A Very Disney Birthday

    So, this past Saturday was my sister's 21st birthday, and she had decided that she wanted to go to Disneyland. So, on Friday night, my parents, my sister Becca, my sister's fiance, Eric, and sister's best friend Jessica, all came down to LA for a visit. J and I met them for dinner at the Lazy Dog Cafe in Anaheim that night, and then afterwards J went to stay with his brother for what was sure to be a football-ful weekend, and I went with my family back to the hotel.



I got my sister Minnie Ears to wear at the park
along with some other goodies.

   The next morning, we woke early and walked to the park, ready for a full day of fun. First line of business was to get a fastpass for Radiator Springs Racers in California Adventure. For those of you who don't know, Cars Land is a new addition to the park since this past summer, and is always packed full of people come to check out the latest Disney attractions. Because of its newness, the lines for the Cars Land rides are always extremely long, and the fastpasses tend to run out before lunch, so it was imperative that we get a fastpass first thing in the morning (elsewise it meant an hour and a half wait). I'd been on the ride once before, and while it is a very cute and fun ride, it is not worth the full wait. Fortunately, we managed to get the passes and get through the line in about 15 minutes.


Radiator Springs Racers

Hollywood Tower of Terror

 

   California Adventure was wonderfully empty in the morning, so we actually got through most of the rides before stopping for lunch at the Pacific Wharf Cafe (Clam Chowder and Chicken Salads for everyone!). It started becoming more crowded around 1pm, so as soon as we'd been on all the main rides in that park, we moved over to Disneyland.
     We made a quick stop at City Hall to get some celebration pins - Becca got one for her birthday, Eric got one for it being his first visit, Becca and Eric got ones for being newly engaged, and we all got the simple "celebrating" pins. I think I've mentioned this before, but for those who don't know - there's a unique pin for almost everything (from birthdays to just married to first visit to anniversary, etc). These pins don't entitle you to any special line-jumping privelages or free goodies, but they do entitle you to special treatment during your visit. Wherever you go, cast members will wish you a happy birthday or congratulate you, etc, making you feel just a bit more special on your special day.
    The rest of the day seemed to go by in a flash. We managed to work out our fastpasses perfectly and didn't have to wait more than 20 minutes for any one ride - we even managed to get on a few rides without waiting at all. Another tip - when in Disneyland in the wintertime and the sun has gone down, people generally avoid rides which may get them wet. Seems obvious, I know, but I'm always amazed at the complete lack of people taking advantage of this fact. We were able to walk onto Splash Mountain without any wait at all. (At this point, my dad wasn't feeling too great, and decided not to go - which made me rather sad, since I know this is one of his favorite rides) We broke out our ponchos (I would recommend everyone bring a poncho when going to Disneyland for this very reason!) and piled onto the ride, Becca in the front, and Jessica in the back. We all tried to cover ourselves as best we could to avoid getting wet, but we had no idea how far Eric had gone to this end until we saw the picture.

 

 

    After burning through the rides and our fastpasses, we went back to CA to partake in the Mad T Party. CA allows alcohol, so it's no surprise that they have a section of the park with a club-like atmosphere. The Mad T Party hosts a variety of DJ's and performers as well as provides a bar with some specialty drinks. We each got a drink, which came in cool light-up martini glasses, and took a minute to check out the party before moving on. With only an hour before World of Color, we had to rush through dinner, eating at the little Italian joint at the end of Paradise Pier, and then rushing over to find a viewing point.
    World of Color is the one thing that my parents had never seen before that I though they would love, so I was very insistent that they see it at least this once. My mom really seemed to like it, as did my dad (although he will never admit it, he was totally singing along to the music). They still haven't added anything from Wreck it Ralph, which made me a little sad, but I suppose it would get to be too long if they added something from every movie.
    After world of color, we only had a few minutes to run back over to Disneyland for the holiday fireworks. I love fireworks, and have to admit that I've been to Disneyland several times this past year JUST for the purpose of getting a sundae and watching the fireworks. The holiday fireworks are always fun, mainly because it snows at the very end while playing White Christmas. It is truly very magical and is enough to get even Scrooge McDuck into the holiday spirit.

Waiting for Fireworks

   After the fireworks, my parents decided that they would soon be calling it a night, but the rest of us decided to go on a few more rides. We hopped back over to CA to go on Tower of Terror one more time. This ride was the source of a lot of fun moments - in the one case, right after the ride ended and the elevator doors opened, the bellhop rushed in and yelled the equivalent of a "BOO!". The second time, while our bellhop was checking our seatbelts, a second bellhop ran past, flailing his arms and screaming. Then, when the ride was over, he asked if we all wanted to go again, since it was only a few minutes till closed. It was awesome :)

Small World Holiday - prettiest at night.

Hollywood Land at night.
I love the way the lights are reflecting on the rain-soaked road.

    We meandered back to Disneyland and went on Becca's favorite ride (Alice in Wonderland), then decided to check out a few more Fantasyland rides. We had time for one more, so we debated then decided to go on Thunder Mountain Railroad one more time. There was absolutely no line, which was awesome, and it a great ride to end on. (We would have preferred Space Mountain, but it always has the longest line, even at closing time).
    The park/rides were closed, so we decided to do some Christmas shopping (Main Street stays open for an hour after closing, which makes it the perfect time to shop.. also, the perfect time to take pictures and wander around since the park is mostly empty). Then it was finally time to walk back to the hotel. We were all exhausted, and definitely looking forward to sleep. Unfortunately, no sooner had we left the park, then it started to pour. We still had 3 of the ponchos, but there were 4 of us, so in the end, one of us had to get wet. I'm sad to say that I was that person. By the time we got back, I was a soggy mess. Still.. it was a good day.

Soaked