New Year, New Friends, New Pace

Question: What is the best way to start a new year?
Answer: Spend it at Disneyland!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This morning was a cold one. We woke up early and headed into the park with only one goal in mind - ride the Nemo ride. We rushed to the ride and there was already a 30 minute line (How does that happen???? We walk fast!) Since there was a line, Supergirl and Triguy took off for a quick ride on the Matterhorn. Jman and I made it to the front of the line and the other two had not returned, so we let lots and lots of people go in front of us. Triguy and Supergirl finally returned and we boarded the long anticipated new ride. I have to be honest here - this ride was not worth the wait. I guess, if you have 3-4 year olds, it would be a good one, but it was pretty boring. Not a big wow factor like the other Disney rides. That's okay, we checked it off our list.

We hung around Disneyland long enough to ride Buzz Lightyear again and then headed to California Adventure. CA Adventure is a smaller park than Disneyland and has a much more laid-back feel. Supergirl was anxious to ride CA Screamin' - the big rollercoaster in the park where you go upside down. The wait wasn't long, so we went ahead and rode it. Jman decided to opt out - a good thing - and so the rest of us rode the coaster. It was a blast and is my favorite roller coaster in the two parks.

We decided last minute to each lunch with the Princesses at Ariel's Grotto. I thought the kids might be too old for a character lunch...I was wrong. Jack was giddy the whole time - he convinced all of the princesses to kiss his autograph book (flashback to our last trip :) ) Supergirl tried to be cool, but you could see the delight in her face as each princess came to our table. (Check out the pics) The meal was pricey, but was very good. And it was nice to take a break in the middle of the day.

We left the lunch and went over to the Midway Mania ride - a new interactive ride based on Toy Story. The wait was 45 minutes, but we had nothing better to do, so we went ahead and got into the line. About halfway through, the ride broke down. We had already waited about 25 minutes, so we decided to stay a little longer to see if the ride would start. While we were waiting, we met a family with a 9 year old daughter and 7 year old son. The kids quickly became friends and we had fun talking to adults for a change. The ride never did start, in fact 3 of the big rides in the park broke at the same time. We left the line with a fast pass to return to the ride later in the day and new friends. The kids had fun hanging out with someone other than a sibling. They trotted off ahead of us and rode a few of the smaller kid rides together. We went to a 4D showing of Bug’s Life with them and also went on the Monster’s Inc ride together. It was the first time all week that we didn’t hear “I’m bored!” or “I’m hungry” or “He/She looked at me funny!” There was only one “bad” result – the little girl was a pin collector – that is a person that wears the necklace with the metal Disney character pins all over it. You can then trade the pins with other people or cast members in the park. Supergirl was intrigued – anything that you collect is a good thing! She ended up spending her vacation money on pins and a necklace at the end of the day.

We finished the day early again – around 6pm. It was a nice, slow, relaxing day for us – not our usual fast pace. What a wonderful way to start off the new year!

Oh yeah - we received a birthday song and free dessert at the Princess Lunch - free dessert count 4!

Click here to see pictures