Daniel, Sara, Dmitri & Paige: Mitri & Fifi + Mickey {updated with a video & a few pics}

Alright, my giant post.

Oh... and Mitri and Fifi = Dmitri and Sophie.
Dmitri calls her Fifi... and she calls him either
Mitri or Depot. It's pretty adorable X}

So, Thursday we woke up early enough to be
some of the first people into the park. There
were even Disney people out, with giant Mickey
hands, giving us high fives. It was awesome.
Even more awesome, cool weather and a non
crowded park!

One of the ladies even saluted Dmitri and called
him space ranger, because of his shirt. I love Disney!!

Considering Dmitri's dislike of the costumed
folk at Universal... I went ahead and prepped
him for Mickey. All night and morning, I told
him "When you see Mickey, tell mommy."
And "Will you give Mickey a BIG hug for mommy?"
He, of course, responded with a "yes" "Hug Mickey,
yes." Good.

So upon entering Disneyland... and Main Street,
Dmitri yells "Mickey!" and takes off running.
I look to see where he's going, and sure enough,
he spots Mickey. Mickey was taking pics and
signing autographs.
Dmitri stopped, and stared in awe. Mickey.
Unfortunately we saw him as he was leaving,
so we had to say bye. Until later.
But I was pretty optimistic about him taking
pics with the characters.

Our first ride of the day, we chose the Nemo
submarine ride. I have been on the submarine
once, back when it was just the Submarine
Voyage. I had gone back, after Nemo opened,
but the line was always RIDICULOUS!! So,
it was the first on our list. And we only waited
about 15 minutes. Not too shabby!

It was pretty cool. Very tight inside, but I think
it's supposed to be that way. Dmitri switched
off sitting with Daniel, then me, then Daniel.
He seemed to enjoy it, once we were under the
water. He liked seeing all the 'fish' and 'creatures.'

He's never sat through Nemo {or even 15 minutes
of it - and neither have I. We're slackin' on our
Pixar movies...} So I don't really know if he got
what was going on - finding Nemo.
But the different lights and such kept him occupied.

After the submarine, we got some breakfast {in
which Dmitri rammed his stroller into a lady at the
table next us... he husband was nice about it, she
seemed slightly annoyed. Oop.}

After breakfast, we made our way over to Fantasyland,
and rode Dumbo. Daniel and I rode with Dmitri, and
Dmitri sat on Daniel's lap. Perfect for him, because
he could reach the up and down lever. Yes, he LOVED
Dumbo. He didn't want to leave... but we promised
him that there would be more rides.
And then we headed over to the carousel and rode that.
I got my own horse, and Daniel stood next to Dmitri's.
He wasn't keen on leaving that one either... He's ridden
on carousels before, but never ones that went up and
down like this one. Or not as high I mean. So he just
kept watching the horse go up.... then back down...

Our first day, Dmitri kept a very straight face
on all the rides. But I swear, he was LOVING
them!
In Fantasyland, we also rode Pinocchio. And
Dmitri saying Pinocchio is pretty adorable!
We, of course, rode the choo choo, aka Casey Jr.
Dmitri really liked this one. But he was bummed,
because his stirring wheel didn't actually stir
or move. Bummer.

And we couldn't leave Fantasyland, without
riding the Tea Cups!! I do enjoy them. I know
most people don't. But I think they're great!
Last time Daniel and I went, we got them spinning
pretty fast!

So for Dmitri's first time, he got stuck with the
boys... his face may have been a little green after
the ride ended... :}
Don't they look so innocent...

Yea right...

I rode with the girls; Jennie, Sophie and Sophie's
grandma! Sophie took a turn at the wheel :)

We left Fantasyland, and headed over to Toontown.
On our way, we saw that the small world ride was
closed... bummer. I do LOVE that one too!
{Dmitri had to wear a leash a couple times....:}

Toontown was of course, great for the kids! They
adored the cars... and had some scrabbles over
who got to drive... :}

We also saw Goofy there! Dmitri was not a fan of
waiting in line... he wanted to cut and hug Goofy!
But once he got up there, and saw how tall Goofy
was, he thought it best to stay with daddy.... and
give high fives from there :}

We then headed over to the character houses.
Minnie was just leaving, so we went to see Mickey's
house. Dmitri liked checking out Mickey's stuff,
especially his garden.

So after walking through Mickey's house, you
get to a big theater room, and stand in line to
see Mickey. The line wasn't super long, but
Dmitri was getting restless. I told him to keep
watching for the door to open. And when it did,
we'd get closer to seeing Mickey.
When it got to our turn, we were kind of rushed
through, and instead of just Dmitri, they had us
take one together. Meh. It was still cool for him
though.

After Mickey, we went to the Gadget roller
coaster. It was Dmitri's first roller coaster,
but he still had to be measured for it, because
you had to be over 35 inches.
Well... he hadn't cried on any of the rides, and
was totally cool seeing the characters. So who
would have thought that he would FLIP out over
being measured for the ride. Like F.L.I.P. out.
Screaming, shaking, the works. One of the girls
doing the ride, was so sweet. She tried talking
him down, and then offered to walk him to the
front, measure him there, and hopefully he'd
be distracted. It worked... and after all the work,
he was thankfully tall enough!

And he loved the ride! I just wish they stamped
his hand with an 'Okay, you're tall enough' stamp,
because he freaked out every time he had to be
measured... Oy.

After Gadget, we went to Goofy's house, where
there's a little play area, and let the kids run
around. They loved the slide... and I made Dmitri
climb in a punky, for a picture. He of course
obliged :}

After Toontown, we headed over to the Matterhorn.
When we found out the kids were tall enough to
ride, how could we not take them?!

Dmitri freaked out being measured... and Daniel was
trying to distract him. The guy doing the measuring
got annoyed, but whateves... Dmitri passed. Again,
hand stamp please??
The line wasn't long... but the kids still got restless..

Dmitri rode with Daniel, and I rode in the car behind
them. I didn't hear any crying from Dmitri... so he
seemed fine with the dark, and loud noises. Daniel
said he seemed to like it.

The last thing we saw on this side of the park, was
the castle!
Okay... so I remember going into the castle, and
seeing the Sleeping Beauty scenes and all that. I
think I was 9 the last time I went in. But all my
friends I went with after that... had NO IDEA what
I was talking about! So I thought maybe I just
imagined it... or got it confused with something else.
Well... happy to say I was right!! I guess it had just
been closed every other time {and I seriously would
search for the entrance}. I was so happy - and I
loved it!

Check out the witch in the window... she used
to send shivers down my spine when I was little
{she comes and goes} but I couldn't help but
stare up in the window everytime.

So we made our way over to the other side
of the park {Frontierland, Adventureland
and New Orleans Square} and had lunch.

But on our way there, we stopped to ride on
Pirates of the Caribbean!

Always a favorite. Dmitri sat between Mike
and Daniel, and I sat next to Daniel.
The whole ride, Dmitri just sat there, stairing,
with his sippy cup in his mouth, and his hand
on Daniel's leg. Just stairing... :}

So if he like it, or not... he was at least a good sport
about it.

In New Orleans Square, they have THE BEST
clam chowder. The best! And at $8.99 for a
bread bowl full... how can you go wrong? I've
since found out that when you head towards
Frontierland, there's a place that has bread
bowls full of broccoli cheddar soup, also for
$8.99. I will be checking it out next time!
Look for this guy... they sell it there :}

Sophie's grandma {Debbie} was so nice, and
got both kids a souvenir! Sophie got a princess
Minnie, and Dmitri a pirate Mickey.
Both kids insisted Mickey and Minnie went to
us to Disneyland, each day.

After lunch, we headed over to the Haunted Mansion.
It was done up with The Nightmare Before Christmas.
Always enjoyable!

Dmitri liked all the pumpkins outside of the house.
During the ride, he was between Daniel and I, and
was a little too short - so he missed seeing some
stuff, but he loved all the colors and songs.
I always love the room where the ghosts are dining
and dancing! Also, the graveyard near the end, that's
covered in snow!
It's too dark in there, so this was the only picture I
got. Spooky... ;)

After Disney, we rode the train to the entrance.
I don't remember riding the train... though I'm sure
I have at some point.
Dmitri LOVED it! Of course.

I've been to California Adventures twice, I think.
Daniel has never been, so I was excited he got to
go!
Us, in front of the 'F' this might be on our Christmas
card ;)

On our way in, we saw Handy Manny!
I think Dmitri was a little confused... he's
so much bigger than on tv :}

We also went on The Monsters Inc ride, twice.
The first time, Dmitri rode with us, then he
rode with Mike and Jennie.
{Sophie was napping}

When we got out, Sully was taking pics! And so
Dmitri got to see him, and even play peek a boo with
him! So fun!!

I didn't get to many pictures, because we were
trying to get Dmitri to sleep. A chore in itself. He
gets so tired and cranky... but will not give up! He
finally did though... thank goodness!

So the first day there, we rode the Tower of Terror.
It's fantastic! I absolutely love it!
The parent swap pass came in handy for that ride!

We also went on Soaring Over California. Which I
totally love too! Daniel got totally into it, because
when the golf ball was hit towards us, he totally
dodged it X}
No water rides that day... too cold!

I adore this picture of Mike and Sophie!

While Mike and Jennie were in Soaring Over
California, Sophie and I caught the tail end of
the Pixar parade. We at least got to see Mader
and Lightening.

After CA Adventures, we went back to Disneyland
and watched the Celebrate parade! We got the
perfect spot... right behind the garbage cans, so no
one could be in front of us, and the kids could sit or
stand on the cans.
It was such a fun parade! Dmitri got a little over-
whelmed with all the noise and people cheering,
so Daniel ended up holding him.