The happiest place on earth!

We've just returned from the happiest place on earth....Disneyland. I was quite wary about this vacation choice, but it turned out to be one of our better vacations. We left early Monday morning to make the 7 1/2 hour drive down to LA. We arrived about 2:30 pm and immediately checked into the Grand Californian Hotel. What a beautiful hotel it was! I have to say that it is one of my favorite hotels thus far. The lobby was beautiful. The woodwork and spaciousness were breathtaking. Our room was conveniently located and the beds were actually comfortable. We settled in quickly and decided to enjoy Disneyland immediately. We took the monorail over to Tomorrowland and began to orient ourselves. We were astounded by the number of people who were there and were a bit taken back by the length of lines, so we opted to take the train around the park to further get our bearings. We decided to go and walk around Downtown Disney and then have an early dinner and return to the park in the evening. This turned out to be the best strategy as we arrived back at Disneyland right before the fireworks show. Everyone was crowded into the Main Street area. We scurried off to take advantage of NO LINES! We walked right into the Pirates of the Carribean ride. They have really improved that ride. There was a few more dramatic drops and the animatronics were much improved. We then walked right into the Haunted Mansion. That ride was pretty much how I remembered it when it first was created. We walked around a little more deciding what rides we were going to be sure to ride during our vacation and then returned to our hotel room. Overall, it was a wonderful first day.

The next morning we slept in a bit and went to IHOP for breakfast. IHOP is Cody's favorite, however it certainly is not mine. Cody had chocolate chip pancakes, chocolate milk, bacon, and hashbrowns. After watching him consume this rather disgusting breakfast we headed off for California Adventure. This is a second Disney park which is geared to the older crowd. It has a roller coaster and other more advanced rides. Our first stop was Soarin' California.
While waiting in line you pass different displays and as you can see there are pictures of aviation and interesting captions to keep you from wanting to kill yourself as you wait forever in these lines.
I bought a new hat to shade myself from the sun. I readily admit that I'm not a hat person, but boy was I grateful that I had it. The Soarin' California ride was amazing. You are buckled into a seat and then the seat moves out over a ledge leaving your feet dangling. Then a huge screen with various images of California flash in front of you as the apparatus moves giving the illusion that you are flying over landmarks like Yosemite, the ocean, and other beautiful landmarks. They even spray scents that match the landscape you are flying over. This was one of the best rides in the park.
Later that day we made arrangements to meet Chelsea's friend from the internet. I promised her not to post a picture of her and her friend, but I didn't promise not to post a picture of Dan and I and his parents. His parents were wonderful people and we had a great time talking and getting to know each other. Unfortunately, Chelsea did not have the same positive experience and suffice it to say that she no longer wishes to continue growing that friendship. His parents were the tiniest people! We look like Amazon people next to them.

The next morning Chelsea wanted to go to Toontown so that she could take a picture of Ariel for her favorite teacher's 3 year old daughter Gracie. Unfortunately the characters that came out were Micky Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Pluto, and Goofy. So instead we decided to take some pictures of sitting in the various displays.

This is Goofy's car and I barely fit.
After much begging I finally got Chelsea to get into Mickey's car for this pic. I think it is really a cute picture of her and she had to agree once she saw it.
Much to Chelsea's horror I made her take a picture of me in Minnie's living room.
I was having a hot flash. Can you see the profuse perspiration on my forehead and cheeks? Please find me the nearest fan!!!!

Later that day, my mom, little sister, my nephew and neice came up to visit us in Downtown Disney. We had the best time. We sat around and talked for a bit, got a snack before dinner and then went to the Rainforest Cafe. We had the best waiter who really added to the fun time that we were already having. I can't remember the last time that we've laughed so much.
Caralyn and I are very close. Share similar interests, taste, and sense of humor. I couldn't ask for a better sister and I'm so happy that she and the kids were able to come up for a brief visit.
Earlier that day Chelsea and I went off on our own to explore Disneyland a little more. We took this picture for my friend Mona who is a horse woman. Pretty horse, pretty girl!
Here's the magic castle with my little princess who deserves to live in magic castle.
We then met up with the boys who wanted to use some of their testosterone by shooting something.

So, we went to the shooting gallery where they shot things and felt much better afterwards.
You can see the deep satisfactions and peacefulness that results from expressing their testosterone laden need to shoot things.
Next stop was Splash Mountain. We had fast passes, but we had about 20 minutes to kill before our appointment time. So we enjoyed watching Eeyore greet the crowd.
We found some shade and Chelsea contemplated her wait alone while we had all the fun on Splash Mountain. She refused to go....too scary.

Our last day we decided to try to get on the Finding Nemo Submarine ride, so we got up early, arrived at the Monorail before it opened. Once open we hopped on thinking we would arrive before the general public did, thereby avoiding the long lines. Good idea, but it just didn't work that way. By the time we arrived, the line was already wrapping arond the Matterhorn which meant about a 2 hour wait....NOT. So instead we went on the Autopia ride, which is probably the most stupid ride in the entire park. The only good thing about it was that I got to do it with Cody.
Here's Cody giving me a look of cocky satisfaction regarding his driving skills.
Then we met up with Dan at California Adventure where Cody decided to face his fear of the roller coaster, Screamin' California. After riding on the roller coaster, he bravely rode on the ride that shoots straight up and then drops rapidly, a ride that I refuse to go on. This picture was taken after the completion of both these rides. Cody's expression is a mixture of pure joy of facing the challenge and slight relief that it's over. The Screamin' California coaster is the best coaster that I've been on. Dan and I became slightly addicted. Dan rode on it 4 times and I rode on it 3 times. Believe me it would have been more, but the lines prohibited any more rides.
After the excitement of the coaster and the other ride, the boys decided to throw some baseballs. Here's the video of their attempt to win a cheap stuffed animal.

After this we left the park to get a late lunch at our favorite pizzeria from our college days, Numero Uno. It was just as good as we remembered it to be. After that we returned to California Adventure one more time where we all rode our favorite ride. Chelsea rode the Ferris Wheel, Cody rode the Grizzly Bear Run (a water ride where you get soaked), and Dan and I rode the Screamin' Calforinia one more time. We returned to the room, packed our bags, went to bed early, arising at 5 am to leave for our long trip home. What a great family vacation!