Since this trip was all at Disneyland, I'm gonna change up my blog format a little. Instead of the blow-by-blow itinerary, I kept track of what we did each day in my Notes app on my iPhone. I'm going to include it, with pictures and notes so that it doesn't seem redundant. Hope you enjoy!
Day 2 Notes:
- - Short walk to park from hotel - Our hotel was on Harbor across the street from the entrance to Disneyland. It was a 6-8 minute walk. We got really spoiled with the walk. It was actually closer to walk to our hotel from the parks than to the Disneyland Hotel from the parks.
- - Alice and Tea Cups - We didn't get to ride the Alice in Wonderland dark ride on our last trip, so that was at the top of our list. Ellie has watched the movie a couple times and is really into Alice right now. She loved the ride. We rode the tea cups after that and walked right on because it was at park opening on a week day.
- - Donuts - Lisa had started following several Disney parks food instagram feeds and found seasonal donuts at the parks that she wanted to try. At Disneyland, we found a cake donut topped with fruitty pebbles and a peppermint chocolate long john. They were delicious. (Peppermint and chocolate became a theme for this trip)
- - Haunted Mansion - Our last trip we were late enough to see the Haunted Mansion after it reopened from removing the holiday overlay. Since Halloween, Ellie has loved Jack and Sally. She watches that movie more than others and loves the two characters. Because of this, we were really looking forward to seeing the Haunted Mansion with the Nightmare Before Christmas holiday overlay. It did not disappoint. I kept telling Lisa, I couldn't believe how much they changed it. It was a completely different ride. I LOVED it. The Haunted Mansion has become my favorite ride over the past few years and this was even better. It was great. The detail was incredible and even the music in the graveyard scene was a blend of Nightmare Before Christmas with Grim Grinning Ghosts. It was great.
- - Friends - When planning our trip, we found out that some friends from home were going to be at Disneyland the same week. We planned on doing things with them a couple days, but we bumped into them in front of Splash Mountain after the Haunted Mansion.
- - Small World - We decided to ride Small World Holiday to try out the MaxPass FastPass system. This is the BEST addition to the parks. It was so easy to use and we could get a FastPass for almost any ride anytime we were ready. It was great. The ride was great too. It was the middle of the day, so the lights weren't on, but the holiday overlay inside is great. Lisa really likes this ride, especially at Christmas.
- - Lunch – Red Rose Tavern - We met up with our friends in the park and ate at the Red Rose Tavern. It was pretty good. Lisa got a salad, which she said was good. I got the Pot Roast Poutine, which was good and we got a Grey Stuff cupcake which was delicious.
- - Dumbo - After lunch we all went and rode Dumbo. It was sunny and there isn't much shade, so it was hot waiting in line. There was 7 of us, so I ended up in my own Dumbo. It was fun.
- - Pinocchio - After Dumbo we rode Pinocchio, which is a bit creepy. We hadn't seen the movie in a long time before our last trip, but we did see it before this one. It does follow the movie, but is still creepy (like the movie).
- - Small World (some of parade) - At lunch we got another FastPass for Small World and rode with our friends this time. On the way, the 1:30 Holiday parade was starting, and it originated next to Small World. We got to watch some of it in line with no one in front of us.
- - Got churros (peppermint chocolate) - We split up from our friends and went on our own to try and get Ellie to sleep and we wanted to shop a little. Ellie didn't sleep, but we did get churros. Lisa got a Peppermint Hot Chocolate churros. It was good.
- - On our own, went through shops on main street - We had a FastPass for Buzz, so to spend some time before that we walked through the shops on Main Street. We tried to exchange an Ariel bubble wand from a previous trip and we were unsuccessful (long story).
- - Buzz - Met our friends at Buzz and rode together. It was fun. Ellie is getting better at it.
- - Parade - Found a spot on the hub to watch the parade. It ran twice a day through the holidays. It was a cute holiday/Christmas parade. We didn't pick the best spot though. We were on the east side of the hub looking into the western 3:00 sun setting. It was fine by the end of the parade.
- - Left the park and went to downtown Disney (Ellie fell asleep) - We decided to leave the park after the parade to go to Downtown Disney. Ellie fell asleep in the stroller in the esplanade.
- - Went through shops, ate at Whitewater Snacks in GC - We went through some of the shops, especially the Wonderground Gallery. This has become our favorite. We have bought art there the past two trips. It is easier to shop with Ellie sleeping too. We went into the Grand Californian hotel to see their gingerbread house, which was huge and awesome. I wanted to eat at Whitewater Snacks because I heard they had good nachos (and I love nachos). We found the restaurant. It was a nice quite spot away from everything. Ellie slept through dinner. I got nachos and Lisa got quesadillas. They were good, but not great.
- - Entered DCA through GC, woke Ellie up to ride Ariel, got ice cream, walk to DL to watch fireworks - Something I wanted to try was going into California Adventure through the Grand Californian hotel. That was pretty slick. The entrance is close to Whitewater Snacks so it was easy to get there. We woke Ellie up and rode Ariel. She likes that ride. Then she wanted ice cream so we ended up at Clarabelle's and got ice cream. She wanted chocolate with sprinkles. We got what she wanted and then Lisa and I got mint chocolate chip. She liked ours better and ate most of it.
- - Fireworks cancelled, watched “snow” on Main Street - We went back to Disneyland to watch the fireworks, but they cancelled it due to wind (this became a theme through the week). We did see "snow" on Main Street.
- - Nuggets at McDonald’s - Ellie was hungry (because she missed dinner) so we stopped at McDonald's and got her nuggets. Then back to the hotel.
 |
| Disneyland just after opening |
 |
| Alice and Tea Cups (oh, and donuts!) |
 |
| Haunted Mansion Holiday |
 |
| Small World Holiday |
 |
| Afternoon Fun |
 |
| This girl loves her suckers |
 |
| Night Time Fun |
No comments:
Post a Comment