Disneyland

I added a few more things in red, that I forgot to blog originally, and subsequently didn't make it into my Disneyland photo book.  Dangit.

Well we made it back to the Happiest Place on Earth.  And I must say, it just keeps getting happier!  We all can't wait to go again.  Just like last time, we decided to do a 2-Day Hopper and 3-Night stay.  Kare and her family also came the same days and stayed at the same hotel, so it was even better that we got to see our Arizona peeps too.  But just like last time, we did one day by ourselves, and then one day with more family.

April 18-19

Our first day there, we spent the whole time at Disneyland.  The kids were awesome.  There were no tantrums or green-eyes gimmies.  We learned our lesson last time.  "No looking at souvenirs or even ASKING about them.  If you do, you get NOTHING!"  It totally worked.  All we heard, were happy kids the whole time.  And yes, they were so good, they actually brought home a souvenir this time.

We started out in Fantasyland with Peter Pan's Flight (one of Bradley's' favorites), and then hit the rest of the kiddie rides around there.  The kids were still afraid of Snow White and Pinocchio, but we forced them to ride anyway.  It's part of the Disneyland experience, right?  Plus, there's also the unwritten rule, where if there is NO line, you HAVE to go on it. But I guess maybe there's a reason that there's no line for those rides?? Oh well.  Moving on!


Next we got in line for Dumbo.  I don't even think my kids have seen any of these classic Disney movies, so they have no idea who "Dumbo" is.  They just want to fly on the elephants.

Next we hit the teacups where Charles wow-ed the boys with his super-spinning abilities.

After that we went to Tomorrowland for lunch where we just missed getting the boys in for Jedi Training.  At least we had some awesome entertainment while we ate.

I asked the boys if they wanted to participate in the next show, and they said, yes.  Except for Jaden.  Apparently you're not allowed to do any of your own moves, you can only do the ones the master teaches you.  Or else you can't play anymore.  "He's holding me back!"  I sense a little bit of young Skywalker in the boy.  Anger leads to hate...  Hate leads to suffering... er... uh... y'know.

After that, we split up so I could take Jaden and Kaleb on some bigger-kid rides, while Charles took the younglings to Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters.

The older boys and I grabbed some Fast Passes to Star Tours, and while we waited to use those, we headed to Space Mountain.

This one was new to them, and I purposefully didn't tell them anything about it till they had their seatbelts on.  But I did get kind of nervous once I realized Jaden would have to ride alone on his row. Oh well. He survivied!

That's me on the ride in the red shirt

During the ride I held Kaleb's leg for assurance, while he sat frozen the whole way.  Once we stopped, I looked at his terrified little face and he said, "I NEVER want to go on that again!"

I looked at Jaden and asked him how it was. His response, "I HATE IT!"  Hahaha!  Good times.

After that, we were ready to use our Fast Passes for Star Tours.  They LOVED that one.  Kaleb kept asking, "Did we REALLY go into space?  REALLY?"  So I told him the truth.  Of course we did.

After that we all met back up just in time to get harassed by a Storm Trooper.

Then we went on the rocket orbitor, which I am not so much a fan of.  I seriously feel like I'm going to fall out and 2 of my kids are going to fall to their deaths alongside of me.  Bradley loved it.

After that was... Frontierland?  Adventureland?  Whichever land had Splash Mountain.  We took turns taking the older kids on that one while the younger ones rode Winnie the Pooh a couple times.  This was Kaleb's first time being tall enough to ride, and it's his favorite.  Whenever we asked Jaden or Kaleb to choose a ride, it was always, "Splash Mountain!"

I love the boys' faces in this picture.  They were so tough the whole way through the line and for the majority of the ride.  They kept telling me not to be scared, and they prepared me with what was about to happen, before it happened.  But this photo paints a whole different story, haha!

Here's Brynnlee's favorite ride--Winnie the Pooh.  Usually on all the rides she just sits and stares.  But on this one she actually gets pretty excited.  It was so fun to watch her.

After that we split up again.  I took Jaden on Indiana Jones, and Charles took the rest on the Jungle Cruise.  Let me just say... so I don't forget in the future... never again.  Talk about whip-lash-and-a-half!  But Jaden liked it.

After that we spent 35 bucks for 3 meals to split between the 6 of us, and then went to Toon Town.  We rode Roger Rabbit's... crazy taxi... ride.

Then we played in the funhouses.

This is how we roll in Disneyland.  We bring our double stroller for tired kids, but we rent a nice comfortable one for Brynnlee.  That's how we did it last time for Bradley too.  Only this year, Jaden became  a part-time pusher.  He popped wheelies with Brynnlee all over the park.

You may think these 2 pictures are identical... until you look at Kaleb.  Charles did a continous shot of us, and so there are like 5 pictures that look almost exactly the same, except that Kaleb has a different expression in each.  What a goof!

In Toon Town, there is a Go Go Gadget Roller Coaster.  Better known to the boys as "the red one."  It was Bradley's first fast ride, and he LOOOOOVED it!  He had both hands up in the air while screaming like a little girl the whole time. 

They rode this one a LOT.

Over and over and over again.  Bradley was so cute.  When he would get really excited, he would just start yelling, "Let's go do that one agaaaain!"  Or, "I love Disneylaaaaaand!"

 When Toon Town closed we went back to ride Buzz a few more times before calling it a night.

Charles was pretty proud of his scores, "while holding a baby... who kept turning our direction."

We knew it was time to go back to the hotel and go to bed when we looked down and saw Bradley in the middle of the road.

As we walked back to the hotel, my back was killing me.  I told Jaden it was his fault for stepping on all those cracks all day long.  So he started stomping on every single one, causing me to writhe in pain each time.  But i guess he actually has a conscience afterall.  After I faked a few tears he finally apologized, "Mom! I'm so sorry!"  Suckerrrr!

We chose to stay at the Castle Inn this time.  It is walking distance, and a good price... but not as close a walk as we would have liked... just sayin'. 

We had the family suite which was a king bed in front and 2 queens in the 2nd bedroom.  Kaleb and Jaden shared the King, Bradley got a queen, Charles and I shared a queen, and Brynnlee's playpen was set up in the corner of our room.  Not exactly the arrangement we originally intended, but we know how our kids sleep, so this was the best way.

Here's the pool we swam in with the Merrills the first night, and then again right before checkout.

The next day we started out at California Adventures.  I have to remember that California Adventures is not worth it to us!  There's so much more at Disneyland that we didn't have enough time to do!

With that said, we DID enjoy Soarin' over California.  We split up with the Merrills for this ride.  Charles and I took Jaden and Kaleb on this one while Kare and Curtis took the 4 little ones to A Bug's Life.  Then the adults swapped. 

Did I mention this was Curtis' first time going to Disneyland? 

Kaylee looked so big in her pigtails and shoes. 

Even though you can't tell by Nathan's face, the kids were SO happy to be there with their cousins.  Nathan kept calling my kids, "the guys." 

The Little Mermaid ride was new to us.  Again, I'm not even sure if my kids can fully appreciate it because I don't think they have seen the movies.  Netflix Instant Play needs to get on that!

On our way to the next ride, we stopped to watch the Toy Story Army Men put on a little street entertainment.  Kaleb and Bradley even joined the small parade.

Do you see that ride right behind the Army vehicle?  It's like a swing ride, but you sit in these rockets and swing round and round.  Well, Curtis wasn't sure his stomach could handle it, so he stayed put with the strollers while the rest of us (babies included) went to stand in line. 

While we were waiting in line, we realized that we didn't have enough big people to accompany the small ones.  So as we tried to grab Curtis' attention from atop the ride, we noticed something.  The Green man group was still performing, but they were also asking for volunteers.  Now, remember I told you that this was Curtis' first trip to Disneyland?  There he was, all alone, with no kids around, and he was raising his hand.  It was the funniest thing! 

Next we had lunch, then waited in line for the Jesse and Woody ride for like an hour.  It was hot, the kids were falling asleep, they were heavy, there was no shade, and people started getting cranky.  And it was then that we remembered we don't like California Adventures.  At least not when you're going with lots of small ones.  Lines are too long, there's not enough shade, and the rides are too short.  

So once we finished that ride, we called it quits at California Adventures.  The Merrills left to take their kids back for a nap, and we went back to Disneyland.  Where the real magic is! 

It was amazing what some shade, a cool cup of frozen lemonade, and a ride on Pirates of the Carribean could do to cool us off physically and emotionally.  We were in such a better mood after that.

And for parents, Pirates of the Carribean is where it's at.  A 5 minute line, for a 15 minute cool and easy boat ride.  You can't beat that.  And we rode over and over again.

After that the kids wanted more Splash Mountain, more Peter Pan, and more Red Roller Coaster.  Bradley had his second wind and was back to jumping and fist pumping his way from ride to ride.  The magic was back!

Later we met back up with the Merrills for some dinner, which they provided some off-campus McDonald's. 

When we told the kids we were having McDonald's for dinner, Bradley got all excited and said, "What?!  We're going to McDonald's?!  YAY!"  I just looked at Charles and said, "Really?  We're at DISNEYLAND and he wants to go to McDonald's?!" I like to think he was just in an overly excited mood, and EVERYTHING sounded amazing.  Not that my child would choose McDonald's over Disneyland.

We rode Buzz a lot, while Charles took Jaden on Space Mountain again, and Curtis took Kaleb and Bradley on the Orbitor.  Then Charles got to do Star Tours with the older boys, right before earning their Disneyland Souvenir.  Lightsabers.  You may be asking, do these kids really need more lightsabers?  Hey.  They get used.  They're not some trinket that collects dust and gets forgotten about.  The lightsabers have been the most popular toy in my house for 3 years running.  I was happy to get them more.

Let's see, then we went on the Carousel, where Brynnlee stared down the woman sitting next to us on the bench.  It was pretty funny.  Charles said it looked like Brynnlee was about to hit her at one point.  This scowl of Brynnlee's was new and it was cracking us up everytime she did it.

One of my favorite moments was while we were about to join the line for the Carousel.  We were in Fantasyland, so they started playing "I know you, I've walked with you once upon a dream..."  Jaden came over to me and grabbed my hand in one of his and put his other hand on my hip and started dancing me around in circles while singing.  It made me the happiest mom right then and there.

We ended our trip with one last ride on Pirates.  Yes, I know there is no flash photography allowed, but sometimes you have no choice!  This is how you preserve memories, people!  Besides the dude behind Kare didn't seem to mind.  Just don't look at anyone else in our boat.

We had a GREAT trip.  It was better than the trip before, and I'm sure as the kids get bigger it will just get better and better.  We really only skimmed the surface when it comes to our number of rides and attractions, not to mention the whole of Tom Sawyer's Island that I know the kids would have loved.  But we just like to let them take the reigns, even if it means Splash Mountain and Buzz Lightyear for half of the day.  There's no rush.  We'll be back.   I think this needs to become an annual thing.  Yeah.  Let's do it.