Disneyland! Best Trip Ever!!

Not long after we left Sacramento, we pulled over and gave the kids each a small box.  They were all excited to get a Christmas present early!  They opened them up and quickly realized that we were not actually going to San Fransisco for a few days but driving to Anaheim to spend three days at Disneyland - it was a great surprise!

We quickly became very thankful we told them early on in the drive - what should have taken us 6 hours took us 11. 5 hours!!  We were all eager to get there but the drive went well - just so slow and long!

Monday, November 30th
We were up and ready early!  I was not sure who was more excited me or them!  I had gotten us a hotel down the street so we got ready, ate some quick breakfast, and headed into the park!  Our first stop was Cars Land - we waited a bit for the Radiator Springs ride but it was so FUN! They did such an awesome job recreating the scenery and the ride was totally fun!

We had convinced our kids that they had to ride everything just once and if they hated it - never again!  We all had so much fun on Radiator Springs we were up for anything - big mistake - we went on The Tower of Terror and Marin came off crying (I hated it too!!).  She was pretty scared and we felt terrible!!  She was terrified and cried through the whole ride and still as we walked away - awesome parenting moment for sure!!

We took a break from the big rides and hit all of our smaller favorites - Little Mermaid, Soaring Over California, The Up Park, all the rides around the lagoon and ended up at Screaming Over California.  Marin was not up for it but at the last minute she changed her mind - it was awesome going on all the rides together!  She loved that ride but didn't really want to do it again.  Maxwell squeaked by on the heighth requirement and he LOVED it!!  We wandered over to Toy Story Mania (longest line in the park!).  I have to admit it was one of our favorite rides but jeepers the line was so long!!  Morgan and Maxwell decided to go on the water ride - no way!  Morgan had been super smart bring black bags with us so they hardly got wet!  They got put and convinced us all to go - it wasn't so bad but it was not as fun as it would have been if the weather had been warmer :)  It wasn't too chilly for a Mickey Mouse Ears Ice Cream - those are the best!!

We wandered all over the park all day, hitting our favorite rides at least two or three times - it was so nice and not too busy!  We watched the World of Color - Holiday Show - so impressive!  All I could think of was what an awesome job that would be to design that!  We finished our night with a nighttime tour through CarsLand and another ride on Radiator Springs!  It was the best day EVER! My favorite part for sure was riding all the rides together - I can't tell you how much I loved this day! I was wonderful to be with my kids in a place I loved to be with my parents!!  It was wonderful!

Tuesday, December 1st
We woke up early and headed up to Disneyland (love that our hotel was within walking distance!).   Today we were exploring Disneyland (the real deal!)

We took off straight away and had so much fun!  We started out in Tomorrowland with Star Tours - so much fun!  We all loved that ride (I think we rode it three times just today!)  We made it in line for Hyperspace Mountain!  The updated it to be Star Wars related!  It was awesome but anxiety producing for both Marin and I.    I struggled with small spaces so the long dark lines waiting to get on the ride was stressful.  I shut down toward the end of the line only to have another lady come up with the same stress.  We went forward together - thankfully we were close to the ride.  We made it up to the ride entrance and rejoined Morgan and the kids.  Marin started to get anxious - she struggles with the "new" but after yesterdays lousy experience on the Tower of Terror I could not blame her.  I was so busy trying to convince her to get on board that Manhattan ended going alone - we ended up all separated.  We got on the ride with Marin crying but she LOVED it!  We quickly found each other and got right back in line again!  It was awesome!  We all loved it!!

Then it was on to the Autopia, Nemo Sub (my big fail - I couldn't stay on that one - I was on and they shut the door and I had to get off!  The workers were so sweet about it!).  It did give me the chance to get us in line for the Matterhorn - that ride has been updated to and it was awesome!  We all loved it!

The afternoon was so fun - we hit Jungle Cruise, Indiana Jones (Marin and I did not love that one), Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion (not that great with the Nightmare at Christmas), Splash Mountain (so fun!)  As were in line for The Haunted Mansion, my mom called to tell me that my Grandpa had passed away - it was very surreal and of course I didn't really have time to process what she was saying.  I am grateful for how quickly he passed but it was so unexpected and bizarre that we had no warning :)  He was an awesome guy - amazing life and an amazing man!

We took a break and had a yummy lunch.  I was thankful to stop, I was all of a sudden so tired.  As I look over our picture I realize that when you are having the most fun there is no time for pictures!!   We took the time to stop at the Tiki Hut - I don't think I remember ever going inside - we grabbed a Dole pineapple whip and it was delicious!!  It was a great day - we hit all the rides including some of the small ones that we loved as kids like Dumbo, It's a Small World, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride!  

I know I have said it again but it was so FUN to ride all the rides together!  Someday we will go back again and this time I want to have dinner in the restaurant inside the Pirates of the Caribbean ride - so cool!  We ended our evening scrambling to ride Star Tours and Hyperspace Mountain and then caught the fireworks!  As always, the fireworks were awesome!  When Disney does something - they do it so well!  I am so thankful to have that memory of my family as a kid and as the mom!

Waiting for the fireworks!