Tag: OrangeDoor

Disney California Adventure, Morning

We were at the gate before it opened and it was fun to people watch while we waited for the gate to open.

I love the Art Deco stylings of the gate.

From there, we went to the rope and watched all the people staying at Disney properties enter 30 minutes before we did. Those are two cast members on the other side of the rope.

Once the rope dropped we headed over to the Spider-Man ride. Here, we had a fun intro before climbing into our ride and trying to blast the spiders that were taking over the lab. I did not do well, a theme that would continue throughout all the shoot-em-up–type games.

From there, we got a bit wet on the Grizzly River Run. We had the raft to ourselves because it was early and a little chilly. It was good we did this early on, though. The ride shut down at some point during the day.

We enjoyed seeing the various characters. Here, Matt does Black Panther with Black Panther in the background, not to mention an Avengers vehicle.

From that point, we stood in lines. We had Lightning Lanes, so we signed up for those. And we payed extra for Radiator Springs Racers to avoid the line there.

It was a good morning.

Disneyland Vacation Day One: Downtown Disney

After some advice and help from Fairyweather Travel, we planned a trip to Disneyland. Our first day involved traveling to Anaheim. The flight from Portland to LAX is only two hours; it seems like it should be longer.

Once we checked in to our hotel, the Anaheim Hotel, we walked over to explore Downtown Disney.

There, we found a taste of the crowds to navigate over the next few days, and also this display at the Lego Store.

We also took a picture of Matt in front of the Downtown Disney Salt and Straw, though we did not partake. Thinking about it now, we should have checked to see if they had any Disney-specific flavors.

The lines for food at Downtown Disney were long, so we returned to our hotel and bought breadsticks and salad at the on-site Pizza Press restaurant.

After that, we completed another Exit game, the Haunted Roller Coaster.

Matt holds up the pumpkin task.

I enjoyed how clever this task was.

Here is our certificate.

At the time we were visiting, fireworks at Disneyland happen only on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. I had plans for us to walk back to Downtown Disney for the fireworks, but travel is exhausting, and I was in bed by the time the fireworks started at 9:30. So there were no fireworks for me. Matt did go out and watch a few of them from the hotel.

Christmas Celebration 2024

It’s been a tough year with many traditions shifting. We gathered for a Christmas meal. The mission: bring your favorite frozen food item.

We had a good (though salty) meal and Linda smartly interpreted the mission to include Salt and Straw ice cream, which we had for dessert.

After that, Matt and I went home and paid $19.89 to watch the Eras Tour (with bonus songs).

It was a nice, if muted, holiday.

Exit the Advent Calendar

While I enjoy the same felt advent calendar from my childhood year after year, Matt isn’t interested in partaking, even if there is chocolate involved. He floated the idea of getting the advent calendar from Exit, the in-home escape room company. And so we did.

We started the calendar after December 1, and then Matt went to Michigan for a bit, so we had a spreadsheet to catch up and keep us on track. That meant that we often did two days in one setting.

Eric was over for Saturday gaming and he did the last three nights with us. You can see how we really pulled everything apart at the end. That was because one of the rooms early on didn’t work, and Matt wanted to find the tiny emoji thing we couldn’t make appear.

One of the thing I enjoy (while also hating) about the games is that the helping clues are sometimes very blunt. There was a doozy in this one, somewhat mocking us for not getting an element that we had earlier commented MUST be something.

In the end, we found the prize: this tiny button labeling us X-MAS HERO.

It was well worth it.

The Partial Eclipse at OMSI

Matt had the good idea to head down to OMSI to see the partial eclipse. Though the forecast was overcast, OMSI promised livestreaming in the planetarium.

Here we are waiting for the doors to open. We got there quite early and were about fourth and fifth in line. Someone who worked for OMSI was confused why a line was forming at eight on a Saturday morning. The people at the beginning of the line explained what was up.

The view from inside the planetarium. I enjoyed that timeanddate.com was the livestreamer. They are my online source for calendars and have for years.

We got views from across the country.

At some point, one of the people who had posted themselves outside announced that the clouds had cleared enough to see the eclipse, so the planetarium emptied. Here was the view without glasses.

Here was the view with glasses.

Here was my fun self portrait that was one of my favorite photos taken this year.

Crowd pictures.

I really loved this coat! So event appropriate.

The fun of photographing people watching eclipses is that they can’t see you taking pictures.

Some glasses adjustments are necessary.

I like to think it was one of these fellows who came in and said that the eclipse was visible.