On our way out of town, we nicked a butterfly with our car. Poor thing. I saw it fluttering towards our windshield and unlike other bugs that become an array of ugly splatters, my heart felt bad for this little creature. We watched its body careen towards the car and after the collision it fluttered off over the vehicle. Not my ideal way to start a vacation. I feel it’s a bit terrible to strike one of your favorite creatures any time, but it can put a damper on the start of a vacation.

A few miles later, I tried to forget the injured/deceased butterfly. His or her journey amid the pandemic was certainly easier than it has been to be human during the upheaval the world has seen since December 2019 and in our neck of the woods March 2020.

Armed with plenty of bottled waters, energy drinks, canned sparkling waters, Earth Balance vegan crackers (my Cheez-It replacement), Ritz crackers, and an assortment of protein bars, we limited our need to depend on fast food establishments and/or convenient, but way overpriced, gas station options for our road snack needs. The food and drinks we brought were not necessarily cheaper than these other options, but certainly healthier. Our planning, just as importantly, allowed us to make good timing from our home in Arizona to Anaheim, California, our home away from home for this particular vacation.

For our last Disneyland visit, we stayed at Disney’s Paradise Pier, but this time, we stayed at the Westin Anaheim Resort.

Switching gears from our planned Maui vacation to a quick vacation away in California was pretty easy, given the fact Disneyland allowed us to reuse tickets we purchased pre-pandemic for an April 2020 trip. The company’s generosity cannot be understated though as we reached the end of the yearlong extension earlier in the year and thought we’d have to repurchase tickets entirely to make the trip. Given our limited timeframe in California, Disneyland really was the purpose of our vacation, but we snuck in a few other outings. I was adamant about going to the beach, for one, and I wanted to try out a handful of restaurants I selected before the trip, most of which we ultimately did not make time to visit as we focused heavily on being in the park. My goal to visit El Matador State Beach was replaced by a visit to Leo Carrillo Dog Beach after our plans were dashed by a weekend triathlon I did not know would be going on as it was not listed on the state beach’s website.

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We lucked out that the beach was pretty empty. It provided us the perfect circumstance to get in a lot of beautiful photographs and really enjoy the beach without many distractions. We did not get the chance to soak in some sun, which I do not mind, but it was quite chilly. It was only 61 degrees when we arrived at the beach with a daily high for Malibu of 66. The cooler temperature influenced the timing of our departure from the beach more so than when more people came out. The handful of people that started to show up were mostly surfers, so we all had the experience we wanted without intruding on each other’s privacy and/or enjoyment.

There are times when we travel that I wish I was a travel show host. Seeing all the different options on the menu made it hard to decide and it would have been nice if someone else would foot the bill for some extra options. I’m far too indecisive. We shared the golden bags as our appetizer; these are filled with ground chicken and shrimp. The fried catfish dish my husband ordered was amazing, but rather spicy and the size and quality of the pork fried rice our daughter ordered was better than any other place I’ve ordered the dish. I’ve never cared much for papaya, but I went ahead and ordered the papaya salad as another way of preparation to hopefully overcome my aversion to the fruit. The green papaya, from this experience, is more enjoyable than when enjoying the fully ripened fruit. Before the trip, the only way I found I really liked papaya was when it is dried but it’s always bothered me how hard it can be to find it dried and not covered in sugar.

The influence of the pandemic was not hard to miss during our travels. I wish I could have snapped a better photo of Pepperdine University for you all. It was striking to see all the flags still up to honor the victims of the 9/11 attacks. Per the school’s website the flags were to be up for public viewing from September 9th to September 25th and visiting Malibu on the 26th, we just had serendipitous timing to view this beautiful memorial before the school took down their display.

I recognize there is so much more I could say about this trip and there will not be enough said about the state of the state of California. The last visit we had to California was in 2017 and a lot has changed since then. When we started to plan, I listened to a few podcasts on travel/life within LA County to better understand how the pandemic and California’s unhoused persons crisis could impact our visit. There has been a sharp increase in homelessness in LA and we only bore small witness to the problem, having seen a tent encampment up along the freeway and lots of debris in small scattered areas up the freeway as evidence people previously had been residing in those areas.

Additionally, California just experienced an oil spill off Huntington Beach, a beach we could have visited a lot more easily during our trip as it’s closer to Disneyland than is Malibu. When we were by the ocean, we were blessed with beautiful pristine shoreline and birds soaring around us in small clusters, except for those that looked along the shoreline for food. It was beautiful and yet this tragedy is not so far removed from our visit. Again, a simple matter of timing. I love the ocean and many ocean creatures are often among my favorite animals. It burdens me to think what the scale of the roughly 126,000 gallons of oil spilled into the ocean will cost us in animal life.

This tragedy is why I was starting to second guess sharing my recent trip with you all.

I did not want to come off as insensitive sharing what had been a joyful reprieve from the cloister of pandemic life. My reason for sharing the trip remains the same. Travel is one of the largest nonessential forms of spending for many individuals and it helps to have a more representative idea of the experience than what social media influencers portray because so many rely on sponsors and ads to pay for their experiences. I just have a normal job, working in higher education. Instead of a 9-to-5, it is a 6:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. kind of life. I was happy to escape from it for a bit, because the pandemic created sudden changes in policies that impact my students using VA education benefits. I’ve kept up with the pace, but before this trip the last getaway my family had was in December 2019. We were overdue for a break.

My planning for the trip mostly balanced out. I won’t share the full details of costs to better respect my family’s discretionary spending decisions, but going to Disneyland is not entirely cheap. I can see why some people paid for annual passes in previous years and others are buying into Disneyland’s new Magic Key Pass. Right now, if you do not have a Magic Key Pass, tickets are as high as $104 for a single day to as low as $72 a day if you go for 5 days, costing you a total of $360 per person. By comparison, from Disneyland’s website an Enchanted Key Pass for a person 3 years and older is $649 per year up to $1,399 per year for the more exclusive Dream Key Pass. The company also has different rates for Southern California and Californian residents that requires a sign in for more info. We were not onboard with shelling out extra money to opt-in for an annual pass, but for many individuals and families, Disneyland is such a regular part of their lives it could represent a significant cost savings even if it is more upfront to afford such a leisure experience.

My planning went astray in regards to parking and being prepared to pay for extra fees. I forgot to ask my husband who made the travel arrangements if the hotel charged for parking. It does. In fact, it’s $35 a day whether you use the valet or self-park. We paid $175 for five days for our car to essentially have its own vacation. This amount can usually be used for groceries and/or dining out in our local area. That was a bummer to pay for, but now I know better. For another short–extremely short–trip we are considering later this year, we will likely Uber in that local area or walk around than pay the parking fee, which is even higher than this Anaheim resort. Regarding fees, we paid Anaheim City Tax, the ATID (Anaheim Tourist Improvement District) Assessment, and CA Tourism for a total of $6.02 per day. The total of $30.10 is more representative of what my family spends for a meal from Chic-Fil-A, but again, some families don’t have $30.10 lying around. I know I have the privilege to reduce one dining out experience from our budget in order to cover this unexpected trip cost.

My family and I were treated quite well by the staff at the Westin and in turn, we treated the staff well. We were courteous guests, wearing disposable masks properly without complaint to protect the health of others. My husband and I are fully vaccinated, but we often wear our masks in solidarity with our daughter who cannot yet be vaccinated. The hotel does permit vaccinated persons to go unmask in their building, for those who are interested in knowing their options. I would recommend anyone considering traveling during the pandemic to do their research. There are some restrictions, like how Disneyland mandates masking in indoor settings, but not outdoors, and some places have returned to limited indoor dining capacities as another means to reign in/end the pandemic. Do your research. It also never hurts to just bring extra disposable masks in case rules change during your trip!

The food at Westin’s Tangerine Room was pretty great, but I think photos really do it more justice than I can with my writing.

And, finally, for the Disneyland fans. There is just too much wonderfulness that is Disney.

I am only interested in showing off Galaxy’s Edge as far as attractions are concerned. It was what I was waiting to see when we planned this trip last year, and it did not disappoint.

And while I indicated I would only be talking about Galaxy’s Edge, I do have one non Star Wars experience to share today. From my limited experiences with Splash Mountain, I’ve found people either love the five-story drop at the end or they don’t. Any idea how I feel?