Us Fanatics? No Way. Okay Maybe.

A few weeks ago a friend came across this post from Confessions of a Disnerd, called Raising a Disnerd.  She said that when she read it, she thought it was written about Clover.  After reading through it, I had to agree.  Clover is 4 now and is very much in love with all things Disney.  

We were very fortunate to be able to go for the Cars Preview weekend.  The first day was a Disneyland day.  Hubby asked me what I wanted to do and I had to admit that I had no agenda.  I just enjoyed being there.  I love watching Clover run around the park.  I love watching the way her face lights up being there and how excited she gets just talking about going.  We let go of our ideas of doing everything that is on our favorites list and started to look around at what we haven't done.  There is a lot that we have done but there is also a lot that we haven't gotten around to and still more we have to do.

We took a break and watched some Disney wildlife.  I wonder if one of them is named "Donald"?

I visited what was probably the smallest bathroom in all of Disneyland!

We looked for gold on Adventure Island.

We had a Dole Whip and sat in the Tiki Room.  We headed to Adventure Island.  Then after all that adventuring we hoped the boat back and had lunch at the French Market.  We walked around New Orleans and then headed back to the hotel. Clover had caught a cold before we left and even though she had her normal energy level, we were wiped out from lack of sleep due to poor lil thing snoring all night.  She had a stuffy nose but no fever.  Her energy level was fine along with her appetite but I out of guilt threw around the idea of going home early which did not go over well.  She let me know that she was not going home early.  She was going to the Cars Preview with or without me was what the conversation boiled down to.  That night did not provide any more sleep than the last.  She was stuffy and would wake up and cry because even though she was in the same room she couldn't see me.  So right around when I fell asleep she woke up crying which made me shoot out of bed.  It was a good thing we got a king size bed.  She slept on my side to avoid kicking her Dad.  I figured one of us had to get some sleep.  She was fine when she was in the big bed but every time she moved I woke up and threw my arm around her for fear that she would fall out of the bed.  Why are hotel beds so high?

We were up and at em early since our preview window was from 8am -12pm.  We were all pretty excited.  I was practically bouncing out of my seat.  I couldn't get to the ticket booth fast enough!  I was excited about Cars Land but I was really excited to see the makeover of the main street of California Adventure.

Buena Vista St. 

The makeovers to California Adventure have been five years in the making.  I can't believe it's been that long!  Being a coffee lover I was really excited about the addition of a Starbucks!

Being the girl that I am, I squealed when I saw the cup!  How cute is that!?!  Then I took a picture!

Buena Vista Street is beautiful!  Its got this whole romanticized 1920's vibe going on along with newspaper boys and even a newspaper Mickey!

She is a hugger!  

After our coffee and our walk up and down Buena Vista, there was a squeaky voice coming from the stroller.  "I want to see Cars!".  So off we went.  Clover is four and is completely capable of walking but the stroller makes navigating the park a little easier and keeps Daddy from having a panic attack when it gets a little crowded.

Cars Land looks like they picked Radiator Springs out of the movie and dropped it right in the park.  What I love love loved (yes three times the love) was all the tiny detail that they put into the park.  Yes it's easy to throw some rides in an area but one thing Disney does absolutely right is the detail.  You feel like you just walked into Radiator Springs...the cutest little town in Carburetor County.

Mater used it

Dang near fainted

Looked like

He had just been painted - Rusteze

We stopped off at the Cozy Cone for some snacks and rehydration. 

Dill Pickle Popcorn.  It was good but a little on the funky side!

Once we were fed my two cuties were off to ride some rides!  

Man, she is growing up too fast!  I remember when he had to lean over to hold her hand while she walked.

I'm glad that we got the opportunity to see everything early.  I felt like we were able to be a part of Disney history and experience something new.  It was fun seeing it through Clover's eyes.  She was so excited to experience everything.  Mostly we heard a lot of "I wanna go on rides" from her in the squeaky little voice which did eventually lead us to leave early.  She was a little mad that we were leaving early but as soon as she settled in the car seat and started watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse she was fine.  She told us "I just love Disneyland" before she knocked out and snoring filled the car.  She was not the only one snoring.  As soon as I got home home and got her in and out of the bath I knocked out and woke up to find that it was 9:30!