Well. We planned the worst possible time to visit Disneyland for the first time. When I booked the trip last year, COVID-19 was not in the news. I had a lingering feeling not to plan the trip for spring break, wait until summer. Why wait? I ignored my instinct and planned it anyway. My sister got tickets for the kids and our parents.

Two weeks before our trip, our son became really sick with the flu. He recovered within a week, and we decided to continue on with the trip. The morning we were supposed to leave, the most gray-black clouds hung in the sky and it felt like an omen. We packed the car and headed out anyway. Just after passing Buckeye, AZ, it began to rain. I saw waterfalls pouring down the cliffs on the mountains just east of Quartzite! West of Blythe, and somewhere east of Indio we drove through the worst storm I have experienced. My husband drove 25 miles per hour in 5 percent visibility over parts of the I-10 that were washing out. Just as we came out of the storm and saw Indio, my phone blew up. Disneyland was closing due to COVID-19. 

Not my finest moment, there were curse words, but it made sense. Better to be safe than sorry. We drove to Anaheim anyway, and the kind front-desk worker at the Paradise Pier took notes in our file that we showed up for our reservation, and assured us we would be refunded. What now? We drove all the way to Disneyland, only to see the outside of the park. The kids handled it surprisingly well. I was more upset than they were. We booked an affordable hotel by Hermosa Beach and settled in. 

The next day we headed to the pier and beach and let the kids run around the shore, even though it was freezing outside. By the evening, restaurants and stores were shutting down. The next morning the breakfast buffet had closed down. Time to head home. We drove back two days earlier than planned, and came back to the news that the kids would not attend school again for the remainder of the year. 

And thus began our COVID-19 journey. Here are a few pics from the Disneyland trip that was not meant to be. And yes, I got a refund. Thank you Disney. We will be back.