August 14th, 2014
Chapter 7
Unconventional Workday
On Thursday, I worked from the hotel while Tracy went into the office. As lunchtime started ticking nearer, however, I thought it would probably be fun to head across the street and get something from one of the Disneyland restaurants. So I schlepped over to the Grand Californian for the first time during this visit.
I kept walking past the lobby and outside until I got to White Water Snacks.
I was feeling like I needed some food that wasn’t going to kill me after our fried overload the previous night, so I ordered the Char-Broiled Chicken Sandwich (with grilled Ortega chile and guacamole, served with seasonal fruit or French fries). I got it without the guac because I’m allergic, and for the first time in my entire life, I opted for fruit over fries.
This was really good! Grilled chicken is always hit or miss, but this one was a big hit. Really juicy and flavorful, and I LOVED the green chile on top. As I told Tracy about it later, I remarked that we’d have to get it together sometime, with the guac on the side so that she could add it back onto her half. Even the grapes were remarkably tasty!
I took a picture of the decor inside White Water Snacks, and it made me wonder whether they just keep these same trees up year-round and then decorate them for Christmas.
When I was done with lunch, I decided there was no real reason for me to head back to our hotel. I’d brought my computer in my backpack, and there was free Wi-Fi at all the Disney resorts, so I grabbed a chair in the Grand and set up shop.
I worked there for probably an hour or two before I decided that I wanted a snack, so I wandered over to Jamba Juice and grabbed a smoothie. Drink in hand, I walked over to the Disneyland Hotel next and found a spot in the lobby to work for another couple hours.
Goofy even came by and hung around for a while.
When I got done with my articles for the day, I packed up my stuff and started to walk around the hotel grounds a bit. I’d never peeked into the Frontier Tower before, so I went over there to see the model of Big Thunder Mountain.
I also liked this waterfall back there.
Tracy was going to be heading back around 4:00 to pick me up because we were going to a happy hour at Bootlegger’s in Fullerton with some of her coworkers. So I walked back to our hotel (the only downside of all this walking was that it was in the high 80s, and I felt like I was dying by the time I made it back).
I’d also stopped by Vault 28 in Downtown Disney to pick up another Alex and Ani bangle that Tracy had her eye on, so I gave her Pluto when she got back to the hotel.
Happy hour was fun, and I got to catch up with a few people I hadn’t seen for a while. We still hadn’t really eaten any dinner (other than some chili cheese fries) by the time we were done at around 7:30. Heading back to the hotel, we dropped our car off and headed straight to the parks.
We started at DCA and walked back to Cars Land. Red was out doing a meet and greet where Lightning and Mater usually trade off, so we decided to meet him since we’d never gotten the chance before.
Next, we went to get a snack from Cozy Cone.
We opted for a lighter “meal” because we weren’t really in the mood for something heavy just yet. We tried one of the Cheddar Garlic Bagel Twists, and it was nicely satisfying without making us overfull.
We walked over to Flo’s next to grab water cups because we’d forgotten to order them at our cone.
Now that we’d had our “dinner,” it was time to move on to dessert. So we went into Ghirardelli to actually BUY SOMETHING (rather than our usual habit of just snagging free samples).
I can’t find the sundae we got on any of the online menus, so I think it may have been a limited-time treat. It was delicious and topped with a decadent chocolate-covered strawberry.
Walking through Paradise Pier, we saw the crowds lined up for World of Color, but I think we rode The Little Mermaid instead.
We’d also gotten a time for Radiator Springs Racers, so we walked back over to Cars Land.
Without thinking, the next time we got was for a Fantasyland dark ride (Peter Pan’s Flight, perhaps?). Of course, by the time we would park hop and make it back there, the whole area was already closed for fireworks prep.
We decided to ride Dumbo instead because its wait was only listed at 5 minutes or so. While we waited, I tried taking a few pictures of the elephants flying using really slow shutter speeds. I think this one turned out well.
About to board our elephant.
It was starting to get late enough at this point that we began walking toward the park exit. We went through the Fortuosity Shop en route and noticed that it was the first spot in the park to have gotten its Halloween decorations so far this year.
As we got back to the Fairfield, I figured I’d take a few pictures of the exterior and the lobby because I hadn’t done so at all yet.
Once again, we were beat by the time we got back to our room, so we quickly showered and got ready for bed. There was one more workday left on this trip, and then we’d have two full days to play in the parks.
Follow
Share
