Monday morning. Bright and early, got the kids in the car and off we went. Disneyland opened at 9am that morning and we left the house around 8:15am. Later than I would have liked. But it's slow moving two kids! The drive there is really easy and quick, maybe only 10-15 minutes on the freeway. Here the kids are on the tram, super excited! It was kind of chilly too - my FAVORITE Disney weather. We were riding the tram by 8:45am.
First ride was Peter Pan. This ride is inexplicably always ridiculously crowded. The park had literally just opened and even then the line was snaking around quite a bit. Still shorter than I have seen it - so we got in line. We don't touch the others like Snow White or Mr. Toad's.
Dumbo! Barely a wait!
Teacups! Walked right on!
Tyler wanted to spin fast, but then got dizzy.
Katelyn looks a bit frazzled here too!
Got off the ride and walked right onto Alice in Wonderland.
Then off to Small World. Katelyn was very excited that she was about to see Ariel in there. The kids were both excited when the clock started chiming and the little guys came out at 10:15am.
Next we headed to Toon Town and took some pictures with friends.
And then Gadget's Rollercoaster! I was excited to take Katelyn on this for the first time. She's tall enough! She's probably been tall enough for a while, come to think about it? Tyler sat by himself and we sat in front of him. She really liked it!
Then off to Buzz Lightyear we went. Both kids wanted to shoot (of course) and I found myself wishing there was a 3rd gun. Haha!
Lunch break - Turkey leg, Tyler's favorite! Boy, I was getting a bit tired though.
After lunch we took it easy and watched the show at the Enchanted Tiki Bird Room. Check out Tyler's smile - reminds me of his crazy passport photo when he was much younger!
By this point, Katelyn was getting pretty tired. It was about 12:30pm. We decided to go on Pirates of the Caribbean. I held Katelyn and she fell asleep while we waited in the short line. Got on the ride and she slept the whole time until we were pulling back into the mini dock to unload. Then she woke up and started insisting that she wanted to go on the ride. Oops. We were able to distract her by heading onto the wooden raft to Tom Sawyer's Island at 1pm. At least she got a little nap in and was in better spirits! How cute are these two?
This is them saying "arrgghhhh" and making pirates motions.
I'm not normally a fan of this Island since there's barely any shade, it's just too hot! It was Katelyn's first time though, and Tyler was really excited to show her all the caves he had discovered on his last trip here with Jordan. He even took her to the tree house at the top of the island.
Alright! Enough of Disneyland, I think we had done everything we wanted (everything that both kids could go on together with me anyway). Off to California Adventure. Only plan was to watch the 2pm showing of the new Disney Jr. Live! live show. We got there just in time to get in for that showing, but ended up with horrible seats behind huge people. Couldn't see anything really. Felt bad because Katelyn LOVES Sophia the 1st and Doc McStuffins.
Consolation prize? The TowMater ride! By this time the park was starting to get busy and I was definitely starting to get tired.
After the ride, the kids each got churros and off we went home. Left the park by 4pm. Both kids knocked out quick in the car and I was very thankful that I remembered to put an extra mug of coffee in the car for the drive home. Success!
Day 2. Tuesday. With Katelyn off to school, Tyler and I set off even earlier this morning. Easier with just one kid! Got to the parking garage before 8am and were riding the tram by 8:15am! Whoohoo! I had a plan of attack for the day - ride all the mountains we could, and save Ca Adventure's Radiator Springs Racers for a possible return trip on Thursday. (Yes, I know, I sound insane don't I?). Tyler was very excited to have his own day.
Got a Fastpass for Star Tours right when we got there and rode it as well. (Found out later that they are now enforcing the return times for the FPs. Doh!).
Next was Matterhorn Bobsleds. Tyler has never been on this ride and he is tall enough. The height limit on this ride is higher than Space Mountain's. He was not excited at all and actually quite scared. Will had prepared him the night before about the Ice Monsters in there. I told him we were going on it and that was that. Haha! I haven't been on this ride FOREVER and the ride was like 10-15 min. Ridiculous, right? When we first got off the ride he was pretty shaken up - not about the speed of the ride, but of how many times that darn ice monster guy made an appearance! I don't blame him. But he didn't mind the ride!
We had wanted to go on Space Mountain before we did Matterhorn but they had just closed the ride for some repairs. After Matterhorn, we walked back to check and they had just opened it again. How perfect was our timing? We seriously just walked through the entire line and got on the ride. Tyler was NOT a fan of this ride. He doesn't like that it's so dark and he can't see where the one (or 2?) little falls are. He doesn't mind the speed, but just likes to know when something is coming.
Got off the ride and got some popcorn. The vendor was really nice and split my $4 popcorn into two separate holders, with each being almost full. SWEET!
We were trying to decide what ride to go on next when Tyler suggested, Hey.. Maybe... Matterhorn again? Haha! Turns out he actually really liked it! Yay!
Afterward we used our FastPasses to go on Autopia. Line was kind of long and the FastPass doesn't get you too far. We waited for a while, only to find that the ride was closing down too for maintenance. Argh! We had given our FastPasses away too! Took quite a while for everyone to get out of line and I (along with another family) stopped to ask the clueless castmember at the entrance about our getting our FastPasses back. We waited really patiently (most other people left) and were finally rewarded with some Passes that were good on any ride in the park (except Matterhorn, for whatever reason). Sweet! Nothing left in Disneyland so we headed over to CA Adventure. 11:45am by now. Straight to the Adventure Trail based from the movie Up! We've never been in there before so Tyler was really excited. It's pretty cool. You get a pamphlet with different tasks to do and then once you complete them all you get a prize (a Wilderness Badge sticker). Activities included climbing down these nets (which I actually fell down doing - I was trying not to spill my free popcorn!)...
.. a giant log tunnel...
..ziplining! Super cool actually. Check out the video!
...rock climbing...
...and a large log slide! We played in here for quite a while before heading off to the rest of the park.
Tyler's favorite ride here is the Toy Storia Midway Mania ride. Located inconveniently in the HEART of the park. All the way inside. Ugh. We walked all the way in and grabbed a frozen lemonade on the way (another one of Tyler's favorite amusement park snacks!). The line felt a bit long - took about a half hour and we were on the ride by 12:30pm.
So excited!
Got off the ride and Tyler decided that he wanted to go again. I think usually I'd scoff at the idea but, hey, why not? We got back in line and Tyler got to play on my iPhone while I started thinking about going home soon.
Line wasn't too bad, definitely longer than before though. 45 minutes instead? Back on the ride by 1:20pm. This line usually is much crazier.
Then we headed over to Soaring Over CA and used our FastPasses to get on pretty quick. Like my FastPass prowess? It's about to backfire though - stay tuned! This is the perfect ride to relax and rest your feet. Plus it's so nice and air conditioned inside!
I had my set of FastPasses I got first thing that morning so we headed back to the Disneyland side to go on Star Tours one last time and then maybe another ride with the passes I had gotten from Autopia's closing. Wouldn't you know it - we were turned away from Star Tours since we were outside of the return time. I hadn't even noticed that the Fastpasses now had printed on them that you must return within that time. Darn! Luckily I had the Autopia any-ride passes and was able to whip them out and save the day. Whew! Perfect way to end the day with Tyler's favorite ride!
Back on the tram by 4pm. I am exhausted! We got home and Tyler was totally knocked out again in the car. Didn't even bother trying to move him because I knew he'd wake up. Let him sleep a little, but then discovered he was sweating bullets! Poor kid. Brought him in after 430pm because I figured he needed to wake up. Put him on a cushion in the living room...
...and he kept sleeping and sleeping. He slept pass 5pm until I started really trying to wake him. Must have been a fun day!
That night Katelyn was very excited to get a hand-me-down from Tyler: a Darth Vader shirt. 4T, fits her great!
Wednesday morning. Will took Tyler to iCamp - perfect since he had a couple other friends going that day as well. Katelyn and I headed off to Disneyland this time, just the two of us! Left even later today. Didn't get on the tram until 9am. Arriving to the park after it's already opened? Unacceptable! She was VERY excited to have a day all to herself though. Only one thing on the plan: princesses! She even sported her minnie ears on the tram.
As we headed into the park, we were greeted by Chip & Dale! Katelyn had brought her Aulani autograph book and was very excited to have them sign it. Seriously, love how the kids think these guys are real.
Then right off to Fantasy Faire- just opened a few weeks ago next to the main castle. Super cute! A permanent indoor place to meet princesses as well as having a stage area for Tangled / Sleeping Beauty shows! Super short line to see the princesses too!
We started off with Aurora...
Video of KK and Aurora:
Then Katelyn's favorite Ariel.
Video of KK and Ariel:
And then Cinderella!
Video of KK and Cinderella:
Then we watched the Tangled show - funny and cute!
Katelyn was so entranced that I had to capture her jaw dropping moments.
Video of KK at the Tangled show:
After the show, almost all of the audience emptied out but I had read online the night before that if you stayed after, you might have a chance to meet the characters! Success - we got to meet both Rapunzel and Flynn! Katelyn was super shy and giggly with Flynn.
They have the Beauty and the Beast show in the afternoon starting at 2pm, but I knew we wouldn't be able to last until then. Bummer since I knew Katelyn would have loved to meet Belle again. Next we headed over to the Thunder Mountain picnic area where they were having a special week-long special event called "Long Lost Friends". Here you could meet a bunch of characters you normally couldn't meet. Long lines. Boo. We had to pick and choose who we were going to see. They even had Robin Hood (the fox!) and Little John (the bear!) but Katelyn had no idea who they were. They had Pocohantas, as well as Peter Pan's whole crew. Even Scrooge McDuck! We decided to meet Mulan (dressed as Ping) and Mushu.
And then Lilo and Stitch. Not that Katelyn wanted to meet them but they were in the booth that had someone we wanted to meet coming up next...
The fairy godmothers! Katelyn is quite familiar with them not only from Sleeping Beauty but also from Sophia the 1st!
On the way out we bumped into Jesse.
Off to Fantasy Land. We rode Casey Jr's Circus Train ride. Katelyn's first time and no line! She was very excited to sit in the monkey cage.
Video of the circus train ride:
Then the carousel. Loved it.
Some deep princess thinking perhaps?
Carousel fun:
A nice walkthrough of Sleeping Beauty's castle. Usually it's so crowded that you're kind of forced to go through it pretty quick. But it was so empty today that we took our turn and read the story.
Checked out Snow White's wishing well.
And then off to Pixie Hollow to meet some fairies. No Tinkerbell this time though. We saw Rosetta, the flower fairy...
And Pippen, the fairy who apparently holds onto all the pixie dust. Katelyn was a little confused since he was a dude and was quite shy. I'm seeing a theme here with the male characters!
Picked up some pirate telescopes as souvenirs...
And then headed over to CA adventure for Katelyn's all time favorite ride - Ariel's Adventures!
Whew, what a day. I get a lot of comments that I'm crazy for taking the kids to so many activities, but honestly I do it for them. So what if I'm really exhausted - at the end of the day they're making these wonderful memories with their mom. Maybe they won't remember the exact details when they're older, but hopefully they're remember the happiness.
That night we also got an unexpected treat - my parents stopped by since they were (kind of) in the area and picked up Leah's birthday gift since they were heading up to the Bay Area that weekend. Always nice to see them, the kids don't get to see this set of grandparents nearly as much as their other grandparents.
Thursday. Up until Wednesday night I had plans to take Tyler for another Disneyland day since Katelyn had school that day. We even hadn't ridden the Radiator Springs Racers ride on Tuesday expressly so that we could focus on CA Adventure on Thursday. But my left leg was kind of hurting already from all the walking the past few days, and a playdate opportunity came up so I happily took it (I was a bit relieved too!). We played at Jordan's house for a bit after we brought back his fish that we had been petsitting (whew, it stayed alive) and then hit Chick Fil-A for a quick lunch. These boys play really well together. They're like an old married couple sometimes, the way they interact. Haha!
Ballet today. There's this huge population of ladybugs that live in the bushes next to the ballet studio. The kids love looking for them every time we are there.
Friday was my friend Bonnie's birthday. We grabbed some coffee and went to get our lashes done in Newport Beach (thank you Living Social!). Afterward we had lunch at South Coast Plaza. Look at my pretty lashes!
Enjoyed a nice shabu shabu dinner at Mokkoji with the family that night.
On Saturday, Will took Katelyn to a makeup ballet class. He doesn't get to see her at her class during the week so it was nice that he could take her to this class on the weekend. Also nice because he brought out the big camera to get some photos from afar. How cute are they??
I've been on a Korean food kick lately, and we tried out a (new to us) Korean all-you-can-eat BBQ place called , coincidentally All-You-Can-Eat BBQ. Haha! Quite tasty actually and just thinking about it now makes me want to go back.
Sunday morning. You guessed it: Disneyland again! I took Katelyn this time to meet up with one of her school friends Riley and her family. Tyler had Chinese school and we haven't gotten around to renewing Will's pass. It was a good thing anyway, since Tyler would not have liked to hang out and do girly things! Katelyn was very excited to be going again, and I was very excited that it was going to be a cold day!
The girls started out on the carousel...
And then went around to the different rides in Fantasy Land. We still didn't go on the scarier ones though.
Dumbo! Lines still really short!
Storyland boats! I think this might have been Katelyn's first time on it. They even let the girls sit on the way front of the boat!
Small World!
Then to Toontown for Gadget's Go-Coaster. Quite possibly both Katelyn and Riley's favorite ride of the day. We went on this ride THREE TIMES in a row. Got off and got right back on, and had less than 10 minutes wait. She put up her hands for the beginning of the ride and put them down immediately after we got underway.
Still on the high from the roller coaster with their hands up.
Cutie pies playing at Goofy's playground.
All done with the Disneyland side! Riley isn't into meeting princesses (or any characters I think) so we skipped the Fantasy Faire. Good thing we were just here earlier this week or Katelyn would have been bummed! We headed over to CA Adventure and watched some dance performance.
And then the Monster's Inc ride! Katelyn's first time also! We got some sort of "buddy pass" that allowed us to go through the exit to get on the ride. I am still confused about it.
Katelyn's favorite ride was up next, Ariel!
And then we caught a showing of the Disney Jr. Live show. Got great seats this time and sat right at the front. Wow, what a difference it made. I could actually tell what was going on in the story! Katelyn was engrossed.
Fun day! Took the kids to Kicking Crab for dinner since Will hadn't been there before. Totally not kid friendly and the kids ate no shrimp at all. Won't be going back there with the kids!
Dessert was across the parking lot at the Balcony. Shaved cream ice with strawberries and bananas and mochi. Y U M . I enjoyed myself a happy hour mojito too, haha!
Fun week, totally looking forward to getting back to your regular schedule though!
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