Vacation Day Two

Ok, so after our first day, which is always the best day, We got up and ready for another fun-filled day. Thursday was our early entry. Disneyland opens to the public at 9 am, but if you have early entry they open up the park an hour earlier before everyone comes. I love early entry. If you buy a 3 day or more park hopper, you automatically get one early entry (I think they call it Magic Mornings now). So we got the kids up and ready, and at the gate at 7:30. One thing I learned from all my research is that if you want to go on Finding Nemo, you speed walk straight to the subs and be on the first sub out. Otherwise you are looking at a long wait, at least an hour. So they opened the gates, and Mom was a rock star. She sped walked like nobody's business. You wouldn't think a 60-year-old could move that fast, but we were on the first sub out. This was an awesome ride. Jeremy and Bailee literally thought we were diving and that they got to ride a real-life sub. It was so cute too. If you have kids who like finding nemo, they will love this ride. Bailee was screaming at Nemo's Dad, trying to tell him that Nemo was right behind him. Jeremy was very serious, because he didn't want to cause the sub to get flooded with water. It was hilarious.

So we got off the subs 20 minutes later and the line was already a 90 minute wait. Whew! Glad we got that out the way. We then headed over to fantasyland and every ride was a walk on. My all-time favorite ride growing up ride was Peter Pan. We always go on that one first. Then Bailee insisted on riding the horses. You think that growing up with her very own horse, she wouldn't get much thrill out of a carousel (more on that later) but we rode it over and over. Then we went on the classic Dumbo ride. Once again, just some elephants floating around in a circle, but our kids were in Heaven. The cast members give you a feather to hold while you wait in line to get the magic in you so when you get in your elephant it will fly. Jeremy was clutching his with his eyes closed determined to get as much magic as that little "feather" could muster. As we took off, he turned to me and said, "It worked mom, I have magic and we are flying." It's memories like that, that make it all worth it.

After Dumbo we headed down the rabbit hole with Alice. I love the Alice in Wonderland ride. It is just a simple little kid ride, but it is just so much fun. After we went down the rabbit hole, Bailee absolutely insisted on riding the teacups. I think that this is her all time favorite ride. So, we all cram into the teacup and immediately Bailee starts giggling. Even before we start to spin, she was giggling and giggling and giggling. Matt and I have looked and looked for a little teacup figurine to buy her as a souvenir, but they just don't make little teacups. Oh well, at least we have some cute picures.

As we got out the teacups, we decided to go on the Matterhorn. Bailee was actually tall enough for this roller coaster so the five of us climbed in our bobsled and headed up the mountain. Bailee was terrified! To say the least, she was scared. I thought for sure she would love it, but the sudden jolts and turns were too much for her little constitution. However, once we got back down the mountain and we were getting off - she all of a sudden started to giggle and say "Let's go on that again, it was really cool." Matt and I just rolled our eyes at her as she was attempting to save face in front of her older, no fear brother.After our magic morning, Matt was getting grumpy, and everyone knows when Matt starts to get grumpy, just feed him. So we went over to Tomorrowland and grabbed some breakfast while we waited for the Jedi Training Academy to begin. This is a very cute show. A Jedi picks children from the audience to train as a Jedi. After he teaches them some moves, suddenly the stage rises and Darth Maul and Darth Vader apear and they try to convince all the Padowan learners to join the Dark Side. Each jedi-in-training gets to fight Darth Maul and Vader. It is so cute. The kids are so serious and intent on beating him. Jeremy was too shy to volunteer, but I have a feeling next time we go, he will be at the front of the line jumping up and down to get chosen.

So after the Jedi Training Academy, Jeremy had a need for speed. So, Matt took him on Space Mountain while Mom and I took Bailee on Buzz Lightyear. Once again, she got a higher score than me or mom. I just can't figure that out. We forgot to e-mail those pictures though. I did get a shot of this life size buzz who is using an etch a sketch to inform the "space rangers in training" (us) of the mission to defeat the evil emporer Zurg. Like I said, Disney doesn't do things half way.

After our ride on Buzz, the girls went over to a gift shop and bought Bailee a little Tinkerbell Hat with matching purple sunglasses. It was a lot hotter this day and Bailee's little head was getting sunburned. Just as we finished paying, Matt and Jeremy came out of Space Mountain. We decided to head over to California Adventure. We had just recently watched Brother Bear and we all loved it. They have a brother bear totem ceremony that I wanted to check out. I had never been on Grizzly River Rapids, so mom took the kids over to the Redwood Creek Trail Challenge (which is rope bridges and climbing, things any boy would love) while Matt and I went on Grizzly River Rapids. I was expecting something like Rattlesnake Rapids at Lagoon. Oh no, the final drop is huge and you get drenched. Since it was a warm day I didn't mind, it was a very exhilarating ride.

So after that we headed over to Brother Bear, but as we were walking Mom comes up to us. She takes me over to a corner by the entrance and Jeremy is sitting there with tear stained cheeks while Bailee is kicking her dangling legs back and forth. I soon come to find out, that as soon as they got to the top of the maze, Jeremy just took off and left Mom in the dust. Mom couldn't find him, she couldn't see him, he was gone. Mom had Bailee so she couldn't just run after him. As she and Bailee got to the bottom of the maze, Jeremy was standing there waiting for them. After mom was able to breath again, she got mad. She really thought that he was lost or kidnapped or both, who knew. So they had to sit and wait for Mom and Dad to come back and they could decide what to do with him. Well, after a spanking and a long lecutre about running off, we headed over to the Brother Bear Totem Ceremony. It was really clever and the moose were hilarious. The kids even got to meet Koda and Kenai. Definately worth our time.

After that we had enough fun, so we decided to go back to the hotel for a nap. Mom and I had reservations at 4 at the Blue Bayou, which is the restaurant inside the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. I wanted some time with just me and Mom as kind of a "thank you" for watching my kids all day everyday, I treated her to a nice meal at Disneyland. It was nice to be able to sit and visit and not worry about children. Very relaxing, just what we needed.

As we were finishing up, Matt calls and wants to meet us at California Adventure. So mom and I meet him there and we decide to head over to A Bug's Land. This land is totally for little kids. You can ride on Heimlich's Chew Chew Train, go on Francis' Lady Bug Boogie (which is like the tea cups only a lot milder), Flik's Fun Fair, Dot's Puddle Park, and Tuck and Roll's Drive Em Buggies (Bumper Cars). The kids love this place. We started out by going to "It's Tough To Be A Bug" another 3-D show. I totally do not recommend this show. I hate bugs and this show leaves your skin crawling, almost literally. Then we climbed aboard Heimlich. I love they way they make you feel as small as a bug. Everything is huge, and they use clever decorations to make you feel like you are in the grass. We headed over to the bumper cars after, then took a spin on the lady bugs and finished it up with Flik's Fun Fair.

So after a bugs land, it started to get dark and we decided to head over to Paradise Pier. It is just like a boardwalk. The park was going to close in about an hour, so this place was pretty much deserted. We headed over to King Triton's Carousel and Bailee rode that for about 15 minutes.

Mom and I wanted to go on the Maliboomer. It is sort of like the rocket at lagoon but ALOT taller. So Matt stayed with the kids and we got on the ride. I didn't really think anything of this ride, it was just another ride. Mom, however, was freaking out. They lifted us up and we heard a clunk and then they slowly lifted us back down to reset the ride. Mom was flipping out. She wanted to get off and she was absolutely convinced that she was going to die. I thought it was kind of funny and I told her to hold on and it would be over in a minute. Needless to say, after her ride, she didn't want to go on it EVER again. The plan was for me and Mom to go on it and then switch and me and Matt, but by the time we were done California Adventure was closed. So we decided to go to bed early. It was a great day and we all had a ton of fun. Stay tuned for Day 3.