DCA

Since reading The Official Guide to Disneyland and becoming an expert on Disney I can now call Disney California Adventure "DCA." Ha ha ha! Mike always laughs at me for pretending I'm so in the loop that I  can abbreviate. Really though, how much easier is it to just say DCA over Disney California Adventure? Okay, moving on. We had a great time at the new Disney theme park. We got there early and rushed to the Toystory Mania ride which we were correctly told is the busiest ride in the park.

It's an interactive 4D ride where you wear 3D glasses and use a gun to play different carnival rides for points. At the end you get to see who in your party scored the most. It's so much fun! We only road it once because the line got pretty long after the first ride of the day.

Here's our little toy story action figure.

Waiting in line with Nonna.

After Toy Story we found Cody, Alysia, Jimmy and the kids and decided to ride the huge Mickey Mouse Ferris Wheel together. Surprisingly we probably waited in line for this ride longer than any other one our whole trip! We figured it would be a nice leisurely ride, a good way to see the park from another vantage point. Well... it was a good way to see the park, but leisurely? Not so much. We did not realize that there are two lines for the ferris wheel and we happened to get in the "swinging" line. Just as we were settling in, relaxing in our cabin we were suddenly jerked forward, careening back and forth between giant ferris wheel spokes. We could barely keep in our breakfast - Papa Lee and I definitely looked a little green. Overall I guess you would say we enjoyed the ride but I don't think we'll be entering the "swinging" line again any time soon.

After the ferris wheel we went to see Jay's VERY favorite Disney Character - Lightning McQueen! He was super excited. He ran right up to him and gave him a hug. He was a little dissapointed McQueen couldn't play with him though. He said to me, "Mom, is that really Lightning? His eyes and mouth weren't moving." Kinda confusing for a little dude. In 2012 they are opening a huge Cars land in DCA. We saw the beginnings of it when we were on the ferris wheel. It really looked like Radiator Springs. We can't wait to see it!

Mater was pretty cool too!

Then as we were walking to our next pit stop we saw this guy...

Followed by this awesome superhero...

I'd say Jay is well on his way to some pretty incredible muscles himself :)

We then went to watch Aladdin, a Broadway style production held in a beautiful theatre. It was amazing! Probably one of my favorite parts of the trip. I LOVE the movie and the play was so well done. I was very impressed. So was Jay, although he was pretty nervous about the giant "cave of wonders." During part of the show when Aladdin turns into Prince Ali and comes to the royal palace the actors come riding in on a huge puppet elephant and the dancers come up and down the isles. Jay was in absolute amazement. He said to me, "Mom, how did they get out of the TV?!?!" Like I said, the Disneyland special effects certainly aren't waisted on this little guy. The Genie was hilarious. He made so many current jokes. At one point he said to Aladdin, "Hey Al, it's not the end of the world. That was last Saturday!" Everyone cracked up at that one. The show really was spectacular. I'm so glad we were able to see it!

After Aladdin we went over to another highly anticipated show, Playhouse Disney. I was especially excited for this one because I knew it would be one of the highlights of Jay's trip. It's a show especially designed for toddlers and preschoolers with all our favorite friends from Playhouse Disney like Mickey and friends, Handy Manny, Jake and the Neverland Pirates and Little Einsteins. The fun thing was the characters were animatron puppets so they looked and sounded very real, just like they do on the cartoons. I think this is where Jay thought he was seeing the real thing.

We all loved watching the kids jump up and down and get excited. It was great! 

After the show we went on the Monter's Inc ride, which was very well done and then the adults went on the Tower of Terror. We really liked that one! We then rode Soaring Over California, definitely a favorite. Jay was a little nervous on that one. We had to keep reminding him that it was just a movie. He thought we were really flying and we were going to fall out! Then Jay and I went on to play in the Redwood Creek Challange. I was very impressed with this kids obstacle course. It really felt like a wilderness trail. It was nice to take a break from all the crowds and sit amongst the trees and play on the rope bridges. Jay could have stayed there for hours!

After climbing, jumping running and sliding we were ready for another ride - we went on to The Grizzly River Run. Jay surprised us by absolutely loving it! So much so that he asked to go a second time. We got a little wet but not soaked. The first time I totally geared him up. He was wearing my poncho with the hood up and plastic bags tied around his feet. I remembered being little and hating getting wet on water rides. The second time around though he told me, "Can I please not wear the bags mom? I don't mind if I get wet." Ha ha ha... I guess I was embarrassing him a little.

After the river run we got some yummy clam chowder in bread bowls. I ate my entire bowl since it cost half our life savings :)

Here's Mike holding the girls - LuLu and MyMy.

Then while we waited for the World of Color to start Mike, Alysia and I went to ride California Screamin'. I have to say this was definitely my favorite ride of the trip! The line was so short (probably because people were saving spots for World of Color) that we ended up going on the ride multiple times. It was SO fun. I could ride that one all day! World of Color was awesome. Even though it was a VERY long day, I'm so glad we stayed. It's a huge water show (kind of like at the Belagio) but with Disney music and scenes from Disney movies being projected onto the water. Some fire was even involved and lots of spectacular colored water scenes. I highly recommend it! Overall and awesome day. One we'll never forget.