Day 2 - 4:30am

2/1/12 - We set the alarm for 6am this morning so that we could make it to our breakfast reservation at 8:00, but Max woke us up at 4:30am. He had a bloody nose and it was all over his sheets. The funny thing was that when he woke Kyrie up he said, "Look what Ella did to the bed!" He had no idea that it was him. Max didn't go back to sleep and before long, the rest of the kids were up too. We ended up going to breakfast early which worked out fine.

Our breakfast was at Goofy's Kitchen.

There weren't a lot of people there, so we had a lot of time with each character. The kids all loved it. Zoe just smiled really big at each character that showed up at our table -of course. (But no smiles here. :-/ )

I don't know whose cheeks were bigger - Chip, Dale, or Zoe.

Ella loved all of the characters except for Raffiki - she avoided him as much as possoble but still wanted his autograph so held her arm straight out and tried not to get too close! The food was good and since it was a buffet, we all found something that we liked. .

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After breakfast, we headed over to Disneyland. The first ride was Autopia and then we had to talk Max into going on the Finding Nemo ride. That's when we realized that we were going to have trouble getting Max to go on any rides today.

After lunch we shared a Dole Whip Float and then headed back to the hotel for a break. I think Kyrie and I needed it more than the kids did though! Kyrie had a massage scheduled, so she went and did that while the kids and I took it easy at the hotel. After Kyrie got back we went out to dinner at Naples and had pizza. They were individual pizzas and they were a little too authentic for Jacob. He immediately scraped the goat cheese off of his and just ate the dough. After dinner Kyrie took the girls and Max back to the hotel to go to sleep while Jacob and I headed over to California Adventure. There were few people in the park so we were able to get on a bunch of rides before heading back to the hotel. Kyrie's notes: By the way, the hotel was so nice to unfold the sofa bed and put the new sheets on it while we were gone. We had called to ask for new sheets and left a pile of the bloody ones for them to pick up. Since we're Dsney Vacation Club members, (no daily housekeeping) I thought they would just leave the sheets, but they went above and beyond...again!)

I couldn't believe how many characters were at Goofy's Kitchen--the most I've ever seen at a character meal. The food was good too. The kids couldn't believe and were absolutely delighted that they got to eat dessert at breakfast!

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We took our time eating and walking and had time to go into California Adventure via the special entrance at the Grand Californian (let us in at 9:20am)to get WOC fastpasses and ride Soarin' (opened at 9:30am) before going over to Disneyland in time for rope drop at 10am.

I think Max's favorite part of the day was getting a giant corndog all to himself from the little red wagon on Main Street.

We had lunch at Bengal's Barbeque in Adventureland. The long anticipated Tiger Tails (curvy overpriced breadstick) were a flop, but the veggie and meat skewers were delicious! I especially liked the bacon wrapped asparagus. The kids were able to play at Tarzan's Tree House nearby too. I got a great online deal for a Mandara Spa package (like a Groupon but a different site)so I just HAD to do it! I got a 20 minute facial, a 50 minute massage, and a 20 minute body polish--whatever that is. The spa was great!

Today was "deal day." We also used a free $30 gift certificate I got for my birthday for signing up for a Pantina card at Naples. The pizza was good! I figured it was Marc's turn for some "alone" time (with Jacob) so I took the other kids back to the hotel for bed while they tore up Paradise Pier. The park was so deserted that they could ride everything quickly. They were still back by 8pm. I remember because the kids were all asleep before WOC started again.