But I do want to post about our vacation, so I'll start at the beginning. We picked the girls up from school early on Thursday and headed for the airport for our 3:20 flight. S&A were so cute with their backpacks walking through the airport; they've become seasoned travelers and I was very proud of them. Our flight to Atlanta was uneventful, and we ate dinner in the airport before boarding our flight to LA. Due to strong headwinds, our flight was scheduled to take over 4 hours, and I convinced the girls that it was bedtime since we'd already eaten dinner and it was dark. So, Sarah was curled up and asleep before we took off. Abby wanted to see the lights at night, so she didn't settle down until we reached our cruising altitude, but then she was out too. They both slept great and didn't wake up until we got just outside LA. Then they were awake and excited to see all the lights of the city.
When we got to LA, we sent Perry to get the car while we went to wait for the luggage. I'm posting that to remind myself to NEVER make that mistake again. It took him over an hour to get on the shuttle bus, get the car, then make his way back to us. We should have just all gone together. Anyway, we finally arrived at Heidi's house in Long Beach around 10:30pm. We all went to bed, and just as I predicted, the girls were awake at 4:40am due to the time change. They had some time to play with Heidi's kids which was great, but I was concerned about how tired they would be at Disneyland!
Actually, they did really great all day at the park. We got there at 9am, and they didn't get really tired until after 5, which I thought was great. We had a fantastic time with Lee & Gayle and their kids Kieth & Kaylee. Disneyland isn't as magical as DisneyWorld, mostly due to the cast members (employees). In Orlando, everyone goes overboard to make your visit perfect. But in Anaheim, they just don't seem to go to the same lengths to make the magic. But it's still a fabulous place.
I was very disappointed by a new attraction called Pixie Hollow. In the past, Tinkerbell has not been available for meet and greets because she's a pixie, and therefore very tiny. But everyone has been buzzing about this new place in Disneyland and the Magic Kingdom, where you'll shrink down to pixie size and be able to meet Tink and her friends. Well, Disney blew it. I was expecting some pixie dust, a transforming experience, something. There was nothing to make it magical. We stood in line for an hour, then went from the line to 30-foot-tall grass and flowers, with nothing to help us make the transition. It wasn't magical at all. We met Silvermist and Fawn, and then Tinkerbell. I think Tink might have been hung over; she wasn't very cute or happy. It could have been, should have been, so much better.
The girls' favorite rides were Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Railroad, as usual. I'd hoped to ride the Matterhorn, and Abby had been talking about it since last year, but she chickened out. I think they'd both love it, but they're scared of the Abominable Snowman.
My favorite ride was Small World, because they had just opened it after a 9-month renovation, and it had the Christmas overlay, so it was incredible. I'll post the video soon, but I'll go ahead and warn you that it's 10 minutes long!
After dinner, we headed back to Heidi's house for some much-needed sleep. The girls got a head-start in the car. They needed it, since they would wake up at 4:40 again the next day!
No comments:
Post a Comment