The next morning we got up around 7:30am. We didn't sleep well that night. Ellie woke up several times through the night. We weren't really sure why though. We got ready and ate breakfast at the hotel. After breakfast, we headed to Disneyland. This was our first full day at the Disney parks so we were pretty excited. Rope drop was at 10:00am, but we heard they would let people in to Main Street at 9:30. We got there shortly after 9:30 and first took pictures in front of the train station and Mickey flower arrangement. Then we went until the train tracks to the square on Main Street. As we were walking through the square we noticed there were characters just hanging out in the square. We decided to stop and take pictures with Minnie first. Ellie loved it. The other characters around were Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Pluto and Daisy. It was crazy because there weren't crazy lines and everyone just orderly lined up to take a picture and they moved on. It was really cool. After Minnie, we were gonna see Mickey, but the line was pretty long so we went to Goofy. After Goofy, the characters left all of sudden. Someone said they would leave and be back in about 5 minutes, and they were. They all came back together. Goofy was skipping through the square holding 2 little kids hands. Ellie saw that and said she wanted to walk with all of the characters (she actually said that about every character through the trip). So once they were back, we went to see Donald and then Mickey. We also got pictures taken at the beginning of Main Street thinking it would be us with Main Street and the castle in the background. It didn't work because the castle is too small.
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| First morning in Disneyland |
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| Ready for the park and waiting to see Minnie |
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| Loved seeing Minnie |
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| Donald was fun. He even quacked. |
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| Looking good with Mickey |
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| Family picture on Main Street. Where is the castle? |
After seeing all of the characters, we had a plan to either do Fast Passes with rider swap so Lisa and I could both ride the bigger rides, or use the single rider lines. We started with Matterhorn. Lisa stodd in line and it went pretty quick. Ellie and I walked around and we got Fast Passes for Space Mountain for after lunch. Lisa got a rider swap ticket for me. It worked pretty good. I presented the ticket after she went and I got to skip the line. The Matterhorn was pretty cool. The Yeti in it was a little scary. It is an older roller coaster that Walt developed. I thought it was similar to Big Thunder, but through the Matterhorn mountain. After that, we rode the Tea Cups because it was next to the Matterhorn. We waited about 20 min to ride it. Ellie loved the tea cups. It was a lot of fun with the 3 of us. Disneyland's tea cups are also uncovered so it feels much more open than Disney World's. We were gonna ride Alice in Wonderland after the tea cups, but the line was pretty long and we had lunch reservations at Cafe Orleans for noon so we headed to New Orleans Square.
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| Rider Swap was a nice option for our trip |
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| Legacy Fast Passes (good and bad) |
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| Just couldn't wait to ride the tea cups |
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| Family picture before the Tea Cups |
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| Riding the Tea Cups. Loved it! |
New Orleans Square is really cool. I have never been to New Orleans, but Lisa said it was similar. Disney World has Liberty Square instead, but New Orleans Square is bigger with much more to do. We found Cafe Orleans, checked in and waited a couple minutes for our table. There was a pirate/bayou band playing not far from the restaurant so we watched them while we waited. I also found the entrance to Club 33 while we waited (I'm not gonna say where though). We got our table and were close to the kitchen. That place was busy. I got the Monte Cristo (I felt I had to because it is their signature dish and everyone raves about it). Lisa got a salad and gumbo and Ellie got mac & cheese. Elle ate some mac & cheese and most of her broccoli that came with it. Lisa enjoyed her salad and gumbo (it was a lot of food). The Monte Cristo is a croque monsieur deep fried like a beignet. It sounds disgusting but was amazing. It was sooooo good. The portions were huge at this restaurant though. None of us finished our food.
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| The famed Monte Cristo - Yummy! |
After lunch we rode Pirate's because it is in New Orleans Square (not Adventureland). We only waited about 15 minutes. It was cool. The queue line was a little different and the ride was longer. We liked it. We then went to use our Space Mountain Fast Passes. Lisa went first and I waited with Ellie. Lisa loved it and said I had to ride it. It was Star Wars themed and she is not a Star Wars fan so I was surprised. By the time she got done, my Fast Pass was expired. I didn't think much of it, but when I went to turn it in, I was declined. I was not very happy. (We found out a couple days later what our mistake was, but I was not happy at the time)
We tried to get Ellie to take a nap so we walked through part of Disneyland and decided to walk to California Adventure since we had not been there and we wanted to see what it was like. On the way, Ellie was really close to falling asleep except she kept seeing characters walking around and would wake up. When we got to California Adventure (DCA), the entrance is very similar to Hollywood Studios in Orlando and the first area is very similar to the Studios also. There was a Trolley show going on when we walked it and Mickey was part of it, so Ellie was wide awake by then. We watched that and then started to walk around. The first thing Ellie saw she wanted was popcorn. We bought her the bucket of popcorn thinking it would last a while. She loved it. She held and carried that bucket everywhere. She ate about half of the bucket that day. We started off taking a left at the Carthay Circle and found the Monsters Inc ride. Ellie loves Mike and Sully. It was only about a 10 minute wait so we got it line. That ride was so cute and Ellie loved it. We decided Disney World needs to add it or a version of it.
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| Ellie and her popcorn bucket |
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| Ellie's favorite ride - Monster's Inc |
After Mike and Sully we decided to explore the park. We walked to Bug's Land and Ellie fell asleep on the walk through there. We then walked to Cars Land. This area is really cool. It looks exactly like the movie. The main ride is Radiator Springs Racers, which is similar to EPCOT in Orlando. The line is typically 90 minutes, but when we walked through the single rider line was only 20 minutes so I gave it a shot. Lisa waited with Ellie. I waited and waited and there were a couple announcements that said there was some trouble, but the line kep moving. I was about 10 people from getting on the ride and they shut down the entire ride. Darn it. I walked out (along with everyone else) and Ellie was awake eating ice cream with Lisa. She hadn't napped very long and was pretty crabby. We walked to Pacific Wharf and then to Paradise Pier. Lisa and I got Fast Passes for California Screamin' and I went first. I was told the single rider line was faster than Fast Pass. So I went to single rider and found there a ride was not guaranteed where a Fast Pass they put you on the ride no matter what. So I went back to the Fast Pass line. It ended up being a little faster than the single rider. While I was in line, I was getting text messages from Lisa saying that she was done with Ellie. The bear was back. Great....The roller coaster was funny, but not the greatest. It does go upside down though. Ellie and Lisa rode the carousel while I rode California Screamin'. After that, Lisa went on it and I took Ellie. She was being a bear. She wanted to walk, but there were a lot of people there. We made it passed Toy Story Mania and I let her walk. We walked all the way around the lagoon. It is a pretty area with quite a few attractions, most of them Disney versions of carnival rides though. Lisa met us at the Little Mermaid ride. We rode that with Ellie. It was only a 5 minute wait. It is a cute ride. The same one in the new part of Fantasyland in Orlando. Ellie really liked it.
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| Cars Land at sunset |
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| Cars Land at dusk |
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| DCA at dusk |
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| Riding the carousel with momma |
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| DCA at dark |
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| Riding the Little Mermaid ride |
Then it was time for dinner. We went back to Cars Land and ate at Flo's V8 Cafe. It was delicious. Ellie and I split the roasted chicken dinner and Lisa got a roast beef sandwich. Really good. After dinner, we were done (mainly done with Ellie). We headed to Downtown Disney to get a sweet snack. I got a chocolate covered s'mores sandwich and a Mickey rice krispy treat. The s'mores treat we ate immediately. We then headed back toward Harbor blvd to go back to the hotel (we found that way was faster than through all of Downtown Disney and then south). When we got to the esplanade, I realized I didn't have my phone. Oh sh$#!! The last time I remembered having it was setting it on the table at the restaurant during dinner. We went back there and it was gone. One of the waitresses asked me if we checked lost and found or Find My iPhone. I had not checked either. I used Lisa phone to Find My iPhone and thankfully it was enabled on my phone and it showed my phone was at lost and found. We went there and on the way, Ellie fell asleep. Thank god. I walked in and told them about my phone. They asked me several questions about the phone, being very thorough (I was impressed). They had it. Thank goodness.
Since we were in the park, it was almost time for World of Color and Ellie was asleep so we stayed. We walked through the shops and then went back to the lagoon to watch the show. We got there just in time and there wasn't a great place to stand. We ended up filling in the Fast Pass area because it wasn't full. We were on the bridge going from the Little Mermaid ride to Ariel's Grotto. Not too bad of a spot, but not great. Regardless of the spot, the show was fantastic. This was probably my highlight of the trip. It is a water fountain, video projection, laser and fire show. It was phenomenal. The way they use lights, colors and lasers with water is incredible. The best part was we had plans to see it again from a better location (more to come on that).
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| DCA Post World of Color |
After the show, we left and walked back to the hotel. When we got there, Ellie barely woke up to put her pajamas on. She went right to bed and back to sleep.
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