Because there is no charge to get into Downtown Disney, we can shop at our leisure and not feel like we're 'missing out' on something. Who wants to buy a Disneyland ticket to spend time in the souvenir shops? Not I, said the Dog.
I should probably mention here that we woke up to rain, rain and more rain. It had not rained on us AT ALL for the four days that we were at Legoland and Disneyland, but now it had finally come, and there was no sign of letting up. We were extremely blessed.
The morning after our three days of perfection was spent sleeping in (a little), packing up (while Seth worked on his Jedi skillz),
then walking over to Downtown Disney for some leisurely souvenir shopping. Up to this point, Seth and I were the only ones who had already picked up our souvenirs, so the rest of the family was on tap to pick theirs up. The first stop was at World of Disney, where Stacey got herself a foxy little Disneyland hoodie and David picked up a challenging Disneyland Rubik's Cube (alas, no photos).
then walking over to Downtown Disney for some leisurely souvenir shopping. Up to this point, Seth and I were the only ones who had already picked up our souvenirs, so the rest of the family was on tap to pick theirs up. The first stop was at World of Disney, where Stacey got herself a foxy little Disneyland hoodie and David picked up a challenging Disneyland Rubik's Cube (alas, no photos).
I should probably mention here that we woke up to rain, rain and more rain. It had not rained on us AT ALL for the four days that we were at Legoland and Disneyland, but now it had finally come, and there was no sign of letting up. We were extremely blessed.
The girls had had their eyes on some special Downtown Disney Build-a-Bears since the evening we arrived in Anaheim (see Trip Report, Day 2), so the next stop was the Build-a-Bear workshop. Sarah picked out a simple but elegant ursus with a special Disney logo on it, while Hannah went for the much more fun bear with multi-colored Classic Mickey spots (we don't have more photos of this because a certain four-year old threw a fit because he couldn't have a second souvenir, and a certain parent chose not to cave in. The consequence left only one parent in the store armed with the video camera, hence few stills).
After we said our final goodbyes to the Disneyland Resort complex, we piled in the minivan and headed north toward Valencia, where Stacey's brother, Nathan, lives. We caught a late lunch at In-N-Out burger (yes, I had a Double Double Animal Style, Cheese Fries and a Neapolitan Shake--thanks for the tip, Erin), then tried to weave our way through Friday afternoon, rainy, holiday weekend traffic in Los Angeles. We failed.
After we said our final goodbyes to the Disneyland Resort complex, we piled in the minivan and headed north toward Valencia, where Stacey's brother, Nathan, lives. We caught a late lunch at In-N-Out burger (yes, I had a Double Double Animal Style, Cheese Fries and a Neapolitan Shake--thanks for the tip, Erin), then tried to weave our way through Friday afternoon, rainy, holiday weekend traffic in Los Angeles. We failed.
We crossed our way west from I-5 to the 405, which was no better, then crept northward. Finally, after about 3.5 hours of creeping, we pulled off at Santa Monica Boulevard in search of the Los Angeles Temple. We found it! While some temples look smaller in real life than they do in the photos (e.g. San Diego, albeit a gorgeous temple), the Los Angeles temple is actually way bigger and more beautiful in person than the photos are able to depict. The added bonus was that they had their Christmas lights up--very nice.
We spent a little more than an hour at the visitors' center, then piled back into the car (and the traffic) and inched our way north to Valencia. All told, we spent about 4.5 hours in the car to get from South L.A. to North L.A. I was beginning to think that California was a totally awesome place to live because they have Disneyland AND In-N-Out Burger, but the traffic pretty much killed it for me. I love Colorado.
We spent a little more than an hour at the visitors' center, then piled back into the car (and the traffic) and inched our way north to Valencia. All told, we spent about 4.5 hours in the car to get from South L.A. to North L.A. I was beginning to think that California was a totally awesome place to live because they have Disneyland AND In-N-Out Burger, but the traffic pretty much killed it for me. I love Colorado.
After we (finally!) got checked in at the Magic Mountain Holiday Inn Express, we headed into Valencia and met Nathan for dinner. Good food, good company.
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