Disneyland & California Adventure

Where do I start?

Rebecca had her first dance class on Saturday morning. Joe took her and said she did real well. Wasn't very interested in the tap portion, but liked the ballet part. I guess in due time she'll like both.

Then off to Disneyland. We're all very excited. Got there, checked into the Hotel (Embassy Suites-which was very nice: loved it, wished I could live there. AND it was the same price as Days Inn or Super 8). Anyway, went to the parks. Rode the Mickey & Friends tram, paid for the overpriced tickets (thank god one was free) and headed in. First stop-gift shop for Minnie Mouse sunglasses and ears and suckers. Then off to find Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald, Daisy and Pluto! Went to Mickeys house-Rebecca was gitty with excitement. We stood in line and got to see Mickey. They were only allowing one picture (to move the line along), so this one didn't turn out quite well, but posting anyway since it's the only one we have. Then off to Minnies house. Again, Rebecca was excited. She was looking at everything and her expression was that she just couldn't believe she was in Minnies house. Too cute. Got a few pictures there: But no Minnie. So we headed of to get something to eat: (this is where my opinion on Disneyland hit a very sour note). Saturday afternoon. The park is extremely busy as if it were summer time and none of the food places were open. COULDN'T FIND A BOTTLE OF WATER ANYWHERE!! The only place open was a little ice cream stand, where the line was a million feet long because it was the only place open. And people were so thirsty, including my 3 year old, that we were all willing to buy ice cream to quench our thirst. Worked only for a bit. But in the process: We saw Minnie Mouse under a tree posing for pictures. So while I stood in line, Rebecca and Joe stood in that line to see Minnie. I got up there just in time to see her with her IDOL! Rebecca was shy, but gave Minnie a big hug and we got a great picture of her. Afterwards we stood off to the side so she could watch Minnie for a while and eat her ice cream. After that, we left Minnies area and we saw Goofy walking around. People were crowding him and we only caught a glimpse, but Rebecca was happy about that. That was it! Those were the only 3 characters we saw the entire time there: No Donald, Daisy, Pluto, Winnie, Tigger, Cinderella. We went to all there stations and they weren't there. Talk about disappointment and a huge waste of money. Rebecca was upset and crying. We stood in lines for rides and that pleased her momentarily until she fell asleep waiting in line for the Dumbo ride. Of course, we got all the way to the front of the line and she's out cold.

At that point since she was sleeping we decided to head over to California Adventure to ride the big California Screamin'. Joe and I took turns. That ride is AWESOME! We each rode it twice and finally figured out the fasttrack system. Actually we didn't figure it out, an 'Old Lady' from Kentucky sitting next to me on the bench told me about it. How funny is that? Then Rebecca woke and we rode a few more rides over there that she could ride and finally we went on the HUGE Ferris wheel. Ok...so I'm scared of heights, but figured if I got into one of the carts that were stationary: I'd be ok. NOT...got about 1/4 of the way up and had to sit in the floor of the thing and put my head between my legs and close my eyes. Rebecca started to cry thinking something was wrong with me...I told her I was tying my shoe and she was fine. Finally go around once and had to ask the people to let me off and not take me around again. They did reluctantly. Thank you Ferris Wheel Operators! I should've went with my gut and not got on there! Never again!

So 9 hours later...we finally leave this place. I have to say that I'll will probably not ever go back. I was so disappointed in Disneyland that it made me sick how much money we wasted. I thought California Adventure was better-the only thing there is there isn't a lot of rides for Rebecca. However she was only short by a 1/4 inch, so maybe next year she'll be able to ride everything over there except the big rollercoaster. I think just going to a regular amusement park like Knotts Berry Farm would be just as good if not better. To me, that's all Disney was, was a regular theme park with the characters: if you're lucky enough to see them. My biggest disappointment was the castle. All the pictures and the commercials make it out to be this huge thing...it's not. When I saw it I said "That's it?" I thought you'd be able to walk around this thing and it would be a real castle...it's not. OH YEAH...another thing...the food over at California Adventure is much better too. They actually had things open! They have a real winery there with grapes growing and all. A nice Restaurant. A Mexican restaurant and a couple more places. Even a McDonalds. So that alone made that park better than Disney.

Ok, enough ranting...enjoy the few pictures! (When they let me put them on here...check back)