AUGUST 2008 - DISNEYLAND

DISNEYLAND - DAY 1

Disneyland - Here we come!

At 6:30 in the morning we left Torrance and headed to Disneyland. We stayed at the Grand Californian. WOW! What a great hotel. The moment we drove up, someone was smiling and helping out. Every person in the hotel made you feel great. Now that's what I call a superb hotel! Sure it's expensive, now I see why. It's totally worth it!

We couldn't check in until 1pm so we stored our luggage and headed to Disneyland. We made it at 8am - just as the park opened. Our first place of interest: Toontown. We had special passes to attend Mickey's Toontown Morning Madness. It was a great show and we were all presented with Honorary Citizen pins and got to meet all the characters. This is something special they do for Disney Hotel guests before the park opens to the public.

The kids met up with Chip & Dale and got their autographs in their Disney Scrapbooks. Even Brayden got a chance to enjoy Dale and shake hands with him. He wasn't scared but he wasn't 100% comfortable with some big hairy thing touching him either. He'll giggle at these pictures one day!

We took so many pictures while we were there that it's so hard to just give you a little taste of our trip. Fortunately, we edited 1500 pictures down to about 900. I guess we really didn't need 7 pictures of Minnie's bow, 8 photos of Goofy's teeth, 4 pictures just of Donald's hat, etc.... haha Hey, it's better to over-take pictures than to miss that one great photo!

We met up with Michelle, Dan, Grammy & Grandpa and went over to New Orleans Square so we could go on Pirates of the Carribean and Haunted Mansion. The girls got a kick out of the Haunted Mansion - especially at the end when a "ghost" sat between us in our seats.

Here's the whole gang at Disneyland. Dave, Michelle, Nic & Christian were in the park too but we didn't get a chance to hook up with them during this trip.

Waiting in line to go on the Pirates ride was pretty miserable. It was in the 90's, the humidity was high and the line was 45 minutes long. However, we figured we could do it with 6 adults and only 4 kids. Grandpa and Tee Tee kept trading off Lauren while Milenko & I kept trading off Brayden. Bella & Lexie complained the entire time but by the time the ride was over, they were ready to stand in that line again to do it all over once more.

As soon as we got into the cool, dark ride, Brayden found his peace.

What cute kids!

If Grandpa wasn't holding Lauren, she was always in Uncle Mo Mo's arms. It's obvious that Dan loves that Satanic little girl just as much. Good thing, Mommy & Daddy needed a Lolo break!

After checking into the hotel, we greased up the shoes and headed back out the door. The Grand Californian has a private entrance directly into California Adventure. We went into the park that way and met back up with Grammy, Grandpa, Mo Mo & Tee Tee. Check out the pool above. It's awesome - water slide and everything. Unfortunately, there wasn't time to do that along with Disneyland. :( Dave, Michelle & the boys did get to do the pool thing though.

That's not really a long boulevard behind us. It's a backdrop.

At 6pm, we had reservations at Ariel's Grotto for a special birthday character dinner with the Disney Princesses.

My personal favorite was Belle. This was the only Princess besides Ariel that Lauren would get close to and even hug. She was genuine to the girls and played the perfect Princess.

The Character meals are pretty expensive and the food sucks. For $30/adult, I got a mini salad, an edible slab of meatloaf and some vegetables. I think it also came with desert - slice of apple pie or some small chocolate cake. Tee Tee ordered a chicken pot pie and I'm not sure what was on her plate. It didn't look like a pie though. The waiter was a boob and didn't really attend to us very well. However, the kids couldn't get enough of the Princesses all over the room and so it was all worth it watching their smiles.
As the sun was setting, we were able to get the family in for a great picture with the rides starting to light up behind us. This was on the bridge just outside Ariel's Grotto and looked over the Paradise Pier attractions.

DISNEYLAND - DAY 2

On our 2nd day at Disneyland we started out the morning with a Character Breakfast at the Storyteller's Cafe in our hotel. We didn't have anyone else with us on Tuesday, it was just our family. Dave & Shell's family were also in the park but our schedules didn't get a chance to cross during this trip.

The kids got pictures and autographs from Briar Fox, Meeko (Pocahontas), Kenei & Coda (Brother Bear) & Chip & Dale

After breakfast we headed into California Adventure because it was more kid friendly for the entire family and mainly because we wanted to end the day at Disneyland so it would have more impact on the kids.

Standing at the front entrance of California Adventure.

First stop: A Bug's Life. I highly recommend this for anyone with kids under 5. It's family friendly and most rides are for the entire family. We didn't get to see all the places because we had to find a bathroom for two little girls who didn't go after breakfast.

Bella mimics the Lady-Dude behind her. She's such a character!

The kids loved King Triton's Carousel Ride.

We headed back to the hotel at 3pm to take a little rest and then finished up our day/night on the Disneyland side. We didn't get a chance to do everything we wanted to but it was pretty hard to take a family of 6 and comfortably manuver around Disneyland during the busiest time of year - and the hottest too!

We enjoyed ourselves so much that Milenko is already looking into dates and prices for the next trip to Disneyland. I just hope it's either without strollers or without kids. :) Ya right! Like I could even think of going to Dland without the kids. Shame on me for even thinking it!

Here are a list of the great highlights for our family:

Disneyland
Pirates of the Caribbean (Lexie's Favorite)
Haunted Mansion (Bella's Favorite)
Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin
Minnie's House
Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters (Mommy's Favorite)
Dumbo
Autotopia (Mommy & Daddy didn't like this one)
Fantasmic Water Show (Daddy's favorite)
Remember Dreams Do Come True Fireworks Show

California Adventure Park
Monsters, Inc. - Mike & Sulley to the Rescue (Bella's Favorite)
Jumpin' Jellyfish (Lexie's Favorite)
King Triton's Carousel
Francis' Ladybug Boogie (Daddy's Favorite)
Flik's Flyers
Turtle Talk with Crush - It totally rocks, dude! (Lauren's Favorite)
Disney's Electrical Parade

The Dugorepec family goes back home on Wednesday. Thanks Mickey for a great vacation!

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