Are you ready for picture overload?
If you have no desire to see pictures of my cute family enjoying themselves at Disneyland, this post is not for you. But I would look at the pictures if it were me. Just saying.
It's hard to pick a favorite ride. Tess loved Big Thunder Mountain, Davis would say his is Space Mountain hands down. Collin just had fun every where, but everyone agreed that Toy Story Mania was awesome.
We took advantage of fast passes, but didn't get too worked up about standing in lines. We did not map out our ride experience, but I've heard it's a great way to go.
Did I tell you we bought five day passes? We hit up the two parks four days in a row, Monday through Thursday. For Thanksgiving dinner, we ate at an Italian restaurant in California Adventure. Davis and Tess ordered the turkey dinner, but the rest of us ate pasta.
On Friday we took a day off from the park and did some shopping at Trader Joe's. After buying up all the dark chocolate covered almonds we could fit in to our suitcase we were lost. Not physically lost, but emotionally. The kids were having morning cravings for churros and cotton candy. Mike and I felt so bummed. It was horrible. We didn't know how to entertain ourselves.
We ended up at the movie theater and watched the new Disney flick, Wreck It Ralph.
After the movie we reassured everyone that the next day we would be back to our old selves. Gorging on expensive snack bar foods, and waiting ridiculous amounts of time in line for something that was only going to last a couple of minutes
The first time we took Tess to Disneyland she wasn't even two yet. The only princess she had heard of was Princess Fiona, on Shrek. Over the last four years she has fallen in love with all things sparkly, pretty, and royal. Tess picked out a Belle dress, as her souvenir, and wore it to the park every day.
Davis was just over four when he first visited Disneyland, and he did not want to meet any of the characters. I have a picture somewhere of him in a stroller screaming as we tried to get a picture with Jessie and Bullseye. When we saw Woody walking by, I couldn't resist getting them to pose together. No crying this time.
The new Carsland was a huge hit. It felt like you were in the movie! My favorite part was the neon lights at night. We won't talk about the two and a half hours I spent in line waiting to go on the car racing ride.
We hit up It's a Small World while the parade was going on, and there was no wait to get on. It was daylight when we went in, and dark when we came out. The Christmas lights on the exterior are amazing, and the holiday decor inside was a lot of fun.
Oh, and because there was no line (due to everyone watching the parade), we were able to ride three times in a row. I don't know if Mike liked it, but the kids and I did.
Morning till close, we ran our selves ragged. We had so much fun.
What do you do with the seven dollar balloon when you are about to travel 1,500 miles home? Take a picture. It will last longer.
Disney Thanksgiving Part I
