Hanging with the Johnsons

Did we wake up early this morning? Brooke & I did but not the boys. We did make it to the park at 8:00 a.m. Brooke was excited because her friend Madisyn Johnson and her family was going to meet us at Disneyland today. Their family lives about an hour away from Disneyland. Madisyn is her friend from kindergarten. Their family moved last year or was it in 2006 when her dad got stationed in Southern California. I think Madisyn is Brooke's closest friend and it's kinda sad that they're miles apart. They keep in touch by phone & email and it's so nice that her parents are also helping to keep their friendship going!

Anway, we got to see Pluto & Mickey while we waited for Madisyn at the Christmas tree on Main Street. I was able to take the Brooke, BJ & Logie's photo with Mickey but not with Pluto. Even if we were in line, they seem to just take 20 people at a time. That's fine with me because some people are really rabid about trying to get a photo & autograph. I feel bad for the people in the costumes sometimes.

Madisyn and her family (Dad Aaron, Mom Nicci, brothers Cooper-5 & Brodie-3 showed up shortly after we saw Mickey.) We were all surprised to see that Brooke was slightly taller than Madi. Madi was always taller than Brooke. It was really nice to see the whole family! I like Nicci a lot--she has such a bright personality and she's so easy to talk to! Aaron is just so cool! His temperament and patience reminds me so much of Brad and he & Nicci definitely are a cute couple! Cooper was just so cute--we always thought so when we saw him as a baby here and now he talks so much. He likes to tell jokes and isn't a thrill seeker (he's so much like BJ.) Brodie was the one that changed so much for us. He still has that adorable red hair but he just got so BIG! All of the boys had soo much fun together! You gotta give Brodie his props because that boy has no fear! He rode the Tower of Terror at California Adventure! Since the Johnsons are pros at Disney (they have passes,) it really helped our day go so much more smoothly. I just appreciate them taking the time to spend the day with us. Aaron went to get all of our fast passes and Nicci knew where all the bathrooms were (definitely a timesaver there...)

We spent half the day at Disney and had lunch at the Plaza Inn. The chicken and pasta there are delicious! We then went over to California Adventure Park. Rides & attractions today were:

Disney
Enchanted Tiki Room (Cooper's 1st choice and the song is definitely stuck in my head!)
Jungle Cruise
Tarzan's Treehouse
Indiana Jones Adventure (one of our faves!)
Haunted Mansion Holiday (this was neat to see how it was changed for Christmas)
Alice in Wonderland
Mad Tea Party (just the kids; no way were me & Nicci getting on that one!)
Space Mountain (I didn't go here)
Dumbo the Flying Elephant (I took BJ & Cooper here while the others went to Space Mountain)

California Adventure
Maliboomer (Brooke, Madi, Cody Brad and I rode this one. That was kinda nerve wracking at first not knowing what to expect but I'd do that one again)
California Screamin' (definitely a favorite!)
Tower of Terror (I stayed with BJ, Cooper, Nicci & Aaron while Brad, Cody, Brooke, Madi & Brodie went on this one. BJ was upset because he wanted to ride Mulholland Madness but we had to use the fast passes to the Tower. The lines at MM were too long anyway and we told him we'd go back.)
Mullholland Madness (This ride brough BJ out of his funk.)
Monster's Inc. (Nicci took the kids to ride that)
Orange Stinger (I wasn't going to ride this one but Logie couldn't ride by himself and no one wanted to go with him. The air was cold while riding this one!)
Toy Story Midway Mania (Nicci and I didn't go on this one but we had a nice time together talking while waiting. Everyone thought this ride was cool!)

We got to see the Pixar Parade which was so cute and I satisfied my craving for a Funnel Cake!

The day passed by too fast and we had our character dinner reservations at 8:20 p.m. (it was sold out that night but there was a cancellation.) We walked through Downtown Disney and the Johnsons said goodbye about halfway there.

At the character dinner, we took a photo with Minnie and then we got photos with the following characters when they visited our table:

Goofy, Mulan, Cinderella, Chip, Dale & Pluto. Captain Hook came to our table but we missed the picture--maybe because Brad brought out his watch and said "tick tock."

After dinner we stopped at the Disney Store (BJ really wanted this Mickey flashlight) and then headed back to our hotel. We still have our Magic Morning passes but I seriously doubt we'll use them.