There were tears in my eyes as I entered "the happiest place on earth" with my rag-doll Pearce, Lillie, and Axel.
Mickey's Toon Town was our first stop after riding the Disneyland Railroad. We LOVED toon town and the cartoonish architecture. I couldn't help but smile, and smile, and smile while we were in Toon Town! We got sucked into Roger Rabbit's Cartoon Spin because the building looked empty on the outside. Little did we know that the line zig-zagged through mazes INSIDE the building. Lesson learned. Luckily, it was only a 15 minute wait for our blunder.
More smiles with the Toon Town backdrop.
After driving for five hours, spending four hours at Disneyland to get our bearings for the week, and watching two parades, the kids just wanted to swim at our hotel. So, we let them. I could've stayed all night at Disneyland just soaking in the sights and sounds. But, it was their vacation too I suppose.
On Tuesday we were up bright and early and on the shuttle at 6:45am. We were the first ones in line at our gate for Disney California Adventures. Don't be deceived by the time stamp on the pics . . . I dropped the camera a few times so our time was a little off. We were really standing at the gate at 7:15 am. What troopers!
After Racing to Radiator Spring Racers and being one of the first to go on the ride for the day, Pearce realized that he doesn't like drag racing. Hopefully he remembers that when he's 16!
After Radiator Springs we ran to California Screamin' and had absolutely no wait time to get on. Lillie realized she doesn't like fast and furious roller coasters. Hopefully she remembers that when she's riding in cars with boys when she's 16! Axel and I loved the ride! Watch out world for when Axel turns 16!
Pearce and Lillie needed some calming down so we headed over to Bug's Life Land. That was just about the right speed for them. We loved the plant life (artificial and natural) and just felt so happy and calm with no lines to get on Heimlich's Chew Chew Train, Tuck and Roll's Buggies, Francis' Ladybug Boogie and Flik's Flyers.
On Francis' Ladybug Boogie
Heimlich's Chew Chew Train
Redwood Creek Challenge Trail where I did a face plant on the nets. Ouch.
I just loved the happy colors of these Jumpin' Jellyfish.
I'm realizing I'll have to leave out a lot of details or this post will turn into a book . . . So, I'll do my best to summarize. The rest of Tuesday was spent going on Soarin' over California (two times in a row because Pearce had to go potty right as we were buckling ourselves in. Silly boy. They gave Perry a pass to let me in with two others immediately after their first ride. That worked out good for us), Goofy's Sky School, Jumpin' Jellyfish, Little Mermaid, King Tritan's Carousel and the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail. Whew. By 2:00 we were ready to relax and enjoy the Aladdin Show. As the show started Pearce said he needed to go potty. Sigh. I just told him to pee his pants. (Mother of the year award coming right up!) So he did. Twenty minutes into the show he needed to pee again. Sheesh! Permission was granted for him to wet his already wet pants. We at least let the usher know of our "accident" when we left. If you go, avoid Row Q seat 111!
Radiator Springs at Night was Magical. I loved it as it took me back to my childhood. I grew up in Joseph City, Arizona on old Route 66. I love that the movie Cars brought some life back to Route 66. We stayed for the World of Color show at 9:45pm and were back on the shuttle to our hotel at 10:30. Axel's final request was, "Can we please sleep in?"
Wednesday: Axel giving Pearce a back massage as we were waiting for the shuttle at 7:45 am. Weren't we nice to let them sleep in?
We practically had Tomorrowland to ourselves when we arrived. We got right in to Star Tours and then did Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters twice in a row. We were surprised that later in the day people waited in line for that one for at least an hour. It pays to not sleep the day away people!
Smiles on Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters
A rare opportunity to get a picture with nobody else in the background.
After unsettling the nerves of the kids on Pirates of the Caribbean, the Haunted Mansion, and Splash Mountain, we took a nice break on Tom Sawyer's Island. What a perfect place to have lunch and explore away from the crowds.
Taking the stroller along was one of the best decisions we made. Who knew our stroller would make such a nice "double stroller" for our 8 and 5 five year old?
After a trip around the Island on Mark Twain's Steamboat we headed over to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. I convinced Perry and Pearce that it wasn't that scary of a roller coaster because I went on it over and over and over as a kid (the one thing I remembered from my trip 25 years ago!) They must've changed the ride because it seemed a lot faster with a lot more drops and turns than I remember. Pearce was not happy with me! Perry was a good sport but I think that strengthened his conviction that he does not like riding roller coasters. The kids were plum tuckered out by 3:00 pm so we gave them a break and let them swim at the hotel. They were in bed by 8:30pm. Yay!
Thursday's Magic Morning from 7-8am didn't work out quite as we had planned. We had to WAIT for the Peter Pan ride for 20 minutes which really threw us off. (We were spoiled the first three days with no waits longer than 15 minutes!)
Perry and Pearce on the "slow" tea cup.
Lillie and Axel rode with mom on the fast and spinning tea cup.
No lines for It's a Small World ride. Yay! We were all humming the tune the rest of the day!
Was the 25 minute wait for Storybook Land Canal Boats worth the wait?
We had convinced our kids (or so we thought) that they really didn't want to wait in line for a picture and autograph from people dressed up as Disney Characters. Luckily there was only one person ahead of us in the line.
Lillie's only request for all of the days at Disneyland was that she get a picture with Minnie Mouse. Mission accomplished!
We opted not to wait 45 minutes to ride Dumbo. The kids were okay to just get a picture with the cutie.
We took a break from Disneyland to play at Seal Beach. The kids had a blast getting plowed over by the waves and wind.
Waving to Uncle Paul in Japan.
Back at Disneyland we caught the 9:00 Fantasmic Show and then wore this big boy out. We took in the sights and sounds of Disneyland at night and tried our best to commit it all to memory. I was a little teary realizing our end was drawing nigh. Sigh. I guess all good things must come to end.
We got our latest start Friday morning and didn't get on the shuttle until 8:15. But when we arrived at Disney California Adventures we were off and running to Toy Story Mania. It's a good thing we ran. By the time we were off the ride the wait time was 45 minutes. We'll take running and looking like absolute fools with only 5 minute wait any day!
I convinced Lillie and Axel to ride on Mickey's Fun Wheel with me - much to their dismay. After it was over we realized it wasn't scary at all.
Axel meet Axel
We had to ride King Tritan's Carousel again so Pearce could ride the blue dolphin. Life was good again after that.
Paradise Pier with California Screamin' and Mickey's Fun Wheel in the background.
Lillie showing off the fact that, once again, we arrived at a ride with NO LINES. Have I mentioned that WE LOVED THE RIDE MAX APP?
Perfect photo op of Radiator Springs Racers. The sign above Pearce's head describes exactly how he was feeling on that ride.
As we were getting ready to head out, Mater's Junkyard Jamboree had a 5 minute wait. That was unheard of as every time we plugged it into Ride Max it always calculated a 45 minute wait. We opted not to do it until, by chance, we walked by at just the right time. That ended up being our very last ride and we all left with smiles. No tears on that one. I would save those for the final good-bye.
As luck would have it, we were able to get a picture with Pluto (which ended up being Pearce's favorite character) before we left. Our trip was complete.
A dream of mine has been fulfilled. Thanks to Perry and the kiddos for such a great trip. Here's hoping for more!
