Day 3 - Disneyland!

On Tuesday we got up bright and early to take advantage of the "magic morning" where they open the park an hour early. One funny thing from the first day at the parks that I forgot to mention. Sophia was a little nervous about the rides and wasn't sure what to expect. We kept assuring her that they weren't going to be too scary and that she was going to be just fine. She thought about it for a little longer and then said, "I'll just be like Esther. She had to do something scary but God helped her to not be scared. I'll she be like she was so that God will help me to not be scared." Thank you Veggie Tales!

Once we entered the park we hit the Dumbo ride first. It was such a fun ride and the kids loved it! Well at least some of them did. Some others were still a little sleepy.
We then hit up all the other rides in Fantasyland including Grandpa's favorite Mr. Toad's Wild Ride or as my nephew put it "Mr. Toad's Wild Ride to Hell". Pretty much summed it up. Here's a fuzzy picture of Sophia and I on Peter Pan. I didn't remember this one from previous visits. It was super fun!The teacups.And here we are in line for Pixie Hollow. Once again, one of us was not as excited to be there as the rest. The girls with Tinkerbell. Definitely one of the highlights of the trip for Lilly. She was in heaven! I was kicking myself though that we had forgotten her Tinkerbell costume at home. Oh well. The family with Tink. We also got to meet her fairy friend Iridessa. That was pretty great as well.After all that fun we headed over to ride the submarines. Definitely not as fun as I remembered as a kid. I think I got claustrophobic so that didn't help. That and the stink coming from the guy sitting next to Doug. That didn't so much help in closed quarters. Here's the girls with Uncle David.And Doug and I on the ride.I didn't take too many more pictures of us on rides but we definitely rode some! This was definitely the year to go. My brothers and their families went the week between Christmas and New Years and Disneyland reached capacity. They were turning people away. We had seriously no crowds. We pretty much walked onto every ride. It was awesome! Sophia's favorite ride of the day was Pirates of the Caribbean. She loved the dogs. She seriously rode it about 4 times. We also took everyone (except Mabel) on Splash Mountain. I couldn't believe my girls went on it! I went to Disneyland for the first time when I was about 9 and there was no way I was going near that ride. They both totally had no hesitations and went right for it. They loved it too. Right up until the last drop. They did great going down it but then the "splash" totally drenched Lilly and she burst into tears. We were sad that that ruined it for her but it was still pretty fun. Here's some other shots from the day. Sophia in front of the castle.Lilly in front of the island.And Mabel on the Winnie the Pooh ride. Not sure she's a fan. It was kind of weird though so I think I'd have to agree. Those hefalumps and woozles are spooky!Here we are on the Jungle Cruise. This one was ok. I had about enough of the "guide's" jokes after a few minutes but Doug thought it was great. Here's the Tiki room. I really liked this one but no one else did. The Dole pineapple whip we had after wasn't too bad either. Quick not about the food at Disneyland. Yes it was ridiculously expensive but I was surprised at the quality. It wasn't nasty carnival food and was actually pretty good. I had a fried green tomato sandwich one night. Who knew that had those at Disneyland?After all the fun of the day we headed to Small World to see their "The Magic, The Memories and You" show. Here's the cute wreaths they had hanging on the way to Small World. I though they were cute. I loved the mini sombreros. Here's the ride all lit up for Christmas.Here's part of the show they do The project different things onto the ride that make it look really cool. They also flash up tons of pictures they took in the park that day. It was pretty fun.After that we headed back to the hotel for some much needed R&R! Here's the Disneyland Christmas tree we saw on the way out. It was huge! It was seriously probably 60 ft tall. Sophia on Main Street in the dark.Doug and Sophia at the famous Mickey face.
And a very tired Lilly at the end of a fun day.