Disneyland!

Such a magical, happy, exhausting place. Let's Go! We got Jared this Mickey shirt and he is proudly wearing his "1st Visit to Disneyland" button. 

Disneyland Main Street. 

Mark and I went through many possible itineraries before this trip. I read through so many websites to find helpful tips and "don't miss things." It was crazy but also quite helpful.  We didn't actually follow an itinerary but it was nice to have things in mind we knew we wanted to do.  One of course was to go to Fantasy Faire to meet the Princess's. So that is what we did first thing.  The Princess's don't appear until 8:00 so we walked through Sleeping Beauty's castle, took some pictures, played around Fantasy Faire, tired to pull the Sword out of the Stone and rode the carousel while we waited. Around 7:45 we lined up at Fantasy Faire and were 5th in line!  We had read stories of people waiting in line for 2 or more hours and were thrilled we only had to wait 15 minutes.  Jared and Lydia were so excited to meet them.  Ariel, Snow White and Cinderella were receiving visitors that morning. It was hard to get a good picture of Jared and Lydia because they kept jumping around and dancing with the Princesses.  It was really fun.  My Mom and sister Katie were with us when we met the Princess's and I think they really enjoyed watching Jared and Lydia.

This sword and the Tractors were his two favorites!

Princess's! Ariel was the most fun/in character of the three.  Cinderella seemed a little grumpy so I felt bad for her as it was the beginning of the day!  

After Fantasy Faire we headed over to Pixie Hollow to meet Tinkerbell and her friends.  I don't know what was going on but we had to wait forever and the line was not that long at all. There were maybe 10 families in front of us but we waited forever.  Yet as the pictures below show, it was worth it. Lydia was so so happy!  She loves Tinkerbell.  I think she enjoyed meeting her more than the Princess's! Silvermist was there too and she was really fun and did an excellent job being Silvermist.

After that we rode a few rides then met up with my family at It's a Small World.  My mom really wanted all of us to go on this ride together so we did.  Jared was really nervous to go on it.  He felt better when he got to sit by Lyra and Ryan shared his caramel popcorn with him.  He then admitted that is wasn't a scary ride at all. He may have even liked it but that may be the popcorn talking.

After that we headed back over to Fantasy Faire to see if we could watch the live "Tangled" show. We stopped by the Frozen area to see Olaf outside but didn't even bother with Elsa and Anna.  Such crazy lines! Jared and Lydia are not very familiar with Tangled but they really enjoyed the show and the story tellers were really fun.  We had heard that this show gets really busy and stays that way all day so we were glad we got to see it, with good seats too. That was our first morning in Disneyland. Then we headed back to the hotel for lunch and naps.

We got back to Disneyland just in time for their parade.  Mark got us some delicious ice cream and we sat down to wait. We met some really nice people while we were waiting and really enjoyed the parade. The parade was the one time we saw Minnie Mouse.  It was our best chance at seeing characters so it's a good thing we went. I even asked a worker at the information place when and where were the best places to meet characters and he said it was kind of hard now because they are all in designated spots with long lines. Oh well. We saw Captain Hook so Jared was happy and Lydia got to see Tinkerbell again and more Princess's.

 We did at least see Elsa and Ana.  Their float came by like 10 minutes before the parade started. I am glad we saw them this way instead of waiting in a 2+ hour line.

Captain Hook!

 Lydia loved it when the characters waved to her.  She is so cute she got lots of waves. 

After the parade we went over to Frontierland to go on Thunder Mountain Railroad.  Mark convinced Jared to go.  He was pretty hesitant. All the rides we had him go on were ones he previously said he wanted to go on after watching them. We really didn't make him go on them. And most often he loved them. Lydia and I waited near the ride and she had fun digging in the dirt and watching the fish, ducks and turtle in the pond nearby.  I had brought her Little People princess's along so she used then as shovels.  An older worker walked by and stopped to chat with us. He had fun watching Lydia and we both commented on how Disneyland is really great but so is dirt and rocks! After waiting for a very long time Jared and Mark came back and I went on the ride.  (good old child switch pass) I was really impressed Jared liked it as much as he did because, again dark tunnel and this one even had crazy fires and things. After that we ate some not very good Mexican food for dinner then met up with my family to go on the Jungle Cruise.  This was another ride my Mom wanted us all to go on.  The way they line people up for this ride is insane.  There are so many zig zags and you go up the stairs then back down them.  It was crazy.  We got on our boat and did our cruise and then right at the end we got stuck. A boat in front of us had broken down so we and to sit in the boat for about 10- 15 minutes.  I loss track of how many times our guide talked about how awkward it was to be waiting there.  It wasn't that bad.

After that we headed over to ToonTown with Susanna and Ryan and their girls. I was happy Jared and Lydia could play some more with their cousins.  It was a super long walk to ToonTown but we made it.  They had fun playing in the houses and running around.  There was a little too much running around as Jared and Lyra wandered off and got lost.  We split up and checked different houses and had Mark stand at the edge of the circle where he could be seen easily. I tired very hard to remain and appear calm but I felt like I wanted to cry and felt so sick! We had talked to Jared and Lydia so much about not running off.  Jared somehow got separated from Lyra and found Mark pretty quick but it took a little longer to find Lyra.  So awful.  Jared was so scared. We quickly left ToonTown via the monorail and called it a night.

Minnie's House

 Glad we found them!  

Friday afternoon my Mom asked if we wanted to do a pool party at the hotel. We asked Jared and Lydia if they wanted to stay and swim with their cousins or go back to Disneyland.  They opted to stay with their cousins and my Mom and sisters volunteered to watch Jared and Lydia so Mark and I head over to the park alone.  We used the single rider line and went on Indiana Jones, the Matterhorn and Splash Mountain in under 1.5 hours. I love the single rider line. Most often we stood in line less then 10 minutes and got off at the same time.  Indiana Jones took the longest. The waits were crazy in the normal line like 1.5 hours each. We were always just one "turn" off or even on the same one. Mark sat right in front of me on the Indiana Jones ride so we were still together. We were also just one log away from each other on Splash Mountain. Mark was in the front and I was in the back and he got soaked while I only had a few drops of water. I was so glad to be in the back. It was lots of fun and we appreciate our family watching Jared and Lydia who had a blast at the pool. 

The next time we were at Disneyland we took lots of pictures. Sadly (but not too sad) many of our photo pass pictures were not that much better then the ones they took with our camera. I am glad we got as many as we did of the four of us.  Friday night we went to the Tikki Room show and ate the famous Dole Whips.  The show was fun but Lydia was more fun.  She loved it all (except the statues singing). Everyone around us watched her more than the birds.  She was so cute dancing around.  After the TIkki Room we went out between the two parks and watched the fireworks. It was fun to see the castle al lit up.

Lyra, Lisa, Lydia, Jared

Before we left Saturday morning I went for a little run through Downtown Disney, just because its cool to say I went running at Disneyland even if it wasn't quite in the park. The funny thing was that there was actually an organized race for that morning.  A scrapbooking group who was holding conference/getaway at the Disneyland Resort had one planned. Luckily I got there before they started so the police officers let me run through.  

We loved Disneyland, especially Jared and Lydia. We were so tired but had a lot of fun!

California Adventure!

When we bought our tickets for this trip we found the best deal for us was the Southern California City Pass. It came with a three day park hopper ticket to Disneyland and CA Adventure.  I thought we would spend one day at CA Adventure and two at Disneyland but we ended up splitting it pretty evenly with just a little more time in Disneyland because we were trying to find more characters and it seemed there were a few more things we wanted to do there.  We also met up with my family there more. (My mom, sister Katie and her two boys Cade and Cameron, my sister Susanna and her husband Ryan and their girls Lisa and Lyra we missed my Dad and brothers/family)

We were not at all surprised that Cars Land was the favorite attraction in CA Adventure.  The big ride there is the Radiator Springs Racers so we went there first.  Jared and I waited in line during our Magic morning there and only had to wait about 30 minutes which was great.  We got on the ride and then Jared didn't like it!  There is a section where you go in a dark room which I thought he would be okay with since there were Cars there from the movie, but Frank scared him and he just really didn't like being in the dark room.  After we left the room he seemed happier but then we took off on the dips and they were a bit much for him. He told us later that "they made his tummy go crazy". Funny kid.  Since Jared did not want to go again Mark went by himself. I had gotten a badge to do the child switch which would have worked great but Mark just did the single rider lane.  We both thought the ride was fun and did it again the next time we were there.

After the ride

Jared's favorite ride (from both parks) was the tractors at Tow Mater in Cars land.  He loved it.  We went on it at least 3 times.  It was fun. Cars Land was pretty awesome. It absolutely looked just like Radiator Springs in the movie.  We loved walking around and seeing the buildings and cars driving around. They really did an amazing job. We went there first thing before anywhere else and I think Jared was kind of overwhelmed.  When we went back on Friday he seemed to enjoy it even more.  I am so glad he could go while he still enjoys CARS so much.  It was hard to not take way too many pictures because everything was so familiar and Jared was so excited.

(This is a lot of pictures from Cars land yet I have so many more!!)

We also enjoyed CA Adventures White Water rapid ride.  Unlike Jared I did not want to get soaking wet and happily used my .98 cents poncho from Wal-Mart.  My sister Katie stayed with Lydia so we could go together on the ride with Jared which was really fun. He was so excited.  Mark had really wanted to go on Soarin Over California and convinced Jared to go with him and Jared loved it. He really enjoys the movie PLANES and likes Jets so he loved how it felt like he was flying.  He even agreed to go on it with  me (love the child switch pass) We spent a little time in Bugs Land and Lydia loved the lady bug ride. She also loved the Little Mermaid ride.  We checked out the Mickey Mouse Ferris wheel and King Triton's Carousel.  The ferris wheel was interesting because one layer stayed still while the other layer could be swung and rocked. We got in the still line while my nephews Cade and Cameron got in the shake line. We got in close to the same time and they ended up right above us. It was cool to see them there.

 Jared, Lyra, and Ryan

 Jared did not like this ride, he almost refused to go with me!  Seeing the pattern here? Dark cave like tunnels are no good to him even if the rides characters are harmless.

Bug glasses in Bug Land. 

We also watched two shows and enjoyed the Parade. We watched Aladdin and the Magic Lamp and the Disney Junior Live on Stage show. We haven't watched too many of the Disney Jr. shows, none of us really knew Doc McStuffins but we had seen some Jake and the Neverland Pirates and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.  Jared currently loves pirates so we will probably be watching more of Jake. He loves Captain Hook! (I am seeing a Peter Pan Themed Halloween in our near future with Hook and Tinkerbell) Both shows were great for Jared and Lydia. Lyda especially loved the Aladdin one.  She sat by my Mom and was so entranced. It was almost more fun to watch her then the show.  Waiting in line for it was awful (they packed you in so tight and it seems so long really like herding cattle) and then right when we sat down Lydia decided she HAD to go to the bathroom so I grabbed a re-admittance ticket and raced to find her a restroom.  We went down stars, outside to the bathroom (after we had to ask where it was then find it) and back in record time. We sat down and the show started like 30 seconds later.

Waiting and waiting, we did have great seats and Marmee bought the grandkids some grape lemonade which helped immensely. 

 She was fascinated by everything we watched. 

Lyra and Jared, they were inseparable whenever we were together. 

We also got to meet Pluto, Goofy, and Mickey Mouse. I thought it was so weird that we never saw Mickey Mouse in Disneyland (well except for the parade) but got to meet him in CA Adventure. But we are so glad we did.  I have said it before but Jared and Lydia loved all the characters.  They gave them high fives, hugs and lots of eskimo kisses. It was so so fun.  Both Lydia and Jared always laid there heads in the character laps when they came down to their level which sort of drove me crazy because then I couldn't ever get their faces but it was still pretty cute.  When they met Mickey they did it and said they were tired (To Mickey) so when I told them they needed to let the next kids have a turn Mickey put his finger to his mouth to shush me.  It was cute. Meeting the characters was great!

We stayed late the first night to watch their water show, Fantasmic and loved it. It was incredibly crowded and we had to wait forever but it was so cool.  They had Disney songs playing and projected lights and video on these water fountains that shot up high in the air. It was pretty awesome. Our kids were so tired but we did it.  We even got to see some of the Disneyland fireworks while we waited.  We had a lot of fun in CA Adventure.

San Diego to Disneyland Hotel

We slept really well after our day at SeaWorld.  Jared couldn't believe we weren't going to take naps that day and Lydia kept asking too.  Poor kids.  We spent our last morning there playing in the pool at our hotel. Often I feel like whenever we stay at hotels (which is not often at all but even when Mark and I were traveling alone) we never used the amenities they offered.  We did a much better job this time around.

 Jared Poolside:

Hitting the road, Mouse ears on! We all had some. LA here we come.

Sleepy sleepy kids. I was surprised at how quickly we got to LA from San Diego. I knew it wasn't that far but it went really fast. I was slightly disappointed as Jared and Lydia both fell asleep but they only got to sleep for like an hour.  It was better than nothing though.

 We walked into the lobby and who did we see?

I liked how he was in his "original" clothes. He has some fancy outfits at the park.  At first Lydia was a little hesitant but she quickly warmed up and loved meeting all the characters, which proved harder than we thought it would be (more about that later). Our room wasn't ready yet, so we checked out the grounds then went over to Downtown Disney. Lydia was excited that Tinkerbell was on this hat.  Tinkerbell is her new favorite.

I imagine a lot of people get married right here!

We got to our room and got settled in. The rest of my family wasn't there yet so we decided to go down to the pool and swim for awhile. The pools were fun shaped and one section had a large play structure and 2 slides.  Lydia and Jared were thrilled.

We loved how the fireworks on our headboard lit up and played a Disney song. The room had so many "Mickey Mouse" / Disney details.  It was great.  The light fixtures were Mickey's hands and the knobs on the faucets were the shape of his head. There were just lots of fun details.

With the fireworks on . 

 "A dream is a wish your heart makes... (on our bed was a pillow with the other half of the line) when you're fast asleep"

I had read online that if you asked for a wake up call you would be called by a Disney character. I set it up for Jared and he was so very excited when I had him answer the phone. I did it each morning.  He was just so surprised and happy when he got called by Mickey Mouse! It was fun.  He was pretty out of it the first morning because he was so tired.  Well most mornings really. We had gone out to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory the night before (also somewhere I had never been) and had a super long wait and didn't get back till way later then we hoped. It was unfortunate because that was our one night to go to bed early and they were so tired from SeaWorld and such a short nap. Oh well.  Jared got to sit by his cousin Lyra who is a month older than him during dinner and had a blast.  My sister Susanna was sitting by them and she told me funny sort about Jared.  We had ordered him apple juice which we don't do often, normally it's just water and Lyra had gotten Root Beer.  Susanna saw Jared sneak some of Lyra's drink and then notice that she saw him and she said he gave the cutest little look. Sort of a "I am so sneaky aren't I?" I am glad he could hang out with Lyra.  Jared and Lydia both loved playing with their cousins and any time we weren't with them they asked when we would see them. It was super fun to see them together. 

The last day we were there we ate breakfast at Goofy's Kitchen.  The food was great and we got to meet some fun characters.  It was hard though because I was trying to eat but was worried about missing a character and not getting their signature and trying to get Jared and Lydia to eat. I also was just in a bad spot at the table. It was just more stressful than I would have liked.  I am not sure I would do it again. It was also super expensive.  We had not had much luck finding characters at the park though so it let our kids meet more and have some fun with them. I am not sure why we couldn't find more characters at the park. It was really disappointing. We did take our kids back to the hotel for a nap each day so maybe they are out the most from 12 - 3. I don't know.  The first day we had to wake them up after sleeping for 4 hours!  They were just so exhausted.  Before this trip I don't think Jared or Lydia had been up past 9:00.  So these nights were pretty hard for them. I am so glad we had them take naps and they were too.  Then we could stay out later and not be completely miserable. We had gotten Lydia a cute Minnie Mouse dress and she looked adorable. 

 Jared decided to act just like Pluto. 

Lyra, Lydia, Jared 

This is a happy face.  

She saw Baloo earlier when he was by other tables and she was getting food with Mark and ran away from him because she was scared of him but when he came over to us she was happy to meet him.

Dirt Pudding:  This was at 9:30 in the morning.  Jared and Lydia were excited to have a treat after their breakfast. I am glad we got to meet more characters, our frame (which turned out amazing by the way I LOVE it and totally recommend it) was looking pretty bare so it really helped and Jared and Lydia really loved meeting the characters. My sister Susanna had a few characters signatures we didn't so she helped us out and signed their names for them.  She made it look just like their's so I am glad she was willing.  I do wish we could have seen more in the park because Jared and Lydia loved them so much. Oh well better luck next time. We had a fun exhausting time on our trip.