Route 66 Day 50 Nov 27, 2019

Disney day!  Up early, but not as early as I wanted.  On the road by 7am and due to traffic, I got to Disney a little past 8am.  The parks opened at 8 and I wanted to be parked and tickets purchased and in line by 8, but that didn’t happen.  First day was at California Adventures.  This isn’t a huge park and I was here mostly for the food.  I had a little time to blow before the food booths opened, so I grabbed a Disney gift card and did a few of the rides.  Monsters Inc was first on my list followed by Guardians of the Galaxy.  Was hoping Guardians would make more sense to me now that I’ve seen all the movies.  It was cute, but I like the Twilight Zone better.

I made a mistake on the food front and purchased a food and drink card.  It cost $50 and gave you 8 food and/or non-alcoholic drink options.  I figured I’d be there for 8 hours, surely I can eat a small snack size thing once every hour.  But the food booths closed at 9pm, before the World of Color show began.  And much of the food was big…too big.  I really needed an eating partner.  I ended up wasting card punches on things that weren’t financially beneficial.  Hot apple cider and Smore cookies.  I got 2 of each and they were only $5 or less.  In order to make the punches a value, they needed to be used for items $6.25 or more.  There was plenty of food that qualified, but I was cold (hence the hot cider) and I was full (and cookies went into my bag).  And I ended up skipping things I actually wanted because I’d have to pay out of pocket.  It was a bad choice.  But live and learn.

Regardless, my first food purchase was Shrimp and Grits with cocktail, woohoo!  And it was awesome.  Next was the Beef Wellington reimagined with cocktail, also awesome.  Then came the queso and chips with hot cider.  And for the most part, I wasn’t hungry again for the rest of the day.

The rain during the day probably effected my appetite and had me leaning towards hot beverages above all else.  It was cold and it was raining for most of the morning and afternoon.  By evening, it was clear but by then my clothing was damp and I was uncomfortable.  I could have/should have went back to the car for warmer clothing and rain gear.  But I thought my umbrella would be enough.  One ride on the Cars Radiator Springs Racers during hard rain pretty much ended that.  Hitting rain at 60mph in an open car just moved me towards the land of misery and I never quite warmed up after that.

Other interesting points:

• Saw the Frozen show twice: Its an inside theater with heat and lasts around 30 minutes.
• Got Stuck on the Inside Out Emotional Whirlwind ride.  It’s an open car ride and it was raining.  Got two fast passes for the inconvenience.
• The new Incredi-coaster is the same California Screaming coaster but with new theming.
• Toy Story Midway Mania finally has fast passes (they didn’t last time I was here.
• All of the Bugs Life area is under construction.
• Got a fraud alert on my credit card.  Been traveling for 6 months, been through 20 states and 6 countries and my card locks up at Disneyland.  Grrr.
• World of Color is beautiful, but I was surprised Disney uses the Its Cold Outside song in their holiday display.  It’s a controversial move and by playing it, they are taking a side.  Of course, but not playing it, they would also be taking a side.  But a song, regardless of emotional attachment and tradition, that encourages men not to accept no as no isn’t what we should be teaching our children.  Shame on Disney.