all disneyland, all the time

we had quite the disneyland extravaganza last week as we enjoyed a full week of no school for the bean.  on monday, we had a mommy & me trip where we specifically tried to hit up attractions and rides that her sister doesn't particularly love doing.

although the first thing we did didn't really fall into that category, we had to hit it up because the wait time was too short to pass up.  we were actually on the ride in even less time than they were quoting:

we managed to catch "mickey and the magical map," my favorite disneyland show.

with her newfound courage for bigger, more exciting rides, i actually had to talk her into this one.

and we managed to score fastpasses for a show that the bean originally didn't like because she'd deemed it "too scary," but this time she was ready to see it again.

with it all dressed up for the 60th anniversary celebration, castle pics are a requirement.

the old lady would have been moaning and groaning at the next two shows we saw - the enchanted tiki room, which had me singing "in the tiki, tiki, tiki, tiki, tiki rooooom" for the rest of the day, and great moments with mr. lincoln.  this is inexplicably one of the bean's favorite things to watch, and since it lasts for a good 15 minutes i always end up using it as nap time.

because she hadn't gotten a new ears headband like her sister and i did, i took her next door to the mad hatter and let her pick out whatever she wanted.

despite the fact that we've already seen the movie, we decided to check out the extended sneak peek preview of "tomorrowland."

and then went across the way to see the exhibit of photos and props from the movie.

as we waited for "fantasmic" to start, we shared a traditional disneyland treat - again, something her sister can't stand:  a giant smoked turkey leg.  YUM.

it was a fun way to end our day.

the very next day, guess what we did?  yup - we headed to california adventure, this time with the old lady in tow.

first order of business?  a stop at the cozy cone to pick up bread cones filled with gooey, delicious bacon mac & cheese.

the two sisters made a deal:  if they went on the "jumping jellyfish" ride, the bean would try the silly symphony swings for the first time.  as you can see, the old lady is NOT a fan of the up-and-down motion of the jellyfish.

the bean ended up the clear winner of this deal, as she discovered that those swings are a pretty darn good time.  so much so that while her sister headed off for a potty break, she begged to ride it again - this time, solo.

time for another traditional disneyland treat!

and then another first for the bean - goofy's sky school, a fun little coaster that whips you around in crazy tight turns and surprises you with a couple of fairly steep drops that you don't see coming.  she loved it so much, we rode this twice too.

we took a turn on the silver bullet rocket ride, which was a lovely way to cool off.

fisherman's wharf.

next, we took her to redwood creek challenge trail, where she ran around and climbed and played and slid and swung to her heart's content.  i find it interesting how self-absorbed some folks are, as i side-eyed this woman who thought it was a great idea to spread out and take up an entire bench while lots of other folks (including us, dang it) ended up standing around as we waited for our kids to get their wiggles out.

photo op!

we grabbed bread bowls filled with broccoli cheese soup for dinner and watched the cast members gather into a huddle to hash out details and instructions for that evening's grad nite.  high school seniors were descending upon the parks to celebrate their graduations, and they get the place to themselves after midnight with a pop-up dance club on the pier.

despite two full days of disneyland madness, we were still left wanting more.  heh.  and that's the beauty of annual passes - we've got a whole year to go back as often as we want to ride to our heart's content.  i can't wait till our next trip!