Disneyland Part 3

Thursday, September 4th was our last day to play at Disneyland. We had only bought 3 day tickets, and luckily the kids slept in a bit later that day. However, Disneyland had Magic Morning early entry, so we could get in at 9 a.m., which meant we were a bit rushed getting going. Prince Charming and Cinderella were happy to swing by McDonald's on our way into the park for a quick breakfast.

We made it onto Main Street by 8:45 to find quite a crowd already. Everyone in this picture had early access to the park, and only about half of the park is actually open early - Tomorrowland, Fantasyland, and a few other rides. I'm pretty sure most of these guests were interested in only one thing - getting a ticket to meet Anna and Elsa from Frozen! That was definitely the hot ticket item while were in the parks, and I'm glad we were able to take a peek at those princesses while in Fantasyland and the kids didn't seem to mind not waiting to meet them.

We were hoping to get on Peter Pan's Flight, but by the time we made it there, the line was already super long. So we headed over to Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, which I hadn't been on in years. Both kids loved it, and wanted to ride again, but it broke down while we were in line. So we headed over to ride Pinnochio. The line at Dumbo was fairly long, so we opted to ride the Teacups next, which had no wait at all.

 Maddie really liked it, at first. I'm glad I pulled out the camera, as you can see her starting off happy, and then the look quickly fades. I'm pretty sure if we had continued spinning much longer she would have gotten sick!

The Matterhorn Bobsleds didn't have a wait, so Joe took Joseph over there after we went on Alice in Wonderland. I took Maddie back to get the stroller, and she asked to ride the carousel, so we did that. Again and again and again! Finally, as I was concerned I was going to have to rip her hands off the horse, she decided she was done with the ride. Whew! We packed up and headed to the Matterhorn, and I was anxious to hear what Joseph thought. Apparently, since Maddie and I took so long at the carousel, the boys rode the Matterhorn a few times while waiting for us, and Joseph was super excited to go again with me. Such a cutie! His favorite parts? The monsters, of course!

From there we headed to Space Mountain, which had a 10 minute wait. Joe figured since Joseph liked the other roller coasters he'd been on, that he was ready for Space. I guess Joseph wasn't a big fan, especially because it "didn't have any monsters like the Horn Mountain" so we didn't go on it again.

By this time, Toontown was open, so we headed back there to try and meet Mickey and Minnie. The kids once again had fun playing in the houses and exploring while we waited to meet the characters.

Joseph was a good sport and went right up to Minnie and Mickey this time, even giving Minnie a kiss on her hand, like a true prince. I don't think he had any idea why she offered him her hand, but he went along with it!

Maddie was a bit unsure, and stayed back for both sets of photos.

The meet and greets took a lot longer than we anticipated, and it was getting to be lunch time. Joseph had been asking to ride the train, so we hopped on at Toontown and rode around the park to New Orleans Square. Maddie was barely hanging on and demanding to be carried quite a bit!

After a quick lunch and watching the steam boat leave with a load of passengers, I took Maddie on Winnie the Pooh while Joe and Joseph headed over for Splash Mountain. Maddie loved Winnie and asked to ride again, but unfortunately the ride broke down while we were on it, and we had to wait for assistance to get out of our honey car and walk back out. By the time we were done, I saw Joe and Joseph leaving Splash. Joseph apparently didn't get the point of the ride, and kept asking if the hills they were going down was "the big one", and loved it when they finally got to "the big one!" I was so surprised that they would let him ride in the front, but I guess it worked out.

Every day Joseph found someone with a new treat that was "his favorite thing" and would ask to have the same thing. On Tuesday it was ice cream, Wednesday it was the giant rainbow colored suckers, and by Thursday he was demanding cotton candy. We decided to give in to each request, since he didn't even seem to notice the toys in the stores or ask for anything else. So Maddie and he split a giant cotton candy on the way back to the hotel for naps.

I was really antsy, hoping they wouldn't sleep much past 2 hours. As 2 hours turned into 3, I realized just how much of the park we had yet to see, and probably wouldn't. Finally Maddie started to stir, so we rushed back into the room and hurried them along, so we could get back to Disneyland.

We finally got a few fun family pictures in front of the castle, hooray!

 Joe's friends from high school Matt and Annie, had just moved back to California earlier in the week, and decided to come visit (and pick up annual passes, lucky them!) We went for a ride on Pirates again, and grabbed some Mickey beignets while we met up with them. Since we hadn't even walked Joseph past Big Thunder Mountain yet, but knowing he would love that ride, we headed there next. I took Joseph first, and sure enough, he had a great time. Joe, Matt, and Annie took him next, and I was able to get a few good shots of the boys riding with their hands in the air!

From there, we headed over to Tomorrowland for a few more rides on Buzz Lightyear. I definitely did not comment on all of the times Joseph rode Buzz, but it was probably close to 10 during the 3 days in the parks! Next up was the monorail. Joseph had been asking to ride it all week, and since it only makes two stops, one in Tomorrowland and the other in Downtown Disney, there hadn't been much of an incentive to ride it. But we had promised him we would, so we did. Both kids thought it was pretty neat. If we decide to stay on Disney property in the future, I'm sure they will enjoy being able to ride it more often.

By the time we made it a roundtrip, we had missed the nightly parade, and the only real chance the kids had to see a bunch of the regular Disney characters and princesses. Oh well! We were hoping to get on Peter Pan before the park closed, and based on the lines apps, it appeared we could ride Small World one time and then rush over and be ok. Except by the time we got to Small World, they had shut down the loading and unloading to one side of one dock, and it took forever. Subsequently, unloading was even slower. We actually spent 15 minutes on the boat! I felt bad that we didn't make it, but again, we had been going with the "we will go on the rides Joseph requests" routine, so while he was unhappy, it wasn't the worst event ever. It was after 8 pm, so nothing else was open, and we wandered out of Disneyland and into Downtown Disney for a late dinner.

Luckily, the kids were in great moods, probably thanks in part to those 3+ hour naps! We ate at Earl of Sandwich, and Joe took the kids to check out the Lego store while I waited in line with Matt and Annie. The kids ran laps around the long tables while we ate and force fed them bites, but they ate everything. From there we said goodbye to Matt and Annie, and headed back down the way to the Downtown Disney store. I had told Joe I wanted to find a family ornament as a reminder of the trip, and that I thought we should let the kids each pick a souvenir.

Joseph quickly wanted one of everything in sight. Maddie, on the other hand, was getting so slap happy that she would hug every stuffed animal, and then toss it aside, ready for the next one. She eventually had a giant pile that she flopped down into, rolled around, and gave us a look like, "yeah? this is great!"

 She really wanted a little rolling suitcase she found, and dragged it around the store with her. I would have been happy to get it, except we knew she was going to be getting one for her birthday in a couple of days. Oh well. Eventually Joseph decided on a lightsaber that makes sounds, lights up and more importantly, condensed down into a reasonable size. Maddie was such a hot mess that we didn't need to spend money on something else if she didn't seem too excited, and it didn't bother her one bit.

We made the long walk back to the hotel, and by this time it was getting really late for the kids. They still did awesome, and had no problem crashing once we got back.

The next morning, Friday September 5th, was our departure day. We had an afternoon flight, so we opted to walk down to an IHOP to get some breakfast. The kids were super excited when we were seated in the back, right next to a balloon artist. Watching him make balloons for the other kids, and then them was a huge highlight of their morning. We should have gone there the first morning, though, because after breakfast we had two giant balloons - a Buzz Lightyear, and a Mickey Mouse, that we were going to take on a plane...?

We opted to deal with that later, and headed back to the hotel. It has a great water park area with slides, water cannons, a small zero entry pool and fountains, and we had been so busy all week that we hadn't gone down once. Checkout was at noon, so we let the kids play for a few hours while Joe and I shower and packed. The kids ate a bunch of their leftovers from the week while they played, and were really quite content.

Eventually, it was time to head to the airport. I knew it would be a bit dicey, again, with a departure time past their naptime, but in the end it all worked out.

We had a really great time, and continuously hear from both kids, "when are we going back to Disneyland?" I don't have an answer for them yet, but hopefully we can make it a fun tradition every couple of years!