Day 5: Disneyland Day #2

Day 2 at Disneyland! We were very excited to go back and do all the things we missed on Day 1!

We were greeted by Ariel as we walked in. Which was very surreal. No line to meet her. No handler. That is just not heard of in WDW. 

We headed right for Tomorrowland! We rode the Astro Orbitor first. It's such a great nostalgic ride :) This one doesn't go as high as the one at WDW, but that was okay.

We enjoyed the rest of Tomorowland- Buzz Lightyear- which was a little different than it's Magic Kingdom counterpart. The blaster guns are much easier to use! We did Space Mountain and the Autotopia, then headed to the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage. I remember this attraction from my first trip to DL in 1989. Very little sticks out from that trip, but this did. I thought it was very cool then and my kids loved it now :)

Then we rode the Monorail full circle. I just love the Monorail :) And it was honestly a very odd feeling to board it from inside the park :)

We then headed to Adventureland and the Indiana Jones Adventure. I had heard about this ride and was excited for it, since there is not one in WDW. It was very cool. The queue was fantastic! It was a great ride and reminded me a lot of the Dinosaur attraction at Animal Kingdom, but all Indiana Jonesy :)

And while in line, my husband got all giddy and fanboy over a famous WWE wrestler. (Nick Foley...I had no clue.)

Then we headed to a new show- Mickey and the Magic Map! It was very very cool! I took a ton of photos but tried to pick a few of the good ones to post!

We headed to Downtown Disney for dinner. We ate at ESPN Zone. I was in desperate need of an adult beverage and it was quite tasty. The food was decent...typical bar and grill type food, but not exactly cheap. We've never been to the one at WDW.

My son just HAD to do Ridemakerz. He used his own money and it was pretty cool :)

Back at the park, we were once again greeted by princesses. Just milling about. This would NEVER happen at the Magic Kingdom. There's like an hour wait to meet these ladies!

We played around in the firehouse then checked out the arcade and some shops on Main Street.

Fireworks time! The castle is so gorgeous all lit up at night!!!

The show is not nearly as good as Wishes at the Magic Kingdom, but it was a lovely show none the less.

I always have to snap this shot on my way out!! So pretty at night!

Next up- Our last day at the Disneyland Resort :(

Art of Animation was A. MAZE. ING!

Be prepared for a TON of photos!

When we originally booked this trip, way back when, we were booked for Pop Century. But then my parents needed to postpone. I was really bummed...but then I realized something awesome. Art of Animation would be open for the new date! SWEETNESS! So we rebooked for a Cars suite. And then my parents needed to back out completely. Bummed again. We couldn't afford the suite on our own....well...we probably could have, but it cut $1200 off our package to switch to a standard value resort room. And that's just too much of a savings not to. I was bummed to not be able to stay at the new resort. But then, they changed the projected opening date for the standard section at Art of Animation! The Little Mermaid rooms were supposed to open mid December 2012, but then it changed to mid September! Woo Hoo!!! I made the switch and I was so so excited!!

We arrived and were simply blown away. Even the lobby is breathtaking with all the drawings on the wall and the way the front desk area is lit up.

Our room was ready, so we headed over. The walk wasn't exactly short, but we didn't care. Room was so fun!

The resort is breathtaking. SOOOO much attention to detail. Every morning and evening, we had to walk through The Lion King section. Very very cool with the character statues, elephant graveyard, and foliage. Really felt like we were somewhere else.

The Little Mermaid section was so bright and colorful. We loved posing with Ariel's treasures and of course, the statue of Prince Eric!

The Cars section was amazing...like walking into the movie. We were instantly transported to Route 66 and Radiator Springs. Cars is one of our family's favorite movies, and we were in heaven!

And lastly, Finding Nemo. Very colorful and fun. The pool was awesome. Loved the giant scuba mask!

We had lunch at Landscape of Flavors and it was so so good. The variety of meals was wonderful. I had the portuguese sausage and it was really good. The decor in the food court was really pretty. A really great place to eat!

I think the only downside to staying there was the buses. Maybe it's because the resort is new and filled to capacity when we were there, but the buses were crazy packed. Our first night at Magic Kingdom, we took one look at the never ending bus line and hopped in line for Pop Century. We had a bit of a walk, but it wasn't bad. If you walk through Pop and take the Generation Gap bridge over (if that's even what they're still calling it.....), it's pretty convenient. In our opinion, far better than standing in line for an hour waiting for a bus. We did this several nights. It was just easier. And the views from the bridge were so so pretty :)