Day 170 (Friday Feb 8th)

Last year, my parents sold a property owned by my grandfather who passed away almost 3 years ago. One of the things they did with the money was to pay for all of the children and grandchildren to go to Disneyland. For my nephew and nieces, it would their first Disney theme park experience. And while I had been to Disneyland when I was 7 years old, I actually have no memories of the trip. I do remember going to Disneyworld when I was 13, so maybe the memories were overwritten with my second Disney visit.

Regardless, I spent Friday February 8th traveling from Wellington to Melbourne to Los Angeles. I actually arrived about the same time that I left on February 8th as well, thanks to the international date line. I took a few pictures of some colorful bears I encountered in the Melbourne airport, and by 9am I was at the Disneyland Hotel.

The rest of my family (minus Trevor, Joni, and their 2 kids) would arrive Friday evening. Which meant I would eventually become the 15th wheel to our family visit to Disneyland.

While I waited for them to arrive, I walked around Disney town looking at the stores and food. I also made a mistake and boarded the monorail. I didn’t think that was actually entering the park, but I was. So, I used up a day on my pass. That meant I would need to buy an additional day in the park due to my mistake.

Everyone was pretty tired once they arrived. We decided to start exploring Disneyland tomorrow, leaving California Adventure to Sunday. I took a quick video of my room, which I didn’t have to share due to being the 15th wheel. I guess being single isn’t all bad…

Day 171 (Saturday Feb 9th)

Our passes got us into both Disneyland and California Adventure, but we focused on Disneyland on Saturday. We broke into various groups through the day, but I primarily rode rides with my dad, Tia, and Isaac. I did see Jayson’s family a few times, riding with him and Josiah. We rode Space Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Star Tours, and the Haunted Mansion. My dad, Tia, Isaac and I also met Chewbacca!

We saw the parade that afternoon and I snapped a picture of everyone waiting in line for Dumbo.

My parents and siblings (and families) all crashed around 8pm on Friday. That meant I had several hours later that night to continue riding rides. I rode the Incredicoaster, Space Mountain (again) and It’s a Small World.

  • The Incredicoaster
  • Journaling and Salt & Straw Ice Cream

Day 172 (Sunday Feb 10th)

After experiencing the Incredicoaster the night before, I wanted to ride it as much as possible on Sunday. I used the “magic hour” which got me into the park an hour early. I also used the fastpass system to get as many rides as possible. My dad ended up riding it 6 times that day, and I rode 10 times!

  • My dad and I, enjoying our sixth ride together

We also rode the Cars ride, Guardians of the Galaxy, the Ferris Wheel, and every other California Adventure ride.

My parents, Johnathan & Kendra (and co.), Tia & Isaac and I all had dinner together at Naples Ristorante e Bar. Then they retired again around 8pm while I did more riding and walking around.

Day 173 (Monday Feb 11th)

Our final day in Disneyland. We spent the morning in Disneyland, and the afternoon getting in all the final rides that we could. Mom even rode Cars with us!

  • Exploring Tarzan’s Tree
  • Freya, Isaac, Kendra, Me
  • We got to meet Pluto!

For Dinner, we had reservations at Goofy’s Kitchen. The kids got the chance to meet all the main Disney characters (Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, Chip & Dale). And we got our only entire family photo for the trip.

That night, I went to the fireworks and lights display in Disneyland by myself. It was a nice way to end my time in the Magic Kingdom.

Day 174 (Tuesday Feb 12th)

My flight back to Wellington would take 2 days. I wouldn’t arrive until February 14th, and would lose the 13th entirely. I had to get back to the US (Montana) by February 20th to attend a grad school interview. The final week of my adventure was now at hand!

I also got to see John Saveland and Chris Lockman before I left. It was great to see them, and we talked about another 3East guys trip sometime later this year. I also got some new recommendations from them for my “NZ Recommendations” list.

Thanks for checking out my family photos. I now have PROOF that I’ve been to Disneyland. I also got some pins, buttons, and a t-shirt since part of our package included a gift card to be spent in the park. I’m incredibly grateful to my parents for this generous vacation, and I truly had a great time exploring the Magic Kingdom with my family.

Here’s a song from earlier this month. I slotted it into the very special 3rd song position for Fellowship, this month’s playlist. The background image looks very familiar to what my life has looked like for many days of my adventure: in a coffee shop journaling, blogging, and enjoying coffee. While the song is about romantic love, for me, it speaks to the type of love I have for my Creator. The type of love that my Creator has for me.