Life with Kids : [Travel Diaries] Disneyland Winter 2016

I know I said this for the other 3 days but I take a look back at the pictures for the day and I can't believe all that we got to experience each day!! I can't believe that I am here recapping day 4 already?!! This trip seriously was our best one to date and I am having some serious Disney withdrawals looking back at these pictures...take me back!!! See Day 1, Day 2 and Day 3

The morning started out chilly as we made our way to Fantasyland. We ran into Peter Pan, while he is usually one of my favorite characters to meet with this particular Peter left things a little flat. He was super old in his little getup so I can't quite blame him...but he wasn't super engaging either. Thankfully Ellie and Finnley didn't even notice and they thoroughly enjoyed seeing the guy in green! And once again I surprised myself with just plopping Finnley on the ground for the photo op...

Thomas took Ellie on a couple rides while I took Finnley on Snow White's Scary Adventures (since it kept breaking down when we got in line the previous days) and we actually got to ride this time. When we got out of the ride Thomas and Ellie were next in line for Casey Jr. Circus Train so Finnley and I jumped the line to ride with them...Ellie wanted to ride in the caboose facing backwards and a group had already taken the seats in the front of the caboose so Finnley and I joined another family in a caged car. They were kind to take my picture so I took a few for them as well.

Then onto the carousel because we like to go on rides with short lines. And Finnley got to ride on Jingles the "lead" horse of the group.

Then it was off to Toontown to meet up with Mickey and Minnie in their respective houses (and another ride or two on the roller coaster ;) )

We checked our app and it looked like the line to meet Santa was fairly short so we made our way to Critter Country and hopped in line. Turns out the line was much longer of a wait than indicated so I took advantage of the wait and went on Splash Mountain since it was practically a walk on. When I came back to the Santa line Thomas and the girls had moved maybe five people so Thomas took a ride on Splash Mountain as well. I was getting a bit nervous because the Santa line started moving...but then Santa went on a break. By the time he came back, Thomas was almost done with the ride and he got back in line with one group in front of us! I knew that Ellie would be just fine with the Man in Red because they are old besties but wasn't sure how Finnley would do since she is a bit hesitant of newcomers. I was pleasantly surprised with her acceptance of the whole thing and think we got some decent pictures out of the experience...what is it about Disneyland that makes children forget their fears???

And seeing how we were in Critter Country and right next to The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh we took a ride.

Off to Tomorrowland to meet Darth Vader and I spotted some stormtroopers. I jumped next to one and took a selfie...it wasn't until I walked away that I realized that there was a line of people waiting to meet them and I was a total jerk and cut in front of all of them...oops!!

learning to use the dark side of the force

and Finnley missed out because she was sleeping in the stroller. Once Finnley woke up we took the Monorail to Downtown Disney and had lunch at our favorite spot: Naples. They have balloon guys/girls there and Ellie loves getting a balloon. This time she got "2" of them because we got one for Finnley. Ellie chose Anna and Elsa, they were adorable and lasted about 5 minutes before the girls got a bit too wild and they started popping...

After lunch we made our way to DCA to do some more character meet and greets. We really wanted to focus on that this trip and it totally delivered. We got to see Princess Sophia who was so cute and sweet and was very polite when Ellie tried to steal her amulet!!

We were walking around and I spotted Olaf so we got in line for him. This was a fantastic meeting and he was so funny!!

Thomas read that we could meet Nick and Judy Hops so we got in line where we thought they were supposed to be and waited quite a while before they showed up. It was so precious and I love it when they have multiple characters together. Ellie couldn't get enough hugs from Judy!!

After leaving the Zootopia crew we spotted Doc McStuffins so we hopped in her line as well. Once again she was so kind as Ellie tried to snatch her stethoscope...

We made our way over to "a bugs land" and Ellie and I got in line for "Tuck and Roll's Drive 'Em Buggies" because Ellie was finally tall enough for this ride as well...except that even though she is just shy of 37" she didn't meet the 36" height requirement...I argued with the cast member for a little bit and they let me through...I mean how ridiculous. The wait was much longer than I anticipated and the ride itself wasn't worth all the "hype" we've given it, however Ellie loved it and that is all that matters.

We went over to Cars Land to take advantage of the shorter single rider line for Radiator Springs Racers. I went first and Thomas took the girls for Ice Cream at the Cozy Cone and watched DJ's Dance 'n Drive. Ellie watched and danced while hanging off some tires at Luigi's. When I was done with the Racer's it was Thomas turn, as we were walking out of Cars Land I spotted Red the Firetruck so we hopped in line and Ellie loved how he was honking his horn to the tune of Jingle Bells...but then when it was our turn for the photo she got all nervous that he was going to make his siren go off. Silly Girl!

We then made our way over to the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail to hopefully get in line to meet Santa (because why not) and they had just closed the line off just mere minutes before we arrived...cue the tears (from both me and Ellie). The cast member tried to make up for our disappointment by giving Ellie a single sticker. We walked around the trail for a little bit and Ellie wanted to try the ropes course...which let me tell you is a bit challenging to video/photograph, assist as feet get stuck, and holding an infant, all while walking the course yourself and trying not to fall!! It was during this experience that Ellie had her one and only accident of the entire trip...so we had to beeline it for a bathroom and get her changed into some clean clothes. While it wasn't her fault (I should have stopped at the bathroom even though she told me adamantly that she didn't have to go) I was upset that the accident happened. We made our way to the bathrooms by Ariel's Undersea Adventure and were able to get a shopping bag for her soiled clothes.

We went on a few rides on the Pier then decided to ride on Mickey's Fun Wheel...we grabbed both of the Ergo's because we had to wait in line for a bit and it was so fun having both our girls in an Ergo!! haha. Finnley fell asleep while we were waiting in line and missed the whole ride, which was freezing and extremely windy but fun nonetheless.

Finnley was still sleeping after the Fun Wheel but we wanted to ride on King Triton's Carousel so Thomas and Ellie got on some sea creatures while I kept Finnley in the ergo and sat on the bench.

Our evening and visit to Disneyland ended there and we walked out of the park...but first Ellie was insistent that I get a picture of the snowman car! lol

The girls woke up and were all smiles in the morning and we had a leisurely morning getting everything packed up and ready to go before our shuttle came to pick us up. Ellie was a great help bringing her suitcase to the lobby.