When Pops and Nana asked everyone if they wanted to go to Disneyland right before Christmas we could not turn that down. We left Dec. 20 a Sunday night from Santa Clara and arrived in Anaheim late that evening. Pops, Nana, Jordan, Whitney, James, Izzy, Andrew, and Emma all came drove down together in the Yukon and The Thorleys drove from Texas to meet us there. Tyler and Erin and there family decided not to come(they were def. missed). When we arrived we stayed in the same hotel as the Thorleys and as soon as Lincoln saw Isaac and Henry they quickly bonded by technology. We tried to get asleep at a re seasonable hour to be ready for Disneyland the next morning.
DAY 1- Disneyland. It had been 10 years since Marci had been to Disney and 20 since Adam had been and this was a first for all the kids. So we were all excited to explore and have fun together. We went in expecting HUGE crowds, and huge crowds there were but we worked it well (by getting there right when it opened to hit some of the busiest rides first thing, using fast passes and stroller passes). I think 'It's a Small World' was the longest line we waited in..... Walking around was super crowded though. Dumbo was a favorite of Lincoln and Norah, Dad of course took them on the Teacups, and Lincoln was just barely tall enough to go on a lot of the big rides.... he enjoyed the matterhorn even though it was a little scary!
We told Lincoln and Norah that they could pick one thing out that they wanted to buy. The first day Lincoln saw this Dusty Light up airplane and could not get his mind off of it. We told him ti make sure that is what he wanted so we would keep looking at other stuff. I can't even count how many times he said he wanted that thing no matter what else he saw. So by the thousandeth time of him asking we finally buckled and bought it for him on our way out of the park in Downtown Disney on day 1. He loved it. I was just glad he stopped asking for stuff after that.
For dinner we all met up together and ate at Big Thunder BBQ Place. It was yummy all you can eat food--- all kinds of meats, corn, coleslaw etc. The had a little show go on during dinner. Day 1 was a huge success, the 2 younger kids fell asleep midday in the stroller so we were able to stay late and hit some more rides and watch the water light show Fantasmic! We then walked back to our hotel (BW Stovall Inn)-- and got the kids right to bed.
Day 2- California Adventure
We woke up early to get in an hour early to California Adventure (thinking that we had early access pass-- when we really didn't) after waiting at the gates for a bit the gate people finally let us in feeling bad for us. haha. So we got in a little early... It was also raining pretty good and had been raining all night. So needless to say we were pretty wet from the get go. We ended up buying trusty Disney ponchos to help stay a little dry. Because of the rain, the crowds were a little smaller early on (as well as some of the rides being closed). We were able to hit quite a few rides with no wait at all. The kids spent a good little bit of time in the Bugs Life Area watching the 4D movie and riding the little rides. I also convinced Lincoln that he would LOVE the Tower of Terror. He was fine with everything until we got out of the initial big elevator with everyone and it is dark and they tell the story of the hotel. After that he wanted nothing to do with the ride. We were waiting to go in our seats in the elevator and I basically had to hold him down from running out the exit. He was so scared and did not want to go in the least. Others in our little waiting area could tell he was freaking out and were trying to pump him up and tell him how they were scared too the first time and then they loved it. The elevator doors finally opened and we were able to sit down and get buckled. Yes Lincoln was holding on tight the whole time and did awesome on the actual ride. He even said he liked it when we got off the ride although when we asked if he wanted to go again he was like, "NO WAY!" haha. He was a good sport going once. We also saw some fun characters.... lightening mcqueen, Red, Mater, and The incredibles. Cars Land was awesome. Lincoln loved the cars ride.
Late Afternoon we were all pretty wet and tired so we decided to walk back to the hotel and take a little nap before dinner at Goofy's Kitchen. It worked out quite nicely because by the time we were back to the hotel all three of the kids had fallen asleep. We dried clothes, changed clothes, took a little nap, and then headed to dinner with everyone. It was so fun! Character dining is the best! While waiting to be seated we got our pic with Goofy, played on the pretend car, and Santa even walked through. When we got into dinner, it was great from the first moment. The characters (Goofy, Minnie, Pluto, Chip, and Dale) rotated around the restaurant playing with the kids and singing and dancing. The chipmunks were def. favorites of many. The kids had a great time and the food was decent. Not great but still good.
After dinner, most of the boys decided to go to the new Star Wars movie and the rest of us went back into the park for a bit. We hit some of the rides that we hadn't earlier and had a great time. The lines were short so not much waiting--- SCORE! The Toy Story 3D shooting one was a favorite of all the kids so we did that 4 or 5 times. Another fun and exhausting day!
DAY 3- DISNEYLAND
For our last day we wanted to hit up Disneyland again. We made sure to go on some of our favorites and then of course try to hit anything we had missed the first day. We had told Norah that she would see Elsa and Anna at Disneyland and since we hadn't yet I had to make a stop by the Frozen show so she could see them. It was cute, cheesy, and luckily short. haha. The boys headed to the carousel during the show and had fun on that. Cade even got to ride. The kids overall did awesome with no big meltdowns. It was so fun to have others there were we could swap out the kids and as parents go on the big rides as well. Going with a group is the way to go when you have small children. For dinner that night we went to Rainforest Cafe on Downtown Disney with the Thorleys. The atmosphere was fun but the food took forever to get there and it was just ok. By the time dinner was over we were all so tired but decided to go back into the park to enjoy the last couple of hours. We were hoping to go into Fantasyland and do some of the kids rides but of course Fantasyland was closed because of the firework show. OH well. so we headed down to the winnie the poo ride and did that a number of times. We were def. tired and ready for a good nights sleep at this point so we headed back to the hotel. The next morning which was Christmas Eve----- we slept in a bit, packed up and headed back on the road to get home in time for Christmas Eve festivities. The drive was long-- and Cade hates traveling, but other than that it wasn't too bad. We got home around 430! The trip was awesome and we love Disney!
