Part three of our Disneyland Christmas Trip Report 2012! You can catch up on day one and two to read up on the magic.

Our final day started off bright and early around 7am. We opted to take a taxi to the park simply because our feet were killing us, also we’re lazy so don’t judge. Since we enjoyed Carsland so much from the previous day it was decided we would wait in line again for FastPasses for Radiator Springs Racer.

This time around John went and got us Starbucks while I held our place in line. Your favourite drink first thing in the morning makes any line tolerable. Having the “Disney Parks” logo on the Starbucks cups oddly makes it feel a bit more “special” even though there is nothing remotely magical about it. Also, waiting in the line makes the perfect time to sit and jot notes down on my iPhone to help write trip reports!

How meta …

I jot down notes to help with the Trip Report later!

Just a hint of pixie dust added to my Starbucks.

While waiting for the FastPasses two familiar faces stood behind me. Chip ‘N Dale thought they would wait for FastPasses too, they apparently love it just as much as everyone else. Once we obtained the passes for Radiator Springs Racers we swiftly headed over to Soarin’ to get FastPasses there too. They allow you to get another FastPass right away even if you got one for Radiator Springs Racers. Keep in mind this may change in the future, or already has.

The most valuable FastPasses in Disneyland!

Look who showed up!

After grabbing our two FastPasses we made our way over to Disneyland Park for breakfast at Carination Cafe. This is now a tradition where we must have at least one meal there during our visit. As with tradition, I got myself the infamous (or famous) Mickey Waffle. If you haven’t had the pleasure of having one yet, I created a very simple “How to” for eating a Mickey Waffle.

How to eat a Mickey Waffle

After the consumption of our magical breakfast we did the only logical thing left to do, go on attractions! Nothing says good morning like being chased by the Empire through Hoth to make sure your food was digested properly. Then heading over on Space Mountain and having to accidentally lose one of the passengers.

We lost one of the passengers!

Wreck-It Ralph recently went into theatres and naturally there would be character greetings which we could not pass up!

Meeting Wreck-It Ralph!

Meeting Venellope

Next up was grabbing a FastPass for Big Thunder Mountain (we’re just all about the FastPasses today) then headed on over to the Haunted Mansion Holiday. Which I’ve mentioned many times that this is by far my absolute favourite attraction. We managed to be able to grab FastPasses. Once that was all sorted it was time to use our FastPasses in Disney California Adventure.

Haunted Mansion Holidays Outdoor Decorations

First up was Soarin’ which is always a great time. Then it was time for Radiator Springs Racer. Which was just as fantastic as the first time we rode it. Worth the wait for the FastPasses early in the morning. Route 66 offers quite a bit of food options, so we decided on the Cozy Cone and get some ice cream to fuel us up for the afternoon. We both got the twist cone dipped in chocolate, you can almost never go wrong with a twist cone. We had to eat quickly as they were melting.

Yeah, that’s John with his iPhone 5 out recording the entire ride

Eating the ice cream as quick as possible!

Welcome, again!

After our delicious ice cream we made our way over to Downtown Disney for a little retail therapy. First we made a stop at the Grand Californian to admire the beautiful hotel. One day we will stay there, one day! We picked up about $100 worth of Vinylmation at DStreet (We got the Pixar and Star Wars series if anyone is curious) and more pins from World of Disney. Also got my paws on the Duffy Vinylmations!

Grand Californian Hotel Christmas Tree

“Just a second I need to Tweet this!”

Got 4 Pixar Vinylmations

Finally got my Duffy Vinylmations!

I’m a sucker for these, I have to have all the Hidden Mickey pins!

Got a couple cute pins!

Cute Christmas Mickey Pin and Cars Pin

It was then time for a quick nap back at our hotel, which we walked to this time. After a two hour nap we had dinner at McDonald’s (yes we know but you can’t complain about cheap food compared to Disneyland) then headed to Disneyland Park to get our spots for the Christmas Fantasy Parade.

We then traded some Vinylmation at the Emporium and went to Space Mountain to use up our FastPasses. We then did more Vinylmation trading at Star Traders where I got to add one more Star Wars Vinylmation to my collection.

Finally got Lando from the Star Wars Vinylmation set!

Then it was over to Big Thunder Mountain, which we rode twice. Once with our FastPass and one more time right after as the wait time was only 15 minutes. Riding it in the evening is my favourite not only is it cooler outside (temperature wise) but your eyes don’t adjust quickly enough to the light so it’s sometimes a surprise to where you’re headed! We then rode Pirates and the Haunted Mansion Holiday one last time.

We were on a Vinylmation trading frenzy and traded more of them in Adventureland while we were headed to get ourselves some delicious Dole Whip. It was a bit chilly outside, not by Canadian standards mind you, but you cannot go to Disneyland without some delicious Dole Whip. As a bonus it does not melt as quick due to the lack of sunlight!

Night is the best time to have it since it does not melt as fast

Duffy has been wearing the same outfit for almost two years, which meant it was time to expand his wardrobe. For Christmas I bought him a suit that he can wear during the holidays! Duffy was quite satisfied with his new outfit, so we went and got ourselves prime spots for the Believe in Holiday Magic. This time we opted to not take any photos or videos and just enjoy the moment. It was incredible!

As many of you know McDonald’s does not keep you full for long, so after the fireworks and fighting with the crowd we made our way to Pizza Port for some late night munchies, which then lead to more Vinylmation trading. Our mission this trip was to get rid of ALL of our double Vinylmations and we had quite a few of them. We then road Space Mountain with my Santa Mickey Ears!

Have to show off the ears

We walked over to Big Thunder Mountain and noticed the wait time of 15 minutes still and decided to take one more go at it! We thought we’d take our chances at Radiator Springs Racer but sadly the wait time was at 75 minutes and it was almost 11pm. So, we made our way back to Disneyland and rode Haunted Mansion Holiday and Star Tours one final time!

Whispering secrets to Mickey. I’ll never tell!

Photo Op in California Adventure

The park was now closed and it was a great time to get tons of photos of Sleeping Beauty’s Castle all decorated for the holidays. We did not want to waste our opportunity. We then took the time to just sit and enjoy the sight, and it was magical.

“I’m gonna wreck it!”

There you have it, another Disney Trip in the books and we can officially say we’ve been to Disneyland during the holidays! We had a magical time even though there were a few hiccups but not everything can go smoothly! We hope you enjoyed reading our trip report and reliving the trip with us! There will be plenty more of trip reports to come as we head to Tokyo Disneyland for their 30th Anniversary!

If you’re interested in writing a trip report for us, and we’d love it if you did, then drop us a line.