*Most of the pictures I'll have from this trip are going to be coming from either my sister or from PhotoPass, and I won't have either for at least a couple weeks, maybe more. I have a few of my own photos though, and I'll share those now, but there just aren't very many.
One week ago, I was sitting in an airplane, headed for Anaheim. Everything went super smoothly. I arrived, caught my shuttle, and checked into our hotel. I was "piggybacking" on my sister's work trip, and they put us up in the Grand Californian, Disney's nicest Disneyland resort hotel! It was beautiful!
I didn't waste any time, as soon as I was checked in, I headed straight to the parks. I spent most of my time just getting familiar with California Adventure since I haven't been to Disneyland Resort since it had been added. I caught a couple shows and met Dug, the dog from Up! Dug is one of my favorite characters, even though Up is not one of my favorite movies. I just love him, though! When he finally arrived, I told him, "Dug, I have been waiting here for 35 minutes just to meet you... because I love you!" (You have to have seen the movie to understand.)
I also checked out Carsland!! It was so exciting to see this brand new land! It looks just like the movie and when you walk down Route 66 it feels like you are right there in Radiator Springs! I took these pictures on my own while I waited to meet up with everyone, then I took the next set when we were all together and went to see it all lit up at night.
I've been trying to decide what was my favorite part about Carsland, and I think it has to be the Carsland Racers ride, which was a BLAST! I'm getting a little out of order with my pics here, but this is the picture from when Debi and I rode it together Saturday morning.
Okay, back to Thursday afternoon. I had some friends from high school who happened to be at Disneyland at the same time, so we met up and spent a good hour or so together. It was so great to see them again! They had been high school sweethearts and now they are a family! I'm so happy for them and I'm so glad I got a chance to catch up with all that has been going on in their lives. Their oldest was with them and she was ADORABLE!!! She told me all about all of the rides she had been on and which were her favorites - she is a thrill seeker! One of her favorites was Tower of Terror!!! Before we parted ways, we took this pic...
Then it was time to meet up with my sister! Yay! We were so excited to be at Disneyland together!!! Her work had arranged for us to watch World of Color from the VIP section, so we headed back into California Adventure to get ready for that. Super cool fact: VIPs get free Glow with the Show Ears!!
World of Color was AMAZING!!! I didn't even bother trying to record it or photograph it because 1) I was pretty sure I wouldn't be able to do it justice, and 2) I wanted to ENJOY it! It was absolutely incredible and I cannot wait to take my family back to see it! I just know they will all love it!!
The parks closed after World of Color ended, so we headed back to the hotel to relax in the hot tub and meet up with more of our group. We spent the rest of our weekend with Debi's co-worker/friend, Megan and her sister Jenna. They were SO MUCH FUN!
Jenna and I were on our own while our sisters had to work on Friday, and we got along together so well that we decided to enjoy Disneyland together until they were done working. Jenna is awesome! She absolutely loves Disneyland and knows a ton about it, which was a lot of fun for me! We rode on a bunch of rides and talked a lot. It was really great getting to know her; we became fast friends. :)
Even though we rode a bunch of rides, none of them were rides that took photos, so I don't have much by way of that to show you. But here are pictures of Disneyland decked out of Halloween Time...
And here are photos that I took of Sleeping Beauty Castle - I can't wait to bring Rori here!!
Once the sisters were done working, we met up with them and got ready for Mickey's Halloween Party!
We were all dressed as "Minnie" and were looking forward to taking lots of pictures with our boy Mickey! I have a lot of photos on our PhotoPass account and will be able to share them later, but for now, I can show you this picture that was taken with someone else's camera. Even though it was mostly just the four of us hanging out, there were some other girls from Debi's work that also dressed as Minnie and they were with us when we took this picture.
Mickey throws an AMAZING party! We rode a couple rides, watched the Halloween parade, got a great spot for the Halloween fireworks, and Trick-or-Treated!
Debi had been nervous about the rides. Let's be honest, she was being a fraidy cat. But we convinced her to just try one... and why we picked Space Mountain as the one she should try is beyond me because that combined most of her fears into one! But for whatever CRAZY reason, we decided to give it a go, and...
... SHE LOVED IT!!! After that, she was game for all the rides! (Except for spinning ones that get us sick, but we were all in agreement on that.)
We did ride one or two other rides that night, but once the fireworks were over, we noticed that the Trick-or-Treating trails were nearly empty so we took advantage of the short lines to fill our bags with candy. It was the first time I had been trick-or-treating (for myself) in over 20 years!!! And it was SO FUN! We totally felt like kids again!
The next day we were tired and sore from our late night playing, but that didn't stop us from hitting the parks again! We started in California Adventure. We rode Carsland Racers (Pic posted above), Toy Story Mania, Goofy's Fly School, Soarin', and the Grizzly River Run. It was all so much fun! Then we hopped over to Disneyland, where, to be honest, it is all a blur. We went on Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean, It's a Small World, and Splash Mountain. I'm pretty sure we went on more but I just can't remember. We also stopped to watch the parade, the normal fireworks, and Fantasmic! It felt good to stop and sit for awhile and when they were over, we were ready to hit some more rides before the park closed.
The other girls were going to be back in the parks on Sunday, but I had a flight taking me home, so this was my last night. One of the best parts of that day happened at the very end. We had already ridden Splash Mountain, and we were wet and kind of cold, but before we left, we wanted to ride it one more time. This time we decided to pose on our way down the drop. I think our photo turned out awesome, what do you think?
It was the perfect way to end my trip!
Disneyland is a magical place. No matter if it is your first time, or one hundred and first; no matter if you are young or just young at heart, Disney has the power to bring out the kid in each and every person who walks through those gates. I had such a great time on this trip! I loved spending it with my sister and I loved making new friends.
I can't wait to go back!!!
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