Long Lay-Over? Disneyland? Why Not?!

 

Lady Hiva's family was all getting together in Hawaii to honor her father as it has been one year since his death. We were lucky to get really cheap plane tickets! But it meant we had a long layover in Los Angeles. 

We got a bright idea to go to Disneyland! And so we did...but that meant we probably spent more than if we had found different flights, but it is still fun. We were all shocked how small Sleeping Beauty Castle is compared to Cinderella Castle. 

We arrived around 1630h and were there until they closed at 0100h! We had our list of places we wanted to see and rides we wanted to do. For the most part, we were able to do all of it. Just a few things that we did not have time to do, but were happy we could do all of the rest. 

It was so beautiful to see the park all decorated for Christmas! 

We were able to ride our favorite rides...including Pirates of Caribbean, Jungle Cruise, and Haunted Mansion. 

Haunted Mansion was decorated for "Nightmare Before Christmas." The twl Muggles have really liked that movie this last year so we thought they would love the transition. However, while they both liked seeing the characters they were both traditionalists and were upset that the iconic Haunted Mansion stuff was gone. So I guess it is good it is only temporary. 

We were unable to ride its a small world because it has flooded a few weeks prior! So sad...it is also one of our favorites. 

We were all so excited to ride Matterhorn. None of us had ever been on it. They do not have it at Walt Disney World and when we went to Disneyland the last several times, we had kids too small to go. I really liked the ride. It was surprisingly longer than we expected. 

The firework show started while we were on the Storybook ride. So they stopped the ride and we watched from the boat. 

We did Splash Mountain. I like that the Splash Mountain in Walt Disney World lets you sit side by side. This Splash Mountain was also WAY more WET!! I was in the front and I got SOAKED (as you can see in the photo). Notice how the two Muggles are hiding. One behind me and one behind Lady Hiva. HAHA. 

It was an amazing night! BEST LAYOVER EVER!!