Day 3: California Adventure

Lots of character meets and greets today. We started off at the Paradise Pier hotel at the PCH Grill for the Lilo and Stitch character breakfast. We met up there with Evan, Steph and family. Stitch was HECKA funny. He came by and played with the boys for a while. They were eating strawberries and he kept shoving the berries into their faces. They were cracking up.

After breakfast, we decided to hit the California Adventure park. It’s short hours today, as it’s a Monday in the value season. So the park was only open til 6pm. We began over in the Hollywood Studios area, visiting the Monsters, Inc. ride: Mike and Sully to the Rescue. After that, we watched MuppetVision 3D and visited the Animation Studio.

There was a really cool new attraction in the Animation area. It’s called a Zoetrope. It’s like a flip book that creates animations when you turn the pages quickly…but instead of drawings, it’s made from sculptures. The sculptures are on a rotating platform, and when the platform spins, lights are flashed on it, creating still “frames” for the eye to see. These frames streamed together make the object look like they are animated. It’s a really awesome effect.

After checking out the Zoetrope, we went to “Turtle Talk with Crush.” This is an interactive show where Crush (the sea turtle from Finding Nemo) interacts with the audience, answering and asking questions. Aiden really wanted to ask Crush a question. He sat in the front on the carpet with the kids, and raised his hand politely. But he didn’t get a turn. He was pretty disappointed. But he got over it as we headed to the next area: a Bug’s Land.

A Bug’s Land is themed after the Bug’s Life movie. Inside, there’s an area just for little kids: “Flik’s Fun Fair.” It was nice to be in an area where the kids could ride anything they chose. They first rode “Flik’s Fun Flyers,” little hot air balloon looking contraptions that spin in circles. Then we hit the Bumper Bugs (unofficial name there). Next, we rode Heimlich’s Chew Chew Train with Evan, Steph, and Liam. After all of that, we were pretty well done in that area. We were ready to move on to the newest attraction – a new arcade-shooter ride in Paradise Pier.

Toy Story Mania is Steph’s new favorite ride. It’s a new 3D attraction where the passengers are loaded in cars that spin and move along a track. Each passenger has a little gun with a pull knob on the end. The guns are used to shoot during virtual midway games throughout the ride. There’s one area where you “shoot” plastic suction cup darts, another where you toss rings onto those little green aliens from Toy Story, and yet another where you throw virtual pies! It was fun to try a new ride, but the wait was really long. So long, in fact, that by the time we came out, there was only 10 minutes remaining before the parade which signals park closing. We quickly scooted over to Burr-Bank’s Ice Cream and grabbed a seat with a good view. We got there just in time to have a table with the perfect number of chairs. Drew went in and bought ice cream while the rest of us waited for the parade to start.

The parade right now in California Adventure is really good. It’s a Pixar parade, with characters from movies like Cars, Toy Story, a Bug’s Life, The Incredibles, and Finding Nemo. It was hard for the kids to see, so they stood on their chairs. Aiden at one point even stood on the table we were sitting at. It’s kinda hard for the kids, cuz they’re so much smaller than the adults who are standing in front of them. The parade was really good, but it also signals the end of the park’s operating hours. It was time to go. We had dinner reservations in an hour and a half. The men graciously offered to move the vehicles to be where we would end up after dinner. Maria and Steph walked toward our dinner destination via Downtown Disney, where they did some shopping. Dinner was at the Disneyland Hotel in Goofy’s Kitchen. This is one of the best character dining experiences in the whole resort! We were greeted by Pluto, Goofy, Minnie, Belle, Chip, and Dale. We spent time “cooking” with Goofy, and eating some of his famous creations like PB&J pizza, and “Dirt and Worms” for dessert (chocolate pudding with crushed Oreos and gummy worms). Aiden really liked Belle – he said she’s pretty. He was upset when she left before he could tell her he was 5 years old. He was looking for her, but she disappeared into a doorway. He was so sad. Just as we were getting ready to leave, she reappeared through the same doorway. Aiden ran up to her to tell her he’s 5. She totally stopped and talked to him and Jeremy. She gave them hugs and had quite a conversation with them. It was sweet. Jeremy likes when the characters do silly things. His favorite seemed to be Goofy. Liam liked the characters with hard, bulbous noses, so he could smack the noses with his hand. Everyone really enjoyed the meal. But we were pretty tired from a full day in the park. So we headed straight back to the resort after dinner. Even though the drive back was only 4 minutes (literally), Jeremy fell asleep! He fell asleep only 2 minutes into our drive (literally, 2 minutes)!

The best thing about Day 3 was: dinner at Goofy’s Kitchen.

The worst thing about Day 3 was: the line for Toy Story Mania. It was like an hour.

The weather on Day 3 was: low 70’s, sunny for most of the day, overcast at times. Cool breeze in the evening (jackets required).

What we learned on Day 3 was: Disney is installing a water show in California Adventure. The water is missing from the lake!

Quote of the day: “We’re gonna talk to that ‘dude’ guy – the turtle that always says dude,” (Jeremy talking about Crush). “I didn’t get to hear, ‘no more boarding’ this time,” (Aiden remembering the previous day’s tram ride, wondering why there wasn’t a funny cast member on this ride).

Stitch Stuffing Aiden's Face

Stitch Stuffing Jeremy's Face

Aiden with WALL-E, Jeremy behind WALL-E


The Super Awesome Zoetrope

The Bug Buggy Things

The Water is Missing!

Toy Story Mania

The Incredibles @ the Pixar Play Parade

Chip @ Goofy's Kitchen

Minnie @ Goofy's Kitchen

The boys with Belle

Day 2: Discover Disneyland!

We were really pumped for the kids to realize where they were this trip. We had a lot of build-up in our minds of what their reactions would be and how excited they would become. We couldn’t wait for them to find out we were going to be at Disneyland for a week! We got up bright and early at 8am so we could be at the parks early. We took off from the resort for the short drive to the park.

We parked in the garage, and rode the tram into the parks. It was on the tram that Aiden figured out where we were. The announcer was giving us instructions, then said, “welcome to the Disneyland Resort.” Aiden said, “are we at Mickey’s house?” We told him that yes, we were at Mickey’s house. He asked if we were in DisneyWorld. When we said no, he corrected himself and asked if we were at Walt DisneyWorld. We said no. Then he asked if we were at the Magic Kingdom. We knew what he was trying to say, so we told him that we were at Disneyland. He got excited and we asked him to relay his discovery to Jeremy. Jeremy followed up with, “we’re at Mickey’s house!” They were excited, and we were glad.

We went right to the front gate with our online tickets. They checked us in, gave us our tickets and we headed straight for the Castle. We took our picture there, and then headed back to Adventureland to begin our clockwise journey around the hub of the park. The first attraction we came upon was the Tiki Room. We decided to let the kids dictate where we would go. And Aiden said he wanted to go in the tiki room. So that was our first attraction of the trip. From there, the kids chose Tarzan’s Treehouse, followed by Pirates of the Caribbean. Jeremy was scared this time on Pirates – that was a first. He didn’t like the dark parts or the “slides” (drops). He cried a little, which we weren’t expecting. But after he was done, he said that he DID like it and if he went again, he’d say, “whoo-hooo,” instead of crying. We’ll see.

Aiden really wanted to go on it’s a small world, so we started to head in that general direction. On the way, he spotted Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Aiden was tall enough to ride. Jeremy was about an inch short…maybe and inch-and-a-half. So we used the “baby swap” method – one of us waited with Jeremy while the other took Aiden on the ride. Then when Aiden exited the ride with the 1st parent, the other parent would take a turn with him. It’s a pretty good deal, cuz your kid gets to go twice, and both parents get a chance to ride. The only one it really sucked for was Jeremy, cuz he didn’t get to go at all, and he didn’t really understand why not.

After Aiden had his 2 rides on Big Thunder Mountain, it was Jeremy’s turn to choose. He chose the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party. We all went in one cup – it was fun to be there all together, our little family. It felt really Disney-ish. Mommy and Daddy and the two little ones. Just like a commercial.

After the teacups, we went to our destination – it’s a small world. This ride was recently renovated. They’ve incorporated beloved Disney characters into their appropriate areas of the world throughout the ride. So there’s a doll representing Lilo with Stitch in the Hawaiian area, the Ratatouille characters in France, a Mushu kite in China, and Aladdin and Jasmine riding one of the flying carpets. To us, it was neat and appropriate to see the Disney characters represented. Some fans don’t like the new additions, but we were cool with it. After small world, we met up with Evan and Steph. Liam stayed with his grandparents while they came into the park. We grabbed some FastPasses for Buzz Lightyear and then Maria took Aiden on Star Tours while Drew took Jeremy on Buzz Lightyear. It was Aiden’s first time on Star Tours. The Monicks came with us. It was unclear whether Aiden realized we weren’t actually in outer space or not. But either way, he liked it! After those rides, we went to eat at the Pizza Port for lunch while we waited for our FastPasses to be useable. It was yummy.

We rode Buzz Lightyear really fast, then it was time to head out of the park. The boys wanted to swim this afternoon, and we figured we’d better take advantage of the nice weather while we had it. So we went back to the resort, took a swim, then a nap. Our only goal for the evening was to see the fireworks, because those don’t happen during the week.
After naps, we headed back into the park. We ate a quick dinner at Napolini in Downtown Disney, then went to find our seats for the fireworks. It was getting harder to find a spot because we didn’t get there way early and camp out. But we found a good viewing area right next to the statue of Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse in front of the castle. Drew got us some snacks (turkey legs and cheetos) while Maria and the boys stayed in the spot. Evan and Steph met us there just in time to watch with us. They got there just as the park lights went dark for the show to start. It was a really good show – they are still doing the fireworks created for the 50th anniversary – and those were the best fireworks we’ve ever seen…still. It was a good feeling, being there in front of the castle, watching Tinkerbell zoom around with a rainbow of fireworks behind her. The boys really enjoyed it. They are getting to appreciate the music, and recognize most of the songs. Jeremy still doesn’t like how loud they are, so Drew held his hands over Jeremy’s ears. But he enjoyed watching. One of these days, we aren’t going to be able to hold the kids up so they can see the fireworks anymore. Aiden’s approaching 40 lbs., and it was a new experience holding him up for so long. We barely pick him up for any extended period of time these days.

The park really cleared out after the fireworks were done. The lines for the rides got really short – so we dove in! We hit Autopia first, followed by the new Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage. They reinstalled the old submarines used for 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, but revamped the scenery and added Nemo characters and animation. It was fun ride – but Jeremy got a little freaked out in the dark parts. After that, Evan and Steph went to ride Space Mountain while we took the boys to more kid rides. We stopped for a quick spin on Buzz Lightyear (oh ya – 5 minute wait, baby!), then proceeded to Fantasyland. Jeremy wanted to ride the Carousel, so we did that first. Then we rode Dumbo (twice), followed by Snow White’s Scary Adventure, Alice in Wonderland, and the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party (aka “the teacups”). By the time we finished all that, the park officially closed. It was midnight!

Main Street, U.S.A. stays open for one hour after park close. So we grabbed a scoop of ice cream and Drew went to pick up a new watch at the jewelry shop. His Walt Disney World watch stopped working a few weeks ago, so he brought it to Disneyland with us for repair. They gave us the information we needed to get it fixed, but we have to send it away for a while. So Drew got a second watch to have in the interim, and so he can alternate. It’s a really nice watch – he was pleased.

It was time to leave. The last tram leaves the park at 1am, and we needed to get our butts in those seats! We took some quick pictures in front of the CALIFORNIA sign in front of California Adventure, then rode back to our van in the Lion King parking area. It was quite a day. And unbelievably, the kids were STILL running as we approached the van to get in. That nap can really sustain them for a long evening! I wish it did the same for us! We were beat!

The best thing about Day 2 was: We really enjoyed the pace of the day. We weren’t rushed but we did a lot of things. Also, the fireworks were great!

The worst thing about Day 2 was: when Jeremy refused to take a picture in front of the CALIFORNIA sign at the end of the evening and started screaming and crying. He got over it, but it still sucked.

The weather on Day 2 was: really nice. The sun was shining for the most part. The temps were in the 70s. There was enough of a light breeze to keep us from getting too toasty in the sun. A tad cool for swimming, but still swimmable.

What we learned on Day 2 was: the Lion King tram drops you off in a different location in relation to the front gate than the Mickey and Friends tram.

Quote of the Day: “No more boarding please, no more boarding, no boarding, no more boarding. No further boarding please. No more boarding. No…more….boarding.”

Adventureland

Tiki Room

Tarzan's Tree House

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad

Mad Hatter's Tea Party

Dumbo!

Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin

it's a small world

Disneyland: Day 1 - The Drive that Wouldn't End

Day One was a CRAZY day! We couldn’t believe what we were experiencing some of the time. But we made it through unscathed. We started the day bright and early (actually, “dark and early”), starting to leave the house at 3:30am. We planned to drive during the early morning so we could spend our first day in the park.

Andrew got everything loaded into the van, we woke the kids up and loaded them pjs and all into their carseats, and off we went around 4. Everything was going pretty well for the first half of the trip. Drew was doing fine driving so early in the morning, Maria and Jeremy were getting some sleep, and Aiden was super excited (not sleeping) and content. We woke up and fell back asleep a few times. Next thing we knew, Andrew was saying, “my love, the car is broken.” Waking up from the grogginess that is sleeping in the car, Maria said, “what?” Drew then went onto explain that he was just driving along, then all of a sudden, the van wouldn’t go forward anymore. The engine was still running, but the car wouldn’t move forward or back. It was as though it was in neutral. So there we were, on the side of the freeway, pulled over on the shoulder. Our solution: AAA. That’s why we have roadside assistance, right? We DEFINITELY needed assistance. Time: 8:30am.

Our view from the side of the freeway

AAA couldn’t decide if we needed the northern CA or southern CA dispatch. We were right in the middle…of NOWHERE, that is! We were just through the grapevine, southbound on I-5, at exit 205, in the lovely town of Lebec. We didn’t actually know we were in Lebec until the GPS told us later. AAA said they’d send someone out in about 45 mins. That’s 45 mins of sitting on the side of the freeway with big huge trucks zooming past us, inches away. Kinda unnerving, to say the least. So we waited. After about 5 minutes, Jeremy informed us that he had to go potty “really bad.” This was Jeremy’s first experience at peeing on the side of the road. Maria tried to block him with a blanket but it was sooo windy and cold (the wind really whips through those mountains there along the grapevine area) – he was basically screaming the whole time. Poor kid. His little teeth were chattering! He really didn’t wanna go, but he really had to. Nature won. He went.

About a half-hour into our wait, a CHP officer stopped to check on us. He pulled up behind the van and pushed us off the freeway into a gas station. It was pretty cool being pushed by his car. He talked to us over his little intercom. “Just roll through the stop if no one is coming.” – “Keep going, we’re going to turn right into the Chevron.” Not something you experience everyday. And the bonus of that was that we could use a real restroom, and weren’t getting shaken around by big semi-trucks. So we were chillin’ at the Chevron. Drew called dispatch with AAA to let them know we weren’t on the freeway anymore. This created a bit of a delay, as when the tow-truck driver arrived, he said, “I’ve been looking everywhere for you guys.”

Tow Truck

The tow truck driver took us to the repair shop in town – FAS Auto. He knew the owner, and explained to us that there wasn’t really anywhere else in either direction for about 45 minutes (he was right, by the way – as we found out later). So we moved the kids carseats into the tow truck (they had to send a special big tow truck so we could all fit), and headed over to the auto repair shop. The tow truck driver told us what we described sounded like a transmission problem (he was right about that, too). We kept our fingers crossed.

FAS Auto Repair

The guys at FAS Auto took a look at our van right away. They explained what had happened to the van, and told us what they were going to try to do to make it drivable. Unfortunately, after getting the van running again, the same thing that happened on the freeway happened again, and we were outta luck. The transmission needed to be rebuilt. This would cost $3000. Not to mention the time it would take. Our usual repair guys back home had told us that the transmission would be the next thing to go, and that we might want to start looking for a new vehicle soon. We knew this was coming eventually. We just had hoped it wouldn’t be quite so poorly timed. The van had a good life, served the entire Pascoal family well, but after nearly 200,000 miles it was time to say goodbye. We decided to part ways with the van. But what to do next?

Being Saturday, and in the middle of nowhere, we had limited options. There was a local car rental called “Rent-a-Wreck” who would come pick us up and rent us a car. But they weren’t available immediately. So we popped in a DVD for the kids and waited. They came to pick us up, but couldn’t fit us all in the car. So they drove Andrew back to the car rental place where he would rent the vehicle and return to pick up Maria and the kids. Time: 11:30am.

Drew came back from Rent-a-Wreck with less than stellar news. They only had a mid-sized SEDAN to rent. We had the van PACKED with stuff…4 suitcases, the stroller, pillows, blankets, snacks…it was quite a challenge to fit all of that into the truck of a little red Kia. Of course, it didn’t all fit in the trunk. Some of it fit under the kids legs, inbetween their carseats, and on Maria’s lap. Next on the agenda: get ourselves to a car rental place where we could rent a car that we could actually drive home to Sacramento. The Rent-a-Wreck is a small, privately owned establishment. You rent there and return there. We needed a car we could drive back home to Sacramento. On a Sunday. There was a Hertz about 45 minutes south. So we got back on the freeway, like sardines in a can (or in a Kia in this instance). Aiden began to cry as we waved goodbye to the van. We had told him we weren’t ever going to see the van again, and it made him sad. He didn’t want to leave it there. It was kind of sad to see it there, stripped of everything – even the Mickey antenna ball and Maria’s vanity plates.

Little Kia

Goodbye, Van. 2000-2009

As we neared the Hertz, we decided to call them and make sure they were open. We called the number, and it was a Hertz TRUCK rental. No help. Also in the same vicinity there was a Dollar car rental place. So we called there. They had closed at noon. We looked in our GPS for car rentals. Most of them closed at noon on Saturday. WHY?~! Maria spoke with an operator at National car rental and the operator told us that from our location, the closest open branch was at LAX. So our 45 minute trip to switch cars turned into a 2 hour drive to LA International Airport.

We arrived at LAX and got ourselves into a nice Toyota Sienna van. We were happy to get the Sienna, because it’s one of the vehicle models we are considering for purchase. We figured it would give us a nice test run. We have it for the week here in Anaheim, then for the drive back on Sunday. We have to take it in to Sac International on Monday after we get home. We’ll probably then rent another car at that time to drive us around town for the week until we can get a new car. We tried to get a 2-week rental from LA, but it was $1800! We weren’t having that. So we just got a car for enough time to get us home. We let the kids play on the play structure in the waiting area, as they had been cooped up most of the day so far: in the van, in the waiting room at the car repair, then finally in that tiny Kia. After a few minutes, off we went to take the Rent-a-Wreck back. Time: 3:15pm.

National

Little Kia, left. Toyota Sienna, right. Notice the sizeable difference!

The kids liked the looks of this donut shop in Inglewood.

We called Rent-a-Wreck on the phone to see if we could drop the car off if no one was there. They told us to just park it and lock it and drop the keys in the drop box. But we’d be responsible for it until they checked it in the next day. They said if someone was available, they’d send them out to meet us. We asked if someone could please come out and meet us – we’d be there at 5pm. They said they’d send someone if they were available.

Luckily, when we got there, someone was available, because they pulled in just minutes after we did. They checked the car in, gave it the all-clear, and off we went – back toward LA, this time to Anaheim. We stopped for a snack at McDonald’s on our way back to the city. Jeremy cracked us up when he asked if we could “live here,” referring to the small town of Lebec, where the car broke down. We asked him why he wanted to live there, and he said it was fun and that we got a new car there. We touched base with Evan and Steph and their family to make a plan for dinner. Steph’s mom had brought some food to cook, so they offered us a nice warm meal upon our arrival. We were certainly ready for that.

Rent-A-Wreck

We were so happy when we were finally in Anaheim. Our destination has been a secret from the kids this whole time. It was hecka funny driving to the resort where we’re staying, because we drove RIGHT BY the main gate to Disneyland. But the kids just happened to be looking the other way (at Denny’s!) and never caught wind of where we were. There were big ‘ol signs and buses all around, but they didn’t seem to notice any of those things. They just kept looking at the restaurants across the street…which was fine with us! We were excited to surprise them the next day. We couldn’t have been happier to see Steph and her dad at the gate to the resort when we arrived that evening. Time: 7pm.

We ate a nice homecooked Salmon dinner with rice and soup. It was a relaxing way to unwind after all of our travel woes. We hung out and watched Liam as he crawled around using his newfound skills. But we didn’t last too long. We were tired, and ready for bed. Especially poor Andrew, who hadn’t had the luxury of sleep on the road earlier in the day. While Drew put the kids to bed and unpacked, Maria went to the Von’s down the street to pick up bottled water and a few breakfast foods. Time: 9:00pm. Our suite has a full kitchen, which is great for breakfasts.

Baby Liam with Grandpa Chai.

It was a long first day, and not at all like we planned (we thought we’d be in the parks before noon) – but we were proud of ourselves for not being cranky with each other, and making the best of it. It wasn’t the most fun ever, but sometimes that’s just the way things go. Luckily, we have a whole week of days to enjoy ourselves down here!



The best thing about Day 1 was: Getting the Toyota Sienna to drive, dinner with Ev, Steph and family.
The worst thing about Day 1 was: the death of the van (RIP).
The weather on Day 1 was: chilly where the mountains are, but nice in the valley.
What we learned on Day 1 was: never break down on a Saturday or Sunday because it’s really hard to rent a car.