Our Adventures as a Foursome

DL Trip with Hannah day 4 (Mon)

So today we got up and had early entry in CA Adventure park again. First up was Racers (again) – even though we had done it already its such a fun ride and the only time to ride it without the wait is first thing in the morning.

After Racers we wandered down to Paradise Pier and rode the carousel and did Toy Story Mania.

By now the kids were starving and we decided to do one breakfast out on our trip so we headed to Flo’s Café in Carsland. It was good simple food and it was fun to watch the Racers fly by. Even Mater drove by at one point.

After breakfast we took a stroll back to the pier and split up. Aidan really wanted to do the ferris wheel (mickeys wheel of death as I call it) and Piper wanted to do the swings. We all got on the rides at the same time and Matt was able to get a picture of Hannah, Aidan and I from across the way:)

After that we realized it was about time to go to the Chase Visa meet and greet. If you are a Chase card holder then you get into a special area to meet either Minnie or Stitch. My kids’ favorite is Stitch so when we got in line and realized it was Minnie we bailed! Matt and the kids went to go ride Monsters Inc while Hannah and I finished our coffee (they wouldn’t let us on the ride with it lol). Then we got back in line since it was “shift change” for the characters and got to meet Stitch.

After that we took the old trolley around the park (yay for air conditioning!) and chatted with a couple cast members. We then grabbed fast passes for Grizzly River Rapids to use later and headed out of the park and went to go get lunch down at Earl of Sandwich in downtown Disney.

The kids were pretty tired so after lunch we laid around for a bit and then we had a pool cabana booked for the afternoon. Our attendants were not nearly as good as the first ones (our waitress rarely came around) which was kinda a bummer but still- having somewhere to sit and relax, esp in the shade was so nice!

In the middle of our cabana time we went to use our fast pass for Grizzly River Rapids, which gets you soaked. We all went in our bathing suits and cover ups :)

After our cabana time we all went to go change and then headed back into the parks. We had dinner at Paradise Garden Grill (Mediterranean skewers and rice/pita) and the kids ate corn dogs. So glad the park has great diversity in food!

We walked over to Disneyland park after a bit of doing rides and enjoyed the evening there. We all rode teacups and Piper wanted popcorn in a Dumbo bucket (which she still has at home on a shelf). We did a couple other little rides and then the kids wanted to head back. They were tired and it was a long day!

Piper Cam:

DL Trip with Hannah day 5 (Tue)

Today was our early entry into Disneyland day (finally!). First stop was Peter Pan as it has the longest waits during the day. Next was Dumbo! The kids wanted their own elephant and Hannah and I shared. Matt had his own and was able to take pictures:)

After Dumbo we walked over to Tomorrowland and did Space Mountain- pictures are always fun on this one! We also got a couple of cute pictures of Han and I and the kids while Matt ran to go get fast passes for a ride for later.

After that Hannah, matt and Aidan went to go ride Star Tours but it makes Piper and I dizzy so we waited for them in the arcade. Fun thing- they have the wreck it ralph game there for free:) They found us shortly after and we all rode Buzz together and then did single rider (much faster wait times) on Matterhorn. It was weird to see Piper get on a fast ride by herself!

Piper then asked to get her face painted. She loves it so much but I knew it was going to be short lived as it was SO hot today and I knew she would want to be in the pool later. Oh well! I caved:)

After Piper became a kitty (and did her little signature pose with it) we all went back to ride Space Mountain for a second time. Piper asked us to all be “kitties” for the picture:)

Up next was Autopia. Lines were kinda long but we got a few pics while we waited. Aidan didn’t want to ride so he stayed in the shade and played on my phone. Matt and I took a car and Hannah and Piper rode in another one. Han was very trusting in Piper’s driving ability;)

We were all getting a little hungry so we headed back over to CA Adventure and back to Paradise Garden Grill (worth eating there twice). The kids got pizza from the place next door. They were very tired today so after that we just headed back to the hotel so they could nap for a few hours. Hannah and I took the time to do some shopping though:)

Around 4:30 we all started getting ready again- the kids were going back to the kids club as us grown ups had reservations at Carthay Circle. This was the first time any of us had eaten there so we were all looing forward to it! The building is made to look like the Carthay theater where Snow White first debuted. Inside there are many historic artifacts which was neat to look at. The service and food were all amazing:)

The kids didn’t want to do much after we came to pick them up so we just let them swim in the pool and hot tubs for a bit and we had a early bedtime.

Piper Cam:

DL Trip with Hannah day 6 (Wed)

Today was our last day in the parks! We started off doing early entry for CA Adventure park. Everyone but me wanted to ride Soarin’ over California (It makes me dizzy), so they rode while I went on a Starbucks run. There was no line so I was in and out and then found a table in the area that everyone would exit the ride at. It was such a peaceful morning in the park which was surprising as it was the day before a holiday!

After meeting up with everyone, we headed down to Paradise Pier because Matt and Hannah wanted to ride CA Screamin’. The rest of us did not so they rode and then the kids did the carousel again:)

We took the morning at a slow pace and got a lot of pictures. We headed towards Carsland and rode Mater one last time.

After riding a few rides we decided to park hop over to Disneyland. We took the opportunity to ride one of the main street vehicles (we had never done that before!). Fun fact- Walt himself used to drive the very car we were on around the park in the morning:) Pretty cool!

We then took some obligatory castle shots:)

After this we headed over to Frontierland so Hannah, matt and Piper could ride Splash mountain one last time. Aidan and I rode Haunted Mansion during this time (and escaped the already scorching sun!).

We then all went on Pirates and then took a nice mid morning break in New Orleans square to have coffee and beignets (Mickey shaped!) that were piping hot and very good!

We then hopped the train in New Orleans Sq station to go to the next stop- Toon Town. Why walk when you can ride!

In toon town we mostly wandered around. Kids love to play here- most things are interactive which is really cool. We did do one baby coaster which lasts about 45 seconds but there were no lines so it wasn’t a waste.

On our way out of Toon Town we decided to pop into Mickey’s house- glad we did- Sorcerer Mickey was there (we have never met this variation before).

We started walking towards Tomorrowland and saw no lines at teacups so we rode :)

In tomorrowland we all checked out the Iron Man exhibit and also Innoventions (futuristic exhibits), but not before the kids got a lovely spray down from the misters!

We then trekked over to the monorail and hopped it to Downtown Disney. We popped over to Earl of Sandwich for the second time this trip and filled up before heading back to the hotel. The kids wanted to swim so back to the pool we went!

In the late afternoon we all split up for dinner. Hannah took the kids to the quick service restaurant in the hotel and then shopping in downtown Disney while Matt and I went into CA Adventure on our own. Our first stop was drinks in the Carthay Circle bar. Yum!

After drinks, we were heading back to the hotel towards our restaurant but decided to take some pictures of just the two of us- pretty rare in family vacations! After that Matt and I went to Napa Rose and ate in the lounge. We ordered our favorites from there and a bottle of wine and enjoyed time away from the kids:)

After dinner we all met up and headed back into the parks for our last night- so sad! Piper wanted to ride Goofys one last time but the line was a little long so she rode single rider- such a big girl!

Us grown ups all got some drinks while we ordered ice cream for the kids and we all sat back and watched World of Color from a little distance. Such a great show (if you don’t have to wait for hours to see it!).

We then headed into Carsland one last time and stopped for a couple photos before heading to Racers. This ride is so great at night but the lines are always long unless you ride single rider (you get split up from your party and get popped into empty cars where there is room). We all were split up this time but my kids are pros and still had a blast. I rode next to the cutest little girl!

We wandered around a tiny bit but then the park was closing so we had to leave lol. We weren’t done yet though so we hopped over to Disneyland park which still had a bit before closing time.

We managed to get the Carousel and teacups in before the park closed and then we headed out and back to our hotel. Piper was so tired she laid down in the elevator lol.