant overlooking the ride - similar to El Rio del Tiempo in EPCOT.

Picture Credit: SFGate

Still going strong we hit up It's a Small World. The boarding for this ride is outside and the facade is far superior to the Magic Kingdom. However, it would not be workable in Orlando with the amount of summer rain the area gets. The ride itself was similar in some aspects and completely different in others, but the theme remains the same of course.

Beautiful Facade

Ride through credit: The Small World Fan Cat

For our final ride of the morning, we hit the Matterhorn for the bobsleds. Another very jerky ride, but fun and probably pretty accurate to being on a real bobsled.

After a very busy morning we took the monorail back to Downtown Disney, picked up some Wetzel's Pretzels, and walked back to the Marriot for a little rest and recharge for the evening.

We left at 7:10, arrived back at about 2:00, and were able to get on 11 rides. The Lightning Lane option was worth the extra money (as we would discover time and again over the four days we were there).

OUR VIDEO

Monday, June 29, 2026

Las Vegas/Disneyland Vacation Day One

Saturday June 27

Last year we started talking about going on a big family vacation and because CJ had been wanting to get Zack and me to Disneyland for a while now, the decision on where we would go was an easy one. The decision on how we would get there was a little more complicated. Originally, I thought Zack and I would drive but after looking at how long that would take and how grueling the drive would be with me as the only driver, we quickly scratched that idea and decided to fly. Then we were only left with the decision of flying into Las Vegas or Los Angeles. We decided on Loas Vegas because it was cheaper and we could add on 3 days in Vegas at the end.

So on Friday, Zack and I drove to Flagler Beach and dropped Brayden off by my sister for the week. 😞

Saturday morning by 7:30 am we were all ready to go.

Our flight left at 10:00 and even though the flight was 4 hours and 10 minutes, we gained an extra 3 hours in time zone change so we landed in Vegas around lunchtime. Flying over the Grand Canyon was so cool. I was by the window and regret not changing places with Prachi so she could have a better view (I've already seen it). But by that time, the seat belt light was on and we couldn't make any changes.

Once we got our luggage and our rental vehicle, our first stop was a casino in Vegas for lunch. It was really so much more than a casino. It had five different restaurants (we ate at Steak N Shake), a movie theatre, and a bowling alley.

Then we began the LONG drive from Las Vegas to Anaheim. There was some beautiful landscape along the way, but also annoyingly heavy traffic at points. The drive ended up being longer than our flight across the country (almost 5 hours).