Disneyland Day 2- California Adventure

For day two, we were up and at 'em bright and early again, and got into California Adventure at 7am!

This was our first experience in this park and we were told by ALL to race straight to their newest attraction, Radiator Springs in Cars Land!! It was THE RIDE for the park and was fantastic!!

Again, everything decorated for the holidays was SO cute! Hubcaps for tree ornaments!!!

We were so lucky, because on Day 2, Mike's brother Kyle and his family (who live 90 minutes from Disneyland) met us for the whole day at the park. They are annual pass-holders and seasoned Disney go-ers!! So they helped us know which rides to do and where to go!! Such a treat! And the cousins all had fun riding together.

 Even arriving at 7am, and getting in line, we still waited 20-30 minutes for the first ride! It was THAT popular!!

 Here we go!!

 And we made it!! It was a FAST race ride, so the wind got the best of my hair!! 

But it was fun to ride together!!

 HUGE Ferris Wheel!! It had outer stationary carts, but we chose the sliding carts in the middle.....so as the wheel turns, they slide on their own oval shaped track and rock to a stop!!

That was the one thing of the whole trip that made my stomach turn!! Once was enough!!

 View from the Ferris Wheel

 In line for Toy Story 3D!!

 Cousins Ryane and Ethne with Abby. These were giant tires that were on a big field like an air hockey table. As you leaned, they moved across the blowing air like bumper cars!!

 Cars Land- Mater Ride.....Abby rode with Ethne!!

 Meeting Minnie Mouse!!!!

 Roller coaster on the pier in California Adventure!!

 The cousins!!! In the Mad Hatter chairs

 Meeting Daisy Duck!!!

 

An added treat.....at the end of Day 2, my mom and Henry met us at the park to take the kids, so that Mike and I could have a Disney Date Night and go ride everything together!!! 

It was SO MUCH FUN!!! You can drink beer in California Adventure, so thats where we spent most of our time--of course!!We enjoyed ourselves and stayed out at both parks til midnight!!

 The Ferris Wheel lit up at night over the water!!

 I've always wanted a Turkey Leg!!!

 Thanks Grandma Donna!!!!

Disneyland Day 1

Last Thursday we took the kids to DISNEYLAND!!!

We did three FULL (and long) 10-14 hour days in the parks. We had park hopper passes, so we were able to jump between Disneyland and California Adventure the whole time!

We stayed three nights on property at the Disney Grand Californian hotel. Beautiful property!!

And it is on the corner of California Adventure with its own entrance to the park!!

One of the benefits to going to the parks when we did, was all of their Christmas/Holiday decorations were still intact!! Including many of the rides that were transformed inside and out for the Holidays! So it really changed the experience!

Here are the memories from day one, in Disneyland!!

Luckily the girls are older and taller now. So Maddy just made the 40" height requirement for the big rides. The few she was too short for were The Matterhorn & Indiana Jones. Otherwise we took her on EVERYTHING else!!! She fought out of fear, but we talked her into doing everything at least once, and she was a brave trooper!! Abby was just over the 46" requirement and was able to ride everything at Disneyland, and almost everything but a few at California Adventure.

 The girls were THRILLED that our room had bunkbeds!!

It was spacious and had a queen with the bunk beds, even with a third trundle for a 5th person!

Because we stayed on Disneyland property, we were eligible for their "Magic Morning Hour".

With this you get in the park at 7am, an hour before the normal crowds can at 8am.

So we were in line EVERY morning by 6:30am.....yes, we were up before 6 everyday!!!

Then the ticket gates would let us in at 7am, and everyone races to their favorite rides, to take advantage of no lines for 60 minutes!! It was a FANTASTIC benefit!

 So we rushed to DUMBO!! We were the second group on for the morning.

 One of our focuses for this trip, was meeting as many princesses and characters as we could! The girls had an autograph book for signatures/photos!! We ended up with 11 signatures!

These are timely because the waits to see the characters can be 30-60 minutes! So you can only do so many, otherwise you are losing ride time!!

 TEACUPS!!!

 Space Mountain!! We all rode together.....Maddy is next to me in my seat, leaning over so you can't see her!!

 This pretty much captures how she looked in line for all the questionable rides.

She always got off the ride much happier, and often said "I liked that".

 Driving her car at "Autotopia"....of course I had to do the gas!!

 Holiday Parade down Main Street

 Luckily we took the girls last week before Disneyland to see the new movie "FROZEN". The snowman "Olaf" on the roof in the photo was their favorite character!!

 "Its a Small World" all lit up for winter at night

   The castle lit up for winter at night!

HAPPY 2014!!!

 We rang in the New Year with Grandma Donna!!!

Mom flew in the weekend prior, so we had a few days together, then got to celebrate her birthday and NYE! 2013 was a great year for us, bringing our family back together and to California!!

Seemingly endless family time!!