During the hotel renovations a few years ago, they ended up knocking down the bungalows that were used as bridal dressing rooms. And they also relocated the Rose Garden, so it took us a few minutes to find it. The entrances to the Rose Garden have these signs. They were starting to set up for a wedding later in the day. As soon as I saw this, the memories all came back.
These signs warn guests that a wedding is taking place. CMs also stand there to make sure no one interrupts the wedding.
This would have been the path that Alex would take to get to the Gazebo.
Recreating our scene from 19 years ago.
We haven't changed a bit, right?
I love that we took the time to do this. It brought back so many happy memories of our special day, and we were able to share it with our sons.
With our stroll down memory lane out of the way, it was time to get to California Adventure. We arrived about 20 minutes before early entry, so we were not that far back in line. Getting to California Adventure is so important, because it means that you are ahead of the crowd trying to get on Radiator Springs Racers. I think Disney did an excellent job controlling the crowd in the morning. CMs actually walk the rope all the way to the entrance to the ride. There is no running and pushing to get to the ride. We walked on the right side of the walkway, and that worked like a charm. The ride is on the right side, so we were perfectly lined up when we got to the entrance.
I attempted to take some pictures during the ride.
It was fun, but we lost again.
Cars Land was so awesome, we wanted to soak it all in one last time.
We decided to have breakfast at Flo's V8 Cafe.
How about this view for breakfast?
Before leaving Cars Land, we wanted to get another Photopass picture.
Then we took some pictures with my own camera.
We headed over to Toy Story Mania. The park was so empty, we decided to use our own camera for some nice shots at the boardwalk.
Disney has some great photo ops for the 60th anniversary. This was one of them.
Grrrrrr!
We rode Little Mermaid one last time, then decided to go over to Disneyland. It also had early entry, so I was expecting a crowd, but it actually wasn't too bad.
A not too crowded Main Street.
Loving the 60th Anniversary castle!
We treated this day as a best of, and let the kids pick their favorites. We rode Indy, Haunted Mansion, Pirates, Big Thunder Mountain, Star Tours. Alice in Wonderland was closed, or we would have went on that again.
Good bye, Hat Box Ghost!
Short arms make selfies a challenge, but I got us all in the shot!
We decided to do the Sleeping Beauty Castle walk through exhibit.
On our way out, performers and characters were approaching the castle to do a performance.
By that time, it was starting to get late, so we decided to start heading out. We had a flight the next morning, so wanted to make sure we had time to spend with family in the evening. On our way out, I took more pictures.
And one last photopass picture.
Before heading back, we ran over to California Adventure. We wanted to end the vacation on our favorite ride, Radiator Springs Racers. We had a fast pass, so we didn't have to wait in the long line. It was 90 minutes long by that time! We saved the best for last, and finally won a race!
Just a heads up if you get Luigi's side of the ride, there will be a perfect opportunity to take a picture of your car when they open up the curtain.
Goodbye, Carsland!
On our way to the hotel, the kids decided to make remote control cars at Ride Makerz
On our way back to the hotel, the kids decided to make their own remote control cars at RideMakerz. It's like build a bear, except you are building remote control cars. Nik designed a Spider-Man car, and Noah designed a Hulk car. Be warned, this ended up being a pricey activity. They will tell you that the car is $39, but that doesn't include a remote, special tires, rims, etc. When all was said and done, we spent $150 on 2 cars, and that was using a coupon!
It was such a great trip! So many of my happy childhood memories are from Disneyland, and that continued all the way until we moved away from California 7 years ago. We can't wait to go back for another visit!
