Oh the places we'll go! Vacation - Day 8

Friday 8/6

Got up & moving early this morning because today is Buy Day! We always do all shopping the last day at the park (hence the name – Buy Day). It gives us a chance to look around during the week and decide what you want to spend your money on. Less regret that way. The Daughter made a list of things she wanted and we gave her a set amount to spend. Before we left the hotel she had to decide what she would cut from the list due to not fitting into her budget. It was hard to do but she did it without any complaining. I think the only thing she said was that she’s going to work harder to earn more money for the next trip.

We got to DTD at 8:45 to discover that all the stores open at 9am. Kind of weird since the parks opened at 8am. We received a coupon for 20% off total purchase (no exclusions) for the World of Disney store or a select store in the park with a meal purchase one of the previous days. The catch to it was it could only be used from 9am to noon. We walked around while we waited for the stores to open. The kids decided that they would like to build cars like dad did (not on buy day…..). They got to pick out all the parts (body, wheels, tires, lights, etc.) and build them. Next we hit the World of Disney store. With our bags full & our list pretty much covered we ran everything back to the hotel. I apologized to all those behind us in the security line (They’ll understand when it’s they’re Buy Day). I had carefully packed the smaller bags in the larger bags to make things easier to carry not thinking about having to unpack everything to go through the security to get back to the other side of the park. They made me take out every single bag plus they had to do the normal glance in my purse, the backpack & The Daughter’s backpack…let’s just say we where not winning any metals for speed today. J

Once everything was dropped off at the hotel we went to DCA, going through security much faster this time. We had a few things we had never done left on our list so we went right to the Animation Building. This is a hidden gem! There was so much to do, the kids loved it. We went to a show where Crush, the turtle from finding Nemo, interacted with the kids, played in the Beast’s library, watched Disney videos on huge screens (The Little Man’s favorite), got to try our hand at making a short cartoon sequence, and learning how to draw a Disney character at the Animation Academy. The Daughter’s favorite was the Academy. We liked it so much we went back two more times. We learned how to draw: Goofy, Minnie Mouse, & Grumpy.

Then we rode Monsters Inc, got lunch at the Farmers Market by Bugs Land, smashed a few more pennies, rode the carousel, and went back to the hotel for nap time. Of course no one actually napped….why would they? We’re at Disneyland!

Back at the park, we did a few Fantasyland rides and watched the end of the parade until they opened up the walkways to the other lands. We ate dinner at the Plaza Inn. Their fried Chicken dinner is fabulous and can easily feed two people. Seriously, see:

I shared mine with The Little Man, who actually ate, and with The Daughter after she polished off her pasta kids meal. FYI: The pasta is delicious too!

Following dinner we headed to Gibson Girl for Dessert. They make the waffle cones in the store…they smelt SO good! The kids thought it was cool to watch them make the cones while we waited in line. We of course got the Chocolate Chip Fudge Sundae in a waffle bowl to share. It was fabulous!!!! The Little Man fell asleep mid bit and was out cold.

We carried a sleeping Little Man on to Pirates, Jungle Cruise, Haunted Mansion & Thunder Mtn (x2, got love the baby switch pass). The Little Man woke up while we waited for Randy & The Daughter to exit Thunder mtn. and was all smiles. Very unusual. We watch part of Fantasmic. Then finished our last bit of shopping in Frontierland. Lastly, we got cream cheese pretzels for the girls and churros for the boys and called it a night at 11:30pm.