As I mentioned in my previous post, over the next several blog posts, I will talk about different aspects of our trip to California last week for the Disneyland Half Marathon weekend. Starting today with our overall trip…

We headed to California on a Wednesday morning from Atlanta. We were aiming to get out there by 1pm (Pacific Time) so that we could get in some time in the parks for the first day. Fortunately, our room at the hotel was already good to go, so we were able to drop off our bags before heading to the parks. Our hotel was in a great location, literally a 10 minute walk to the front of the Disneyland/California Adventure entrance.

Over the next 5 days, we spent the majority of our time between the parks, Downtown Disney and running engagements. Here are some of the highlights from our trip (not including the Half Marathon race and the Cigna Blogger meet-up).

• We had a dinner reservation on Thursday evening at the Blue Bayou Restaurant in New Orleans Square. The atmosphere and food were fantastic! And we had a Disney Gift Card, which covered the whole meal. I think this will be a must stop each time we are out there.

• Watching the nighttime entertainment, from Paint the Night Parade to World of Color. We were able to catch parts if not most of the nighttime entertainment. We’ve seen these shows already, but it’s always fun to watch them.

• Cars Land in California Adventure. I love this section of the park. It’s maybe my favorite land in all of the Disney parks. Between the overall theming to the Radiator Springs ride, it’s just flat out amazing. Plus at night, it’s magical.

• #WeRunSocial meet-up. I love the running community, and this group of runners is some of the best people I’ve had the opportunity to meet over the past few years.

• Speaking of #WeRunSocial, we’ve made some great friends through the running community. I loved getting to hang out a little more with some great people, including Justin & Devin, Carlee & Ryan, AJ & Ivie, Brandi, Linzie and more!

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• Spending time in both parks during the last weekend of the 60th anniversary celebration. We were very fortunate to be at Disneyland twice last year during the 60th anniversary celebration, and then again last weekend to close out the celebration.

• Finally…my favorite part of the trip was having 5 days away from our normal routine with my amazing wife Rachel. We’ve both been very busy with work this summer, so this time was very needed.