Our first trip to Disneyland, plus 4 nights on the Wonder - April 2024

[ambula603]

I figured out a way to add some videos!
Here is Scarlett and the baby orangutan in the background

So beautiful!


Don don, is that you?


My mood after the frantic morning


Precious spirit animal!


Family photo with giraffe in background but volunteer didn't really try to get that in the pic, ha!

Try to click this, it is a video. I had never seen the underbelly of a leopard!

Click this, it is a video, too!

It was incredible to be this close to a lion and hear it roar. It did make me very sad, though. I know they are well taken care of but some zoo animals just seem sad!




We did the "skyliner" across the park and had some fun views


And finished up seeing my favorite animal, the red panda!


All in all, it was a fantastic day. The weather was PERFECT! We had some good Chinese food at lunch (albeit we ordered too much and paid WAY too much!) and wished we could have seen pandas. But they are coming to San Diego soon!

We headed back to the hotel pretty early and ordered Uber Eats from Earl of Sandwich, which is one of our favorites. It hit the spot! We laughed at how we overpaid for everything ($8 for a canned drink) but I guess that is what you get when you get that SD weather!

We tidied and packed everything up one final time and went to bed early, knowing we had a big travel day ahead!

 

[DnA2010]

New to your TR, it's been just fantastic so far! Your girls seem like such good friends!
Have very much enjoyed reading about your adventure!

 

[ambula603]

New to your TR, it's been just fantastic so far! Your girls seem like such good friends!
Have very much enjoyed reading about your adventure!

Thank you so much for posting! They are very good friends, we are so lucky for that!

 

[missjackiemcg]

Your port adventure sounded like a lot of fun, though I agree a 50 minute bus ride on both ends doesn't sound great.

We also love the last night meeting all the characters in the atrium. On our last cruise with my son, he was determined to get them all, and I was just running around behind him like paparazzi!

SO stressful about the passports on your debarkation morning! I'm glad they were able to help you without too much extra time or headache. I definitely would have been flipping out, too.

I've always heard such amazing things about the San Diego Zoo. It's definitely on my list of places to see someday. Just a shame that everything is so costly in SD!

 

[ambula603]

he was determined to get them all, and I was just running around behind him like paparazzi!

This is a perfect way to describe it! Lots of cameras and lots of people running around!

 

[ambula603]

Hey everyone!
I had planned to get this trip report finished before we were let out for summer break but I actually had lots of work to do in the final week and couldn't get online. Bummer!

But I am here now to finish it! We have already had almost 2 weeks of summer and have enjoyed a lovely week camping with a huge group of family and friends. I have been driving back and forth taking the girls to various practices and open gyms, it is not super restful but we are making it work. We live about 15 minutes from Lilli's school and she can't drive yet...so I am burning up the roads! Literally, yesterday my car overheated and wouldn't start since I had been waiting with the AC on for about an hour for her to come out. So I am also trying to find a new car, which hasn't been easy since I am very picky!

Finally, Scarlett gets her tonsils out tomorrow and she is very nervous. I am ready for her to feel better and not be sick all year. But first we have to get over this surgery and recovery! I have stocked up on all the things I think I will need in the coming days but if I am being honest, I am also pretty nervous for her!

Those are my updates for now...let's finish this report!

 

[ambula603]

Day 11


It was Lilli's 15th birthday! I wish we could have been doing something more fun than flying home, but we did try to make it a fun day.




Scarlett with her snackies. We flew Southwest from San Diego and had another direct flight, which was nice. I don't remember any issues so that must mean there were none! San Diego airport was obviously much easier to navigate than LAX!

We landed around 6 PM in Nashville and started the 2 hour drive home. I should note that it was the day of the total solar eclipse and in the area where we live it was full totality. We have seen it once before, a few years ago, so we were ok to miss it. It meant we got one extra day of vacation since the kids were out of school that day! I don't regret flying home instead of seeing it first hand.


Ignore my dirty windshield from 11 days in the parking lot! But this was the traffic we saw at a standstill for hours. I was SO thankful we were going the opposite direction! I will be honest, a total solar eclipse IS cool...but I don't think it is cool enough for hours in traffic!

When we finally made it home, Lilli had a surprise from my mom!


Notice her shirt- she wore it at Universal last year when we were there on her birthday!

My mom came by to check on our pets and decorated a bit for Lilli's birthday. It was such a sweet surprise. She also left goodies from the Easter bunny since we missed that holiday, too.


Lili opened her gifts (a record player and Taylor Swift vinyl!)


We immediately started laundry and putting bags away. We typically unpack before we go to sleep, which can make for a late night. It is just how we roll. Jason cannot rest with all his stuff still in suitcases. I usually take a day or two to get the laundry finished and put away, but we never wait more than that. It is so funny - if left up to me, I would probably have open suitcases around for weeks. But Jason doesn't and that motivates me!

I think I had everything unpacked in record time. We travel so often, I am pretty efficient.

Overall, we had a WONDERFUL trip! Only a few little bumps but thankfully no broken bones or forgotten passports!

We take yearly trips to WDW and I am usually exhausted and ready to come home. Not this time. I honestly missed DL so much by the time we got home. Of course I was tired, but I was just really feeling like I didn't see it all and yearning to go back. That is why I started this trip report, to be able to relive it.

Now that we are almost to June, I am STILL yearning to go back! So we are looking to return to DL sooner rather than later!

We leave in a month to go to the Pacific Northwest (Olympic, North Cascades, Mount Rainier National Parks, plus some other fun stops), and then in October we are going to do half a week at Universal Studios and half a week in Destin, Florida. No WDW (unless I can convince Jason!) because we are doing a Disney cruise next April (the Treasure for 7 nights!!) So to be honest, there aren't a ton of chances to get back to DL. But I have a feeling we will fit it in somewhere! If we could get a direct flight I would love to take a long weekend over the holiday season. We shall see!

If I get wild, I may do a report after our NP trip, I'm just not sure there is anyone interested in reading those! We will see how the summer unfolds for us!

Thanks so much to everyone who read, liked, and commented. I am so glad to "meet" each of you and share in this love of Disney!

 

[piglet1979]

I just got caught up. Your trip sounds awesome. I was always the one that got hurt on trips. My cousin once slammed my finger it the door on the day we were traveling back from Myrtle Beach. Then on top of the pain I also got an ear infection. It was not a fun 12 hour drive home.

I am so glad that you were able to get your passwords. that sounded like such a stress time.

The first cruise we went on (Carnival) we waited to leave. They hold everyone in the atrium. The rest of the boat was off limits. It was horrible. Since then we have done early disembarkation.

If you do a trip report about another place other then Disney I will still read it. I love to see reports of other places and it gives me ideas of other things we can do.