Disneyland Day 2 (California Adventure)

After the Space Mountain debacle, Peyton was a little less than enthused to start her second day at California Adventure. Being the sensitive, understanding, and cautious parents that we are, we raced right to the Carsland ride, despite Peyton's pleading to not go on anything fast, dark, or twisty. We told her she would indeed love it. We promised. We begged her to give it a chance. I even bribed her - telling her if she rode the ride I would buy her something from the nearby Sofia store.

And she did ride it. But she hated it. She was scared of the beginning in the dark, and terrified of the hills. She did, however, enjoy the fact that our car beat the other car in the race. We decided to forgo any more rides for a bit, and instead take in a calm, air conditioned showing of Disney Jr. Live on Stage. Peyton also snagged coveted autographs and pictures from Doc McStuffins and Sofia the First. Two more on the list down!

We spent the afternoon on some smaller rides, which Peyton loved. To say she enjoyed the Ariel's Undersea Adventure would be an understatement, and we rode it at least six times. She also had a blast on the Silly Symphony Swings (which scared the living daylights out of me - swinging around suspended from a giant cord over water is not my jam), Jumping Jellyfish, Mater's Junkyard Jamboree, the bumper cars, the giant Mickey Ferris Wheel, and the Golden Zephyr.

That evening, we had an overpriced dinner at some Napa Valley Wine Trattoria in the park. The price gouging included reserved seating to the World of Color, which really was impressive. Peyton loved it - until the big giant fireballs shot in the air during the Pirates of the Carribean section.

On day 2 we learned two important lessons. 1) Peyton's idea of visiting Disney is meeting the characters first, and riding a few age appropriate rides is second; 2) We were only half-way through our adventure and Martin and I were both already exhausted.