Disneyland Trip 2026 - Day 1, 2, & 3: Travel, Church, & the Temple

We started our annual Disney trip with Margie and Lloyd coming to pick us up at our house after the kids got off of school.  

We then drove to St. George for the night.  We stayed at The Red Lion, and it looked like the party hotel.  Lots of youth and families playing in the pool and in the outside play area.  It seemed like a couple sport youth groups that were there.  

After dinner Tony took Allie to the pool and Margie, and I walked around the hotel multiple times to get in some steps. 

The next morning, we ate breakfast and then started our drive to Anaheim.  The traffic wasn't too bad, just a couple slowdowns as we got closer to Anaheim.  We stopped and had lunch on our way and then we made it to our hotel.  This time we stayed at a different hotel then we had stayed at the last couple of years.  It was a nice Residence Inn, but it was further away from the parks.

After getting checked in and unpacked with checked out the hotel.  They had a large pool (that was kind of cold) and a big hot tube (that was not all that hot) and a sports court to play basketball.  It was a nice outside area.

We then walked to checkout Downtown Disney.  It was about a mile and a half walk to the park.  We decided to eat dinner at the sandwich place that is now in a food truck while they are rebuilding their building.  We like the food there and it is reasonably prices.  

We then went through some shops before going back to the hotel.  Allie said her feel were already hurting, so Tony and I took her and Lloyd back on the bus that takes you to the Toy Story parking lot.  Margie walked with Josh and Megan and ended up beating us.  The bus dropped us off at the back of that parking lot, so it didn't end up saving us any time.

We then met up with the others at Joe's Italian Ice that was close to our hotel.  This is our favorite ice cream place and since we were so close to it, we ate there almost every day.  

The girls then wanted to go swimming, so Tony took them down to swim while he enjoyed the hot tub.  It was a little chilly, so they didn't stay there for a super long time.  But they said they had fun.

The next morning, after having breakfast we got ready for church.  It didn't start until ten, so we were able to watch our home ward sacrament before going to the local ward sacrament meeting.  It was a good sacrament meeting and always nice to get to church while on vacation.

After church we went back to the hotel and got changed.  Margie likes to go to the swap meet, so most of us went with her there.  Josh and Allie did not want to go, so they stayed back at the hotel.

We found a couple good things at the swap meet.  I got some Sketchers sandals for only $15.  We got 3 packs of character socks for super cheap (I don't remember just how cheap) and then Megan picked a pair of earrings for a dollar.  We also ate some Mexican food there for lunch.  It could have been half as big, too many yard sale type places selling junk, but some good booths too.  

After we stopped by Costco for gas and to get some snacks for us to take with us to the parks.  We didn't find much but did get a couple things. We then had to go back to the swap meet to see if Margie could get some more honey for Tim, but that booth had already packed up.

We went back to the hotel and took the kids next door to get some Joe's.  It really is so good and we can't get enough.  We all probably gained a couple pounds just in Joe's.  Totally worth it.

We then hung out in the hotel for a little while before we drove to see the new temple, Yorba Linda, that is going to open up in a couple of months. 

It is a really unique and beautiful temple.  It is very Spanish pueblo looking style.  The gates were all closed, but we were able to walk around the front part of the temple and then we drove around the back.  I look forward to seeing it when it opens.

We then went to dinner at a BBQ place that was on the way back to our hotel.  It is good food and we had fun there.  A large group of men who look like Santa came into the restaurant.  It looked like a Santa convention, but they were wearing Hawaiian shirts.  Quite the site.  

We then went back to the hotel for the night and enjoyed watching the Olympics.