California Adventure: part 2

We purchased a 5 day park hopper pass (we are able to bounce back & forth between Disneyland & California Adventure) and this is Day 1 in Disneyland and it was MAGICAL. The park is decorated for Halloween until Oct. 31 and part of the reason I chose this time of year to go. It really is magical. The sights, the sounds, the hustle & bustle. We were all in awe. I have been before and even I walked around like it was the first time. 

At first Anna was nervous about being with & hugging the characters but that wore off fast! We bought a signature book and she became an experts at asking the various characters & princesses to sign her book. She ended up filling two! She was always excited and had the most amazing expressions and she met someone new. 

The details, Disney loves their details. The goodies available blew me away each time I saw them! 

Our favourite rides from toady were Big Thunder Mountain Railroad & Splash Mountain. Anna loved roller coasters, we all squealed and threw our hands in the air!

Splash Mountain. Awesome.

We got soaked and Anna was quite upset that her shirt was "ruined", it was +35 so it took no time to dry and she forgot all about being upset.

There is a parade each day in the park and it is wonderful. Anna practically waved her arm off. At one point she asked if she could stop waving. 

We also stopped at the Mad Hatter shop to buy Cory & Anna their first pair of Mickey ears with their names embroidered on the back. Anna of course chose princess  and Cory chose pirate ears.

Meeting the characters was amazing. One of my personal favourites was Merida, 

she captured the essence of that princess SO well!

(the picture of Minnie is from day 2)

Anna's favourite princess is Cinderella and meeting her was beyond amazing for her. I will never forget her reaction when she came around the corner and saw Cinderella standing there, smiling at her. She gasped the largest gasp and then turned to us in shock. I got goose bumps. These pictures make me so happy.

We purchased a Photo Pass before we left on our trip and it was the best purchase we made. For less than $100 we have over 700 professional photos. The photographers are throughout the park, they take multiple images, check to make sure they captured a great shot, they have you pose in different ways and many locations have you do "random" poses and then when you go look up your photo it has been edited like the one in the bottom left corner. Fun!

This picture pretty much sums up Day 1. 

Disney Adventure to be continued...

California Adventure: part 1

Our adventure starts here at the airport with this Anna doll. The morning of our flight Anna woke up to a new Anna doll that the princesses of Disneyland had sent her to help her be brave on the plane. She was excited to say the least. 

I will be sharing this trip day by day- mostly because I have so many photos that I love and want to share. 2575 photos to be exact, 1863 between Cory & myself and 712 professional photos from inside the parks. I used my Photopass like it was my job! 

We arrived early and got through security like a breeze, did you know if you have a little one that you get to jump the line? Hello awesome! 

So beautiful! However... I am scared- like feel like I might faint scared- of flying. I ended up taking something to knock me out for a good portion and keep me "happy and calm" for the remainder. As for my 3 year old- A CHAMP! She was so brave, not even a flinch when we had a little turbulence. She didn't even ask what was going on. I was so proud and choked up when I told her I wished I could be more like her. 

We're here! We're here! After landing, collecting our luggage and our rental car we headed out into LA traffic. Not my shiniest moment. Short story- go fast, know where you need to exit and go faster.

After lunch we headed out to Downtown Disney. If you haven't been it is basically an outdoor shopping center before the gates into the parks (Disneyland & California Adventure), there are shops, restaurants and kiosks. We headed into the Lego store first and were amazed by the creations. All the figures in the pictures above are built with Lego.

Next stop- Build A Bear. Anna built a princess cat (I know, it looks like a horse), dressed her, gave her rollerblades, a leash and set out for a stroll. The cat's name is Aurora and she has a sound chip in her foot that sings "Let it Go" which will come in very handy on the plane home (please hear my sarcasm).

Starbucks! YES! This is a new thing for here, maybe in the last 2-3 years, so I was very excited. This Starbucks is huge! It is the second biggest, the biggest one is located in Times Square. It also made the best Pumpkin Spice latte I have ever drank!

To finish off our first day in California we headed to Target to get groceries and wine. Why wouldn't you buy wine when it sits beside the bread (Oh Canada- why can't we buy wine with our groceries?). I also found everything Pumpkin Spice flavor and I mean everything. We came back to our hotel, ate gelato in bed and planned our next day- our first day in Disneyland!

To be continued...