Disneyland, July 18, 2010 (Day 2)

We woke from our deep slumber and headed out for Day 2 in the parks. My cousins weren't with us on this day, but Grandma and Grandad were waiting for us at the giant "California" sign just outside of the parks. We entered California Adventure and headed straight for the giant Redwood Creek Challenge Trail playground. The entire area is themed like the Sequoias, and has slides, climbing nets, logs, and other play equipment right up the boys' alley.




After getting some wiggles out, we headed over to the Toy Story Midway Mania ride. This ride is amazing- you wear 3-D glasses and shoot darts/balloons/rings at different targets. The effect is quite real and both boys absolutely adore this ride. The line was a little long, and we had some difficulty with Nolan trying to turn the queue chains into swings. Fortunately, we were soon on the ride and having a great time.

We had arrived in the park a little late, which was fine because we all needed rest more than anything else. As we were late getting into the park, it was time for lunch after the Midway Mania ride. We had some paninis and pasta at the Wine Country Trattoria.

There are very few rides at the park that suit Nolan's height- many of the attractions require a child to be >40 inches to ride. Because of this situation, we headed over to the Bug's Land area and rode the few kiddie rides available- bumper cars, lady bug spinners, and a balloon style spinning ride. The kids loved this area of the park, but there are (unfortunately) not many rides in the area.


The next "must-see" item on our list was Turtle Talk with Crush, a very cute little show in the Hollywood Backlot. The kids enjoyed this show quite a lot, and after it was over, they were pretty wiped out. We decided to head out of the park at this point, because it looked like they were nearing the meltdown point.

My parents left for home, and we went over to Disneyland to check on the photopass system for Matt's Jedi Training Academy pictures. We found that they store the photos for 30 days, so we picked up a card- we can order online if we decide we like their pictures.

While we were in the photopass office, Nolan saw the rockets and began to clamor for a ride. He was so enamored that we couldn't tell him no- we got into line and took the boys on their first rocket ride. Nolan was beyond thrilled- he kept yelling, "I'm FLYING!"

The boys seemed to be in chipper moods, so we risked a visit to Toon Town and Mickey Mouse's house. This was the only Disneyland item we missed from the day before, and the boys absolutely loved Toon Town.



We saw Mickey's house, and the Big Cheese in person- Matt was thrilled, though Nolan was creeped out by the overgrown rodent.



It was a little difficult to pry them away from the area as we were truly preparing to leave the park, but the experience was well worth the difficulty.

Both boys are still talking about Disneyland, and have already asked if we are going back "tomorrow." Alas, they will have to wait a while before we get to go again!