Disneyland

 June 2013

Disneyland is often called 'The Magic Kingdom' and it was just as magical as I remembered! Monday morning dawned bright and early- and our kids were ready for it! We headed off to the Magic Kingdom for a full day of fun. We quickly learned the ins and outs of fast passes, and made our very first stop to the wonderful world of Cars land. As a child visiting Disneyland for the first time- I remembered thinking there couldn't be anything more fun or exciting. Now I realize there is- it's watching your own kids experience it for the first time. It really was so fun to just watch the kids and how excited they got seeing everything- the rides, the characters, and the amazing setup.

 My very favorite ride in Disneyland is Splash Mountain, so naturally I wanted it to be my first ride. Lucky for us- the line was almost nothing when we first got there. Mom and I both wanted to go- so we took the boys with us. Matthew was probably a little young, but I convinced him to come with me as my seat buddy. I think the drop at the end was a little much for his first ride, but he loved everything else about it!

 Emily and Lilah were SO excited to see their very first princess which happened to be Princess Jasmine. We were lucky that we caught her as soon as she came out, so we didn't have to wait in a line at all. By the time we finished, there were already a dozen or so other little girls waiting. I know it's sometimes easier to visit Disneyland when kids are older- but I totally think it's worth the extra work to see the excitement on the little kids' faces, it's not quite the same when they're older.

 Cole being Cole. The funniest thing about this sword is that when we visited as kids, Kristie was chosen to come up and pull the sword out during a performance. It's always been pretty cool to us since.

 Courtney was such a sweet angel baby in Disneyland. We mostly carried her around in our baby Bjorn. When she wasn't in the carrier, she was either being held or was able to lay down in the stroller. I purposefully got a double stroller with a full recline. It really made the trip so much easier. I loved seeing that sweet little baby sleeping so peacefully. I had wondered how well it would go having a 6-week old baby in Disneyland along with 4 other kids, but having family there really helped. We went around together doing the rides and attractions. Whenever I had to feed Courtney- every 2-4 hours- I would just find a quiet location on a bench or somewhere and feed and change her for 20-30 minutes, then join up with everyone again. That way the kids didn't have to sit and wait, and I got to enjoy some quiet baby time. It worked out perfect!

 Kristie was able to get a wheel-chair to navigate the park, and even had a swap pass to use. She did pretty well for most of the day, but then there were a few rides that were probably a little too rough and she ended up paying for it later on. :( It was a bummer that she had to leave a little early, but we were glad she was able to enjoy as much as she could!

 I will always love the original Disneyland, but I really did love the new Cars Land. I fell in love with the movie when it came out in 2006. Especially because all of our boys loved the movie and the toy cars so much, so I loved seeing the quaint little town of Radiator Springs. They did a fantastic job recreating the movie setting. It was especially amazing at night with all the lights. The main Cars ride constantly had about a 2hr+ wait time. We were able to get some fast passes that made our wait longer (and we were also able to use a child swap pass with Courtney which was fantastic!) but every waiting minute for that ride was worth it! It was such a great ride- definitely one of my favorites and the kids' as well.

We spent the entire day between Disneyland and California Adventure. We rode tons of rides, ran all over the place, and everyone was exhausted but happy. When I asked the kids on the way back to our house if they'd had fun, half of them were asleep and the other half responded with a very enthusiastic "Yes!" I'd say the day was a success!