Disneyland 2003:
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We went to Disneyland from December 29th, 2003 until January
2nd, 2004 - right over New Year's!! When I think about this trip the best way to
describe it is ..... crowded! While we had a great time as usual, the
crowds were a bit overwhelming. New Year's is the busiest time of year at
Disneyland and it was fun to experience it once, but I think in the future we'll
choose a different time of year to go. We enjoyed having Grandma and
Grandpa and Karin and Madison on the trip with us and we hope they had a nice
time, too!! We stayed at the Fairfield Inn a few blocks down the
road from the entrance of the park. We were lucky enough to have beautiful
weather during our visit. The only day it rained was on Friday - which was
the day we left! So overall, the visit was great - and we can't wait to go
back!! ; )
I've got a lot of pictures that I would like to share, so I'm going to use
thumbnails that you can click on to get the full picture. Enjoy!!
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We arrived in Anaheim on the Monday the 29th and went to
Disneyland for the afternoon. We headed over to Fantasyland to ride some
rides and discovered very long lines. After a long day of traveling, Madi
feel asleep so Karin decided to go back to the hotel with Grandma and Grandpa to
call it a day. We decided to stay at the park for a couple of hours.
We pretty much just walked around because the lines were too long to wait in.
Jordan got his lanyard and his first four pins for trading. This became
the theme for him for the rest of the trip. Every time he saw a cast
member with a lanyard, he wanted to trade!! He ended up with a
lanyard full of Nightmare Before Christmas Pins!
On Tuesday, we had breakfast at the Carnation Cafe on
Main Street. We then headed over to New Orleans Square where we rode the
Haunted Mansion holiday ride and Pirates of the Caribbean. The
transformation of the Haunted Mansion to a Nightmare Before Christmas theme was
incredible! Madi ended up losing her shoe on the ride and Karin found it
later at Lost and Found! We ended our morning in Critter Country were we met
Winnie the Pooh and his friends. Here's the pictures:
We went back to the hotel and had a late lunch at Mimi's Cafe,
which was right next door. Karin, Madi, Grandma and Grandpa headed back to
the hotel to rest while we went over to California Adventure. Jordan rode
California Screaming twice! We spent some time at Bug's Land riding some
rides, and then Grandma and Grandpa met us to take the boys back to the hotel.
To celebrate our 11th wedding anniversary, Scott and I had reservations at the
Blue Bayou Restaurant followed by Balcony Seating for Fantasmic. We also
rode the Haunted Mansion ride again - so awesome!! This was the first time
we had been out without the boys in a long time!! We had a wonderful night
out!
On Wednesday morning, we all got there for opening.
While Scott and Jordan headed over to ride Splash Mountain, the rest of us went
to Fantasyland and enjoyed line free rides for about an hour. We then
enjoyed breakfast at the Riverbelle (after going with Grandpa on Indiana Jones).
After breakfast we headed over to Toontown to play a little and to meet Mickey
Mouse. Here's some pictures from that morning:
After our fun filled morning, we headed back to the hotel for
a much need rest. Later that day, we went over to California Adventure to
catch the Playhouse Disney Live Show. After the show, we spent some time
in Bug's Land and just walking around. Cast members were giving out hats
and horns to celebrate New Years, so we were walking around with our silly hats
on, blowing horns! It was a lot of fun! It was so cold that
night - Scott got us all some hot chocolate before we found a good spot to watch
the Electrical Parade. Unfortunately, Madi and Justin both
fell asleep right before the parade started and missed the whole thing!
After the parade, everyone went back to the hotel, and Scott, Jordan and I spent
our New Year's Eve walking around California Adventure. We rode Soaring
over California a couple of times and the Sun Wheel - I forgot how much
I'm afraid of heights!! We did not make it until Midnight - we ended up
leaving the park around 10:30. Mainly because it was too cold!! We
later heard the fireworks from our hotel room - they were so loud they woke up
Justin and he was so scared!! He jumped in bed with us, shaking like a
leaf!! Poor little guy! Well, here's some pictures from that night:
On Thursday morning, Scott and I got up early with the kids
and headed over to the Magic Kingdom for opening. Jordan and Scott rode
the Matterhorn a few times, while Justin and I rode Alice in Wonderland and went
over to Snow White's grotto to take pictures. We then went over to the
Storybook Cafe at the Grand California Hotel where we met everyone for
breakfast. Chip and Dale was there with Goofy. It was a nice
breakfast. After breakfast, we went to California Adventure and spent some
time at the Wilderness trails. The kids had fun running around in caves,
climbing rock walls, and sliding down slides. We had fast passes for
Soarin' over California and everybody went to ride it while I sat with Justin
and Madison. Poor Madi wanted Mommy so badly she cried the entire time she
was gone!! We later headed over to the Magic Kingdom where we had lunch at
Redd Rocket's Pizza Port and then rode the Autopia with the kids. Here's
the pictures:
After our mid day rest, we went to the Spaghetti Station down
the road for dinner. We had been there years ago with Mom and Dad and
wanted to go back for their Sutter's Mill entrée (Kasseri Cheese over buttered
noodles). Delicious!! After dinner, Karin and Madi went back
to the hotel with Grandma and Grandpa to pack and get a good night's sleep
before their flight back to Denver in the morning. Our flight back to
Norfolk was later than their's the next day, so we decided to go back out to the
park. After a difficult "goodbye", we headed back over to Disneyland for the
night. We mostly just walked around in the shops, enjoyed the fireworks
and took some pictures. Here they are:
