On Friday, Sarah and I decided to get out of the house and visit the Ice House Canyon Trail on Mount San Antonio. Overall, I think we did more walking that day than we have since March. We turned back at about 0.8 miles in, since that was 30 minutes of walking and we didn’t bring any water. Unfortunately, we found out that the titular Ice House was only 0.9 miles in, so we’ll definitely have to come back another day.
Safety-wise, this is a very narrow trail, so it’s impossible to effectively distance from passers. Fortunately, about 3/4 wore masks while passing, which is not perfect but also better than I expected.
I took a few photos along the hike to share, enjoy!
Last time, Sarah and I went to the big island of Hawaii during the late December holiday season. We wanted to avoid touristy things this time around, so we opted for mid-January. It turns out, that’s still peak tourism season, but there were less cruise ship arrivals this time, and we were avoiding tourist things anyway, so it all worked out.
Overall, it was great to see Mom and her friends again, and to hang around the Kona district again. Here are some of my favorite photos:
Yesterday, Sarah and I visited Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge again after first visiting a few months ago. This time, we were able to visit Oga’s Cantina a few times, and finally sample most of the drinks. It’s only been a few months sure, but it doesn’t look worn down at all, in fact it looks no different, probably due to the clever choice of basing it on an already worn down location.
I just got back from our annual Automattic Grand Meetup in Orlando, Florida. We had over 800 employees from across the globe, suddenly filling 1 hotel for the week. I love building things in person with people I usually only communicate with via text (and the occasional GIF). It can be a bit overwhelming, but I always walk away with a few new friends.
Speaking of that, this was my first time working closely with my new team. I used to only support Jetpack, but now I participate in public support for Jetpack, WordPress.com, WooCommerce, Akismet, VaultPress, Gravatar, WordAds, Crowdsignal, and Simplenote! Our team is almost evenly spread across timezones, so we don’t often get a chance to be online together, much less in the same room for a week. 🙂
We built and learned quite a bit, and though we have no specific announcements yet, please watch the blogs of the above products for exciting news. Oh, and did you know we acquired Tumblr? So, the Tumblr Blog too! As for myself, I have a few photos to share:
In case you’re wondering, that last photo is of our very talented band of Automatticians.
Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge is the newest themed land inside Disneyland Park. Sarah and I visited a few days ago with a few friends, and for a Star Wars fan, the experience is simply breathtaking. Imagineers have truly outdone themselves here, as Galaxy’s Edge has a look that does not match any other land in the park, it’s hard to describe, but it doesn’t look fake. It really feels like you’re walking through Black Spire Outpost.
The first things you’ll probably notice as you enter Galaxy’s Edge are that the buildings are suitably weathered and most are unmarked (you’ll need the Disneyland Mobile App to get around, or just try every automatic door), most products in the outdoor market area have a very handmade look to them (like they were built by the folks who run the shops), ships are docked throughout, Stormtroopers are often patrolling the area, and the official playlist really ties it all together.
In particular, the Stormtroopers actually interact and improvise with the crowd, which is not something I’ve seen in any other part of Disneyland, outside of scheduled (and mostly scripted) events. This video isn’t mine, but it’s adorable:
If you’re planning to visit Galaxy’s Edge soon, here are my recommendations:
Get to Disneyland when it opens, and visit Galaxy’s Edge first. You’ll want to experience walking through it while attendance is low.
If you want to even see the inside of Oga’s Cantina, book your reservation in the app as soon as you enter the park. We weren’t interested in drinking (yes, they serve themed cocktails, beer, and wine) at 8 AM, so we made the mistake of waiting. Every time we checked until close, reservations were booked 4 hours out, so we had to skip this one.
Eat in Galaxy’s Edge. The themed food is a bit unusual compared to the rest of Disneyland, but it’s the best food in the park by far.
You’ll want to build your own Lightsaber (why else did you come?), so book your reservation for Savi’s Workshop in the app as soon as you enter the park. Reservations are not as competitive as the Cantina (due to the $200 cover charge, I assume), but you won’t want to miss this. Contrary to rumors spread by people who obviously haven’t even been to Galaxy’s Edge, the parts are metal and the final product has a very solid weight. If you don’t believe me, find any video of the experience, and you’ll inevitably hear someone drop a part.
Photos don’t do Galaxy’s Edge justice, especially mine, but here’s a small gallery:
If you live in California, or you’re planning to visit soon, visit Disneyland and Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. You won’t be disappointed!
