We drove to Anaheim on Wednesday, October 10th and checked into our hotel (Embassy Suites), ate dinner and went to bed. We headed to Disneyland on Thursday morning, and went directly to California Adventure. It was just opening, so we rushed to the fast pass lane for cars, and the line just for fast pass was over an hour!!! Forget it. Off to a rocky start. We thought all the rides were going to be like this, so we jumped in a line and braced ourselves for a day of long lines. Our first ride was this Mater tractor ride. It was about a 40 minute wait, and the kids got antsy about 10 minutes into the line. I filled a backpack with snacks to distract them during the wait periods, so we started early on the suckers. :) They loved all 40 seconds of the ride, and when it stopped and we had to get off, Grant started crying. He wanted to stay on 'his tractor'.
We walked through Cars land, which is really cool (looks just like the movie), to see if we could hit anymore rides. All the lines were over an hour, so we bagged the rides and headed toward the back of California Adventure.
On our way out we saw Mater driving down the street. The kids loved seeing the life sized cars.
Lightning McQueen race track. This is the ride that takes HOURS to get on. We talked to a lady at a different attraction, and she said when it first opened people waited 6 hours to get on!! CRAZY PEOPLE.
Once we left Cars land, it was smooth sailing the rest of the day. We walked on all the rides we could go on with little to no waiting at all. Phew.
Noah wasn't too sure about the swinging cars on the Ferris Wheel. Ava and Grant were mad whenever they couldn't go on a ride that Noah got to go on. Funny thing is, Noah didn't really want to go on any of those rides, but being the mean parents that we are, we made him do it. He ended up liking all of them, except Splash Mountain.
Noah on the climbing wall in the Redwood Discovery Park (?) - one of his favorite attractions. Guess I can just take him to a park and he is happy. :)
Noah and daddy on the log ride. Thursday it was raining off and on, so that helped with keeping the crowds down, and it was a perfect temperature the entire time.
While Noah and I were on Soarin' Over California, Adam found Minnie Mouse with Ava and Grant. An awesome new (new since I was there last) feature at Disneyland is the stroller pass. You can get on and then immediately after you get off, you let your stroller partner go on the ride. We used this feature on a ton of rides. If the line was short I would take Noah (too long then we'd fast pass it), get right on the ride, and then Noah and Adam would get right back on the ride. Noah got to ride a lot of rides twice.
All three of us loved Soarin' - one of our favorites.
We didn't wait for any of the Bug's Life rides, so we hopped from one ride to another in just a few minutes.
We went to all the attractions we cared to see/do in California Adventure by about 4 o'clock the first day. Another tip: head to the right after you enter California Adventure and go to all the rides opposite Carsland. Make the circle and END at Cars. We went back to Cars just before we were leaving and it was almost empty. We walked right on the tractor ride again. I think everyone heads straight for Cars in the morning, so if you wait until the afternoon then you can bypass the masses.
Ava watching a parade. We thought we would take the babies back to the hotel for naps, but Grant ended up just sleeping in the stroller, so we forged ahead.
Green army guys. Grant loved these guys.
California Adventure - Conquered!
Nest stop - Disneyland.
We were able to squeeze in a lot of rides in Disneyland the first day. On our way out we were able to watch the 'Sensational Parade'.
Ava was in awe with the princesses.
Phew, what a long day - 10 hours. It was a great day though. We took it easy, went on a ton of rides and really only had a few more things to see, and we still had 2 days left.
The kids did really well too. They loved all the amazing things that Disney has to offer.
Needless to say, they went right to sleep.
3 comments:
Fun!!!!
Oh what I wouldn't have given to see those punks at Disneyland. Noah with Mater?! Can happiness even be that big? Or Ava with the princesses? Christmas need not come this year! I'm excited for when you guys ship me over to see the cute little farts....and you too, I guess;). Have all sorts of baked goods ready please:).
Ps, that pic below of Ava and Grant is, in my opinion, the cutest and best one of them yet.
How fun!! I love the Bug's Life area in California Adventure. There are NEVER any lines. I will definitely have to try the stroller pass next time we go. I think I love Disneyland even more than my kids.
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