Disneyland!

Monday December 2, our little family went to Disneyland!!

When we first walked in the gates, Alice and the Mad Hatter were dancing to some music.  They encouraged others to join with them.  Glenn wanted to, but not alone, so Paul went too.

We did much better today at the Fast Pass system.  We used several of them, to get us on more rides in less time.  Tomorrow Land was where we started on the rides.  We grabbed a fast pass for the Star Tours, and while we waited for our time to return we rode on Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters.

We got some instructions from Buzz--how to blast the aliens during the ride.

Paul and Glenn were on a team this time--I guess Glenn was with me on the other Toy Story ride.  I got 9,900 points and they got 4,200.  It was pretty fun!

Then we blasted into space on the Astro Orbiter!

Once we returned to the ground, it was time for our Star Tour ride!

This robot checked us and scanned us "into the system".  

The next picture might be hard to tell, but it's an image of Glenn on Paul's shoulders.

We got to wear cool 3D glasses.  It was a lot of fun!

We then made our way through the crowd to Autopia.

Glenn was super excited to drive!  He was slightly too short to reach the pedal and steer, so Paul pushed on the gas while Glenn manned the steering wheel.  

I got a nice ride by myself.

I left quite a bit after them, but because someone had been stalled on their track, we ended at the same time.

After our time in the sun, we decided to head below the sea on the Submarine Voyage.

It was a calm, relaxing ride.  It was cool to see the different marine life, all from the submarine windows.

On our way out of Tomorrow Land, we got a glimpse of some Jedi training.  Too bad Glenn didn't get chosen to train, but it was still fun to watch.  They even got to battle against Darth Vadar!

We made one last stop at Space Mountain.  Glenn was tall enough to ride, so we went.  He did okay, but I think it was pretty scary for him.  It was darker than I remember from when I went as a teen, and even faster.  I was surprised that we took Glenn--we probably should've worked up to that ride instead of that being his first roller coaster.  Oops.  

We then made our way to the center part of Disneyland where lots of rides are.  We waited in long lines--remember how we thought we'd not have much of a crowd, well I don't think we missed it.  There were a lot of people there.

We again got some Fast Passes for Splash Mountain, and went to the Haunted Mansion.  

I was SO bummed that they changed that ride!!!  They turned it into a Nightmare Before Christmas ride, and I don't like that show--Paul does, but I don't.  I LOVED the old ride and was so excited to ride it again, but was so disappointed. :(

Pirates of the Caribbean was a fun, slow ride.  We got splashed a little bit, but not too much.  We were waiting for Splash Mountain to get us really wet.

We still had time before that, so we let Glenn run around in Tarzan's Tree house.

Finally it was the right time for us to ride Splash Mountain.  

We didn't have to wait long, especially since when we were near the front of the line the ride conductor asked for a party of 3 to fill up a log.  Awesome!  I was looking forward to the ride and getting a big splash at the end.  I thought Glenn would love it....but he was actually really afraid.  Not sure why--maybe because of Space Mountain.  As we were climbing up and up and up, Glenn was getting more and more scared.  I thought I could just sneak him back into the seat with me.  I didn't realize that they had camera everywhere--looking to make sure people weren't doing things they shouldn't.  It totally makes sense, but I wasn't thinking of that at that moment.  So they stopped the ride.  I felt kind of embarrassed, but really I was more concerned about Glenn.  He wanted to get off, so Paul got off with him.  I probably should've too, but I didn't.  I continued on the ride alone.  I think Glenn was a little worked up so we took the train over to Toon Town and let him have some silly time.

The first thing we did when we got there was take a picture with Pluto.  He didn't have much of a line and Glenn really wanted to meet him.

We took a tour of Mickey's house before meeting Mickey Mouse himself!

Goofy's house and yard were a lot of fun too!

Miss Daisy had a big boat that kids could explore.

We had fun running around and playing with all the silly things in Toon Town.

The only ride we went on there was Roger Rabbit's Cartoon Spin.

We rode on It's a Small World.  This was updated, and unlike the Haunted Manson, I think it was a lot better.  The little dolls didn't look so creepy or old. :D

After the ride it was almost time for the holiday parade.  The sunlight faded and they turned on the Christmas lights in anticipation for the parade.

Sometimes it's so hard to get a good picture of all of us. :D

Finally the parade came!

It was fun seeing all these familiar characters.  They played the same music over and over again, so by the end, we all had it memorized. :D  And then finally Santa Clause came!

 

 After the parade we made our way to Fantasy Land.  We rode on the Dumbo ride...

 ...and a carousel...

 ...and then Pinocchio's Daring Journey.  

 We were about to go on the other rides, but were told that they were closing due to the fireworks show that would be taking place soon.  What?!  We didn't know that!  We thought we were going to have all evening to ride these rides!  I was so bummed that we didn't get on the Peter Pan ride or Alice in Wonderland, or Snow White or any of those other ones--the ones that are just perfect for Glenn!  I was kind of upset at ourselves for not knowing the schedule and knowing that these rides would end earlier than the other ones.  We should've started here first, especially since Glenn knows all the characters and such.  He hadn't been here before, so he didn't know the difference, but I was sad for him--and for us.  So next time, we will plan better and know the schedule and perhaps go at a less busy time of year.  You live, you learn....

So we took a few last pictures.

 On the way out after the fireworks, they had all the Christmas lights on and they even made it "snow".  It was pretty cool, since we were in southern California where it doesn't snow.  But they did it somehow.  

 We stopped in a couple shops to look at souvenirs.  We got Glenn a Simba pillow pet and a Buzz blaster.  He had fun trying on all the Mickey ears--they had all kinds!

 So even though it wasn't a perfect trip or well planned and we didn't get to every ride that we wanted, we still had a good time.  We were worn out from all the walking, waiting, and fun.  Thanks Disneyland!