Hey Everyone! So, as you may have figured, I'm back from my Vacation at Disneyland. It was a lot of fun, so I figured I'd share some photos and a breakdown of what I did, in case anyone was curious. :3 It was really nice to go on this trip from Adventures by Disney, didn't have to worry about food, or hotels, or getting around; everything was taken care of for us, and we got to see some exclusive backstage stuff!

Day 1
So, I had to leave for the airport at 5:00am! I survived, and unfortunately, have been on earlier flights than that, so it really wasn't bad. Me and my mom arrived in Los Angeles by 9:00am (California time) and were picked up and driven to the Hollywood Renaissance Hotel. We spent the first day doing the touristy things around Hollywood. Of course, as we walked through Hollywood Blvd, we looked at the famous walk of stars. We also went to a wax museum, the Guinness Book of World Records building, and Ripley's Believe it or Not. Afterwards we met the rest of our group (really nice people!) and went out to eat. They had a really nice reception for us, and I got to play Disney Trivia! Sadly, it was mostly for fun (rather than serious trivia) so I came in second. One of the challenging questions was "Do you like Piglet?"



Day 2
Once we got to the second day, we really started to do stuff! To start, we walked by Grauman's Chinese Theatre to look at all the handprints, then we went to the Disney Studio Store and Soda Fountain for breakfast (before they opened!) and then got a behind the scenes tour of the El Capitan Theatre (which was really cool! They had it all themed out for Narnia). Next, we headed over to the Jimmy Kimmel Live building and got a behind the scenes tour there (We also got tickets to the show later that night). Guests included Adam Sandler, Cat Von D, Josh Groban, and then a concert by The Kooks. Very fun. Then, it was a bus ride through Hollywood and into the Jim Henson Studios! I got to see a lot of cool things there, but my favorite was the Creature Shop (aka the Barn). That's where the build the Muppets and other characters. I even got to touch Rigel from Farscape (for any of you who know who that is, lol) No camera's allowed in the Creature Shop, though. I got to try my hand at puppeteering afterwards! Our last stop of the day was to Griffin Park, which is the home of Walt Disney's Barn and a 1/8 scale miniature train that you could ride on! Very cool.



Day 3
Now we get to the really cool stuff, Imagineering! This was one of the most fun aspects of the whole trip. So, for those who don't know, Walt Disney Imagineers are the people who design and build the theme parks and all the attractions therein. No pictures aloud, so I'll just have to explain. The inside of the building was really cool, all the artists there were allowed to paint on the walls! Our first stop was for a presentation about what Imagineering does, some of their history, and what new projects they're working on. Then, we got to meet their most advanced Audio Animatronic character, Lucky the Dinosaur! He was super cool, I was hoping to see him while I was there. May have to make a little clay sculpture of him when I have time. Then toured around the audio room, the sculpture room (AWESOME!), several other places, and then got to shop at their exclusive store (with a 40% off coupon!)

After that we went to the Walt Disney Studios, and even got to see the old animation building (though I would have liked to see the new one! I really was hoping to get a sneak peak at the Frog Princess while I was there ). Still lots of fun, and the administration building was AWESOME! It had Statues of the 7 Dwarfs supporting it and their award in the courtyard along with A statue of Roy and Minnie and the Partners Statue of Walt and Mickey. Later on, we got finally made it to Disneyland! Stayed at the Grand Californian, which has it's own entrance to California Adventure Park. So yeah, just kinda had fun on rides after that.



Day 4
Finally we got our Disneyland Day! We started off by getting to get into the park BEFORE it opened! The only time I've ever seen Disneyland empty. Very cool. We got to take some pictures and we went on the Haunted Mansion, Indiana Jones Ride, Pirates of the Caribbean all with no wait! We even got to go backstage for Pirates. We also got reserved seating for Fireworks and Parade viewing! We also got to go backstage into the cast members only area of Disney and see where they house the floats, where they launch the fireworks, and onto the Disney Ranch where they care for the horses that work on Main Street!



Day 5
Day five was the California Adventure Park day. We also got here before it opened, and got a behind the scenes look at Soarin' (as well as a private ride!) We also had reserved seats at the Aladdin Musical Spectacular which was AMAZING! Seriously one of the highlights of my trip and the best thing at California Adventure. It was really well done, check it out if you have the chance! We also got to draw Mickey Mouse at the Character Academy! So, after that, kinda just went on rides and took pictures (WITH A MICKEY MOUSE EARS GRADUATION HAT!) And then we had our farewell dinner, which was really really great. They even had a Disney Artist come in and draw any character we wanted! Very cool, my favorite surprise. And of course, special visit by Mickey Mouse!



Day 6
Well, we had our final breakfast, a bear hug from Koda, and I was on my way home! I was actually pretty sad to leave, I had such a great time!

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