Monday morning I woke up about 5:45 again, so I decided to sneak a shower in. I should have made it a little shorter though, because it was HARD getting everyone dressed and ready and all the bags figured out and getting everyone fed and "on the road" for our 20 minute walk to the gate. I was fine doing the Uber thing or having them catch the bus over (I felt like they were already running earlier than 8 AM...) but DH thought it would be best for everyone to walk. We only did one stroller the first day, so that was a long walk for DS5, but since it was first thing in the day, he did fairly well, and we let him ride in the stroller sometimes during the day when DD2 wanted to walk. (Which was a lot) They were all pretty excited though, so off we went!
Security wasn't bad that early. We were at that point about 8:05 am for a 9 AM opening at California Adventure. The lines were already quite long.
It really takes the wind out of my sails to not be close to the front of the entry lines! But we didn't have too long to wait. 25-ish minutes.
But then. Then. It started raining as we were walking through the turnstiles. Like not just drizzling. Good decent rain. The night before the forecast hadn't said there was any chance of rain. What to do?? We ducked into a store for a few minutes, (I had already grabbed a Toy Story Midway Mania fastpass on Maxpass) because I know California rain can be like AZ rain much of the time, and just rain for 5 minutes and be done. (Florida was an unpleasant awakening when I visited as a teen, and we ducked out of the rain to "wait it out" and an hour later there was no sign of it letting up!) But it didn't stop this time. So we were trying to get electronics covered up, pulled out all the "water rides" ponchos, and got those covered that cared. And stood, waiting for rope drop with a bunch of other quite damp people. It was a little miserable, and there was some crying and some whining. (Not all me, haha) These were the shirts I was most excited to get some family pictures with, and I was imagining everyone looking kind of bedraggled in them. But I was at DLR, so I was hopeful that things would turn around.
We moved as quickly as we could under the circumstances towards Toy Story, noticing as we went by that the Incredicoaster wasn't running. Hopefully just because of the rain? The standby line for TSMM said 10 minutes, so we made the (good) choice of riding it standby first, and then using our Maxpass. It wasn't quite read to go anyway. I knew we'd want to ride that one at least twice, because my boys, especially, enjoy the interactive rides, and I knew our best chances of that happening were first thing. Everyone enjoyed the ride, even DD2. Her first ride at Disney! (Well, since she was 4 months old.) I'm glad she liked it, because we were able to use our fastpass to ride it again immediately, and the standby had already shot up to 50 minutes (I'm guessing more like 35) at 9:30 AM.
After that we rode Jessie's Critter Carousel, which was having mechanical problems that morning. It was closed after our first Toy Story ride, but open after our second, and closed again soon after we got off! DD2 chose the skunk to ride, which I thought was appropriate. She's such a little stinker sometimes!
After we had a bathroom break, we decided to meet Mrs. Incredible/Elastigirl, who had a short line, and while in line, I grabbed one of our must-treats, and Jack Jack Num Num cookie! It was perfect for sharing 6 ways. Everyone got 2-3 bites and got to enjoy it.
The rain had stopped during our first ride on TSMM, and we had left a poncho over the stroller, so things were beginning to be dry after a couple hours.
The weather was just beautiful the rest of the day! It made the crowds much more bearable. DD2 loved walking whenever we would let her (ie. any times the crowds weren't too close, and we could keep our eyes on her. She's not a big fan of hand-holding either.)
Our next fastpass was for Guardians, I think? So we headed that direction. This was going to be DS5's first thrill ride, and he was pretty excited. Sadly, he was not a fan, and declined to ride it again. We had gotten a rider switch, and DD2 and I were in the longest line ever to see Anna and Olaf (they let the line know several times that Elsa wasn't there that day). I know there were screens to watch during most of it, but it was a seriously long line to meet characters. (for me, anyway)
When we were almost to the front of the outside line, DH, DD11 and DS5 traded me places in the line to wait with her, and I took DS12 and DD8 with me on Guardians for a second time. Super fun ride (my only one of the trip) and we got Hit Me With Your Best Shot, which is probably my favorite song on that ride that I've experienced.
When we got off, they were just barely meeting Anna and Olaf. So we rode Guardians twice while they waited in that one line. I think it went well. DD11 took video for me, I just haven't had a chance to watch it yet!
. I love reading about your trips, and have to say I am a little jealous of all your finds at the Disney Outlet 
. I’m also in the Phoenix area and feel like I never find anything good in there.
