Disneyland - Day 4

This morning we went to the Grand Californian Hotel for breakfast with Chip n' Dale. Ariel was eager to get going, can't have her waiting for food thats for sure.

So far from what I have seen, that has to be the most amazing hotel. Its stunning, simply something that words and pictures can't explain. The huge open spaces, the attention to detail in the decor, it just is beautiful. I hope someday in the future we can stay there, save our pennies I guess. Haha.

The breakfast was super yummy (Ariel did some serious chowing down this morning)and the characters here were so fun. It was the critter party, so Chip n Dale of course, along with characters from Brother Bear, Tarzan and Pocahontas. Ariel really liked this one, not sure if it was because they were all animals, but she insisted on trying to feed and pet all of them. Big doggies I guess. Here are all her new friends...

Dale

Chip

Turk

Koda

Meeko

After breakfast we headed to the park. Its kinda weird because we keep thinking we should be already home, its such a long trip and I must say, its awesome. We are getting to take our time with everything, not rushing, go with the flow etc. Its great knowing if we are too tired to do something it can wait till the next day. So we started with Ariel's favorites thus far, a whirl on the carousel...


...and a flight on Dumbo (or Dimbo as she calls it).


As you can see Ariel was in her Cinderella dress at this point, as we heading over to the Princess Fantasy Fair once it started. It was really cute, starting off with waiting to have your picture taken with 3 princesses, but it was surprise who it would be. When you turn each corner you are surprised each time. We got to see Ariel again, which our Ariel was SUPER excited about. Then Aurora was next and finally the last one was Mulan! That was totally cool since we hadn't seen her. Gotta love the tough princess! Ariel was putting on her 'tough' look. Haha.


After the photos, we headed to the big stage and dance floor. They then introduce three more princesses that come out and all the kids get to learn a dance with them. I must say it was pretty cute. Pretty funny watching the poor dads trying to learn the dance too.


One of the maidens who help out at the faire, took a real liking to Ariel and stayed with her out out on the dance floor. She tried helping her learn the dance and would tell her about the princesses as they came out. Such a sweetheart, and I must mention that today we got the honor of encountering many super sweet cast members.


They then bring out a maypole so the kids can take a ribbon and prance around. The princesses come down and join with them. Jasmine was at our pole, and Ariel was spellbound with her. I must say its a little girls dream come true with the whole set up. Outside they even have the 'beauty parlor' where girls can get all dressed up and get hair and makeup done too, for a price of course. I should have looked for the shock value (I did see the gowns were $79 each - nothing close to what I spent to make both the Cinderella and Tink costumes for Ariel, thank goodness I can sew!) Ariel was ready to get going, she was ready for more rides and it was getting too hot for her gown, so I changed her into cooler clothes.

On our way down to find some rides, we ran into Woody...

...and Jessie!

Up in Critter Country we found Winnie the Pooh...

...Eeyore...

...and Ariel's favorite Tigger! She just wanted to keep hugging him.


We followed it up with a few more rides and then decided to head over to the California Adventure side for lunch. As we entered, we ran into some photopass photographers. We took our pictures with them and as we were leaving the one fellow gave Ariel her first pin! So sweet, a Stitch in an elvis outfit! We thanked him and headed off to find food. Had some yummy burgers and then went to the Bugs Life area to re-do some of Ariel's favorite rides...

...and watch the 3-D show. She really liked it, and the silly glasses.

Its too bad the Muppet one is closed, she would have really enjoyed that. Oh well, next time. We also managed to watch the full show of the 'Mickey Mouse Clubhouse', after our first attempt ended with technical issues. Ariel enjoyed the show, and Ken really liked the puppets.


It was a REALLY hot day, so Ariel took a drink break with her fancy High School Musical 2 cup.


Then we stuck around to watch the parade again. It was great since it was super hot and they spray you with water. Ahh, refreshing. Afterwards we walked back to Disneyland and Ariel fell asleep in her stroller. Ken then took off to go ride Indiana Jones and I went to get Ariel a cute present for her room. They had these neat artists paint your name in characters while you watch, so I got a princess one for her room. It has glitter too, so it really sparkles. Ken came back from the ride to see the finished product and was loving it as well, yay!

Then it was time for the parade again, and Ariel was awake, so we grabbed some grub and settled to watch the show. I took some video and I will upload it a some point, but I am too tired tonight. We ended the day with a trip on the train around the park, which was cool in the dark. We then walked back to the hotel for an evening swim at Ariel's request, and now we are resting up for our final day in the park tomorrow. Its kind of sad, but we have so much to look forward to and then we can't wait to get home to share all the other pictures and video we took with our friends and family. So I am off to sleep, see ya tomorrow!