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Sunday, August 19, 2018

Celebrating Dwarfs at Disneyland and finally getting walked off a ride

Today we're celebrating Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs at Disneyland. Since taking Ian on Snow White's Scary Adventures a couple weeks ago, any time we pass by he wants to ride it.
The hats this week all match the theme of course. The Doc and Dopey hats are both courtesy of Disneyland Paris. Grumpy certainly looks to be in the same style but came from Disney World. Alli's princess hat came from Walt Disney World.


You can tell they're from Paris because the names of each dwarf are the French versions. Prof is Doc, and Simplet is Dopey. Alli's princess hat must be an older style hat, because there is hardly any structure to the hat at all. She kept it on for this picture, but switched to the backup hat I brought her.

It was a late start today, arriving at the park over an hour after opening. As we walked through the castle, the Pearly Street band was playing for us.

First ride of the day was the carousel. We were among the first in line and while the other party went to the right, we went left. That meant we had the first shot at Jingles. Alli saw Jingles and sprinted straight past, looking instead for another Pink and Purple horse. Once she found it though, another girl was on it. Good thing I saved Jingles for her.

And as a special bonus, the Pearly Street band joined us and played live music while road around.

Smile!

They're getting so big...


Ian ran up to touch the apple. It still makes him jump when it makes noise.

Let's ride!

While in line our hats were drawing attention. The cast member complimented our hats too. Off we go!

Going through the dwarf cottage, we quickly entered the mine. Our cart came to a stop and the lights all came on... Just last week, I had commented that we've been coming to the park for years and have never been walked off a ride. Could this be it?

Checking out all the jewels. Alli likes the purple ones, while Ian's favorite is the gold.

During our wait we admired the surroundings now that all the lights are on. Alli suggested singing Heigh-Ho and maybe it would start working again.

Just about 5 minutes later, a cast member came and let us out.

All the animatronics were frozen in place with no music or anything going on.

Alli waving goodbye to the bird.
Well let's hope this is the first of many more walk-offs to come.

Next up was Casey Jr. But as we walked over, the Mad Hatter was inviting guests to join him in a cup of tea. First introductions were needed. How do you do and shake hands, shake hands, shake hands. How do you do and shake hands, state your name and your business.

When it got to me, I said that I play volleyball, and then did a quick volley with a tea cup. Alli said she likes jumping on the trampoline, and Ian likes playing at the park and going down the slides.
Without having enough teacups to go around, the Hatter poured tea directly into everyone's mouth. If you watch the video, you'll understand why I answered "Sneezy" when he asked how the tea tasted. (thanks to the other family for sharing the video you took)

Alli is starting to warm up to the Hatter. Still a little wary, but getting better.

Time for Casey Jr. Everyone was happy with where they were sitting. Alli got into the pink cart.


And Ian got the caboose just like he wanted.

Time to go into Toon Town to knock out a few rides there. What's this super long line for? It's stretching back to the train station.

Under the bridge leading into Toon Town.

And all the way to the park behind Goofy's house.

Ian recognized her. It's the kitty from Epcot. Good memory buddy.

The kitty from Epcot is also known as Marie from the Aristocats! But why the super long line?

Research afterwards showed that it was Disney Photopass day. There's a few special character experiences plus some extra props you can pose with today. People were certainly getting into it. Wearing Marie shirts, carrying Marie plushes, etc.

Roger Rabbit is fun, and is now becoming a weekly tradition.

Afterwards the kids like to set off the dynamite blaster. A couple weeks ago, upon pulling up the plunger, they noticed there was money down inside. Too far away for fingers to reach, it was left alone.

Left alone but not forgotten. On our next visit, I came equipped.

Tools ready.

Coins extracted. Ready to be cleaned with a baby wipe.

Success! Ready to go into the kids' banks.

Ian has learned you have to be quick if you're going to ring the bell...

And see the Dalmatian appear in the window above.

Everyone is being brave and holding their hands up.

Round 2.

Start to finish it's less than 51 seconds, but it's still fun. Just thrilling enough to give the kids the taste of adrenaline.

After being walked off Snow White earlier, we were told if we wanted, we could come back through the exit later. I'm not going to pass that up.

Loaded up for round 2. This time we made it all the way through and defeated the Evil Queen at the end.

Walking out of Disneyland and headed to California Adventure. Nice to know that if you have a stroller and still want to ride the horse-drawn carriage, a cast member will push the stroller to the end of Main Street for you when you're get off.

Despite showing a 20 minute wait, to our eyes, Mater wasn't any more than a 10 minute wait. Ian goes for the green-eyed baby tractors. Alli typically wants a blue-eyed tractor. This time though she felt this tractor's eyes have a purplish hue to them, and had to ride the purple-eyed tractor.


Time for lunch. We started with a free chocolate sample from Ghirardelli then a bread sample right next door. We've been coming here just about every week, but this is the first time we've seen this PixarFest Food Guide. Odd we'd get one now with PixarFest ending 3 weeks from now.
Lunch was a loaf of sourdough and a bunch of fruit. Nice and light on a hot day like today.

Our fastpasses for Toy Story were available to use, but apparently the fastpass line was backing up. We ran into friends on the way there who informed us that Toy Story Fastpass was at least a 30 minute wait. Well since we've got APs, it certainly easy to skip the rides we don't feel like waiting around for.
In a surprising reversal, Theresa and Ian both rode Goofy's Sky School together. Theresa wasn't remembering how jerky the whole experience is. I'm guessing I'll be the one riding this one from here on our.

I took Alli under the sea to meet Ariel.

The ducks were out in force today. So much so that the seagulls that usually bully the ducks around initially chased a few off, but left a short time later when they were outnumbered 20 to 1.

I've put this one off for a few weeks. Time to finally give in. "Dadda, can we ride Grizzly River?"
Dry-fit clothes - check. Sure buddy, let's go.


The ride itself isn't bad at all. In general you don't get super wet from anything until the very end.
But oh, that geyser at the end... You can see the dock a short distance away, and just when you think you made it unscathed, this happens.

Soaked but happy.

As we were riding the Grizzly River Run, Theresa and Alli are having a good time on Luigi's. I'm starting to change my mind on Luigi's. Before it had long lines and seemed like it broke a lot. Now, as long as there's short lines here, I'm happy to ride it with the kids. This ended up being the last ride of the day.

I guess this guy is a little worn out. He fell asleep on the walk back to the Mickey and Friends structure and in the car the entire ride home.
And remember last week when the kids were learning about economics and the price of a sucker at Disneyland versus the price of a sucker from the 99 cent store? Both kids enjoyed their ring-pops as a special treat today.

Disneyland was fun today. I'm hoping for many more ride walk-offs in the future!

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