The next morning Lily awoke to balloons and streamers. Happy Birthday Lily! It was still pretty early, since the park opens at nine but you have to be there an hour early and we needed some breakfast.
We went to the executive lounge again for the breakfast buffet. They had so many options to choose from, like waffles, bacon, hash browns, eggs, croissants and more! Everyone enjoyed it.
We were a little confused upon first entering the park. We didn't realize that rope drop happened about 15 minutes early and so we were a little late getting to the ride we wanted to go on first.
We got into line for our first ride, called Soaring: Fantastic Flight. Here, Gemma is pointing to the Tower of Terror ride over in the American Waterfront part of the park.
This ride was the one with the longest line, and even though we got there pretty early the line was almost and hour and a half long. It was also super hot outside which was where the majority of the line was.
We got into this indoor section which was nice because of the air conditioning. This ride is supposed to be like Soaring from Disneyland back home. It was a little different theme-wise though.
Lily bought these cute Mickey Ears that are shaped like burgers. We have never seen them anywhere else!
The next ride we went on was called 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. You were put into a submarine and it really felt like you were in the ocean! This ride was a gentle one, and the line moved fast.
This is the area that includes the 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea ride and the Journey to the Center of the Earth ride. That one had a long line so we decided to do it later.
The whole theme of this area was like steampunk aquatic. DisneySea really lives up to its name!
You can even go on boat rides along the river and to the "lake" area. We wanted to go on this ride but we were just a little too late and it was closed when we got there.
Heres another picture of Lily and Gemma with their Mickey ears. It's very cute that both of their ears look like food.
Next we walked to Triton's Kingdom, or the Little Mermaid area. There were so many colors and it looks gorgeous from the outside.
DisneySea is famous for their many popcorn flavors and equally unique popcorn buckets that can be found around the park. This Winnie the Pooh popcorn bucket was too cute to resist!
Now we entered into Triton's kingdom which was inside the giant shell structure.
This place makes you feel like your actually in the sea! It was very pretty, and air conditioned which we all needed.
There are a few small rides inside Triton's Kingdom, including this seashell ride which was like the teacup ride at Disneyland back home.
Lily and Gemma got their own seashell and the parents got their own as well.
Lily and Gemma made it on the ride before us, so they got to watch as me and Alex went on.
After that, we were in need of a sweet treat. We had heard of the shell ice cream, which was salted vanilla ice cream with jam inside of a wafer shell.
Lily found this ice cream very delicious, and it fit the Little Mermaid theme well.
We exited Triton's Kingdom and walked to the Lost River Delta section of the park. This area included the Indiana Jones ride, which Gemma was very exited for.
While in line, we spotted Mickey doing a meet and greet.
We finally got through the line, and we got front row! Lily wanted to drive since it was her birthday. You can't actually drive, but it was still fun.
Our next course of action was to go to the Aladdin section of the park. Here there was a ride called Sinbad's Storybook Tale, or something like that. It was like the ride It's a Small World at Disneyland California.
Here's just a few more photos from that ride.
We had lucked out and gotten tickets to one of the shows they offer at the park. It was in a theater and was called Mickey's Big Band Musical. It was nice to have a half hour to sit in a cool theater and enjoy a show.
Everyone was pretty hungry after running around for a while, so we stopped to try these Mickey-shaped chicken buns. The ears had Teriyaki chicken in them while the circle had Chinese chicken.
Lily and Gemma decided to share one and they loved it!
Now we wanted to go on the Journey to the Center of the Earth ride because it looked like so much fun. Here we're standing in line, and since we were still a bit hungry we tried the long Gyoza which was very good.
After that ride, we wanted to explore more of the park so we went to the Port Discovery. We found the Aquatopia ride which was sort of like bumper cars but you couldn't drive them.
Gemma and Lily went together while me and Alex went on a different one.
Gemma had heard about a very cool popcorn bucket that you could buy in this area, and so she got it as a souvenir. It's themed after Monster's Inc. and has little doors you can open to reveal characters.
Lily had been so excited to ride on the Tower of Terror, since the one that was at Disney California had been turned into a Guardians of the Galaxy ride. We had bought fast passes for Lily and Gemma because the line was an hour long.
While Gemma and Lily went on that ride, me and Alex bought some new popcorn flavors to try. The one in the Winnie the Pooh bucket is Strawberry Cheesecake flavor while the one in the Monster's Inc is soy sauce.
We wandered around a bit looking at all the sites and checking out some areas we hadn't had a chance to see.
Sadly we just barely missed a chance to ride the gondolas because they were going to be getting the river area ready for the water show.
We could't believe how each port of call was so realistic and life like.
We headed back to the entrance to take photos of the globe because we hadn't had the chance to this morning. Alex photobomb's Lily's selfie.
Lily and Gemma pose by the 40 year anniversary sign.
Here's a picture of Lily and Gemma with the lake and the Tower of Terror in the background.
As the sun goes down, everyone starts to prepare for the water show and fireworks before closing.
We walked back to Triton's Kingdom and went on a ride called Scuttle's Scooters. It was a fun little spinning ride.
We went back in the Ariel lagoon for another look now that it was quieter and less crowded. Most people were lining up to watch the water show and as the evening started and it cooled down the lines were shorter. We were able to go on Indiana Jones ride again with no wait.
We then walked back to the Aladdin area for one of our last rides, the Caravan Carousel.
Our last ride at Disney was our second time riding Journey to the Center of the Earth. Gemma and Lily really enjoyed this one with the steep drop and exciting scenery. Overall, Lily had a great birthday and it was an amazing experience.
