The Rest of February 2020

Returning from Disneyland we could see the progress on Uncle and Annies's "new" house. H.B. was in town and we had a mini Hansen reunion with the Robertsons in SLC and breakfast with the Calders the next day. We also had a fun outing in SLC with Stephen and Ann on Leap Year.

The "new" Taylor house

Work has stopped pending the building permit

The Robertson kids (L to R): Joe, Julie, Jason, Jeri Lin, and Jani

Soup and salad

Jason and Beth, Brenna and Barry

Emily, Kris, SKT, Annie, and H.B.

Cameron and Sheila

Cousins' Breakfast with the Calders in SLC

H.B., Kreg, and Cameron

An old photo Kreg took many years ago when Anna was a baby

I am fond of a croque-madame, and pastries, of course

March is off and rolling, and if the Corona Virus doesn't upend our plans we will be in Paris by the end of the month. This is all for now.

OXO

D.

Disneyland 2020, Day Four

Today the old folks were on their own. The Parks were crazy-crowded. Most of the Fastpasses were gone by noon, so we just did old people stuff like ride the train, sit on shady benches, watch people, and shop a tiny bit. The highlight of the day was a lunch-time get together with the Gibbs. Debby was in town and she arranged it all. Delightful! I had one final Fastpass for Big Thunder before we waited in line for some Dole Whips.

Buena Vista Street

California Beaux-Arts gems

Solid Art Deco

Waiting for Mickey's PhilharMagic to begin

Just arrived from a trip around Walt Disney's Magic Kingdom

Lunch with the Gibbs

The whole Gibbs gang + 2

Bam Bam Shake and Cookies 'N Cream Supreme Shake

From Crazy Shakes

DAT, DSDG, KBT

Back to Batuu just to soak up the atmosphere

Everyone is in character and these troopers were quizzing

this young lad about whether he was part of the Resistance

We are always in character

One of my favorite views at Disneyland

One last ride on Big Thunder

Evening falls on the California Adventure entrance inspired by 

the Pan Pacific Auditorium from my youthful 

days in Los Angeles during the 1950s

This adventure has been fun and exhausting. I am so out of shape since my foot surgery that I feel like a cripple, but a fun cripple. Thanks to the Youngs for the invitation and the splendid management. Tomorrow we head home so the fun will stop for the time being. This then is all for now.

OXO

D.

Disneyland 2020, Day Three

Kris was in AZ on day three, but the rest of us carried on. The place was SLAMMED! At 8:00 A.M. the lines for security stretched clear back to the busses. We headed to California Adventure and waited a little while for the Incredicoaster, which is still incredible: my favorite coaster anywhere. We piddled around CA for the rest of the morning and then went to Star Wars for cocktails at Oga's Cantina. We had a Fastpass for Soarin' so we hopped back to CA and spent most of the afternoon. Before dinner we finally got a Fastpass for Space Mountain which had a standby time of over 200 minutes. Dinner at Carnation Cafe before heading back to the hotel to meet Kris who had just returned from AZ.

The Incredicoaster

My favorite coaster anywhere

Cars Land from Luigi's Tires

Harry and Pop Pop on Luigi's Rollickin' Roadsters

Feels like the Sierra Nevada

Dickie and Maryleborn on the Golden Zephyr

Hooray for Hollywood

Ready to free fall

I know absolutely nothing about the Guardians of the Galaxy

But this is still a giggle

Finn stepping out along on Hollywood Boulevard

Back to Batuu for our reservation at Oga's

Consulting with the bar tender

The theming is off the charts (Hi, Maren)

Finn and Pop Pop at the bar

The music was loud and the DJ was humorous

Splash Mountain was looking lovely in the late afternoon sun

The boys wonder how I always manage to look so chill

Supper at Carnation Cafe

The Youngsters kept riding, but by this time I was done

Kris and I are back to the Parks today and the Youngs are headed to Harry Potter at Universal. Should be a laid-back old folks kind of day. More later, but this is all for now.

OXO

D.

Disneyland 2020, Day Two

Up bright and early in hopes of a boarding group for Rise of the Resistance. We went straight to Smuglers' Run and then moved on to the rest of the park. We had dinner at the Blue Bayou before I took Kris to her Lyft for a trip to Phoenix. Star Wars Land is magnificent!

Waiting our turn to enter so we could get a boarding group for Rise

of the Resistance -- group 112: dicey

Inside the gates just in time

Headed up Main Street to the Hub

Star Wars Galaxy's Edge is INCREDIBLE!

Millennium Falcon with the stone towers of Batuu

The waiting lines are so well designed and interesting, the

wait seems like nothing at all

The theming right down to the smallest detail is unbelievable

The Market

Back to Frontierland and Big Thunder

Splash Mountain with the boys

Me? Cool as a cucumber

The good old Jungle Cruise 

Back to Star Wars for lunch

Lunch at Ronto Roasters on the left

Inside the Roasters


Ronto Wrap was tasty

That's me trying to act nonchalant as we passed Kylo Ren
and the Storm Troopers

We waited a long time for this old classic dark ride


Still a thrill: best of the original dark rides IMO

TWA's Rocket to the Moon is a memory from 1955

Dinner at the Blue Bayou

Waiting to be seated

At the Blue Bayou

Where it's always night

Good food before Kris took her Lyft to LAX for her flight

to AZ for Blake Boynton's funeral

When I returned to the park, they had called our boarding group, so 

I rushed to meet the kids at Rise of the Resistance: Rey and BB-8

getting us squared away

The kiddos moving through the Rise of the Resistance


Our transport was commandeered by the Empire

The immense scale of this "ride" is overwhelming

The AT-ATs are at least two stories tall

The place is magical at night

The boys assembling their light sabers in a ceremony: every single

person in this land is always in character

This new land makes everything else in Disneyland feel under-designed

That's a wrap

This was a fun, but exhausting day. It's not 1955 anymore, and I can feel my age. There will be more,  but this is all for now.

OXO

D.