Tales of the Flowers: Disneyland with the Bakers and Candlelight with Edward James Olmos

It's Friday and Lacey happens to be finished with her massive review at work. Since we're all off work today, we figured why not go to Disneyland!

Once we got our little coffee addict caffeinated up we were ready to explore California Adventure.

The Bakers just got their passes renewed in October and have only gone on Radiator Springs Racers. While we were walking through Tow Mater's Junkyard Jamboree, Jonathan was telling us what each of the different car parts came off of.

We like this ride. Sometimes I give Theresa a little extra squishing when we whip around the curves.

Lacey was very brave and pet this baby tractor.

The imagineers did a great job with all their decorations this year back in Cars Land. The trees in particular are very creative.

We wanted to get a photo in front of all these Route 66 signs. Hopefully we'll be driving along Route 66 next week.

We also rode Luigi's Flying Tires. I'm glad it was only a 30 minute wait. We still have fun on this one though.

And it's even better when you have friends that you can do battle with.

Dinner?

The girls wimped out and went on Monsters Inc, while the boys enjoyed the Tower of Terror. They still had a fun experience though. While on Monsters, they broke down and had to be evacuated. They got to walk backwards through about half of the ride.

Another seasonal event that we love. The Prep and Landing elves, Wayne and Lanny have taken over the Muppets Theater. Every 30 minutes, they're showing Prep and Landing - Naughty vs. Nice in 4D.

They're one of our new favorite Christmas specials. I think we've watched them 4 times so far this season.

To finish out our California park adventure, we rode Soarin.

Everyone had rumbling tummies and the Bakers have never been to the Earl of Sandwich so we walked down there for dinner. I was thrilled to see a line that was only 10 minutes long. Last time we were here it was at least 30 minutes just to place an order.

It's still one of our favorite places to eat at the Disneyland Resort.

We knew the 5:30 showing of Candlelight was going on and the entrance to the park would be nuts. Instead we took the monorail to the Tomorrowland station.

Around 6:45, we lined up on Main Street for the 7:30 showing of Candlelight.

We were led in to the standing area and walked up to the rope.

There happened to be quite a few seats free with 5 minutes to go before the show. The cast members invited people who were standing the seats that were free behind everyone else. I'd rather stand. The Bakers had never seen Candlelight before. They are in for a treat!

Our guest speaker tonight is Edward James Olmos. Here he is walking up to the podium.

This is his second of three nights of narrating Candlelight here in California. Back in 2007, he narrated the Candlelight Processional in Florida at Disney World. This also happens to be his 2nd time narrating in California. His first was in 1998.

We enjoyed listening to him speak. His voice is so smoky.

And it doesn't matter how many times you see it, Candlelight is really a spectacle to behold.

Sometimes it's fun to just watch the sign language interpreter. His flourishments just make you want to keep watching and watching.

The Voices of Liberty

I was keeping an eye on Edward James Olmos. I'm not sure if he was touched emotionally, or just wiping his eyes. In my mind, I'll imagine it's the former.

Silent Night is always so beautiful.

Edward James Olmos showing his appreciation for the choir, trumpeters, orchestra and bell ringers.

And his reaction when the announcer thanked him and the crowd started cheering.

He asked that in this time of year, we remember all of our brave men and women in uniform.

And then asked that we all thank the man who has brought together not just us together, but so many different cultures and people around the world, Walt Disney.

Happy Holidays!

and Good Night.

I liked how he thanked some of the choir members as he was walking out.

There is a massive floral centerpiece directly below where Nancy conducts.

And it happens to be made of real flowers!

After Candlelight, we headed over to Indiana Jones. It happened to be in soft openings after a 3 month refurbishment and we were curious to see the changes.

Entering the chamber with the fountain of eternal youth. But then someone looks into the eye of Mara and we're off on a crazy adventure.

We didn't really notice any major changes. The bug room projection looks a little different. The main thing is that everything just looks spruced up and newer. We're not sure, but the ride seemed faster. Our jeep didn't seem to behave the same way at the boulder scene. We didn't notice the walls backing up or the boulder getting closer. Might have just been us though.