Disney's California Adventure

Our last day of vacation was spent at Disney's California Adventure (similar to Hollywood Studios in Florida). But, first...we of course attended a breakfast at Goofy's Kitchen! Here is the family being greeted by Pluto at the entrance.

Snow White with Olivia and a suddenly shy Ethan.

Baloo using Olivia's head as a table for the autograph book!

Three Goofys!

The kids with Chip (they also met Dale, so just imagine the exact same picture except a red nose on the chipmunk!).

Olivia was thrilled to not only be meeting Jasmine, but also to see her in a different costume than usual.

Upon entering California Adventure, our first encounter was with Frozone. We went to this park on a Saturday, so we were expecting very long lines and crowds. We were surprised to find that on half the rides we selected there were literally NO lines, and the longest we waited was 10 minutes! The crowds were minimal, and we had a great time riding the rides multiple times. Surprisingly, though, Joe and I enjoyed the Mission Tortilla Factory tour and The Bakery Tour - very yummy free samples at the end, and the kids enjoyed watching the machines make the bread and tortillas.

The kids with Sully before going on the super cute Monsters Inc. ride in Hollywood Pictures Backlot.

Mr. Incredible, Olivia, Frozone, and Ethan posing as super heroes.

The kids posing in front of the Tuck and Roll's Drive 'Em Buggies in the Bug's Land area. Once again, Ethan's driving was comical!

A view of Paradise Pier. Olivia claims her favorite ride of the day was the Mickey's Fun Wheel.

Joe and Ethan on King Triton's Carousel within Paradise Pier.

This was very exciting for Olivia - meeting Mulan! Now the only "princess" left for her to meet is Pocahontas.

While waiting for Joe and Olivia to finish riding on Soarin', Ethan was able to meet Minnie Mouse.

The main cast of the Disney Aladdin musical show. We highly highly recommend this show - it was fantastic! The Genie was hilarious! We had fantastic seats - 2nd row center, thanks to AAA!

Meeting Jesse and Woody.

Olivia and I on Mickey's Fun Wheel.

We ended our vacation with dinner at Ariel's Grotto in the Paradise Pier area. We were met by Ariel when we arrived.

Olivia and Ethan with Belle.

Meeting Cinderella.

And Snow White (again!).

And our last character of the trip - Sleeping Beauty.

Even a princess needs a mojito!

Our yummy (and pretty) dessert tray!

Walking back to the hotel, the kids couldn't resist the Lego store in Downtown Disney.

Lego Darth Vader.

Our hotel had a waterfall area that was really fun - there were paths, bridges, and caves behind and between the four waterfalls.

Disneyland

The last 2 days of our family vacation was spent at the Disneyland Hotel. For the kids, it is like this was the only activity of the entire vacation - the rest of it ceases to exist in their minds once we arrived in Disneyland. Figures. The Disneyland Hotel was wonderful - typical over the top Mickey yet also a very nice room and hotel, plus it was a perfect location. I would recommend this hotel to anyone!

Our hotel was connected to Downtown Disney, and the Mickey Sorcerer's Hat was the gateway to this area (you can't quite tell, but that is Olivia and Ethan under the hat). We were a quick 5 minute walk to Disneyland each morning.

How perfect is this??? St. Louis Cardinals Mickey in Downtown Disney!

Olivia and Ethan just inside Disneyland.

Our first character greeting - Pluto! For our kids, the characters are their favorite part of Disney, so we typically spend a lot of time seeking out characters or waiting in lines during our Disney trips.

We ate breakfast at the Plaza Inn, and this was by far the best character meal ever! There were 12 characters at this meal! The typical meal has maybe 5. We were all a bit overwhelmed by it all, and the characters all interacted with each other. The kids loved watching The Fairy Godmother talking to Pinocchio, etc. For anyone going to Disneyland, I would recommend making a breakfast reservation for the first available time - that way you are allowed to enter the park through a special gate prior to official opening time and bypass the crowds. Here are the kids with Minnie Mouse - she was wonderful with giving the kids lots of attention, even coming to our table twice, Olivia and the infamous Mickey waffle, and the kids with Chip.

The Fairy Godmother (she was wonderful! told us exactly where to find each princess in the park and when), Pinocchio, and Ethan giving Dale's nose a kiss.

Olivia and Ethan with Max, Suzy (a Cinderella mouse), and Eeyore.

Ethan and Olivia with Tigger, Captain Hook, and Perla (another Cinderella mouse). The only character that we missed at the meal was Briar Fox from the Song of the South. While the kids did not know this movie, Joe and I were disappointed since he is not a commonly found character!

The family with Walt. Sleeping Beauty's Castle is in the background. I had forgotten how small this castle is compared with Cinderella's Castle in Disney World!

The Thinkers.

Olivia and I on the Storybook Land Canal Boats in Fantasyland. We planned our day to focus on rides that were not available at Disney World. We agreed to wait in lines for rides we had never been on, and to only go on "repeat" rides if the line was short. Amazingly, though, the longest line all day was only 25 minutes!

Disneyland has Mr. Toad's Wild Ride!!! I was so excited about this, being that I am still upset with Disney World for getting rid of this ride. Joe does not understand my love of this ride...you get to drive the car!! Growing up that was a really big deal!

Posing outside the Sleeping Beauty Castle Walkthrough.

Making a wish at the Snow White wishing well.

As we exited the Haunted Mansion ride in New Orleans Square, we happened to catch a parade. It turned out to be Princess Tiana parading to a stage for a singing/dancing act. Olivia was lucky enough to be pulled up on stage with Tiana to sing, dance, and play the tambourine! Definitely a highlight for Olivia!

Olivia with Maleficent while waiting for our dinner reservation at the Blue Bayou. This was another excellent restaurant (no characters) located within the Pirates of the Caribbean ride.

Back at the Disneyland Hotel we made time to swim in the Never Land Pool. This pool was based on Peter Pan (other than a random Ariel statue), complete with Skull Rock, Captain Hook's pirate ship, Tick Tock, suspension bridges, and 2 water slides.

Ariel and Olivia in the hot tub area.

Olivia in the shell shower.

Our room had a Disneyland Castle headboard. This picture lit up with fireworks and played the song "A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes". Yes, it was over the top Disney, but we all loved it. It was our nightlight for our stay, so we could sleep under fireworks.

The view of Downtown Disney from our room (we requested "park view" and that is what we received!).

The nightly fireworks show that we could watch from our room. Perfect for the kids, and perfect for avoiding the crowds!