sunday funday at the park

it'd been awhile since we'd gone to the 'land for rope drop, so the kids and i decided to hit it up one sunday morning.  the old lady was hoping to have some disneyland-style french toast, and we managed to score a reservation at plaza inn for breakfast.  we decided to book it for 9:30 so we could go in and do some fun stuff first.

as per usual on a sunday morning, there was zero traffic heading down to anaheim and we were parked and through the main gate just a few minutes after 8:00.  after securing a fastpass for hyperspace mountain using the disneyland app, we headed over to big thunder mountain and walked right onto the ride.

afterwards, we busted out some quarters for the shooting gallery.

this is always the best time to catch a castle photo, before the park fills up.  and also before i start getting extra sweaty.  heh.

since the wait time posted at star tours was only 5 minutes, we swung in for a quick ride.

and the old lady finally fulfilled a childhood dream - snacking on astronaut ice cream.  she chose the neopolitan ice cream sandwich and shared it with all of us.

by then it was time to use our fastpass.  hyperspace mountain is my favorite version of this ride.  the OG version is so dark and a little blah, and the ghost galaxy halloween overlay is creepy AF.  this one is like baby bear's porridge - just right.

and even after all of that fun we had time to take a turn at buzz lightyear's astro blasters.  this is why we love rope drop so much...it's a little tough to get up so early, but the rides are so easily accessible before it gets too crowded.

plaza inn is right there where tomorrowland and main street meet, and so we headed over to check in for our reservation.

before being shown to our table, we got to take a picture with our hostess.

the breakfast buffet here is pretty good, with something for everyone.  there are breakfast pastries, eggs with bacon and sausage, mickey-shaped waffles, made-to-order omelettes, juice, coffee, tea, soda.  everything you could possibly want, with characters stopping to visit you at your table and take pictures.

you get to see lots of classic characters here - aside from minnie, you get to meet chip & dale, winnie the pooh (and tigger too!), pluto, goofy's son max, rafiki.

i'm not sure what was going on here, but her face makes me laugh.

once we'd had our fill of both characters and grub, we headed out of there to do some browsing in the shops on main street.  we even managed to catch the dapper dans doing a quickie performance in one of the stores.

the park was starting to get crowded and the temperatures were rising rapidly, and while we had fastpasses for another ride we decided to head on outta there and throw on some bathing suits to jump into the pool at home.  that's our favorite part of being annual passholders - we can roll in, soak in some disney magic, have some food and bounce.  it's a great way to spend a sunday morning.

making it up as i go along

the bean woke up one morning with an odd request:  "mommy, can you make me a breakfast pizza please?" and punctuated it with a big ol' kool aid smile and a kiss on the cheek.

well, hell, who could say no to that?  definitely not me.  and so i whipped out my phone pronto and looked up recipes to appease my kid.  they were all pretty similar for the most part: crust, egg, cheese, meat.  i came across one that sounded right up our alley - it sounded like a tater tot breakfast casserole with a crescent roll dough crust.  ding ding ding!

except that when i opened the fridge, it turned out that i was all out of the dough.  all i had that could possibly work was a can of pillsbury buttermilk biscuits.  poo.  but i'd made her a promise, and so i made it work.  because biscuits usually get puffy as they bake, i figured i'd deflate the dough a little.  so i popped that can open, took a rolling pan to 'em, and macgyvered a crust.

i whisked some eggs and threw in some pureed carrots for good measure, poured the mixture on top, and added some cooked crumbled sausage and a few tater tots that i smushed up.  a good handful of shredded mozzarella cheese went last, and voila:

after baking, i was pleased to see that it had turned out just as i'd hoped.

not bad, right?  and the bean appreciated my efforts as she tucked into that slice happily, and then requested more when she'd devoured it.  i was pretty proud of myself, and so i think this may end up in the weekend breakfast rotation after all.

bean's breakfast pizza

small can of pillsbury biscuit dough
3 eggs
1/4 cup carrot puree
1/2 cup cooked crumbled sausage
1/2 cup frozen hash browns or tater tots
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

preheat oven to 375.  line an 8" round pan with parchment paper.  roll out four biscuits one at a time and create a round crust, pressing and rolling together to about a 1/4" inch thickness.  place in bottom of prepared pan.

whisk eggs with carrot puree (or, if you're lazy like me and keep baby food on hand for things like this, use any kind of light-colored mix of vegetables) and pour on top of crust.  sprinkle sausage and frozen hash browns on top.  if you're going the tater tot route, toss 'em in the microwave with a sprinkle of water and cover with plastic wrap.  heat for about a minute and a half until softened and then smush them till they resemble regular hash browns.  see what i did there?  lastly, top with cheese.

bake for 25-30 minutes, cut and serve.

don't you love my made-up recipes?  i do - at least when they turn out well.  and hey, if you have pizza or crescent roll dough, that would probably be pretty delicious too.  maybe i'll try doing it the "right" way next time.  or not.  you know.

in stitch-es

okay, so it's been over a week now and i'm still not done recapping the disneyland extravaganza. but this is the last post, i swear. there's lots of new stuff to talk about.

we woke up not too bright and early the day after walking around the park for twelve hours straight. and as everyone dragged their asses up and into the showers to get ready, the bean decided to check out the balcony.

once we were all ready, we packed our bags and dropped them off at the bell desk to store for a few hours. we had a reservation at the neighboring paradise pier hotel for a character breakfast, and it was a nice little walk to get there.

this hotel is quite different from the one we stayed at - kind of like comparing a holiday inn to a ritz. sort of.

as we approached the restaurant, we noticed quite a crowd in front, waiting to be seated. after all, it was mother's day, and what better way to spend it than eating breakfast from a buffet surrounded by tons of kids and grown folks in character costumes? don't answer that.

mickey was stationed right as we entered - even before we were escorted to our table. the bean was stoked and ran right over to give him a big ass hug. she looks a little leery as he bent her over for a dramatic kiss, but i promise she loved every moment.

with a little nudging, the teen scampered over to join in the fun.

we got a nice table by the wall of windows, underneath the kites. there was no mistaking where we were, with mickey silhouettes on everything.

MIL and i had each been handed a cellophane-wrapped rose by the hostess who'd greeted us. cute. i took a picture of mine as i sipped my glass of V8 from a purple crazy straw.

the first character to visit our table was stitch, who was quite friendly. the bean allowed him to "kiss" her head and gave him a high-five.

the girls were slightly less amused when he came over and ruffled the shit outta their carefully-done coiffs. he's lucky they didn't smack him upside the head. but they put their game faces on and smiled for the camera anyway.

more character visits.

despite the teen's protests, our server arrived with a birthday surprise for her. she put it on the table and then left to "rally the troops." heh. what can i say - i'd mentioned it when i made the reservation. birthdays are meant to be acknowledged and celebrated!

stitch returned to join in the birthday song and paused to give the bean another hug before harassing the girls again.

i love it. she didn't, as much, but played along because she's a good sport.

the bean was more than happy to assist her sister in polishing off that birthday brownie surprise.

on our way out, the girls stopped to say goodbye to mickey.

the teen thought it was hilarious to stand underneath the giant goofy statue in the hotel lobby.

until she tried to get out and whacked her noggin on his teef.

i really do take some random ass pictures.