The drive was an easy one and the lines were thankfully short to park. We were directed to park on the top of the Mickey and Friends lot, and I was happy to see this new walkway across the top of the Pixar parking garage to the bigger bank of elevators and the walkway on level 2.
And speaking of the walkway, it was great to be able to use it again! It's so very much faster than waiting at all the lights to cross.
This grassy area needs to either get paved or blocked off. So many people have taken the shortcut across the parking lot here that it's turned the grass into a muddy walk path.
Love the new walkway. Once again it only took 10 minutes to get from the car and through security.
It's the Oogie Boogie man! It's been a while since we've visited DCA.
Alli, where are we headed first?
Oh no! The Emotional Whirlwind is frightening! Someone could lose an eye! Poor Fear.
Alli found a part of it stuck to the ground.
Here you go Fear. A little piece of your eye is back.
The park opened an hour ago and the crowds still have not arrived. The kids and I walked right on to the Emotional Whirlwind and thank goodness no one lost an eye.
Over at Mickey's Fun Wheel (I still have a hard time calling it the Pixar Pal-A-Round) the kids and I chose the swinging gondola, meaning T stayed on the ground.
These brave kids took the biggest of swings with their hands and feet in the air! Ian even tried to not touch his back!
From the very top the kids looked down to see what we could see.
Hi Mommy!
Our fastpasses for Toy Story are due! Ian and I dig really really well. He wanted to open up the hidden robot on the Alien Ring-Toss screen. I told him that there's even more hidden items available, and together we opened them all!
I don't know of anything special on the Egg Toss game.
But, on Dino Darts the two of us caused the volcano the erupt, and were able to trigger the meteor.
With the Green Army men, our aim was true and we triggered the hidden tank that launches 5000 point plates.
At the Alien Ring-Toss, we launched the Little Green Men rocket and uncovered the robot.
And finally at Woody's Rootin' Tootin' Shootin' Gallery, we cleared every target on the main screen and were rewarded with a bonus screen of 2000 and 1000 point targets.
Nice shooting buckaroo!
And our scores reflected our prowess. Not too shabby for me and that might just be Ian's highest score ever.
Looking at our Disneyland app, Mater is only a 5 minutes wait. But when we arrived, it was even less than that. Just 1 load cycle and we were on.
I like how they can change this area with Halloween theming and special Halloween music.
Never one to pass up a good photo opportunity, a photopass photographer took some great family photos of us.
Possibly good enough for next year's calendar. We'll see!
When it's not busy the kids like to ride Luigi's.
Today it seems to be taking a little bit longer than usual though.
Well that certainly explains it. Normally there's 20 of Luigi's cousins here for a dance. Today there's only 11.
Both kids wanted to ride with a cousin that had luggage, because those are special for some reason.
That means I'm riding alone in an orange car that matches my pumpkin hat.
On the Monsters Inc Scare Floor, both kids sat in the front row by themselves.
Back in the Redwood Creek Challenge Trails, I'm definitely seeing an improvement in how well the kids can climb the rock wall.
Both of them are able to make it to the very end of the wall and slap the Finish sign.
A short time later, one of Ian's friends from school arrived! They met each other the day before school started, played on the playground together, and have been buddies ever since. Every time I've seen them meet each other, they give the best hugs with the biggest smiles.
The three kids had a blast on the slides, going down them, then running up the stairs to go again and again.
Disneyland is always better with friends!
Let's ride Soarin!
Alli is showing her braveness by holding her hands in the air for the whole ride.
The kids are super adorable, walking as a trio and all holding hands.
Lunch was a stop at the Pacific wharf. The seasonal soup is Bacon and Cheddar Ale, which is delicious for dipping sourdough bread in. And today it was an even more special treat. I always ask for the soup on the side and get the bread bowl sliced for dipping. Instead of grabbing a bread bowl that was pre-sliced, they grabbed one hot from the oven and sliced it.
The result was a hot loaf of bread that was steaming up the plastic bag they put it in, and so delicious. There's not a whole lot of things that are better than fresh baked bread.
The kids have been missing the ducks and saved all their crusts to feed them.
And the ducks were happy to see them too.
Such fun.
What's a short line?
The little mermaid can fit 3 kids plus an adult.
And Ian and Alli both love the Jumping Jellyfish.
Mater was still a super short wait too!
It was a lot of fun meeting up with friends today! The kids had a lot of fun going on rides and playing together. We'll have to do it again! We said our goodbyes and then took off for just one more ride.
As soon as we entered the park this morning, I grabbed fastpasses for Radiator Springs Racers. It's going to be our last ride of the day.
Three in the front and one in the back.
Once they grow a few more inches these photos will be better. Right now their faces get covered by the windshield.
On our walk out, I wanted to make sure to stop by the giant Oogie Boogie treat display in the Grand Californian lobby.
For the past few years, Disney has done something special here for Halloween and Christmas.
There's 13 Hidden Mickeys scattered throughout. Think we can find them all? Read here to find out!
After looking around the Grand Californian, it was a short walk back to the structure. The direction we were coming from didn't involve going over the new bridge, but instead meant crossing the street to get to the parking garage. The signs directed us to go this way too.
But... all the gates were locked. The sidewalk is a dead end. And there weren't even any doors that were unlocked to get into the parking structure.
Normally this gate is open with a cast member standing there to stop foot traffic when a tram is coming. Today though it's got a padlock across it.
So thanks for leading us into a dead end Disney. Still a bit more to figure out with this new parking garage I suppose. We went back to the traffic light, waited to cross, then walked back towards the Downtown Disney security gates to join up with the bridge, and finally made it over to the parking garage.
Today was a fun Disney day. I love all the Halloween decorations Disney brings out and it's always fun meeting up with friends.
Really fun for Ian to meet up with a classmate at DCA...then all 3 kids get to make it a play date with lots of fun things to do (feeding the DCA ducks must have been a new highlight for Ian's friend, too!) All those Halloween hats are so unique and great to see!...the candy corn mouse ears with that one candy corn on top definitely shouts out "Halloween" :-) Don't know how you and the kids can handle the swinging gondola...so many people get super sick on those, and will only ride the "fixed" ones! What a team on Toy Story...great teamwork! I like that "Oh my...gasp!" family photo...catches everyone's expression and also showcases all the Halloween hats well. Mmmmmm...fresh baked bread just out of the oven smells and tastes sooooo good! One way to cut down on overhead costs is not have a cast member standing at the gate full time...just another way to slash costs, regardless of its impact on the guest experience :-( This was definitely a full (but fun) weekend for the entire family! EOM
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