Disneyland Day 2

Our third, and final, day at Disneyland started even earlier than the previous days did.  Since we had a three day pass we could get into the park and hour early (7am) for a "Magical Morning".  Turns out that lots of other people were also having a magical morning so it wasn't anymore magical than the rest of the mornings. 😆  However the kids were really good sports about waking up CRAZY early to get there.  

We headed straight for the Astro Orbiters since the kids had been eyeing them all week.  Everybody liked them except Timothy, who surprise, surprise thought they were scary.  Also on the last day we rode: Big Thunder Mountain Railroad again because it was a fan favorite; Splash Mountain- Everybody loved it even though Leona thought it was scary. Nobody got too terribly wet.; Gadget's Go Coaster- everybody loved this ride, it was one of Leona's favorites and I suspect Eliza's too because it felt like a roller coaster but without anything too terribly scary; It's a Small World- Finally a ride that Timothy actively liked! It was nice and relaxing and everybody liked it in spite of it's lack of thrilling drops or turns.

At lunch time we headed over to the Royal Theater again for the Rapunzel musical performance.  It was like the Beauty and the Beast one that we saw Monday in that it was a four man show with singing and audience participation.  Everybody enjoyed it tremendously.  As an exciting bonus we were able to go meet Rapunzel and Flynn Rider after the performance.  Leona had much the same reaction to Rapunzel, her favorite princess, as she had to Anna and Elsa. She wasn't quite sure that she was really Rapunzel, but she wasn't willing to swear that she wasn't either. :)

Another big highlight of the last day was heading over to the new Star Wars area of Disneyland.  We saw Rey, Chewbacca, and R2D2 which was pretty cool.  Rey showed Eliza and Leona how to get into "ready position" since she said that there were lots of First Order spies all around and one always had to be prepared. I can't remember why Clara wasn't with us, probably riding something with the other group. We got to ride the Millenium Falcon: Smuggler's Run which was the longest line we waited in the whole time- just under an hour.  At the beginning of the line it was kind of creepy because storm troopers would come over and just stare at you while you waited in line. Collin and I had taken all the kids except the babies to go on the ride so we ate snacks and played a guessing game in line to keep everybody entertained. It was an interactive game so each group had two pilots- who steered the ship, two gunners- who fired at the enemy attackers, and two engineers who were supposed to hit the flashing buttons whack-a-mole style to repair the damage to the ship. Collin and Eliza got to be a gunner and a pilot and enjoyed the pilot job the best.  Clara got to be a gunner and really liked that. Leona and I were the engineers on our flight and we did a terrible job.  I didn't realize until the last two minutes of the ride that I was supposed to be pushing the buttons and Leona was so into the ride that she was just using both hands to hold onto her seat. Needless to say our expedition didn't do so well as far as vehicle damage went.

We also spent time that last day doing some souvenir shopping.  The kids had earned souvenir money in the months leading up to the trip and were eager to spend it.  Eliza bought: Mike Wazowski and Sully stuffed animals and a bag of cherry candies. Clara bought: a miniature Moana playhouse set, Moana's stuffed pig wrapped in a blanket, a baby Moana trading pin, and a bag of sour gummy worms. Leona bought: a miniature Rapunzel playhouse set, a stuffed Rapunzel doll, and an Elsa pen. Timothy didn't get any souvenirs as we didn't think he'd notice.  

We called it kind of an early day because the kids (and parents) were all pretty wiped out. Also, the Harrises had gotten called up to ride the brand new Star Wars ride, Rise of the Resistance,  that only a small group got to ride each day. So we took everybody home, fed and bathed the kids, and put them to bed. Then a babysitter came and the adults headed back to Disneyland to go ride the new ride. The ride was really cool and we wished that Eliza and Clara could've ridden it, but there were only four tickets.  Leona would not have liked it since you get taken captive and are guarded by storm troopers for part of it and I think it would've been too intense for her.

Overall it was a super fun trip. We are so glad that we could take it. The kids were the most wonderful kids that anyone could ever take to Disneyland and they had a great time too.  Major thanks are due to the Harrises as they really made the trip a success.

List of Characters that we saw at Disneyland/California Adventures:

Peter Pan

Captian Hook

Belle

The Beast

Goofy

Winnie the Pooh

Mickey Mouse

Chewbacca

Elena of Avalor

Officer Judy Hopps

Nick Wild

Sully

Anna

Elsa

Geppetto

Spider Man

Evil Queen from Snow White

Black Panther

Captain America

Bo Peep (from Toy Story)

Gaston

Chip (Rescue Rangers)

Dale (Rescue Rangers)

Tigger

Eeyore

Storm Troopers

Captain Phasma (Female Storm Trooper Officer)

R2D2

Rey (from Star Wars)

Rapunzel

Flynn Rider/Eugene

Elastigirl

Moana

Sad to be going home.