Disneyland Trip 2026 - Day 8: Disneyland

We went back to Disneyland this day. We started off by going on Matterhorn, Megan's favorite ride.  We then went to Big Thunder.  It is so nice that Allie likes all these rides more and isn't afraid of them.

We then went on Indiana Jones.  I had to go to the bathroom while we were in this line waiting.  I tried to wait until after the ride, but I just couldn't.  

So, when we got to the front, I told the worker I needed the bathroom and she took me to their bathroom that is where they load the cars.  They were both occupied, so I had to wait, but that was much better then walking all the way back into the park and going to the bathroom there.  

I figured that the rest of the family had already gone, and I was asking the worker if I should just leave or I could go single rider and then the rest of the family came off the ride.  They saw me and the worker asked if we all wanted to go again, so that's what we did.  My misfortune ended up being fortunate for the family.

After that fun adventure, we went on Pirates and then tried to go on Haunted Mansion.  We waited about twenty plus minutes before the ride broke down and we all had to leave.  That was super sad, but what can you do?

We then decided to go on Rise of the Resistance.  This ride was down earlier in the week, and we didn't think it was going to be opened so soon, so we were really happy that it was opened for us to ride.  The app said the wait was 80 minutes, but when we got in line it said 65 minutes.  We don't normally wait in that long of a line, but we do for this ride.  Tony ordered us some cookies for us to enjoy while we were in line.  Luckily that line goes quickly too.

They then all went on the other Star Wars ride while I sat out and waited for them.  Margie then got some popcorn and a new Star Wars popcorn holder guy.  

We then went to get some lunch at the place by the Winnie the Pooh ride.  After eating we went on the Pooh ride and then got Allie her Tigger ears from Margie (using her earned souvenir money). We then got lucky and was able to get pictures with Tigger.  

We then went on a bunch more rides and had a glorious time.  The weather was really nice, and we loved all the sun.  The park got busier as the day went on.  We tried to prioritize the rides that we hadn't done yet or the kids favorite rides.  

We ate dinner at The Plaza.  It was super yummy as usual.  After we had a hard decision of what to do next.  We decided to do the Tiki Room and the Jungle Cruise since those times were low.  After we got some Dole Whip and then decided to check out the Mr. Lincoln and Walt Disney Show.

We found out that they close down this show at 8:00 pm, so we had missed it.  

We then debated whether we should stay or go, or some stay and some go.  Josh and Grandpa really wanted to go home, but Grandpa was not willing to walk back, and we didn't trust getting them an Uber with just Josh and Lloyd.  So even though the rest of us kind of wanted to stay (even though it was super busy and we didn't really want to wait in long lines) we all ended up going back to the hotel.  If we would have been at the closer hotel, they could have just walked back, but it was kind of a far walk and Lloyd struggled with all the walking on this trip.

Tony did take the kids to Joe's after we got back for their last night of Joe's.  I got us mostly packed and ready to go for the next day.  It was a good day, and my feet and legs really didn't feel too bad.  

Disneyland Trip 2026 - Day 9 & 10: Going Home

We got up and had breakfast before packing up the car.  We then drove to Cedar City for the night.  It was a good day of travel without any problems or backups.  We got checked into what looked like a brand-new hotel.  It felt like we were the first guests in our rooms.  The hotel was so new that the pool wasn't quite ready to open.  We were a little bummed about that, but we understood.  

We ate dinner at a local diner and while we were looking at our menus, Tyler called me for my birthday. I was worried that he wouldn't be able to call me because his companion hasn't been sharing his hot spot with Tyler.  But he was able to call after they got back to his house.  It was honestly the best birthday present that I could have gotten.  It was great to see his smiling face for a few minutes.

The next day we ate breakfast and then got all packed up again and then drove home.  The traffic and weather were great this day, so we got home without any problems.  Koda missed us and let us know how he felt about us leaving him.  It was a super fun trip, and it felt good to be home. 

Disneyland Trip 2026 - Day 7: DCA

We went to DCA this day.  Since they didn't get to do Guardians of the Galaxy on Tuesday, they wanted to do that ride first thing.  The girls and I didn't want to do that ride, so we rode the Monsters Ride two times.  

We then went and rode on the Toy Story ride.  Once we were done, we met up with the others to go on Incredicoaster.  Allie decided that she didn't want to do it this year after all, so I waited out with her and we watched them go.  

We then went on Arial and a bunch of other rides before getting some lunch at Smoke Jumpers Grill.  

After eating the park was getting pretty busy, so we just watched the wait time and did rides that weren't too long.  We single rode the Cars ride a couple times.  Allie now loves that ride and couldn't get enough.  

We happened upon the Chinese New Year parade and that was fun to watch.  Once the lines all got super long and we had done everything we wanted to do, we decided to do some shopping at World of Disney for the things we knew that the girls wanted.  We got all the goods and then went back to the hotel.  Tony and Margie then went and got Panda Express for dinner.  It was another great day!

Disneyland Trip 2026 - Day 6: Rest Day, Temple Day

This was our rest from the park's day. We ate breakfast and got ready to go to the temple this morning.  We then drove to the temple to do baptisms for the dead.  It is always fun to go to new temples and see how they are different from our local temples.  It is really nice that we can all go together now that Allie is turning 12 this year. 

After the temple we went back to the hotel to change and then we went the Disney Store.  Josh didn't want to go, so he stayed back at the hotel and worked on homework and took a nap.  

We also got some lunch at Chili's before going back to the hotel.  The girls then worked on some homework while Tony and I took the laundry to a laundry mat.  The washing machines in our hotels were not working very well, so we decided to just go to the laundry mat.  We then brought it back to fold and put away.  Some of us ate leftovers for dinner while others walked across the street to Del Taco.  It was a nice relaxing and productive day.

Disneyland Trip 2026 - Day 5: Disney's California Adventure

We got to DCA right after rope drop.  We went to do the car's ride first, but they hadn't opened that ride yet, so we rode on Luigi's.  We love that ride; okay Allie and I love that ride.  My guess is that they others think it's an okay ride.  

After that Car's was now open, so we single rode it.  Allie was nervous to go by herself, but we have noticed that a lot of times you are in the same car as someone you know, just now on the same row.  So, we made sure that she was in the same car with us, and she did great and wanted to keep riding it.  It's so great seeing her be brave. 

We then rode more rides on our way to single ride Web Slingers.  Allie hasn't had a problem doing this one by herself, so it is a good one to single ride.  

After getting on many more rides, we got some lunch.  Margie loves the Birria tacos, so most of us had tacos, but the girls and Lloyd had something from the Cafe.  It was good.  We then rode more fun rides.  

We went on Car's a couple more times.  Tony and I got to sit by each other on one of the rides.  It was awesome. We got some yummy popcorn, but Megan couldn't eat any because of her braces, so Tony bought her a pretzel.  

We had done everything that we wanted to do by about 5:00 pm, so we decided to go back to the hotel and order some pizza for dinner...and I am sure we had Joe's too.

Disneyland Trip 2026 - Day 4: Disneyland

This was a beautiful Monday morning, perfect day to go to Disneyland.  We decided to drive to the parks since we were too far for everyone to walk.  The positive about driving is that we got to ride on the tram every day.  Allie and I really enjoy the little tram ride.   

We started our day on Big Thunder.  Allie has ridden this ride before but is always nervous about it.  But she rode it without any problems and wanted to go again.

After was Indiana, Pirates, and Haunted Mansion.  We then did Tiana's Bayou.  Most of us hadn't been on this ride since they changed it from Splash Mountain.  Allie was really nervous for this ride, but she rode it and did really good.  We all had our ponchos which helped us not get too wet.  She did not want to go on it again on this trip.

A few people wanted to do Tiana's again, so Allie, Lloyd, and I went on the Pooh ride while they rode again.  We all had fun and then went on with our day. 

Most of us wanted the Birra sandwich from Jolly Holliday for lunch.  Tony got the girls mac and cheese hot dogs from Refreshment Corner and we all ate together.  I love that sandwich; it is so good.  It was kind of hard to find a place to sit to eat because the Super Bowl parade thing was about to go by and people thought that they could sit at the tables and see the parade, so they were pretty full. After the Super Bowl people went by, then people left and we had seats.  They couldn't even see the people from that far back, so that we kind of annoying that they were taking up so many tables.  

After lunch we went on Space Mountain.  Allie had never been on this ride.  Allie has been a little scared of this ride in years past, but she had pumped herself up to ride all the rides this year (except Guardians).  She didn't really know what to expect so she didn't get herself all worked up and did really good on the ride.  She said the ride kind of hurt her head, which I feel like that too after riding that ride.  But she liked it and said she would do it again next year.

We then continued to go on lots of rides.  Josh didn't really like going on the little kid rides, but he was a trooper.  

We met Rapunzel and Flinn and Tony asked Flinn about his "smolder" and so then he taught Megan how to do it and it just made her giggle the whole time.  It was pretty funny.

We had dinner at The Plaza.  It was super yummy.  After dinner we went on some more rides before calling it a night.  We had done everything that we wanted to do and the lines were pretty long.  They also all wanted to get Joe's after we got back.  It was a great first day at the parks.