December 27, 2009

December 26- In which we visit Disneyland

Today is the day! Dave and Tammy set the route and Scott and I rented our own vehicle (a Nissan Rouge) and we just followed along.

The kids, specifically the girls, were so excited about the whole thing. Before we'd been in Anaheim 30 minutes we had spent $500 (entrance fees, parking, stroller rental, breakfast). Yep, we're certainly in Disneyland!

A walk down Main Street USA was near to over whelming and we were just inside the gates. First priority was breakfast... and that started us on the same path that we would follow for the rest of the day- standing in line for everything.

After breakfast Tam, Dave and Norma went off to do a few adult rides- Indiana Jones and Haunted Mansion (done in the style of the Nightmare before Christmas.) Scott, the kids and I went to Princess Fantasy Land. We started on Snow White's Scary Castle, the Carousel and the tea cups. Yes, Mr-I-get-sick-on-spinny-rides sat out the tea cups! He said that he needed to guard the stroller. Hehehe. No one was fooled. The joke was on me... I understand why these rides last no longer than 2 minutes. I came off only being able to walk left.

We met up with the rest of the Abels and went on It's a Small World. That was a really good ride and well worth the long wait in line. I had totally underestimated the appeal of that attraction and was really glad that we did it as a family. The kids were mesmerized by the many moving parts and the songs. The kids just sat in quiet amazement through the entire ride.

We went to Mickey's Toontown for lunch. We saw the two Rosebowl teams coming through on their way to being interviewed somewhere on site. (The Ohio State Buckeyes and the Oregon State Ducks.) Tam took the kids and waited to see Mickey and I went and stood in line for the girls to see the Princesses. I waited for over an hour so that the girls (and Tammy) could meet Ariel, Belle and Jasmine with Aladdin. We got pictures and autographs. Tammy was almost as excited as Georgia. What was really astounding was how these were the three Princesses that the girls like the most so it was great fortune that we saw them.

Before we got into the lines to see characters the kids all got their faces painted. I promise I'll insert pictures of this because it was too cute for words!

We caught the tail end of the main Christmas parade that comes through the entire park but we didn't have good seats so only the kids on our shoulders could see. We then separated for an hour. Dave, Norma and Tammy went shopping. Scott, the kids and I visited Frontiertown and caught Disney's newest princess show "Tiana's showboat jubilee." (The Princess and the Frog.) We had great seats for this one and had a great view.

We got great seats for the final parade of the day. The girls were very excited to see the princesses again, this time up close. After the parade we left the park- after 11 hours of Disney goodness.

Disney bills itself as the happiest place on earth- I don't know about that but I certainly know that they know how to put on a show! The ride home was very quiet as all of the kids slept. Americans may get a few things backwards but there is nothing wrong with their freeway system.

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