April 2026 Vacation Part 3

As I continue the story of our April vacation, we’re in the week that will end with our May vacation 🤩 It does not escape me how much of a Blessing it is to be able to have the health and financial ability to be having vacations with my best friend. This weekend, we will have our fourth vacation together in an only 9 month span. Let that sink in for a moment 🥰

I thought I would take a nap during our mid-day break. But I was having such an amazing day that I was too excited to take a nap. Part of me was concerned that afternoon whether or not I’d be able to make it through the second half of our day. As I mentioned in part 2, I woke early and hadn’t had much sleep the night before. That was unusual for me. But as it turned out, my concerns were for not. I didn’t skip a beat the rest of the day.

We headed back to Disneyland resort around 4, I think. We wanted to be in DCA by 5. We had a little trouble finding parking. We had to drive around the garage twice before we found a spot. On the second pass, we found a spot that was a bit of a walk. But it was also a rather easy spot to find at the end of the day. Once again, security was smooth. But the tram took a while. The one that was there and loaded when we got up to the loading area was being refueled. A few others passed by in the loop. But by the time that tram was fueled and on its way, we had to wait a while for an empty one to come back around again.

Once we finally got a tram, we were on our way back to the esplanade. This time, we took a right to go into Disney’s California Adventure. I had Cherie choose the line at the ticket gate this time. And it didn’t take very long to get in. I need her to choose from now on. She chooses wisely…LOL

Our first task was to get our tacos and rice 🤩 We were a little later than 5pm because of the parking and tram situations. But it all worked out. The only real trouble we had was that I had a moment where I couldn’t find Cherie…LOL It all worked out, though. We had our traditional tacos and rice and all was right with the world once again…hehehe

With full stomaches, we made our way over to our traditional spot for the DCA selfie video. There was a Dapper Day/Food and Wine Festival concert going on. But our spot was still available. It was fun hearing the music while we were having our selfie fun across from Mickey’s Death Wheel…LOL

As we were walking away from that area, I spotted a PhotoPass photographer who wasn’t busy. We stopped and ask to have our picture taken. As it turned out, it was a MagicShot only location. I was a bit bummed that we weren’t going to have a nice portrait taken. But the MagicShot turned out so fun! And quite related to what we were going to be doing for Animation Academy later. We did’t know what either was going to be at the time, thought…hehehe

After a little walking around, we meandered into the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail. I’m glad we were able to do that again. It seems like they close it down often when we are there…LOL This was only our second day being able to even do it…LOL We did the little scavenger thing they had for the new movie, “Hoppers.” We had a little bit of trouble locating the codex to unscramble the word. But a Cast Member was kind enough to point us to the right location. We had passed it and completely missed it earlier on our trek…hehehe Our code word was ROYAL…hehehe

Next, we did the Little Mermaid ride. Did I sing again? I’m sure I did. I think I was even singing the concert songs that were still going on for Dapper Day/Food and Wine…LOL I can’t help myself…LOL I appreciate that Cherie doesn’t seem to mind my singing 🤭

After we were off Mermaid, it was almost sunset…and we all know what that means, right?!? Cher-Boom!!! That’s right, the nightly ritual of the neon lights coming on and “Sh-Boom” being played for all to hear, in Cars Land 🤩 This is one of my all time favorite traditions 🤩 We got some really fun videos 🥰

Another of my favorite traditions is Animation Academy 🤩 We caught one of the last of the day. This one turned out to connect to our MagicShot from earlier. We drew a side profile of Remy 🤭 The drawing actually looks more like Cherie’s dog, and my deer pal, Bambi 🤣 And I don’t mean that her or I drew Remy poorly. I mean that even the Disney artist’s version looks like our pal, Bambi…LOL Some 3D animated characters are best left in 3D, I suppose…hehehe At least we have an idea of how to draw our deer pal, right?! HAHAHA j/k

Upon leaving the Animation Academy building, we cut through over to Hollywood 🤭 Monsters Inc. had a short wait. So we decided to ride it. This was Cherie’s first time riding it. I’m glad we did because they plan to close it soon to make room for some change they are making. It’s fun and I’m looking forward to the time we will do a Mike and Sully dapper bounding 🤭

DCA was just about to close when we got off Monsters. I got a water and coffee and we started to walk around Pixar Pier just as the night show was beginning. That meant all of the lights around Pixar Pier were turned off…LOL We had a dark walk…LOL But we also had a sweet moment where we talked about how grateful the both of us are for this friendship and fellowship. God truly has Blessed us with each other. I’m glad when we have these moments where we talk about that and give our thanks to God 🥰

We hoped to see Cars Land one last time for the evening. Our first attempt to go see the neon was blocked off…basically they refused us! How rude! HAHAHA But we were able to go through the main entrance to the area. But since the park was closing, we still didn’t get to see the whole area. That’s okay, we’ll have another chance this weekend 🤩

Since DCA was closed now, we made our way back over to Disneyland. That’s such a loooooong walk…LOL j/k I love how close the parks are to each other…hehehe Our first order of business was to ride the train all the way around the park. That was an amazing journey! We saw fireworks! Cherie did some shadow puppeteering. She’s amazing at that, by the way 🤩 And we saw the Grand Canyon diorama thing that is on the train’s path just before you get back to Main Street station. I’m so glad to have experienced the train with Cherie 🥰

On sort of a whim, we chose to do Matterhorn. I am so very glad we gave that a try. I never thought I’d ever ride it, actually. I love rollercoasters. And it is a first of its kind. But I had heard it was pretty rough; which is quite true. But my back didn’t have any trouble with it at all. It was fun riding it at night too!

We were finished with the parks after Matterhorn. So, we made our way back to the final attraction of a Disney adventure…the tram ride back to the parking garage 🤭

I really enjoy the way we do Disney. There isn’t any rush to do anything. We just walk around and check wait times. If they are good for us, we do the attraction. If they are a bit long, we keep on walking…hehehe The experience is pretty laid back and exactly the way I love doing Disney.

Cherie, I’m so grateful that we get to experience these things together. What we once dreamed of doing together are now memories we both cherish. Thank you for building these memories with me 🤗❤️

That’s it for our Spring Dapper Day at Disney 😔 BUT WAIT…THERE’S MORE!!! That’s right! I have more to tell in the next part. Because our April vacation isn’t quite over yet!!! So don’t turn that dial! HAHAHA