Disneyland Part 3

Don't worry. This is the last of the Disneyland posts. To start at the beginning, go here. Part 2 is here. I've combined days 3 and 4 since I didn't take nearly as many pictures these days. We mostly rode the same rides again while hitting some of the few we hadn't yet been on. Also, at the end of this post is a list of everything we did each day. I'm putting it at the end because it's a long list and I don't want you to feel obligated to read it. However, we kept track of everything so that I wouldn't forget anything when it came time to writing about it in this blog :)

Day 3 started with a visit to Pixie Hollow to meet Tinkerbell. We met Rosetta (another fairy that I don't really know about) first. I think Joseph has a little crush on Tinkerbell because he couldn't wait to meet her. She sat and talked to him for quite a while. Actually, she listened to him tell her about how he was a knight and he met Buzz. Anyway, the fairies were sweet and the kids enjoyed meeting them.

Pixie Hollow

Rosetta

Tinkerbell

Tinkerbell

 Marc and I each took a turn on Space Mountain! Man, was that a cool ride! Anna was so excited to ride it with me... and then the ride began. It's completely dark and indoors with lots of space noises. Let's just say I had to bribe her to stop crying in front of all the people in line when our ride was over. She did NOT want to ride it again with Marc, so he had to go by himself. While he was doing that, the kids and I played some games at the little arcade next to Space Mountain. At the end of day 4, Anna asked Marc to go on Space Mountain again. Unfortunately it was too late to get a Fast Pass and they didn't want to wait in the very long line, so she didn't get that chance. I think I'm glad they didn't go. I don't think the 2nd attempt would have been much better than the first. 


After the drama settled down, we waited in line for Autopia. This is a ride where you drive a car around a track. Joseph liked it. That's about it. Marc and I vowed never to wait in line for something like that again and I think Anna was indifferent. BORING! :)  

Joseph enjoying his car ride

We had to get the excitement level back up after Autopia, so we headed to Toontown where we found Minnie! After meeting Minnie, we got to go through her house again, which the kids loved! We played around Toontown for a while. The kids went to Goofy's house and Chip & Dale's Tree House. They also went through the S.S. Daisy Duck and rode the Gadget's Go Coaster again. 

Minnie Mouse

Minnie's couch

Mickey's car

Eating lunch

Goofy's piano

Goofy's chair

In line for the roller coaster

Climbing into Chip & Dale's Tree House

Coming out of the tree house

Aboard the S.S. Daisy Duck

We took a snack break and headed back to Fantasy Land to ride the Storybook Land Boats. This was a nice little boat ride that went through all the towns of the Disney characters. Anna enjoyed all the princess castles and Joseph liked when the train would drive by. 

Yum!

Mmmmmm!

Casey Jr. driving around the Storybook Land boats

Jasmine's palace

Cinderella's village and castle (Anna says this is Snow White's castle... I think I'm right, but she knows more about princesses than I do)

Pinocchio's village

Prince Eric and Ariel's castle

We headed over to Tom Sawyer Island to see what there was to do there. It was covered in caves, bridges, tree houses, and treasures! The kids could have stayed there all day! Anna raced across the bridges, but some of them were pretty wobbly, so Joseph took his time and held Marc's hand on most of them. They both got really brave going into the dark caves. Some of them had skeletons and things growling and rattling. They didn't seem to mind after a while. It's kind of a hidden treasure in Disneyland. If you ever go, don't skip Tom Sawyer Island!

Anna posing before going on the bridge

Anna at the top of a tree house

About to cross the wobbly bridge

Marc helped him along

Treasure!

More treasure!

Joseph decided to take a little nap while the rest of us snacked on Mickey Mouse shaped beignets. They were good, but not nearly as good as the beignets we got in Downtown Disney for breakfast 3 out of 5 mornings :) 
As we walked back towards Fantasy Land, we spotted Jasmine and Aladdin! Anna was ecstatic! Joseph missed it all. 

Beignet snack

Sleepy guy

Jasmine and Aladdin

We rode several of their favorite rides again before heading back to Disney California Adventure Park for our picnic and World of Colors water show. The picnic was yummy, but the weather was definitely getting cooler as we ate. Luckily, I packed their jackets for this day knowing that we'd be out later than usual and it gets chilly at night. I'm also VERY glad we had the jackets because we got wet at the water show. More on that in a bit. 

Silly faces during dinner

The kids' meals had cute cupcakes

More silly faces

Lucky mom!

We had some time before the water show, so we found the Wilderness Explorer Camp (From the movie Up). What another hidden treasure in Disneyland! The kids ran around for quite a while going through obstacles, sliding down log slides, crossing net bridges, and finding animal footprints. Anna was slower on the net bridges and Joseph was nearly running across them by the time we had to leave. 

"The wilderness must be explored! Caw Caw! Rawr!"

Sliding down the log slide

Smaller slide

Smaller slide again

Finding paw prints

Daddy helped her across the nets

Proud of himself for crossing the nets

Going through a giant tree stump

A log tunnel

Before the water show, we had to ride Ariel's Undersea Adventure again. Anna took more "pictures" too. Then we headed to the World of Colors water show. Basically, it's a massive water fountain show where they also project characters and scenes from movies on the mist from the fountains. It was cool! 2 problems though: 1) we got wet... thank goodness for the jackets. 2) the camera was getting wet so I didn't get many pictures. Oh well. I enjoyed the water show. It was like the Bellagio on crack! We called it a night after that. Another fun day in the books!

Taking her "pictures" on the Ariel ride

World of Colors

More World of Colors

Our final day of Disneyland started in the California Adventure Park where we completed the rides/shows we hadn't seen yet. The kids watch Disney Jr. at home and they had a Disney Jr. Live on Stage show here. Of course we had to see that one! They got to see their favorites like Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Little Einsteins, Jake and the Neverland Pirates, and Handy Manny (ok, we don't watch Handy Manny, but that was still part of the show). Right outside the show, we got to meet Jake! Nice timing! 

Waiting for daddy to get the stroller so we could go into the park

Jake and the Neverland Pirates

More Jake

Minnie's Birthday party

Jake

Jake

After the Disney Jr. Show, we headed to the Muppet's 3D show. Marc and I enjoyed that one a little more than Disney Jr... maybe because it was more our style? It was funny and the kids loved the 3D effects. We did the Monster's Inc. ride next, followed by all the Bug's Life rides. They were all pretty fun, but I think we all enjoyed the rides in Disneyland better than at California Adventure. One ride that I don't have pictures for that I wish I did was Soarin' Over California. It was a virtual hang-gliding ride that took us over all the sites to see in California. It ended with flying over Disneyland, of course. I loved it! Marc didn't get to go because Anna hated it and wouldn't ride with him. So, he opted to just go back over to Disneyland to ride the rides that the kids wanted to ride. If we ever go back, we'll do that ride again plus the bigger, faster coaster called California Screamin'! Both kids were too short, so nobody got to ride it. Next time! 

Muppets

Gonzo drove his motorcycle through the building

Ready for some 3D entertainment

They all have interesting looks on their faces :)

Francis' Lady Bug Boogie 

Tuck and Roll's Driving Buggies

Heimlich's Chew Chew Train

 Back to Disneyland... everything we did was a repeat of what we'd done before. The carousels, Winnie the Pooh ride, Toontown (just Joseph and myself), Big Mountain Railroad Roller coaster (just Anna and Marc... 4 times in a row!). Along the way, Joseph got to meet Tigger and Pooh. Anna and Marc were lucky to get to ride the roller coaster again; especially 4 times. It had broken down earlier in the day so they missed out on their Fast Passes. Poor Marc had to console a very upset little girl. They walked all the way across the park to ride something else and found it was too late to get Fast Passes, so they came back to the Big Mountain Railroad when it opened again (did I mention that Marc had an app to tell us how long each wait was and whether a ride was open or closed? Life saver!). So Big Mountain opened again and they got to ride it 4 times using Fast Passes since the ones before couldn't be used due to the ride breaking down. Not even 5 minutes after their last ride, they shut down the ride again. They are lucky they got to ride and didn't get stuck! Can you imagine consoling Anna if they had gotten stuck on that thing and had to walk off from the middle of the ride? Yikes! It all ended well though :)

Carousel again

Winnie the Pooh again

Tigger!

Pooh!

Goofy's car

Mickey's One Man Band

We tried to ride as many rides as we could before leaving since it was our last night. We did Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, Snow White's Scary Adventure, Alice in Wonderland, and Peter Pan's Flight to end the night. As we waited for our shuttle to come get us, the kids waved goodbye to Disneyland and told us all their favorite things. I sure hope they remember these things for a very long time! Writing this blog is one way I'm trying to help them to hold on to these wonderful memories! 


We ended the night by ordering pizza, turning off the lights in our room, and watching the Disneyland fireworks from our bed! What a great way to end an awesome trip! Thanks, Marc, for all your planning! I know I'll remember this the rest of my life. I'll do my best to make sure the kids remember it too! 

Giving Disneyland a goodbye hug

Saying goodbye

Pizza and fireworks

Watching fireworks... or making faces at herself... fun either way!

Last night in California. Dreaming of returning to Disneyland someday!

Sleeping Beauty!

5/15/12
Sleeping Beauty's Castle x 4
Peter Pan's Flight
King Arthur's Carousel
Pinocchio's Adventure x 3
Dumbo x 2
Casey Jr. Train
Mark Twain Steamboat
Big Mountain Railroad x 2
Pirates of the Caribbean
Winnie the Pooh x 2
It's a Small World
Princess Fantasy Faire x 2
Minnie's House
Mickey's House
Gadget's Go Coaster
Roger Rabbit Cars
Snow White's Scary Adventure x 2
Parade


5/16/12
Sleeping Beauty's Castle x 3
Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique
Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters
Snow White's Scary Adventure
Pinocchio's Adventure
Tea Cups
Alice In Wonderland
Ariel's Grotto
Ariel's Undersea Adventure
Mickey Mouse Ferris Wheel
Silly Symphony Swings
Met Jessie, Woody, and Buzz
Toy Story Midway Mania
King Triton's Carousel x 2
Parade
Mr. Toad's Wild Ride
Peter Pan's Flight


5/17/12
Pixie Hollow
Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage
Space Mountain x 2
Autopia
It's a Small World
Minnie's House
Mickey's House
Roger Rabbit Cars
Goofy's House
Gadget's Go Coaster
Chip & Dale's Tree House x 3
S.S. Miss Daisy
Storybook Land Boat Ride
Tom Sawyer Island
Big Mountain Railroad x 2
Met Aladdin and Jasmine
Pinocchio's Adventure x 2
Mr. Toad's Wild Ride
Parade
Picnic
Wilderness Explorer Camp
Ariel's Undersea Adventure
World of Colors


5/18/12
Disney Jr. Live on Stage
Met Jake
Muppets 3D Show
Mike and Sulley to the Rescue
Francis' Lady Bug Boogie
Tuck and Roll's Driving Buggies
Heimlich's Chew Chew Train
Soarin' Over California
Sleeping Beauty's Castle x 3
Pinocchio's Adventure
King Arthur's Carousel
Winnie the Pooh
Met Tigger and Pooh
Snow White's Scary Adventure x 2
S.S. Miss Daisy
Goofy's House
Minnie's House
Mickey's House
Gadget's Go Coaster
Peter Pan's Flight
Big Mountain Railroad x 4
Storybook Land Boat Ride
Mr. Toad's Wild Ride
Alice in Wonderland