Disneyland Day 3

Saturday was the day we decided to use our Magic Morning at Disneyland. That started at 8 am, so we were to the security check point by 7:10 or so. We ended up waiting there until 7:30 for them to open it and then we waited at the gates until 7:45 for them to let us into the park. We then walked up Main Street to the rope by the hub. We were right at the rope. It was pretty awesome!

Here we are at the rope. Can't get closer than this! :)

An empty Disneyland. Looks pretty cool. And yes, this is a picture that we took, not a Disney stock photo.

Zoomed out a little.

Our whole family in front of the rope.

And look who was there to greet us?

(Ok, this is a stock photo. Which is probably obvious considering the blue vs gray sky.)

We planned on riding Peter Pan first as that ride gets long lines quickly. We were some of the first people to the ride. However, it wasn't up yet, so we decided to skip it for the time being and go ride some other rides. Dumbo was first up--we were on the first ride of the day.

We then rode Alice in Wonderland which Megan and Matthew loved. Everyone but me rode the Mad Tea Party (I didn't want to chance feeling sick again).

U and Sarah then went to the Matterhorn while Megan, Matthew and I rode Alice again (they both choose it as the ride they wanted to do) and King Arthur's Carrousel.

Peter Pan was up by this point so we decided to wait in the line for it. We probably waited about 20 minutes. Seriously, this line is crazy long most of the day. It's always fun to fly through Neverland on our very own ship!

By this time, our Magic Morning was almost over so we decided to head over to Fantasy Faire. It's a relatively new area (opened in March) with a princess meet and greet, a royal theater and some other buildings such as Rapunzel's tower. There are even some Flynn Ryder wanted signs with his nose messed up, as seen in the movie, "Tangled." After exploring for a bit, we went to meet the princesses in the Royal Hall. We saw Cinderella and Ariel. Unfortunately Aurora had slept in or was still doing her hair so they set up the last area as a "You're a princess" photoshoot. It was ok, but next time we'll plan on visiting the princesses a bit later so we can see all three.

With Cinderella.

Megan was so excited when she first saw Ariel.

Big hug!

Please sign this.

The royal family. Ha ha!

We then went to Pixie Hollow, where we met Rosetta and Tinker Bell. That was a winner with all the kids!

Waiting in line in Pixie Hollow.

With Rosetta.

Megan giving Rosetta a hug. She gave her one at the beginning and end of our visit with Rosetta.

Sarah loves Tinker Bell.

Megan really wanted to hug Tinker Bell but was a little hesitant.

Awwww!

Matthew really likes Tinker Bell, too. Which you can't tell from the photo. Maybe it was the fact that she was a human-sized fairy....

One last hug before we left.

We then rode the Storybook Land Canal Boats. I love looking at all the miniature homes and villages and even trees. We then went on the Casey Jr. train. Matthew was a big fan--he loves all the trains!

We had a tiger in our car! Good thing we all made it out ok:)

Getting swallowed by a whale on Storybook Land Canal Boats.

Nice view of Casey Jr and the canal.

Some of the lands we explored on those rides.

Megan, Matthew and I then took a bit of a break. They enjoyed playing around a little bit and eating some food. We saw the Dapper Dans and the Disneyland Band go by which was fun. Oh, and Mary Poppins and Bert walked by as well.  While we played, U and Sarah went on Splash Mountain.

We then went to Critter Country to visit with Tigger and Pooh. Oh how exciting! Especially if you are two and love Pooh and all his friends.

I love this picture! You can tell how much the kids love Pooh.

We went on The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. Wow! To see Pooh and his friends was so cool. This was another one of Megan and Matthew's favorite rides. As evidenced by the fact that the three of us then went on Pooh 3 more times (so 4 times in a row). They probably would have gone on it more.

While we went round and round on Pooh, Sarah and U went on Indiana Jones. This time, Sarah looked up during the ride and she liked it even more than Friday night. We then all went on the Haunted Mansion together--we were literally able to walk into the front room. We'd been a little unsure if we should take Megan and Matthew on it--would it be too scary for them? No need to fear--they both fell asleep during it! I headed back to the hotel with them while U and Sarah went for another log ride on Splash Mountain. Then they joined us at the motel.

You can tell U is tired--he fell asleep on Splash Mountain :)

Sarah and I headed back to Disneyland before the others. We met Cinderella's Fairy Godmother and hung out in front of the castle.

We rode the Matterhorn. The child swap on that basically worked like a front of the line pass--we were on the next sled! I liked the ride fairly well, although it's a bit bumpy and I got bruises from my fanny pack. We then rode Indiana Jones.

Next up was Splash Mountain. I'd never been on this ride since it wasn't quite finished when I visited as a kid, was closed when we were there in 2009 and I was pregnant in 2010. So I was pretty excited to finally get to ride it. And I enjoyed it--there is a fun little story and songs to go along with the ride. We were able to ride it twice with the two child swaps U and Sarah had gotten earlier in the day.

In the queue for Splash.

In the meantime, U, Megan and Matthew headed over to California Adventure. They saw the Red Car News Boys performing near Carthay Circle.

With Walt and Mickey on Buena Vista Street.

They then rode Flik's Flyers and Heimlich's Chew Chew train. Megan and Matthew even sat together in their own car on the last one with U right behind them.

On Flik's Flyers. I love the look on Megan's face. Such excitement.

They then talked to Mater and rode Mater's Junkyard Jamboree three times (did I mention they love this ride?).

They then watched the Pixar Play Parade. We joined them partway through. I really like that parade!

We'd set Saturday evening aside to explore Cars Land. There is a lot to see and we really enjoyed our time there.

We met Lightning McQueen. So exciting!

On our way to dinner at Flo's. Can you see it in the background?

We enjoyed dinner at Flo's V8 Cafe. We ate outside where we could see the Cadillac Range and watch the cars go racing by. It is so picturesque!

So pretty!

U then rode Radiator Springs Racers using Single Rider.

The kids and I rode Luigi's Flying Tires. Because only 3 people can be in one tire, I got to ride with Megan while Sarah and Matthew rode together. It was fun to see a couple of my kids in their own huge tire. We enjoyed steering the tire all around the floating rink. We then rode Mater's Junkyard Jamboree. The three kids wanted to ride together and the Cast Member said it was ok so they were in their own tractor. They had such huge smiles on their faces!

Excited to ride together!

Dad gum that's fun!

(As Mater would say.)

We got a few more pictures on the main drag. Notice Matthew's Cars shirt?

We then went to DJ's Dance 'n Drive. DJ came and played music while the waitresses from Flo's came out and led the kids in a dance party. Sarah was quick to go join the party and Megan and Matthew soon joined her. It was a fun time for all.

Sarah dancing!

Megan running around excitedly.

All three kids with DJ in the background.

We then rode Mater's Junkyard Jamboree again. Then we went down by the statue of Stanley to watch the Cars Land lighting ceremony. What is that, you ask? At dusk, they change the music over to the "Shaboom" song from Cars and the neon lights turn on starting at the courthouse and heading down to the entrance of Cars Land. It was fun to watch!

The girls at the "Radiator Springs" sign by the Stanley statue.

Radiator Springs with all the neon lights.

Sarah and I then headed to Radiator Springs Racers so we could ride them after dark. However, not long after we got in line, the ride went down. They said they expected it up soon so we waited. However, after a bit of waiting, they told us that the ride would be down for awhile so we left. (Does it seem like the racers were down a lot to anybody else? Because it sure seems like they went down a lot the first few days we were there. Probably some of that was because they were running until 3 am for the grad nites and didn't get much of a break.) U, Megan and Matthew had been waiting to watch us race by outside of Flo's. They also went to another dance party with DJ.

A picture in Cars Land with all the neon lights on. And the stoplight with the slow 3rd blink.

We rode Monsters Inc on our way out of California Adventure and got a family picture with Walt and Mickey.

We then went to Disneyland to see the fireworks. We really enjoyed them. The fireworks we saw were "Remember, dreams come true" so there was music and commentary along those lines. Dumbo and Tinker Bell both flew above Sleeping Beauty's castle. Matthew now thinks that an important part of fireworks is Tinker Bell flying. ("Fireworks? Where is Tinkey Bell???" he asks.)

Waiting for fireworks to start. Think any of the kids are tired???

ride/attraction count
Megan and Matthew: 22/12
Sarah: 20/9
Me: 20/11
U: 21/10

Fast Passes/child swap/singer riders used: Matterhorn, Indiana Jones, Splash Mountain, Radiator Springs Racers.