Final day

Friday was our last day in the parks. Since we were allowed in California Adventure early we decided to try and take full advantage of that time. Dave was really tired from the previous days so I let him sleep in while I took Nathan into the park early. My mom was staying at the hotel longer to get everyone checked out so I was able to leave Brady with her. It was nice to be able to have a special time just for Nathan and me. When we arrived at 8am there was hardly anyone in the park. Maybe no one wanted to get up that early on a Friday, but it was the least busy I had seen it all week and it was awesome. We ran into Mickey mouse near the park entrance and because there really wasn't a line Mickey was able to spend a little extra time playing with the boys.

 

Mickey took Liam's glow necklace and put it on his nose. Aidan sure thought it was fun to steal it back. Mickey then noticed that Nathan had a toy airplane with a mickey riding in it so it took it off the stroller and started making it "fly". I love having these kind of interactions with the characters it just makes the visit even more magical.

 Nathan was a little worried in this picture that Mickey might try and keep his toy airplane!

 After meeting Mickey the first item on my agenda was the Toy story ride. I knew that later in the day the line would get to long and Nathan really wanted to ride it again. That morning there was no line and we walked right on two times in a row. Most of the other rides I still wanted to get done I needed to have Dave with me so I decided the best thing to do was get in the Fastpass line for Radiator Spring Racers. I collected everyone's tickets and waited until they opened at 9. While I was waiting I could see the huge crowd of people waiting to be let into the park. It was great to be able to get in early enough that I was was able to get 9 fastpasses for early enough in the day so that everyone could get a chance to ride again.
After collecting the fastpasses, I stopped for some breakfast since we hadn't been able to get anything before the park opened. Then I headed over to bugs land , so Nathan could get some rides in before it was time to head back to Cars Land.

We were able to meet back up with everyone for the Radiator Spring Racers. And those fast passes really came in handy. Nathan was able to ride it three more times with out waiting in a long line since we were able to maximize the fastpasses along with the ride swap passes.

                                           Logan really wanted his picture taken here, so cute!

                       Waiting with Logan while Jeremy and Cameo enjoyed the ride.

 

                  Dave, Terri, Kerri, Nathan, Adam, and Aidan going on one last race!

 We also had to ride Tower of Terror one more time. Still so much fun!                                    

                                           with Dad, Terri, Dave, Kerri, and Adam


After Lunch Dave and I took turns riding Soaring Over California. While I was riding Dave took the boys over to the Challenge Trail(based on UP) to let then explore a little. We were all pretty tired from 4 days of non stop fun so it was nice to take it easy for a while. After a little time we headed to California Screaming for our last ride of the day. After that Dave and I were both too tried for anymore rides so we went and found a bench to sit on to watch the Pixar parade. We had about an hour to wait so Dave went and got us some ice cream and we just enjoyed taking a nice long break. To our surprise while we were sitting there Jake from Jake and the Never land Pirates showed up across the street.
                            
                                Here Jake is trying to spike up Nathan's hair so it would be just like his.

 I had mentioned earlier to Nathan that if he saw Jake he should ask him about his gold doubloons.( I had read somewhere that when asked Jake hands over one) Unfortunately Jake did have a cast member with him to hand out the doubloons, so when Nathan asked Jake searched every where and then let him know that he didn't have any. He then explained ( through hand  motions) that Hook had taken them all. He then motioned for Nathan to keep an eye out for Hook. Nathan thought that was great and spent the next 10 minutes telling us we needed to find Hook because he had taken all of Jake's doubloons.

 Finally it was time for the Pixar Parade. Nathan loved seeing all of the characters and even Brady was glued to all the action.

 We had such a wonderful time. We are so happy that Grandma and Grandpa Bell made this trip possible.

Day 4: Fantasyland

Thursday we were able to get into Disneyland 1 hr early so we decided to take advantage of the smaller crowd and get in as many rides as possible in Fantasyland. On our way into the park several Disney characters were waiting to greet all the guest. Nathan was happy to finally get to meet Mickey Mouse.

 We then made our way into Fantasyland and immediately got into line for Peter pan since it always has the longest line. I wanted to make sure Nathan had a chance to experience peter pan since I still think it is the best ride in Fantasyland. It  was a great start to the morning. Nathan loved it and was excited to ride the other rides. We had fun going from one ride to the next. The crowd was small enough that we were able to ride over 8 rides in just a couple hrs. Nathan loved all the rides there, even Snow White's scary adventure which I thought he would hate. I even rode the tea cups twice with him, although that might have been a mistake since I spent the rest of the day fighting off motion sickness. Dave and I took turns riding the Matterhorn taking advantage of the single rider line. It  took less then 10 minutes for both of us to get a turn on the bobsleds.
                                                       Sleeping Beauty's Castle

                                                           Adorable cousin Leah!

                                  First time on the teacups with both of the boys.

                          Nathan would only ride Dumbo if he was with Aidan.

               So Dave and I rode a different Dumbo with Brady.

                   Waiting to ride the Casey Jr. Train.

Second time on the tea cups this time with Cameo and Logan.

By 11:30 the crowds in Fantasyland started to get long so we decided to move on to Toontown. Goofy was meeting guest near the entrance so Nathan jumped in line with Grandma. He really did love meeting all the Disney characters.

We ate some lunch with my parents and then got in line for the go coaster. About half way through the line Nathan decided he didn't want to ride the roller coaster. But since we had already waited through most of the line we made him ride it anyways( I know we are so mean ). Grandma stayed with Brady while we rode Roger Rabbit.

                   Brady getting a chance to crawl around in Goofy's Playhouse.

A few of us had fast passes for Space mountain so we hurried over to meet up with them. Then we went on a few more rides in Tomorrowland. I finally got a chance to ride on Autotopia with Nathan and of course we had to do Buzz Lightyear again. The crowds started to get really bad and it sure seemed to be a lot of teenagers. We later learned it was senior grad night for some and they let a lot of the seniors in early. We decided to head over to California Adventure to see if the crowds were any better.

Once there Nathan and I searched for some ice cream while Dave did a little birthday shopping for Nathan. Dave was able to purchase a birthday present for Nathan and have it sent to our Hotel for us to pick up later. We then headed back over to Cars Land for dinner and Nathan finally got to meet McQueen.

We were pretty tired by now from 3 days of walking but I really wanted to make sure Nathan got to experience the toy story ride. The line was really long. It would have been nice if there was a fastpass option. We did eventually make it through the 45+ minute line and it was so worth it. It ended up being Nathan's favorite ride and when it was over he wanted to stay in and ride again. I would have to agree the ride was awesome. You basically wear 3D glasses while the ride stops in front of different screens and you play carnival games. Nathan loved pulling back on the string to shoot at all the different targets.
We were all too tired to wait in line again so we headed back to the hotel to relax and get the kids to bed.

                              

                                                     Hailey, Corey, Yoli, and Leah

Day 3: California Adventure's Magical Moment

It took us all morning to finish with Cars land. After Lunch Dave and I ran over to Tower of Terror, while Kerri and Adam took the boys to bugs land. I love Tower of Terror. Really I can't explain why, but something about the way it drops has me laughing the whole time. Afterwards my Dad joined the Rowlands and Us on the Grizzly rapids. Nathan wasn't to thrilled with the ride but Aidan loved it and rode it twice since we were able to use the ride swap passes. My Dad, Kerri and I rode the second time with Aidan and he let us know ahead of time about all the different drops. It was a great way to cool off but some how I seemed to get the most wet.
We then rode the Little Mermaid ride and headed to the Pier, but Nathan was not interested in any of those rides so we decided to head across the park the the Monster's inc ride. And that is when the most magical part of our day happened. As we were walking towards the ride Pluto crossed our path. Once Nathan saw him he jumped out of the stroller and raced after him. Luckily my Dad was still with us and he was able to follow Nathan until I could catch up. Once Pluto arrived at his destination Nathan was able to get in line to meet him. While we were waiting for his turn he noticed all the other kids were getting Pluto's autograph. Finally we made it to the front of the line and Nathan excitedly gave Pluto a big hug and could hardly keep himself from bouncing. Seriously I never realized how important it was for Nathan to meet Pluto until that moment. After taking a couple pictures I told Nathan to say bye to Pluto and he got really quiet and upset, and started saying he needed Pluto to sign something. I felt bad that I didn't have anything on me since I had raced after Nathan and left the stroller and bags behind with Dave. But then the cast member that was standing with Pluto told Nathan she would find something and took him by his hand and walked around looking for a park map for Pluto to sign. My Dad was able to pull his map out and then she brought a sharpie and took Nathan back to the front of the line so that he could get Pluto's autograph. The look on Nathan's face was priceless. It made his whole day and really it made mine too. I was just so impressed that they cared enough to really interact and create a magical moment for Nathan.

Once we were done meeting Pluto we headed straight to the Disney Junior show. Nathan loved the show!  I am sure every kid who watches Disney Junior will love this show. Nathan stayed standing the whole time and really got involved with all the actions.

Finally after the show we made it to the Monster's inc ride. Another great one for Nathan. After a full day at the park my parents were nice enough to watch all our boys while Jeremy, Cameo, Kerri, Adam, Dave, and I went to dinner at the Blue Bayou inside the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. We rode the Monorail into the park for dinner. While we were waiting on the platform we started chatting a little with one of the workers and when the Monorail arrived she asked if we would like to ride in the back. She enter a code into the door and let us pile into the back. It was fun to get the opportunity to experience the monorail in a new way. One inside the park we made our way over to the restaurant and enjoyed the food and company. It really is amazing how they can make the place feel like it is outside in the bayou(minus the mosquitoes) even though it is all indoors.
We then met back up with my parents to pick up Nathan and head back to California Adventure to watch World of Color. It is pretty amazing what then can do with lights and water.

It was late by the time the show was over and Nathan was so tired that he didn't even make it back to the hotel before falling asleep.

I would say that it was a successful and magical day!

Day 3: Cars Land

We started Wednesday morning by arriving early to California Adventure  to take advantage of the extra time we had before the park was open to the general public. Even then there still was a huge crowd waiting to enter Cars Land. We immediately got in line for the radiator springs racers since we knew that the line would soon be over 1 hour long. I was able to go first with Nathan while Dave waited behind with Brady. Luckily Disneyland has ride swap passes, which allow guest to wait behind with children who are to small to ride and then once the other guest is done they are allowed to enter the fast pass lane instead of having to stand in line for another hour. Unfortunately the ride broke just as Dave was getting ready to take Nathan again so he had to wait until later but since we had the ride swap he was able to get right to the front of the line once it was up and running. While we waited for the line to open I went and got some fast passes for Tower of Terror(my favorite) and Dave took Nathan on Luigi's Tires.

                                                             Cameo and Logan

                                                                   Dave and Nathan

                                                             Jeremy and Aidan

 I then stood in line to meet Mater while Dave and Nathan rode on the racers. They really did a great job with that ride, especially at the end when you race the other car. Even now when we are on a winding road Nathan thinks it is like being on the cars ride. Nathan of course was excited to meet Mater.

 We then headed over to Mater's Junkyard to ride in the tractor's. Cars Land was so amazing. They really made sure every detail was covered. It was like walking into the movie. We even ate dinner at Flo's V8 cafe.

                                            Aidan and Me at the Cozy Cone

On our way out of the park that evening I tried to get a few night time shots because it was even more amazing with all the lights on.