Vacation At Last Part 2

Disney's California Adventure(DCA) was really amazing and seemed quite larger than Disneyland itself.  We followed our Touring Plan once again and only found ourselves waiting in line for 40 minutes at the end of the day (Toy Story Mania which we had skipped early because one of the munchkins had fallen asleep). DCA had it's magic hours for hotel guests only this morning, and since we stayed at the Disneyland hotel last night, we got to go in early.  We arrived super early at the security gate somehow and were the second family waiting! The family happened to be from Iowa, go figure!! Lol. As we waited the line was super long, longer than we had seen the days before.  Once through security, we found ourselves first in line at one of the gates.  An employee started talking to us and told us she would like us to be the honorary guests of the day, also known as the "first family" into the park.  The kids got to do the countdown that opened the gates to the public and then we were off.  I thought people were running at Disneyland, well people were sprinting at DCA to get to the Radiator Springs Racecar ride. We kept up with everyone and followed them to Cars Land. Once again we were held off with a rope and eventually herded like cattle into a single file line down to the ride. As we looked back the line was so long we couldn't even see the end, it curved back towards the main street. Crazy how crowds and lines form so fast!! Daddy, Lydia, and Michael went first and had a blast (we were able to do the parent swap on this ride thankfully so when it was my turn I maybe waited 5 minutes.  The attendant did let me take both kids but said technically the swap is only for one other guest, I truly had forgotten about that technicality). The ride was really fun and we were amazed by how the attraction looked, you really felt like you were a part of the movie, riding through the town and the mountains.

While they rode, Noah and I went on Luigi's tires which is similar to being on an air hockey table and you are the puck.  It wasn't as easy as it looked at first to get the tire to move around, but it was unique.  After that Noah and I explored a bit and got to see Mater, Lightning McQueen, and even Red. Red smiled, sprayed some water from his firehose, and even posed for a picture.  This morning we actually didn't eat breakfast since we stayed at the hotel, while I was on Radiator Springs racers J got us some food at Flo's.  Eggs and sausage with a muffin, it worked out really well.  Everyone was full and ready to hit up some more rides.

Cars Land was a hit and we had completed all those rides very quickly because there were no lines. The Tractors made me laugh, they look so silly and goofy just like in the movie.

 

After Cars Land, we headed straight for a "bug's land", this was an interesting part of our day.  Once again no lines at all, so the kids rode a few things over and over. They said they liked Francis' Ladybug Boogie the best.

Next, we were off to see a 3D movie, "It's Tough to Be a Bug." Even thinking about this moment makes me a tad sad.  They have warnings before you go in saying bugs may be real looking and frighten young children, so of course I was worried about Noah, however Noah wasn't the one we should've been worried about.  If you have ever seen the movie, you know that the evil grasshopper is a little scary and intense at times. We got through those parts with no problems but then all of sudden it gets dark in the theater and gigantic spiders with red markings start dropping from the ceiling. Michael completely freaks out and starts yelling, "I want to go home!" and he is in tears.  J. quickly takes him out of the show to calm him down.  He thought they were black widows and since he gets so involved in what he watches he forget that it was all fake. I felt awful afterwards but like most kids he is pretty resilient and was over it quickly (as long as we didn't go back).

My oldest little bug

We followed the touring plan and finished it pretty early.  We had a nice lunch and got some extra time to rest and stroll around.  We saw a few more shows here at DCA than at Disneyland and watched the Pixar parade.  At the last minute we decided to go on the Hollywood of Terror, Michael said no at first but then decided he would try it.  J. went on it by himself and then I took the kids while Noah was asleep.  Michael was pretty nervous but Lydia was ready to go.  She squealed with excitement and was a little disappointed it didn't go faster and last longer. She has no fear and loved all the thrill rides! Michael is a tad more cautious but loved all of it too.  Here is a picture of us on the ride (back right corner, I'm wearing red, Michael has a hand up, and Lyd is looking at me:

We had a great time and were absolutely exhausted by the end of the 3 days.  Here are some more of our favorite picks from DCA:

 To see more pictures of Disneyland and DCA, check out our web album: https://plus.google.com/photos/114135352485225750088/albums/5901416035705601969

Hope that link works--haven't done this before (: