Our second free day had us at the Disneyland park. This was the first day that all the Christmas things opened. This was something we had never experienced and was so impressive, it was worth the trip all by itself!
We stayed at a little off-property hotel that had us driving into the parks each day and taking our first ride on the tram from the parking garage. Oh the excitement of that tram ride taking you to a day that you just knew was going to be full of fun!
Even though our day before at California Adventure was so great and full of some of what would be our favorite memories, the girls were still most excited about revisiting Disneyland. Those classic rides, like Pirates of the Caribbean, the Haunted Mansion, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Matterhorn Bobsleds and Space Mountain, never disappoint and just can't be beat!
So, a quick word about lines and crowds. These first two days in the parks were week days and the day before and the day of Christmas stuff opening. The crowds were pleasantly light. In fact, we walked onto most things with little lines and it was awesome! Splash Mountain was a new ride for Delia, who was too young and scared to ride it on previous visits. As we were making our way to the new Star Wars land we passed this ride and it had NO line at all. Since it is a headliner, and tends to get busy, Dave suggested we just quick hop on. It was morning and still cool. The girls and I were hesitant, but Dave assured us over and over that "we wouldn't get that wet." Well, you probably guessed it, some of us got completely soaked! It became a funny joke for the rest of the day, as was this picture of us on the drop with complete terror on our faces!
Star Wars Galaxy's Edge was really cool! This land was so immersive, we couldn't help but be impressed by it from an artistic perspective. We kept quoting that line in Jurassic Park, "We spared no expense", because it seemed every single detail was intentional and contributed to a feeling of really being in an alien land. We walked through the market.
We stood right by the life-sized Millennium Falcon. We walked through the droid shop. We were threatened by a Storm Trooper.
And we rode the Smugglers' Run ride. This is an interactive, changes each time you ride it, kind of ride. The line alone was so neat! At one point you can sit in that famous round booth inside the Falcon.
The ride is fun because each person is assigned a different job and how well you do it actually impacts the ride. We rode a few times and were able to try all the different jobs. Delia loved being the gunner because she got to aim and shoot at bad guys while on the wild ride and it was like the best video game ever.
Dave and Ella liked being the captains and actually steering the Falcon, but it was hard! When they crashed it into things, we all felt it! The ride is a creative idea, but it did make those of us prone to motion sickness feel a little ill. I liked the engineer job because then I didn't have to look at what was happening around us and could just focus on pressing all my buttons and switches as they lit up. Though it was sometimes bumpy, we did succeed at all our missions!
So fun on this Disney trip was having brave kids who had no problem riding all the bigger, darker rides. Except for Indiana Jones. Being our more sensory triggered kid, Delia was not so sure about this one that famously has things pop out at you. As we took off, I took this picture that also had us giggling all day. This is a real look of fear and bravery on her sweet face! She ended up liking the ride, but didn't need to do it more than once. :)
Christmas at Disney is quite the thing to see! Entire rides, like It's a Small World and the Haunted Mansion, got complete festive makeovers.
The parades and shows were all Christmas themed.
The castle is lit up with icicles and lights.
Disney's magic even makes it snow on Main Street a couple times each night!!
And the facade of It's a Small World is simply jaw-dropping!
Another favorite memory of the whole trip happened in this spot as the nighttime fireworks show was about to begin. Not being huge fans of huge crowds, we opted to skip the battle for a good viewing spot and hop on a ride instead. We walked past what seemed like every person in the park camped out on blankets that they'd spread hours earlier in front of It's a Small World and got in line for it. Then, as we stood in line, with the most magnificent front row seats ever, that we WALKED RIGHT UP TO, the fireworks and light show started! We could not have planned it better! We actually sat in our little Small World boat watching this show with no one closer. We couldn't even believe how lucky we got and how amazing it was-- it felt like the show was just for us. :)
A similar thing happened again at the Fantasmic show late at night. We were just strolling, considering stopping to watch it, when a section of VIP seats that never got used opened right up as we walked by. The cast member asked if we wanted them and of course we did! So, again, without waiting at all, we scored the best seats to another iconic and amazing show, and one we'd never seen before and LOVED.
We started the day with high expectations and lots of excitement and our second day in Disneyland was all we hoped it would be! Lots of fun new things, like Star Wars, Christmas, and new shows and rides, for us to experience and marvel over!
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