Disneyland

We started the holiday season with a flourish this year and visited Disneyland for 2 days! We have been saving up in our Disneyland jar for 3 years and finally (with the surprise blessing of a reimbursement from some of Randy's work expenses that we were not expecting) had enough to take the trip. Grandma Arlene came along too! I'll let the pictures tell the rest of the story! Starting our morning with Mickey! First stop? Space Mountain (the first of four times). Waiting for Dumbo...only about 10 minutes! Big Thunder Mountain Railroad! Violet too! This time she was tall enough to ride every ride but one on the Disneyland side. And boy did she LOVE to ride the rides! Violet was mystified with the Nemo submarine! We stopped for dinner at the Golden Horseshoe and took a table upstairs to watch the show. The kids clapped along and laughed at all the silly jokes. After dinner it was dark...the perfect time to ride Small World. I love that ride! Watching the fireworks from Main Street, hot chocolates and ciders in hand! The end of a fantastic day! Just can't wait...what fun awaits us on Day 2? Back on Buzz Lightyear...the kids could not get enough. I think we went 6 or 7 times. The Matterhorn! Riding the carousel at California Adventures. The second morning we headed over to California Adventures for a while. A 2-day park hopper ticket is only $10 more than a 2-day Disneyland ticket, so we paid the extra to play in the Bug's Life section and see the Aladdin show in the Hyperion theater (a 50 minute Broadway-quality musical WELL worth your hour). But aside from that, I have yet to be greatly impressed with this "side" of the park. Seemingly half the park was "under construction", the MaliBoomer is GONE (Randy and my favorite ride in past years) and because the rides are so limited, the rides that were open had very long lines. Toy Story 4-D Adventure was an hour wait, which in the summer or on a weekend is not a big deal. But when you go in the winter, on a weekday, waiting for 20 minutes is about the maximum. Not to dissuade you from visiting California Adventures, but...if you've only got one day, and ESPECIALLY if it is the Christmas season, choose the real Disneyland. All that said, the kids enjoyed our few hours in that park. We rode on the Symphony Swings (Violet favorite for the day), the Mickey Fun Wheel (previously called the Sun Wheel), and Randy and I took Audrey and Isaac on California Screamin' while Grandma took Violet back to the swings, the Jumpin' Jellyfish, and the carousel again. Tuck & Roll bumper cars. Heimlich's Chew Chew Train. Climbing through Sleeping Beauty's castle. Randy and Arlene didn't know there was an actual staircase up, over, and down, through the castle! Isaac at Jedi Training Academy. He took his choosing VERY seriously. Isaac was SOOO excited to fight Darth Vader! Waiting for the Christmas Fantasy Parade (don't be fooled, Isaac wasn't really sleeping). We got great seats right along the curb and had lots of characters come say hello to us. Randy and Isaac got a bunch of fake snow dumped on their heads by Goofy, and Isaac got asked to the ball from one of Cinderella's ugly step-sisters. He got all embarrassed and shook his head "no". We loved the parade! Violet was enthralled with the princesses and the girls with snowflake costumes on roller skates. And, of course, they had Santa on the last float, which Violet pointed out as "the real Santa". After the parade we headed back on our favorite ride one more time (Buzz Lightyear), then over to the New Orleans side for some dessert. Unfortunately, the restaurant we headed to was closed (no beignets...so sad), but the fireworks show as seen over the water was a fantastic view! The kids were so exhausted. We stopped at the bathrooms on the way out, took the shuttle to our van, changed the kids in their pajamas, and they were asleep before we stopped 10 miles down the road for a Starbucks coffee to keep Randy and I awake on the drive home (4 hours). What a way to start the holiday!