Disneyland With Daddy

The day before Skyler and Geronimo started school again I took them to Disneyland. Madison didn't get to come. Since Tuesday was the day after the corporate tax return deadline, I decided to take the day off and even things out with Madison. I told her that we would do whatever she wanted the whole day. Here is a brief play-by-play of what went down.

She is the only one in our family that can actually stand on/by her initial outside of California Adventure. (As a side note, have you ever been able to take a picture in this area and not have somebody else in the picture?) Needless to say, Tuesdays are great days to avoid crowds. The first place she wanted to go was Monsters Inc.

We like that Uncle Knick encourages us to demonstrate teamwork.

But sometimes Uncle Knick can get into a panic.

She jumped in her car and we headed off to Bugs Land.

It looked like the candy corn was ready to come off of the husk.

The Lady Bugs were next(twice). I don't know what it is about this ride, but it always makes her happy.

Very happy.

I would never get away with this if there were another available hand to hold.

Next we jumped on the back of an overeating caterpillar.

There's something different about these rocks, but I just can't put my paw on it.

Next we went on the new Toy Story Ride. It was the shortest wait I have had on this ride.

You get to wear these cool glasses. Unfortunately, they all seem to be the same size. Throughout the ride I had to help her keep the glasses on. Maybe they should make some smaller versions for smaller kids. If you haven't been on this ride, it is a 4D experience. You try and accumulate points by hitting various targets along the way. If you are riding with somebody who is pretty good, your point potential is greater because when lower scoring targets are hit they are replaced by ones with higher points. With two people hitting a bunch of targets there are greater points to be had. Madison was really good at shooting straight up in the air, which meant our points weren't very high.

After Toy Story, surprisingly, Maddie wanted to ride Pirates. She gets pretty scared on the drops, but was wanting to brave them for some reason.

Then we hit Peter Pan, which was probably our longest wait of the day(close to 15 minutes).

Then Snow White

The Pinocchio

Here is my random photo of the day. I took this picture of people taking pictures of other people.

Next was the Dumbo ride.

Then we headed to Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. It has been a long time since I have been on that ride.

I had forgotten the majority of it.

Especially the part at the end where you realize how hot it isn't outside.

This guy tried to ask me about next year's Mr. Sasquatch Competition.

It is a good thing that Disneyland put up that fence. Otherwise, that dude was going to be changing his name to Jonah.

Then we hit the teacups. The music at this ride might be my favorite while waiting in line.

Then we went on this ride. I have a tradition of giving the kids a Sasquatch toy after their first time going on this ride. I always worry that they will expect one each time they go. It was going to be Maddie's 2nd time, and she did mention while waiting in line that she got a toy last time. She didn't ask for anything when we exited (probably because she was too terrified to think).

If you can find this sign, you can avoid waiting in a long line to try and find Nemo.

This was my first time doing it this way. I'm more of a fan of actually getting into the sub, but it was nicely air-conditioned. Plus, it was just me, Maddie, and a breast-feeding mother and baby (actually, I don't know what is plus about that).

Next up was Buzz Lightyear. This isn't one of Madison's favorites, but she knows that Daddy likes it.

Then we hit the rockets. The wait time sign at this ride has got to be the most inaccurate of the whole park, but on this day we walked right on. We tried Buzz Lightyear one more time and then headed to Toon Town.

She started to doze a little bit on the stroller ride over to Toon Town, and before she realized it we were about to get on Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin. This worked out pretty good, because she didn't really have time to process the fact that she was scared of this one last time.

She was also scared of the rollercoaster in Toon Town last time. This time she kept announcing that she wasn't scared any more. She was right. We were in the front car the first time, and she asked to go on it two more times. I think she has a new favorite ride.

A hidden Mickey.
As a side note, I thought that after going to Disneyland after many times, that I would get bored of it. That has not been the case. As a youth I wasn't all that into Disneyland and preferred the rides at Magic Mountain. But I love going with the kids and seeing how much they like it. There are always things to do, and the kids never complain about going. As an adult there are plenty of new things to see each time too. Hidden Mickeys are everywhere, and seeing something new each time keeps it entertaining.

Next up was the "dinosaur train".

And here are the dinosaurs.

Then we went to my favorite place to take a nap.

The last ride of the day was Winnie the Pooh.

These guys still hang out there, and remind me of the great show that used to occupy this space (I'm not a big Pooh fan).

There is a store with a door convieniently placed right at the exit of Pooh. We stopped in and got a couple of treats for the people that didn't get to go on the trip. It was one of my better trips to The Magic Kingdom. How can you complain about going on 24 rides in one trip?