Wednesday, August 14, 2013

California Dreamin': Trump National

Just down the street from our house here in California is a real treasure:  Trump National.  Sure, it's a golf course built by a billionaire but they did something right when they built this course. They built a public park with hiking trails and beach access. It.is.stunning.   Here, let me give you a peek..

(all pictures are straight out of my iPhone)

flying the kites up above the beach



walking down to the beach

I love how the light changes from each angle I snapped a picture


ran into this guy on the way down






found this gorgeous, blue starfish in the tide pools.

magical.



as you can see by their expressions, the kids were delighted.





See, isn't it magical?  Make sure to come visit us, OK?  This place is waiting!

Thursday, August 8, 2013

California Adventure

A perk of Disneyland, again, in my opinion, is that the other Disney park, California Adventure, is a simple walk across the way. No monorail, tram, boat, bus or car rides necessary!  It is very easy to go back and forth between the two parks in a matter of minutes!  No stroller folding necessary!

We made our way over to California Adventure around 12:30p, for we had Fast Passes to the coveted Radiator Springs Racers from 1:30-2:30.   Just a tip, you MUST get your fast pass to this ride prior to 9am or chances are, they will be gone for the day. Without a fast pass, the regular line is typically 90 minutes!  If you go to get a fast pass, the fast pass distribution is not located near the ride!  Tricky!  It's located in Bug's Life Land.  Mike learned this the hard way as I did not do any research about it!  He got a good workout in at 8am running all over California Adventure!




They did an amazing job portraying Radiator Springs.  Wow, you really feel like you are walking around in the movie!  It looks fantastic at night too!  I read that at "dusk" you can watch Radiator Springs light up but we missed it, we will for sure check that out on another visit!

Back to the Radiator Springs Racers....Macy, unfortunately, was too short for this ride so we used the Rider Switch Program which worked out well, especially for Brady and Lucy, for they got to ride the ride twice! 

I snapped some pictures while on the ride, they are a bit blurry but it will give a idea!







The animatronics are unbelievable!  The kids were in awe!  And so was I!


 Here is a picture of the picture they took on the ride! 
 

I took these when we were exiting the ride.  This is the race portion of the ride. 


Isn't it cool?!

 

This ride definitely outdid all the hype.  It really was pretty incredible. 
 
After all that excitement, we split up to look for Sofia the First and then for on some rides in A Bug's Land, while Mike and Brady went to ride California Screamin' and Tower of Terror. 
 
These are on  Flik's Flyers.  The girls loved this ride so much, unfortunately, it's a super short ride!
 



Macy wanted to play in the fountains.  Sure!  Why not?



After a quick wardrobe change, we headed back to Cars Land to ride Mater's Junkyard Jamboree which was tons of fun.   We laughed so much!

And then King Triton's Carousel! 


Which makes Macy the happiest. Horse, fish, seal - doesn't matter, a carousel is her thing.



And the longest wait of the day, the Toy Story Midway Mania...wow, we waited a long time.  But the kids loved the ride so that's all that matters. 




Our season passes are blacked out now until August 19th but you can bet we'll be there that day, ready to enjoy more magical moments.  See ya real soon, Mickey!

Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Disneyland: all the rest

What I enjoy about Disneyland is that it is the only Disney park that was truly Walt's park. The park that Walt built! 
 
 The first ride we did was Dumbo, if you are planning a trip to either Disneyland or Magic Kingdom, the "experts" will tell you to run to Dumbo and check it off your list right when the park opens, otherwise you will wait in line FOR.EVER to ride this 90 sec. ride. We hopped right on the ride.

4 out of 5 of us were having a great time.


Macy, not so much.  Dumbo was not her idea of a good time.  She wanted to ride the carousel first!



So that's what we did next, King Arthur's Carousel, where everyone was all smiles.



Especially this little one, who lives for a carousel ride.










That's all I've got for the Disneyland portion of our day....tomorrow: California Adventures!

Enjoy your Wednesday.

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