Our Spring Break Trip with 3 kids 6 and younger

[ladylyons]

We decided to take this trip for the simple reason being I wanted to go. Plus we’ve had some personal issues happen along with colds, flu, and lice from our last trip over New Year’s. We needed a fresh start to 2013. I’ll just say 2013 started out AWESOME with us celebrating it in Disneyland but then within a week of being home things went downhill from there. Our trip dates were March 22 – March 26 and we stayed at the Anaheim Plaza Hotel. We love the size of the rooms so we will continue to stay there as long as the rates stay reasonable.

So now let’s get on with the introductions of whose going on this trip:

First up is me, I’m Sandra. I’m a stay at home mom to my 3 kiddos, Jeremy – 6, Sarah – 4, and James – 2 ½ years. I’m the Disney lover in our family and I’m raising my kids to love Disney just as much as I do. My favorite rides would have to be any that I can ride with my kids!  I actually have 2 favorite characters and they are Mickey and Cinderella.

Next up is Jeremy. He is 6. He is also a huge fan of anything Disney. His favorite character is Captain Hook and his favorite ride is the Wildest Ride in the Wilderness aka Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (he was kind of sad it was closed this trip).

Then there is my 4 year old Princess Sarah. She is the princess lover in the family. Now don’t get me wrong both my husband and I don’t mind seeing the Princess’ but my daughter goes absolutely crazy when she gets to see them. Her favorite character of course is Princess Belle and her favorite ride is It’s a Small World.

Now there is my 2 ½ year old baby boy James. His favorite characters would be Pooh and Mickey. He loves the Winnie the Pooh ride and It’s a Small World. He reached a milestone this trip and well you’ll just have to wait until we reach that part of the trip!!

Last but not least is my DH Jeff. He isn’t as much of a Disney Lover as I am but knows he’s got to keep momma happy so he gives into my obsession and he loves to spend the time with our kids. His favorite rides would be Big Thunder Mountain, Space Mountain and Splash Mountain.

Up next....Our drive down!

 

[ladylyons]

March 22 – Day 1 Drive Down

This day was actually pretty boring since we do most of the drive down I-5 from the San Francisco Bay Area.

My original plan was to leave after my DH got off work at 3:00 pm but he decided that he could leave work at 11 am so we could get down to Anaheim before Midnight. The new plan then was to leave home by 12:30 pm, we actually left at 1 pm so not too bad considering the last minute packing I had to do after I picked Sarah up from school at 11:30 am and Jeremy up at 11:40 am so I went and got a few last minute things done (nails, bank, etc.) while they were in school and I only had James with me.

Drive down was pretty uneventful except I thought the kids would sleep but nope they were way too excited since they knew we were going to Disneyland! At approx. 4:30 pm I posted this to Facebook:

Then around 6:30 pm I posted on Facebook that I was really hating LA traffic. Yes we were stuck right in the middle of it with no freeways moving very fast. We took a detour our GPS recommended but I don’t know how fast of one it really was. But at least if felt good to be semi moving!!! We finally made it to Fullerton around 8 pm and had dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory. My kids love this restaurant!!! Our closest one is about 30 mins away so this is always a special treat for them. I know that's not far but we tend to stick closer to home when we go out to eat. Jeremy loves to get his grilled cheese sandwich with chips and Sarah and James love their spaghetti!!

We finally got to our hotel and checked in by 10 pm!! At approx. 11:30 pm I posted this to facebook:

Good Night!! So happy to be settled into our home away from home for the next 4 nights!!! Get to go visit some friends tomorrow!! Disneyland!!!

We had an early magic morning the next day!! Would we make it or were we too tired from the drive?

 

[kayrosek]

I'm following along. I saw you had started this TR over on Judy's thread. Can't wait to read all about your trip. Great start so far.

 

[ladylyons]

I'm following along. I saw you had started this TR over on Judy's thread. Can't wait to read all about your trip. Great start so far.

Thank you for coming over and saying HI! I'll admit we were horrible about taking pictures this trip but we did have a lot of fun!!! I may have to pull pictures from other trips to share of the different areas of the parks so I don't have updates with no pictures!!

 

[lovethattink]

I'm here! Great intros.

 

[Moodyzblu]

Joining in !!

We just took our first trip to Disneyland in October and we loved it !


Looking forward to reading about your trip !

 

[lovethattink]

That's cute. You go to a spaghetti place and Jeremy gets grilled cheese. I know another boy who would do the same.

Bummer about the traffic, but at least you did make it there before midnight.

 

[mommy2mrb]

I'm here!! great start! happy you got to leave earlier in the day....hate LA traffic, we always cut over and went through Pasadena and took the back way into DLR was much better!

will catch up after we get home from DLR next week!

 

[kaoden39]

Hi there!! I can name that road!! And I bet I can name the type of car!! I'm in!!

 

[Linda67]

Count me in

 

[wiigirl]

Joining in!

 

[ladylyons]

I'm here! Great intros.

Yeah! Thanks!

Joining in !!

We just took our first trip to Disneyland in October and we loved it !


Looking forward to reading about your trip !

We love Disneyland!!! We normally go for Christmas but instead did New Year's and then with the way our year went from great to horrible we decided we needed a fresh start and where better to go than Disney!!

Thank you for reading! I'll try to do another update this weekend.

That's cute. You go to a spaghetti place and Jeremy gets grilled cheese. I know another boy who would do the same.

Bummer about the traffic, but at least you did make it there before midnight.

See they would get along great!!!

I should be used to traffic but I try not to be on the freeways during commute hours. That's one of the things I love about being a SAHM is I can go to the mall, store, and Costco without all the crowds!! But LA traffic is completely different than Bay Area Traffic!! It's worse!!

I'm here!! great start! happy you got to leave earlier in the day....hate LA traffic, we always cut over and went through Pasadena and took the back way into DLR was much better!

will catch up after we get home from DLR next week!

Have a great trip!!! I know your already gone and I'm sure you're already having a fun!

We usually take a different route too but for some reason Jeff didn't take it this time.

Hi there!! I can name that road!! And I bet I can name the type of car!! I'm in!!

I-5 and I drive a Dodge Grand Caravan that I LOVE!!!!! Glad your here!!

Count me in

Welcome!!! More to come this weekend sometime!

Joining in!

Thanks for coming over!!


I planned on trying to do an update today but alas that didn't happen because I decided to take my kids to our local theme park. We have a season pass and today was opening day. Don't know what I was thinking bringing 3 kids to a theme park by myself!!!! It was crazy!!! But we did have a great time and by the time we left and got home we were all ready for naps! The kids were out within minutes of us getting home. It was worth it though to see the smiles on their faces when they got to see and ride some of their favorite rides again.

 

[kaoden39]

I was right on both counts!! I have traveled that road in a my Grand Caravan a time or two. I'm glad I am here too! Thank you!

 

[ladylyons]

I was right on both counts!! I have traveled that road in a my Grand Caravan a time or two. I'm glad I am here too! Thank you!

Awesome!! I figure anyone that's driven down to the LA Area from our areas either take I-5 or HWY 99. We take 5 since it's closer to us. I love my van!! I don't know what I would do without it and all the space we have in it!

 

[ladylyons]

Since I was up I decided to do another update!! Enjoy!!

Today was our Magic Morning day. I’m normally pretty good about knowing what the park hours are going to be but for some reason I didn’t do all that this trip. I guess it just comes from being comfortable with going to Disneyland as often as we have since my DH and I went on our first trip together in November 2003.

Our plan was to get up at 5:30 am to make a 7 am Magic Morning opening. The kids did not fall asleep until approx. 11:30 pm the night before so it was going to make for a very difficult morning but it wasn’t!! They got up and ready to go with little argument, had their cereal and milk and were ready for our first day!! We were in line waiting for the gates to open by 6:30 am.

James

Jeremy

Let us in!!! PLEASE!!

First stop – FANTASYLAND

I love this castle! Sarah asked me why we couldn’t live there!! I told her I wish we could!

Due to the lines and our version not having FP our first ride of the trip was Peter Pan!

I have no idea why Sarah was crying. She loves these rides but starting on our last trip she started getting scared of the rides but once we were on them she loved them like always!!

Next up was the Carousel: Any chance we get we always let Sarah ride on Mary Poppins’ horse Jingles.

Love her smiles:

James:

Jeremy was not happy riding the carousel at this point in time!!

Next up was Dumbo:

We love these early mornings due to the low crowds and we can walk onto everything!!

After Dumbo we took a Wild Ride with Mr. Toad. Again Sarah was not happy.

I guess James wasn’t too happy about it either!!

After Toad we rode Snow White’s Scary Adventure and Pinocchio. Then the kids decided to see if they were worthy or strong enough to pull the sword out of the stone.

Here come’s reinforcements:

Next up let’s see if we can manage to keep our heads when we go ride Alice!

 

[ladylyons]

Up next we decided to go ride Alice in Wonderland. (Sorry no pictures. ) We managed to chase the White Rabbit down the rabbit whole and made it past the Queen of Hearts with our heads still attached. We als0 survived a Merry Unbirthday Party where instead of candles they used dynamite!!! UH OH!!! That crazy Mad Hatter!!

After that my DD wanted to ride the Tea Cups. So off went my DH, DD and baby DS to ride. While they were on it I took some video and pictures.

Jeremy seeing if the White Rabbit was home.

I guess no one is home.

Here’s DH, DD and Baby DS (guess I shouldn’t be calling him a baby anymore since he is 2 ½).

Then I had a major OH SHOOT moment!!! I dropped the camera right on the lens!!! The next couple pictures turned out like this:

Needless to say DH wasn’t too happy with me and was trying to figure out WTH I had done and if the camera was going to work again. So while I took DD to the potty he messed with the camera.

Thank goodness he got it working again!!! (That’s Alice in Wonderland to the right and the Matterhorn to the left and we were looking towards the front of the park.)

Proving the camera still worked:

At this time we went and rode the Storybook Boats (sorry no pictures, I’ll try to pull some from other trips to share) and then back into Fantasyland to ride Casey Jrs. Train. It’s cute and James and DH are train fans so we try to ride it at least once a trip.

Waiting to get on.

We were caged like a bunch of monkeys!!

After that we finally went and rode the Happiest cruise that ever sailed: It’s a Small World (again no pictures). Sarah was finally happy as we were riding her favorite ride. Afterwards we decided to meet a Princess we haven’t taken the time to see yet: Merida.

She went to say Hi to Jeremy but he was being shy! This boy does not like to meet the princesses.

Up next we’re off to see some more friends and James gets to ride his first coaster!!! Does he like it?

 

[Moodyzblu]

Glad you got your camera working again !!

My dd loved the Alice ride .. one of her reasons for going all the way to California ..

 

[ladylyons]

Glad you got your camera working again !!

My dd loved the Alice ride .. one of her reasons for going all the way to California ..

I'm glad he got it working too or else we were going to have to go buy a new one that day because I was not going to go the whole trip with just our phone's to take pictures.

Any reason to come to Disneyland is a good reason!! If she hasn't been since Carsland opened she needs to come back because that is just a great area!!

 

[Moodyzblu]

Carsland was MY reason for going .. it was awesome !!

 

[ladylyons]

Carsland was MY reason for going .. it was awesome !!

Glad you got to see it!!! My kids love to say they are in the movie!!! They did a great job on it!