A Surprising June Visit To Disneyland
Yesterday I had my first trip back to Disneyland after getting my Botox injections. Normally we don't go in June, but lately June has been a good time to go because it hasn't been crowded and that was true yesterday as well. I was still concerned how I would handle it because lately since I got back from Hawaii my symptoms seemed to regress. Turns out I was mostly fine. Despite constant stiffness and pulling, and feeling uncomfortable, I wasn't in pain. We did a lot and I surprised myself.
We arrived at Disneyland pretty quickly this time and got through bag check and on the tram quick too. Maybe we were in the park by 10? I wanted to go to Galaxy's Edge first because they now have characters from the original trilogy roaming around. I didn't see any initially, but decided to make a bold move. I wanted to ride Smuggler's Run because now it's basically a new ride with the Mandalorian and Grogu, but I just wasn't sure if it would be safe. I didn't want to injure my neck. But I was feeling confident and I knew I had to test my neck sometime, so I was just like “F it. Let's do this.” In line, I was a bit nervous though and hoped I didn't make a mistake.
We got on the ride with a bunch of guys, my mom and I in the Engineer positions. They had some kind of cheat code where they could unlock Grogu. I thought he appeared on the ride no matter what. Anyway, I got through the ride and was completely fine. No pain nor increase in symptoms, which made me feel good. I had no idea what was going on on the screen in the ride, but I was happy enough to be able to ride it that I then felt like I could probably do Rise as well, which is what we did. 35 minute queue. Waiting and standing in the queues was kind of hard though. I was OK on Rise too.
After that it was lunch time. There was a new item at Docking Bay 7 I wanted to try, which was called the Adelphi Cheesy Noodles and fried chicken Tip Yip. It's a big piece of fried chicken breast and the noodles were kind of like Udon noodles with cheese sauce and bread crumbs, and I think pancetta. My mom and I split it. It also came with this interesting vial of chili sauce. We tasted it and both decided it was too spicy, so we went without. The meal was really good. It was a lot of food even for two people. At $19 that was a pretty good deal.
After lunch I thought we'd watch people splash down on Tiana's Bayou Adventure, so we did that and that's always fun. Then I thought we'd pop into the Haunted Mansion. Wait posted at 20 minutes, and it was 13. We made our way through Adventureland next and got in line for the Jungle Cruise. Our skipper who was an old guy didn't have many new jokes, but when we cruised through the “rain forest” at the beginning, water got sprinkled on us. I wasn't expecting that. That seemed new. Also seems like the piranhas are gone forever.
I decided I needed a sitting break after this, so we walked over to Tomorrowland and sat down at the tables near Galactic Grill. I helped my mom a little with her Wordscapes game on her phone. Next I wanted to do Buzz (I was really powering through this day) because it had been down for refurbishment, and I heard there might be changes inside. I didn't really notice. Maybe some robot guys? Then again it's hard for me to notice stuff with my neck doing its thing. My mom got over 80,000 for her score. Me 13,000, but I never expect to do good with that game even without my issues. I can't really tell if I'm hitting targets or not.
Next we crossed over to DCA. The first thing was to get some dessert. I wanted ice cream, so we checked out Clarabelle's first, then went eh and went over to Ghiradelli to each get hot fudge sundaes. Hard to beat that. Sitting there and listening to J-Pop music, I was kind of feeling at ease and at peace. We also did some people watching. My mom noted the crazy women wearing spandex that shouldn't be.
Then I wanted to ride Emotional Whirlwind since it was recently back up after a refurbishment. My mom thought I meant Toy Story and was pulled that direction for some reason, and I'm like “No no. Emotional Whirlwind!” When we got over there though, the ride was down. We stood for a while because they were testing it, which usually means it's going to open soon. It simply wasn't though. Just standing around is difficult for me, so we walked to watch the crazy swinging gondolas on the Pixar-Pal-Around. Not me so much because craning my neck is uncomfortable. We moved on and decided to ride The Little Mermaid. My mom was surprised at how short the line took, but I was not because I watch Fresh Baked and have a good grasp on queues now.
At this point I kept telling myself how tired I was, but wanted to keep going anyway. We took the scenic route around Grizzly River Run and had a great time watching the rafts getting nailed by the geysers. I also had said if Soarin''s line was short, we could squeeze that in too. It was not. Good thing too because we probably would have gotten home even later.
I have proven during the Hawaii trip how long I can last and I'm not sure how I do it. It could be the Botox even if it's not helping quite enough for my symptoms yet. Anyway, our last stop was to pick up some dinner to bring home. My idea was to get these burritos from Rancho del Zocolo that looked good. It was nice that they had to-go containers to bring them home in. The bag my mom carried them in wasn't quite big enough though, so she had be careful to hold them steady.
We got to the tram and it was a really long line. Longer than I've seen before. I really really didn't want to stand and wait for the tram. Walking is better for me, so we made the long trek back to the parking lot, which was really rough. If it was any hotter (luckily it was a nice day and not too hot), I would have been dying. As it was, it was a struggle to keep moving and I thought about sitting on a bench a couple times, but I kept myself moving, and we made it. Had the burritos at home (well half because they're huge). I got a chicken one and my parents both got the carne asada one. It was yummy even though it wasn't warm anymore. The guajillo sauce is a bit spicy though, so needed more sour cream. I'll probably have the rest of it for lunch today.
That was our day. Overall it was a good day with lighter crowds and I pushed myself hard and really tested my neck without making things worse, so that was a plus. I'm glad I can do the more fun rides again (maybe as long as Botox stays active). Not sure on roller coasters yet though. As for when we'd go back, I'm not sure. Soaring Across America is coming in July, but it's likely to be more hot and I don't know how I'll be because I would be starting to be in the wearing off period for the Botox. I assume that attraction will stick around for a while though, so maybe I'll be able to get to it in the Fall.
We arrived at Disneyland pretty quickly this time and got through bag check and on the tram quick too. Maybe we were in the park by 10? I wanted to go to Galaxy's Edge first because they now have characters from the original trilogy roaming around. I didn't see any initially, but decided to make a bold move. I wanted to ride Smuggler's Run because now it's basically a new ride with the Mandalorian and Grogu, but I just wasn't sure if it would be safe. I didn't want to injure my neck. But I was feeling confident and I knew I had to test my neck sometime, so I was just like “F it. Let's do this.” In line, I was a bit nervous though and hoped I didn't make a mistake.
We got on the ride with a bunch of guys, my mom and I in the Engineer positions. They had some kind of cheat code where they could unlock Grogu. I thought he appeared on the ride no matter what. Anyway, I got through the ride and was completely fine. No pain nor increase in symptoms, which made me feel good. I had no idea what was going on on the screen in the ride, but I was happy enough to be able to ride it that I then felt like I could probably do Rise as well, which is what we did. 35 minute queue. Waiting and standing in the queues was kind of hard though. I was OK on Rise too.
After that it was lunch time. There was a new item at Docking Bay 7 I wanted to try, which was called the Adelphi Cheesy Noodles and fried chicken Tip Yip. It's a big piece of fried chicken breast and the noodles were kind of like Udon noodles with cheese sauce and bread crumbs, and I think pancetta. My mom and I split it. It also came with this interesting vial of chili sauce. We tasted it and both decided it was too spicy, so we went without. The meal was really good. It was a lot of food even for two people. At $19 that was a pretty good deal.
After lunch I thought we'd watch people splash down on Tiana's Bayou Adventure, so we did that and that's always fun. Then I thought we'd pop into the Haunted Mansion. Wait posted at 20 minutes, and it was 13. We made our way through Adventureland next and got in line for the Jungle Cruise. Our skipper who was an old guy didn't have many new jokes, but when we cruised through the “rain forest” at the beginning, water got sprinkled on us. I wasn't expecting that. That seemed new. Also seems like the piranhas are gone forever.
I decided I needed a sitting break after this, so we walked over to Tomorrowland and sat down at the tables near Galactic Grill. I helped my mom a little with her Wordscapes game on her phone. Next I wanted to do Buzz (I was really powering through this day) because it had been down for refurbishment, and I heard there might be changes inside. I didn't really notice. Maybe some robot guys? Then again it's hard for me to notice stuff with my neck doing its thing. My mom got over 80,000 for her score. Me 13,000, but I never expect to do good with that game even without my issues. I can't really tell if I'm hitting targets or not.
Next we crossed over to DCA. The first thing was to get some dessert. I wanted ice cream, so we checked out Clarabelle's first, then went eh and went over to Ghiradelli to each get hot fudge sundaes. Hard to beat that. Sitting there and listening to J-Pop music, I was kind of feeling at ease and at peace. We also did some people watching. My mom noted the crazy women wearing spandex that shouldn't be.
Then I wanted to ride Emotional Whirlwind since it was recently back up after a refurbishment. My mom thought I meant Toy Story and was pulled that direction for some reason, and I'm like “No no. Emotional Whirlwind!” When we got over there though, the ride was down. We stood for a while because they were testing it, which usually means it's going to open soon. It simply wasn't though. Just standing around is difficult for me, so we walked to watch the crazy swinging gondolas on the Pixar-Pal-Around. Not me so much because craning my neck is uncomfortable. We moved on and decided to ride The Little Mermaid. My mom was surprised at how short the line took, but I was not because I watch Fresh Baked and have a good grasp on queues now.
At this point I kept telling myself how tired I was, but wanted to keep going anyway. We took the scenic route around Grizzly River Run and had a great time watching the rafts getting nailed by the geysers. I also had said if Soarin''s line was short, we could squeeze that in too. It was not. Good thing too because we probably would have gotten home even later.
I have proven during the Hawaii trip how long I can last and I'm not sure how I do it. It could be the Botox even if it's not helping quite enough for my symptoms yet. Anyway, our last stop was to pick up some dinner to bring home. My idea was to get these burritos from Rancho del Zocolo that looked good. It was nice that they had to-go containers to bring them home in. The bag my mom carried them in wasn't quite big enough though, so she had be careful to hold them steady.
We got to the tram and it was a really long line. Longer than I've seen before. I really really didn't want to stand and wait for the tram. Walking is better for me, so we made the long trek back to the parking lot, which was really rough. If it was any hotter (luckily it was a nice day and not too hot), I would have been dying. As it was, it was a struggle to keep moving and I thought about sitting on a bench a couple times, but I kept myself moving, and we made it. Had the burritos at home (well half because they're huge). I got a chicken one and my parents both got the carne asada one. It was yummy even though it wasn't warm anymore. The guajillo sauce is a bit spicy though, so needed more sour cream. I'll probably have the rest of it for lunch today.
That was our day. Overall it was a good day with lighter crowds and I pushed myself hard and really tested my neck without making things worse, so that was a plus. I'm glad I can do the more fun rides again (maybe as long as Botox stays active). Not sure on roller coasters yet though. As for when we'd go back, I'm not sure. Soaring Across America is coming in July, but it's likely to be more hot and I don't know how I'll be because I would be starting to be in the wearing off period for the Botox. I assume that attraction will stick around for a while though, so maybe I'll be able to get to it in the Fall.
