The Korous Family: Summer Vacation!!!!

5 days in Disneyland and California Adventure..... sounds like a fairy tale, right? Well..... that fairy tale came true for me!!!!!

Just a little background, I LOVE DISNEYLAND!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The atmosphere is so magical and really makes me forget about all of the things in "real life." Walt Disney was a brilliant man and I love his quote about the theme park.

"Disneyland will never be complete. It will continue to grow as long as there is imagination left in the world."
~ Walt Disney

Our journey started on Sunday, Neight and I left at 6 am, which meant waking up at 4 am. The drive down to California didn't seem very long, although it did take a 12 hours. We could have made it in 9-10 if traffic wouldn't have been so slow. Driving through California I decided that the state just gives out licenses like candy. NO ONE knew how to drive. There was no use of blinkers, no common courtesy when merging, and lots of accidents. Go figure. It was super frustrating and I feel bad that Neight had to deal with all of that. I offered to drive, but it's probably best that I didn't. After we checked into our hotel Sunday night we walked over to Down Town Disney and looked around. The four previous times I was there I didn't have enough time to wander around, so it was nice to look at new things.
Monday - Friday we were in the park and it was AWESOME!!!!!!!!! The only problem was that my feet were KILLING me by the end of Monday. It lasted throughout the week, but I tried to suck it up and not complain about it. I just had to sit down a lot, but I was still able to enjoy the atmosphere. Wednesday Neight and I grabbed breakfast at a near by Mc Donald's before heading to the park. Once in the park we picked a bench at the end of main street (opposite from the castle, just as you walk in) to eat. It turned out to be the perfect spot because 5 minutes after we got there we got to see many characters come out and meet people. There was Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Chip and Dale, Cruella deVill, and Alice, from what I can remember. I wasn't close enough to get any pictures, but it was the first time that I had seen any characters that weren't in the parades. It's kind of funny at how much of a child I turn into when I'm in Disneyland :)
Thursday was the night we decided to watch the World of Color in California Adventure. It was one of the coolest things I have seen in my life! I would recommend it to anyone, no matter what age. It's insane at what the people of Disney have come up with to entertain the masses of people that visit each night.
Friday was the day that Neight and I walked around all the stores and bought all our souvenirs. It was nice to have a day to do this because I found some things that I didn't know existed. There's this really cool place in California Adventure that had a real life flip book. It was mind blowing. This "flip book" was set on a round turn table. When it stood still there were little figurines from Toy Story, each figurine was slightly different from the other. Then the turn table started to spin. At first I really couldn't see anything happening, but then when a strobe light was turned on the figures were moving!!!! This wasn't just a scene for one character, there were multiple one. Woody, Bullseye, Jessie, the aliens, the green military men, and the penguin. Needless to say, I watched it about three times. Friday we also watched the Sound-sational Parade and Fantasmic.
Disneyland was a great vacation! We are planning to go back in 3 years with my parents and sisters!

Vegas was a little different. I've been there before, but this time I felt WAY claustrophobic. There were SO many people and it was busy and loud. TOTALLY different from Salt Lake. When we had planned this vacation originally we were just thinking Disneyland, but about two weeks before we decided to stop in Vegas as well. With it being last minute we didn't get a great hotel and didn't have a whole lot planned. We did walk the strip for several hours, but it was just too hot and there really isn't much to do unless you gamble, which honestly, I didn't have the desire too. In Vegas we also got the news that my Uncle had passed away after a long battle with cancer. I have to admit, it was nice to have a few days to relax before coming back home.

All in all it was a very good time. I was happy to have vacation and am excited to do it again in 3 years! I won't be counting down quite yet, but it will be in the back of my mind. Here are some of the pictures of the vacation. For all of them, check out my facebook page :)

This picture was made out of FLOWERS! It was in the conservatory of the Bellagio lobby

The yellow part of the dresses are actually staffs with notes on them. It tied in with the theme of the parade VERY well!

Our view from our hotel in Vegas.

In the area with the statue of Walt and Mickey there are bronze statues of the classic Disney characters. Donald, Minnie, etc. I had never seen them before!