We drove down Monday evening after school and work. The drive took an extra hour due to construction along one of the California highways but we made it just before 11:00 p.m. We checked into the Best Western Park Place Inn, right across the street from the main gate of Disneyland. We had adjoining rooms with the Hathaways and they had arrived about 20 minutes before us so it was all we could do to keep the children contained and quiet that late at night. Everybody was so excited.
Tuesday morning we got ready, packed our backpacks, ate our continental breakfast of cereal, fruit, muffins, sausage links, and "circles of eggs" (as Jackie named them) at Captain Kidd's Buffet, and walked across the street to enter Disneyland. As soon as the gates opened, we headed for Tomorrowland to ride Space Mountain first.
This trip was all about the rides and riding them multiple times. The kids are a little older and they weren't about to stand in line for character autographs and pictures. Jackie and Joe were intense as they mapped out the rides and the plan to hit every one non-stop in an orderly fashion. Carlee was a little more skeptical about the rides this year. Two years ago, she was almost 4 and we just put her on everything and she had no clue what she was in for. This year, she questioned everything and held tightly to my hand. Sometimes she would scream "I don't like this!" or "That wasn't so bad!" or "I'm not doing that one again, Mom!" But she was a great sport and went on everything that she could except for California Screaming (too short), Tower of Terror (too scared), and Indiana Jones (closed).
Kirsten, Jacob E., Clark, Ava, Evan, Carlee, Audrey, Katelyn, Jake
Mike and Jackie, Von and Kevin, Kristen and Joe
The Stuart Family
The Eckersley Family
Jacob, Von, and Kevin (Megan and Alina (twins) are away in college)
The Swasey Family
Melissa, Ella, Mia, Drew, Luke, Cole
The Peterson Family
Brock, Jill, Whitney, Reagan, Eli
The Hathaway Family
Mike, Jackie, Kirsten, Audrey, Evan, Ava
Ready for Buzz Lightyear Astroblasters!
Carlee's favorite ride was the Matterhorn and she rode it several times.
Apparently they have improved the ride but it still gave me whiplash!
Then Kevin took all the kids on the raft over to Tom Sawyer Island while the rest of us finished up lunch and relaxed for a bit. That was the first time our kids had been there and they loved it. We couldn't get them to come back. We kept texting, calling, and yelling across the water to get them back on the raft. There are trails, rock climbing walls, and lots of places to explore. I will definitely have to check it out next time.
Katelyn, Audrey, Mia, Reagan
Ava, Carlee, Luke, Evan
Cole and Jake
Riding Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Woohoo! Definitely one of my favorites.
We visited Eeyore and Tigger and rode on the Many Adventures of Winnie
the Pooh a couple of times while the kids rode Splash Mountain over and
over again. Once on the log ride was enough for Carlee. She is not a
fan of the "big drop".
We finished the night with a cruise on the Jungle Boats. It was kinda fun in the dark!
Then we headed for Bug's Land to get all those rides out of the way first. The guys met us there with our Fast Passes for 1:20 p.m. We had plenty of time to finish Bug's Land, catch the 4-D movie, hit a few rides, and eat lunch on Pacific Wharf before discovering Radiator Springs and Route 66.
Here is Ava and Jackie, happy again, and unstuck!
Whoa, hair! This is why we will never have a convertible.
Here's Mater!
On to California Screamin'
5-4-3-2-1! Woooooo!
Left Picture--First Row: Joe, Jake; Second Row: Kristen, and Katelyn
Right Picture--First Row: Audrey, Katelyn; Second Row: strange child, Mike
Left Picture--First Row: Clark, Jacob; Second Row: Reagan, Mia
Right Picture--Second Row: Jake, Kirsten
Left Picture--First Row: Cole, Jake; Second Row: Kirsten, Reagan
Right Picture--First Row: Melissa, Katelyn; Second Row: Mia, Audrey
Carlee and I had our first experience on The Little Mermaid ride since they were still building it two years ago. We rode on it almost as many times as the other kids went on California Screamin'--okay not really, because we only rode it three times and Screamin' was ridden at least seven times!
We saw Phineas and Ferb dancin' in the streets. We sure love these guys!
Goofy's Sky School ride--another one of my favorites and just like Lagoon's Wild Mouse
Symphony Swings with my cute little ride partner and this too was ridden several times in a row.
The kids rode the Grizzly River Run over and over again and were completely drenched. The sun was setting when they were finally done so everybody bundled up in their warm jackets. We then said goodbye to the Eckersleys as they started their drive home.
Toy Story Mania is another family favorite (I have been saying that about every ride, I think) so we ended the day with this one and a few more times on California Screamin' before lining up for the World of Color show. We had a dinner of corn dogs, churros, trail mix, granola bars and apples before the show began. So healthy and delicious!
Katelyn and Audrey
Ava "slept over" in our hotel room and when she fell asleep, Carlee decided to decorate her with stickers. Boy, was she surprised when she woke up and saw her beauty makeover!
Day 3 included both theme parks. We ran to California Adventure first to get Fast Passes for Cars Racers again in the late morning. While Joe was getting our passes, I took the kids into the gift shops to pick out lanyards and pins for trading. Jackie introduced me to this fun new trend and we were quickly hooked. Our kids picked out some pins and were quickly on a mission to find and trade the best pins. Every time they saw a "cast member" they scoped out their pin stash. We will definitely need to be on the lookout to stock up for cheap pins to trade and jumpstart their collection. When Joe got our passes, we headed back to Disneyland to visit Fantasyland first. As we walked through the main gate, Carlee and I stopped to see Goofy and Pluto while the rest of the crew hit Space Mountain and the Matterhorn.
We met up for Splash Mountain and it was ridden several times again. Joe loves this one!
Pirates of the Caribbean ride and a few character sightings were made before strolling back to California Adventure for Cars Racers and California Screamin' one last time. For lunch, we grabbed burgers next to Soarin' California. We tried to ride Soarin' but there was an hour wait so we skipped that one this trip. While we were eating our late lunch, it started raining and continued to drizzle off and on for the rest of the day.
The kids were completely exhausted and fell asleep quickly after crawling into bed. I think they barely moved from this position the entire night. And that means it was the perfect trip!
On our way home the next morning, we grabbed McDonald's for breakfast. Shortly after we started on the freeway, Carlee started complaining of her stomach hurting and feeling nauseous. She had been reading and coloring right when we loaded into the car so I figured she was carsick. A couple minutes later, she vomited in one of our McDonald's bags. We stopped for gas and trash disposal when we got out of the city and I loaded up on some extra grocery bags, just in case. Several minutes later, I looked back and she was zonked out but totally prepared for what might come next!
