Along with counting down the days, we also...
watched "A Day at Disneyland" movie..
And made "Disney Squad shirts for each us to wear!! We were now officially ready!!
Wednesday, January 30, 2019 Day #1 - We woke up bright and EARLY and hit the road around 3:00am. We drove straight through while the girls slept most of the way. We only stopped once to get gas and for me to switch Adam spots and drive so he could rest a bit. We pulled into the hotel right about opening time- 9:00am. We parked the car, checked into the hotel (Fairfield Inn across the street) grabbed our bags that we had packed the night before with all of our snacks and we were off.
Quick pic of Walt's star before heading into the park. I had seen the star before but had never stopped to get a pic so I made sure to this time. In fact, I did great on my bucket list of see, do's and eats this time. It was so much fun crossing new discoveries off my list.
Calli was so excited! She had been dreaming about Disney for the last 18 months!!
The "Get your Ears On," Celebration, Mickey's 90th Birthday and Valentines were all going on while we were there. We also did something we have never done before. Instead of a 3 day park hopper pass we found a killer deal that was cheaper for a 5 day (1 park per day) pass. We thought we'd try it this time....I actually really liked it. It seemed like we had a whole lot more time and saw and did more by staying in one park for the day and not hopping back and forth!
Heading into California Adventure. We chose to do this park first because Calli had never been on the new Guardians ride or the new Soaring Ride and none of us had done the new Incredicoaster. So we were so excited to all try something new.
Our cute backpacks that Calli brought us from Spain. We all had one that we carried each day with all of our own snacks and necessities. I loved it and we got a few compliments too.
We're Here!!!
First Ride, Guardians of the Galaxy.
My goodness, they are gorgeous! I took so many pictures of these three!! It was so fun having Calli home, the three musketeers together again and on a family vacation with everyone!
The New Pixar Pier
Incredicoaster
My very own Mr. Incredible.
Loved It! It was very cute!
They were also having the Lunar New Year Celebration as well. For lunch we stopped for a quick bite and ate soup in sour dough bowls.
Then on to Little Mermaid and the Silly Symphony Swings.
There was actually a wait for Little Mermaid...first time ever I've waited for this ride. It ended up being a bit busier than we planned but with Fast pass and Max pass we managed great. I actually don't mind waiting in lines that have a fun que, you can discover things you never saw before.
Soaring over the World..one of my favorites!
Cat nap for Adam!
Soaring in 5,4,3,2,1!!!
Then we went to the "Frozen" Show! This is probably something we would have never done with a park hopper but I'm so glad we did, it was adorable and a much needed rest.
What a good dad, sitting through an hour of "Let it go" for his girls. He may or may not have had another nap!!
Off to Monsters Inc.
And then on the Pixar-Pal-Around!
Amazing views of Cars Land.
Another ride on Guardians... Got em'
And then Radiator Springs
and fun on route 66.
Toy Story Mania
Cute room on the way out of the ride.
And then slipped into the line before closing for our last ride of the night on Incredicoaster.
Cute lamp above the Pixar Pier sign that moves.
Walked out through Condor Flats and passesd Grizzly run, Redwood Creek Challenge and Soaring.
A look down Buena Vista Street all lit up!
Bucket List item - Found Candy Mountain!
A look back as we left California Adventure and walked back to our hotel. That night we ordered Pizza from Pizza Hut located in the hotel. Adam and Calli ran to Wal-mart to get her some fruits and vegetables and then went to the gym and walked on the treadmills. I was way too tired to even think about more walking but she had been doing so good, and wanted to keep it up. She and Adam walked each morning and night.
Thursday, January 31, 2019 Day #2 - Spent the day in Disneyland and used our early entry. Of course I had to take a picture of my favoritest sign ever!!
The Chief on Main Street!
Our first ride is always Matterhorn! This was probably the favorite ride between the entire group we went on it loads of time!!
Then we went and did the rope drop at the gates by Dumbo to Adventure land. We counted down and then all sped walked to Thunder Mountain.
(Calli went to put her arm around Gentry and punched Sadie in the head)
Then off to Pirates
Bucket List item - Fortune Red
Bucket List item - Walt and Roys initials.
Then to Indiana Jones
The little man at Disneyland's house
Fun pics from Adventureland
Sadie playing with Woody's Ho-down inside Pioneer Mercantile in Frontierland
Back over to Fantasyland
The castle was getting refurbished.
Another go on Matterhorn.
We decided to get on the train in Tomorrow land and ride it around to New Orleans. Right as we got on it started to dump. It was a good thing we got on when we did or we would have been soaked. We got on all our rain gear while riding the railroad around to our stop.
View of the entrance of Disneyland. Off to Haunted, Pirates, Indiana and...
Winnie the Pooh.
Bucket List item - Tigger Tail!!
Rocking our ponchos in the rain. It was only going to last about 6 hours so we decided to just ride it out. Back to fantasyland through Fantasy Faire.
More Bucket list items - Clopins Music Box
and Peter Pan Busts.
Then on to Peter Pan. Usually you have to get on this one first thing in the morning, but with the rain, lines were shorter so we took advantage of all the dark rides in Fantasy Land. Peter Pan, Pinocchio, Snow White and Wild Toads.
Still Raining.
Tinker Belle
Around 4:00pm we walked back to the hotel, got dry and into warm, dry clothes and ate at Milly's restaurant on our way back to the park for the night.
Adam seemed to always get stopped by security, he must just have that look.
Bucket list item - Mail ourselves a postcard from within the park!!
Sadie in Adventureland
Another go on Indiana Jones. Sadie was a great driver. As soon as we pulled in the cast member said "your speakers in your car weren't working properly so were going to let you go again" We hadn't even noticed but we didn't complain, we happily got right back on for round two.
This time Calli was our driver.
There was zero line for Splash Mountain so we jumped on that one...twice.
Adam sat in the front both times. The first time he did okay, I huge wave came and went over his head and drenched Bo...
But the second time, we pressed our luck and he got soaked.
Buzz Light Year
A quick stop by the Jolly Holiday Cafe for another...
Bucket List Item - Matterhorn Macaroons
"Mickey's Mix-up" Party!! So, so fun! Laser, lights, snow and projections all up and down Main Street. It was amazing!!
We danced and danced.
A little shopping after the park closed and more bucket list items - Emporium scenes
and animated toy shelf.
Friday, February 1, 2019 - Day #3 - This was our favorite day. Another day in Disneyland from 8:00am-Midnight and no rain in the forecast! We also used max pass this day just to maximize our time!
Calli packing her snacks. We had a big suitcase full of snacks that we would just pick and choose what we wanted that day and everyone would fill their own bags. First ride of the day we headed straight to Star Tours, just as we were getting off we saw people running to Space Mountain so we headed that way too.
It had been closed since Tuesday, due to someone climbing out of their restraints during the ride, luckily no one was hurt but we weren't sure if it would open again during our visit. What luck that it did right then, we got right on.
Toon Town and Roger Rabbit Car toon spin. I love Toon Town it is so cute, but again it's usually something we pass but with the 1 park a day ticket we had oodles of time.
Dog Pound
Wall-e and Eve
Stud!
Mickey's House
Hidden Mickey
Haha! I had never noticed the darts before!
Another hidden Mickey in the que for Gadget Coaster.
Star Wars Land entrance.
We went and tried the new Tropical Hideaway.
I love that they left a reminder of Aladdin's Oasis at the entrance.
Dole Whips for the win!!
More Bucket list items - Lafette's anchor
and a Hitching Post - nod to early American life and transportation.
Went exploring Tarzen's Treehouse
and got a sneak peek of Star Wars Land.
Then onto the Jungle Cruise. We had the best skipper, he was so funny.
My gorgeous girls!!
On our way to Haunted Mansion and Splash Mountain, Calli heard someone call out "Hermana Peterson?" She turned to see one of her former district leaders.
Adam opted for the back this time. He stayed dry and Sadie got soaked. I always played it safe and sat in the middle more towards the back.
Then over to the Rose Tavern for...
Another Bucket List Item - Grey Stuff
"Try the grey stuff, It's delicious!"
Casey Junior and Bucket List Item - an old ticket booth from 1955
We discovered that this was Gentry's first time on Casey Junior. Another ride we would have passed by with park hopper.
Sword in the Stone
Storybook Canals.
In line for the Tea Cups and I saw this view...love it!!
Reinacting a picture from when we were dating.
Fun in the Tea Cups.
Love the Hub
And all the miniture statues.
A look down Main Street from the Hub!
We made early dinner reservations at the Cafe Orleans.
The famous Pommes Freitas
amd Monte Cristo...so good!
Being that we had until midnight, we decided to walk back to the hotel and get our warm clothes on for the late night. On our way we took advantage of the free photo pass with Max Pass.
"Disney Squad"
Got back in time to find a good spot for the Soundsational parade.
Right as the last float was supposed to come, there was a big gap and the cast members kept telling everyone to stay seated and it would continue. There was a lot of running around and talking and a bit of confusion for about 20 minutes.
Then out came the "float puller"
While waiting for them to get the float all hooked up Mary Poppins, Burt and the Chimney Sweeps came to entertain the crowd.
Finally, the last float came by being pulled and everyone cheered. Poor thing had broken down just a little ways from the end of the parade.
Another ride on Space Mountain, Matterhorn and then back over for Haunted, and Indiana.
Quick pic of Blue Bayou
and a cute ally way I hadn't been in before.
We loved "Mickey's Mix up" Celebration so much the night before, we decided to go again. On weekends, they add fireworks to the show.
We hit up It's a Small World, so we could send a picture to grandma.
Another late night ride on Matterhorn and Space Mountain.
At midnight, we dragged our tired bodies down Main Street.
Stopped at the floral Valentines for a quick"mushy" pic.
Heading back to the Hotel. Saturday, February 2, 2019 - Day # 4 - Another day in California Adventure. It was going to be another wet morning. It was supposed to let up in the afternoon, so we slept in a bit and planned on just lounging around but everyone couldn't wait so we geared up and headed back out in the rain...such troopers!
Rain or Shine, just another day in Paradise.
It started dumping before we even got in the park.
Another security stop for Adam. Haha!
We decided to try and stay dry as long as we could. We went to Animation Academy and played around for a while.
We talked to Crush...
and went downstairs to Sorcerer's Workshop and...
Beast's Library.
Braved the storm again for a drop on Guardians.
We managed to stay pretty dry by just doing a lot of indoor attractions.
When the rain lightened up a bit we waked to Downtown and did some shopping in World of Disney.
They ate at La Brea Bakery right next door. Before heading back to the hotel to get dry and then back to the parks. (thank goodness for a dryer in our hotel) Calli was pretty impressed with her plate and took a picture. She took a lot of food pictures on the trip, we kept calling her the food blogger.
Grabbed a hot chocolate (another food pic by Calli) and
headed back to Pixar Pier.
Back on the Pixar-Pal-Around.
And then Incredicoaster again
Jack Jack's Num Num's
and a no line wait for Little Mermaid this time.
Then to Cars land for some more Bucket List Items...
Buzz in Sally's Office.
And the Bacon, Mac-n-Cheese Cone.
One last ride for Guardians, (Gentry and Sadie were pestering each other in line so Adam was trying to get in the middle of them.)
The last ride of the night was Soaring. We literally had no wait...the joys of rainy days.
Adam and his girls!
Walking back to the hotel, the cast shuttle passed us. We got back to the hotel late but determined to make the most of the hours we had the next day, we packed up our room and took suitcases to the car so all we had were a few things to pack in the morning. Sunday, February 3, 2019 - Day #5 (Super Bowl and 2319 Day) We woke up bright and early, got ready and were off for our last day.
It was a pretty relaxing, slow-paced day. I had heard that Super bowl Sundays were pretty packed but it ended up being the emptiest of the 5 days. We had Beignets for breakfast..YUM and casually browsed the park. We planned on leaving around 1:00pm to get us home at a decent time, so that gave us 5 hours in the park. We had told the girls that being Sunday we were just going to walk around and look at stuff and maybe do a couple smaller rides and shows but...they ended up talking us into a couple bigger ones.
We ended up riding Haunted, Pirates, Indiana, Nemo and Matterhorn. While most the day was checking out Bucket List Items and just taking last minute pictures of cute things.
In Line at Nemo
Secret Pathway by Hungry Bear. We found the Columbia.
Ran into Gaston as we were walking through the Fantasy Faire. This was our only character picture.
Found Jingles.
Took this sweet picture of the Matterhorn, Monorail and Submarines all in one frame. I was pretty proud of myself.
Bucket List Items - found the Half and Half Lightbulb.
And the "Test Wall"
More fun random pics.
Also, while they were there they were celebrating Valentines and had a "Minnie's Secret Valentine Day Card Scavenger Hunt" All over the park was hidden valentines from Minnie. You could buy a map with clues and then go looking for them. So fun! We found all 12.
And just because I'm a big Disney geek, I took some pictures of the themed garbage cans...even the garbage cans in Disney are cute!!
Heading out. You've been good to us Disney...until next time!!
And looked what showed up in our mailbox 5 days later!!!
It Worked!! I know Disneyland isn't for everyone! But it is for me!!! I love the sights the sounds the smells! I love the history and reading about Walt and his life. I love being a child again and skipping down Main Street with my Mickey ears on. I love seeing my kids eyes light up. I love the adrenaline on the big rides and the magic on the small ones. I love discovering new things. But mostly I love spending time with my family in a place we all adore.
