Disneyland! (aka hell on earth) - The adventure ENDS

The final day in Disneyland boasted:

More rides!

More junk food!

More unnecessary purchases of anything Disney!

More heat, crowds and lines!

After the Princesses had booted us out of Ariel's Grotto, we were forced to once again to deal with the outside park and all it had to offer. Here's a cute shot of all three sisters watching the suckers on California Screaming, a roller coaster that made my nephew nearly re-digest his breakfast. Twice.

While making our way out of Hell - excuse me, I mean California Adventure and back into Hell - excuse me, I mean Disneyland, we took advantage of the many photo stops along the way.

Here is the "Action Figure Collection" of the family. Yeah, they might want to reconsider the plastic film in the front of the box..photo taking without glare was nearly impossible!
My niece handled the chore quite well though! Here is "Action Auntie" complete with "Action Flying Infant" (sold separately):
The boy wandered off at one point and was quickly overtaken by some Cars Car - Mater? Not sure, but the photo turned out well:
The big ass Ferris Wheel ride diverted us from our path to Disneyland for a bit, though some people, I WON'T SAY WHO, seemed a little more interested in other rides:

Caged babies:
Caged tweens:

The tween finally decided to relent to our teasing and try to ride the Tower of Terror...she was a little (very) nervous, but I eventually regained the feeling of my arm after we got off the ride:
Ah....here we have THE PHOTO - the one photo everyone must take in front of some flower sculpted mickey head. Some nice person took a group shot for us and did NOT run off with my camera, much to my relief:
Once in the Disneyland side of the park, night was falling, and so were the energy levels. Fortunately for some, hitchhiking was an option:
Now there were several options open to us to enjoy our final evening at the park. What to do first though??? Should we:

* Sit and wait for the fireworks show again, and watch as people who don't sit and wait try to force their way under the ropes to stand right in front of your kids?

* Stand in the 115 minute line for Star Tours to enjoy the 2 minute ride?

* Have some ice cream sundaes for dinner?

* Continue buying crap from Main Street stores until the card is declined?

* Head for It's a Small World again?

A quick vote and the results speak for themselves:

A little more humiliation of the tweens was then in order:
The younger ones were slightly confused, completely wary and, by the time we got to the front of the line...totally terrified of Geppetto:
After hours of delicious fun spent running from ride to ride to make sure we hit everything, the BUYING OF THE OFFICIAL HATS took place. Now, at this point, it's like 10pm, the kids are exhausted and we don't even have the energy to remove the plugs before the photo - DON'T JUDGE!

and then the silliness took over - let's just blame the ice cream for dinner and move on...

Here it is folks, the final photo on my photo card. Couple of things to note in this photo:

* They are so tired that no one cares who is sitting next to who.

* They are so tired that they didn't even argue when Auntie requested "one more photo"

* They actually look pretty damn good for 11:00 at night on Day 3!
So the deed is done! Disneyland for three days with two FULL days of driving to get there and back.

Special thanks goes out to:

Nick - who hosted an awesome BBQ for the tired troupe that first night when we showed up in LA with 4 kids, 3 adults, 2 dirty diapers (uh, for the babies!!). Then he was brave enough to show up at Disneyland on Thursday for more!

My sister and her hubby for inviting me along to share in this treasure of a trip - got to see the toddlers faces light up for the castle, the princesses, and the carousal and got to watch the older kids enjoy the scary rides, the food and the shopping!

My debit card - for not failing me once. And really, after watching me purchase two Tinkerbell stuffed animals for $35, I would not have blamed the card for shutting off on me in shame.

Tom Tom - for providing directions to LA in a Hungarian Grandmother voice that endlessly amused the kids I was driving with.

Disneyland! (aka hell on earth) - The Princess Invasion

Well, we made it to day three with the following intact:

* Children (all accounted for)

* Dr Pepper retrieved from hotel jacuzzi (don't ask)

* Diaper bag, camera bag, snack bag, toy purchases bags and bottles (baby, not Jack Daniels)

* Jackets (never used but brought along every day!)

* Stroller (parked, retrieved, collapsed, set up again - good lord!)

Our third day was to be special, with an invitation only luncheon with the Princesses. Yes, you read that right...THE Princesses. The invitation came via reservation only and credit card check, but it came, just the same. Everyone was very excited to meet them!

However, duty first! Another round of "It's a Small World" was calling:
Some people, I WON'T SAY WHO, insisted on grabbing the front seat for every ride:
After some pretty skilled face painting for our very own princess:
We headed over to Ariel's Grotto, where THE PRINCESS ARIEL HERSELF greeted her royal subjects:
The older kids were really being cool about the whole princess thing. It helps to have a nice lunch and some shade made available too, though. Here is our very own Prince, hamming it up for the camera while we awaited the BIG ARRIVAL:
It didn't take long! Snow White came flitting by first, all talking smack about the dwarfs and cursing her stepmother....
The youngest princess chose to spend her time with Snow White grilling her on movie facts:
OHHHHH, then this princess floated by...I was a little unsure of her royal decree, but was told it was Aurora. She seemed a little Sleepy. HAHAHAHAHA- Sleepy?? HAHAHA - get it??? anyone? anyone?

The youngest was quite thrilled to be seeing all this royalty bestowed on her as she munched on her mac and cheese:
She's contemplating the princesses as they moved about her:
Belle popped on by later, and by this time the middle princess had her routine down:

but truly, it was the youngest princess that stole the show - she was all over these princesses!
Then this one showed up - Cinderella herself! In person!
a little bragging going on here:
and of course, the youngest was all ready for her moment in the spotlight.
Please look away from this next photo if you cannot tolerate high doses of sugary sweetness:
After the princesses left (they mysteriously disappeared into a door off to the left - no doubt the smoke room), it was time for some dessert to top off the fantastic meal! I have to say, it was like $32 an adult, but the meal was great, you could get alcoholic drinks with your lunch, and it was a very relaxed atmosphere for meeting the princesses.
a carefully crafted white chocolate conch shell was NO MATCH for a three year old!
That's it for tonight - Next we shall explore the last night at Disneyland - complete with Mickey hat purchases, ice cream for dinner, and lots of last minute rides!

Disneyland! (aka hell on earth) - the journey continues

Well, we survived our first day at Disneyland. No kids lost, no parents ran away, DP held his liquid and Auntie survived as well.

Brimming with confidence we headed out towards California Adventure. Please note, the family is still looking somewhat happy and relaxed. Don't be fooled. It was early.

Some people, I WON'T SAY WHO, were a little over confident of their energy level:
Perhaps THIS contributed to her enthusiasm:
So we hung around this "Great America meets Santa Cruz Boardwalk meets Hell" park and I somehow always managed to miss most of the parade action:
So we headed to the rides - kiddie rides like Monsters Inc, the ride. Thank god I had seen the movie or I might have been seriously confused by the "intense" plot of the ride!
Auntie spent plenty of time torturing the kids with photo ops:
Mid afternoon and the family was all still standing. Well...almost everyone:
My niece took this great shot of a duckling. I must have been pottying one of the girls. Or on a coaster with the boy. Or buying something for the kids. Or "lost".
After a quick lunch ($75 bucks quick!), we headed back over the Disneyland, where we were absolutely convinced the lines would be shorter, the weather cooler and the crowds thinner.

Family is still standing, but you'll note the sagging posture, the leaning, the carrying of the toddlers...could be because we were waiting for the damn sign to change from photos of random people "enjoying" themselves in the park to the actual Disneyland word!
We managed to grab some time for a Disney classic - the Jungle Ride! I'd like to report the good news that the Jungle Cruise guides are still all approximately 19 years old, world weary, sarcastic and highly amusing to listen to. Example: "Oh, here comes that hippo - watch out for him! Didn't see that coming, did you? Well I do. Every seven minutes." Classic!
I took a moment to get a quick portrait of the family:
HAHAHAHAHAHA! (anyone? anyone?)

The ride is a classic that thrills everyone, except maybe the animals:
Then, while the parents and boy headed off to some roller-coaster, the girls and I hung in Fantasy Land and yes, we rode Small World Again!!

I think I'll do a separate video blog to showcase all the clips of Disneyland that I took. Got some great Small World footage!

Afternoon breaks are a MUST - so, we headed back to the hotel for some downtime:

We did actually watch the Fireworks show that night, but no photos to share. Too crowded to try. Tune in next for day three of Disneyland in all it's glory!