Disneyland/California Adventure Day 5 – February 16, 2014

7:27 a.m.
I got up before everyone else and I’m only dragging ass because I lost this Goofy pressed penny I found on Grizzly River Run last night. I can buy a new one today, no big deal. Have to get ready.

9:00 a.m.
I got up at 7 in the morning and we haven’t left yet. Not off to a great start today.

3:03 p.m.
Admittedly I wasn’t in a good mood when we got to California Adventure today. Our arrival had been delayed due to the dryer still being out of order. Becky and Melanie found a laundromat, then grabbed more sandwich meat from a grocery store. Upon our arrival, (as we did yesterday), we rented automatic and manual wheelchairs. I’m in the manual, because my legs are slowly freezing up. Got in line for Radiator Springs. That took almost an hour. The ride itself was awesome. Amazing, life-like details. Fast cars, thrilling turns. I’d definitely go on it again. Luigi’s Flying Tires on the other hand? No. Not a chance in hell. It was too confining in a tire with Melanie and Daniel, plus the damn thing broke down. I was not impressed. I dis get to meet Donald, though. He pointed at my Kingdom Hearts shirt and got even more excited when he saw the Donald hat I was wearing. Truly my favorite part of the night.

11:11 p.m.
The line for Toy Story was longer than I anticipated. To be honest I never knew what the ride actually consisted of. Turned out to be a lot like Astro Blasters. I went into it thinking “Ok, maybe now it will be my turn to beat Daniel at something.” Nope. He won 74,400 to 56,000. One of these days, little dude. One of these days.

11:19 p.m.
Daniel gave us such a hard time at the Ferris Wheel. I understand that he has a terrible fear of heights, but come on. Dirty looks, excessive pouting, refusal to join in on the fun with the rest of the family… it was ridiculous. We get all loaded up in the Pluto cage and before the major swinging can even begin Daniel started screaming and crying like a two year old. He’s thirteen. It was embarrassing. People in the nearest carts could hear him yelling “Let me out” at the top of his lungs. Towards the end Daniel decided to try this weird Native American meditation crap and it worked. He calmed down, and all was right with the world.

11:43 p.m.
The pizza I ate on the boardwalk wasn’t altogether warm, which sucked. Little Mermaid is hands down my favorite Disney film and so it can’t be too surprising that I found the ride to be quite entertaining. We were about to go on Goofy’s Sky School next when the cast members informed us that it was closed. The news was mildly upsetting, but this feeling didn’t last. Soaring Over California more than made up for the disappointment. Melanie screamed her head off the entire time. It was pretty funny. Once that ride was marked off our checklist, Becky took me to do a little last minute shopping. I picked up a Twilight Zone 50th Anniversary novel with nineteen short stories in it. Becky got a new badge holder for her season pass because her old one broke. At the end of the night, there was a quick walk through Cars Land to look at the lights and go on the Mater ride one more time. This was the last day of the Disneyland/California Adventure vacation. Tomorrow is a one day visit to Knott’s Berry Farm. I honestly never had any desire to go there. To me, it’s a day being taken away from a couple parks we were already enjoying. However, I have to be more lenient in regards to what others want out of a family outing. My willingness is irrelevant. If I’m not at least somewhat open-minded, the only thing I’m accomplishing is ruining the fun. I got ready what I could in terms of gathering our stuff for checkout in the morning, but I’m starting to fall asleep. My whole body hurts and I need to rest. I can finish this later.

Disneyland/California Adventure DAY 2 – February 12, 2014

9:25 a.m.
Rode the tram to the park. There was absolutely no elbow room. Now waiting in line to get pass cards for Daniel and Elijah. They are going to have so much fun.

9:29 a.m.
The knot in my throat was really bothering me this morning. Hopefully I don’t get sick while I’m here.

9:30 a.m.
Almost there! This line is packed.

9:32 a.m.
At the window. Looks like they’re going to give us a hard time about the passes being printed on both sides of one paper.

11:21 a.m.
The boys loved Pirates. Got momentarily got detained on Haunted Mansion. Met Tigger, Eeyore, and Pooh. It was the first time that I’ve been on the Pooh ride. Now in line for Astral Orbiter in Tomorrowland. Daniel is refusing to go on Space Mountain with me. It’s hilarious.

1:07 p.m.
Daniel beat me at Astro Blasters 111,000 to 5,800. Everyone loved Star Tours. The best part was when someone randomly yelled “it’s a trap” after Leia said “you’re my only hope.”

2:10 p.m.
The entire group got to meet Thor. It was amazing! Now on our way to Toon Town via the tram.

3:28 p.m.
Saw Pluto. Had him sign my book. All of the kids were crowding him though, it was insane. The line for Mickey wasn’t that bad. About to go on the Roger Rabbit ride.

4:58 p.m.
Roger Rabbit was dizzyingly fun, thanks to Melanie turning the wheel the entire time. Went on Pinocchio. The long line for Dumbo is finally coming to an end.

6:46 p.m.
Jungle Cruise was alright, but honestly I’m woefully exhausted at this point. Though I probably didn’t take that many pictures in comparison to previous trips to Disneyland, we are here for four days. There will be plenty of opportunity for me to go on more rides and fill up my autograph book.

11:08 p.m.
It’s pretty much the end of the night for us. Quite a few things happened at Disneyland that I couldn’t cram into a paragraph for obvious reasons. Like how at the entrance I overheard a park employee saying that a CSI team was there. I have no idea what for, and I’m not sure I want to know. When I had Winnie the Pooh sign my book, he did so while spinning around in a circle. It was awesome. Daniel and Elijah had a lot of fun on the teacups. It was so dark during the parade that I had to shoot a video instead of take pictures. Blame that on the poor lighting. Everyone went on Pirates a second time. Becky, Daniel, and Elijah got wet in the front row. Before the Carousel, a little boy kept pushing on my ass telling me to go while in line. Afterward, my nephews and I took turns trying to pull Excalibur from the stone. Now we’re laughing and having fun before bed.