TRAVELOGUE – very boring, unless you’re me and want to remember these details forever. AND EVER.
Sometime back in February I think, I made a vague mention that maybe we would go to Disneyland . . .
Of course, never make vague mentionings to a four year old girl with a heart of gold and a belief that her parent’s word is law. She latched onto that like a newborn who hasn’t been fed all day.
How’s that imagery for you?
Anyhow, it became “the thing.”
“When we go to Disneyland we’ll . . . ”
or how about
“At Disneyland they have . . . ”
or
“The Princess’ at Disneyland . . .”
you get the point.
We decided to wait until the fall – better weather, more time to prepare. We first thought we’d go in September, then maybe October. Finally we decided Thanksgiving weekend would be the perfect opportunity to steal away to Southern California. We’d already be half way, with our Turkey Feast taking place in Saint George this year.
Bright and early Friday morning we woke, shuffled the wish-they-were-still-sleeping-but-now-they’re-awake-and-going-to-need-attention-the-whole-drive kids into the car. We made it to Anaheim without much ado. My arm was numb from sitting twisted in the front seat so I could hold Everett’s bottle for the last hour and a half – but hey, that’s normal.
We checked into our hotel, climbed out of our PJ’s, and made a mad dash (pushing 3 kids in two strollers, you can imagine how fast we went) for the park. We got into the park about 2:30. We hit the merry-go-round, the boat ride, and the kids favorite: Toon Town. The crowds weren’t bad. Our longest line was about twenty minutes – very manageable. As the evening wore on, we even walked onto a ride or two.
But alas, seven thirty came early that night, and Calvin turned into a pumpkin promptly. He fell asleep in his daddy’s arms, and not even the excitement of Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride could rouse him. We called it a night.
The next morning we headed to the park first thing. Olivia had been asking for the Dumbo ride, and where the day before the line had been an hour long, that morning we walked right on. Dumbo is a great ride.
We finished up the fun rides at Fantasyland before heading over to Frontierland and Critter Country. Olivia discovered a new love: Roller Coasters. Her favorite was Splash Mountain, which she rode several times with her mama and daddy. The little buckaroos enjoyed canoe rides, and a ride on a pirate ship, and exploring in Tarzan’s tree house. We enjoyed a jungle river boat trip, cotton candy, and some adventures with Winnie the Pooh. We really did a lot, and by 3:00 the kids were close to melt down. We decided to head back to the hotel for naps. “We’ll come back tonight. We’ll watch world of color, and ride more rides.”
But that night it rained. I mean, it poured. We rode the swings in California Adventure, then stood 20 minutes under an awning waiting for the World of Color. But by then we were so cold we decided to just bag the whole thing. We walked home across the park as World of Color splashed in magnificence behind us.
The next day the park was dead.
I mean – we walked onto the Matterhorn – four times! Around and around and around we went. Wyatt would ride with Cal while O and I stayed with Ejo. Then O and I would go while Wyatt and Cal waited. Over and over again. Calvin LOVED the Matterhorn.
We rode on Autotopia, where Calvin got to drive the car all by himself. We went on a submarine voyage to find Nemo. We rode the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad a couple times, and even hit Splash Mountain again. We were walking onto all of these rides. The lines were just non-existent. We finished up all the rides we wanted to go on, went to California Adventure for a few attractions there (ironically, the scariest ride in the whole place is the Ferris Wheel at California Adventure! Ugh). And then we circled back and hit all our favorites again.
And by 3:00 the kids were mo’ done. As we left, each child chose a souvenir. Calvin chose a sword to “lead the way” aka- stab the back of Dad’s seat the entire drive home. Olivia chose a Princess Aurora doll, which she contentedly cuddled with in the back seat as we drove again across the wilderness of the American Southwest, and headed home.
PS- Pictures coming soon!