Alli gets her first Disneyland Pass!

Today is a big day for Alli! This is our first trip to Disneyland now that she's turned 3, the age which you are no longer free to get into Disneyland. She finally gets her own pass!

Not only is it a special day for us, but it's also a Dapper Day weekend at the Disneyland Resort. It's been a busy few weeks for us, so we're not getting all dressed up. More to come on why we were so busy coming as soon as I can get it written up.
Normally the lines for security aren't too bad if you walk from the Mickey and Friends structure. But it was backed up quite a bit at the ESPN Zone entrance and obviously backed up a bit here. I was hoping it wasn't an indicator for how busy the park is going to be today.

Finally Alli has her own picture!
For a couple years now, Ian has had his own pass and after it gets scanned he always asks to see his picture. Because Alli wants to hand the cast member something too, she always holds my pass and gets to see my picture. But now that's changed and she gets to see herself when she enters.

We didn't get to celebrate her birthday at Disneyland yet, and since we're celebrating both Ian and Alli's birthday with a party this weekend, I think today is the perfect day for her to celebrate.
You've seen Disney birthday hats before I'm sure.
This little girl loves pink though, so when I saw this pink cake birthday hat from Disneyland Paris, I knew it was meant for her. Mickey is popping out of the top of the cake.

And he's naked...? Oh my.

Disney magic is always around and I feel we get more than our fair share of it. Sometimes it's even other guests that make it happen.
Right after I took Alli's picture and we go to meet up with everyone else, I hear "Hey Birthday Girl! Birthday Girl!" I turn and there is a nice couple dressed up their dapper clothes. "I hope you have a happy birthday!" And then they handed her $5! Wow! Thank you! What a lucky little girl.

While Alli and I were off getting her new Annual Pass, everyone else was over at Guardians of the Galaxy. Look we've got visitors! My parents are visiting to celebrate the kids' birthday and they're here with us at Disneyland today.
Guardians is always a favorite. Alli is convinced she's ready to go on it. We'll see how much longer it is before it happens. When Pop Pop explained that he wasn't sure she'd like it since it was in the dark. Alli - That's okay! I go to sleep in the dark!

After Guardians, the kids got to visit with Captain America.

I was impressed by the amount of time Captain America spent with them. Talking with each of them about what's on their shirts, making sure Ian was taking care of his little sister and making sure she stayed safe. All in all, they probably got 90 seconds with the First Avenger. Really cool.

For some reason Monsters Inc has had long lines when we've tried to go on past visits. Seeing it at just a 5 minute wait means we're going to ride it. With 6 people we fill up an entire cab.
At the end, when Roz talks to you, she said "Young man in the 2nd row, I like you. You get a star." Ian was convinced she messed up and meant the 3rd row (him).

I found an unoccupied Photopass photographer who spent some time with us.

Then we found Melissa and got Alli's celebratory birthday button. Ian knew there was one more button back there and made sure he got an "I'm Celebrating" button to go with it. Let's go visit Cars Land!

First we'll join Luigi and his cousins. Just a 10 minute wait.

Alli with the boys.

And Ian with the girls.

All the cars they can pick and they both got the "unique" cars with luggage on the back.

Mater was only 10 minutes too. So far the crowds haven't materialized.

While normally he is all about the green-eyed baby tractors, today Ian picked this blue-eyed tractor because it was closest to Gram's purple sunglasses.

When grandparents are here, we get to ride together.

Just one more ride in Cars Land to hit the trifecta. Radiator Springs Racers.

Contributing coins to Stanley's Oasis.

Taking up an entire car with the 6 of us.

It's just about lunchtime. Sadly the Ghirardelli shop was not handing out chocolate squares today. I would have thought they'd be doing something with Pumpkin Spice or maybe even Peppermint Bark. No luck today though.
So we'd walk right next door to get a sample of bread.

Boo.

Both Theresa and I were disappointed to see the amazingly delicious Cheddar Bacon Ale soup was no longer offered.

The Turkey Pot Pie soup was fine, but after trying it today, it just doesn't compare.

Of course the ducks are happy for us to be back at the park. They love eating all the kids' bread crusts.

After filling our bellies, it was time to go under the sea with Ariel. Ian was convince we should all sit in the same seashell. All the adults sit on the bench and the kids sit on their laps. I told him if the cast member said he could then we would try (thinking there's no way they'd be okay with that).
When he asked, she said "technically yes, you could fit 7 if you wanted." That surprised me. Then she amended it with "but I think you'd be much more comfortable if you split into 2 shells, okay?"

2 shells it is.

Time to work our way around Pixar Pier. Greetings to the Green Army Men.

Those of us who were tall enough took a spin with Goofy at his Sky School. Goofy is a terrible pilot.

And T was able to take Alli on the Jumping Jellyfish twice in the time it took us to Fastpass Sky School.

I like the swings. Ian and Alli like the swings. Gram and Pop Pop both like the swings. Who doesn't like the swings? Theresa.

Toy Story Midway Mania is a lot of fun.

Nice shooting T. I think that's a new high score for you.

I had hoped to use our fastpasses on the Incredicoaster, but the lines were ridiculous for some reason. 125 minutes for standby. And that line you see there is for the fastpass return. Yikes! Change of plans.

Who wants to get wet?

Not these two. They went for another round on Mater.

But the rest of us fastpassed Grizzly River. Out of the 4 of us, Pop Pop got it the worst. Taking a big wave of water down his back. Ian would have loved to get drenched, but he was the driest one in the entire float.

After 4 hours in the park, we've been able to do quite a few rides. I think we're good for the day. I show we've walked over 6 miles today. Time to get home and prepare for the week. But not before taking some time to relax in a Disneyland Hotel gazebo.

And stopping to smell the roses.

Thanks for coming to see us!