Tales of the Flowers: Halloween Time at the Disney Resort, weekend #4 with Family

Theresa has family in town this weekend. Her cousin and his family, plus her Aunt. They like Disney. We like Disney. Let's go to Disneyland!

T's Aunt hasn't been to Disneyland in almost 30 years! I bet there's going to be a few changes. Of course the kids were all excited.

Even though DCA has Early Magic Hours, we decided to start our day here to get in some of the rides we knew would get crazy long lines later. At 8am the park was practically empty. Perfect!

Our very first ride, we snagged immediate fast passes for Toy Story Midway Mania. Love it!

While Mike and Lindsey walked right on to California Screamin, the adventurous kids and I decided to try the swinging cars on Mickey's Fun Wheel.

All smiles now.

Macy was a little more concerned when we started swinging. Ian just kept this big grin on his face.

Eventually Macy decided she'd be okay if she held Ian's hand.

And while we were spinning around we happened to look down and see Mike and Lindsey on the front row of Screamin! Cool!

While we waited for our next fastpass to become available, the swings were Macy's next choice.

I'm so glad that Ian likes thrilling rides.

And Macy loved them too.

Ariel happened to be closed still, so to kill time before our fastpass we stopped for a couple family photos.

The bigger kids and adults had a great time on Radiator Springs Racers. Can't see the kid's faces in the official picture though.

That's better.

So while they were off on a thrilling ride, T's Aunt and I took the littles on Heimlich's Chew Chew train.

At the end of the day I asked T's Aunt what her favorite ride of the whole day was. "That train ride."
Heimlich? Really?

After Heimlich we waited at the exit of Radiator Springs Racers for the rest of the group. And got our picture with Stanley.

Mike and Lindsey ditched us to go on Guardians of the Galaxy. Both of them loved it, even more than Tower of Terror. And I'm in agreement.

For the rest of us, next up was Mater's Graveyard Jambooree. And there's someone we know! It's Bruce and Roger! You might recognize them from our stay at The Disneyland Dream Suite.

Even though it's a pretty simple ride, the tractors are a big hit with this family. They are starting to get a bit more bumpy than I remember, but I think it makes them even more fun.

Waiting at the exit for us to get off were Roger and Bruce. We took a quick picture and caught up with each other as we walked to our next rides.

Over to Monster's Inc. Smuggling contraband kids into Monstropolis.

Time for Disneyland! Love all the decorations over here.

As soon as we enter, Ian asks the ticket taker for 2 things. First, "Please can I see my picture?" after they scan his pass. And then "Please may I have a map?" I'm glad he's so polite. The cast members usually get a kick out of it.

Over at Disneyland, I walked the smallest member of our party around while she napped, and everyone else rode Haunted Mansion Holiday. I'm not sure how Ian talked his mom into buying more popcorn for him but the next time I saw him, he was carrying this giant bag of rainbow kettle corn.

After a quick lunch at The Hungry Bear, we'd take the scraps from our meals and feed the ducks in the Rivers of America.

Even though they're not thrilling, the classics are still favorites. And it's even better when you get the horse you've had your eye on when you're in the queue.

We were one rotation away from getting to ride with the Mad Hatter, but it was still fun to watch his pretend to pour water into each teacup and then dip a teabag into each cup before welcoming everyone onto his ride.