Disneyland Day 4

Welp.  Day 4 at Disneyland was as much of a sh--show as we thought it would be.  It was SO crowded.  We used our extra hour and were in the park by 7:02 am.  We RAN to Peter Pan's flight but the line was already 35 minutes long!  Crazy-town.  So, we rode Dumbo, the Teacups, and then waited with the masses to run to Star Wars Land to get in line for the Millennium Falcon: Smuggler's Run ride.  That line ended up being 40 minutes long!  Zoë and I were pilots and Oliver and Chris were gunners and it was a really fun ride!  Z was terrified but she maneuvered the ship like an expert despite her fear.

One of the highlights of the day was Zoë spying Belle on her way through the park.  Zoë walked right up to her, asked if she could walk with her, and held her hand and chatted all the way from the carousel to It's a Small World.  It was absolutely adorable and Zoë was grinning from ear to ear.

Since we made it all the way over to that area of the park so quickly we hit up Toontown, played in the houses, got a picture with Goofy, and Zoë and I rode the Gadget Go Coaster which she claimed was REALLY FUN.  Shocking!

We had a reservation for the Plaza Inn at 10:20 so we hightailed it over there for brunch with Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore, Chip and Dale, and Minnie.  I'm pretty sure we said it last trip, but the food at Plaza Inn is not really anything to write home about and the best part of that character dining experience is that it's in the park so you don't have to go far.  We wouldn't do it again.  The Mickey Waffles were a hit with Oliver, though, and Zoë loved going into the buffet area by herself to pick up more food.  Oliver's favorite was the grape juice and Zoë's was bacon.  So.  Eh.  It WAS a good day for a character breakfast, though, since the park was so crowded.

After breakfast we wandered over to Frontier/Adventureland and checked out the Pirate's Lair on Tom Sawyer Island.  What a great out-of-the crowds attraction!  The kids loved running from spot to spot and going through the spooky caves.  We probably would have never adventured over there if the park weren't so crowded.  We also hit up the Mark Twin Riverboat, a great 20 minutes of sitting down and taking in the park.

The Enchanted Tiki Room followed by a not-so-quick Dole Whip (the stand was turning people away in the line because it was so long...) helped us regain some energy before we headed to the Bibbity Bobbity Boutique for Zoë AND Oliver's appointments.

Zoë finally FINALLY decided on an Elsa dress (original) and Oliver was SO thrilled to be dressed like a knight.  This is still (since our last experience two years ago) a REALLY magical place and the kids loved getting pampered by Jackie and Carter, their stylists.  Oliver was especially proud of himself as he stopped biting his nails the week before our trip so he could get his nails painted.  And Z was especially thrilled because her dress came with a purse (huge eye roll here as she has a million bags).

After the kids were primped they got to go have a quick photo session and then taken to the front of the line to meet Cinderella, Ariel and Jasmine.

We hit up Mickey and the Magical Map (ANOTHER great show!) before we headed out of the park and to Downtown Disney for dinner.  We waited an hour and a half for a table at Ballast Point Brewing and it was worth it!  We had a yummy burger and pretzel bites and both kids fell fast asleep at the table.  Ha!  Another successful day.  We would have never experienced many of the things we did this day if the parks hadn't been so miserably crowded, so I guess it was a silver lining.

Disneyland Day 1
Disneyland Day 2
Disneyland Day 3
Disneyland Day 5 + Tips