Spring Break part 1: Disneyland

For the week of spring break Danny's parents got a timeshare down in Newport Beach and invited us to join them.  We decided to got to Disneyland and California Adventure since we hadn't been since Andrew was 4.  Since Sunday was Easter we drove down on Monday.  The kids were very excited to go on this trip. Other than agreeing on a movie choice, they were great in the car.

We got up early to hopefully beat the traffic getting into Disneyland.  We asked several friends about the best plan of action once you get into the park.  You definitely need a plan if you want to see as much as possible. The plans mostly involve getting fast passes so that you don't have to wait for a long time in lines.  There was a long line (the first of many) to wait for a picture in front of the Mickey Mouse made out of flowers.  We decided to forgo that and just take one on the side.  

Grant got a first visit button.

And Claire got a Happy Birthday button.

We got lucky and saw Minnie Mouse right away.  Grant wanted nothing to do with a picture with any characters. 

We also got a picture with Goofy.

The castle seemed closer when I took this picture.

The first ride we all went on was Buzz Lightyear.  Andrew and Claire loved it while Grant didn't like being in the dark.  Danny got the most points for the game, but I think Andrew came in second.

Claire really wanted a picture of the castle.

Ron and Jan took Grant over to Toon Town and we decided to ride the Matterhorn.  

Well, for a moment we had all decided to ride the Matterhorn.  Claire decided not to at the last minute, so I waited with her while Danny and Andrew rode.  Then I was able to ride with Andrew again without having to wait in line again, it is really great that they do that.

We had gotten fast passes to Star Tours and Claire saw this helmet in the gift shop later.  It is hard to tell from this picture but it is a Darth Vader Mickey Mouse helmet.  Andrew and Claire loved Star Tours.  We were trying to explain to them that it isn't like a roller coaster ride, as it is not on tracks, but it moves like one.

We next rode Autotopia and Claire and Andrew drove.  Claire especially liked driving herself.

The drivers are on the right side of the car, but Andrew had trouble steering and holding down the gas, so I did the gas for him.

A classic - It's a small world.  We met up with Grant and he rode this with us too.

Every single smile is like this.

Andrew really wanted to ride Splash Mountain - that was the ride he was most looking forward to.  Claire didn't know what it was, and when we walked up to it and she saw the big drop and people screaming, she didn't really want to go.  We said we couldn't go back now and she had to go.  We really thought that she would have a great time on the ride.  Well, she did go, but she didn't really like it.  She was screaming when we went down the big hill.  As you can see, I was reaching around the back of my chair and holding her hands.  I think she would have liked it better if the seats were side by side.  

After that we rode the Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean.  Then we met up with Grant, Ron and Jan and went on the Jungle Cruise.  The line was really long and slow, but I did manage to get this good picture of the kids in line.

We had to do the switch rider again for Space Mountain since Ron and Jan had left the park and Grant and Claire were not going on this ride.   Danny and Andrew rode first and Andrew was a bit green when he got off.  He didn't want to ride with me a second time.

We were trying to make the parade at 7:00 pm, but when we got off of Space Mountain there were no seats left.  We had walked by Autotopia and Grant really wanted to go, so we headed back there.  This time Andrew rode alone, I rode with Claire and Danny got to drive with Grant.  He could barely see over the steering wheel, but he loved it.  

Although we had already eaten earlier, the kids were hungry again and I wanted to get a Dole Whip.  I had never tried one before and after hearing many of my friends rave about it, we had to go back over to Frontierland.  Then Danny saw a cart which sold the large turkey legs, so he got one and everyone loved it.  They all took turns taking bites.

We stayed until about 9:00 pm and the kids were totally exhausted.  Once we got back to the car, they were asleep within minutes.  We felt like we saw most of what we wanted to see and everyone seemed to have a good time.  Next up was California Adventure.