Disneyland Day #2

This morning after breakfast at the hotel and a short shuttle ride, we started the morning at California Adventure Park.

A lot of the popular rides have Fast Passes, allowing you to print out a return ticket to come back at a certain time and not have to wait in the long line. Right when we walked into the park, Andy got into the line for the Fast Pass, which was almost as long as the ride line itself. Luckily it moved fast, but at 10am our return time still wasn't until 4pm.

While Andy waited in line, the kids and I went into A Bug's Land (from Bug's Life). I couldn't get over how cute this place was. All of the tiny little details were amazing, and for me it was so fun just to look at everything.

First, we met Flik:

Autumn's favorite part of Disneyland, by far, was meeting the characters. She gave Flik a big hug and talked to him like they were old friends. 

Then on Heimlich's Chew Chew Train:

 The ride was really cute. Heimlich ate his way through all kinds of snacks, and the food even squirted water and smelled yummy. The kids thought it was hilarious because there was loud burping involved. 

Tuck and Roll:

Basically bumper cars. In bugs.The kids felt all grown up because they were allowed to steer.

Francis' Ladybug Boogie:

 The kids loved this. It was like the tea cups, but the ladybugs danced in a figure eight pattern with loud jitter bug music blaring.

Flik's Fliers:

I loved the details on this ride. Do you see the laced together leaves, the Cool Whip container, the pie tin, and the cookie boxes? Why can't designing parks be MY job?

Met Jake from the Neverland Pirates:

Rode the yellow taxis of Monsters Inc:

Fun times. Then things went south. At almost exactly the same time as they went south yesterday. For almost the exact same reason.

The Tower of Terror. I was going to keep the kids while Andy went on the ride, but Calvin BEGGED to go. I told him it was too scary. It wasn't like the haunted house from yesterday, it was a tall building and you dropped 13 floors. I showed him the building. I did everything I could to talk him out of it, but at the end of the day, I wasn't going to forbid him to try it if he really wanted to. Up to the last second, I begged him just to stay with me. He declined.

I hung out with Autumn in bug land while they went. They were gone a long time. It was stressful not knowing what was going on. When they came back, we were on Heimlich again. I could see his splotchy red face and shaking shoulders from across the park. It obviously hadn't gone well.

Here's his horrified expression:

Andy said that the lady next to Calvin held one of his hands and Andy held the other. He said that the problem was that there was no warning. They climbed slowly as if in an elevator, and then suddenly, the car just dropped. And then came up again, and then dropped again. Repeatedly. I have rarely seen Calvin cry so hard. It took an hour to calm him back down. So much for that ride.

Ariel's Undersea Adventure:

Calvin still has red eyes from crying. 

We took the kids on the ever-so-tame Ariel ride. Autumn loved it. We went about a dozen times because there was no wait. She clapped every time we got to the end where Ariel and Eric got married.

Next the kids and I stood in line for Toy Story while Andy went alone on the Tower. He liked it better without a sobbing 5 year-old.

Toy Story Mania:

This one was so much fun. It was one of the longer waits, but it was worth it. They spun us around while we shot at 3D targets. We waited for 30 minutes, and Andy jumped into line just as we were about to board. The timing was perfect. 

Meeting Duffy Bear:

 No idea who this guy is. I read the Wikipedia article, and I still don't know. But hey, cute bear. Autumn was happy.

By this point it was almost 3pm and we were starving. This time we tried Cocina Cucamonga Mexican Grill, and it was actually pretty good. Much better than yesterday's lunch.

We stayed in the Paradise Pier region for the next hour. 

Andy did California Screamin'":

Calvin wasn't even remotely interested this time.

The Ferris Wheel:

This Ferris wheel was massive, and the cars were on an oval track system that made them swing in wide circles as the wheel spun around. The kids were begging to go on it. I couldn't do it. I can't do them on a good day. They horrify me, but the thought of being on one this big that kept swinging was just too much.

Andy took them. I filmed it from the ground, and Andy filmed from inside the car. The cars were pitching and spinning, careening wildly. I was so nervous sitting on the ground watching. But Andy has film of the kids laughing hysterically. They loved it.

Andy texted me once they loaded, so I knew which car they were in. Even people on the ground by me were commenting on how much their purple Minne Mouse car was moving. Apparently, the three of them were on one side and four overweight adults were on the other side, so it was way off balance. Andy even debated using the little "motion sickness bags" they provide in the cars. I'm glad I sat that one out.

By then it was time for Cars Land. This place was awesome. The details, again, were incredible. The rides were so much fun.

Radiator Springs Racers:

 Calvin excited to be in line, finally.

 Front of the line.

 Sad you can't really see faces. Autumn was terrified, but she kept saying how much fun it was. My favorite ride by far. It was a nice little cruise through Radiator Springs and then it ended with a race through the "canyon," speeding up and down hills. It was worth the wait.

Luigi's Flying Tires:

 We sat on a big tire and floated on a layer of air. 

Local Celebrities:

Cone City:

   A bunch of cute little cone-shaped kiosks that sold pop-cone and other cleverly named little treats. We stopped for a snack of pop-cone and an ice cream cone. While here, we lost Autumn for about 30 seconds--I thought she was with Andy, and he thought she was with me--but almost immediately some park workers were with her and looking for us. I was impressed with how sharp they were, keeping an eye out for misplaced kids and their bad parents.

Our last view before leaving the park:

Then we went back to Disneyland where Calvin and Andy rode Splash Mountain half a dozen times:

Kids were super excited about glow-in-the-dark light sabers:

We went on Dumbo and tea cups a few times, and then headed back to the hotel. 

During the shuttle ride, the kids asked for pizza again. We were tired and it was good last night, so Andy called it in while we drove home. We picked it up, walked upstairs, ate while we watched Wreck-it Ralph again, fought with sabers, took a bath, and then went to bed. Good day. Long and tiring, but good.