Well, Day 2 was Disneyland for us. We started the day with the Surf's Up breakfast with Mickey and friends. Our pic with Mickey is on my Disney CD so I'll post it later.
Eli with Minnie
The boys thought Pluto was funny!
We also saw Lilo and Stitch
Walt, Mickey, the castle and us (of course, Eli isn't looking...you'll notice that in most of these pics he is not looking at the camera!)
Sleeping Beauty's Castle
(In comparison, not as big as Cinderella's at Walt Disney World but just as pretty)
The first ride Eli chose was King Arthur's Carousel
Then we rode Dumbo, Peter Pan, Snow White, and all the other Fantasyland rides
I was shocked how much he loved it. I was sure he was going to be scared of the heights, sounds, etc. but he liked Peter Pan so much we came back later in the day and rode it again at his request!
On the Casey, Jr. train in one of the animal cages!
On the Storybook land boats about to go through the whale's mouth!!
Next the traditional teacups!
Sam's surprised face!
Daddy after the teacup ride! haha
Alice in Wonderland ride
It's a Small World
(They include Disney characters into the ride; we saw Woody, Jessie, Ariel, Alice, Jasmine, Aladdin, and many more!)
On the train
1st big shocker of the day! Eli volunteered to do the Jedi training during the Jedi show!!! Couldn't believe he was brave enough to get out there in front of everyone! He was probably one of the smallest (he's only 3) but I'm sure they picked him because of his Make A Wish shirt! haha
2nd shocker: My usually outgoing Star Wars loving 5 year old cowered in the back with Dad! haha The people in costumes really freaked him out.
This was when Eli decided that he was scared. No matter how many times I told him they were just good guys in costumes, he truly believed it was Darth Vader, Darth Maul and the Storm troopers!!
The other kids went up and fought the bad guys, but Eli declined.
He did finally stand with the group and give the final fight, with the help of one of the Jedi "trainers"
Thumbs up during the ceremony at the end! haha
So proud of his certificate of Jedi training!
He LOVED the Autotopia ride and was a horrible driver! haha
Waiting in line for the Nemo Submarine ride!
Inside the sub!
Headed over to the California Adventure park for a meet/greet with Buzz Lightyear...stopped for Ice cream on the way! (Oh, and when we got our packet it had vouchers for two strollers each day. At first, I was like, that's not necessary, but we got them anyway and I am so glad we did! It was a great idea!!)
Jen gave me a bag to use at Disney (Jen: I had a couple of people ask me where I got it! haha I told them someone in Alabama gave it to my sister at a lingerie shower! hahaha)
Eli and Buzz playing Hide and Seek. Eli said he was going to ask if Buzz would play hide and seek with him. If you know Eli, you know that right now his favorite game is hide and seek. He asks like 20 times a day to play!!! Sometimes I feel like saying "I'll count" and then wait 15 minutes to see if he notices that I never come looking! haha J/K. I knew Buzz would play with him and he did!!
Both boys loved asking Buzz about his wings and his laser!
Comparing shoe sizes!
Eli's surprised face on the Monorail
Eli's favorite ride! The Buzz Lightyear laser gun ride. We rode the Toy Story Mania ride the next day, but it didn't have a laser gun, so Eli said this one was his favorite!
Mickey's Toontown
Goofy's couch
Toontown roller coaster
3rd shocker: Eli LOVED the roller coaster! This little guy was a trooper and got on every ride and loved it!
Argggh!
Oh look, a pic of just me and Joseph! haha
Disneyland Soundsational parade
We ended the night with some popcorn inside R2-D2! haha
We didn't end up staying for the fireworks. Both boys were so exhausted they would have never made it to 9pm. Around 8 something we headed back to the Monorail to see if we could ride in the front. We got lucky and walked up just in time and got the front seat. I didn't take any pics because it was already dark out and the Monorail driver was in the front with us. I didn't want to get in trouble for blinding her with the flash! haha The monorail here only goes from Tomorrowland to Downtown Disney, so we got off in Downtown Disney and walked back to our hotel. All in all it was a fabulous first day at the parks.
Eli fell asleep in about 25 seconds!!! Seriously, he got out of the bath, dressed, climbed in to bed, closed his eyes and was out! I'll share more in a later post but we are seriously spoiled. Because it is a Make A Wish trip we were given a special pass. It allowed us to walk in the exit of each ride. As soon as a cast member saw the pass they would ask us to step up and the next car was ours. It was insane!! We will never be able to take our boys to Disney World because they will think that no one has to wait for rides. We rode every ride we wanted to. In fact, sometimes it was exhausting because when you have to wait in line you have a chance to take a sip of water, eat an ice cream bar, make a phone call, etc. But we never waited in any line. I had to periodically make everyone stop just so we could take a break! haha We are still tired but we are headed to the Pacific Ocean today. I think we might head to Newport beach. We had thought about Santa Monica but our waiter this morning said that Santa Monica is farther away and traffic can be a nightmare. I'll post pics from Cars Land and the other California Adventure park rides that we rode yesterday on our second day in the park. The boys just got back from the pool so I'm thinking a car ride to the beach is next! :)
