Disneyland and Aulani Trip Report - Days 1 and 2 Yucca Valley and Disneyland
I hadn't planned to write up a trip report for this trip, but then I kept getting asked so here it is. Happy now!?
Our trip began in California on Friday May 31. We flew out to Ontario airport, rented a car and from there made a quick stop for dinner and a brief unofficial visit to Scripps College so Emmaline could get a feel for the vibe. At this point we've done several campus visits and they are all pretty similar so we felt like we could get a feel for the campus without a full-fledged tour. She loved Scripps and it's jumped close to the top of her list!
From there we drove to our AirBnB in Yucca Valley, CA to stay overnight. As a kid, I spent a fair amount of time with my paternal grandmother at her house in the desert. She loved the desert and when her ashes came to me when I was cleaning out my dad's stuff after he died, I knew that one day I would need to take them back to Joshua Tree.
The last time I was out in Joshua Tree was in 2006 (just after running the inaugural Disneyland Half Marathon) and there had just been a fire. Even 8 years later, you can still see the evidence. The desert is slow to regrow. But it's still beautiful and there are still plenty of Joshua trees.
My relationship with my grandmother was a little complicated. She was often cold, passive aggressive and set in her ways. But she also was incredibly talented and loved me in her own way. She was a phenomenal artist and costume designer and I have fond memories of driving around the desert in her dune buggy. When I was a kid, she loved reading me books with all the voices. She was the first person to read me The Hobbit and Winnie the Pooh.
On Saturday morning we drove went to take a quick look at her old house. It looks just like I remember it! Then we continued on to Pioneertown Mountains Preserve to find a nice spot off the trail. We found a good spot and spread her ashes there in the desert she loved.
We jumped back in the car and headed west, stopping in Riverside for lunch before visiting another campus. At Chapman we used their app to go on a self-guided tour, which was pretty cool. Emmaline liked Chapman as well and will definitely apply there.
After that we checked in at the Villas at Disneyland Hotel. I returned the rental car and Ubered back to the hotel and we relaxed and got settled. We spent our first evening at Disneyland park and enjoyed a parade, rode a few rides and had dinner with an old friend that I went to college with. It was great to reconnect with her and her husband (who was also a theatre major at CU with us) and enjoy a meal at Club 33, which was super cool and definitely a unique opportunity.
We watched Fantasmic, which is such a great show and brings back memories. My dad loved that show. Actually being back at Disneyland was a little bittersweet since the last time I was there was 11 years ago on with my mom on her birthday. We ended up closing the park down and then doing some shopping at Downtown Disney before returning to the room and falling into bed around 2 AM.
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