Disneyland Day 2

Our third day in LA, our second day at Disneyland. Saturday, we drove up to Santa Clarita to see all my relatives. My cousin Mary had a big spread of food and the girls played in the pool ALL day. I haven't seen most of my cousins and aunts since our wedding. We got back to our hotel around nine and crashed, knowing we had to be up extra early on Sunday for the choir performance.

We were up a little after 6am and at the park right after 8am. The choir went into Toon Town at 9am for some workshops and rehearsals and performed at noon.


The choir did an outstanding job and sounded excellent. The acoustics in the plaza gardens are excellent. Some people came in to listen, but mostly it was just the parents and relatives. We didn't really care, nor did the children.

While Hailey was off getting ready for the performance, Becky, Zakiya and I went on Space Mountain. Zakiya liked it but said, "I think I'm gonna puke" and I had to agree. Space Mountain had just opened the last time I was here and I was too scared to go on it. Once was enough. I really like to see where I am going!

After that, we headed to Toon Town because Zakiya wanted to see Minnie's house. We wandered around there and Zakiya rode Goofy's roller coaster twice.

After the performance, we had to return to Toon Town to pickup Hailey. On the way, we discovered Merlin trying to find a temporary ruler. He picked Zakiya out of the crowd, after a strapping young man failed to pull the sword from the stone. Zakiya pulled the sword out easily and was awarded a medal and proclamation!





She was thrilled, of course, and stared at that medal all day. At one point, late in the day, an older security guard came up to me and told me not to let anyone have the medal. He said there are a lot of Disney freaks that will offer to buy it for $100, because they know they can get $250 for it on ebay. I assured him that it was NOT leaving her possession.

Once the choir came out from Toon Town, Hailey told us that they got to meet Jack Sparrow! They had a good time. Hailey rode Goofy's roller coaster while Zakiya went in to meet Mickey (Hailey wasn't interested.)

When we rode Space Mountain early in the day, we thought we would all ride again so we got some fast passes, but upon reflection, neither Zakiya or I wanted to go back, so Becky and Hailey rode Twice! The last time they went, they got to sit in the front. Becky finally admitted that the front is a bit much!

Having conquered Space Mountain, Hailey decided she wanted to be a Jedi, so she went to the Jedi Training Academy.

They trained her so well, she was allowed to battle Darth Vader! I shall not turn to the dark side!


Hailey was quite proud of herself and is practicing her Jedi moves every moment now. After all that excitement, we headed over to Autotopia. Hailey was just tall enough to drive on her own. I was in a car with Zakiya. I think she took great pleasure in bouncing us back and forth! I tried taking photos of Hailey in front of us, but could only ever get the back of her car.
We headed into Frontierland after all that. Too much future for us, we had to go back in time. Zakiya and I went over to get a fast pass for Splash Mountain. It was so busy though, that our Fast Pass (at 4pm) was for re-entry at 10pm!!!

While we waited for Becky and Hailey, we went into the Haunted Mansion. Zakiya said on Friday that she wanted to go to a haunted house, so we walked in. We got just inside the door and Zakiya asked, "Is this a haunted house?" "Yes." I said. She grabbed my hand and pulled me back toward the exit. "Let's go!"

I assuaged her a bit and we went in. She was shaking for most of the ride, but didn't say much. Once we got outside again, she stopped and asked, "Is that fake?" I told her that it was all fake and she just said, "Oh!" and was totally fine with it after that.

We missed Hailey and Becky on their way over, so they went into the Haunted Mansion too and had an equally frightening experience. Poor Hailey started crying when she saw me afterward.

We went to watch the parade and saw the latest addition to the cast of characters ... Ratatouille.


We were enjoying the parade when Becky started screaming, "It's Mary Poppins!" We never knew that Becky was such a Mary Poppins fan! I think she even scared the poor girl playing Mary.

It rained a bit on us during the parade, but hey, we're from Oregon!

We got a bite to eat and enjoyed a beautiful sunset from Tarzan's tree house. The photo doesn't do it justice.





We had intended on taking a break from the park in the early afternoon, but we just kept going and none of us were tired.

We rode the Thunder Mountain roller coaster two times in a row and then went and watched the fireworks show again, this time from Main Street. It is much better from the front of the castle!

We hit the Buzz Lightyear Astro Blaster, which was a hoot, and then finally made our way back over to Splash Mountain. By ten thirty, there was really no need for a Fast Pass, as we walked right on to the ride. We all thought it was the best thing we had been on yet, so promptly got off and ran around and back on again. We've got a great picture of us on our second trip. I'll post it after we return.

We decided that we were done. It was after eleven, so we grabbed some churro's and headed toward Main Street.

We ate dinner across from the Indiana Jones ride, and while we were sitting there, they closed the ride. Zakiya isn't tall enough, so we thought, for that ride, so I promised Hailey I would take her on Monday or Tuesday. Then, as we were walking out, we passed Indian Jones, re-opened and no line (nearly midnight). So we said, what the heck! Hailey and I went in, then, just before we reached the ride (man that is a long walk in!) Becky and Zakiya came running in .... "She's tall enough! She's tall enough!"

This was easily our least favorite ride. The details were great, but it wasn't much fun and VERY bumpy.

So, we wandered out of the park and made our way home ... at 1 am. Wow. What a day. Let's get some sleep.