Disneyland - The Happiest Place on Earth

We flew from Denver to Anaheim on Wednesday evening, so that we could get up and go to Disneyland, all rested.  We got in pretty late, and our transfers were no good, as the bus had stopped running, so we finally go to our hotel around 11pm, and still managed to get to Disneyland by around 9am, which was a pretty good effort.  After our summer experience of walking around with Quinn, we decided that hiring the pram would save us all a lot of pain, as well as giving us a place to put all our things!  We got a 2 day 'Hopper' pass, so that we could go between the two parks - Disneyland, and California Adventureland.  We decided to start with Disneyland on Thursday, as it closed at 5pm on Friday night, and then re-opened for a Halloween party, which was a ticketed event.  The park was decorated for Halloween, with pumpkins all through the main street, and a Haunted Mansion.  There was this huge pumpkin, carved of Mickey which was close to the entrance, and a fun spot for people to get their photos taken!

We thought we would be lucky and have very few crowds, as we were visiting Disneyland in the 'off' season, but there were still people everywhere, as we navigated our way down the main street!  We decided to start at Tomorrowland.  Phil headed off to get our Fast Pass for Space Mountain and the boys and I went on 'Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters.  You sat in a cart and went through shooting at target with a laser gun, and getting different scores.  It was lots of fun, but not very action packed, so the next ride was the Astro Orbitor, which you sat in like a merry go round, and went up in the air.  I had to go on with Quinn, and thought it would be fine, as it was only a little ride.  The problem was, that he had the control, and he could shoot us up into the air, which he pretty much did, and kept us there.  I felt sick, and no amount of coaxing could convince him to put us down.  Moral to that story, don't let a 4 year old drive!   Star Tours was  4D movie, based on Star Wars, which was really well done.  Every ride exited through a gift shop, so after the Buzz ride, we went through a shop which was all things Toy Story, and after the Star Wars one, you went through a gift store where you could build

your own light saber, among other things.  Very clever marketing!  They did cater for everyone though, and had some quite nice souvenirs to buy - everything from clothes, to toys and candy, and everything in between.  Space mountain was our first big roller coaster.  Quinn was tall enough to go on it, but it had been made really spooky for Halloween with ghoulish images popping up everywhere, as well as being a really fast roller coaster, through the dark.  The boys all got off telling us it was sick, and the best ride they had ever been on.  I think I was more bothered by it than them, but it was fun! I wanted to go on the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage.  I remembered it from when I visited when I was 14, and didn't go on it then.  The boys weren't keen, as it was a bit sedate, but it was OK.  It was based on the Great Barrier Reef, and had someone doing a really bad Aussie accent, narrating it.  They even had the birds on top with dubious Australian accents!  

Right beside the Submarine ride, was an arena where they ran The Jedi Training Academy.  They chose kids from the audience to take part, and learn how to become a Jedi.  The boys were really interested to see this one, but you had to be pretty vocal and persistent to be selected, and it must have been towards the end of the day, and Luke, Ryan and Quinn were all worn out! It was fun to watch the show though, and these are some of the photos.

 

We headed over to Critter Country, as we had our next Fast Pass for Splash Mountain.  The fast pass is a separate lane, so you don't have to stand in queue.  It was only available for certain rides, so you would go and get the pass, and it would give you a time to return for your ride.  Great system!  This ride was lots of fun - Luke had to go at the front so he got wet, and I think Quinn had found his inner dare devil, and thought he should go next.  This photo is a classic, as his eyes are like saucers!   We decided to take a rest from racing around from ride to ride, and we had lunch in New Orleans Square, at the French Market Restaurant.  It was pretty good food, and nice to sit down for a bit!  There was also a band 'The Royal Street Bachelors' playing while we ate, so it was like we were in New Orleans.  The boys saw the desserts, and decided that they had to have some of the holiday treats - there was a pumpkin pie, and a chocolate mousse/brownie coffin, that everyone shared.

 

We spent some time in Adventureland.  The boys had lots of fun in Tarzan's Treehouse.  It was a walk through a really big tree, where they had made ladders and exhibits. Toward the end they had to climb this rope, and they all had to have a go!

Next was Fantasyland, but it was a lot of Princesses - Sleeping Beauty Castle, Alice in Wonderland, Snow White and Peter Pan.  The boys weren't that interested in much of it, but I wanted to go on the teacup ride - the Mad Tea Party.  They still weren't keen, but I told them that I had been on all their scary, pirate and ghost stuff, so this one was for me.  Under even more sufferance, I managed to get a photo of the teacup!  It was a fun ride where all the teacups spun around, and I think they secretly did enjoy it, though they probably won't admit it.

 

We went and saw Mickey and the Magical Map, which was in the Fantasyland Theatre, and it was very good - it was only a covered outdoor area, but it was like a real theatrical production.  It went for around half an hour, and was a nice stop to sit down for a little while!

 

 

We had a quick look around in Mickey's Toontown, where the boys had fun running through Chip 'n Dales Treehouse.  Luke and I had our photo taken with Pluto, as there wasn't much of a queue.  We saw a lot of the other Disney characters, and you could wait to have your photo taken with them, but they were often really big line ups, and everyone just wanted to get to the next ride!

There was a  very colourful Halloween display in Frontierland, which was based on the South American celebration, the 'Day of the Dead'.



The boys really wanted to drive the cars on 'Autopia', so Phil took Luke and Quinn and Luke drove, and Ryan and I were in the car behind them, and Ryan drove.  I think they thought driving should have been easier!  While we were waiting to get in our car, there were two older ladies in sari's who both wanted to go in the cars, but they wanted to be passengers - they didn't want to drive.  They hassled Phil, and he told them his car was full (there were only two seats!) and then she tried to get in with this poor little boy who would have been about 10, but he wasn't having it.  In the end, I think one of the staff had to go with her, as she was going to cause an accident - but provided a bit of entertainment while we waited for our turn!

 

We went and claimed our spot for Mickey's Soundsational Parade, which was to start at 7pm.  People were lining the parade path from about 6pm, so Quinn and I stayed to get our spot, while Phil and the boys went over to Frontierland, as the boys had seen the Frontierland Shootin' Exposition, which they wanted to have a go at.  The parade was an amazing show of light and sound, and everyone stayed seated (at least at the front where we were), so we could all see!  It covered almost every Disney character, and movie, and we all had fun trying to guess what movie each float was from.

The park didn't close until 9pm, so we thought we had time for one more ride.  We went back over to New Orleans Square, and went on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride.  I thought it was really good - maybe because it was dark, it gave the ride a lot more atmosphere, too.  We all sat in a little boat, and floated through, first a restaurant, where people were actually having dinner, and then past a whole lot of displays of pirates who were drunk, and fighting, looking for gold, and arguing over women!  It was very clever.