The OTHER reason we combined birthday parties this year was so we could put the money towards a surprise trip to Disneyland for Avery's fifth birthday!
We started our day at California Adventure on the new Cars ride, Radiator Springs Racers.
While we were in line for the Cars ride, we discovered that there is an app called "Disneyland Wait Times," which was awesome because it allowed us to see the current wait times for all the rides in both parks, and we were able to plan our day out to avoid long lines. I don't think we waited more than 20 or 30 minutes for anything all day, which was far better than we had anticipated!
So next we headed to Ariel's Undersea Adventure ride, and walked on with no wait.
At 11:00, we strolled over to Ariel's Grotto for Avery's second big surprise of the day, the Princess Brunch. Definitely not the cheapest restaurant in the park, but the food was good, the service was fast and friendly, and it was worth every penny to see Avery light up when she got to meet five princesses!
After brunch, Avery requested one more ride on Ariel's Undersea Adventure, so we agreed to do that again since there was no line.
Soarin' Over California was next, one of my favorite rides. It was a definite must!
On our way out of the park, we stopped to watch part of a Newsies show.
Avery and I crawled up front and center for the best view!
And off to Disneyland we went!
First things first... We stopped in to City Hall for the special birthday treatment!
A birthday phone call from Goofy, and a "Happy Birthday Avery" button to wear, so that the cast members knew to wish Avery a happy birthday every time she got on a ride.
Avery wanted to see Sleeping Beauty's castle first, so we walked through the castle and into Fantasyland.
Dumbo ride...
Big Thunder Mountain...
Big Thunder is pretty fast, so things started out well with Avery smiling and laughing, but by the end of it, I think she got a little nervous as she kept asking, "Mommy, is it over now?"
And then as soon as the ride stopped...
"...Can we go again?"
So we got Big Thunder Mountain Fast Passes for later, and took a break with the much slower Pirates of the Carribean.
Back to Big Thunder...
Haunted Mansion (Decorated in Nightmare Before Christmas theme for the holidays)
After Haunted Mansion we wandered over to Tomorrowland in search of French Fries (Which we never ended up getting because Avery got distracted when she saw more rides).
Rockets...
We caught a lucky photo op with the Mean Queen from Snow White, whose shift was ending. She was just about to walk through the exit door...
We tried out the Buzz Lightyear Astro Blaster ride, then had a quick dinner of pizza and chocolate milk before making a stop in the gift shop so Avery could pick out a souvenir. She chose a necklace with sparkly pink Mickey Mouse ears, and a Frozen princess charm to go on the necklace.
Submarines...
After Submarines, we still had some time left before we would be able to use the Fast Passes we had picked up for Space Mountain. So we got on the Matterhorn Bobsleds. This has always been one of my favorite rides in the park. I guess the difference between the last time I rode the Bobsleds and this time was my significant age difference. I had no memory of it being so violently rough and jerky. It felt like being in a car accident, and I pounded Advil as soon as we got off. I declared that I will never get on that ride again, but of course Avery loved it.
When we got over to Space Mountain, it had broken down and we were told to come back later. We killed some time on the Autopia. (This ride was almost as painful as the Bobsleds because someone is the worst driver ever and kept ramming us back and forth between the curb and the median. I won't mention any names).
We tried one more time to get on Space Mountain, but it was still broken down. I was so sad! That is another one of my favorite all time rides, and I was dying to get on it.
By that time it was getting late, so we let Avery choose one last ride.
She chose Big Thunder Mountain, for the third time!
On our way back across the park to Frontierland, we made a detour to Snow White's wishing well so Avery could make wishes with the three pennies she found on the ground at dinner.
The wishing well is next to the castle, which is spectacularly decorated for Christmas.
At the end of Main Street, we picked up a plastic Mickey to take home for Camden,
and a matching plastic Minnie for Avery.
And with that very long and very magical day, home we went.
