Visit Anaheim: Disneyland & Disney's California Adventure

During Spring Break, we made a quick visit to Disneyland Resort.  We had just two days, so we bought Park Hopper tickets, Lightning Lane Multi Pass, and also stayed at Pixar Place Hotel to get Early Entry to make the most out of just two days.

I've been to Disneyland Resort during Spring Break before, and the crowds were as expected.  

The Lightning Lane Multi Pass proved most beneficial, and I also liked that we had Park Hopper tickets.  

There were a few rides that opened up since our last visit that we made sure to get on: Tiana's Bayou Adventure, Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, and Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railroad Adventure.  

Last chance warning at Tiana's

Everything you read about getting drenched at Tiana's is true - especially if you're sitting in the front, like I was.  Even though we were prepared with ponchos and waterproof shoe booties, I got soaked, and my son, who was sitting behind me, got his shoes soaked even with the booties on.  As we were getting off, guests who were getting on asked for our ponchos, but the Cast Member had to keep the line moving, so we didn't have time to take them off.  We did, however, see some people in line outside who were incredibly thankful for getting the ponchos. 

Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway was another ride that had opened up since our last visit.  This ride, along with Guardians of the Galaxy, Space Mountain, and Radiator Springs, were the most popular rides in terms of standby times and how quickly the Lightning Lane Passes became unavailable..  The latter was only available via Lightning Lane Single Pass purchase, but standby lines were consistently over 2 hours long.  

Tiana's & Mickey's Lightning Lane Passes would run out by mid afternoon, Guardian's would run out by mid morning!

I don't know if that's typical or just reflective of the Spring Break Crowds.  

Single Rider lines, where available, would run about 20-30 minutes long.  

We were able to watch the fireworks from the viewing floor at Pixar Place, at Disneyland, and even from our room at Pixar Place!

The weather was nice and chilly in the mornings and evenings, but got really hot during the day.  

We ate a lot of great food, got in a heck of a lot of steps, and made a lot of new Disney memories! 

Get up to 8% off on Disneyland tickets via Klook through 11/15/25.  Use code DLTCAL8 at check out! (affiliate link)
 

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Recap: 2024 Disneyland Half Marathon

After a 7 year break, runDisney returned to Disneyland in Anaheim in January 2024, and I was one of the lucky ones to get a spot in the Half Marathon! Snagging a spot in these races is like trying to get Taylor Swift concert tickets - you have to go to the registration website right when it opens, get in the queue, and cross your fingers that there are still spots left when you finally get in to the registration portal. 

After securing a spot in the race, I decided to make a family trip out of it, so we booked reservations to the parks, purchased park tickets, airplane tickets, booked a room at the Grand Californian, and did some research on how to navigate a visit to Disneyland.  It's definitely not the same as before - it takes a lot of planning and strategizing! But today I'm here to share with you my runDisney experience!

All participants were required to pick up their race bibs at the runDisney Expo which took place for three days prior to race day.  I went just before closing on Friday night, and it wasn't that crowded at all.  In addition to my race bib, I also got my race shirt, a few stickers, and some GU gels that one of the expo vendors were selling at a special price. 

Fast forward to race morning - I got up at 2:45 am and did my usual morning rituals (I'll spare you the details!), and headed out of my hotel room at 3:30 am. 

It was about 44 degrees that morning - it was COLD! This Hawaii girl is not used to the cold anymore, and I was certainly not used to running in cold weather, so this was going to be interesting. There were a lot of runners heading to the start from our hotel (the Grand Californian), so I felt safe and also knew where to go by just following the crowd.

About 10 minutes later, I arrived at the start/finish area, but first I had to go through the security checkpoint. The line moved pretty quickly.

Before heading to the corrals I took a picture of the finish line. 

Although they had entertainment going on at the stage, I headed to the area where people were lining up to enter the corrals.  

We were allowed to enter the corrals at 4:00 am, on schedule.  Our start group letter was located on our bibs and was based on estimated finish time. We were assigned to group C. I'm not sure how many sections there were in total.

There was a video screen over the start line that showed what was going on on the stage and near the start line. It kept us entertained for an hour. After the Star Spangled Banner and a brief visit by Micky and Minnie, the race started one group at a time. It was around 5:20 am by the time our group started.

First up, California Adventure Park!

We even got to go in areas behind the scenes, where only the cast members have access to.

We crossed over to the Disneyland Park through the Esplanade - there was a large crowd of fans cheering us on here!

Main Street

Star Wars - Galaxy's Edge

After the 4 mile mark, we exited the park and hit the streets of Anaheim for the remainder of the race. There numerous aid stations offering cups of water and Powerade, and some first aid stations handing out vaseline. There were also a few bands and DJs entertaining us along the route, which was primarily commercial/industrial.

Honda Center - home of the Anaheim Ducks!

Santa Ana River Trail

Hot Rod display!

Finishers chute!

Done!

Here's a close-up of the hardware - it's quite heavy!

Since I was visiting the park that day and had purchased Genie+, I was able to access and download the photos from the official race photographers that day.  In my opinion, it was hard to see the official photographers on the course - they aren't wearing bright, conspicuous clothes, and so most of my pics are not very flattering, but I'm posting them here for what it's worth!

After participating in my first runDisney race, I'm already looking to see when I can try for another one. It was well organized, safe, and such a unique experience. I highly recommend it!

For more information on runDisney, visit their website at rundisney.com.

 

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Visit California: Highlights of What We Ate At Disneyland and Disney California Adventure Park

When you visit Disneyland, it's not just about the characters and rides .. it's about the FOOD!

Before my most recent trip to Disneyland, I followed a couple of accounts on Instagram that were dedicated to food from the various Disney attractions, and took notes on the food items that I wanted to try, and where to find them.  The account that I got most of my ideas from was @code_word_disney.  If you are heading to a Disney park soon, I highly recommend you follow this account and other Disney food bloggers on Instagram.  

While I did not get to try everything that I had on my list, I did get to a few of them, and they did not disappoint!  Here they are:

1. Hand Dipped Corn Dog from the Little Red Cart:  each corn dog comes with choice of apple slices or chips. I would never eat a corn dog anywhere else but at Disneyland. 

2. Mickey-shaped Beignets: comes in a 3-pack or 6-pack. Eat them while they're hot n fresh. 

3. Turkey Leg from the Turkey Leg cart on Main Street: we picked up one of these bad boys while waiting for the Electric Parade to start.  They're massive and easily shareable.  Good source of protein to balance out the carbs from the beignets, churros, etc.!

4. Fried Chicken Sandwich from Galactic Grill in Tomorrowland. We didn't discover this on Instagram, but the hubby loves fried chicken, so he just had to try it. It was a nice change to the deli sandwiches that he was eating at the other places.

5. Pineapple DOLE WHIP® from the Tiki Juice Bar in Adventure Land. What I really wanted was the Mango Pineapple DOLE WHIP® swirl, but I went to the wrong place and discovered that the place that I did go to (Tiki Juice Bar) only served the Pineapple flavor, not the Mango. Not wanting to stand in another line (the twins were dying for something cool!), I bought this it hit the spot. When you think about it, it's funny how we're from Hawaii and ended up eating DOLE WHIP® in California.  We rarely if ever eat DOLE WHIP® here at home!

6. Jolly Combo (Toasted Cheese Sandwich with Tomato Soup) from Jolly Holiday Bakery Cafe on Main Street: I saved the best for last and ate this as my last meal at Disneyland. Eat this at night when its cooler - the hot soup will keep you warm!

7. Sally's Summer Churro from Cozy Cone Motel in Disney California Adventure Park, Cars Land: this churro is a seasonal offering, therefore it may not be available when you visit the park, but I'm sure no matter what the seasonal offering will be when you get there, it'll be just as good. I normally like plain churros rolled in cinnamon and sugar, but since this churro was the same price as the plain churro with dipping sauce on the menu, I ordered it. 

8. Jack-Jack Cookie Num Num from Disney California Adventure Park, Pixar Pier: my husband's niece told us to try this, so we did. Best chocolate chip cookie ever. All that was missing was a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream.  

 9. Yummy Cheesy Macaroni from various locations: one of the twins ate mac n cheese wherever we went. He said it was the best mac n cheese ever. I'm glad he liked it, but the portions were so small and he would always complain that he was still hungry.  Disneyland, if you're reading this, can you please offer your Yummy Cheesy Macaroni in two sizes? Thank you!! :D

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