Disneyland Day 2

Friday morning, we headed over to Disneyland. 

It opened at 9, so we were there around 8:15 or so. Once they let us into the park, we were able to meet Mickey Mouse, who just wandered out onto Main Street. Yeah for the Mouse:)

Then we headed over to the rope drop by Tomorrowland. Once the park opened, U grabbed FPs for Space Mountain and then met the kids and I over at Autopia. The kids absolutely loved Autopia. Sarah liked being able to drive the car. Megan and Matthew both preferred to just ride but like the little cars and all the scenery. When we got to the end, there was no one waiting, so we were able to ride around again. That was awesome! Especially because that's a ride that can get quite a wait later in the day. We then went on the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage. While Megan and Matthew liked seeing Nemo and the other fish, there were some parts of the ride they didn't like too well.

In sub on Nemo.

U and Sarah then rode Space Mountain while Megan, Matthew and I went on the Astro Orbitors. We then rode Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters. Fun ride where we are trying to defeat Zurg by shooting at targets with our lasers. Megan and Matthew liked looking at everything even though they didn't do the shooting part.

Sarah and U on Space Mountain.

Megan, Sarah and me on Buzz.

U and the top of Matthew's head.

We then headed to Toon Town. Sarah, Megan and I rode Gadget's Go Coaster. Matthew was disappointed he was a tad too short. Megan was excited to go on her first roller coaster. She even put her arms up as we went up the first hill. However, when it was over, she decided that was enough and let Sarah ride with daddy instead of going again herself. We then met Minnie Mouse and explored her house. Then we explored Mickey's house.

Minnie showing off her house.

Megan hugged almost every character she met!

Sarah typing on Minnie's computer.

Megan sitting on Minnie's chair.

Megan serving Matthew a snack in Minnie's kitchen.

Megan operating the stove in Minnie kitchen. It makes a cake, which is cool.

Sarah playing Mickey's piano.

We ate lunch and watched "Mickey and the Magical Map." It's a brand new show at Disneyland (it started the Saturday before we arrived) and is really well done. Mickey is an apprentice to a map maker, Yen Sid, and is trying to finish a map. As he does so, he travels all over the globe and is visited by characters from many Disney movies. One of my favorite parts was a medley which included Pocahontas, Mulan and Rapunzel singing parts of a song from their respective movies. I really enjoyed the show!

We then headed over to it's a small world. I love that attraction! So many fun characters dancing around and I love the message of the song.

Happy Megan on it's a small world.

Matthew.

Daddy and Sarah.

Megan, Matthew and I then headed back to the hotel while U and Sarah headed to Star Tours. They then rode Radiator Springs Racers with the anytime FPs from the day before (usually you have to use the FPs the same day, but the ride was down after WOC Thursday and so they said we could use them the next day). Then they came to the hotel.

Go U and Sarah!

Sarah and U brought me back this pretty flower.

We headed back to Disneyland to see Mickey's Soundsational Parade. We had a good viewing location in town square right where the music piped in. My favorite float was the princess float--it was Tangled's tower and Snow White's wishing well and is really well done.

Cool float!

After the parade, we went to Cafe Orleans for dinner. U wanted to try the Monte Cristo sandwich that he'd heard so much about. It's huge so he split it with Sarah. It was only so-so; not something he'd want to have again. I had a yummy chicken salad. Megan and Matthew had noodles with chicken and vegetables. Yum! Sarah had on her birthday pin and so got a free Mickey beignet for her birthday. U and I split an order to share and Megan and Matthew had a little fruit for dessert. Overall, it was a very nice, relaxed meal. It was fun to watch the Mark Twain sail around the Rivers of America and to see people wander around New Orleans Square.

Sarah with her birthday beignet. Yum!

After dinner, we rode Pirates of the Caribbean and then we took the Disney Railroad all the way around the park. The young ones really liked the train. Except Matthew didn't understand why the train had to keep stopping. Every time it stopped, he kept telling it to go.

Sarah took some pictures of the dioramas on the train.

Megan, Matthew and U then headed back to the hotel for the night. Sarah and I went to ride Indiana Jones Adventure. It was Sarah's first time on the ride (it has a 46" height requirement and so she wasn't tall enough when we came in 2010) and she was a little nervous about it. I'd never seen her nervous about a ride--it was a new experience. I told her that I went on it and was fine and I wouldn't go on some of the rides she went on the day before that she liked. She was excited by the time we actually got on the ride. However, she put her head down the entire time!!!! I tried to get her to look up, but she wouldn't. Not once. I enjoyed it. We then headed to Space Mountain. I hadn't been on it since I was a kid but convinced myself I'd like it ok. The first part was ok but then it kept going faster and faster in more and more circles. By the time we got off, I was nauseous! Not fun! Sarah, on the other hand, liked it.  She was really patient and sat with me for a little bit until I felt better. I wasn't sure about riding Star Tours at that point since I was more nervous about that ride. However, I decided to try it and am glad I did. It was a fun ride! We even got to see Princess Leia telling us, "You're our only hope Star Tours," which U didn't get to see on any of his rides. (Star Tours has a whole bunch of different possibilities for who you see, what planets you visit, etc, so each ride is a little different.) We then headed back to the hotel.

Great picture of Sarah. Unfortunately, I blinked as the camera went off. And I wasn't going to ride it again to get a better photo! Ugh!

Both Thursday and Friday were grad nites at Disneyland. The seniors had park hoppers they could use during the day. I wouldn't say we saw much of a difference during the day either day or on Thursday night. However, Friday night was super crowded at Disneyland! I'm sure glad we had child swaps or FPs for the three rides Sarah and I did together--otherwise it would have taken a long time to ride those rides. As it was, we had very little wait.

Ride/Other attraction count:
Matthew 8/6
Megan 9/6
Sarah 15/6
Me 12/6
U 11/6

FP/child swaps used: Space Mountain, Gadget's Go Coaster, Star Tours, Radiator Springs Racers, Indiana Jones