Disneyland November 2021 Trip Report - Day Seven and Travel Home

Welcome. When we had last left our hero, she had eaten a metric ton of raw or smoked salmon at a brunch buffet and proceeded to have a most magic day. Our last day in the park would be a Monday, and then travel home the following day. Also, my friend who lives in California would be joining us.

We started the morning at Disneyland. My friend was concerned about traffic and making it, but she was there in time for us to get in line for opening, and we headed to the gate about about 7:30 for an 8:00 AM opening.

Our goal at Disneyland was to knock off some of the little rides in Fantasyland again, because there are just so many. I would say this about Disneyland versus Disney California Adventure: While Disneyland has more rides and is overall very charming, the quality of the rides on average, is not as good as Disney California Adventure. There is almost nothing in Disney California Adventure I would not ride again, except maybe the Little Mermaid ride. But in Disneyland, there is just a lot of small attractions among a smattering of really quality rides. This is in no way me trying to say the originals should go... I understand the history here. But I am saying which park you like better is probably about what you want.

The Matterhorn. It was on my list, but ill advised to ride it when we had the chance.

We managed to knock out Alice in Wonderland, the Teacups, Snow White, Peter Pan, and the Castle Walk through in about our first hour or so, despite my frequent visits to the bathroom. The thing is, I did not yet quite feel sick. Tired, yes, but my stomach did not hurt, so I figured it was a thing that would soon pass.

I had managed to snag virtual boarding passes for Rise of the Resistance but could not snag one for my friend as she wasn't linked to my account. So she did other things in Galaxy's Edge while my mother and I rode a second time. I am thankful for this second chance at riding because I noticed so much more detail the second time around. I think the first time I was just overwhelmed and trying not to disappoint the Resistance and not get yelled at by the First Order. The second time, I had a lot more fun. We were also in the front of the car this time, and you can see much more from there. Great ride. 5/5. Just not QUITE as great as Flight of Passage.

The market at Black Spire Outpost

After this, the three of us headed over to Smuggler's Run as it had a short line at the moment and this was one of our favorite experiences. My friend almost willingly avoided knowing anything about Star Wars for the majority of her life (until the newer movies came out and she was thrust into a situation where she had to watch with kids), and let me tell you, it is quite amusing trying to explain Rise of the Resistance to someone with just enough knowledge about Star Wars to be dangerous.

Us: "Then Kylo Ren was going to get us..."

Her: "I thought Kylo Ren was the good guy."

Us: "No. Well, in the end, yes, but no."

Her: "Isn't he the guy with Chewbacca?"

Us: "NO. He's the guy who killed Han Solo. And also his son."

Her: "Wait, Han Solo had a kid?"

Us: "Yes."

Her: "With WHO?"

Us: "General Leia."

Her: "Princess Leia."

Us: "Yes, that too."

Her: "I thought she was with Luke."

Us: "NO. That's her brother!"

My friend and I were pilots of the Falcon for Smuggler's Run and we crashed the ship. I blame the salmon and her lack of Star Wars knowledge.

Scenery at Black Spire Outpost

After this, it was getting to be around 11:00, and we were getting snacky. I had wanted a blue milk the entire trip, just to try it, so we found the milk stand. I got a blue milk, mother got a green milk, and my friend got a version with both. I was pleasantly surprised by the blue milk... it was not at all what I expected and was yummy and thirst quenching and hit the spot, and I proclaimed that I was feeling better now. That last about 10 minutes, then the nausea started kicking in.

We made our slow way through Fantasyland and the castle back to Main Street, and saw Abe Lincoln. The entire show was somewhat corny, but the Abe audio-animatronic itself is impressive to this day, and that's what we had really wanted to see.

After this, there was some shopping, mostly on behalf of my friend and my mother, as I got progressively sicker. All of the walking was not helping because I couldn't really eat anything, so I was beginning to feel light-headed. We headed back to the room and decided to order takeout from the Panera down the street. I made one last valiant attempt to eat my grilled cheese, but just looking at food was getting nauseating and I was beginning to realize something was wrong. It was about this time I pulled up the news on my phone as I do every day and saw the giant nova lox and smoked salmon recall impacting California and Washington - a day after I had overindulged in lovely lox and smoked salmon at brunch. At least putting two and two together, I knew what was wrong with me. Here, the little convenience store saved us as it carried Imodium... which didn't help, but at least we tried.

Here's the kicker: I had made an ADR for Trader Sam's Enchanted Tiki Bar at the Disneyland Hotel, previously not even a thing you could do, and I really wanted to see it. We headed there around 2 in the afternoon and it was such a long walk for me that I rode my mother's ECV at least half of the time on the way there. My mother and friend ordered really neat sounding seasonal holiday drinks (soooo jealous still!) while I carefully sipped a ginger ale. I will say, despite not feeling well, Trader Sam's was pretty neat. Because of the holidays, every once in a while, a Cast Member came through with a snow maker (really, a tiny bubble maker) and out the windows, snow would fall on the tropical landscape and even accumulate a little bit. It was clearly a special time to be there.

Our trio of drinks. The left one is a gingersnap something, the right is a peppermint something.

And ginger ale in back.

After this, I announced I had to give in. I was incredibly disappointed, but the plan for the night was to visit all the Festival of the Holidays food stands at Disney California Adventure and eat, eat, eat, and this was just not going to work for me. Also, I felt like I needed a nap. So, because I was the person who could work the mobile tickets from my phone, I headed back with my mom and friend and scanned my mom into Disney California Adventure. I gave them some parting advice "Now, remember, it's going to be really busy between 5 and 7 but after that, you should be ok". Then, I turned around and walked, slowly, back to the hotel room where I planted myself on the couch with a large glass of water in hopes of hydration and watched stupid Rom Coms. Reports were that the lines at the Festival of the Holidays food stands were insane, which is really too bad. I think for the most part, they shopped, because they returned to the room around 7:30 to my surprise. My mother had bought me the gingerbread cookie I had wanted, to take home, and a Disney Festivals cookbook, which I explained I really couldn't look at at the moment because I still felt nauseated. My mom returned her trusty ECV at the Camelot Hotel down the street and walked back.

The entrance to Disney California Adventure during Festival of the Holidays

I was devastated I could not spend my last Disney day with my friend eating delicious food, but it was good I stayed at the hotel as I continued to feel worse until I passed out that night and slept for about 11 hours.

The next day was a travel day. After a good sleep, I felt better, but also did not want to have stomach issues on the plane, so I ate very little. A jumbo bag of Cheezits and a Smart Water were basically my companions for most of the day. We checked out and thanked the staff for being so nice every time we had visited the lobby. I hailed a Lyft and because of the Disney traffic it took a little while for it to find us, but it was no big deal. Our driver was very nice and talkative and my mother enjoyed quizzing him on SoCal life. Security at the SNA airport was super quick and our flight was once again on time and perfect. This flight was a little big longer because the route was somewhat strange. Basically, we crossed the country, and then flew back from the East Coast to the Midwest, because of flight schedules and the fare. It wasn't that big a deal, though.

Overall, I think we had as nice a trip as we could. We somehow caught the sweet spot before people were really talking about Omicron, and had somehow caught the sweet flights that were not delayed or canceled. The weather in Anaheim was really beautiful. Although temperatures ranged from 67-97 degree highs, it was sunny every single day except the early morning of our departure day, which cleared up. And neither the cold nor the heat felt terribly uncomfortable. Crowds were a bit surprising, and it took us a while to adjust to how to do Disneyland, but in the end we did everything we wanted to do, did our favorites twice, and had a good time.

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I hope you enjoyed this trip report. There will be another coming late this year as we will be heading back to Walt Disney World with a very super exciting stay at the Riviera Resort! Until then, we are going to return our focus to Walt Disney World trip planning. If you like our blog, follow us on Facebook where you can see when a new article is posted each week. Until next time...