For Fall Break we made the trek to California to spend a few days with Mickey.
The kids have been looking forward to this for a LONG time. (exactly 2.5 years)
I know that just about anyone who is reading this knows what everything is. So I'll try to keep the words to a minimum.
We left Monday after school, stopped in Mesquite, NV for the night and showed up in Anaheim around noon on Tuesday.
We hit the newly renovated Thunder Mountain.
The kids LOVE Autopia! We got in a lot of rides but the crowds were insane! SO many people! Our neighbors were somewhere in the park and we kept trying to meet up or save a spot in line and would just miss each other by a little bit. Oh well.
Splash Mountain is still the favorite. It really is a good one.
So we texted them our picture and said, "Now you can say you saw us at Disneyland."
Day two started out at Disneyland.
This was the only day that it was not packed to the gills. It was a day that they closed early for a Halloween party so it kept the crowds away I think.... until the party goers started showing up anyway.
Everyone did Space Mountain. Ezra said he LOVED it, but then never really wanted to do it again. Don't worry. I made him go back on it anyway.
I know that Disneyland is supposed to be the happiest place on earth... But it was also the hottest. I was melting!
Once it got too busy we took the bus over to Cheesecake Factory for an early dinner/late lunch. It felt good to sit, cool down and eat some good food.
We headed back and used up a couple of our fast passes:
Then we headed over to California Adventure for the evening.
I had gone over to get some fast passes for Radiator Spring Racers that morning and we were all set to ride. We got in line and 5 minutes into the line... Broken. We could wait for an un-known amount of time or lose our fast pass spot. After waiting 20 minutes we gave up. :(
Since we are all tall enough, we all rode California Screamin'. Marisa didn't love it, Ezra claimed to love it but never rode it again even though he had plenty of opportunities. I love it but I'm getting old and can only take it once a day or I WILL puke. Sad. Roman would ride it all day long.
Ezra is next to Shane
Marisa is next to me.
We decided to try out the fun little outdoor adventure area that we skipped over last time.
We stayed late to watch World of Color. It was fine, but then for mysterious weather conditions, they stopped it mid-show and kicked us out. I don't know what the weather conditions were. It was a calm, albeit extremely humid evening. Sigh.
Next day we headed back to California Adventure.
Getting ready to Soar over California. My favorite ride. This is the one I could do over and over. I wish they had a few different movies and I probably would. Shane says they should sell the smells that they have during the ride. I agree.
We tried the Car's ride again... Broken... AGAIN! At least we still had our fast passes this time.
We went back a little later and it was working again. We only got to ride it once the whole trip. Its a good ride, but not worth waiting in the regular 1.5 hour long line.
We watched a few shows including Aladdin which was GREAT! Highly recommend.
Marisa was SO tired. She decided she wanted some cotton candy and once she had it she said, "Sugar makes me feel SO happy!" .... Sing it sister!
We rode the bus back to our hotel and spent the afternoon at the pool. Unfortunately, it had cooled down and this pool was NOT heated. The kids didn't care though and lucky for me, they can handle themselves well enough in the water that just sitting on the edge is adequate supervision.
We headed back to watch fireworks, Fantasmic and ride a few rides at Disneyland.
Our last day our camera broke so all I have some pictures from my phone. But we just hit anything that wasn't a huge wait and things we had never done like the non-petting zoo, steam boat, Great Moments with Abraham Lincoln and the likes.
We did the same at California Adventure.
Next morning we hit some favorites and then got out of Dodge.
Stopped in Baker to see the World's Largest Thermometer on the way home.
Then took a (pretty big) detour to see the Las Vegas temple.
We stopped at St. George for the night. Probably should have just toughed it out and gone home but oh well.
Took a picture at the St. George temple and hit the pavement one last time to go home.
It was a really good time, but we did have a touch of bad luck that made it not as great as I had hoped. To start, our hotel that was "just across the street" from Disneyland was actually just across the freeway and a solid mile from the front gate. We had a great view of fireworks though. We were closer to the fireworks at our hotel than on Main Street of Disneyland. We took the bus in, which was fine, but I just wanted to be across the street. Ya know?
Second, the heat. Ugh! It was HOT! And the heat brought out WAY too much skin that I didn't want to see. It was gross!
Third, the crowds. I never would have thought.
Last, It wasn't very magical. Last time we came I was so impressed with how nice the place was despite the crowds and how most of the time, we didn't feel overwhelmed by the people. This time we hit broken ride after broken ride. Everything needed a good coat of paint. A lot of the time it was just a sea of sweaty people EVERYWHERE! I tried to just be happy and make lemonade, but I was ready to skip it all and go to the beach. Too bad we had already spent the money. :(
Needless to say, it may be a while before we go back. And I think we're all ok with that.
