I did tons of research prior to our trip regarding rides, attendance, lines, hours, fast passes, etc etc etc. After compiling all the facts I concluded that Monday was the best day at Disneyland and Tuesday was the best day at California Adventure. 

We made our way through the super long lines at security and arrived at the entrances to the park. The girls quickly decided they didn’t care anything about any old research and they wanted to go to California Adventure first.  Done! I just wanted them to have fun and they were most excited about the California Adventure park. 

We really did our day up right. We started with The Little Mermaid ride. It was Ananbelle’s favorite when she was little and is still a family hit. We took advantage of all the fast passes and were able to ride everything we wanted. Our favorite was the Lightning McQueen racers. It was a 2 hour wait but we stood in line for about 15 minutes with our fast passes. It was a lot of fun! 

We rode the Goofy Sky School ride 9 times and the Little Mermaid ride 11 times! We ate corn dogs and Mickey Mouse shaped pretzels. We were there when the park opened and we were actually on the Little Mermaid ride when the park closed. We watched the parade and enjoyed the fire works from Disneyland on our walk back to the hotel. 

It was really a great day! I couldn’t have asked for better with my little ladies. 

First stop Little Mermaid ride

Corn dog break

We went on just one ride in a bug’s land and quickly realized the girls have outgrown it. We still had fun walking through – it’s a cute part of the park. 

I tell ya, it truly is the most magical place on earth!!

Caught a little parade of Cars through Cars land. 

Found the new Coco exhibit. We are big fans of that movie. 

We took a little self guided tour in the animation studio. They had a fun game that you answered a few questions about your personality and they told you what Disney character you are. We had so, so much fun with it and were cracking up with our results. Annabelle is Tinkerbell, Gwyneth is Belle and I’m Ursula! So very accurate.  ha!

We got back to the hotel and fell right into bed. Full hearts and sore feet! 

Today was our last day all together in California. B had to head back for work and the girls and I decided to do a quick few days at Disney. This worked out surprisingly well, because I could work from the hotel at night and had a few extra days and well, B doesn’t really like Disney. 

We all grabbed lunch at the Auld Dubliner in Long Beach before dropping B off at the Long Beach airport. Whenever flying in to LA in the future we are definitely going to be using the Long Beach airport. 10 minutes after we dropped him off we received a text from B that he was comfortably sitting at his gate waiting for his plane. Added bonus that there was no traffic getting him there. All around great airport find. 

It was around 2 pm when we got to Anaheim and got checked in to our hotel. In the past I have sworn I would never stay off site again, but I found a pretty amazing deal just blocks from the entrance. The hotel was only $89 a night and a few minutes of walking to the park. We couldn’t really beat that deal especially since we spent so very little time in our hotel room each day. 

I also skipped the hopper passes for the parks. We’ve always enjoyed that but with only 2 days at the park I decided to just buy a 2 day 1-park pass and focus on one park each day. That saved us well over $100 each day too. I’m tellin’ ya, it’s like Disney is paying me to play there (insert incredibly dramatic eyeroll here!). 

Our first afternoon/evening we didn’t go to the parks but spent our time exploring Downtown Disney. I expected to go for about two hours and grab dinner and then head back to our hotel for a goodnight sleep before our big day at the park tomorrow. The girls absolutely loved Downtown Disney and we ended up spending about 6 hours there! There was a lot to see and do and they were definitely getting in the Disney spirit. 

We stopped for an afternoon snack at Tortilla Joe’s and enjoyed some guacamole and smoothies. 

Next stop was the Lego store. The girls picked out tons of kits they want to purchase when they get home. They are big time into legos right now. 

We stopped for just a smell of the sweet treats at the Sprinkles store. 

The girls had their eyes on some Disney treats at Marceline’s Confectionery. Annabelle got a rice crispy treat and Gwyneth got a cake pop. They both had their eyes on some caramel apples that are sold in the park only…so they are pretty excited for those. 

I had offered to buy them ears for our stay as a souvenir and they used their own money to buy stuffed animals. I thought it was kind of silly, but they sure do love those things. I think they may be appreciated even more because they used their very own money for them. 

Seriously, these girls just make me happy!

We got one of the last reservations of the night for a Character Dining experience at the Disneyland Hotel. We didn’t plan on doing any of these in the park so it was a fun little indulgence. Let me tell ya one little hang up…kids are priced 10 and up at Disney. Annabelle’s meal went from around $20 to about $45. That’s a whole lotta nonsense right there because everyone knows our little G can eat her weight at a buffet and Annabelle has way more discriminating tastes. That was truly my only (pricey) annoyance for the day and you gotta be prepared for Disney pricing. 

The girls left downtown Disney with full tummies and happy hearts. Our walk back to the hotel wasn’t bad at all, but we were all worn out and ready for a big day in the parks tomorrow!

After several hours in traffic we made it down to Redondo Beach. We stopped for dinner at Redondo Beach Brewery on our way into town; even before stopping at our hotel. We were all a pretty tired and hungry crew. 

The brewery was one of our favorites when we lived there, but we were so very young with very limited means and we couldn’t go very often. It was such a treat to be back in this little beach town where we once lived….although it feels like that was a lifetime ago. 

We stayed at the Shade hotel right on the harbor and woke up to stunning views. 

We threw on our walking shoes, or should I say flip flops and hit the pier. We walked for over 7 miles today and most of it right along the beach. It was mostly cool, a little warmer in the afternoon, sunny, and splendid. 

I love all the seafood stands on the pier. 

The girls indulged in a bottle of coke with real cane sugar. Vacation is the best!

Just sittin’, watchin’ the waves, ships and…

Dolphins!!

The dolphins were most definitely the highlight of Gwyneth’s day. She was in awe. Her eyes lit up and she was one happy little lady. 

I love this photo. It really sums up our day. Just strollin ‘along this peaceful little beach town. B still has so much love for Redondo. I know he would be pretty thrilled to have a little place there again someday. What a gift to share it with his girls.

Annabelle was a happy gal when she got to kick off those shoes and feel the sand between her toes. She’s a beachy kind of girl and loved those crashing waves.

They look just miserable, don’t they?!?! Ha!

Precious memory

That water was COLD! 

We met our friends, Kevin and Susan for dinner this evening. It had been at least 6 years since we had last seen them and I’m not sure the girls really remembered. It was so wonderful to catch up with them and hear about their exciting travels and adventures. 

We had dinner at a new restaurant in town called Rock N Brews. Our table had 4 different taps and we could pour our own beers. Oh man, is that a great concept and so much trouble! I loved every single minute…and every single beer! 😉