We slept in some this morning. The boys needed it! And by “some” I mean 7:30 or 8:00. We used another of our Resort perks and went into Disney California Adventure 45 minutes earlier than the park opened to regular guests.
To be honest, DCA (Disney California Adventure) isn’t my favorite. It is actually quite low on my list. But it does have a few very cute parts and my opinion may change once my kids are old enough to do some of the more adventurous rides.
It didn’t help that on this trip there was major construction going on. We were a week too early to see the new Cars Land. I bet the boys would have loved that, but, alas, it was not meant to be.
What was meant to be was grabbing Fast Passes for “The World of Color” show for that night, and getting in line for “Soarin’ Over California” with Grandmama and the two olders, while Kevin and the two littlers saved us a spot for the Disney Junior Show.
Soarin’ Over California is a simulation ride where you fly over different landscapes of California. You really feel like you are soaring! The boys thought it was really cool – and I’m pretty sure Billy’s arms were up for most of it!
The Disney Junior Show is my favorite part of DCA. Essentially, it is an episode of the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse performed by puppets. The hostess was human, but everyone else was a puppet. Mickey and his gang were there and so were the Little Einsteins, Handy Manny, and Jake and the Neverland Pirates. Our seats were right in front which made it a little hard for the boys to see the puppets who popped out of the floor or the stage. Billy asked, “Why are they just heads?” Even if all they could see were just heads, the boys were riveted and sang along and used their dancing shoes at all the right times! My legs were completely asleep by the end … to help Rusty and Tommy see a little better, I had one sitting on each knee. Oh, the pins and needles after 20+ minutes of that!
After the show, guess who greeted us outside … Handy Manny!
He is WAY cooler than Geppetto and the Mad Hatter!
We also went on the Monsters, Inc. ride and saw the Muppets 3-D show. The kids thought that one was excellent (it is much better than Captain EO, just sayin’). We also wandered around the Animations building where the boys got to hear a presentation by Crush the sea turtle from Finding Nemo.
Then we had lunch and naps back at the hotel. Since Kevin had his homework finished, he took the two older boys back to Disneyland to ride a few of the bigger rides again. I know they did Star Tours and Space Mountain. While waiting for Space Mountain, they were getting close to getting on, when the ride broke down with an undetermined restart time. Kevin left it up to the boys if they wanted to wait or go somewhere else. They decided to wait and were glad – the ride was up and running just a few minutes later. When they got off of Space Mountain, they were facing the gift shop. The boys had been really good and hadn’t asked for souvenirs or trinkets or anything … except for a Perry the Platypus. The boys had been told that they could pick out a stuffed animal on our last day and Billy saw this Platypus on one of his rides down Space Mountain. He saw it again Thursday afternoon with Kevin and said, “If I don’t get a Perry the Platypus right now, I am going to EXPLODE!”
He didn’t. Get the platypus right then. Or explode. But at least he knew what he wanted.
The three of them also wrote Autopia. I have never ridden that one. Not sure why, just never have. Ricky got to do the driving – or at least he was in charge of the steering. Kevin and Billy were a little concerned for their safety, but they somehow survived (probably because the cars run on tracks, but, shhhh, don’t tell them that).
Grandmama, the two littles, and I met up with the others in D-land and had some dinner. We were greeted with Ricky saying, “I have a BIG idea!” and Billy saying, “You’ve GOT to hear Ricky’s BIG idea!” So we listened.
Ricky’s BIG idea was to ride the railroad “all the way” around Disneyland. Now let me explain. We’d ridden the railroad. Lots. Several times most days. We used it as a great method of transportation – it had a stop near the monorail which would take us right back to our hotel; it was a great way to get around some of the crowded streets. We’d ridden it. But, I guess Ricky had noticed that we had never ridden it the entire way around the park.
So we did.
We actually went all the way around plus a stop. That extra stop meant we got to see the “Grand Canyon” twice. Exciting. The boys loved that part. It is one of the few parts of Disneyland that time has not touched. When we got home from the trip, Ricky even told someone that the Grand Canyon was his favorite part of Disneyland. If you haven’t experienced it … well, that’s okay.
We rode that extra stop because we were heading back to DCA for the evening and it was the closest stop to get there. We did some Soarin’ Over California again and then met up Grandmama who’d staked out a great spot for the World of Color show.
This show was fabulous. I almost didn’t let the boys stay up for it – they were tired and it didn’t start until 9:00, which is way past bedtime. But I did and I’m glad. Grandmama got them some ice cream to wear enjoy while we waited.
This is a water and light show over the “lake” in DCA. There must be hundreds of fountains that shoot up and twist and lights that glow every color. At times, parts of Disney movies are even projected onto the mist. The music is great – the boys were glued to it (as were the grown ups).
It was a long walk back to the hotel, only because Tommy was so exhausted and wouldn’t ride in the stroller or let anyone besides me hold him. He’s gotten heavy! We got to enjoy the Disneyland fireworks as we walked back – best of both worlds that night!
The week was almost over and the boys were feeling it. We did not have a hard time getting them to bed that night, but it was a bit harder getting them up the next morning. They looked like this …
and this …
… and this …
And that was after a few attempts to wake them up already!
But wake up they had to … it was our last day in the Happiest Place on Earth!
Have I mentioned Rusty’s ability to read the Disneyland map? He could figure out where we were and he’d ask where we were heading … sometimes I could just describe where we were going and he’d find it just fine. Granted, it is a map with lots of pictures on it, but still – he’s only 3. We all thought it was pretty cool. Rusty always wanted to have a map in his hands …
This is what the map looks like …
And because I found it and thought it was cool – this is the map from the 1980s when I frequented the park with my family every year …
