Day 4- back to Disneyland

We headed back to Disneyland and were the first in line at opening again. However, today was an early entry day for those with Magic Morning passes (we already used ours) so we had to watch as what seemed like tons of people streaming through the gates. We wondered how this would affect our Ride Max schedule but we found it was right on the mark. We were in front again for the rope drop and were amazed that Magic Morning people were just barely getting there and wasting their whole extra hour in the park. At the rope drop the happy song "Time of Your Life..." played and we waved to the cast members wearing their big puffy Mickey Mouse glove. It just felt so fun and exciting and magical, not like what we experienced at California Adventure.
We were on our way to beat the rush to Peter Pan when all of a sudden my flip flop didn't feel right. I looked down and the middle strap between the toes had pulled through the rubber so there was nothing holding it secure to my foot! I just picked it up and speed walked with one shoe on to get to the line. While we waited for the our ride I tried to figure out how to fix it but there was no way. I didn't want to spend $9.95 for cheap Mickey Mouse flip flops that I would never wear again so I figured out I could walk with one shoe off to the ride and when it came time to board I would slip it on and shuffle. I did this all morning for 4 1/2 hours until we went back to the hotel. Needless to say my foot was pretty gross and needed a good soaking in the tub.
All week our kids never asked or begged for anything. I started to feel bad we hadn't bought them a single thing other than basic lunch and dinner so I got suckers for each of them. They were the unicorn pops that twisted around the stick. They went to town and had stickiness all over their hands, faces and shirts but they were super cute!




We spent the morning riding all our favorites like Peter Pan and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad before the lines were too crazy. We were all exhausted so we went back to our room and everyone slept for 3 hours again. I wish James would take naps like this regularly! At 4pm we headed back to the park and were told Disneyland would be closing at 9pm to accommodate a Graduation Night event. What a bummer to have our last night close early! I was hoping to take advantage of the crowd watching the Fantasmic show and leaving the ride lines shorter. We still rode all of our favorite rides thanks to the Fast Passes I would collect while James and Jeff rode things I couldn't. We even rode the little rides we previously skipped like the Storybook Canal boats, which were actually pretty cool at night. I was surprised at how much I liked the little kid rides like Casey Jones train since I rode them a lot with Harrison while we waited for Jeff and James on the bigger rides.
We got out of Buzz Light year and had time for one more ride so we waited for the Astro Orbiter in Tomorrowland. The fireworks started and from where we were we had a great view of the castle and saw Dumbo and Tinkerbell fly across the sky. James really loved the fireworks and was so animated talking about it. We were the last group to ride the flying spaceships and it was neat to be up high and see the lights of Disneyland at night. We were even lucky to catch a random light show at the nearby grotto area where the Tinkerbell meet and greet is held. Different colored lights came on and off to music and even the trees lit up in twinkling patterns. Disney just has a way of adding a special touch to everything and those who happen to catch them feel extra special too.
It was a great conclusion to our last full day at the park. We rushed back to the hotel and threw the kids in the tub for record fast baths. I was tempted to just put them in bed but Harrison had matted ketchup in his hair from lunch and I knew we wouldn't have time in the morning. You know your kids are tired when they immediately go get in their beds on their own after their pajamas are on!
These are the Mickey Mouse pajamas I made them as a Disneyland surprise.