Superawesome DAY

So Bella woke up at 6am again... and I ventured out to find some stronger coffee, only to find that (after walking all the way up and down Downtown Disney) that everything opens at 8, except for the coffee shop 20 feet from the entrance of my hotel, which had been open the whole time! A Quad espresso got the day started right (along with my constitutional walk...)

The park opened 1 hour early for Hotel guests, so we had the run of the place from 9-10, which let Randy and I do Astro Blasters, Space Mountain, and the Matterhorn (what a charming old ride - but very jarring!) Pamela and the girls did tons of the Fantasyland rides like the Teacups and Small World (sparing me the horror!).

Randy and I hightailed over to California Adventure for some more rides - worried that the lines would start forming... turns out we needn't have - someone forgot to tell the world that that park was open today - every ride we did, there was NO line. In the course of 2 hours, we did the Tower of Terror (the 13 story elevator drip ride), the Soaring over California (IMAX flying movie with hanging chairs and dangling legs), the big California Screamin' roller coaster (TWICE), and two other non-premium rides. After this, my "jones" for rides has been satisfied. And my Inner Ear was letting me know in no uncertain terms that enough is indeed enough.

To put in perspective, the guidebooks say to plan to hit ONE or TWO of these rides in a typical day at the park. We hit FOUR in two hours. To all the people in the world I say, the first week in February is an excellent time to come here. I'd suggest homeschooling your children just so that you can take them this week instead of waiting for a busy time.

For lunch, we went to Ariel's Grotto - and it was a PRINCESS EXPLOSION - my god. Ariel, Belle, Mulan, Snow White, Aurora (?), Shoshanna, Trixie, Zlontar... actually just the first 5. They went from table to table signing autographs and talking to the little princesses, and taking pictures.

At some point, Disney started working this Princess Cult thing, and the little girls go flipping NUTS at the concept of these ladies. They wander around the park at a slow saunter and little girls in princess dresses flock after them like ducklings!

We did more rides, and got home for a quick nap... 5 very busy hours followed by 2 hours of rest. Halfway through naptime, I got up and made my way to the arcade. 4 pinball games, and one round of Dance Dance Revolution - an indignity made better by the fact I was dancing to a Specials song, and there was NO one else there.

After naptime, it was back to Disneyland for more rides - Autopia for driving, the Pooh Honey dream, Peter Pan, the Storyland boat. And maybe the only disappointing meal - Mexican food done very much in the "mess on a plate" style of ChiChis. We closed the park down at 8pm and started back home.

Bella had her first meltdown about not being able to buy something - we let her just cry it out... for 20 minutes... oh well! In general, she's holding up VERY well considering how much we're packing into these days. I wonder if us Adults are holding up as well...? One sleepy daddo signing off for the day.