Disneyland

Disneyland was so much fun. It's almost like a dream now, because it feels like it happened so quickly. Our trip home to Utah this year went by so fast. We truly had a wonderful time and we filled our holiday with so much that we were going and doing all the time.

California is always a happy place for me. I spent four years as a young child living there, and my first memories are of the California sun, Saturdays at the beach digging in the sand and playing in the waves, and Disneyland.

We drove down to California after a couple of days being in Utah. I thought my boys would rebel being asked to sit in a car after being on flights and airports from traveling from Australia to Utah. But I should have known, they are such good sports. We watched Disney and Star Wars movies and Mom made it from driveway to hotel lobby in 9h:45 mins. Record for us. We were able to check in and go swimming our first night, so relaxing after a long drive. We played freeze tag in the pool and soaked in the hot tub. We heard the fireworks and became excited for our Disneyland fun to begin!

Our first morning started off well. We were the first ones in the park and we were able to run on rides before the crowds came. But then it started to rain, and this wasn't normal rain it was like crazy flash flooding sort of tropical storm rain. We were unprepared for such rain and were so wet that we went back to the hotel. We dried off and changed clothes and even took naps. When we returned, the park was sort of empty, so it was awesome! And this was how it was, rain and no lines. We bought ponchos and umbrellas and ran from ride to ride the first two days. The third day came and it was sunny. I thought it would be crowded, but nope, the crowds didn't come. It was nice to have a warm day. We went on the bear rapids and saw the parades, Aladin the live musical performance, met all the characters, and enjoyed the live music! It was a magical day. Friday was our last day, we got up super early and had a magical morning at fantasy land. We had done everything except fantasy land so I'm glad we did it our last morning! It was a warm and sunny day, and it being Friday the crowds came. But we had already done everything several times, imcluding Space Mountain (like twice each day and for Ethan, Gregory, and George they went double that so 4 times because of the stroller pass. Mom and I would switch and they'd let the boys go with Mom and then again with me) which had turned into hyperspace mountain which was all about Star Wars. The whole tomorrow land had transformed to Star Wars land, and it was awesome! They are going to build a proper Star Wars land soon. Can't wait for that. Anyway, Friday was just a bonus! We ended up at Splash mountain and literally the boys had sat on the ride for over an hour and Mom and I would switch at the exit. We'd take William to Winnie the Pooh, so we did that ride a lot too. Well, the ride kind of broke and when going up the steep mountain prepping for the big drop off the waterfall our log freefell backwards a few feet and then somehow reconnected, and then it again was dragging us up the mountain to the waterfall. The log didn't connect perfectly so it felt like the ride was broken, then at the top we teetered a bit before going over and this was terrifying! I thought we might die! But we were okay. After going down the waterfall, the ride stopped. We had to wait for the firefighters to rescue us. Because we wasted 30 minutes stuck in our log on a broken ride, we got VIP passes and $30 for ice cream cones. So that made our last night so magical because we could go on all the big rides and skip the lines and we watched World of Color and ate giant ice cream cones on main street! So much fun! Our last ride was Peter Pan. We got off Thunder Mountain with only a few minutes before midnight. We ran as fast as we could and we got to the line before midnight. And with our VIP pass they had to let us on! So it was the perfect end to our Disneyland trip! So happy we went and it's something I'll always treasure!

We started off wet so we headed to The Pirates of the Caribbean. It was a good place to come when it rained hard outside.

The Jungle Cruise! If you're already wet why not?! There was no wait, we just walked onto the next boat!

Christmas was still up, and so we got to see all the lights and Christmas decor! Their Christmas tree was impressive!

The bear river rapids was a family favorite! Again, we didn't mind getting wet and on this ride it was inevitable! George laughed so hard. I have never seen him so happy. His laugh so infectious and we all couldn't stop ourselves once he started!

The little mermaid is one of my favorite rides. We went on it a few times because no one was there so why not?

I could not believe how my boys wanted to go on all the scary rides. George is only just 5 and he loved California screaming and the tower of terror! Gregory, George, and Ethan rode California Screaming over and over again. Mom did as well, I didn't have the stomach for it so just took a lot of photos and video of them!

I really enjoyed cars land this time. I thought it was really fun. I loved the mater ride and the new cars ride. We were lucky to be able to get on these rides without lines. We either had a fast pass or a VIP pass when we tried to ride because without them it would have been an hour wait or longer!

 The tower of terror! Gregory's face is blocked, but you can see Ethan and George! So brave!!

We did get some downtime.

I loved seeing the Frozen characters! Elsa and Ana were awesome!

Splash Mountain. I think this was voted a family favorite! We rode this ride literally for an hour at one time. I've never in all my years at Disneyland spent so much time just on this ride. It was awesome! Gregory told me that he never could be mad or sad when he heard the happy music!

For me Hyperspace Mountain was another favorite! It was very fast and Star Wars themed. Very fun to feel like you are literally flying through space on a special Star Wars mission!

On the bus traveling from our hotel to Disneyland!

I loved seeing Aladin! Such a fun musical performance. Usually, I have a baby that cries and I have to leave, but this time William was awesome. He slept for most of it, but when he woke up he was happy to just sit and watch. I was so happy. He didn't make a peep!

We all loved seeing Mickey Mouse! We jumped in line as he walked out so even seeing him was easy and fun! So happy we found him when the sun came out! I love Mickey and for what he represents. For me he reminds me of my childhood, my imagination and the magic that happens when you play make believe, happy times with my parents and siblings when I was young here at Disneyland! And now the magic of Mickey continues as I share it with my little family!

 We loved the popcorn! Oh the smell of that stuff when your hungry and tired, the boys just loved it! We got the souvenir buckets so I can fill them up over and over again as we go to the beach or have picnics in the park.

Funny story. So George would never admit, but he loves watching Doc McDuffins. So when he saw her, he literally screamed so loudly that people turned around to make sure everything was okay. We were trying to make it to Aladin because we had fast passes and wanted a good seat, but we had to make a short detour to get this photo. And don't worry, we got to Aladin and had great seats!

The rockets!

Fantasy Land!

 Loved seeing these two by the carousel!

Well, we had a magical trip! I couldn't have asked for more! So grateful that we went and that we had such a great time. I'll never forget it!