disneyland monday, the spring break edition

so yes, the bean finally got to join me and the old lady on one of our "disney mondays" while she was on spring break.  we were excited to be able to go without any time constraints, since we usually have to rush outta there to get back home for one thing or another.  knowing that we wanted to stay for the main street electrical parade and fireworks, we didn't arrive till around noon.  it was pretty busy, but it was okay - we already knew we likely wouldn't ride too many rides that day.

we did go on autopia though - it had been recently renovated with new sponsorship by honda.  all of the cars had honda logos on them now.

from there, we headed over to see our favorite stage show, "mickey and the magical map."  we've seen this so many times that we know the order of the songs and even have some favorite performers.  i know i've mentioned this guy before, but he's my favorite because he looks just like my cousin, and this is my favorite trumpet guy.  ridiculous, i know.

i'd made a matching version of the top i did for the bean during that pattern testing, so i decided to recreate her modeling shot in front of the castle.

as we headed to the next thing, we caught a glimpse of one of the disneyland ducks and her babies crossing the street.

at the beauty and the beast themed "maurice's treats" kiosk, we grabbed a "grey stuff twist" with some grey stuff dipping sauce, plus the red rose lemonade freeze.  it was all very tasty.

the bean had received a "pick any snack you want at disneyland" coupon during her easter egg hunt, and she redeemed it at the gibson girl ice cream parlor on main street.  while she sat and ate it, we decided to wait for the parade and did a lot of peoplewatching.

this is "mickey's soundsational parade," which we hadn't stopped to watch in ages.

aladdin paused and blew a kiss in our direction, and i thought i was gonna bust a gut laughing at the old lady, who beamed and caught the kiss in her hand.

 whoops - one of the dancing princesses must've had a wardrobe malfunction.

when that was over, we headed over to adventureland for dinner.  we'd made a reservation at aladdin's oasis, where you can choose from a limited menu that will also get you a ticket to a special area for viewing the main street electrical parade.  definitely better than fighting for a spot with a bazillion other people.

i was pretty excited to see that our tickets were for the earlier parade at 8:30.  when we made the reservation, it said we would be seeing the 10:30 show, but maybe they had extra spots available.  score!

our meal included salad, entree and dessert plus a bottled beverage.  and the plastic flatware was nicer than that usually used throughout the park.

this was the lasagna entree:

and the kids' macaroni and cheese.

not long after that, it was time to head over to our special viewing area in fantasyland, up near small world.  you can see how insanely crowded the street already was, and this was an hour before showtime!

we found a spot that was a little elevated above the street behind this railing.

and this was our view once the parade began.

we stayed put for the fireworks, which would have started about a half hour later, but because of the winds that had kicked up earlier in the evening, they were cancelled.  boo.

still, it had been a pretty fun day and we were tired.  till next time, disneyland!