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One advantage to hosting a party or event at Disneyland is that you do get discounts to stay on property. So, of course, we took full advantage and stayed at the Disneyland Hotel. They did already have the Halloween decorations out and Oogie Boogie Bash was already going as well. More on that in a bit.
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We started off Friday morning with breakfast at Goofy’s Kitchen.
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Yes, Goofy has become my wife’s favorite character. Potato… land! If you don’t get that reference, I suggest you go watch this episode https://disney.fandom.com/wiki/Potatoland over on Disney+.
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Nothing like a Goofy hug to make everything right with the world.
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Just getting in some Pluto time.
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Ch-ch-ch-chip and…
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Dale!
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This is one of my favorite pics from the entire weekend. 15-year-old kiddo asked about an autograph book while we were eating breakfast. So I went on the hunt and found one for her and it led to this moment. She dropped the book when trying to get Dale to sign it and apparently it landed on her funny bone because she could not stop laughing. It was great.
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We went looking for where the party was going to be after breakfast, and little did we know, it was directly above Goofy’s Kitchen.
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Shortly after breakfast, the preparation began.
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This was the first big surprise. Only Mayra, me, and a couple of other people knew we were going to have the full carriage experience for Arianna.
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This whole experience was worth everything that we put into it.
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And yes, of course, we had to get a shot with the glass slipper. Which, by the way, if that slipper fit Cinderella so perfectly, how did it fall off in the first place?
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Mother-daughter dance time. And yes, you will notice there is A LOT missing from the actual party regarding what I have, but that’s mostly because I was trying to be in the moment. I did get some pictures, but we were also paying a bunch of money to a professional to take photos for us. I’ll get those pics up in a different post, including the video.
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One of the other big surprises we had was a visit from Mickey.
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And everyone got to go get their picture taken with the mouse.
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Nothing like kids exploring and making new friends.
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The struggle was real here for my nephew Lalito. He really, really wanted that ice cream but he was so tired. Also, quick side note, we bought a TON of snacks for the end of the party as well, but we now realize it was probably too much. At Disney, you have a minimum to spend on food. We ended up spending “down” on the meal, which was really good chicken, so we could afford snacks at the end. We had ice cream bars, Mickey pretzels, and elote. We ended up with a lot of leftovers for the snacks. So, word to the wise, if you’re in a similar situation, spend up on the main meal and don’t go so big on the snacks.
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Father/daughter time as the party was winding down.
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You want the life of the party? Right here. My mom.
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Or maybe the life of the party is my father-in-law?
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Or perhaps my sister getting dragged out to the dance floor?
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The full main table with my beautiful wife (and this isn’t even my favorite picture of this)….
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This one is because I got her full on laughing. I don’t know about you, but posed pictures are fine, but I prefer a true reaction.
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Okay, Friday is over… time for the parks!
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Went to take a picture of my wife and her sister and got Lalito doing kid things….
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One of my absolute favorite pics from the entire weekend. The car ahead of me is my niece Zoe and two in front is Lalito.
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Then came the most difficult picture of the entire weekend to get. The family photo in front of the castle. Worth it.
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This is another one of my absolute favorite pictures from the entire trip. My mom’s first time riding Rise of the Resistance. I think this is exactly what the Imagineers think of when they’re designing things. Truly immersing someone in a completely different world. And this is the look of pure enjoyment, shock, and amazement all in one.
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Every Disney trip I have an image of these two like this. First trip was tiny little 6-year-old Arianna holding her mom’s hand. Now? You can hardly tell the two apart.
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Potato… LAND!
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This kid right here deserves all the credit in the world. When they had previously gone to Disneyland and rode Mickey’s Runaway Railway, the tornado scene terrified him. Truly traumatic. There was a time when he was in the car when his mom (my sister-in-law) was picking up Arianna from school. Arianna’s school mascot is the tornadoes. When Lalito saw the image of a tornado outside the school, he was not a happy camper.
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But, he was able to do the ride. And he was confident too. Leading up to the trip he was talking about how he was going to do that ride. And he did it and loved it.
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Everyone has to get this picture, right?
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And yes, this is recreated from a previous trip when Arianna was 6 years old. I’ll post that comparison clip soon.
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They have done an incredible job incorporating Marvel into the parks.
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Nothing like running into Dr. Strange.
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Oh, this is already Saturday by the way when we started our day over in California Adventure. Arianna was being a bit of a grumpy Gus this morning so when we hopped on Luigi’s Honkin’ Haul-O-Ween, I had a heart-to-heart with her trying to figure out what was going on. Well, she had set this trip as the first time she was going to ride the Incredicoaster. But in the morning she wasn’t feeling very confident. You know how that is, right? I get it all the time. You’re maybe a little groggy, not quite feeling as strong mentally or emotionally as you should be. So she was beating herself up already about something that wasn’t even happening. So I just tried to remind her that she doesn’t have to. But if she chooses to, we’ll be right there with her. So… more on this shortly.
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So how do you snap out of that fog? You ride Radiator Springs Racers, of course. A ride that Arianna was NOT a fan of at first. Let’s just say she doesn’t like “dips”.
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So what helps even more? Getting to meet Baymax and Hiro. Mayra and I were in Disney a few years ago and we saw Baymax was out for pictures but by the time we got over to the line they had closed it. We were not missing out this time.
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Nothing like being able to hop on single-rider real quick. That’s my brother-in-law Abel waving there. 5… 4… 3… 2… 1…
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Go!
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Don’t let the smile fool you. I’m pretty sure my mother-in-law was knee-deep in forming a scooter gang.
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Nothing like a gigantic ball of spun sugar.
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Nom nom nom
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Just a picture with Walt and Mickey.
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Oogie Boogie Bash Time!!
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We are ready to rock!
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So, we had some time to kill between treat trails during Oogie Boogie Bash and Incredicoaster had almost no line. My dad, Karen, Abel, and Arlene.
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Danny with his model look.
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Yup… Arianna did it!
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Afterward, Mayra and Arianna tried to recreate a picture from when Arianna was little.
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Day three, Monday. Time for some more Star Wars.
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We made our way over to Oga’s Cantina. Oh, and I totally saw LA Dodgers Freddie Freeman outside while we were waiting. That could have been the highlight of my entire trip. But I didn’t get a picture because it was bad enough I blurted out “Oh my God, it’s Freddie Freeman!” as he walked by with his family.
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Lalito was already starting to fade at this point. Also… I chose to stay through Monday hoping that the parks would be dead. Nope, it was the busiest day of all of them. But more on that in a moment.
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Apparently when I was three we went to Disneyland with no stroller. When we needed to get somewhere, I walked. Or my dad carried me. People today have no idea how tough we had it back then.
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One last ride on Pirates of the Caribbean? Well, here’s the story. Like I mentioned, this day in the park was insanely busy. So we didn’t get to do as much as we had hoped. And I felt bad because there were a lot of rides my sister and mom didn’t get to do. All the days in the park were a bit wonky though as we were trying to organize a rather large group of people. When we go, we know what we want to do and we just go do it. It’s how we did it with my parents and sister back in the day, and it’s how we do it with my family today. So….
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My mom and sister got to go to the park for a good chunk of the day on Monday but had to leave around 3pm. At about 2pm we had made our way over to New Orleans Square trying to figure out how to get them on a ride. They still hadn’t done Pirates or Haunted Mansion. And both lines were probably too long to wait. Then… the Disney magic happens. A nice gentleman with a big full white beard came up and asked us “Is there anything we can do to make your day a little more magical?” Now, if I have learned anything at Disney, it’s this: just ask. You’ll be amazed at what might happen. So I responded with “Is there any way you could get us on Pirates? My mom and sister are leaving in an hour and this might be my mom’s last trip to Disney.” (I’ll get more into the “last trip to Disney” in another post but it’s not as morbid as you’re probably thinking) Our new friend Cameron responds to my question with “Let me see what we can do.” He then proceeds to walk us to the exit of Pirates, tell everyone the situation and gets us on the ride! I’m telling you, things like this are why Disney is above all else.
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Once we were done with Pirates, we said our goodbyes to my mom and sister and made our way back to the rides.
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We ended up running into Max, so of course Mayra had to get her picture with him.
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And then over in California Adventure, we ran into Goofy.
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And what makes it even better? Arianna being cranky and her cousin trying to cheer her up.
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One thing a lot of kids today aren’t really learning is how to deal with cash. Arianna was buying herself a sweatshirt and we had to go over how to store your money, keep it in a place that’s easy for her to get to, and keep it organized so she knows exactly what she has. Not a wad of paper stuffed in a bag or pocket.
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We got to play some of the games in Pixar Pier and keep adding to the collection. We had previously won a WALL-E and an EVE. This time, I got Mayra a M-O and Flik.
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And so the trip begins to come to a close…
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So we have to get all the regular selfie shots in front of things.
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And pics together…
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Where apparently Mayra was gradually getting up on her tiptoes to take these pictures and I didn’t notice. Arianna clearly did because she couldn’t stop laughing.
