After battling Annabel's fever all night and begging her to take her Tylenol, we headed out on that crisp, bright Monday morning to our first stop for the day- Goofy's Kitchen! We enjoyed a delicious character breakfast that morning with characters I could have quite easily skipped over. I was so excited to take the kids to a character breakfast and I guess I thought it would be a bit more exciting and fun and cute, but really, the characters barely gave us two seconds of their time. Chip & Dale were the most interactive with the kids and I was thankful for that- Daniel loved them, but the others- Captain Hook, the princess from Sleeping Beauty (no idea of her name, SO not into princesses in this house, don't really want to ever be, and that's fine by me!), and the monkey from Lion King were not so great or friendly. It was a good thing the food was good, but really, we did have a good time anyway! Annabel ate a lot for not actually feeling great, she loved her Mickey pancake, and like I said, Daniel had fun with Chip & Dale and he ate about two bites of his beautiful specially prepared chef-delivered Mickey pancake (because it had to be milk free; I do give Disney lots of credit for their efforts in assisting those with allergies- it's so nice to talk to the chef himself personally about options and ingredients and have something specially made!), but I think we decided that we probably wouldn't do a character breakfast again. Still, it was a fun experience to try out for once!
And then we were off to Disneyland's other park, California Adventure! Our first stop there was of course Cars Land! It seriously looks just like the movie- it's all so cleverly done, with enormous attention to every single detail. That right there is half the fun of this "land"- the atmosphere is pretty amazing, just like stepping into a real-life Radiator Springs. We wandered around a little and had fun checking things out. Then we got in a short line to see the real Mater! I thought Daniel would be a bit more excited to see Mater and McQueen, but I guess he must have just been overwhelmed. It was a lot to take in and for his four year old mind, I'm sure this was confusing on some level- these are "toys" he plays with and this is a movie he watches often, for it to be so big and "real" was probably just huge to process. Anyway, we got our photo taken with Mater, who was adorable and so cool to see in person. We even scored some special buttons you can collect in Cars Land only- like I said, I've got plans for all these buttons we're collecting (we got one at Goofy's Kitchen, too); although we know we're missing two from Cars Land...oh well.
Then we decided to try the rides out. The lines here were long- Cars Land is still pretty new and Monday was also still pretty busy at Disney, much to my chagrin. I'd hoped the crowds would have been better this day, but that's okay, we still managed. And since this was our first visit ever to Cars Land, waiting for the rides was actually kind of entertaining with all the neat decorations. I imagine you'd see something new each time you waited for some of these rides, that's how much there is to see while waiting, in some cases, like with our first ride.
The first ride we tried was Luigi's Flying Tires. Daniel had fun counting the tires in the "showroom" while we waited in line, Ben and I enjoyed the cases of mementos that lined the walls, so clever! Like I said, the attention to detail was pretty amazing. Annabel, who was with poor Brad and Rose- she was too short for this ride and not feeling well anyway- was feeling worse and worse by the minute while we were waiting in line, needing her next dose of Tylenol, and the minute she saw me when our line was visible, she flipped and wanted "mama," so I jumped out of line to give Annabel her Tylenol and snuggles, while Daniel and Ben continued waiting and went on the ride. They thought the ride was just okay- it's just these large tires that float, like a giant air hockey table, and you can lean this way and that to make them go whichever direction and bounce off of other people's tires. Like I said, just okay, we thought. I didn't miss much not going on it, in my opinion.
McQueen was out then (Mater and McQueen swap spots periodically, and yes they really do drive!!! Can you tell I liked this part?!) so Rose, Daniel, and I got in line to see McQueen, scored some more buttons, and even got a smile from Daniel next to McQueen, who still sat in his stroller and had no interest in getting up, but at least we got a smile! Then, Daddy was back with "normal" popcorn (Cozy Cones had weird popcorn; actually there was barely any "normal" food in Cars Land which really surprised me). We ate our snacks, shopped around a bit, bought Daniel a tractor "car" (like the ride we would ride next), and then Daniel and I hopped in line for Mater's Junkyard Jamboree, a tractor ride. Daniel LOVED checking out Mater's mementos while we were in line- he was so impressed that Mater kept his different hoods from the Toon Tales (Cars Toon: Mater's Tall Tales DVD- a very cute series of tall tales told by Mater in which he used to be a firefighter, monster-truck wrestler, etc.- we watch this DVD often! Click here for an example- this is one of Daniel's faves.). Daniel declared that Mater kept these hoods in case he needed them again- I loved this creative idea of Daniel's, so cute! Anyway, the ride was basically these tractors pulling us in trailers and spinning this way and that way in a figure eight of sorts. Again, we thought this was just okay. The best part for Daniel was seeing Mater's hoods in line!
There is a third ride in Cars Land, called Radiator Springs Racers, which is apparently the really awesome cool ride there. And I think the TWO HOUR line, yes I said two hour line, and the fact that the Fast Passes were gone before 10:00ish when we got to the park, is an indication that that's THE ride. But Daniel was three inches too short for this ride, which we knew before we even booked our trip, and this was the cause of much deliberation about going on this trip at all- would Daniel understand that he was too short for this ride, would he handle it well when he saw it in person, would there be tears and all, etc etc. Daniel has seen this ride on YouTube (thanks a lot YouTube, insert sarcasm), so he knew it was awesome, so I was really a little nervous how this part would go. We'd talked about it before we left how he wasn't tall enough to go on this particular ride in Cars Land, how we always make sure he's tall enough before we get in lines and we take him on the rides he CAN go on, etc. In the end, it was NOT a big deal even a little. My grown-up boy just simply said, as we passed the area where the ride is (and you can't even see much of the ride at all from the main drag anyway), "I'm not big enough for that ride," like a champ. I was so proud of him. And besides, NONE of us would have waited that long for a ride anyway! TWO HOURS- you've gotta be kidding me. So, neither Ben nor I snuck away from the kids and went on either. Gotta save something for next time I guess!
I have to say I was a little bummed about our overall impression of Cars Land- I was so pumped and so excited to be going to and finally be IN Cars Land, and Daniel just wasn't all that jazzed, like at all, the whole time there in Cars Land. We were thinking maybe he was too young to really get it, that maybe it all went over his head- I'm thinking now that might actually be spot on. Daniel just didn't seem to really get it. And to be honest, in the end, aside from the cuteness and all the cleverness, we weren't that jazzed either. Sure Cars Land was cute and clever, but the rides, well the two we went on, were just okay, nothing to get too excited about and we probably wouldn't go out of our way to go on them again; and the food wasn't as "normal" as I thought it would be- not a hot dog in sight in that land, not regular popcorn, just not regular stuff for the young boys who love Cars and would be what I think is the targeted demographic- that was really kinda strange in my opinion. But even if we weren't all that jazzed, we did have a great time checking it all out and we are really glad we went to see Cars Land! Somebody told me to make sure we went back at night, and that was really cool- good advice, so we liked that part, too!
So, that was Cars Land. And after spending a morning in which Annabel, or Brad & Rose, hadn't gone on a single ride, and with my baby girl feeling more and more miserable by the minute, it was time to find some rides the kids would love. I really wanted to capture Daniel's excitement from the day before and find the ride that would make him say I want to ride that again...so we set out to check out the rest of California Adventure. And we finally found some FUN rides we could all enjoy! Thank goodness!
We rode on Flik's Flyers (just okay), Monsters Inc. (WOW- that was a hit! We went on that TWICE and managed to recapture even Annabel's attention! I loved the "door room" part of the ride- so fun!), The Little Mermaid (also a hit- went on that twice, too!), and then we stopped and met Donald Duck. Donald was super adorable with Annabel, who's head was rested shyly on my shoulder- he tilted his head this way and that way and ever so slowly and gently came closer to her just enough that she could check him out and not get freaked out- I loved this tender moment from a character- we needed that. And then Donald topped that moment by actually playing with Daniel and his little toy tractor (which we were all super impressed that Daniel held on to that toy ALL day and didn't drop it even once! You could tell he treasured that new toy!)- Daniel was so excited that Donald played with him. Little moments like this- that's the magic of Disney! Then we all went on Toy Story Mania (a 3-D arcade ride where you pull and "shoot" balls/darts/rings at different arcade games as you go- we all loved this ride- Daniel really wanted to go on this again, but this one had a long line...we'd be back though!), the Carousel, and then we took the Bakery Tour which Daniel had fun watching and of course the fact that he got a sample of bread didn't hurt either!
Then we had dinner and since it had been a long day, for Annabel mostly, but also for Daniel because he was starting to melt at this point over little things, we decided to abandon our original plan to stay late for the World of Color show (we caught it another night) and so we headed back to the hotel to rest instead. Our feet thanked us- we'd waited a lot in lines this day and we were all feeling it by the end of the day. We knew Annabel could use the rest and we wanted to have a really great day Tuesday with everybody hopefully feeling infinitely better!
Oh- and it turned out to be a good thing we all got some rest. Annabel's fever finally broke during the night, she was absolutely fine and back to her normal happy perky excited for rides self on Tuesday morning- Thank God! Whew. But, in another turn of health events, Daniel had a fever during the night- we gave him Tylenol once and then that was it- the fever never returned, he never needed medicine again, and he was absolutely fine on Tuesday...so weird, but I was SO glad because I just didn't think I could do another miserable day; Monday was hard enough!
Tuesday's plan- back to Disneyland Park!
And then we were off to Disneyland's other park, California Adventure! Our first stop there was of course Cars Land! It seriously looks just like the movie- it's all so cleverly done, with enormous attention to every single detail. That right there is half the fun of this "land"- the atmosphere is pretty amazing, just like stepping into a real-life Radiator Springs. We wandered around a little and had fun checking things out. Then we got in a short line to see the real Mater! I thought Daniel would be a bit more excited to see Mater and McQueen, but I guess he must have just been overwhelmed. It was a lot to take in and for his four year old mind, I'm sure this was confusing on some level- these are "toys" he plays with and this is a movie he watches often, for it to be so big and "real" was probably just huge to process. Anyway, we got our photo taken with Mater, who was adorable and so cool to see in person. We even scored some special buttons you can collect in Cars Land only- like I said, I've got plans for all these buttons we're collecting (we got one at Goofy's Kitchen, too); although we know we're missing two from Cars Land...oh well.
Then we decided to try the rides out. The lines here were long- Cars Land is still pretty new and Monday was also still pretty busy at Disney, much to my chagrin. I'd hoped the crowds would have been better this day, but that's okay, we still managed. And since this was our first visit ever to Cars Land, waiting for the rides was actually kind of entertaining with all the neat decorations. I imagine you'd see something new each time you waited for some of these rides, that's how much there is to see while waiting, in some cases, like with our first ride.
The first ride we tried was Luigi's Flying Tires. Daniel had fun counting the tires in the "showroom" while we waited in line, Ben and I enjoyed the cases of mementos that lined the walls, so clever! Like I said, the attention to detail was pretty amazing. Annabel, who was with poor Brad and Rose- she was too short for this ride and not feeling well anyway- was feeling worse and worse by the minute while we were waiting in line, needing her next dose of Tylenol, and the minute she saw me when our line was visible, she flipped and wanted "mama," so I jumped out of line to give Annabel her Tylenol and snuggles, while Daniel and Ben continued waiting and went on the ride. They thought the ride was just okay- it's just these large tires that float, like a giant air hockey table, and you can lean this way and that to make them go whichever direction and bounce off of other people's tires. Like I said, just okay, we thought. I didn't miss much not going on it, in my opinion.
McQueen was out then (Mater and McQueen swap spots periodically, and yes they really do drive!!! Can you tell I liked this part?!) so Rose, Daniel, and I got in line to see McQueen, scored some more buttons, and even got a smile from Daniel next to McQueen, who still sat in his stroller and had no interest in getting up, but at least we got a smile! Then, Daddy was back with "normal" popcorn (Cozy Cones had weird popcorn; actually there was barely any "normal" food in Cars Land which really surprised me). We ate our snacks, shopped around a bit, bought Daniel a tractor "car" (like the ride we would ride next), and then Daniel and I hopped in line for Mater's Junkyard Jamboree, a tractor ride. Daniel LOVED checking out Mater's mementos while we were in line- he was so impressed that Mater kept his different hoods from the Toon Tales (Cars Toon: Mater's Tall Tales DVD- a very cute series of tall tales told by Mater in which he used to be a firefighter, monster-truck wrestler, etc.- we watch this DVD often! Click here for an example- this is one of Daniel's faves.). Daniel declared that Mater kept these hoods in case he needed them again- I loved this creative idea of Daniel's, so cute! Anyway, the ride was basically these tractors pulling us in trailers and spinning this way and that way in a figure eight of sorts. Again, we thought this was just okay. The best part for Daniel was seeing Mater's hoods in line!
There is a third ride in Cars Land, called Radiator Springs Racers, which is apparently the really awesome cool ride there. And I think the TWO HOUR line, yes I said two hour line, and the fact that the Fast Passes were gone before 10:00ish when we got to the park, is an indication that that's THE ride. But Daniel was three inches too short for this ride, which we knew before we even booked our trip, and this was the cause of much deliberation about going on this trip at all- would Daniel understand that he was too short for this ride, would he handle it well when he saw it in person, would there be tears and all, etc etc. Daniel has seen this ride on YouTube (thanks a lot YouTube, insert sarcasm), so he knew it was awesome, so I was really a little nervous how this part would go. We'd talked about it before we left how he wasn't tall enough to go on this particular ride in Cars Land, how we always make sure he's tall enough before we get in lines and we take him on the rides he CAN go on, etc. In the end, it was NOT a big deal even a little. My grown-up boy just simply said, as we passed the area where the ride is (and you can't even see much of the ride at all from the main drag anyway), "I'm not big enough for that ride," like a champ. I was so proud of him. And besides, NONE of us would have waited that long for a ride anyway! TWO HOURS- you've gotta be kidding me. So, neither Ben nor I snuck away from the kids and went on either. Gotta save something for next time I guess!
I have to say I was a little bummed about our overall impression of Cars Land- I was so pumped and so excited to be going to and finally be IN Cars Land, and Daniel just wasn't all that jazzed, like at all, the whole time there in Cars Land. We were thinking maybe he was too young to really get it, that maybe it all went over his head- I'm thinking now that might actually be spot on. Daniel just didn't seem to really get it. And to be honest, in the end, aside from the cuteness and all the cleverness, we weren't that jazzed either. Sure Cars Land was cute and clever, but the rides, well the two we went on, were just okay, nothing to get too excited about and we probably wouldn't go out of our way to go on them again; and the food wasn't as "normal" as I thought it would be- not a hot dog in sight in that land, not regular popcorn, just not regular stuff for the young boys who love Cars and would be what I think is the targeted demographic- that was really kinda strange in my opinion. But even if we weren't all that jazzed, we did have a great time checking it all out and we are really glad we went to see Cars Land! Somebody told me to make sure we went back at night, and that was really cool- good advice, so we liked that part, too!
So, that was Cars Land. And after spending a morning in which Annabel, or Brad & Rose, hadn't gone on a single ride, and with my baby girl feeling more and more miserable by the minute, it was time to find some rides the kids would love. I really wanted to capture Daniel's excitement from the day before and find the ride that would make him say I want to ride that again...so we set out to check out the rest of California Adventure. And we finally found some FUN rides we could all enjoy! Thank goodness!
We rode on Flik's Flyers (just okay), Monsters Inc. (WOW- that was a hit! We went on that TWICE and managed to recapture even Annabel's attention! I loved the "door room" part of the ride- so fun!), The Little Mermaid (also a hit- went on that twice, too!), and then we stopped and met Donald Duck. Donald was super adorable with Annabel, who's head was rested shyly on my shoulder- he tilted his head this way and that way and ever so slowly and gently came closer to her just enough that she could check him out and not get freaked out- I loved this tender moment from a character- we needed that. And then Donald topped that moment by actually playing with Daniel and his little toy tractor (which we were all super impressed that Daniel held on to that toy ALL day and didn't drop it even once! You could tell he treasured that new toy!)- Daniel was so excited that Donald played with him. Little moments like this- that's the magic of Disney! Then we all went on Toy Story Mania (a 3-D arcade ride where you pull and "shoot" balls/darts/rings at different arcade games as you go- we all loved this ride- Daniel really wanted to go on this again, but this one had a long line...we'd be back though!), the Carousel, and then we took the Bakery Tour which Daniel had fun watching and of course the fact that he got a sample of bread didn't hurt either!
Then we had dinner and since it had been a long day, for Annabel mostly, but also for Daniel because he was starting to melt at this point over little things, we decided to abandon our original plan to stay late for the World of Color show (we caught it another night) and so we headed back to the hotel to rest instead. Our feet thanked us- we'd waited a lot in lines this day and we were all feeling it by the end of the day. We knew Annabel could use the rest and we wanted to have a really great day Tuesday with everybody hopefully feeling infinitely better!
Oh- and it turned out to be a good thing we all got some rest. Annabel's fever finally broke during the night, she was absolutely fine and back to her normal happy perky excited for rides self on Tuesday morning- Thank God! Whew. But, in another turn of health events, Daniel had a fever during the night- we gave him Tylenol once and then that was it- the fever never returned, he never needed medicine again, and he was absolutely fine on Tuesday...so weird, but I was SO glad because I just didn't think I could do another miserable day; Monday was hard enough!
Tuesday's plan- back to Disneyland Park!
Heading to our Character Breakfast at Goofy's Kitchen!
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Quick stop to take a picture of the cool bus with McQueen on it- Daniel requested this picture!
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Best family pic we got at the entrance to Goofy's Kitchen!
Fun with Chip!
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Annabel really enjoyed her Mickey pancake!
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Annabel meets Sleeping Beauty!
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Snuggly moment with Aunt Rose!
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Quick stop after breakfast to drive this car before heading to California Adventure!
Annabel consults the map and tells us where to go.
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Hello, Cars Land! We're glad to finally be here!!
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The REAL Mater!!!
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So cool to actually be here in Radiator Springs...
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Daniel counts the tires in the "showroom" while waiting in line for Luigi's Flying Tires.
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I loved these "memento"-filled display cases!
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Daniel and Daddy ready to ride!
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That's a good smile- Daniel must have liked the ride well enough!
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The REAL McQueen!
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Yes, they actually drive!
(McQueen was changing shifts with Mater!)
(McQueen was changing shifts with Mater!)
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Daniel was very excited to have a new toy...he held onto it all day and didn't let it drop even once!
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Daniel was impressed that Mater saved his hoods from his Tall Tales adventures!
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Ready to ride Mater's Junkyard Jamboree tractor ride!
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Daniel and Mommy on Flik's Flyers!
Monster's Inc. was a favorite ride- here are Daniel and Annabel at the entrance, ready to go on the ride AGAIN...so cute holding hands and hugging! Even Annabel who wasn't feeling too well liked this ride a LOT, enough to perk up a bit!
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Annabel had fun riding with Aunt Rose on Monster's Inc.!
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The Little Mermaid ride!
See how sweet Donald was with Annabel!
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And Donald even played with Daniel, too!
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Group photo with Donald!
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Ready to ride Toy Story Mania!
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