Work and Disney. Yes, they can both happen!

Again, apologies for the long absence but we do  work. We have to fund this extravagant lifestyle somehow!

Last week we spent several days at a “nerd conference” in Anaheim at the Disneyland Resort Convention Center. I say “nerd conference” lovingly, because hey, WE were there! Proud nerds ourselves! The show was a conference based on the IBM hardware platform in which we make our money so we can’t complain!

And yes, they served beer and wine at the reception – we didn’t sneak it in or anything. I promise!!

After several days of exhibiting we hit Disneyland and California Adventure. As you may already know, they are exceptionally smaller than Disney World in Florida, which is great if you don’t want to get overwhelmed. I have been to these parks several times as my best friend used to live close to Anaheim. Which is lucky since it seems Disney didn’t have their sh*t together this time around. The “happiest place on Earth” was quite the disaster.

Mike and I are roller coaster fiends. But that’s hard when you show up at Disney and the Matterhorn, Indian Jones and Big Thunder Mountain are ALL closed! I believe that’s all of their roller coasters, except Space Mountain! Lucky for them I had a 2-day park hopper pass for us so we were able to ride Big Thunder Mountain and Indiana Jones the next day when they reopened. But I.J. seemed to be going down a lot… That always worries me….

My favorite ride in California Adventure is Soarin’ Over California. Although not a coaster, I just think it’s neat. I had been talking about it for weeks leading up to our trip! But it was down. Apparently it’s been down for months for refurbishment. Bummer…. But Cars Land is now open – that had been under construction last time I was there! So we headed over to ride Radiator Springs Racers!

Except a quarter through the ride…. it broke! And we had to get escorted off. At least in return they gave us Fast Passes to come back later in the day.

If this had been our first trip to the Disney Parks it would have been a huge FAIL! Luckily it wasn’t and we had a good time just walking around and people watching. If it were a Six Flags or other amusement park I wouldn’t have thought twice about all the hiccups. But it’s Disney!

For the RVers out there, we stayed at the Anaheim Resort and RV Park. It’s not an official Disney property. There doesn’t seem to be a Disney RV park in California. And it is a “parking lot”. But the staff is exceptional and the park is on the ART transportation route. That means you can buy cheap bus passes to get to the parks and surrounding attractions.

I may have poopooed Disneyland and California Adventure here because this one time it wasn’t up to par. Changing of the seasonal guard, maybe??? But it’s definitely worth a trip if you have kids and don’t want the brain hemorrhaging that is Disney World. Plus, California Adventure serves alcohol so you can walk around, wait in line, etc with a margarita, microbrew even a fancy glass of wine. And there are fantastic high-end restaurants and lounges.  One night we just had appetizers and drinks in the lounge at Carthay Circle in California Adventure, and it was to die for. 1920’s art deco-ish decor. Artfully crafted cocktails…. I had the Aviator.  Well worth it! Another night we had drinks before dinner at the Alfresco Tasting Terrace. Almost, but not quite, like you’re dining in Napa…