Disney Dream Vacation Onboard the Disney Fantasy

From our Western Caribbean cruise on the Disney Fantasy - Nov 2012

My family and I took the dream vacation of a lifetime on Disney's brand new ship (at the time), the Disney Fantasy, in November of 2012. It was our highly anticipated first Disney Cruise and it not only met, but exceeded all of our expectations. The ship was beautiful and elegant, the crew was at our beck and call, the ports of call were exotic, and the week was filled with Disney magic around every corner.

My husband, myself, MICKEY, my 2 step kids and my son

Our first impression of the cruise was warm and welcoming as we walked on board into a grand atrium to a crew member announcing, "Welcome, Burbank family," followed by applause.  I felt so important with the applause and the grandness of the ship.  The feeling of importance would permeate the entire week and would contribute greatly to our satisfaction. We all strive to feel important and Disney is the master of meeting this need, especially on their cruises.

Donald and other characters greeted guests as they boarded the ship.

The first thing that struck me after boarding the beautiful and classic new ship was my step daughter, Courtney, thanking her dad and I over and over for taking us on such an amazing vacation. Before setting sail, we enjoyed a snack at Flo's Cafe on deck 11 and Courtney asked what she could do to thank us. I told her that all we needed as thanks, was for her and the boys to have fun, which they did!  It warmed my heart to see the joy and awe on the kids' faces as we toured the ship that first day.  

Everybody on board enjoyed the "Adventures Away" sail away party

It's so fun when a much awaited event arrives, and that first day on the Disney Fantasy was a day we had been anticipating for quite awhile. We were now on the ship, living the dream, and having the time of our lives. A fun sailing away party called "Adventures Away" on the pool deck stage, started our cruise out right. Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Goofy sang and danced while the passengers got excited for our ship to start sailing.  A beautiful sunset was the backdrop as we sailed out of Port Canaveral full of excitement for our week long Disney Cruise adventure.

The sunset as we sailed away from Port Canaveral

After our sail away party with Mickey and the gang, we went to our first dinner aboard the Disney Fantasy.  It turned out that our first restaurant (out of 3 we would rotate through), the Animator's Palate, would be our favorite restaurant. We walked into a delightful room with larger than life paint brushes and Disney animation adorning the walls.  Our table was next to a collection of pictures of Crush, the turtle from Finding Nemo. When our waiter told us we'd be getting a visit from Crush soon, I had no idea that those pictures would come alive and Crush would be talking to us and interacting with us, but they did and he did.  

While we waited for our food, Crush came alive before our very eyes, and welcomed everyone.  He proceeded to give us games to play and even talked to passengers, including my son, Braden (who was thrilled)!  In my opinion, the best part of the Crush entertainment is when he had us stand up and learn some of his dance moves.  Every time he said Dude, Awesome, or Cool, Crush gave us a different dance move to do. All of the guests enjoyed getting their groove on before dinner, especially the kids. As a big kid, however, I felt like I was having the most fun.  I thought to myself, "This is so Disney, I've never had so much fun at dinner."  I could tell the bar had been set high for dinner time on the Disney Fantasy (Oh, and the food was good too)!

Everywhere we went on the ship, there were fun spots for kids.

Our first full day on the ship was a day at sea and it was glorious.  We took advantage of the great Disney kids clubs and took the boys to the Oceaneers Lab and left them looking happy and excited.  We took Courtney up to the Edge for the tweens, located in the non-functional red funnel. My husband, Mike, and I then went to listen to a behind the scenes talk by ESPN sports analyst Sage Steel, in the classic and lovely Buena Vista Theater.  She told the audience her inspirational story of how she got on ESPN and also about how crazy and hectic a day in the life of an ESPN analyst is.  If I ever had aspirations of getting into the sports analyst business (which I didn't), I no longer did!

  

You can see the clear tubes of the AquaDuck on both sides of the ship

We spent the rest of the day enjoying the gorgeous ship and all of her amenities.  We went on the much anticipated AquaDuck and although the line was long, it was worth the wait.  Not only was it a blast hurdling through a clear waterslide high above the ocean and pool deck, but it was wonderful to see my son having so much fun, (he would later write an essay on it for school)!  He said over and over that the AquaDuck was his favorite thing to do on the Disney Fantasy. The unlimited free ice cream at the Eye Scream Treats ice cream station was a close second!

Braden swam in the pools every chance he got!

Our day at sea was leisurely and the weather was warm and perfect.  As dinnertime approached, I knew I didn't want to spend an hour and half indoors, especially when our 5:45 pm assigned dinner occurred during sunset (sunsets at sea are sacred to me), despite how much fun we had at dinner the previous night.  

Enjoying the mini golf course all to ourselves on a lovely evening

Instead of going inside and getting ready for dinner, we chose to play mini-golf on Goofy's Sport Deck (deck 13 aft), where I got my glorious sunset over the lovely Caribbean Sea. It was a magical moment for me to be with my family in such a beautiful setting, while everyone was having so much fun together. It was a bonus to have the golf course all to ourselves since most of the passengers were inside at the early show or dinner. 

Braden poses at one of the whimsical holes and goes on to win the game

It was a fun and whimsical mini golf course starring Goofy and his son, with 9 interactive and "goofy" holes.  Braden was on fire with four hole in ones and won the game much to his delight.  Of course I did give him 2 mulligans but everyone else got 2 as well so the win was legit.  He was ecstatic! 

The sun getting ready to set as we played mini golf

I snapped a million pictures, for the lighting this time of night at sea is spectacular, as we played our game. It was a fun time for all of us and the scenery was breathtaking so we were all happy with our decision to skip dinner.  We still had to eat, however, so after our game we found Cabanas at the back of deck 11.  We had a nice table service dinner and I was impressed that the alternative to our assigned dinner was not a buffet. 

The inside of the ship is as beautiful as the outside is fun

Day 3 brought us lots of excitement as it was our first port of call, Grand Cayman, where we booked our only shore excursion of the cruise. This worked out nicely for us since Cayman was our only tender (we would be taken to port on a smaller boat) and those with "Port Adventures" get tender priority.  We went to the Tube, an adults only bar by night, to meet our Port Adventure group and were seamlessly taken to our tender.  

A view of the Fantasy from our tender boat

I had the usual excitement of visiting a new place for the 1st time bubbling up inside me.  My initial impression of Grand Cayman was the amazing color of the water, a beautiful, light aqua blue. Once on land, I was immediately impressed with with the cleanliness of Grand Cayman compared to other Caribbean cities I've been to.  The Cayman Islands are a haven for the rich, with no taxes, and this was evident in the pretty buildings and luxurious cars. The cars drove on the "wrong" side of the road, as the kids put it, which they thought was pretty cool.

Courtney, Michael and Braden at Grand Cayman

For our Port Adventure, we were going to visit Stingray City, a unique sand bar out at sea where fisherman stop to empty their scraps.  Over time, the stingrays have figured out that this is an easy way to get food and they have learned to associate the sound of a boats motor with food. As a result, when they hear the tourists coming by boat, they come swimming in by the masses. 

When we arrived to the sand bar, we got out of the boat after instructions from the captain, which included how not to get stung (yes, the stingrays still have their stingers)!  The water felt like a warm bath and looked like a pool of aquamarines.  

The stingrays are so tame, they can be held

As soon as the stingrays showed up, all 3 kids completely freaked out which was disappointing since I picked this adventure with them in mind. Courtney and Michael quickly bailed and got back into the boat. I was able to talk Braden into snorkeling a little further away from where the stingrays were being held and fed.  He became more at ease and enjoyed seeing other fish but held onto me each time a stingray passed.  I, on the other hand, found this place unique and awesome.  

The beautiful aquamarine water at Stingray City.

It might have been better for the kids if the water had been calmer. It was unusually rough as a result of a storm from the night before which made it hard to control your footing and this was the important step needed to avoid getting stung. It was still a neat experience even if it didn't quite turn out as I'd hoped. If I was worried about the kids not enjoying themselves in Grand Cayman, all was redeemed when we found Margaritaville for lunch and were seated at a table right next to a pool with a waterslide. When the boys asked me if they could go swimming while we waited for our food, I could see that they were in little boy heaven when I said that they could. 

The pool right in the middle of Margaritaville

We would have 3 more ports of call during our exciting Western Caribbean cruise; Cozumel, Mexico, Costa Maya, Mexico, and Disney's private island, Castaway Cay, Bahamas.  Unanimously, our favorite stop was Castaway Cay.

Mike and I watched us approach Castaway Cay as the kids slept

There were so many things to love about Castaway Cay, from the Chip n Dale greeting and the picture perfect beaches, to the convenience of walking right off the ship onto a private island paradise.  After a brief tour of the island, we settled in at the family beach. Mike and I watched the kids swim and build sand castles while we sipped Bahama Mama's in the Bahamas.  It truly was a day to rival any day in heaven.

The kids loved playing in the calm and warm water at Castaway Cay.

After another relaxing day at sea full of swimming and sunning, it was time for our dream vacation to come to an end.  It had indeed been a dream come true and we all felt like crying (because we didn't want it to end) that last night on board the Disney Fantasy.  There were so many things to love about our first Disney Cruise, from the ships horns playing 4 different Disney tunes and the magical shows in the Walt Disney Theater to the moving pictures on the walls and the Pirate show with fireworks. For me, I knew it was my love of Disney combined with my love of the sea that had me instantly hooked on Disney cruising.

The Fantasy debuted in March 2012

.     Click here for more pictures from our Disney Fantasy cruise.

I hope that you have enjoyed reading my entry from this Traveling Travel Agent's travels.  I am a travel agent because I love to travel and I love helping other people discover our big beautiful world! Through strategic partnerships, I offer my clients preferred rates, complimentary upgrades and extra amenities. If you would like to receive weekly travel specials from my agency, Purple Palm Vacations, please sign up for our Exclusive Travel Specials.

Legoland - A Kid's Paradise

From my Southern California Trip - 30 Oct 2014

While Disneyland was the theme park I was looking most forward to visiting during our 3-parks-in-3-days trip to Southern California, Legoland was certainly the park that my son, Braden, was the most excited to see. He has loved Lego since he was 4 years old and now at 10, loves them more than ever.  The interlocking brick system is a terrific outlet for my bright and creative boy.

We said goodbye to the Disneyland Hotel

Having spent our first two days visiting California Adventure and Disneyland, we woke up at the beautiful Disneyland Hotel bright and early to catch our bus to Carlsbad.  Braden and I were thrilled to get to ride on our first ever double decker bus.  We went up to the second level and towered over the multitude of Southern California drivers. Our bus ride was scenic with ocean views and after about an hour, we arrived at Legoland.

Legoland is in sunny Carlsbad, CA

We had been to Legoland once before, when my son was 6 years old.  I was surprised at how little he remembered.  I felt like we were there 4 months ago, not 4 years ago.  The biggest difference for me was being fresh off of Disneyland this time.  What a different place it seemed, having Disneyland in my very recent memory.  It seemed so much smaller and in general much less impressive.  It's probably a good idea to visit Legoland before Disneyland:-)

The Legoland Hotel is a kid's paradise

Braden, however, was in complete Lego heaven and therefore, I was happy too.  During this trip, we were also checking out the new Legoland Hotel for the first time. The bus dropped us off right at Legoland's opening time of 10 am.  We walked to the hotel first to drop off our bags.  Legoland was like a ghost town on this Thursday in October so our room was already ready for us.  I was happily surprised and we went to drop our bags off at our room before heading to the park.

Our room was on the Adventure floor

We stepped into the elevator and the doors closed behind us.  The next thing we knew a disco ball dropped from the ceiling and some groovin' 70's music started to play.  Neither Braden nor I missed a beat and we promptly "got down" to the music.  We got off the elevator laughing and remarking over and over what a fun surprise that was.  We would spend the rest of our 24 hours at the Legoland Hotel trying to ride the elevator by ourselves so we could boogie.

The separate kid's room with a bunk bed and TV

Braden was over the moon, loving the Legoland Hotel.  Our Adventure Room was a fantastic kid's paradise with several Lego builds to admire and even a separate room for the kids with a bunk bed and their own TV.  Upon check-in, we were given a scavenger hunt that would result in a Lego prize.  Braden couldn't wait to see what the prize was and he was sure it would be a Lego set.  I held him off the hunt until after our park visit since it closed at 5 pm and we only had the one day there.

A butterfly made of Lego's decorates our room

We walked out the back door of the hotel and Legoland was conveniently just steps away.  We headed through the gates, felt the thrill and excitement of entering an amusement park, and looked for our first ride.  We found Sky Cruiser and the first thing I noticed as we stood in line is that we were in the sun, which got very hot just standing there.  The second thing I noticed is that the line was not moving.  I compared it to the efficiency and shade of the Disneyland queue's and it didn't measure up.  We waited for a good 30 minutes and still didn't see an end in sight. I was getting hungry, hot and irritable so we bailed and got lunch instead.  

Braden at "Driving School"

After lunch, I felt much better and we found that the long line was an anomaly.  There was no line at the Driving School, which Braden did remember from last time and he was excited to get to drive a car again. He had fun living the grown up dream, then we moseyed on to our next ride. Instead we found the Lego Movie Experience set up on the Legoland soundstage.  Braden was completely thrilled to see the actual sets from the dad's basement in the Lego Movie.  I was pleased to see my boy beaming with excitement.

Braden at the Lego Movie Experience

     

Next it was time to head to Miniland, my favorite part of Legoland, where miniature replicas of cities are built entirely out of Lego bricks. Impressive is an understatement when attempting to describe Miniland. All built to perfection, with hundreds of thousands of Lego bricks and even moving vehicles, Miniland is comprised of models of Las Vegas, New Orleans, Washington DC, New York City and even Star Wars. Braden seemed to be most enthralled with Sin City and I hoped it wasn't a bad sign!  We enjoyed walking around admiring the skyscrapers in the warm sunshine and then decided it was time to ride some roller coasters. 

Miniland has several miniature, famous city skylines

We started with The Dragon, a fast and fun roller coaster that starts by winding slowly through a castle scene built entirely of Lego bricks and ends with thrilling twists and turns. We then headed to the dreaded Technic Coaster which I remembered from our first trip and thought it's Splash Mountain-like drop at the beginning was terrifying.  We hopped in line and my heart started beating rapidly. I made sure Braden knew that this would be my one and only ride on it.  We boarded our car and I held on for dear life.  We then climbed the slow climb of terror and dropped like the New Year's Ball in Times Square.  I screamed and then thought, "Wow, that wasn't so bad." The rest of the coaster ride was a blast and very similar to our favorite Goofy ride at California Adventure. My 10 year is keeping me young, for I would never have ridden this ride without his insistence.  (I should add as a disclaimer that both roller coasters are fairly mild.  I, however, am a big chicken!)

We enjoyed another picture-perfect, Southern CA day

We spent the rest of the day riding various rides. We were able to hop right on most of them and practically had the park all to ourselves.  We had another wonderful day together and I was sad to see it end.  We would be flying home and back to reality the next day.  We left the park a little early because Braden was excited to begin his scavenger hunt and claim his treasured prize.  He also begrudgingly admitted that Legoland is more about the impressive Lego creations than the rides. He too had been spoiled by the Disney rides!  

The safe in our room

The scavenger hunt was quite clever.  Braden had to answer four questions in order to get the correct combination to the safe in our room.  He found the answers with no problem and promptly opened the safe. He was excited to find not one, but two Lego sets in the safe waiting for him to retrieve.  My boy was the happiest he had been all day (and he had been happy all day!) and rejoiced in being an only child (because he got to keep both Lego sets).

The whimsical Lego creations added to the ambiance at breakfast

I love Disney and you would be hard pressed to find a bigger fan out there than myself.  But I was very impressed with the Legoland Hotel and more than any other, I believe this is a hotel that was truly made for kids.  From the dancing in the elevator and the scavenger hunt, to the proximity to Legoland and the kids room within our themed room, it was a paradise for my 10 year old boy and I was delighted to be able to give that to him!  

Every hotel lobby needs a Dragon!

Click here for more pictures from Legoland.

I hope that you have enjoyed reading my entry from this Traveling Travel Agent's travels.  I am a travel agent because I love to travel and I love helping other people discover our big beautiful world! Through strategic partnerships, I offer my clients preferred rates, complimentary upgrades and extra amenities. If you would like to receive weekly travel specials from my agency, Purple Palm Vacations, please sign up for our Exclusive Travel Specials.

Disneyland is Still the Happiest Place on Earth

From my Southern California Trip - 29 Oct 2014

The second day of our 3 parks in 3 days trip was the one I was looking forward to the most.  It would be my son, Braden's, 1st trip to Disneyland and my 4th visit.  I went for the first time when I was 5, then again at 14 and 28.  I loved it more each time I went, and at age 41, still do believe it is the happiest place on earth.  It's a place where anything is possible and you can feel the Disney Magic in the air.  I couldn't wait to share it with my 10 year old son.

My son, Braden, in front of Sleeping Beauty's castle.

We woke up in our super comfortable beds at the Disneyland Hotel and got ready for our exciting day.  The park was to open at 8 am and we were planning to be there for opening. We wanted to take the monorail from Downtown Disney to Disneyland but it didn't open until 8 am. Instead, we walked through Downtown Disney, grabbed a delicious and nutritious Jamba Juice for theme park energy, and made it to the gates just as they were opening up.

Our favorite ride, Space Mountain.

It was not quite 8 am yet so we couldn't go any further than Main Street. Then at 8 am on the Disney dot (they are so prompt!), we were allowed to enter the entire grand park.  We both agreed that Space Mountain was our target and we hurried ourselves toward Tomorrowland.  We happily walked right onto Space Mountain and we were one of the first of the day to ride it.  It was so much more fun than I remembered and even seemed more intense than the one at Magic Kingdom in Florida.  We got off the ride laughing and re-living the excitement of the ride.

Tomorrowland is Braden's favorite "land" in Magic Kingdom and after his first trip to Disneyland it's his favorite "land" there as well.  For this reason, we hit most of the rest of the rides in Tomorrowland before moving on to another "land." (I knew it was a risk not to head straight to our next roller coaster!) We missed the PeopleMover from Magic Kingdom but enjoyed the futuristic inventions and Ironman's suit at Innoventions. 

The famous statue of Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse

After riding every ride in Tomorrowland except the Astro Orbitor, we journeyed on to Fantasyland for our next roller coaster, the Matterhorn Bobsleds.  While we stood in line (which thankfully wasn't too long), I admired the Cast Member uniforms and the architecture around us, for both looked to be straight out of the Alps.  The ride was fun but didn't quite have the thrill of Space Mountain, although my 10 year old loved it.

Braden in front with me right behind

Next, it was time for our 2nd favorite ride, Splash Mountain. After getting lost a couple of times, we found it and were pleasantly surprised by another decent line length. We boarded our boat, after only a 10-15 minute wait and my anticipation heightened as I thought of the sharp drop (and in my mind, terrifying!) that was to come. It's a funny thing to go on a ride that is so serene in the beginning, with so many fun character scenes to admire, yet all the while knowing that the gentle boat ride will soon take a dive down a waterfall.  I am both terrified by the drop and exhilarated by the adrenaline rush that Splash Mountain provides. We got off the boat soaking wet and laughing, then promptly grabbed a FASTPASS to ride again so we wouldn't have to wait in the building line. 

"Dia del Los Muertos" in Frontierland for Halloween

The prior day in California Adventure had been a perfect theme park day with ideal weather and short lines.  This day in Disneyland was much the same.  The sky was nothing but blue and the temperature was 85 degrees. The park was a little more crowded than the day before but the lines were all very manageable.  We never waited longer than 15 minutes. This allowed us to ride roller coaster after roller coaster until our little hearts were content.  But I think the best part of the day is when my son told me that this was his "best vacation ever."  That was when I knew every penny I spent was worth it! 

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad

We rocked Disneyland that day.  We rode on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad 5 times, Space Mountain 3 times, the Matterhorn Bobsleds 3 times, Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters 2 times, the Indiana Jones Adventure (one of my all time favorites!) 2 times and Splash Mountain 2 times.  In addition we rode on Star Tours, Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage, Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean, Sleeping Beauty Castle Walkthrough, and Autopia.  We had the time of our lives and this was the day I think that I officially passed the "love of Disney torch" on to my son.

Disneyland was all decked out for Halloween in October

We closed down the park which was easy to do since it was closing at 6 pm for Mickey's Halloween Party.  Nevertheless, 10 hours of theme park excitement was enough to leave us exhausted.  We walked through Downtown Disney looking for a good place for dinner.  We found a fun looking Mexican restaurant called Tortilla Joe's.  I was happy to find out there was not a wait and even happier to be seated upstairs with a view down into the first floor kitchen plus a view of the baseball playoffs on TV. Our waiter was very friendly and the food turned out to be delicious.  A balloon artist came by our table and offered to make my son a balloon animal.  Braden chose a penguin and he was extremely impressed as the artist skillfully made it right before our eyes. 

Braden with his new balloon penguin, Comical

We made it back to our hotel and for the 2nd night in a row Braden crashed out while watching TV.  This is something I'd never seen him do before and I knew that like his mother, he plays hard while on vacation!

These smiles accurately reflect our awesome day!

I hope you have enjoyed reading my entry from this Traveling Travel Agent's travels.  I am a travel agent because I love to travel and I love helping other people travel! Through strategic partnerships, I offer my clients preferred rates, complimentary upgrades and extra amenities like wine or shipboard credit. If you would like to receive weekly travel offers from my agency, Purple Palm Vacations, please sign up for our Exclusive Travel Specials.

Our adventure at California Adventure

From my Southern California Trip - 28 Oct 2014

After cruising Disney Cruise Line earlier in the month with my husband and leaving my son behind to attend school, I felt it was quite necessary to take him on a quick Disney trip to California over his Fall Break.  It was a whirlwind trip with 3 parks in 3 days and more fun packed in than either of us imagined.

California Adventure is a fun park themed after the great state of CA

We started the day bright and early in brisk Denver, CO.  As we walked to the airport from the parking lot in shorts, my son thought we were crazy to be wearing shorts in 30 degree temps.  I told him that we were crazy but I wanted to be ready to hit the park as soon as we arrived.  I knew our room wouldn't be ready at 10:00 in the morning and didn't want the hassle of finding a place to change. We made it to the plane with no frostbite and the next thing we knew we were landing in sunny and warm Southern California.  Suddenly the shorts made perfect sense and we were ready and rarin' to go!

We caught a shuttle outside of LAX and began our drive to Anaheim. My son, Braden, was excited to see the LA area for the first time and I was surprised it was his first time.  I pointed out the smog, which you couldn't miss, and he hoped to see the Hollywood sign, which he didn't.

Braden with Mickey & Minnie outside the Disneyland Hotel entrance

We arrived at the Disneyland Hotel, our home for the next 2 nights, around 10 am, the same time that California Adventure was opening.  I wished we could throw our bags to the curb and head straight to the park but I knew I would eventually regret that. Instead we checked into the beautiful Disneyland Hotel and left our bags with the porter since indeed, our room was not ready.  I would get a text when our room was ready with our room number in a secret code.  Cool!  I love Disney technology.

The entrance to California Adventure

My son and I have conquered Walt Disney World twice together so we pretty much consider ourselves theme park experts and we knew California Adventure would be no different.  We were right! We did not get there for opening at 10:00 am as I had hoped but we still had a long day ahead of us since the park was open until 8:00 pm that night.  We bought our tickets at the gate and headed in, full of excitement and anticipation.

Buena Vista street models 1923 LA, when Walt got there

The key to our theme park conquering ability is to plan our adventure. We knew the Radiator Springs Racers were the hot ticket in town so our first stop was the Racer's Fastpass station to get a "reservation" to ride, therefore saving time in line.  Our next stop was the highly anticipated Cars Land but on the way we saw a tempting ride with no line so we hopped on.  And thus, Grizzly River Run, a thrilling whitewater raft adventure, became our first ride of the day. We got off the ride laughing and soaking wet.  I knew it was going to be a great day!

Flo's Cafe has surprisingly delicious food

The day was a picture perfect 82 degrees without a cloud in the sky so I knew we would dry fast.  We made it to Cars Land and instantly felt like we had stepped into the movie, "Cars."  We realized we were hungry for lunch so we stopped in at the one and only Flo's V8 Cafe.  The food was surprisingly delicious. The restaurant was vintage 50's, fun and whimsical, and we were one of the only patrons in the place.  It was about then that I realized we were going to get to enjoy California Adventure without crowds of people clambering to enjoy it with us.  I rejoiced inside! 

The Cozy Cone Hotel sold "Cone" treats

After enjoying our lunch, we went for an ice cream cone at the Cozy Cone Hotel.  We had a chocolate soft serve chocolate dipped cone.  It was rich and creamy and the most delicious cone I've ever had.  I talked about it for days!  My son and I sat at a table in the warm sunshine enjoying ice cream together and I savored the moment as well as the ice cream.

Luigi's Flying Tires was a fun ride that literally floated above the ground

Our belly's were full and we rode most of the rides in Cars Land. Our favorite, by far, was the Radiator Springs Racers, where your car gets ready for the big race and then actually races another car. We won our first race which made my competitive son very happy. I was just happy to be flying around corners at high speeds in the beautiful Southern California air enjoying a special day with my 10 year old boy, who is growing up way too fast.

The Disneyland Hotel has a great pool area

I knew if we were going to keep going full speed all the way until the park closed, we would need a pool break.  We walked back to our hotel where our room was now ready and changed into our swimsuits. Unfortunately, Braden and I had different ideas of what a pool break meant.  While I was prepared to relax and bake in the sunshine, Braden wanted to play, which consisted of me throwing him into the water among other high energy moves.  I finally talked him into a little hot tub relaxation before heading back to the park.

There is a huge Lego store in Downtown Disney

Our walk back to California Adventure took us through Downtown Disney where a huge Lego Store beckoned my son each time we passed.  We did stop in and then made it back to the park for more rides and more fun. Other than Radiator Springs Racers, our favorite ride was Goofy's Sky School.  It was a quirky roller coaster that mimicked what it would be like to fly in a plane with Goofy.  Not only was it clever but it was a blast! Since there were virtually no lines, (we never waited longer for 5 minutes for a ride), we rode the coaster four times.  We also loved Soarin Over California where special effects make you feel like you are actually flying over the beautiful state and we rode on that one twice.

We rode many other rides too and really just had a wonderful day together.  Being able to pick our next ride and virtually hop right on was downright luxurious and spending more time on rides than in lines was priceless!  It was such a beautiful day in so many ways, from the detailed attractions to the precious moments with my son. I can't help but think it's scenes like these that inspired Walt Disney to create the theme park experience in the first place.  I hope he got a glimpse of our smiles and high fives from heaven:-) 

We crashed hard in the comfy beds after a fun-filled day

We stayed for the World of Color show which is like the fountains at Bellagio in Vegas on steroids.  In addition to fountains moving to music, color and cartoon scenes are added, with a little fire thrown in as well. I would have enjoyed it more because it certainly was impressive but my boy had hit the wall.  He'd gone non-stop since we woke at 5:00 am in Denver so I couldn't blame him.  We made it back to our room and Braden crashed out hard while watching TV. We both had an awesome and fun day together and I went to sleep with a smile on my face:-)

Click here for more pictures from California Adventure.

Cars Land was our favorite "land" in California Adventure

I hope you have enjoyed reading my entry from this Traveling Travel Agent's travels.  I am a travel agent because I love to travel and I love helping other people travel! Through strategic partnerships, I offer my clients preferred rates, complimentary upgrades and extra amenities like wine or shipboard credit. If you would like to receive weekly travel offers from my agency, Purple Palm Vacations, please sign up for our Exclusive Travel Specials.