I Went to Disneyland

Yikes, it's been too long since I've posted. I haven't had spare time to sit here in front of the computer and work on the blog, but I'm finally getting around to it. I will try to keep it short and sweet and condense our 4 day trip into one post.

First of all, thanks to everyone who commented on my last post. You gave us some great tips and ideas for our Disney trip so we knew what things we definitely wanted to see!

DAY ONE: We drove down early Thursday morning (the 9th) and spent the afternoon and evening in Disneyland. We thought for sure out of all the days over the Easter weekend, Thursday would be the least crowded. Boy were we wrong - it was a MADHOUSE. Since it had been over 3 years since we were there, we found ourselves a little 'lost' and didn't know what attraction or ride to hit first. We finally decided on Star Tours since it had the shortest line. Andrew waited outside with Tanner while I took the other three. I thought Mason would really like it since he's kinda into all things Star Wars like Zachary. Once we got on the ride, he held on really tight and hardly said a word the whole time. I'm thinking, "Cool, he's really brave and rides aren't going to frighten him." Once it was over though and we left, he was quick to tell me how much he DIDN'T like the ride! Guess I spoke too soon!

After that, we didn't quite know where to head next. In every direction there was a sea of humanity. We were discouraged and the kids were frustrated. We kind of wandered around but every ride had a huge line and the Fast Pass times by then were after 9pm. We managed to ride Buzz Lightyear and Astro Rockets without much of a wait. We also met up with Wade and Carolyn (Andrew's sister) and cousin Hannah and chatted awhile.

At this point it was becoming dinner time and feeling defeated by the huge crowds, we decided to walk back to the hotel, get settled in our room, order pizza, and call it a day.




DAY TWO: We spent the majority of our day in California Adventure and it wasn't crowded at all! The weather forecast said it was going to rain, but thank goodness it never did. It was really overcast though which kept the temperatures a little on the cold side. We had a great time in California Adventure ---- we got our pictures taken with a couple of characters, talked with Crush, saw the Aladdin show, had some lunch, saw a parade, had some frozen treats, and rode all the rides we wanted with hardly any waiting. The kids really enjoyed the Bugs Life area with the bumper cars and lady bug ride. It was nice that Tanner could ride everything in that area too. He loved the 'chew chew train' best.


While Daddy and Taylor rode Tower of Terror, I took the boys over to 'meet' WALL-E. Mason said over and over that meeting him was the best part of our Disneyland trip. Right after I snapped this picture Mason gave WALL-E a big hug before walking away.



After we had done everything we wanted in California Adventure and it started to get dark, we headed back over to Disneyland to have some corndogs for dinner and catch the fireworks show. We were pleasantly surprised to see the crowds were way smaller than the day before. While walking by Pirates of the Caribbean, we were shocked to see no line whatsoever. I took the older 3 kids and we walked right in and got on the ride. I haven't been on the ride since they changed it, so I really enjoyed it. I thought it would be a little dark and scary for Mason, but he seemed to like it, except for the "down part", where the ride goes down a drop right after the talking skull. The kids loved it. Once we were done, they all ran back in and rode it again with Daddy while I sat with a sleeping Tanner. We watched the fireworks then headed back to the hotel. Looking back on our trip, I think the 2nd day was the best one.


DAY THREE (ALSO MY BIRTHDAY): This day turned out to be a very long and tiring day. It started out really early for us. Somehow with our park hopper tickets we were lucky enough to get admittance to Magic Morning. Have any of you heard of this? It's where you come into Disneyland one hour before they open and go on rides. I think I was more excited than the kids and thought it was a great way to start out my birthday. So Taylor, Zach and I made it over to Disneyland a little after 7am and once we walked in, it was almost surreal. It was so strange to walk down a desolate Main Street. Disneyland was empty and I loved it!! I'm terrible at estimating, but if I had to guess I bet there was only a couple hundred people. Only certain rides were open and it seemed most of the people went to wait to get on the Nemo submarine ride or did Fantasyland. We rode Astro Rockets, Buzz Lightyear twice, and the Matterhorn. We then headed to City Hall so I could get my Birthday button and my birthday Fast Passes (I chose that over free admission.) Wearing the Birthday button all day was a blast. So many employees called me by name and wished my a Happy Birthday. I was hoping it would get me to the front of some of the lines, but that never happened!!

We met Andrew and the little boys out front and headed to our character breakfast at the Grand Californian. Once the characters started coming around to our table, we discovered Tanner was deathly afraid of them (as you can tell from his expression in the picture) so we made sure they steered clear of him after that.

Our breakfast got done right as California Adventure was opening, so we decided to quickly run and ride the new Toy Story ride before the crowds hit. That was alot of fun. I couldn't convince anyone to ride Screamin' with me and I didn't want to ride it alone, so we skipped it and headed to the HSM 3 pep rally show. We hopped back over to Disneyland to use up some Fast Passes and see the Jedi Training. Zach was really disappointed he didn't get picked, but still enjoyed the show. Mason loved seeing the Clone Troopers. We rode some more rides, had an overpriced meal, then headed back over to California Adventure so the kids could buy their souvenirs and ride Soarin' one last time. It was after 9pm by the time we got back to the hotel --I could barely feel my legs and we were all cranky and exhausted. We had been running around for 14 hours and I was ready to crash. The kids were asleep within minutes and after I had my birthday dinner takeout from The Cheesecake Factory, I don't remember my head even hitting the pillow.

Me wearing my Birthday Button

Some highlights of our trip:

• the nice, cool weather
• the stress free drive down and back with no traffic
• seeing big smiles on my kids' faces
• churros, churros, churros (we had them everyday)
• Taylor getting pulled from the audience to dance in the HSM 3 show
• people watching
• our Disney diet of popcorn, churros, chocolate covered frozen bananas, corndogs, frozen lemonades and Dole Whip float
• hearing my children scream on rides

It was a wonderful trip and we can't wait to go again. Hopefully it won't be over three years before we go back!!