Disneyland Trip

Sept 3-6

First the girls bundled into the van for an 8 hour trip to the beach and Disneyland.  California here we come!  We stopped midway for lunch at Carls Jr and the girls were greatful to get out and stretch.  They were doing great!  We were amazed there was no complaining at all about being squished or the long trip, they were just to excited about going to California and kept asking if they were in California yet. 

We arrived at the Huntington Beach around 2:00 and it was absolutely gorgeous outside.  The weather was perfect for the beach.  First thing the girls change into their suits and headed to the beach.  You should have seen their faces as they hit the sand for the first time.  One of the girls even turned to us and asked if the sand was real!  They were just amazed at how soft the sand was.  Once down by the water they loved exploring the beach.  They made sand castles, buried themselves in the sand, dug for crabs, and played in the water.  We were amazed to look and see two dolphins playing in the waves not ten yards from where the girls were playing.  Around 6:00 we decided it was time to leave.  The girls didnt want to leave but they were also excited to go to their hotel.  We reminded them to go to bed early so they would be able to get up early and head to Disney.  They were so tired from playing at the beach they ate some pizza and headed straight to bed.

Sat we got up early and headed to Disney.  After a quick stop at the entrance for some special pins celebrating their first day at Disney and the Parade of Stars on Main St.  We decided to do Fantasyland first.  They rode, Peter Pan, Mr Toads Wild Ride, Snow White, Pinocchio & Dumbo.   Then we had to run to the California for our 10am class Animation Magic that they did as a special class for Girl Scouts.  We rode the double decker bus to the front of the park where they made a special annoucement for the troop to have a great day at Disneyland which the girls were trilled over. 

Over at the California they took their 3 hour class with a Disney specialist that walked them through all aspects of animating a Disney movie.  They learned about storyboards, then how basic animation works by making some simple cartoons themselves, then they were off to learn about how to put voices into the characters by putting their own voices into popular cartoon characters, they got to take a special drawing class with a Disney artist and learned to draw a character step by step like the disney artists to it.  They went to the show with Crush (computer animated character from Nemo) and afterwards they were invited to stay where they got to have a special question and answer with crush and the girls were so excited to get to ask questions and have them answered by crush.  Afterwards the girls got to produce and put on a play from beginning to end about Mickey and Friends going to the beach.  All in all very educational and fun class.

Of course starving they headed over to Ariels Grotto where they got to have lunch with the Princesses.  The girls loved being able to meet all the princesses while they ate.

Since we were at the California they decided to do many of the rides at the California before heading back over to Disney.  They braved California Screamin, Tower of Terror, Rapids and Soarin over California which was a favorite.  We also went on Monsters Inc and the Bugs Life rides.  We watched the 3-d Muppets and Bugs Life shows.  We got to see the High School Musical Parade before heading back to Disneyland.

Over a Disney we started with the Jungle Ride, Indiana Jones, ending just in time for the girls to grab a snack and watch a part of Fantasmic while we headed over to Thunder Mountain.  Then we wandered over to the Bobsleds and caught the Fireworks display.  We went on the Tea Cups.  Then it was time for Space mountain.  Then the girls decided to run back and ride Indiana Jones while the rest of us headed towards the exit.  We left Disney at 12:30 am what a long day!

Not to slow them down they were up bright and early where we headed over to Disneyland again.  Where we headed to Its A Small World and Rabbits Wild Ride in Toon Town where they explored Toon Town for a bit before hopping onto the train and getting off in Tomorrowland where we rode the Nemo Submarines, Buzz Lightyear, Space Mountain again, Then it was time for lunch so we headed over to the Pirates of the Carribean then lunch at the Blue Bayou.  After lunch we headed over to ride Poohs Ride and Splash Mountain.  Then it was time to head back to California where went on Screamin again.  We picked up our Color of Wonder dinners ate then went over to watch the Color of Wonder.  On our way out we split up so some of the girls could go on the Tower of Terror and the rest of us headed over to Soarin over California.  Then it was time to leave. We left around 12:00 am after another long day.

Monday we packed up and headed home.