Dreams Come True

Yesterday, Sunday, May 11, 2008, was both Mother’s Day and my Birthday. I had a great blast of a day, well…actually not just a day, it was two days. Yeah, this past weekend, Saturday and Sunday, we went to Disneyland and the California Adventure to celebrate Arman’s birthday, my birthday and Mother’s Day. Anyway, happy belated Mother’s Day to all mothers around the world.

We left Santa Monica around 9AM, then arrived at Residence Inn Marriott Anaheim a quarter to 10AM. After having a bad phone conversation with uninformative reservation staff the day before, I was a little bit nervous as how our experience at this hotel would turn out to be. It turned out to be…..GREAT! I love this hotel, it is unlike the common tall building hotel, it is more of like a condo type. We were given a very early check in (when the reservation staff actually told me that early check in wouldn’t be until 2PM), got all other stuff (extra towels, extra pillow, etc) that we requested when we book the room online. The room is very clean, completed with a kitchen (with full equipment such as coffee maker, toaster, microwave, oven, ice maker, plates, cups, bowls, utensils, medium size refrigerator and even detergent for dishwasher). The living room has a sofa that can be converted into a bed, it was where Andrew slept. See the picture below or visit their website for more pictures.

After checking into the hotel, we went back to the hotel lobby and got ourselves tickets for the shuttle. The shuttle takes us directly to the theme park entrance. The cost of the whole day ticket is only $3/adult, children under 3 is free of charge. Compare to paying $12/day to park at Disneyland’s parking lot, we have saved $12 buy taking the shuttle. The shuttle comes every 20 minutes and Andrew enjoyed getting into the shuttle.

With the ticket that we got, we can visit Disneyland on one day and then California Adventure the next day. Both with in and out privilege, just be sure that you get your hand stamped before leaving the park. You will need to show it when you enter again. As we entered Disneyland, we immediately walked all the way to Mickey’s house first. Below is the picture taken at both Mickey and Minnie Mouse’s House. You can see a picture of Andrew sitting with Daddy in Mickey’s living room, sleeping on Minnie’s bed, playing with Mickey’s miniature car, sitting on Mickey’s chair, driving Mickey’s car with Mommy, playing Minnie’s computer, making a wish at the well, sitting in Minnie’s kitchen and opening Minnie’s fridge that is full of cheese.

We then went to the Princess Fantasy Faire, waiting in a long line to take picture with the Princesses. Unfortunately, Cinderella wasn’t available at that time. We ended up taking picture with Princess Belle and Princess Jasmine. The pictures with Snow White were taken at California Adventure. Andrew loves taking pictures with the Princesses and even gave them big hugs (Well, they are very pretty, who wouldn’t want to give them big hugs). Unexpectedly, he was scared of Mickey Mouse.

From all of the rides at Disneyland, Andrew loves the King Arthur Carrousel the best. He was first accompanied by me, but then the next round he was ready to ride the horse himself.

At Disneyland around 9:25PM, they have fireworks. It was so amazing and it felt like we were seeing millions of bright lights in the sky. They even have Tinker Bell flying over the sky back and forth. It was really amazing. Arman tried to capture the moments but it didn’t turn out as good as we expected, so I didn’t include the picture here.

The next day, Sunday, May 11, 2008, we visited the California Adventure. Although, we didn’t enjoy it as much as we did with Disneyland, California Adventure offers its own attractions. The photos of the C A L I F O R N I A word were taken in front of the park, just right before the entrance. Inside the park, there is an ice cream place inside of a train. See picture below.

We waited until 5.15PM to see the Pixar Parade and I have to say it was worth the wait. The Pixar Parade was great, I tried to capture all of the characters and here they are as shown on the picture below.

I felt so tired that I decided to sit on Andrew’s stroller. You can borrow strollers and wheelchairs at both parks. Amazingly, the stroller is strong enough to carry me in it. See pictures below on how Andrew tried to push me on a stroller.

Overall, we had a wonderful time and will certainly looking forward to our future trip there. To see more pictures in slide show version, please click here! It is written in Indonesian, but you can still enjoy the pictures.