Disneyland or Bust!

Earlier this year we had planned to go to Disneyland with the Perkins late in September.  Then we went on a cruise and Jason had to more vacation time.  So I convinced my mom to take me instead.  But then the Perkins had to cancel and I was bummed.  Cars Land and all of the other DCA construction was done and I hadn't seen it yet!  Plus I was really missing Alicia and wanted to meet Brynn.

Thankfully they were able to come visit Utah instead AND my family was planning a Disneyland trip over Fall Break.  Jason was kind enough to let Leila and I go while he stayed behind to work.  So the day after Leila's party we joined my parents, Jori, and Annie for the drive to California.  We drove as far as Vegas the first night and then made it to the parks by midafternoon Thursday.  Ashley, Taylor, and Jared flew in Friday night to make our family almost complete (we missed you Jason!).  Leila spent the day in Oceanside Sunday as we said farewell to Jori, Jared, Ashley and Taylor, who all had to be home before Monday morning.  Then the rest of us drove home Monday.


Highlights:
*Cars Land-This is hands down my new favorite area of the parks.  It is SO well done and you really feel like you are in Radiator Springs.  The crowds were definitely thickest here and yet it never felt crowded.  They have some good restaurants and snack shops too.  I would be perfectly happy to sit and people watch here.  The new attractions were good too.  The Radiator Springs Racers is extremely well done and really fun.  Mater's Junkyard Jamboree has a great selection of fun music and my dad and I cracked up when we heard Mater speaking Spanish during the instructions.  Luigi's Tires is fun but is definitely my least favorite of the three.

*Halloweentime at Disneyland-While I love the Christmas decorations at Disneyland, I think I may like Halloween even a little bit more.  From the giant Mickey pumpkin on Main Street to the fall leaves and colors on the light posts, it is just festive and fun.  I also really like how they turn Space Mountain into Ghost Galaxy, but I prefer the original Haunted Mansion to the Nightmare Before Christmas.  I like how they focus on the fun part of Halloween rather than the gorey, horror part.

*Mickey's Halloween Party-This year my parents, Jori, Annie, Leila, and I got tickets for Mickey's Halloween Party Friday night.  We really had no idea what to expect and were pleasantly surprised.  Leila and I dressed up in costumes (she was a penguin and I was Minnie Mouse) and I eventually persuaded Annie to at least put on a lab coat and glasses.  We didn't ride a single ride in the hours we were in the park for this event but we still had a blast.  They had several Treat Trails you could go through and trick or treat for candy.  Each of us ended up with an entire bag full and we only hit about half of the stops!  They had special entertainment (like a ghostly barbershop quartet singing on a raft in the Rivers of America) and different decorations (eerie lights and fog machines).  There was also a Halloween Parade and really amazing Halloween fireworks (set to Disney villain's songs).

*Dancing in DCA-We watched (and recorded) Ashley, Taylor, and Jared doing Gingham Style just outside of Luigi's Flying Tires.

*The Dollar Game-My mom comes up with a list of things for us to try and spot.  Whoever spots something on the list gets a dollar.  We've played this game many times but I've never gotten that into it before, mostly because I could never remember the list and never saw anything before Taylor.  But I goy into it this trip and came away $15 dollars richer.

The biggest highlight was just being there with family.  Sappy, I know, but true.  I am sad our passes expire soon but am grateful for the memories we made this year.

I am also grateful my husband sacrificed spending time with his girls not once, but three times so we could fully enjoy our Disney time while he went to work.  Until next time Disneyland!