Disneyland Adventure - Friday & Saturday
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The flight to Anaheim went better than anticipated, and we arrived around 9:30 a.m. and caught the shuttle to the Grand Californian Hotel. I am a huge fan of Craftsman/Mission style and this hotel was made for me - wow! So gorgeous, and every detail thought of. We expected the hotel to just hold our bags while we amused ourselves in Downtown Disney, but they said our room was ready and we could check in early - woo hoo!!!
The DiGioias arrived and after lunch Melissa and I took the older kids, Van and Lily, into California Adventure to see a show and ride some rides. First thing's first: ears. Van picked out pirate Mickey ears (and has yet to go a day without wearing them even now). Then we checked out the Disney Junior LIVE show - it was pretty sweet! Outside Van and Lily got to meet Handy Manny and Woody, plus we saw Jessie on her way back to the corral. Lily picked the Ariel's Undersea Adventure to ride first. It's new and there was no line - score! Next it was on to Mickey's Fun Wheel, which Van still says was his very favorite ride. We waited a little for that (10min) but we could see the whole park from the top, including a good portion of the new Cars Land they will be opening in June - it looked super cool!!
The other Redmores arrived later that day, as well as Jenn DiGioia and her family (who live near by), and we all hit the pool to relax. The consensus when we started planning this trip was that there would be In-n-Out Burgers at some point... well, it happened Friday. Yum. So worth the wait!
Saturday we played a little in California Adventure and then had brunch with Chip & Dale and friends at the hotel. Yummy buffet, and we got to meet Old Rafiki (Lion King) and Dale - Chip had to go back to the tree house, but we'd get to meet him later.
We rolled ourselves out to the park where we headed to A Bug's Land - too much fun!! Wes passed out in the stroller for most of the Bug's Land experience, but Van had a blast playing in Princess Dot's Puddle Park, riding all the rides. Later we met up with the other half of the group to check out the Hollywood Pictures Backlot - we saw the Disney Jr LIVE show again (no complaints here, it was cool in there) and checked out the Monsters, Inc ride and the Muppet 3D Vision show.
After a break back at the hotel Mike and I met at the Tower of Terror to test our mettle. A 200' drop in the dark. I'm not gonna lie: I shrieked. It was awesome - tee hee! On the way back to join everyone for dinner, Mike and I stopped to ride Soarin' Over California - it was really beautiful! Riders are suspended as if flying over a giant IMAX-like screen that shows a movie taken... well, soaring over California. It was gorgeous!!
Dinner was in Downtown Disney at the Jazz Kitchen - creole style, very yummy! We celebrated Gigi's birthday (Gigi is Jenn's daughter, she turned 4, too!) and said good-night. Everyone seemed to sleep right through the fireworks outside - it was a long, VERY fun day!
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