America Photos, Part 4

After Knotts Berry Farm, the next day we performed at Disneyland!

Here's the sign announcing our performance. We thought we had made it when we saw this!

A close-up:


We were the only dance group to perform that day, so we felt pretty awesome!

We got to tour the backlot, as we had to get ready literally "behind the scenes". Our dressing room (waaaay better than the one at Knotts Berry Farm, but that wouldn't have been hard!) was part of the backlot. We felt pretty cool getting lead behind the scenes. I would've taken pictures, but we were told that there was strictly no photos.

We saw "characters" getting into costumes, and cast members rehearsing. Even behind the scenes, it was still very "Disney". Lots of energy and fun, but always very professional.

We got changed and had a quick photo session with a photographer before getting whisked around to our dressing room off to the side of the stage.

Here's Claryse & I in our "stage makeup"





And then it was show time!

This photo is from our finale... we danced to "I Still Call Australia Home" and the little kids came on at the end, waving Australian flags!

Most of the time, this was our audience:

(all Sally K- Dance parents or family members, haha! But our audiences did get bigger once the music came on and we started dancing.)

After our perfomance (which was in the morning), we were free to explore the park.

This is Haylee, Claryse & I right out the front of Disneyland after our performance.

Here we are outside the castle.

Disneyland was really SO.MUCH.FUN. There's no other word for it; it was just FUN!!!

Because there were so many of us, we tended to hang out in groups of 3 or 4, but occasionally we'd see another group and go on rides together.

Here are a few of us dancers having just been on the big carousel:

Here's us on the Teacup ride.

and me in the pink teacup! (Of course)

We would stay at the park until dark. That's when the lines for the rides got shorter! Here I am on the Dumbo ride at night:

Why the Dumbo ride, you might ask?

This is why:

Oh yes. My favourite fiddle player, Martie from the Dixie Chicks, went on the exact same ride with her daughters. When I first got to Disneyland, this was the one ride I knew I must go on. Having seen the photos, I was sure she went on the blue Dumbo. So, naturally, I went on the blue dumbo too.

But have a closer look at the photo:


She's not on the blue one, although that features in the photo. She's riding in the orange Dumbo! And I didn't realise until I got home and looked through the photos. Actually, my friend Claryse pointed it out after I posted these photos on Facebook. Whoops.

Anyway, Disneyland was just plain awesome. Our first night there was on a Friday, and we stayed to watch the fireworks somewhere between Adventureland and Frontierland. We thought we had a pretty good view, but that spot was nothing compared to where we watched them the next night! The entire group gathered in front of the Disney castle an hour early to secure a good vantage spot, and it was so worth the wait!

The Disneyland fireworks were spectacular. These photos don't even do them justice. I've never seen anything like it, even though Sydney is renowned for having the best New Year's Eve fireworks in the world.

The fireworks show went for nearly an hour. I took millions of photos.
Here are some of the best shots:

Mickey with Tinkerbell flying over the castle!

The Disney castle lit up


Every 5 minutes or so, the castle would change to a different colour and a new theme. They had music to go with each firework 'theme'. This is the "Spooky Mansion" theme:

Our Disneyland tickets allowed us entry into both the Disneyland and the California Adventure parks for 5 consecutive days, so we could come and go as much as we wanted.

Here's Jordan & I on the "It's a Small World" ride... we went twice in a row!

Claryse & I at the "It's a Bug's Life" show



and me in line for the "Pirates of the Caribbean" ride



We watched the parades

and of course we got our own "Mickey ears"

and generally had a good time enjoying America (and it's weird foods)!
Here we are with a churro each... like a long cinnamon donut!








One morning, we had breakfast with Minnie & friends






and we took photos with all the characters




Another afternoon, we had lunch with the Disney princesses to celebrate Ally's 15th birthday. Snow White, Belle, Sleeping Beauty & Cinderella all joined us.

We all dressed up for the day as our favourite princess!

Here's the little girls...

and the big girls (right before we got told to get changed by Disney staff because we were confusing the little kids with our look-a-like costumes!)

Claryse (Doc from the Seven Dwarfs) & Me (Sleeping Beauty... see?)

Zachary (who I babysit regularly) went as Woody from Toy Story! So cute!

I can't say how awesome Disneyland was. Everyone just had fun, no matter how old they were. It was magical. We had great weather, and apart from a little illness that spread through the group, everyone had a fantastic time.