USA Anaheim Holiday Day #8 - Disneyland

There are two parks here in Anaheim - Disneyland is the original park and is larger than California Adventure. We couldn't finish Disneyland in one day - but fortunately the kids had seen everything because we covered what they had missed when they went on Saturday with my friend and her daughter whilst we were at Blizzcon. Christmas has taken over here at the park and there was a Christmas theme everywhere, in the decorations, the rides, the parades and even the fireworks!

We started in Tomorrowland first, which had all the Star Wars and space things (Buzz Lightyear) and went on the Star Tour, Astro Orbiter, Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters, Autopia and Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage.

We also went to Innoventions which had a show which we missed TWICE, and we lined up to see Thor props and ended up seeing Thor as well, and Ironman props. We then headed to Fantasyland (the entrance of which is Sleeping Beauty's Castle) which had a lot of the original 1955 rides, most of which my youngest child could ride.  We rode Snow White's Scary Adventures, Peter Pan's Flight, Pinocchio's Daring Journey, Mr Toad's Wild Ride, King Arthur Carousel, Mad Tea Party and Alice in Wonderland.

Our last stop was Mickey's Toontown, which seems more Disney to me with the cartoon-like houses.  Here was the only rollercoaster for little kids (Gadget's Go coaster) so we did that.

We backtracked to go to It's a Small World - one of the most famous original rides, and also where the parade was going to start.  It was decorated in Christmas stuff, and the ride itself showcased all the different cultures doing their Christmas or similar celebration.

When we finished the ride we found a spot to see the parade and watched as the street lit up for the parade at dusk.

It looked pretty amazing at night.  The parade was also Christmas themed - my son slept through it again! When we were done we caught the Disneyland Railroad back to the main street where we caught the parade again LOL.

And we stayed for the fireworks.  Main street was packed and the fireworks were lovely with the accompanying music - something you can't really appreciate from our hotel room even though we can see the fireworks there.  Sleeping Beauty's castle looked gorgeous after the fireworks were done.

I had great fun at Disneyland too, though I was a little disappointed we didn't see more.  But, I think after 4 days of theme parks, I've had enough of theme parks - no San Diego for me on Thursday!  I think we shall have to take it easy and just go outlet shopping.  So of the two parks, which did I enjoy more?  It was hard to choose, but I think that California Adventure had a more impressive parade and the World of Colour was amazing.  I also liked that we could finish that park in one day and the kids got to see almost everything (and Cars Land!).  I didn't think I would like Disneyland but I think the whole experience was truly unforgettable and I would highly recommed it to anyone - even if you don't like Disney (gosh, I love Disney though, so maybe I'm biased), it's very hard not to get wrapped up in the excitement.  Where else can you walk around wearing Mickey ears and it's totally normal?

USA Anaheim Holiday Day #7 - Disneyland California Adventure

The kids had already been to the parks with Nanny M, so I was hoping they wouldn't be bored, and they weren't.  We started out our day with breakfast at Ariel's Grotto, where you can meet the Disney Princesses: Ariel, Belle, Cinderella, Snow White and Sleeping Beauty.  Breakfast was a lavish American Breakfast with pastries, fruit, and a choice of waffles, hot breakfasts or granola/yoghurt/muesli. Our table had a combination of all.

After breakfast we explored and rode the rides at Paradise Pier, including Mickey's Fun Wheel, Toy Story Midway Mania, King Triton's carousel, Jumping Jellyfish, Ariel's Undersea Adventure, Golden Zephyr and Silly Symphony Swings.

Bug's Land was really great for smaller children with most rides there good for J.  We rode Heimlich's Chew Chew Train, Francis' Ladybug Boogie, and Tuck and Roll's Drive 'em Buggies.

Car's Land was my favourite.  It's just like it's straight out of the Pixar movie!  The street layout, the signs, the scenery - it was awesome!  We rode Mater's Junkyard Jamboree, Luigi's Flying Tires and Radiator Springs racers, and ate at Flo's V8 Cafe and at the Cozy Cone Motel. And at night, it was lit up, just like in the movie.

Mike and Sully to the Rescue was quite a good kid's ride, and Soarin' Over California was a surprisingly enjoyable as well.  Whilst HK and I went on that, hubby took the kids on Ariel's ride 5 more times!

The World of Colour turned out to be an unexpected highlight of the day.  I have never seen a more amazing water, sound and light extravaganza!  The use of water spray as a screen projector was really something different to me, and the music complimented the show so well - it IS Disney after all, and I do love all the Disney animations.  Each piece of popular and beautiful music was woven into the show - including the Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Brave, Toy Story, Bug's Life, Pirates of the Caribbean, Pocahontas, Lion King and Wall-E.  The kids watched it all too, even though they were tired.  I was totally blown away, and even moved almost to tears because it was so beautiful!  It was a beautiful end to a magical day - and I have to agree that Disneyland does pretty well in saying that it's the happiest place on earth.  I think it outdid my expectations!

USA Anaheim Holiday Day #6 - Legoland

I should stop naming my posts Blizzcon Holiday because Blizzcon is over! This was our designated Legoland day, and in the US it's Veteran's day which is a public holiday, so there were a LOT of people! Legoland is pretty kid oriented, so I was hoping the kids would have fun.  Universal studios seemed to be aimed more at the older child, as my daughter was scared by quite a few of the rides and my son could hardly ride anything.  I think my daughter could ride most things at Legoland and there were A LOT of rides.

Check out that back wall full of minifigs!

I was pretty impressed with the outside in general!  The Legoland hotel even looks amazing with all the Lego creations inside!  It was hard to stop myself from taking pictures of all the Lego creations, but there are some which are particularly awesome - the Star Wars section and the cities section.

Hoth (Empire Strikes Back)

Naboo (The Phantom Menace)

Endor (Return of the Jedi)

Geonosis (Attack of the Clones)

Mos Eisley, Tatooine (A New Hope)

Kashykk (Revenge of the Sith)

Impressive right?  I was totally blown away!  And that's just the Star Wars stuff!

Congress

Mount Rushmore

Eiffel Tower and Statue of Liberty

Sydney Opera house

Taj Mahal

And it wouldn't be complete without a whole heap of american iconic buildings, right?  Here's Las Vegas:

And New York:

New Orleans:

Washington:

The rides were actually a lot of fun for the kids as well.  We all enjoyed a number of rides!

• Coast Cruise - boat ride around the lake and good for all ages
• The Dragon - rollercoaster ride that was rather gentle but only my daughter could ride
• Royal Joust - my daughter quite enjoyed this, riding on a lego horse and pretending to joust
• Beetle Bounce - all ages, a drop from a height ride
• Lost Kingdom Adventure - a shooting game from a train ride
• Cargo Ace - sitting in flying planes, good for all ages
• Splash Battle - Hyad and daughter did this and got WET
• Junior Driving School - for ages 3-5, both kids enjoyed this
• Sky Cruiser - for all ages, but had a long queue, pedal a plane on a sky track

There were lots of waiting stations where kids could play with Lego, which helped with restlessness whilst waiting in queues. My daughter said she enjoyed Legoland MORE than Disneyland!  I would definitely recommend it if you have small children - especially in a household that loves Lego.  I think I would happily spend TWO days there!  I wonder if Disneyland can live up to Legoland?

We had dinner at Bubba Gump and I have no pics of food (it was just fried shrimp and chips and fish) but I did take a picture of my blueberry lemonade.  Americans have such sweet drinks!