Our California Adventure – Day 4

For our first two Disney days, we took a shuttle bus to Disneyland so we wouldn’t have to mess with parking or traffic. For our third day at the Disney parks, decided to drive. We quickly learned that the shuttle, although we had to wait to be picked up, was the preferable way to do it. We had to walk many blocks, which on top of the regular walking all over the park, sure left us tired and footsore by the end of the day. Friday was also a busier day than our other two days, which made for longer lines and more people everywhere we wanted to be.

We went back to the Disneyland Park for our third and final Disney day. Greg wanted coffee, so we hopped on the train right away and headed to New Orleans Square. After he got his coffee fix and I my diet coke, we hopped back on the train and set off for a ride around the entire park to scope out any areas we had yet to visit. We didn’t make it all the way ’round, as we got off in Tomorrowland when we spotted a car ride, Autopia, that we thought Adrianna would enjoy.

The cars were each on a single rail on the track, so this allowed for young kids to “drive” them. Adrianna was thrilled about this. We quickly learned, through her sporadic turning of the wheel, that there was some actual driving necessary or the car would jolt back and forth along the rail.

After Autopia, it was back onto the train, where we finally completed the circuit around the park. We got off at New Orleans Square (again) and headed toward Critter Country. We wanted to take the Splash Mountain ride since it was so hot, but the line was at a 65 minute wait, so we headed to Pooh Bear’s house instead.

As we waited in the short line for Pooh Bear (I loved this ride, btw), we spotted Tigger and Pooh! I was glad to see they were still there when the ride was over.

We decided we had better make our way to Toon Town, as we still hadn’t met Minnie Mouse yet, and Adrianna was very anxious to see her. On our way, we walked through Sleeping Beauty’s castle again, at Adrianna’s request, and also took the Storybook Land boat ride in Fantasyland.

Unfortunately, once we got to Toon Town, Minnie wasn’t there, but we did get to visit her house. We also got to visit Chip ‘n Dale’s Treehouse, which was another place Adrianna had wanted to go. We also had some fun exploring some other parts of Toon Town.

We drifted back through Fantasyland and rode the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party. I love the teacups!

At about this time, we noticed people starting to line up along one of the main roads. We knew it wasn’t time for the fireworks yet, so we checked the schedule and realized that there was going to be a parade. So we lined up too. Adrianna made a friend, named Angeline, who is going to be 5 next month. They seemed to really hit it off and Angeline invited her to sit in the front row with them so she could see better. Very sweet.

Once the parade started, wow! Another awesome must-see event. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. Adrianna would excitedly call out her favorite characters names as she saw them walk by. Adrianna and Angeline were even invited to join the dancers out in the street, where Adrianna thrilled us with her signature dance moves. And we caught it on video:

After the parade was over, Greg indicated that he would like to go on Space Mountain, so we headed in that direction. The wait was 65 minutes, but an employee must have saw our disappointment as we turned to walk away, as he asked us if it was our first time for the ride. We told him yes, it was, and he gave us each a Fast Pass to move to the front of the line. That was awesome!

I didn’t know anything about the ride, but as we started walking in and I realized it was a roller coaster and Adrianna barely made the height requirements, I started having misgivings about her going on it. I know she was brave for Gadget’s Go Coaster, but this was a whole different deal and I knew it would be intense, even knowing nothing about the ride itself. Adrianna had asked to use the bathroom anyways, so she and I took the next exit and Greg had to go on the ride by himself. Adrianna, thankfully, wasn’t disappointed that she didn’t get to go. She asked me if we were going to go through space, and since we had been in the space station portion prior to the ride, that seemed to satisfy her.

Greg did enjoy the ride and afterward told me I had made the right decision regarding Adrianna’s not riding it since the ride was in the dark and that seems to frighten her. But his affirmation was a nice thing to hear after making my decision.

After Space Mountain, it was beginning to get dark. Again, Disneyland after dark is a lot of fun. Adrianna got a second wind and began to dance, dance, dance while Greg and I took a break and decided where we wanted to go next. We eventually ended up trying to get ice cream, but the line was WAY too long, so we headed back to get in place for the fireworks show.

Due to the massive amount of people, we didn’t get the best location this time but we were still able to enjoy the fireworks show. It was the same production as Wednesday’s show, but we enjoyed it nonetheless.

After the fireworks, we looked back in the ice cream shop and saw the line was still hopelessly long and slow. So, we decided it was time to start the long, long walk back to our car. But, lo and behold, there was a Cold Stone outside the park! The line there wasn’t as long, though it was extremely slow, and our cup of Peanut Butter Perfection was truly the perfect way to end another wonderful day.