There and Back Again

So four days after I returned from New York, we packed up and headed to Disneyland. Well, at least four out of the five of us did.

We left Rory at home this time, knowing she wouldn't handle the long lines, even longer days, and tiresome travel well. Saturday, we hopped on a plane for one of the only times the girls have flown where dad wasn't doing the flying.

Thank you Jet Blue, for your inflight entertainment, and snacks. It made the trip both ways nice and smooth :).

Sunday morning we were up bright and early, and were sad to see extremely large crowds throughout the park. Lots of friends had told us that Disneyland in October might as well be a ghost town, so we were prepared to walk right onto the rides. Not so. Sunday we spent ten hours at the park, and rode only about ten rides. But we tried to make the best of it, and powered through.

Dany's favorite ride, the Astro Blaster

 

The Finding Nemo Submarine ride

One of the rides that elicited the most giggles was the teacups.

I know for a lot of people, it's their worst nightmare, but we got such a kick out of their constant laughter, as you can see below.

After that, we stopped for lunch, where Maisie and Dany watched Darth Vader and Darth Maul battle some padowans at the Jedi Training Academy. Maisie is very into Star Wars lately, and one of the souvenirs she bought with their earned Disney Trip money was a set of Star Wars action figures. Next we headed to the Matterhorn, or as I like to call it "The Whiplash Express".

I'm smiling still, because this is before the ride started. Yikes. We had to stop and get a picture of the castle. Dany was disappointed that there was no ride inside the castle itself.

The kids were pretty hot and tired by that point, so we checked out something I can't remember seeing since my first time in Disneyland at age five. Anyone else remember the Captain EO show, with Michael Jackson? Sweet 80's nostalgia! Dany got her groove on with the 3D glasses while we waited in air conditioned bliss.

Next we checked out the Haunted Mansion, which they completely redecorate for Halloween in the theme of Nightmare Before Christmas.

Maisie was very wary of the whole concept, and didn't handle the first ride through well at all. Part of that could have been due to the fact that they also redid Space Mountain with a lot of scary images of skeletons and stuff and she absolutely hated that. We were completely blown away when she asked to go back the next day, saying, "I know all that stuff's not real, so there's nothing to be afraid of." Tough kid. While I took Dany on the Astro Blaster, and the rockets, Teag took Maisie to see the parade after his attempt to take her to the Indiana Jones ride was foiled by the 80 minute wait.

After that, we headed back to the shuttle and our hotel for dinner and bedtime. The next day, the crowds seemed to be a little thinner, and we were able to get on a lot more rides. No matter where we go, if there's a carousel to be ridden, my kids want to ride it.

Fantasy land has always been one of my favorite places, I love all the kiddie rides there. So while we were in the area, we let the girls have a go at the Sword in the Stone.

Unfortunately, no King Arthur's in the family. Teag finally got Maisie to the Indiana Jones ride, but don't let her expression here fool you.

She hated it, describing it as "too violent". We discovered that riding the train around the park is a great way to save your feet if you're trying to get from one end to the other. Plus, they've created the tracks so that they run through other rides which is kind of fun.

Dany really wanted to see the parade, since she'd missed it the night before, so we stopped among the huge crowds and watched all their favorite Disney characters drive by. Once it was over, we quickly jumped in the line for Small World, knowing that the crowd would have dispersed by the time it was over. Yes, we willingly got on It's a Small World.

Then we headed over to Toon Town, so the kids could see where Mickey and Minnie live. I think they really liked the weird-shaped houses, and funny things to see there.

Our last day was mostly spent at California Adventure. The crowds were very small there, and girls got to do a lot of the carnival-type rides on Paradise Pier. They also loved Soarin' Over California, and rode that one twice. I think both Teag and I were surprised at what some of their favorites ended up being, like Astro Blasters and the Jungle Cruise. We had a really good time together, and the girls were such troopers! Not bad for our first foray into the Happiest Place on Earth.