I love the feel of the Grand Californian hotel. T and I haven't tried out the Disneyland Hotel before, and it's really hard to find the motivation to try it out. The ambiance here is great.
Early magic hours start at 9am, and we're here 10 minutes early! The line stretched all the way across the esplanade and over to the monorail beams! Wait a second, who is that at the back of the line?
It's Kelly, Sean, and the kids! We hadn't made plans ahead of time, but perhaps we'll be hanging out together today anyway!
Slowly the line crept to the entrance.
35 minutes after getting in line, at 9:25am we finally made it inside the parks. So what first? Radiator Springs Racers? Tower of Terror?
Ha. No, we've got kids. Off to Monsters Inc!
Alli is all strapped in and ready to go.
With absolutely no one else in line, we asked if we could go again. Sure! But we have to get out and walk over to the entrance again. The cast member told us that the cars release the locking bars between the where you get off and where you get on, so legally he said you're not allowed to ride in it.
One more trip through the scare floor.
Wait for me!
Come on Pea, let's walk!
Ehh, not so much.
Ian and Sophie joined hands and walked towards our next stop, Bug's Land. They're too cute. Walking behind them I heard Ian asking "Sophie, did you like the Monsters Inc ride?" Already working on his small talk.
Walking towards A Bug's Land took us by the front of the Tower of Terror. And who happened to be there taking photos? Why it's Matt, Amy, and Katherine!
What an unexpected but fortunate meet-up!
Walking into A Bug's Land it looks like none of these rides open for another 10 minutes.
So instead, the entire group all went together to jump in line for Toy Story Midway Mania before the park opened to everyone else.
Enjoying a nearly walk-on ride.
How do you like those glasses Alli?
Whew! I didn't realize Midway Mania was so jerky! I noticed it when I had Alli on my lap though. After me playing each round, Alli enjoyed yanking the cord to fire the cannon between scenes.
Of course you exit through the gift shop. Looking for other toys to go with his Woody and Buzz.
As we left the gift shop, Jesse was coming out as well and making her way over to her photo spot.
Cheese!
Time for our last ride as a group. Mickey's Fun Wheel! As a family, we always go on the non-swinging side. But with some fellow adventurers, Ian and I joined Matt, Amy, and Katherine on the swinging side! We allowed people to go in front of us so we could be in the gondola next to the others. Alli's looking out to see us.
And Ian was waving at everyone in the other gondola.
Ian loved the swinging side! For the first couple times, I had my arm around him to make sure he didn't go flying. After that though he said "Daddy, I don't need you to hold me." Well, look who's becoming a big boy.
We said our goodbyes to Matt, Amy, and Katherine, then headed towards the carousel.
Goodbye Sophie! Fun hanging out with you guys.
To finish our day, we went on a couple of our favorite rides. The carousel of course. Not too hard to get a photo of one of them smiling.
But to get two of them smiling together always proves difficult.
Let's finish our trip with a ride under the sea. Hi Ariel!
I called the bell services desk and asked them to get the car ready and the bags together and we'd be over there shortly. Just need to feed the ducks and we'll be on our way.
Bye ducks! We'll see you again next time!
It was a pretty awesome Dapper Day weekend. I wished we could have gotten over to see the Expo, but it just didn't happen this trip. Loved being able to go back to the hotel during the day for naps, and being able to take a short walk there at the end of the night instead of driving back home.
It was great seeing so many of our friends and getting to have fun with them. What a fantastic Dapper Day!
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