day four. california adventure + downtown disney.

On the fourth day of our vacation, we went to California Adventure. 

This was both mine and Ammon's first time there.

From the day before, we thought we were pros at getting Fastpasses. We knew exactly what to do when it came to the famous Cars ride everyone had told us about. Or so we thought...

Using a map, we took the back way to the Cars Fastpass line, thinking we could get there before everybody else. Okay, we knew that there would be a line, but we had no idea just how long the line would be!

When we got there, we were shocked to see a huge stream of anxious faces that seemed to wrap around the entire park. Taking the back way was not the best idea because it put us at the front of the line, but we needed to find the end of the line! 

Ammon and I briskly walked parallel to the line, hoping that we'd eventually see the ending. Finally, after a minute or so, we found the end of the line.  We were positive we found it because there was a guy standing in the back holding a sign that read, "Cars Fastpass end of line." Dude! People are crazy about that ride! I couldn't help but think, this ride better be awesome!

While we were in line, we came up with a plan. I really wanted to go on Tower of Terror, but Ammon really did not want to go on that ride. (Ammon hates rides with drops.) Ammon stayed in line to get us Fastpasses while I scurried over to the Tower of Terror.

I was a little anxious to ride it (mostly because I was by myself and I had never been on the ride) but I was also really excited. When I got on the ride, I sat by some memorable people. The first thing the guy on my right said was, "last time I was on this ride I puked." I didn't believe him (mostly because I didn't want to) and it turned into a running joke. The couple on my left was really nice. It was their first time too. 

Tower of Terror was pretty frightening but I loved it! 

The first thing I said to Ammon when we met up again was, "Do NOT go on that ride. You will hate it." 

He really would have. That thing drops you like no ones business.

Me on the tower of terror WITHOUT AMMON!

This ride was way cool.

Before going on the cars ride, we went and explored Cars Land.

In line for the Cars ride. Thank goodness we had a Fastpass!

We rode on Lightening McQueen! 

The Cars ride was pretty awesome! We weren't disappointed.

We found Flik!

The Alladin play was very well done! Genie was hands-down the best part. 

The Lego store in Downtown Disney

It's the guy off the Lego movie! 

This one was my favorite

More buttons! We really were celebrating all those things. 

Toward the end of the night, we snagged a spot for World of Color up on the bridge.

Waiting for World of Color to start. (We were there an hour and a half early)

Still waiting

Yup, still waiting.

Haha! Trying out the fish mode on my new camera.

Officially ready to watch the show. (I only wear my glasses for special occasions.)

Yay! It finally started!

The wait was long, but it was totally worth it! 

I took a few videos during the performance and you can hear Ammon and I oohing and awwing the whole time. We laugh at it now, but we did it for a reason!

day three. disneyland!!

On the morning of Disneyland, we woke up super early and got some breakfast at our hotel.

We weren't too impressed with the selection. The waffle line was swarmed with little kids and everything else just tasted so-so. But who can complain when your hotel is only ONE BLOCK away from the happiest place on earth!

When we got to Disneyland, we were able to get in an hour early with our magic morning passes. 

Once inside the park, we had no idea what to do. Everyone told us to get fastpasses, but we weren't exactly sure how to go about that. Plus we didn't know where any of the rides were.

We followed the crowds and landed ourselves confused in Fantasyland. Luckily we saw a Disneyland staff member who looked like he could help us. He was older and had a cowboy hat on.

me-Sorry to bother you, but where can we get a map?

disneyland staff member-A map! What's your name?!

me-uh... Leah.

disneyland staff member-Leah!! Oh wonderful! And where are you from?

Leah-Utah

dsm-That is just perfect because this morning I woke up and thought to myself, I'm going to pack an extra map with me just in case a Leah from Utah needs one. Here you go. (Hands map to us)

Leah-Thank you! It's our first time here so we're new to this.

dsm-Wait a minute. Did you say it's your first time here?

Leah-Well sort of. It's his first time. (I pointed to Ammon)

dsm- Stay right here. I'm going to grab you some buttons.

We watched as he jogged away to grab us some buttons. (We had heard about these buttons and were quite excited to get some!) Meanwhile, we looked at the map to make our next move. We decided we would get in line for a ride that was open and then once the park officially opened, get Fastpasses for Indiana Jones. After the super nice Disneyland staff member came back with our buttons, he gave us some more helpful hints and advice and then we were off! 

The first ride we rode together was the Matterhorn.
Ammon was a little hesitant (he hates big drops) but it turned out to be a fun ride for both of us.

Jungle Cruise. I personally loved this ride! It was relaxing and entertaining.

Indiana Jones!
Look, no big line! (Not yet, anyway.)

haha!

The Indiana Jones ride was a blast! I loved going on it again and Ammon loved going on it for the first time.

We went in Tarzan's treehouse for a little.

Then splashmountain!
Ammon did NOT like this ride. I'm proud of him for going on it with me! (It's my favorite ride.)

Everyone told us that we HAD to try the pineapple ice cream. We ordered two floats and enjoyed every single bite.
They were right. :)

The Buzz Lightyear ride!

My score is on the left. :)

Haunted Mansion is a classic. :)

We found the Wreck It Ralph game!!

Star Tours

Ammon was hesitant to go on this one (me too because I remember thinking it was too shaky last time I went on it), but we both ended up loving it! It is officially Ammon's favorite ride.

My boss at Brick Oven insisted that me and Ammon try the Corndogs.  Seriously? How good could a corndog be?
OH MY GOODNESS! It was amazing!! It is the only thing in Disneyland we purchased more than once.
They're that good. :)

It's a Small World was closed. We were pretty bummed!

Toontown

Turkeyleg! 

We had to try a turkeyleg for two reasons. 

One: Look how big it is! 

and 

Two: we needed to copy the following picture:

That's one more thing to cross off on the marriage bucket list!

The turkeyleg was actually kind of gross to us. Just thinking about it makes me feel queasy. Oh well. I have no regrets getting the $10 hunk of meat. It filled us up and we got our pictures. 

We watched Mickey's Soundsational parade.
Even though we didn't have the best view, it was still worth it!
The music and costumes were so fun.

Getting in line for space mountain just before the park closed.
yeah... we were in line for an hour and a half
We played the guessing game to kill time.

haha!
I'd like to say that the reason my face looks so funny is because I knew exactly when the camera snapped.
The truth is I had no idea.
Instead of enjoying the ride like a normal person, I made this face the WHOLE ENTIRE RIDE.
But it was worth it! I crack up every time I see this.

Good night Disneyland. See you tomorrow!