We just got back from a wonderful trip to Southern California! Here are the highlights and some photos from the adventure.

Thursday, Nov. 9

The day started bright and early as we prepared to head to the airport for our 8:25 flight to Ontario, CA. Hannah was so excited she woke up at 5:40A, which was 20 minutes before we planned to get the girls up. Our housesitter, Brian, was kind enough to take us to the airport at such an early hour, so at 6:45A we headed out.

This was the girls first ever plane trip, which added to the excitement. They soaked in every little aspect of the airport experience and were thrilled when we were the first to board the plane.


After take off, Katie was explaining to Grace about waiting for the pilot to turn off the fasten seatbelt sign, prompting Grace to ask, “There are pirates flying this plane?”

The two hour flight went quick and the landing was soft. We grabbed our bags and rode the shuttle to get our rental car. The girls were excited when they saw our sporty, red Chevy, and they broke into the chorus from American Pie by Don McLean. (No, seriously, they did. They’'ve learned the song this fall because Kate is using it for one of her dance recital pieces.)

We drove down to Anaheim and checked into the Disneyland Hotel. At the check-in counter, the girls each received special envelopes. Grace’s had a photo of Ariel, her favorite princess, that was autographed just for her. Hannah got one of several of the princesses, also autographed to her. It was a magical start to the adventure!

After unloading our bags, and giving the girls a few minutes to jump on the bed, we headed toward the park. We stopped in Downtown Disney for a slice of pizza, and then went first to Disney California Adventure (DCA) to catch the Playhouse Disney stage show. After the show, we saw Pluto outside, our first character encounter, and the girls got his autograph and a photo with him.



Next, we headed across to Disneyland, discussing where we should start our adventure at that park. The girls really wanted to ride “It’s a Small World” first, but it was closed that day. (We’d later learn that it was because they were changing it over to the special “holiday” edition). So, instead, we opted for another Disney classic, yes, Dumbo. Following Dumbo, we rode several of the rides in Fantasyland, including the Carousel (we each named our horse, too), Snow White’s Scary Adventures, Pinnochio, and Peter Pan.



As evening set in, we decided to head over to Critter Country for the Winnie the Pooh ride. Everyone really enjoyed it, though to be honest one section appears as though Pooh and company found some bad mushrooms in the Hundred Acre Wood.



For dinner, we went to Tomorrowland for a quick bite. Then, because the crowds on Thursday night are light, we were able to get on Star Tours with minimal wait. Grace LOVED Star Tours, though it made Kevin a bit queasy.

We headed home relatively early (for this trip anyway), since we knew Friday would be a full day at Disneyland.

Friday, Nov. 10

Friday was much busier than Thursday, not only for us but for the park. (Upon returning, two different people commented that they’d heard that Friday and Saturday were so busy at Disneyland that at one point they stopped letting people in!) We started the morning at Disneyland, arriving about 9:00. We immediately spotted Mickey Mouse and went to try to get his autograph. The cast member with him, however, said he was heading to breakfast but would return at 9:30.

So, we headed to Space Mountain in Tomorrowland. Since the wait was over 40 minutes, we opted to exercise the FastPass option and grabbed tickets for later in the day. On the way out of Tomorrowland, we noticed the wait for Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters was short, so we jumped in line. This is a relative new ride and is a lot of fun. It’s interactive, with you using a blaster to shoot “Z” targets (Z for Zurg, of course). It also includes a photo at the end of you battling Zurg, which you can then email to yourself.

After coming out, we noted that we could make it back to see Mickey at 9:30. We were second in line, and very excited to check the main mouse off our list early in the trip. Close by, Goofy was also signing autographs and taking pictures, so we knocked the goofster off the list early as well.



Next we decided to try to catch Pirates of the Caribbean. We told the girls it was something of a family requirement, since a cousin of their Grammy Bachman was the artist who designed the characters for the ride.

We caught the train at Main Street to head over to New Orleans Square and received another surprise: we were allowed to ride in the exclusive, private car at the end of the train. At first, we didn’t think we’d make it on the train at all, but one of the conductors told us to follow him to the back car. Once inside, he explained that normally it is reserved for Club 31 members and VIPs, but as part of Disney’s “Year of a Million Dreams” they were picking random families to ride in the car. Kate and Kevin were clearly more impressed by this than the girls!


At Pirates of the Caribbean, the line was a mere 15 minutes, so we hopped in line. The girls loved their first Pirates ride! And the new addition of the Captain Jack Sparrow character fits nicely, and you’d swear that Johnny Depp was actually working on the ride.


Next, we swung over quickly to Splash Mountain to grab a FastPass. Since we were officially within our return time for Space Mountain, we were able to get a FastPass for a second ride. We then caught the train and circled around to Tomorrowland for Space Mountain. The FastPass hustled us by a LONG line of standby riders, and we were on in mere minutes.

At the end, Grace was a little upset by the ride. She didn’t like the dark, and she was afraid the entire time that Hannah and Daddy were going to lose their glasses. (As you approach the boarding area they are constantly telling you to remove your glasses and hats so you don’t lose them…) Needless to say, since Daddy had to comfort her, he DID in fact lose his hat because he forgot and left it in the ride car.

To calm Grace down, we let her pick the next ride, and she went with the ever popular Tea Cups. Then, we went back to her other favorite from the night before, Winnie the Pooh. It worked, and she was settled and ready for the highlight of the day: Lunch with the Princesses!


On the way to the front of the park, we saw Mary Poppins. A particular favorite of Katie’s, we had to stop and get her autograph and picture. Kevin agreed, mostly because Ms. Poppins was certainly not hard on the eyes. You can have your princesses, he’ll take Mary Poppins.


We headed over to DCA and Ariel's Grotto for our 12:50p lunch reservation. The girls were on Cloud 9 in anticipation of the event. Grace had decided before we left Oregon that she wanted to buy a card to give to her favorite princess, Ariel. She bought one for Hannah, too, to give to Snow White. Both girls signed and drew pictures on the cards for their princesses.



The bottom line: The princess lunch was a huge hit, as you can see from these great photos of the girls with the princesses. They had a wonderful time.






After lunch, we stopped by the store to pick up some items, in particular the girls first set of Mickey Mouse ears. Hannah chose a pair with the princesses on them, and Grace chose one with Tinker Bell. Both, of course, had their names sewn on the back.


Back to Disneyland we went to ride Splash Mountain before going back to the hotel for a swim in the pool and dinner. Splash Mountain was excellent, both girls LOVED it. Upon exiting, we got right in line to see Tigger! Grace was thrilled since she’s a big Tigger fan.


On the way out, we swung by the Thunder Mountain Railroad to get FastPasses for that evening. Then we trekked back to the hotel to take a dip in the pool, change into warmer clothes (the days were sunny and low 70’s, but it got chilly at night), and head back to Disneyland for Thunder Mountain Railroad, Small World, and the fireworks. Unfortunately, the line for Small World was far too long, so we skipped it. As Katie held a spot for us for watching the fireworks, Kevin and the girls rode the rocketships at the edge of Tomorrowland to kill time.

It’d been a LONG day, and Grace crashed out before the fireworks started. But once the first BOOM went off, she was wide awake to enjoy them. Afterward, we waded through the thick crowd of people, exhausted, and found our way back to the hotel.



Saturday, Nov. 11

On Saturday, we drove down to San Diego to go to Sea World. Our Disney park entry included passes for one day at Sea World and we decided to make it Saturday. (Based on reports about how busy Disneyland was on Saturday, we “chose wisely”.) We got there just in time to run over and see the Pet’s Rule show, which Grace absolutely loved, and Kevin was amazed by trained cats and ducks. After buying really expensive souvenier cups of frozen lemonade and grabbing a lunch of nachos, we next went to the dolphin show. It, too, was excellent, and we watched safely from near the top of the stadium, far out of the “Soak Zone.”



Finally, we went over to Shamu Stadium to see the signature show with the killer whales. Hannah talked us into sitting in the “Soak Zone”, putting us in danger of getting really wet. The show was excellent, and we stayed dry, a success all around. After the show Grace declared that she wanted to be a killer whale trainer.


With the shows out of the way, and two tired girls fading fast, we made a quick stop to see the Sea Otters (Kevin’s favorite), the Clydesdale Horses (Anhaseur Busch owns Sea World), and then the Penguins. We grabbed refills for our frozen lemonade, some ice cream for the girls, then headed back to Disney.


Since we were all tired and wanted to get the girls to bed as soon as possible, we opted for a special treat for dinner: Room Service! The girls thought it was the coolest thing to have dinner delivered on a rolling table. They sat on their bed eating and watching Disney Channel (what else?). Then, they racked out.



Sunday, Nov. 12

We had very distinct goals for Sunday: Hit the big rides we missed at Disneyland, hit the big rides and shows and California Adventure, and then perhaps double back to Disneyland for some bonus rides. We did all that and more. Turns out, Sunday is a GREAT day to visit Disneyland.

We arrived at 8:15A, only 15 minutes after the park opened. Heading first to Indiana Jones, we walked right on, maybe a five minute total wait. Everyone loved it. Next, we jumped right next door and walked onto the Jungle Cruise. The girls loved that as well.


They’d been begging us to ride Splash Mountain again, so we decided to see about a FastPass for later in the day. But the wait was only 10 minutes, so we couldn’t resist and went right on. Our plan was then to go back to the train stop at New Orleans Square and ride over to Small World. On the way to the train, we saw that the Haunted Mansion was only a five minute wait, so we walked right in! It was redecorated for Christmas with a Nightmare Before Christmas theme.


After getting off the train at the Toon Town stop on the way to Small World, we decided to pop over to Toon Town to seen if Minnie was around. Sure enough, Minnie Mouse herself was there and we waited just a couple minutes for our turn to get her autograph and a picture with her.


Small World was worth the wait as it had also been transformed into the holiday theme. The girls, of course, loved it.

Our goal had been to do all that by 10A so we could make the opening of California Adventure, which opens two hours after Disneyland. We did pretty well, finishing at 10:15 and arriving at DCA at 10:30. We went first to Soarin’ Over California and had just a short 15 minute wait. What an incredible ride! Immediately, Kevin was ready to go again!

But the plan was to grab a FastPass for Grizzly River Run. While the ladies hit the restroom, Kevin went up to grab the FastPasses. Alas, the line was only five minutes! So instead, Kevin grabbed FastPasses for Soarin’ Over California, ensuring a quick return when we wanted to go back.

After getting wet on the Grizzly River Run, fun but a little short, we walked up to get a good seat for the High School Musical Pep Rally! I think Katie was most excited about this!


Our “Trip of Unhealthy Eating” continued on Sunday for lunch, Grace and Daddy grabbed enormous corndogs, and Hannah and Mommy got pizza. Our stomachs weren’t quite sure what we were doing to them!


A quick stop by King Triton’s Carousel, then off to see the Aladin stage show. Before heading in, we saw Sully from Monsters Inc., and Hercules (a favorite of Katie’s). Once at the theater, our “preferred seating” pass got us a second row seat to a great music stage show.



After the show, we ran into Woody from Toy Story and Kate just had to get his autograph and photo. As a huge Tom Hanks fan, she figures this could be as close as she gets to a brush with the voice of Woody.


After determining the line was just too long for the Monsters Inc. ride, we hit the Muppets 3-D movie. The 3-D was outstanding (though a tad headache inducing).

We hit the two biggies, Soarin’ Over California and Grizzly River Run, one last time before heading out of the park. We went back to Downtown Disney for a sit down dinner, the hotel for a change of clothes, then back to Disneyland for one last visit. Our “encore” visit. And it was quite an encore, we hit Pirates of the Caribbean, Indiana Jones, Buzzlightyear, and capped it off with Star Tours. And, yes, Kevin got queasy again!

Monday, Nov. 13

Our last day, or rather half day, consisted of hitting Downtown Disney and the world's largest Disney store to stock up on gifts and soveniers. Then, it was back to the airport for the flight home...back to the rain of Portland.

We had a wonderful time, and if you're thinking of heading to Disneyland, we're happy to share our advice on how to make your trip just as wonderful.