Disneyland with Friends

We went to Disneyland today with some friends who got annual passes for Christmas. We weren't anticipating staying all day, but we did, and we had a great time! It's still Christmastime at Disneyland through the weekend, so we enjoyed the Christmas decorations one more time for this season.

Concentraing on her driving, while Mommy snaps pictures. Reindeer Pluto back at Reindeer Roundup Disneyland was busy. Hannah, Zach, and Alex don't go back to school until next week, while many others went back today. We weren't anticipating it to be so crowded, but still were able to have a good time. We headed over to California Adventure in search of lighter crowds, and while it was also crowded, it wasn't nearly as crowded as Disneyland.

The kids saw a Cast Member pin trading and when we asked him what he was doing, he taught the kids how to trade by giving them each a pin out of his pocket, and then showed them the ropes of trading, and then they each got to pick the pin that they traded!!!! They were really excited about that. Hannah picked a Tinkerbell pin and the Cast Member showed her to tell how special the pin was...it had a little gold Mickey Head on the pin which means it was a Cast Member issued pin! These pins cannot be bought, only obtained by trading with a Cast Member! The kids had a blast exploring the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail, and going on the bumper cars in Flick's Fun Fair. We finished out our time in California Adventure by walking on Grizzley River Run, and thanks to Debi, we stayed dry for the most part because she purchased rain ponchos, which made it all the more fun when we rode the ride two times in a row without having to get off. We rode it one more time, and then disembarked before we were really sorry and really wet. Jessica rode the ride three additional times for a total of six!! She called it quits when her shoes got so wet, they were spongey. LOL. After going back and forth several times, we decided to head back into Disneyland to catch one final viewing (for us) and the first viewing for them of the Christmas fireworks and snow. A perfect way to end your day at Disneyland!