As promised, here are the results from my bucket list from our trip to Disneyland! We didn't accomplish everything, but we made a pretty good dent in it! Here's how we did:
Melissa's Disneyland June 2016 Trip Bucket List:
This should have been something I did the first day we were there so I could take it home and enjoy it in the hotel room all week. Unfortunately, it slipped my mind the first few days. By the time I remembered it, it seemed silly to buy a balloon only to have to deflate it a few days later. I decided to pass on it, and I'm still regretting that decision.
°o° 2.) Eat at ESPN Zone in Downtown Disney
°o° 3.) Watch the new Frozen Show at the Hyperion Theater
I was so excited to see Frozen Live after hearing wonderful things about it online. It was really good and I enjoyed it. The theatrics were the best part of it. The scenery, props and costumes were incredible. The singing and actors were great too!
°o° 4.) Meet Tinker Bell and the Fairies in Pixie Hollow
Eliot took me to meet Tinker Bell Saturday while we had a little bit of time to kill before going back for pictures on Main Street. While there, we also got to meet Iridessa, the light fairy. However, my favorite part was all of the little details you could see in the garden leading up to entering Pixie Hollow. I loved the statues!
°o° 5.) Buy a Disney Princess Letter Name Painting of my Name
°o° 5.) Buy a Disney Princess Letter Name Painting of my Name
I made sure to do this since I've been wanting to get my name painted in Princess Letters since Eliot and I went to Disneyland last September. (Sara ordered one that trip and her name came out great. I've wanted one ever since.) I pre-picked out my princesses and I'm very happy with the result! I can't wait to hang it in my office!
°o° 6.) Live Broadcast a Few Disneyland Shows and/or Parades
There wasn't enough time and this wasn't that high of a priority for me this trip. The parks were crowded enough from having high school grad nights every. single. day. the entire week we were there. Lines were long, not crazy long, but long- so instead we focused on getting on the rides we wanted to go on.
°o° 8.) Take Pictures with the Diamond Celebration Characters
°o° 8.) Take Pictures with the Diamond Celebration Characters
The Matterhorn had a huge line the entire week we were there. I get anxious enough going on new rides for the first time. We all decided it wasn't worth waiting in the long line so we skipped it. I guess I'll try it next time!
Eliot and I planned on completing our pressed coin mission, but we weren't sure we had documented all of the pennies we got last time. We decided to wait until we could re-evaluate our collection. Then, Eliot's Mom will help us get the ones we're missing.
°o° 11.) Ride in the Front of the Monorail
Eliot and I were able to ride in the front of the monorail on his birthday. It's his favorite ride, and it worked out perfectly. We were able to take it from Tomorrowland, right to Downtown Disney to get to the ESPN Zone for the Sharks game!
°o° 12.) Do another autograph book
°o° 11.) Ride in the Front of the Monorail
Eliot and I were able to ride in the front of the monorail on his birthday. It's his favorite ride, and it worked out perfectly. We were able to take it from Tomorrowland, right to Downtown Disney to get to the ESPN Zone for the Sharks game!
°o° 12.) Do another autograph book
We definitely had an autograph filled trip. Eliot and I shared our autograph book, while Sara and Elissa each had one as well. And it made perfect sense since we were going to so many character dining meals. Eliot and I filled all but 3 pages of our autograph book, and we bought the big Diamond Celebration one!
°o° 13.) Buy Disney art work at Wonderground Gallery
This trip, I got a few more postcards from Wonderground. Eliot and I are still trying to figure out where we're putting artwork in the house so I behaved myself. However, his Mom did get him a print that he really wanted. He'll probably put that one in his office!
°o° 14.) See Mickey's March Along
°o° 14.) See Mickey's March Along
°o° 15.) Order a Drink with a Diamond Glow Cube
I ordered two Diamond Blue Glowtinis while we were at ESPN Zone. Eliot and I also added two diamond glow cubes to our order so I'd have 4 of them total. They're so expensive reselling on eBay. I'm really glad I bought my own for about $5 each!
We didn't take pictures at all of the stops this trip, but between September and this trip, I've officially taken photos at all of the Diamond Celebration Photo Stops. I hope Disney does more special photo spots in the future. I thought they were fun!
We completely ran out of time to do the Cove Bar... again. Ugh. Eliot's promised me we'll get there next time. I've told him he owes me a drink and some lobster nachos.
°o° 18.) Go on Radiator Springs Racers with Eliot
I was able to get on Radiator Springs Racers with Eliot, Sara and Elissa. We had a blast. I sat in the front with the girls and Eliot was behind us. It reminds me a lot of Test Track, but it's so much longer that it almost makes Test Track look lame.
°o° 19.) See the Newsboys in California Adventure
Eliot and I had tons of fun in our Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde themed outfits. I'd bought special shirts from Glitter Ever After to wear with the Zootopia ear hats I made! We got so many compliments on our ears! And Nick and Judy loved our ears too! Success!!!
We also didn't get to see Disneyland Forever. We were ready to watch it the last night but it was cancelled a few nights of our trip due to winds at high altitudes. I'm pretty sad about that too- especially since we easily could have seen it the first night we were there. However, I can't be too disappointed. When Disney first announced it's plans for the 60th Anniversary Diamond Celebration, I wasn't even sure I'd get to go to Disneyland to see it in person. Looking back, I've been blessed to go not once, but three times. I can't be upset about that. I was lucky enough to see the fireworks live a few times back in September. Plus, on this trip to California, we also got to have a bunch of other cool once in a lifetime experiences!
°o° 21.) See Elissa Graduate from High School
This was the main purpose of our trip west and it was definitely special! Eliot and I are so proud of Elissa and all of her accomplishments from high school! It was awesome to see her cross the stage to get her diploma! Congrats Elissa!
We were having so much fun on Saturday that we completely ran out of time to go to the Disney Store. And I'm not complaining one bit. When I originally said "we should do this!", we didn't realize the Sharks were going to be in the NHL Finals.
°o° 23.) Go to the Walt Disney Family Museum
Eliot and I had a blast during our visit to the Walt Disney Family Museum. There's so much to see! We didn't have enough time to see it all. We're already planning a trip back Labor Day weekend when we're in San Jose for a friend's wedding!
°o° 24.) Go the Little Mermaid in Concert at the Hollywood Bowl
This was so cool. Eliot and I loved it. The pre-show, movie, live music, and actors were all amazing. I really hope they do more of these shows in the future. Not that we'll get to go to them necessarily, but it's such a cool thing to experience!
°o° 25.) Go to my first game at the Shark Tank to cheer on the San Jose Sharks!
I have to say, this was definitely the coolest sporting event I've ever been to. It was incredible to experience the Sharks first home game of the Stanley Cup Finals. I'll never forget the deafening roar of the crowd, the flashing of our wristbands, or the atmosphere inside the Shark Tank. Our score in overtime was the icing on the cake!!!
In addition to all of these awesome bucket list accomplishments, I also experienced a few other things during our trip that we weren't expecting:
In addition to all of these awesome bucket list accomplishments, I also experienced a few other things during our trip that we weren't expecting:
°o° See the Golden Gate Bridge
I knew the Golden Gate Bridge was near the Walt Disney Family Museum but I didn't expect to be able to see it from the museum! It was really foggy the day we were there, but we got a few views of the bridge! Hopefully I'll see more next time!
°o° Stop Motion Video of Orange Bird
Eliot and I went to an Open Studio while at the Walt Disney Family Museum. I was expecting a lecture like demonstration on how to make a character fly. What we got to do was way better. Eliot and I were able to design a character out of construction paper, and then use a modern version of a multi-plane camera to make the character fly! Of course, I had to stick with a Disney character, so we made Orange Bird fly!
On our way to the museum, we drove directly through San Francisco. I've been to the airport a few times but never in the actual city. It was cool to see the houses on hills and the trolley tracks. Hopefully we'll get to explore it more in the future!
As I mentioned above, the Sharks game was a huge deal. I had so much fun. What made it better was seeing them win their game at home live, in person! So cool!
°o° Go to In-and-Out Burger
This is silly, but I had to add this to the list. I've been there before, but this time I made sure to slow down and enjoy my burger. It was delicious!
°o° Go to Eliot's High School
After Elissa's graduation, we went out to dinner and drove over to the high school to wait for her project graduation to start. While waiting, Elissa and Eliot gave me a tour of the building. I saw Eliot's class mural and Elissa showed us all of the construction projects they're working on over the summer.
This probably sounds silly, but when your hockey team makes their first appearance in the finals, you buy all the things. Ok, not all of the things, but Eliot and I made sure to get Stanley Cup Finals shirts, patches and pucks. I also got a new Sharks jersey!
°o° Goofy's Kitchen
I've always wanted to try Goofy's Kitchen so this trip we finally did it! Eliot, Sara, Elissa and I decided to have a kids breakfast Wednesday morning. It was a blast. Not only did they have awesome breakfast food, but there was macaroni and cheese, pizza, and dessert! Sara and I were happy with the cake pops. I'd definitely go there again!
°o° See the Lilly Belle
I was so excited to see the inside of the Lilly Belle! Since the trains aren't running, you could get close and take pictures. You could also talk to the conductors!
°o° Sit Inside the Train Engine
I also got to sit inside the train engine with the conductor! There's a little seat that drops down so Eliot and I took turns in the front! It was really cool.
°o° Sing Happy Birthday to Donald
Eliot was pretty excited to celebrate his birthday with Donald on Thursday. A ton of people were waiting to take photos with him. Since there was such a large crowd, one of the cast members told us we were going to sing Happy Birthday when he came back out. It was so cool. There was a huge crowd there singing and Donald loved it. Then, we got in line so the birthday boys could get a photo together!
°o° Minnie Mouse Hand Picked Me
The day Eliot and I dressed up as Diamond Celebration Mickey and Minnie, I got an extra special treat! We waited for the characters after Mickey's March Along, and I waved and said hi to Minnie when she finally came out. She noticed me, and our matching outfits. (That's when everyone around us realized the significance of my wardrobe selection.) The next thing I knew, Minnie grabbed my hand and whisked me away with me following behind her to her photo spot! It all happened so fast Eliot didn't even get a chance to take pictures. We were first in line to get pictures with her. And she made a big deal of our matching outfits and my custom ear hat. It was priceless.
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