DISNEYLAND

My parents and I with my our favorite mouse

I have been to Disneyland in the past (I was five and got to go with my older cousins, who I idolized, I still remember this trip and getting to ride on my cousin's shoulders and getting to pick who I rode on all the rides with - loved the trip, but the details are a bit blurry) however this was the first time since then and I am fairly certain a lot has changed since then. I was there one afternoon when I was in college when my college band marched in one of the parades and we had an hour free time to do what we want, so this hardly counts as being there. The first thing I had to do was to get over the fact that Disneyland was not Disney World. While there are several things that were similar and there were things that were alike there were lots and lots of differences and they are wonderful too.

channeling our inner 4 year olds

There are two parks, Disneyland Park and California Adventure, unless you only have a few hours I wouldn't do it without a park hopper. We walked between both parks all day, it is only 149 steps between the two parks (literally, I counted). It was glorious, we became the masters of the "fast pass system" which essentially lets you cut in line and go in a shortened line instead of waiting for the ridiculously long lines some rides would have from time to time. I would go to Disneyland any January, the week we were there was glorious, other than the half marathon day the park was essentially empty, not really but sort of, we never waited in a line more than twenty minutes and we even walked up to many characters for meet and greets.

Cruella de Ville
I seriously could not stop laughing at her, she was AMAZING
she acted exactly as I imagine she would if she were real - soooooo funny
my dad is a character in and of itself 

Disneyland and California Adventure were both wonderful. I equally loved them both, they both have amazing aspects to them. The new Carsland is PHENOMENAL! I loved the radiator springs ride and we got to ride it a lot due to the small crowds, it is awesome. I can't imagine the line for it in the summer when the line in the winter got long at times. The most we saw the line was at 150 minutes (no thanks in my opinion).



I loved the World of Color show at California Adventure, I could watch that show every night, seriously, it was wonderful. I highly recommend going, and getting the "pass" to get in a good section. It was fun to watch, one night we even watched from the "splash zone" and really we only got misted on, I wouldn't necessarily say it was a "splash zone."

a photo of the Ferris wheel just before World of Color began

Food was great, I recommend splitting meals because the portions are huge, we often shared because we couldn't quite finish them all. I enjoyed the Wine Country Terracotta restaurant  it was fabulous,  one day we figured out that from some of the tables you have an outstanding view of the parade (discovered on accident), I totally recommend making a reservation during a parade time.

I could go on about vacation and Disneyland and California Adventure for posts upon posts, seriously. We had a blast, it was fun to spend time with a good friend and my parents. I have planned a few posts about the vacation and the running of the Tinkerbell Half Marathon. If you want to know anything in particular or want more pictures and posts let me know, I could do many more. I loved this trip.