Just a warning that this post is very long, but it’s filled
with lots of fun!
Saturday:
We flew to into LAX airport a little later than we were
expecting on Saturday afternoon. Once we grabbed our bags and got the keys to
our rental car, we were on our way to Disneyland Resort! We checked in to
Disney’s Paradise Pier, unpacked our bags and then drove to Lake Elsinore for
dinner with my west coast family. We headed back fairly early since it’d be
quite a long day of travel plus the time difference and the upcoming Daylight
savings time change.
Sunday:
We Disney bounded today as Mickey and Minnie Mouse as you
can see below and headed to Disneyland Park. We had breakfast at The Plaza Inn
which was FANTASTIC! There were so many characters, we couldn’t believe it.
I’ll have a whole post on our thoughts of the dining places we checked out
while visiting coming soon. After breakfast, we met Mickey, Minnie, Goofy and
Pluto in their Diamond Celebration gear.
We than headed over to Nemo’s Submarine Voyage which was not
a good choice for my claustrophobic self, but it was cute. We then rode Star
Tours with a fastpass and grabbed a late lunch at Aladdin’s Oasis as part of
the Paint the Nite to go package. It was then time for our Indiana Jones
fastpass followed by our Buzz Light Year Astro Blasters fastpass. We decided to
check our Super Hero HQ and were able to meet Spiderman and Thor.
After that we
headed to Fantasyland to do the Sleeping Beauty Castle Walk through, Snow
White’s Scary Adventures and Pinocchio’s Daring Journey. We hopped on the
monorail to Downtown Disney, grabbed a sweet treat at Marcelina’s Confectionary
and headed back to our room for a break before heading back to Disneyland to
see the Paint the Nite Parade.
Once the parade was over, we hurried over to California
Adventure to see World of Color with a fastpass. Since it had been quite a long
and exhausting day, we decided to head back to our resort to get some much
needed rest.
Monday:
On Monday we took a break from Disney and traveled a bit
south to San Diego where we visited the zoo and Sea World. While at Sea World
we had the chance to get up close and personal with penguins in their exhibit.
It was awesome!
Once we finished up in Sea World, we headed to La Jolla Cove
to hang out with the seals. On our way back to our resort we made a stop at
Target to stock up on some snacks and had dinner at In-N-Out, which was
delicious!
Tuesday:
Today we did one of our favorite Disney bounds which is Olaf
and Sven. We were headed back into the parks today, but first we had breakfast
at Storytellers Café located in the Grand Californian. Once we finished
breakfast, we headed into California Adventure and rode California Screamin’,
Toy Story, Goofy’s Sky School, Golden Zepper, and Silly Symphony Swings with
very little wait. Then we headed over to Animation Academy and took two
classes. The first class we learned how to draw Donald and the second one we
drew Goofy. Staying in the Animation building, we went to the lower level to visit
the Beast’s library and took a Disney Personality quiz. We then rode Monster’s
Inc. and then were able to ride Radiator Springs Racers with a fastpass.
Radiator Springs Racers was definitely one of our favorite rides of the trip.
We then had the chance to meet Anna, Elsa and Olaf. I must say he does give the
warmest hugs!
We grabbed a bite for lunch and rode Tower of Terror and Soarin’
with fastpasses. Then we bought our second round of churros for the trip and
found a spot for the Pixar Play Parade which was super cute. Once the parade
ended, we headed back to our resort for a break before heading to Downtown
Disney for a quick bite to eat and another churro! We saw the last few floats
of Paint the Nite parade and then stepped into Main Street to watch Disneyland Forever.
We took advantage of the short lines after the fireworks and rode the
Matterhorn, Mad Tea party and It’s a Small World. We caught the whole second
Paint the Nite Parade and then called it a night.
Wednesday:
We traveled to Hollywood today. First we did a Movies Tour
along Hollywood Boulevard, visited the wax figures at Madame Tussaud’s and then
had lunch at Hard Rock Cafe. We got to see the stars as well as the hand and
foot prints in front of the Chinese Theatre. Then we drove to the Griffith
Observatory where we got a great view of the Hollywood sign. Decided to fill
our sweet tooth with delicious cupcakes from Georgetown Cupcakes and macaroons
from Lette. We were then on our way back to Hollywood Boulevard to attend
Paleyfest: The Big Bang Theory at the Dolby theatre. At Paleyfest, they showed
us the new upcoming episode and it was a lot of questions and answers with the
crowd. Being so close to my favorite tv show stars was an absolute incredible
experience and being able to be in the Dolby theatre where the Oscars are held
is awesome.
Thursday:
We rode the monorail into Disneyland for extra morning magic
hours and were able to hope on Hyperspace Mountain, Astro Orbiter, Alice in
Wonderland and Storybook Canal Boats all with very little wait. We then rode
Hyperspace Mountain again with a fastpass before heading over to California Adventure
where we rode California Screamin’, grabbed a fastpass for Radiator Springs Racers
and bought our fourth set of churros before heading back to Disneyland. We
stopped by Star Wars Launch Bay to meet Chewie, rode Winnie the Pooh and
Haunted Mansion before grabbing a quick bite to eat, doing a little shopping
and heading back to our resort for a much needed nap. Once we were rested up we
were back to California adventure to use our Radiator Springs Racers fastpass
and then bought some ice cream. Then we rode California Screamin’, Silly
Symphony Swings and Tower of Terror with a fastpass, before stopping by
Animation Academy where we drew Pooh! We grabbed a quick bite to eat, rode
California Screamin’ again and then attended the first World of Color Dessert
Party. Being a picky eater, there weren’t many desserts I enjoyed, but the view
was great! After a very long, fun filled day, we headed back to our resort for
the night.
Friday:
Friday was quite possibly our favorite day as we attended
Nurtured by Nature. They are located in the rural hills of Valley Center, CA
where you will go behind the scenes for a unique animal encounter with some of
the planet’s most fascinating exotic creatures. (Check out their website here.)
It was an absolutely fantastic experience and I’d do it again in a heartbeat.
Their slogan is “Dig with the armadillos, hop with the kangaroo, hang out with
the sloth, cuddle with the porcupine and swim with the otters.” We sure did
love all of those things, but swimming with the otters was probably the best
part of our entire day. Otters sure are playful little things! I’ve added
pictures below so you can see some of the animals we were able to spend our day
with!
Once we finished up, we headed back to our resort to clean
up and head to dinner at Goofy’s Kitchen in the Disneyland hotel. This meal was
probably one of my favorites due to the food selection. Macaroni and cheese
pizza??? Yes, please! After we finished stuffing our faces eating, we
headed into Downtown Disney for a while to do some shopping and then called it
a night.
Saturday:
We started our day off in California Adventure by riding
Radiator Springs Racers, Luigi’s Rollickin’ Roadsters, Mater’s Junkyard
Jamboree and Radiator Springs Racers again with a fastpass. Then we grabbed our
fifth set of churros before riding Toy Story Mania. After I kicked butt in Toy
Story Mania, we had the chance to meet Daisy, Minnie, Goofy, Mickey, and Donald
in their Hollywood attire as well as Oswald the Lucky Rabbit!
We headed over to
Animation Academy again, but this time we were able to draw Oswald and
Steamboat Mickey. It was then time for our reservation at Ariel’s Grotto where
we had lunch with Ariel, Cinderella, Rapunzel, Tiana, and Jasmine. Once we
finished lunch we headed to our resort for a little to grab sweatshirts for
later on before heading to Disneyland to see Mickey and the Magical Map again.
We then attempted to see Mickey’s Soundsational Parade, but we couldn’t find a
spot anywhere on the parade route so we ditched that idea headed to the Royal
theatre to see the Tangled show which was absolutely adorable. We had dinner at
Café Orleans before finding a spot for our last viewing of the Paint the Nite
Parade. While we were waiting for the parade to start, we had the best dessert
EVER. Churro Funnel Cake. Oh my goodness. It was unbelievable and I’d eat it
every day if it wasn’t so bad for you! After enjoying Paint the Nite one last
time, we found a spot right in front of the castle for Disneyland Forever
before calling it a night.
Sunday:
Our last day in California! We packed up all of our stuff
and had breakfast in our hotel at the PCH Grill with Mickey and friends. We
hopped on the monorail one last time into Disneyland where we saw the Beauty
and the Beast show, met Sorcerer Mickey, Jasmine and Genie and Tinkerbell. We
took a snack break to eat some yummy beignets before heading over to meet Dr.
Facilier from Princess and the Frog. We made sure to find a spot very early for
Mickey’s Soundsational Parade this time (the folks in Disneyland are very
serious about their parades!) After the parade, we did some shopping then rode
Hyperspace Mountain and Indiana Jones with fastpasses before heading over to
California Adventure. We then rode California screamin’ twice, once with a
fastpass and once without before grabbing a milkshake, doing some shopping and
headed off to LAX for our late flight home.
We had an absolutely amazing time in California and can’t
wait until we are able to get back.
Thanks for following along and have a magical day!
Shannon J
If you want to plan a Disney Destination Vacation, send me
an email at Shannon.ewing@keytotheworldtravel.com or check out my website at: www.PixiePerfectPlanner.com and
we can start planning your pixie perfect trip!
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