The Lee Family: Day 2: Disney!!

We slept in a little bit later and made our way downstairs to the buffet breakfast around 7:15am. I was hoping we'd make it onto the 7:30am shuttle to Disney but it was clear we would likely get on the 8am shuttle instead. Sofia enjoyed her muffins and bacon while I asked the Disney representative about the FastPass, which is only $10 each per ticket. I thought it was $50 more and was so glad I asked! I bought the FastPasses for both of us and we got in line for the shuttle. Unfortunately, we got outside just a few minutes early and the line was impossibly long! We had to wait for the next shuttle and made it to Disney at 8:45am. It was incredibly crowded already and we ended up standing in line for about 15 minutes just to get our backpack searched and then another line to have our tickets scanned. We finally made it inside Disney and took a few pictures at the entrance and near the train station, before going under the tunnel and entering Main Street, USA. There were a shocking amount of people on Main Street USA already, so we decided to jump onto a free horse drawn carriage which took us down Main Street and stopped in front of the Fantasyland castle. It was really a great way to enter Disneyland and arrive at the castle. Along the way, we passed a Starbucks (with a significant line) which I was desperate for since our hotel has monumentally bad coffee! I'd have to wait for my decent cup of coffee.

We got our of carriage and took a few photos in front of the Disney castle, by the professional Disney photographer and also several I took. After a few photos, we walked through the castle and Sleeping Beauty Castle Walkthrough which told the story of Sleeping Beauty and has probably been there since I was a kid. After, we visited the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique which sells amazingly princess gowns and dresses that have matching price tags. Sofia rode on the King Arthur Carrousel and then we went to the Storybook Land Canal Boats. The boats took us around the small versions of the different Disney storyline locations. It was well done and a fun ride. Although Fantasyland wasn't as crowded as Main Street USA, it was clearly geared toward younger kids. I knew Sofia really wanted to do the Jedi Training, so I told her that we needed to go to Tomorrowland and at least sign up for the Jedi Training, since it fills up quickly.

We entered Tomorrowland and started heading toward the Star Wars Launch Pad so we could sign Sofia up for training. We were almost there when two Storm Troopers came marching toward us! Sofia was SO excited! She could hardly respond and just started running after them! They stopped and she nearly ran into them and just stood in awe of the Storm Troopers. They pointed at her and called her to them for a photo. It was terrific! She was so excited! We continued on and stopped at a gift shop across from the Launch Pad and Sofia decided to spend another chunk of her money on a really great light-up light saber. She was so excited! We then continued on to the sign-up desk and signed Sofia up for the 2:30pm show, and were told that we needed to return to the same place at 2pm. We then went into the Star Wars Launch Bay, which was really interesting. The first part included the history and development of Star Wars, and included many of the models used in the early films. We continued walking around and literally almost ran right into one of Sofia's very favorite characters: Boba Fett! Boba Fett was actually really cool and talked to Sofia (in character) for a while and then they posed for a few photos together. It was great and Sofia was beyond excited!

We had just over an hour to eat lunch and ride on the Star Wars Tours Ride before we'd make our way to Jedi Training, so we decided to have lunch. We returned to Main Street USA looking for a place to eat and each restaurant and food stand had massive lines! We tried a few different options and then decided to return to the crumby little Galactic Grill in Tomorrowland. We had to stand in line for a long time, but finally made it up to order. I ordered a Cobb salad and a turkey sandwich for Sofia. They were both about the sorriest looking food we've ever seen, but at least it wasn't yet 1pm! We ate and then headed over to use our FastPass on the Star Wars Tours Ride. The FastPass was awesome! We probably saved over an hour and were on the ride in less than 15 minutes! We strapped in and had a fantastic ride! It really did feel like we were on a space ship and traveling through space to to various space stations. It was so fun.

After we finished, we headed over to check in for Jedi Training!

Sleeping Beauty...