Disneyland!

May 19-21, 2015

We had taken the kids, and Nate, to Disneyland one time prior to this trip. Yes, even living pretty close to the park, we had hit it only one time. We had thought going in the middle of the week, not during Spring Break or summer when school is out, that it would be relatively slow. Boy, were we wrong! It was packed. Come to find out that the previous evening was high school grad night. Sigh! The place was crawling with teenagers. Not a bad thing on it’s own, but it made for longer lines. Then, it also turned out to be the big weekend beginning Disneyland’s 60th Anniversary Celebration, making it an even more crowded experience. There were TV news shows being filmed, radio shows being broadcast, and some super stars like Mariah Carey attending. Thankfully we left Friday before the real crowd began to show up.

We started day one in California Adventure Park. We went around the park at our own pace and enjoyed the occasional treat. Nathan was finally tall enough to ride the big roller coaster. Ali, Nathan, and I went on the coaster while Nate and Abby went on the Merry-Go-Round. After a few other rides, we ended up at the Tower of Terror, which is a great ride that shoots you up and down quite quickly all the while being in the dark. Nathan, remembering the last experience he had on it, didn’t want to go but we made him anyway. He did well. My little red, Abby was super excited to go and experience it since she was finally tall enough. At one of the points of the ride where I could actually see, I looked over at her face and it was priceless. It was as if she were casually watching a movie with a slight smile on her face. She said she would love to do it again. Mind you, she has always been my little dare devil.

The next two days were filled with busy Disneyland. After more long lines accompanied with very short rides, the occasional treat, bathroom and snack stops, we had a blast. The kids’ favorite ride was the Star Tours. Nate has gotten all the kids into Star Wars. We have made it a family tradition to watch the entire saga during Christmas break. Each of the kids got to pick out a little something while we were there. Ali got a cute Tinkerbell hat, Nathan enjoyed building himself a lightsaber, and Abby got a candy filled fan with Cars as a decoration…Oh yes, Nate got a Star Wars hat and t-shirt.