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California, Here We Come! DLR, Hollywood, and San Diego *OCTOBER 15-23, 2011*

We finished up our visit in Toontown and decided that if we were going to ride on the Nemo Submarines that now was the time. We made our way to find that the wait was 40 minutes. I really wasn't too keen on the idea of riding because I felt like I would have some issues with claustrophobia. I offered to grab some FPs for all of us to ride Star Tours later in the day and then I would go get in the line for Rapunzel. Everyone agreed and I went on my way. I couldn't resist taking some pictures along the way.

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I arrived at the Tangled Meet and Greet at about 10:15 and she would be arriving at 11:00 that morning. It worked out perfectly because the kids were occupied with a ride, while I was able to wait and just enjoy my surroundings. There was already two sets of grandparents that were waiting while their grandchildren were enjoying Fantasyland. I had a great time visiting with the grandpa that was ahead of me.

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At about 10:45 the rest of my crew arrived. At this point the line had grown by leaps and bounds, so I was glad that I had decided to make my way early. My group was able to stay in good spirits while they finished their wait to meet Rapunzel.

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I'm not sure what kind of trouble these two were cooking up!

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It was finally time for the moment the girls had been waiting for. They have been wanting to meet her since our trip to WDW in 2010. They were so excited that Rapunzel was starting her own meet and greet, but it opened the week after we were there. This meet was a long time coming!

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Up next: Lovely Ladies

 
All caught up! :thumbsup2

My daughter has brunette hair and she prefers the way Rapunzel looks at the end of the movie. ;) Of course her best friend is blond and they have had many lively debates about the "better" Rapunzel. :rotfl:
 


All caught up! :thumbsup2

My daughter has brunette hair and she prefers the way Rapunzel looks at the end of the movie. ;) Of course her best friend is blond and they have had many lively debates about the "better" Rapunzel. :rotfl:

I think Rapunzel is adorable at the end of the movie with her short, dark hair! The girls are just so enamored with her long hair decorated with the pretty flowers.

Oh, Rapunzel is so pretty. :goodvibes I'm glad you got to meet her!

She was very beautiful. Rapunzel was the one meet and greet that I wanted to make a point to do with the girls. We have had such great opportunities meeting the characters at WDW, but Rapunzel was that one elusive character that we still needed to meet! I'm so glad it worked out the way it did.

 
So glad your daughters got t meet Rapunzel. Looks like a cute set up in there :goodvibes
 


I adored reading your trip report and seeing all your awesome pictures! Thank you so much for sharing with us! :D
 
I just started reading your trip report and realized we were there at the same time. Your first Disney day was our last. I was even more surprised when I saw this picture. That's my dh in the red! lol

We're also in the background of a few others. It's kind of fun to see yourself in another person's pictures. :rotfl:

That's awesome! I remember finding Ava and I in the background of a picture in a TR from WDW and I was so excited. Looks like we must have been just a step behind you that morning!
 
After our meeting with Rapunzel there was a couple of people in my group that were clamoring for a cup of coffee. The girls wanted to look at the gift shop that was next to Rapunzel's meet and greet. I sent Stu and Sandy towards the bakery to satisfy their need for coffee and maybe they would also find us some goodies! The girls and I looked around until they were satisfied and we started to make our way towards the bakery. Just after we passed through the castle we noticed that Ariel was on one of the side paths. I asked if the girls wanted to see her and they sure did. We walked over to her and they was only one child ahead of us waiting to meet with her. She was super sweet and she spent quite a while chatting with the girls about any number of things.

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Once we finished our meeting with Ariel, we looked across the way to see that Cinderella was meeting guests on the path on the right side of the castle. The girls made fast time in her direction. There were quite a few more people waiting to meet her and she advised people several times that she needed to meet people quickly because she would be moving on soon. I was starting to get concerned that she would have to leave before we got to her, but the girls were able to have a turn. Her meeting was much more rushed due to all of the people around her, but the girls were just happy to meet her.

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I was sure that Stu and Sandy would be wondering what happened to us, but when we arrived at the bakery they had just placed their orders. I think Sandy was a little jealous that we saw Cinderella without her, but I think she quickly forgot about it when she had her hands on her coffee and cinnamon roll!

Up next: Revisiting Favorites
 
I can't believe Cinderella had a jacket on and your family was in shorts and t-shirts, goes to show how relative weather is. Too cute
 
I loved the update!! I'm glad the girls got to see some princesses.

Thanks! It was fun to randomly cross paths with Ariel and Cinderella. It was even better since we had such a short wait!

I can't believe Cinderella had a jacket on and your family was in shorts and t-shirts, goes to show how relative weather is. Too cute

According to my notes the high was 68 that day and it stayed foggy for a good part of the day. We were completely comfortable in our short sleeves, but then you would see quite a few people with jackets and sweaters on. That kind of weather in October is a treat where we come from!
 
After our tasty treat at the bakery, it was time to revisit some favorites. It was Grandma Sandy's turn to choose and she decided it would be It's A Small World. I just loved Disneyland's version. I enjoyed that the loading area was outside and that so many Disney characters could be found during the ride. As Sandy said, "it was delightful."

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Here are some examples of the characters that could be found.

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After our ride the girls wanted to check out the gift shop that is just outside of Small World. In the shop Erin saw a baby Lady from Lady and the Tramp that she really wanted. I told her we would get it later. This ends up playing a large role in how our day ended.

Since we were in the area we decided to spend some more time in Toontown. I still can't say how awesome Toontown is in Disneyland.

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We also decided to cash in our FPs for Roger Rabbit while we were there.

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We decided that we needed a little more to eat to hold us over until our evening meal. Troubadour Tavern was in the area, so we had some baked potatoes. We were pleasantly surprised at how good these were. Once we finished the girls wanted to check out the gift shop where the line for the princesses exited.

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At this point we asked the girls what they wanted to see again. For whatever reason Erin wanted to see Captain EO again! :confused3 Ava wanted to go back to Toontown to see Donald's Boat. There was a big reason that Ava wanted to see this. On our trip to WDW in 2010 Ava and I had a day to ourselves at the Magic Kingdom. It was a warm day and Ava spied Donald's Boat. She was able to play in the water sprayers and it ended up being one of her favorite memories of the trip. Here she is having a blast at Donald's Boat at WDW.

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Stu decided to take Erin and Sandy came with Ava and I. We made our way to the much anticipated Donald's Boat to find that it did not have water sprayers. It was almost heartbreaking to watch this little girl running around to find the sprayers. When she finally checked around the boat(twice) and realized that she wasn't going to be getting wet, we asked her what else she would like to do. She chose to ride Gadget's Go Coaster again. I have to say that the one minute wait we had in the morning was much preferred to the almost 30 minute wait in the afternoon, but it was worth it to see this face.

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Here is a view of Toontown while riding Gadget's Go Coaster.

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We started to make our way to Star Tours to meet up with Stu and Erin. Along the way Ava was excited to see the Fairy Godmother. She was out with Cinderella and Ava was happy when Cinderella remembered her from their earlier meeting.

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We gathered our crew to use our FPs for Star Tours. I wasn't sure what Sandy and Ava would think of it, but they loved it. Star Tours would be our last ride at Disneyland...or would it.

Up next: Saying goodbye to California Adventure
 
I like having a little time to myself like you did while you were waiting for Rapunzel. Its nice not to have to keep an eye on everyone and really be able be able to relax and look around.

You got a lot of characters we never met before. Ariel, Cinderella, the Fairy Godmother. Rapunzels line was always way to long for us when we were at MK.

I'm sorry to hear they didn't have water sprayers at Donald's boat for Ava. I know its heartbreaking to see them so disappointed.

I don't want your day to end there! I can't wait to find out what happens next.
 

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