Disneyland Day 3

Disneyland Day 3
March 1

Friday was our last day in the park.  We managed to spend from just after 9:00 in the morning until almost midnight in Disneyland getting to see and do as much as possible. This morning started out rough trying to get out the door.  Matisyn was not cooperating, and Lucas needed to be fed, changed, etc when the Helquist's were ready to leave.  We sent them over before us, and met them a little later.  We got a few more pictures with Mickey at the entrance.

Lucas decided he had already had enough stimulation after the walk down Main Street and was out in the baby bjorn by the time we hit Tomorrow Land!  Our first ride was walking straight onto Astro Blasters as a family.  Next, Mike and Alison took Emilyn, Lucas, and Sylvie to ride It's a Small World (which thankfully opened up again on our last day there), while Matt and I took Matisyn and Jens on Star Tours.  Then we ran over and went on Space Mountain, before meeting up with everyone in Toon Town.  After It's a Small World the other group went to see Minnie at her house, and were lucky enough to see Goofy right outside.

While in Toon Town the dads and kids rode Gadget Go Coaster two more times.  Matisyn was sad she missed out on seeing Minnie, so we were going to go back, but the line was too long.  I'm trying to get as much time enjoying Matisyn with the characters as I can since she is growing up so fast!

Then we walked straight into Mickey's house, and had such a great visit with him.  There was no line, and our girls went right for him!  Lucas was especially interested in Mickey, and Mickey made sure to give him some extra special attention.  We spent a long time letting Lucas pat Mickey's nose and arm, and looking at him with his bright, fascinated eyes.  He kept looking back at me like, Mom, have you seen this guy, he's awesome!  There were too many cute pictures of Lucas and Mickey, I couldn't choose!

We headed to the other side of the park to get lunch in New Orleans Square.  We ate at the French Market, and had delicious french dip sandwiches and mint juleps (Matt and I enjoy their unique flavor but Mike and Alison hated them)!  We also tried a new treat, the Mickey beignets, which were very yummy.

Next up was the Tikki Room, where we skipped the extremely long line outside to get dole whip floats inside, and took them in to watch the show.  We love that treat now, and we all enjoyed the cool rest and tikki birds singing.  We headed to ride Pirates of the Caribbean once more, which the girls loved.  While we went on Splash Mountain, Matt took Emi to go on the Haunted Mansion.  She was so proud that she wasn't scared, and that she was big enough to go.  She still goes around saying, "there are no windows and no doors," and "find a way out" which is Matt's favorite part.  It's pretty cute.

We had fast passes for Splash Mountain and we felt very lucky when the ride closed down for hours shortly after we rode!  Since we were there we rode the Winnie the Pooh ride a couple of times.  Emilyn could have kept riding it over and over again.  After Winnie the Pooh we found our favorite chocolate covered pineapple treats in the store, and sat down on a bench to rest.  Mike took Matisyn and Jens to see the Haunted Mansion again while Alison took Sylvie and Emilyn to see Rabbit and Tigger, and I fed Lucas. 

Emilyn showing off her superb character hugging and posing!  What a cutie!

We realized that we were all pretty hot and tired and that we needed a longer rest if we were going to make it until midnight, so we decided to ride the train around the park.  We rode 1 1/2 times around and got off at It's a Small World.

Mike ran to get us fast passes for Autopia, Alison waited on the sidelines with Lucas, and Matt and I stood in line with the kids for It's a Small World.  We hadn't gone on it yet, and Emilyn was very happy to get to go again.  The line was longer than expected, probably because it had been closed, so we passed the time by taking pictures of all our funny faces.  :)

Lucas really enjoyed being awake for the small world ride.

While Mike and Alison took their family on Autopia we took the girls to see the Sleeping Beauty castle.  Matisyn had been asking to see it all week.

A few pictures with the castle...

Lucas is going to be the most handsome prince!

Then we left Lucas with Alison to save parade spots and our family went on Autopia.  I got to ride with Emilyn, and she was hilarious!  I couldn't stop laughing because she was so excited to be driving and she was a VERY reckless driver!  Every time she slammed into the rails, she would giggle uncontrollably!  I heard Matisyn was a much better driver!

 

We were lucky how well Lucas handled all the lights, sounds, and people.  He would just fall asleep when he was tired or overstimulated and then wake up his happy self again.

The girls enjoyed the parade just as much the second time around!

After the parade everyone was starving and tired.  Emilyn fell asleep flopping forward in her stroller, she was so tired.  Lucas had had enough of waiting to eat, and since he had been so patient and accommodating the whole trip I decided he comes first.  I sat on the ground at the side of a building in New Orleans Square and fed Lucas while we decided our eating plans.  The whole area was packed with people setting up for Fantasia so we ended up parking at the Mexican restaurant and getting food from the River Belle Terrace, salads and sandwiches.  Emilyn slept through dinner.  Alison got a funnel cake from the stage door cafe, and let me share it with her.  It was really good.  We got our second wind and headed back to Main Street to find a spot to watch the fireworks.  I think somehow we fit in getting more chocolate covered pineapples and dole whips sometime during the night, but I'm not sure how that worked!  The fireworks were amazing, and the girls watched mesmerized.

The dads took the big kids one last time on Space Mountain, while I ran over to pick up the girls chosen souvenirs, hand painted umbrellas with their name on them.  They turned out so cute, but sadly are not the best quality.  I better get a picture of them and add them quick before they are completely destroyed.  They were super happy about them though.

So that completes the Disney part of our vacation.  The next morning we headed to San Diego.  We were tired, happy, and full of Disney magic by the end of our three and a half days!  I'm so grateful to be able to take trips like this as a family, and to have such wonderful friends to come with us. 

Favorites:

Matt-  California Screamin' and when Emilyn said, "Snow White knows my name" during our princess dinner
Kristin- World of Color, Cars' Racers with Matisyn, Fireworks, Autopia with Emilyn, watching all three kids' eyes light up over and over again
Matisyn- Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, being able to ride almost everything this time, princess dinne, reading maps
Emilyn- Seeing Brave, riding "big girl" rides, getting to dance in the Main Square in California Adventure, meeting so many characters, watching the parade, Gadget Go Coaster, the Rockets
Lucas-  Falling asleep on the big dip on Pirate's of the Caribbean, Riding It's a Small World, Nursing in the fancy baby lounge on Main Street, falling asleep in so many different places, meeting Mickey