The last time we went to Disneyland with all the kids, I
vowed never to go again until the boys were 40 inches and could go on all the
rides with us. Well, the boys have been
40 inches for a good while now, and it was high time we went on another
Disneyland trip. We left Sunday after
church the weekend of Liv’s Lion King play, and honestly it was just what our
family needed. We had been so busy and
hadn’t seem much of Liv for so long that a break from life and time with our
family on the most fun family vacation was the perfect remedy. We stayed Sunday night in St. George and then
got up early the next morning and headed to Las Vegas. I met up with some old law school buddies and
Natalie Gardner for brunch, while Derek took the kids to meet up with Uncle
Nathan, Benazir and Aunt Kylie (who had just moved to Las Vegas) at the City Center Mall.
The park was so fun and seeing so many Aunts and Uncle at a park on our way to Disneyland was super fun. Then, we all crawled back in the car and headed to California. Liv the other day was asking me about mine and Dad’s Aunts and Uncles whom we don’t often see, so we decided to make it a point to visit one of his Aunts. We stopped at Aunt Opals. The kids loved her little under the stairs collection of puzzles, games and toys. The kids played and we visited for a couple hours and then we found our hotel. We stayed at the new Hyatt less than a mile from Disneyland because we had a bunch of Hyatt points making our stay free. Once we got there, Derek scored us a free room up-grade which included bunk beds and a dividing door.
Everyone was super stoked about that surprisingly positive turn of events. The next day was our first day at Disney, we deiced to go the week after Martin Luther King Day because supposedly the park was supposed to be “ghost town” crowd levels. It still felt super crowded to me, but we never waited more than 15 minutes for anything which is perfect for our kids. Derek was nutso about getting there an hour before they opened the gates every day which I guess I love him for. The first day Derek and Liv excitedly left before me and the boys to stake out a spot. Here's me and the boys heading over to our first day at the park.
Instead of doing early entry our strategy this go was to get to the gates an hour before the park opened to the park which wasn’t early entry day. It actually worked quite well. I almost think I prefer it to staying in the park and getting early entry every day. They are doing this new thing where you can pay a little extra every day to get all your fast passes on your phone instead of the actual fast pass booth. So worth it, so we weren't running around all over all day collecting fast passes. Also the extra fee gives you free access to all the pictures any Disneyland photographer takes, so we gladly allowed all photographers to take pictures for us without worrying about taking them ourselves and Derek and I actually got in a bunch of the Disney photos with the kids!
Day one we started in California adventure. Toy Story Mania was a daily occurrence and a favorite among the kids.
We also rode the new Guardians of the Galaxy ride that replaced Tower of Terror. Derek had been watching YouTube videos of it with the kids for the weeks preceding the trip, so they were all excited to ride it. I tried to convince anyone that it was too scary and not to go showing them the window opening and the huge drop and all the screaming, but try as I might they all insisted on going so I had to go too. So we went, Camden screamed the whole time and clung to Derek’s arm, Liv burst into tears as soon as it was over and Carter was silent the entire ride, but after it was over he told me, “I did not like that ride.” (Me either buddy, me either). The rest of the trip anytime they were starting to get out of line Derek would threaten that if they didn’t shape up he was going to take them on the drop ride. Olivia had all this make-up work she was supposed to complete during the trip. One thing was writing in a journal every day. That night she wrote about the scary Guardians of the Galaxy ride and drew a picture of people with sad faces and screams.
We also rode the new Guardians of the Galaxy ride that replaced Tower of Terror. Derek had been watching YouTube videos of it with the kids for the weeks preceding the trip, so they were all excited to ride it. I tried to convince anyone that it was too scary and not to go showing them the window opening and the huge drop and all the screaming, but try as I might they all insisted on going so I had to go too. So we went, Camden screamed the whole time and clung to Derek’s arm, Liv burst into tears as soon as it was over and Carter was silent the entire ride, but after it was over he told me, “I did not like that ride.” (Me either buddy, me either). The rest of the trip anytime they were starting to get out of line Derek would threaten that if they didn’t shape up he was going to take them on the drop ride. Olivia had all this make-up work she was supposed to complete during the trip. One thing was writing in a journal every day. That night she wrote about the scary Guardians of the Galaxy ride and drew a picture of people with sad faces and screams.
Day 2 we started at Disneyland. Liv scored us 1st place in line
two days in a row and at Disneyland the key is to sprint to Peter Pan once the
doors open because that dang ride from 10 minutes after the park opens until
the rest of the day maintains a minimum 45 minute wait. We were among the first few people to get
there, and only had to wait a few minutes, Camden loved it. Then we did all the fantasy land stuff: tried to pull the sword out of the stone,
rode whale's mouth,
rode the Casey Jr. Train where my kids perfectly played the roles of wild animals,
and we checked out Toontown which I am always disappointment in.
Camden our little dude who is afraid of heights was quite terrified by most all rides that hand any kind of drop in them. He screamed at the top of his lungs, “I hate this ride!!!!” over and over again the whole time he rode Thunder Mountain. Surprisingly the kid loved spaced mountain (perhaps because it was dark and he couldn’t see the drops?) Carter, on the other hand, was afraid of all scary characters one of the scariest rides for him was the Little Mermaid. In order to ride it, he insisted he needed to sit by his big burley Daddy and when that evil Ursala shows up singing Poor Unfortunate Soul he turned his head into his Daddy’s chest and squeezes his eyes until she is gone. He was also absolutely terrified of our meet n greet with Chewbacca. He clung to his daddy for dear life while Camden and Liv excitedly gave him hugs.
rode whale's mouth,
rode the Casey Jr. Train where my kids perfectly played the roles of wild animals,
and we checked out Toontown which I am always disappointment in.
Camden our little dude who is afraid of heights was quite terrified by most all rides that hand any kind of drop in them. He screamed at the top of his lungs, “I hate this ride!!!!” over and over again the whole time he rode Thunder Mountain. Surprisingly the kid loved spaced mountain (perhaps because it was dark and he couldn’t see the drops?) Carter, on the other hand, was afraid of all scary characters one of the scariest rides for him was the Little Mermaid. In order to ride it, he insisted he needed to sit by his big burley Daddy and when that evil Ursala shows up singing Poor Unfortunate Soul he turned his head into his Daddy’s chest and squeezes his eyes until she is gone. He was also absolutely terrified of our meet n greet with Chewbacca. He clung to his daddy for dear life while Camden and Liv excitedly gave him hugs.
One of the best things we did was wait for almost an hour to
score our kids a spot in the coveted Jedi Training. They dressed the kids up as Jedi’s gave them
all light sabers and taught them a few moves.
Then, they all came out on stage to show us their new skills sets as
Darth Vader and Kylo Ren came on the stage and each kid went up to them for a
one on one battle.
It was Olivia who proved scared when it was time to battle the dark side. Once she got wind that this was going to happen she wanted to nothing to do with it, burst into tears and insisted on sitting in the audience and just watching with us. The boys both fearlessly faced off Darth Vader and Kylo Ren. I expected them to be nervous, but they had no fear swinging those light sabers with all their might to defeat the dark side. Their Jedi training was so engrained in them afterwards, that when next we went on Star Tours as soon as Kylo Ren showed up on the screen both instinctively raised their arms up with their palms facing the scream to push him away using their force.
It was Olivia who proved scared when it was time to battle the dark side. Once she got wind that this was going to happen she wanted to nothing to do with it, burst into tears and insisted on sitting in the audience and just watching with us. The boys both fearlessly faced off Darth Vader and Kylo Ren. I expected them to be nervous, but they had no fear swinging those light sabers with all their might to defeat the dark side. Their Jedi training was so engrained in them afterwards, that when next we went on Star Tours as soon as Kylo Ren showed up on the screen both instinctively raised their arms up with their palms facing the scream to push him away using their force.
That afternoon, we walked back to the hotel mid day, (with cotton candy in hand)
took advantage of the pool, saved mega bucks by ordering pizza instead of eating dinner in the park, and then went back in the evening. We tried to stay for World of Color, which the kids thought was neat, but half way through started begging to go to bed. The poor kids. We ran them ragged walking over 10 miles every day. But the days always ended in smiles, so I didn't feel too bad.
No strollers for the first time ever at Disneyland. They did great, but Derek and I both ended up
carrying the boys on our shoulders quite a bit.
I had mercy on them whenever I had the energy too because I felt as exhausted as them. That night we opted for a $10 taxi ride home instead of the ¾ mile walk…and after that it because a habit that stuck. Walked to the park in morning, caught a taxi on the way home.
took advantage of the pool, saved mega bucks by ordering pizza instead of eating dinner in the park, and then went back in the evening. We tried to stay for World of Color, which the kids thought was neat, but half way through started begging to go to bed. The poor kids. We ran them ragged walking over 10 miles every day. But the days always ended in smiles, so I didn't feel too bad.
I had mercy on them whenever I had the energy too because I felt as exhausted as them. That night we opted for a $10 taxi ride home instead of the ¾ mile walk…and after that it because a habit that stuck. Walked to the park in morning, caught a taxi on the way home.
Day 3, we used the one early entrance day we had to get into
Disneyland an hour before the rest of the crowds. We weren’t first in line this day so instead
of Peter Pan we walked on Alice in Wonderland which was fantastic because that
ride generally had a 30 minute wait at all times too. Derek heroically took the kids on the
teacups, and I took pictures from the sidelines.
One of our kids favorite things were the shows. We saw every show at Disneyland. Their absolute favorite show was the Disney Jr. Dance off. We went the first day and they begged to go every day after that. By the end, they knew all the highlights and exactly where to stand to get chosen to participate. Liv won herself on camera multiple times and Camden went into their last Disney dance off determined to get to put his head in the lion hole and roar for the camera, which he did and then ran excited back to us to give us a high five after having his dream come true. The fantasy fair shows were my favorite super short funny spoofs on Beauty and the Beast and Tangled. The kids were allowed to sit on the floor in the front. For one of the shows the kids were literally front and center and loved it.
We saw the frozen show which was awesome. After that show Liv, my little thespian in the making, told me she decided that her knew life goal is to perform at Disneyland. I think I can get behind that dream. Liv also loved the Disney animation studio and went twice.
One of our kids favorite things were the shows. We saw every show at Disneyland. Their absolute favorite show was the Disney Jr. Dance off. We went the first day and they begged to go every day after that. By the end, they knew all the highlights and exactly where to stand to get chosen to participate. Liv won herself on camera multiple times and Camden went into their last Disney dance off determined to get to put his head in the lion hole and roar for the camera, which he did and then ran excited back to us to give us a high five after having his dream come true. The fantasy fair shows were my favorite super short funny spoofs on Beauty and the Beast and Tangled. The kids were allowed to sit on the floor in the front. For one of the shows the kids were literally front and center and loved it.
We saw the frozen show which was awesome. After that show Liv, my little thespian in the making, told me she decided that her knew life goal is to perform at Disneyland. I think I can get behind that dream. Liv also loved the Disney animation studio and went twice.
Day 4 was another day when we raced the masses to Peter Pan
and won. Liv had been upset that we had
yet to get and autographs with Princesses, so we made sure to hit the
princesses at the fantasy fair as soon as the park opened to avoid the hour
wait.
And, luckily when we exited the fantasy fair, we just so happened to run into Olivia's favorite Princess: Princess Aurora.
Then we headed to adventure land rode Pirates only that once, and the haunted mansion for the kids first time ever (the last few times that we have gone, it has been closed). The kids were not huge fans of haunted mansion. They did enjoy riding the raft over to Tom Sawyer Island for the first time (that has always been closed when we went before as well),
especially because just as we were about to launch
Captain Jack Sparrow clandestinely slipped onto our raft and rode over to the
Island with us.
The kids loved running around and exploring the island.
I wishfully drank from the fountain of youth.
We introduced the kids to the Disneyland turkey leg and met Peter Pan and Captain Hook. Peter Pan jokingly told the kids that they didn't need to be nice to pirates, and Camden promptly threw his autograph book at Captain Hook. Oh man, after the way we all reacted in horror, the poor kid was super embarrassed and I had to drag him to get into a picture with them.
After we had got everything we wanted to in Disneyland, we ended our last day in California Adventure. For some reason, Carter and Liv had taken a liking to this little roller coaster called Goofy’s Sky School. I ended up riding it on repeat with them the last couple nights there. Camden and Derek gladly sat out not enjoying the height factor. Also surprisingly Camden was not a huge fan of the cars ride. He loved it and hated it. Loved all of it, but hated the race part that had little dips. Carter loved it though. Here he is getting ready to drive one of the cars:
So even though, everyone was tall enough to ride together we did end up splitting off separately quite a bit because Camden was so afraid any ride with a drop effect.
Then we headed to adventure land rode Pirates only that once, and the haunted mansion for the kids first time ever (the last few times that we have gone, it has been closed). The kids were not huge fans of haunted mansion. They did enjoy riding the raft over to Tom Sawyer Island for the first time (that has always been closed when we went before as well),
especially because just as we were about to launch
Captain Jack Sparrow clandestinely slipped onto our raft and rode over to the
Island with us. 
The kids loved running around and exploring the island.
I wishfully drank from the fountain of youth.
We introduced the kids to the Disneyland turkey leg and met Peter Pan and Captain Hook. Peter Pan jokingly told the kids that they didn't need to be nice to pirates, and Camden promptly threw his autograph book at Captain Hook. Oh man, after the way we all reacted in horror, the poor kid was super embarrassed and I had to drag him to get into a picture with them.
After we had got everything we wanted to in Disneyland, we ended our last day in California Adventure. For some reason, Carter and Liv had taken a liking to this little roller coaster called Goofy’s Sky School. I ended up riding it on repeat with them the last couple nights there. Camden and Derek gladly sat out not enjoying the height factor. Also surprisingly Camden was not a huge fan of the cars ride. He loved it and hated it. Loved all of it, but hated the race part that had little dips. Carter loved it though. Here he is getting ready to drive one of the cars:
So even though, everyone was tall enough to ride together we did end up splitting off separately quite a bit because Camden was so afraid any ride with a drop effect.
After 4 blissful days, we got up the next morning walked
through Downtown Disney. We checked out
the lego store and let each kid get a souvenir.
Liv couldn’t find the Barbie version of Elena of Avalor that she badly wanted, so we actually ordered it on amazon to be delivered at home a few days later. Carter picked out a lego storm trooper. Camden had been dying to get a toy buzz light year all week. If you ask him his favorite part of the Disney trip, he will tell you it was getting that Buzz Lightyear toy. He loved and played with it literally the whole drive to St. George when we stayed the night again and picked up London before heading back home and back to real life.
Liv couldn’t find the Barbie version of Elena of Avalor that she badly wanted, so we actually ordered it on amazon to be delivered at home a few days later. Carter picked out a lego storm trooper. Camden had been dying to get a toy buzz light year all week. If you ask him his favorite part of the Disney trip, he will tell you it was getting that Buzz Lightyear toy. He loved and played with it literally the whole drive to St. George when we stayed the night again and picked up London before heading back home and back to real life.
Honestly, it was the best best trip we have had ever. It was just 4 super fun days that everyone
loved every minute of. We loved it. Didn’t want it to end. And the kids scored tons of autographs and
pictures from characters.
We even got a private family meeting with Darth Vader where he told Olivia who said he Dad was her master that she needed a new teacher, shook hands with Camden and commended both he and Carter for their Darth Vader and storm trooper sweat shirts (which they donned in preparation for the meeting despite it being warm enough not to need them).
We even got a private family meeting with Darth Vader where he told Olivia who said he Dad was her master that she needed a new teacher, shook hands with Camden and commended both he and Carter for their Darth Vader and storm trooper sweat shirts (which they donned in preparation for the meeting despite it being warm enough not to need them).
