Dear Logan,Today's your brother's 5th birthday! Even though he's been getting many "Happy Birthday" greetings ever since he got the birthday button at Disneyland on our first night there, it didn't dampen his excitement at all. The night before, he didn't sleep until 11 p.m., yet with all the blackout curtains, he still woke up at 7 a.m. I would love for him to sleep in a little bit, but he just couldn't contain his excitement. He was jumping up and down, playing with his toys and watching Playhouse Disney, all the while when Daddy and Mommy tried to sleep in a little bit.
I have already made reservations to go to "Surf's UP! Breakfast with Mickey & Friends" at Paradise Pier Hotel. Let me tell you, having breakfast with Mickey is not cheap! But Oh well, Aidan loves Mickey Mouse and this is the only character meal that he will show up, so I just wish the money would be well spent. Reservations was made for 9:20 a.m., but I wished I had taken the 8:50 a.m. slot instead. I think Aidan was a little too hungry.
When we got into the restaurant, we were greeted by Mickey Mouse. We had the obligatory picture of Mickey Mouse, just like the picture we took at Goofy's Kitchen last time. Of course, Aidan was excited to see Mickey, but if he has slept more and with a full stomach, I think he might be more excited. The restaurant was small, and the atmosphere was definitely casual and beachy. I much preferred the restaurant at Goofy's Kitchen. The place wasn't full, and was actually quite empty. We got settled, ordered our drinks and then I took Aidan to get some breakfast. The quality of the food was just OK, and you definitely go there just to see Mickey Mouse.
Our table was first approached by Daisy, who was very sweet and lovely. Then Minnie Mouse, Stitch, and Pluto. These were basically all the characters present. Aidan was a little apprehensive when taking pictures with them at first. While we're eating, the staff started some dancing with Mickey Mouse and Stitch and tried to get the kids to join in. I tried to get Aidan to participate, but he was being a party pooper. He preferred to just sit down and eat. Well, I couldn't force him, but on the other hand, I wanted him to join in (I paid that much money for an OK breakfast all because of the entertainment!). After some food in his tummy, he was in a much better mood. I was glad to see that the dancing started up again, and this time he participated!
After some dancing, it's time for a birthday cake! This is a tiny little Mickey-shaped "cupcake" with Mickey-shaped sprinkles. It's Aidan's favorite chocolate cake. He enjoyed the very rushed birthday song sung by the staff, blew his candle, cut the little cake and definitely chowed it down. A nice end to a breakfast, and it's free.
After breakfast, we went to the California Adventures Park through the direct entrance from the Grand Californian Hotel. Man oh man, what a nice hotel! It's so grand! No wonder they charge so much for a room. Next time, I got to spend a little more time checking out this hotel lobby since I can't afford to stay there. Upon arriving at the park, we got Fast Passes for "World of Color", even though we saw that in August. We figured it wouldn't hurt just to get the passes and not go, since they're free and the park was pretty slow. We first went to the Mickey Mouse Ferris Wheel, as that was the first ride that Aidan really wanted to get on. It's quite interesting how 6 months ago he wouldn't go near any ferris wheel, but now that he's FIVE years old, he's such a big boy that he's not scared. And guess what, Mommy was the one that was a little scared. It was quite high up there! Daddy and Aidan then went on the Golden Zephyr, Mommy and Aidan went on the Jumping Jellyfish.
We also took some pictures, and walked back to the Hollywood area. We watched the Playhouse Disney show again (same as last time but a different hostess), went on the Monsters Inc. ride and snacked past lunch hour. The turning point of the day, was introducing your brother to a bad experience of a 3D movie. We went to see the Muppet Show 3D, and he was so scared that he cried and wanted out. We should have warned him about what to expect. We hope we didn't scar him for life and he would hate all 3D movies from now on. After this experience, we figured it's time to go back to the hotel for a nap. He's tired and hungry, not a good combination. We walked back to the hotel and Aidan took a good 2-hour nap.
Our plan was to have dinner at ESPN Zone and played at their arcade area, since we got a $20 coupon. The games were fun, and we spent a good amount of time there. Who knew it would take a while for us to spend down that $20. After we're done, it's about 8:00 p.m., and we planned to take the Monorail back to Disneyland. Unfortunately, they closed the Monorail down as they closed early for the 8:45 p.m .fireworks show. I forgot the show was earlier on a Sunday.
Aidan was disappointed, but we bribed him with gifts at the Lego Store, and more importantly, he built his own ride at Ridemakerz. Daddy was very excited to assist with building the ride. Aidan selected a red (no surprise there) Mini Cooper with red tires and black rims. Daddy then obtained instructions on how to put the car together. We did that, got batteries and his ride was ready to go. He played with the car for a while at the store to test it out, and continued playing in the hotel room. By the time we're done at Downtown Disney, we're all tired and wanted to go back to the hotel.
This pretty much ended our trip, as we're driving back home the following morning. This 4-day trip was basically a 2.5-day trip. Driving really wasted quite a bit of time. Maybe next time we'll fly, or even spend more days there. There's so much we haven't seen. But I figured, as Aidan grows older, we get to explore more.
Aidan was already excited and wanted to go back on Jan 7, 2012, and have his birthday party at school the day before, exactly like this year. Most importantly, I am glad he had so much fun he wants to plan for another visit already.
Love,
Mommy
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