Disneyland, Day 3

Disneyland, Day 3

October 8

 

Originally we were only planning two days in the park and one at the beach, but our plans changed!  We went from all day beach, to half day at the park and half at the beach, to WE NEED MORE DISNEY...and spent a third day in the park.  We were worried that it would be crazy because it was Saturday, but the morning was surprisingly not crowded.  We got there as it opened again on Saturday morning and again enjoyed minimal crowds compared to Thursday, walking on to Dumbo, the Carousel, Matterhorn, Small World, Alice and Wonderland, and then headed back to Toon Town.  Matisyn even got to play some music with Pluto who was walking around being silly. Matisyn insisted we tour Aurora's castle, and it was lucky we did or we never would have chosen to walk the path behind the castle where we happened upon some princesses.  We got to spend time with Aurora and Ariel.  Ariel in particular was so sweet with the girls, spending time to talk to each one and make them feel special. We were their last family to greet, so we were feeling very lucky. We went looking for Jasmine, who Sylvie really wanted to meet, and ended up seeing Aladdin (lacking in charisma--princesses are much better at this sort of thing).   We finally ate soup in bread bowls for lunch--I'd been craving it ever since the first day when we saw people walking around with it--rode Thunder Mountain again, and rafted over to Pirate's Island, where the kids loved running and exploring.  Alison and I planned on heading back early to let the little girls nap since we planned on having a late night in the park with fireworks, but were slowed down by the disappearance of Emilyn's blanket, aka "Fly."  We cannot leave a man behind, Emilyn wouldn't have recovered, so we began an island-wide search for her blanket, which thankfully was eventually found.  Alison and I took the little girls back to the hotel for naps and quality visiting time/candy eating while the dads stayed to take the kids on Splash Mountain one more time. The dads and big kids came back, too, and rested as well. 

We went back again just to really wear everyone out. We ordered dinner from Red Robin (3 nights in a row!) and ate standing at the bus stop so we wouldn't miss the bus. We got there just in time for the last parade (we watched again since it was such a big hit the first time).  After the parade we took the Disneyland train all the way around the park to say goodbye. Then we took the kids shopping to pick their one fun thing to take home from Disneyland. Matisyn chose a baby Minnie, after changing her mind many times throughout the trip, and Emilyn chose a set of Tangled characters, which are still quite a hit at home. We also got some special mugs with our names engraved, Matt got Mickey, I got Minnie, and both girls insisted on Ariel Little Mermaid mugs.  Then we watched fireworks and marveled over how Tinkerbell could fly around over the castle without getting hit with fireworks, then ate treats--the Pineapple whip float, which I guess was delicious enough to even wait with a slumping, sleeping Matisyn and a wired, exhausted Emilyn.  We got back to the hotel at midnight.

I have been using some of Alison's words from her blog because she was so good at remembering the order and everything we did.  She said this at the end, and I couldn't say it better!  "This trip was more fun than we ever imagined. Everything went so smoothly, no one got lost, the kids were mostly cooperative and cheerful, even though they were tired, the weather was absolutely gorgeous. The kids loved being there and let us know they were having fun."  I especially enjoyed the Halloween decorations and the characters dressed up in costumes.  It was fun to be there and experience it with a Halloween theme.  The ride home was rough, Emilyn threw up, neither of the girls napped, etc. etc.  Let's just say it was the hardest part of the week.  It was worth it though.  We're grateful for great friends and traveling partners, and for the Disneyland magic.  I never can seem to get enough!

 Emilyn sat down to show me how much she liked being told "no!"  She kept wanting to run the wrong way on a one way bridge and run into people, and I stopped her, so she sat down and refused to go anywhere.  She still looks pretty cute being stubborn though!  The picture on the right is Matt with the kids on Splash Mountain.