2/15/09 Sunday – (Emily’s Birthday)
Breakfast – Steakhouse 55, Disneyland Hotel
Dinner – Naples Pizzeria, Downtown Disney
As anticipated day two started much earlier than anyone in the room hoped that it might have. Hunter, our friendly little rooster, decided he needed to perform his morning call at 3:45 a.m. Being that it was 6:45 in his body, we could hardly blame him. We got him out of bed, and we all snuggled in our bed together and watched our go-to Disney bedtime stories channel on tv. Hunter would come to rely on this channel for much of his relaxing time.
We had purchased a bag of delicious kettle corn at Downtown Disney the night before, so we all enjoyed that as our morning breakfast prelude. Hunter and Mom could not get enough of this stuff, and we ate half of the large bag. We finished our nutritious breakfast, watched Toy Story (twice) and decided it was time to embrace the day. It was, of course, Emily’s birthday so we had our dining planned out well in advance. The first stop on the Emily b-day express was breakfast at one of our favorite spots at DLR, Steakhouse 55. The restaurant is a really great place to dine for any meal, but they have really amazing breakfast. The restaurant is filled with photos of old celebrities in black and white and really takes you back in time as you dine. Emily enjoyed the Eggs Benedict (for the first time ever) and I had the old standby Breakfast Burrito which was delish! We all raved about our great selections and cleaned our plates as if we hadn’t eaten in weeks.
After breakfast we explored the Disneyland Hotel (where Steakhouse 55 resides). We walked around the grounds and took at lot of fun photos. Emily and Grandma also enjoyed the shopping opportunity which just so happened to be everywhere around us! It was a bit of a chilly morning so after we finished exploring we thought it would be a good idea to warm our bones and put Hunter down for a nap (since he had been awake for a good 7 hours at this point).
After everyone was rested we headed back into Disneyland Park for a small surprise that was set up by some coworkers at the resort. We got a chance to ride on the private train car, the Lilly Belle, which Walt himself, as well as many other celebrities, have ridden before. It was a really neat experience as we traveled around the park on the tracks imagining what it must have been like to take this same trip back in the days of Walt. Because Emily and I have spent most of our adult lives working for the Mouse, Walt has become a sort of icon that we’ve come to respect through the stories of those who knew and spoke of him.
After our trip around the park on the train, we decided to take in some more by foot. We same many characters in the Town Square show and made our way back to Tomorrowland to take the Monorail trip back to the Downtown Disney Hub at the request of Conductor Hunter.
After we disembarked the Monorail it was time to explore Disney’s California Adventure, the second of two parks at the Disneyland Resort. Since Grandma and Poppop had not been to DCA before it was fun watching them take in all the sights and sounds. The park is themed to life in California and had old time Beach Boys music piping through the park. We explored most of the park and went on the amazing caterpillar train ride (estimated ride time 30 seconds, estimated wait time 15 minutes). It was riveting.
At this point it was getting time for dinner. We had originally planned to dine at Napa Rose for Emily’s 30th birthday, but based on our rock climbing adventures during the previous dinner, Emily was having second thoughts about strapping on Hunter’s helmet and going at it again. Emily decided that we should change plans and enjoy some pizza for dinner which we were happy to oblige. We partook in the early bird special and made our reservations for 4:45. Surprisingly enough we had the whole place to ourselves for the first 30 minutes. We enjoyed some delicious pizza, great stories, and some relaxing drinks.
We finished up dinner and headed back to the room to get into our pajamas (Emily and Grandma had their special birthday pajamas that they got each other for their birthdays). We all got cozy and watched the video that we shot earlier today and ordered an assortment of desserts to complete the day. Emily got a Birthday Cupcake (not sure how chocolate mousse got mistaken for a cupcake, only in CA). We also got a chocolate brownie and apple cobbler which didn‘t have a chance between the three of us.
We licked the plates clean and said goodnight to a wonderful day two in California. Happy 30th Birthday, Emily!
