California 2015: Disneyland Day 3

We park hopped between Disneyland and Disney California Adventure quite a lot on our third and final day at the parks. We started at DCA in front of this statue of Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse.

We went back to Cars Land and tried to ride the Radiator Springs Racers first thing, but there was a 45 minute wait so we decided to ride Mater's Junkyard Jamboree again instead.

We explored Paradise Pier, which is full of typical boardwalk rides like roller coasters and a Ferris wheel. We all rode the Golden Zephyr, I took the boys on the (terrifying) Goofy's Sky School, and Gene and Henry tried the Jumpin' Jellyfish before we decided to move on.  

Ah, we made it to Grizzly Peak and the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail! This part of the park is designed to look like a national park, and it was a lot of fun after the heart-thumping rides on Paradise Pier. The boys rode tire swings, traversed rock walls, and solved puzzles in order to earn their Wilderness Explorer badges.

We had pretty much covered everything we wanted to see, but Henry asked to go back to Pirates of the Caribbean again. Gene checked out the Disney wait times app and realized there was no wait, so we hauled ourselves over to Disneyland to ride Pirates of the Caribbean for the fourth time! Then we took the river raft over to the Pirate's Lair on Tom Sawyer's Island. We had tried to do this the two previous days but the lines were long on the first day and the raft was broken on the second day.

Tom Sawyer's Island was the perfect place to be when the crowds hit the park and the lines got long. In this picture, the boys are pulling up a treasure chest but there is a skeleton clinging to it!

We walked across wiggly rope bridges, crawled through tunnels, climbed to the lookout, and discovered the pirate's treasure! For a family that prefers gentler rides and at least one member (me) who hates crowds, we certainly appreciated attractions like this.  

By this time, the lines for the rides were getting long and our tummies were starting to rumble, so we headed back to Disney California Adventure for lunch at the Pacific Wharf Cafe, where we all got our lunches (soups and salads) in sourdough bread bowls, baked by Boudin Bakery. After lunch, we toured the bakery, which was a huge hit with my baker!

After lunch, we had our usual downtime/pool time at the hotel before heading back to the park one last time. Disneyland was crazy crowded, so we just let the boys enjoy ice cream cones on Main Street U.S.A. before hopping on the train around the park. We had dinner plans that evening with Gene's aunt Pat and cousin Debbie, who were kind enough to fight rush hour traffic to join us for dinner in Anaheim. It was so good to catch up with them!

Here's one final picture after leaving Disneyland. We were pooped! 

We made it! Three days in Disneyland and many happy memories for all of us.  

California 2015: Disneyland Day 2

After a good night's sleep, we were back at Disneyland for day 2 at "The Happiest Place on Earth!" We bucked the trend of rushing to the wildest rides and instead headed back to Tomorrowland to visit Autopia again. We were the first people on the track! 

Henry and Gene had to wait in the car for a few minutes afterwards because the ride was empty and there was no place to "park."  

We rode the Finding Nemo Submarine and Star Tours (not a good choice for those who get motion sick!) before deciding we'd had enough of the future and headed back into the past to ride Pirates of the Caribbean (again) and the Mark Twain Riverboat. 

The boys enjoyed a mid-morning churros snack while walking to Fantasyland. We tried to ride "It's a Small World" but the ride broke down while we were waiting in line and we missed it!

After lunch at Carnation Cafe on Main Street, we saw a marching band on our way out of Disney.

After our afternoon rest and pool time, we headed back to Disneyland to catch Mickey's Soundsational Parade at 4:30. We got lucky when a lady who was saving a bench for the 8:50 pm parade offered us seats for the earlier parade.  

The parade was fantastic!

After watching the parade, we took advantage of our Park Hopper passes to hop over to Disney California Adventure. Gene and I had both been to Disneyland as kids, but DCA was a whole new adventure for all of us! We ate dinner at Flo's V8 Cafe, which overlooks Radiator Springs Racers. We all agreed that it was the best meal we ate at Disney.  

After dinner, we rode Mater's Junkyard Jamboree before catching the last half of the Pixar Play Parade.

We visited Bugs Land, where all the rides were gentle and there were no lines. Our favorite was Flik's Flyers, which is a whimsical hot air balloon ride made out of discarded food containers. We rode in the Homespun Applesauce box!

We ventured back to Cars Land to get treats at the Cozy Cone Motel, where everything is served in cones. The boys and I opted for ice cream cones but Gene had pretzels and dip. 

We wandered along Pacific Wharf, which is modeled after Monterey's Cannery Row!  

Henry is pointing out "Monterey" on the sardine boxes.

By this point, Henry was fading, but we took in one last ride (Monsters Inc. Mike and Sully to the Rescue) before heading back to Cars Land at sunset. 

We saw Mater

and did some window shopping (these tire hats did not come home with us!)

 

 and were in downtown Radiator Springs when the neon lights came on.

It was a magical ending to our second day at Disney! 

California 2015: Disneyland Day 1

We spent last week in sunny southern California! Our destinations: Disneyland and San Diego. We decided the boys were old enough to enjoy (and remember) a Disney trip and we chose California over Florida simply because the weather is better in California at the beginning of June. The boys were so excited about this trip and we all really enjoyed ourselves.

Saturday was a travel day. 

We had a two-hour delay on the runway in Houston due to some big storms but we made it to our hotel in Anaheim just in time to see the nightly Disney fireworks from our hotel balcony. We stayed at the Camelot Inn, just across the street from Disneyland. It was a great hotel for us because we had a large suite and were so close to the parks. We loved that we could watch the fireworks from the comfort of our hotel balcony!

Day 1: We arrived at Disneyland just before the park opened at 8am and made our way to the Indiana Jones Adventure. The boys did not enjoy this ride at all -- too much jolting and too many drops! We visited Tarzan's Treehouse next door before tackling another ride.

Next up: Pirates of the Carribbean (Henry's favorite!) and the Haunted Mansion (which Will was so excited to visit).  

We spent the rest of the morning exploring Critterland (Splash Mountain and Davy Crockett's Canoes) and Fantasyland (Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, Pinocchio's Daring Journey, the Storybook Land Canal Boats and the Disneyland Railroad). We learned pretty quickly that most of us preferred the gentler rides!

After lunch at the Hungry Bear Restaurant, we headed back to our hotel to rest up and enjoy the pool. This became our daily routine at Disneyland, which was perfect because the parks were so crowded in the afternoon and we all needed a break.

We went back to Disneyland around 4:30 for an early dinner in New Orleans Square (soup in a bread bowl!) and a ride on the Jungle Cruise. We ended the day in Tomorrowland, where Autopia was a huge hit with the boys.

Will was my driver.

Gene reported that Henry was the worst taxi driver ever! 

We rode the monorail around the whole park (Matterhorn in the background, which we decided to skip!)

and ended day 1 at Disneyland with some cotton candy.

One final picture on the way out of the park: 

Disneyland is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year, which made it a fun time to visit!