California Adventure

All tuckered out.

Jared got me a new memory card which is great.  I had to delete a lot of pics to make room for more but now I could click away to my hearts content.  So Tuesday we were off to California Adventure.

They have done a bit of remodeling since I was last there and I wasn't really thrilled with the new entrance to Cali.  It didn't seem as friendly and bright as it used to be, but more just a row of buildings, kind of boring.  Anyway we were waiting for the park to open and the crowd was lined up to go to cars land.  So I had a great idea . . . lets go the opposite way (rookie mistake or genius)  We went to ride Soarin' and as we were about to lift off there were some technical difficulties so after 20 min or so we got a fast pass to come back later :(  We then wandered around the corner to the challenge coarse with about 3 other people so that was great.  Again something I've never taken the time to investigate before but a 5 day pass gave us lots of time.  We had fun running around a bit and going down slides, and made it just in time to become Sr. Wilderness Explorers.  It was a cute presentation, I really like Russell, obviously, my blog is named after him.

Levi was bummed he wasn't tall enough to do the zip line - yet he's tall enough to go on space mountain???? they really need to make their height requirements a bit more . . . consistent. 

We then headed over to bugs land and to get a fast pass for cars . . . but the passes for the entire day were gone in less than an hour!  Honestly, I was ticked.  I had no idea.  

Bugs land - cute but a bit boring in comparison to everything else.  I think they need to have a make over to make it pixie hollow land.

The boys were so excited to get to ride lighting so we made over to Cars land.  We started with Mater which ended up being one of Levi's favorite rides.  One of the best parts of disney is all the cute details, it just makes everything so fun.

We headed up the street and were transported to Radiator Springs.  Seriously so cute, and just like the movie.  The more time we spent their the more I loved it.  I wish we could have stayed at the Cozy Cone, so so cute!

They were so excited to see Lightening, again.  "Is he real?"

Just stopped to refuel at Flo's V8 Cafe'.  So so fun.

Up to the ride we went waiting till after lunch in hopes the line would be shorter.  It was, it had gone from a 85 min wait to 55, yeah!  Shortly after we got in line the ride stopped working . . . after the perfect day we had had at Disneyland the day before this one was seeming rather disappointing.  So we stayed in line as they encouraged us to do but they weren't letting anyone else in line.  Some people left which helped a little, and probably 30 min I'm guessing maybe more they had it going again.  I'm not sure how long we were in line, but after the ride it felt worth it.  The boys both loved it.  "That was awesome!" they would say.

Luckily a short line at Luigi's tires. Fun and different,  but something you only needed to ride once.

then to Hollywood we went, after missing Disneyland's parade I wanted to make sure we saw the pixar  parade today.  It was very fun and bright.

Time for Dinner, so we headed to the refueling station.  

It was very fun to eat there and the food wasn't too bad either.  Bronson and Levi had been eating too many snacks however so they didn't eat much.

We ended up being there when the lights came on which was again . . . so fun.  I hadn't really thought about it before but I'm so glad we were able to be there at night.

a new visitor at the cozy cone

We then headed to the Pier to ride Toy Story before the World of Color.  Another ridiculous line.  Sorry, I'm talking a lot about lines but we spent a lot of time there.  Bronson and Levi became expert railing climbers, chain unclippers, and driving parents a bit batty while doing so.  This ride was a fun one.  It's fun compete. 

We had a little bit of time before the world of color so we secured a good spot on the bridge, and I convinced Bronson and Levi we needed to go on the Little Mermaid ride.  We had heard it was way cute and had no line.  Both were true.  Bronson and Levi were so tired they didn't want to go at all.  But once we were inside they changed their mind.  Cute, cute, cute.  They should have done the Nemo ride this way I think the submarine is a bit . . . like a submarine, you can't see, very cramped and claustrophobic.  Anyway we loved it and ended up riding it multiple times.

The show started at 8:15 the earliest time it would this week so I knew we needed to stay and see it.  After 10 minutes the kids were beyond done.  Tuesday was also a pretty cool day so by 8, even with jackets they were freezing.  So we had to leave but on the bright side there was not one person on the streets of the park anywhere, so we made a quick exit to the shuttle.  The show was seriously breathtaking though.  Pictures cannot describe.  I loved what I saw and the bridge in my opinion is the best viewing spot.

We still had a lot left to do in Cali so we headed back their for day 3.  Bronson and I were up with the chickens so headed back to try to have better luck with cars.  The line for the fast pass . . . crazy . . . but it actually went really fast.  There just must have been a ton of people there Tuesday because these passes lasted much longer.  We went straight to the ride after our pass and were excited to see an incredibly short line in comparison to the day before.  It was probably 20 min.  Jared and Levi arrived so we picked them up then went back to the ride again with an awesome line.  When we got off the ride.  The line had more than tripled.  Phew, I was very happy about that.  These pics are from inside the ride.  We also got some fun video of the kids while riding.  

ready to race!

did I mention this was a way cute ride . . . loved it.  And I really love that Levi now

walks around our house singing Under the Sea.  He is quite the little singer.  He even broke out into I am a Child of God while waiting in line for one of the rides. :)

Cars land changes the whole dynamic of the other attractions I think.  Screamin' had a 5 min wait . . . so we rode it of course.  Levi was excited to ride the ferris wheel, but I tricked them onto one of the cars that slides around.  I liked it but nobody else seemed to, oops.

Since we ate at Flo's the day before we decided we better go back to have lunch at the Cozy Cone.  I'm smitten, I loved that place . . . you guessed it, so fun!

we saw a new visitor arrive

then enjoyed a cozy cone of our own (but 4 bucks for icecream, is that really necessary?)

but the memory I suppose. . . priceless.

We spent a lot of time just enjoying Cars Land.  The more time we spent the more we loved it.  It was nice to slow down and have fun without being on rides.

Yes, we are they who try on Mickey ears in the gift shop, thought seriously about buying the R2D2 ears. (Don't have a pic because my memory card was full at the time)  Anyway, our experience at California Adventure and Cars Land started a bit rough but kept getting better and better.

We were able to do the stuff we missed our fist day.  Levi and Bronson both loved the Aladdin show, Playhouse Disney, and talking with Crush.  He tried talking to Levi but he was to bashful so I got to talk to him instead.

We were back at Cali Ad. Friday morn.  We were to burnt out from Thursday at Disneyland to try that again.  At some point Levi decided he no longer wanted to ride the cars ride.  We got him on after some convincing for his 3rd time, the 4th time he was totally in tears but we still went on it, so Friday we spilt up.  Jared and Bronson went to cars land and Levi and I had fun on Soarin' and the Mater ride.  Levi really love soarin' which I was glad about, it is one of my favorites too.  We met up, took another spin on Toy Story, then it was time for our fast pass at Cars.  You know you've been at Disneyland too long when your kids don't want to ride their favorite rides anymore.  So I made someone's day and gave them our passes.  Then we went back to the hotel as promised for a dip in the pool.  You also know youv'e been there too long when your kids are kicking and screaming when it's time to get on the shuttle because they want to go exercise in the fitness room.  Silly boys.

After we saw the parade at Disneyland Friday night we headed back to Cali for one last time.

Cars Land at night . . . SO FUN!

It was Friday and Disneyland had closed at 6 for their party, Cali was going to be open till midnight so it was packed.  The no line Little Mermaid which they wanted to ride again was now a 30 min wait, the good news is the line is always moving we ended up riding it twice.  World of Color started at 9:15 and I really wanted to see the rest of it.  The kids were doing okay since we had had a break so I wanted to try and stay.  We didn't have a pass this time because we weren't planning on staying so we didn't have a front row on the bride but more like a 3rd row.  Kids getting tired, weather still warm, Levi falls asleep in stroller, Bronson sitting on the ground playing with Jared's phone.  It started, was great what we could see, but couldn't see everything like before, Levi starts crying, Bronson has no interest at all and just wants to go to bed, so again we left after probably only 5 min this time.  This time however the streets were still packed even with everyone at World of Color so part of me was really glad to get out of their before everyone else.  

It was a long week, and we were worn out but we had a great time.  Every time I saw a baby I was so glad we didn't have to drag Blake around, but so sad he wasn't with us.  Maybe when he is 5 we will be ready again.