Really, I haven't forgotten about the Disneyland posts... it's just that new family members trump vacation! Here we go... first day at the parks.
BREAKFAST: Hotel. Pastries, fruit, cereal and TERRIBLE coffee. Ugh... I'm telling you, it was bad. I tried the stuff in the room, and almost expected it to be repellant (it was), but the stuff in the diningroom was just as bad. This was going to be a problem!
After breakfast we headed over to California Adventure.
First on our list was Soarin’ Over California. The kids LOVED it. If you haven't been, it's a hangliding tour over different areas of California, complete with a liftoff, wind in your hair and the smells of the rivers and orange groves, and ending with a flight through the fireworks display at Disneyland Park.
After that we did all of A Bug’s Land, including “It’s Tough to Be a Bug” show. They've got all kinds of special effects set up during the show (smoke, water mist, etc.) At one point something pokes you in the behind, simulating a bee sting. It doesn't hurt, but it freaked Sam out so badly, he spent the rest of the show huddled on the floor by my feet. (Turns out Hallie was sitting forward a bit, and snuggled up to daddy and didn't feel that one). I got him back up to his bench just in time for the last effect - little bugs crawling out underneath your seat.
We zipped back over to do Soarin’ again, then Met Minnie, Pluto, Goofy, Chip & Dale, Lilo in the plaza.
Then we watched the “Drawn to the Magic” stage show, where Disney animators sing about character genres (princesses, heros, magic characters) while drawing a character sketch... at the end, the characters they drew come out from back stage to meet the kids in the audience. Hallie was chosen to come up on stage to do a “princess pose” and was awarded with an original drawing of Sleeping Beauty from one of the Disney Animators.
LUNCH: McDonalds for kids (right next door to the hotel), Quizno’s for us. (Chili, Broccoli Cheddar Soup, split Cheese Steak Sandwich.) We'd scheduled our day to be back at the hotel during certain hours because we were expecting a grocery delivery. (Main point being 2 cases of good bottled water!) The children swam in the pool for a few hours, and we finally gave up waiting. But the hotel graciously received our order for us and stored it until we returned from the park that evening.
Next stop... Disneyland! We'd planned to ride the train around the park as our first order of business, to give the kids a good overview, and because Sam has always loved trains. Unfortunately we had bad timing... it was having technical difficulties, so we walked to Big Thunder Mountain. (My goodness, we sure found out our children are thrill-seekers!) Then had dinner at the Golden Horseshoe while watching Billy Hill and the Hillbillies.
DINNER: Golden Horseshoe. Kids: “Power Pack” - string cheese, yogurt, fish crackers, milk. Brian: Fish & Chips, Hilary: Chicken Nuggets and Fries.
After the show we walked through Tarzan’s Treehouse, then rode the Jungle Cruise (Sam couldn’t figure out why the boat kept stopping - turns out he had no idea there were animals to see, and didn’t catch the jokes! That's what we get for riding after dark).
We watched the show in the Enchanted Tiki Room. We staked out a spot to watch the Fireworks in Fantasyland while eating a Churro (my first ever... yum!), then went on Dumbo and the Casey Junior Circus Train before heading back to our hotel.
(And there was morning, and there was evening... the first day.)
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