Family of 7 Goes to DLR 2/4-2/10/18 *update 9/9* - “Final Thoughts”

[RedHotMama]

Friday Morning 2/9 Disneyland - “The beginning of the end”

It was our last day in the parks! The original plan was to spend some time in each park, getting to things we hadn’t done during the week, and repeating favorites. But I think by the end of the week, we knew we would just spend the day in Disneyland. There were shows that we wanted to watch that were only performed on Friday. And we had finished up California Adventure very nicely the day before.

Breakfast for me. Strawberry waffles! T was not quite as thrilled as I was with the breakfast food that week. But he had always found things he would be satisfied with and learned to add salsa or ketchup to his plate to add flavor.

We left the hotel at 7:50 for a 9am Disneyland opening. There were quite a few people checking out of the hotel that morning and heading out.

12 minutes later, we were at the security checkpoint with no lines! We did have a minor issue at security. P (20mos) was holding a mini mylar balloon and it ends up you can’t bring them into the parks. So we had to sneak the balloon away from the baby so the security could throw it away. I believe we just took the balloon off the stick and let him keep waving around the stick. P wasn’t happy when he noticed the balloon was gone, but I don’t remember a big tantrum.

We managed to get our favorite spot in the front of the middle line again!

At 8:25, this is what the lines looked like behind us:

When we were let in the park, we headed straight for the castle! We would attempt Peter Pan first thing. During our trip, the rope drop for Fantasyland was right up under the castle. I believe normally it is farther back. Maybe the change had to do with the walls that were up along Main Street?

While waiting, I blew up another balloon for P and stuck a Mickey sticker on it. Happy baby!

N (7) studied her map in her trip journal.

At 8:50, this was the crowd behind us:

We were getting antsy and couldn’t wait for the rope to drop!

At 9am, we were let through. It was mayhem! Lol. Everyone rushed forward toward Peter Pan. Our group got separated, but we got back together and were on Peter Pan very quickly.

The ride is too short, but very sweet! We were off by 9:10. The girls asked S what he thought about it. He likes Captain Hook.

Next, we met Tinkerbell at Pixie Hollow! I think we had wanted to do Alice next, but it was shut down. And N especially wanted to meet Tinkerbell. I think we were Tink’s first group. There was no one behind us and she spent plenty of time chatting. She was so cute! She recognized that our kids’ names have a theme and complimented them.

While she visited with the kids, I enjoyed some of the details.

By the time we left Pixie Hollow (it was still only 9:20), Alice was back up and running. It was posted as a 5 minute wait, but took closer to 10.

I was trying to get a photo of the Caterpillar’s tiny shoes on the mushroom. My darn fingers got in the way.

I love the part of the ride where you come outside. I took a photo from the top.

And T (Dad) took a photo of us from down below. I guess he had stayed off with P.

After the ride, the kids visited the White Rabbit’s house.

Then a photo op at the teacup. P crying. Lol. Not too good.

At 9:38, T and the kids rode Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride. The app said it was a 5 minute wait, but it was slow to load and it also was 10 minutes. I stayed off with P.

P and I hung around and took photos of Fantasyland.

 

[RedHotMama]

Friday Morning 2/9 Disneyland - “The beginning of the end” Part 2

And then I saw Gaston!! He was asking everyone where Belle was.

When the family came out, we got a quick pic of S on the Toady. The kids thought the ride was crazy. N didn't like it. She doesn't really like Mr. Toad in general anyway. E (14) liked traveling through the different scenes. J (12) thought it was funny that Toad runs into things. S liked it fine.

Then we went to follow Gaston. “This way to Belle Land!” Gaston shouted.

We followed him for a while, with him admiring himself and calling out for Belle.

He stopped in the courtyard outside the Royal Hall. And he held a competition for a Pro”pose”al. It was very funny. He chose some kids, posed them, then had us cheer to vote for the best pose that he should use to win over Belle. J got to help in the competition.

I took the chance to get a photo of the Royal Theater times for later in the day.

Off to the side, Aladdin was greeting! E asked about Genie and Aladdin said its hard to get him back from Hawaii.

We decided to head to Toontown so the little ones could play a while and J could meet Goofy. J had really wanted to meet him 5 years ago and somehow he missed it while some of us met him.

Isn’t this pretzel stand near Small World adorable?

We saw Pluto first, but he was heading out so we didn’t get posed photos.

Then to Goofy’s house!

And J met Goofy!

Goofy loved J’s shirt, of course.

I asked Goofy to sign our photo frame mat, and he tried to use his ear.

P was curious about Goofy’s hands and Goofy gave him some time to touch him.

Then the kids played at Goofy’s house.

At 10:32, S rode his first roller coaster! Gadget's Go Coaster. The app said 5 minute wait, the sign out front said 30 minutes. It was 8 minutes. S didn't like it; he said it was too fast. But he wasn’t traumatized or anything.

We spent a few minutes at Donald’s Boat, then N wanted to go through Chip and Dale’s Treehouse. So I took her, but that one is disappointing.

P liked playing with his Mickey Mouse socks.

 

[RedHotMama]

Friday Morning 2/9 Disneyland - “The beginning of the end” Part 3

Next, we got a real meeting with Pluto!

N showed him the Pluto on her shirt.

S loved Pluto!!

As we left, Pluto patted S’s head and gave him a high-five.

And P was craning his next to keep watching Pluto as we left.

We fooled around with a Toontown postal box.

As we came out of Toontown, we got some Disneyland popcorn. It smelled delicious! It didn't taste very good. Lol.

But we caught a bit of the Disneyland Band and they were awesome!

Then we got in line at the Royal Theater for the 11:30 showing of Beauty and the Beast.

Our cheering lady, Lily, said she was working here 5 years ago when we were here last. She was great.

While we were waiting, we realized that N had left her hydration pack somewhere in Toontown! T left to look for it. During the show, I texted him to remind him what color it was and ideas of where she may have taken it off, but he didn’t see the texts.

The show was great! Super funny and well done.

Our favorite part was when the one guy played the parts of Lumiere, Cogsworth, and Mrs Potts, and changed his hats and voice so quickly.

During the show, T returned and stood in the back. He had finally found the hydration pack (in Goofy’s house). He had thought it was a different color, and the Cast Members he’d talked to hadn’t found it, and it had taken him a while, and he wasn’t in the best mood.

But, after the show, we got to meet Belle!

P was smitten! Hard. For at least half an hour, that baby boy stayed in a daze, with a little twitterpated smile. And when we showed him the photo of Belle on my phone, he got the same dopey smile every time. It was so cute!

After the show, we had a restroom break in Frontierland. And E and I realized we had both left our hydration packs at the theater! For heaven’s sake! E quickly ran back and got them and we decided not to tell Dad. lol. I don't know where he was at the time.

We headed to Tom Sawyer Island Pirate’s Lair. The park was getting busy! The crowds that hasn't existed all week had showed up. Yuck. I didn't like it.

On Tom Sawyer Island, T and I found a quiet, shaded place to sit with P while the other kids ran around and explored.

A view of the Star Wars construction:

The boys found a pirate ship and S did not like the voice talking in there. But they liked exploring the caves, especially the “treasure cave.” N was so excited to be given a wanted poster of Jack Sparrow! She still treasures it.

This photo of us heading back to the raft gives you a feeling of the crowds coming in.

When we finally got back to the mainland, it was nearly 2pm and we were ready for lunch. T thought the French Market sounded good, so that was our next stop.

 

[BrerMama]

I love that you're taking your last day to just relax and meet characters and enjoy the parks. It looks like a super fun day.

 

[RedHotMama]

I love that you're taking your last day to just relax and meet characters and enjoy the parks. It looks like a super fun day.

Yeah, it worked out pretty well. A lot of the shows were only running on the Friday that we were there. But really, I think I was too worn out at the end of the week to do much of the rides, anyway. The character meets we did on Friday were really good!

 

[RedHotMama]

Friday Afternoon 2/9 Disneyland - “Cell phone fiasco- again”


We at lunch on Friday at the French Market in New Orleans Square. It is a quick service, cafeteria-style restaurant with delicious Louisiana-inspired comfort food.

T (Dad) ordered the Cajun Meatloaf.

E (14) and I shared the French Dip Sandwich with their house-made seasoned chips.

J (12) and N (7) shared the Slow-Roasted Louisiana Beef Stew in a sourdough bread bowl. And there are those Mickey ears I was looking for. N liked that touch, too. They both said this was delicious and amazing!

S (3) and P (20mos) shared a pasta kids meal.

I had also ordered a fruit salad that we all picked off of. It was refreshing and delicious.

This restaurant only has outdoor seating. It was very nice. It was crowded, even having a late 2pm lunch. But we managed to find a table big enough for all of us.

During lunch, we talked about how perfect our trip had been.

After eating, S was being silly and put his bib-shirt on his head. (We use a slightly big shirt as his bib. It covers more and doesn’t fall off as easily.) "I'm a dragon!"

At lunch, of course my phone was getting low on battery, but when we went to charge it, we realized that we had left the portable charger in the hotel! T offered to go back after lunch to get it. I needed to go to the photo shop on Main St anyway. The Jedi Training photos from Wednesday weren’t all showing up in the app yet. I wanted to get that fixed before our trip was over. So I talked with the Cast Member in the photo shop while the kids waited outside. I was done before long and went out to join them.

By now, my phone’s battery was down to under 5%. T would still be a while. I had already texted him and told T we would wait for him in the shade on the side of the photo shop, so I didn’t want to move. I hated wasting our last Disney day just sitting there waiting. But I was a lot more worried that my phone would die and T wouldn’t be able to find us if we moved. How in the world would we find each other then?! And I had a huge headache! It had started at lunch, and now it was pretty massive. I sat right on the cool concrete with my back against the shaded wall. I took some medicine, and drank water, and watched the balloon guy trying to keep the ginormous Mickey balloons from getting tangled. I was exhausted after a busy, fun-packed week. I was frustrated and in a bad mood. This was my low-point in the trip. And it felt like it lasted a really long time.

And of course, I wasn't alone. I have five kids. But again, like when we had to deal with our camera phone crisis on Monday, the kids were wonderful. They sat, mostly quiet, with me, or wandered around the area. They were bored, but they behaved very well anyway. Finally, S started getting restless (he’s only 3 afterall!), and E offered to take him to the carousel. (The line there was pretty long- couldn’t check it with my app!, so they did the castle walkthrough again instead.)

It was about an hour before T returned with the charger. Looking back, there were things we could have done differently. First of all, I should have taken the kids to the Mr Lincoln presentation down Main St. It was on our list of things to do and we never got to it that week. I could have sent one last text, then even if my phone shut down, he could meet us there. Or another thing that I’m just now realizing as I’m typing this is that I think E had the kids’ cell phone in her hydration pack the whole time. I could have simply turned off my phone and communicated with T using the kids phone, and did anything in the park we wanted. But I was too tired and feeling sick to think. I just needed that break.

Then when T got back, everything was fine. We picked ourselves up and T said that there were a whole bunch of characters meeting in the front of the park. He took the kids, and I took a few minutes break for myself. I found a cute, quiet little bathroom, halfway down Main Street, tucked deep behind the Carnation Cafe.


The crowds were definitely much worse on Friday. This is what Main St looked like that afternoon:

By the time I met up with the family, they had already met Chip. They were actually in line to see Tiana, when Chip sneaked up and was trying to scare people.

When they gave Chip our autograph mat, he signed it, and then started running off with it, motioning for the kids to follow. He crossed over to Dale (who was meeting other guests) and kept tap, tap, tapping him until he got Dale’s attention. He showed Dale that he had to sign it, too! When Dale was signing, Chip was very pleased and started jumping up and down. Then Dale and the kids joined him and they were all jumping! So funny. Then Chip met the other guests, while Dale met with my kids. T had stayed in the Tiana line and so only got photos at a distance.

And they met Tiana!

(Where was S? I don’t know. Sleeping in the stroller, or shy.)

E asked Tiana what the latest recipe was that she’d learned, and Tiana replied that she doesn’t use recipes much anymore. She likes to make things up. So E asked what the last thing she made was, and Tiana replied that just that morning she was with Snow White and they combined both of their favorites. Snow White loves making gooseberry pies, and Tiana loves beignets, so they made gooseberry beignets and they were delicious!

I met up with them and took the girls over to see Cinderella.

Cinderella was a hoot! She immediately noticed that Aladdin had signed the mat upside-down. "Silly, silly, Aladdin! Over, sideways, and under." She asked the girls what their favorite rides were and N said, “Indiana”. (Yes, even though she told us earlier in the week that she didn’t like it because of Mara and the snake.) Cinderella said, "Indiana and I have something in common. We both run away from the ball." LOL.

I took a photo of this art on Main Street with a good, old-fashioned message.

After some fantastic character meets, we headed to the Mickey and the Magical Map show. When we were at Disneyland 5 years ago, the show opened 2 weeks after our trip. We remember seeing them working on it while we were on the train ride, as the train passes right next to the Fantasyland Theatre.

We arrived at 4:20 for a 4:45 show. They keep everyone out of the theatre in a holding area until a certain time. We managed to get the front row of the 2nd section. It was great! They keep the stage covered until the show starts.

The show was amazing and P went crazy!! He started out on our laps, but quickly slid down so he could stand against the rail, and dance, and clap, and yell.

The use of the tri-level stage and the projection screens was so artistically impressive! We were all thoroughly amazed!

Bubbles were blown through the audience during Sebastian’s scene.

The show is so worth it! If you haven’t seen it, I recommend looking it up on YouTube.

We were all in a great mood when we left the theatre. Here’s J tickling P:

Then we went through the castle again, at S’s request. It was his third time!

Next up was another show! We saw the 6:15 Tangled performance at the Royal Theater.

Our cheering lady this time (I didn't get her name) remembered us from getting photos with Belle after the show earlier. I couldn’t believe it because she must see so many families through the day. She even mentioned that P had been wearing a Chip and Dale shirt the last time she’d seen him, and now he was wearing a sweatshirt. P was giving her smiles and she loved it! She said, "Well, see here Belle! See here." She was happy to steal Belle’s boyfriend. Lol.

We were so sad that Rapunzel didn't come out after the show! We’ll have to make sure to meet her next trip. But the show was very entertaining! They do a great job!

The kids had been asking for dinner since before the show started, so that was our next stop.

 

[Jaina]

I can just feel your stress at the cell phone situation! All the time I think, "How did we do stuff like this before cell phones?" There was a larger amount of waiting around to meet up with people, but who has the patience for that anymore, when there's a more efficient way? Those shows both look great! Somehow we didn't manage to see any shows on our last family trip, but we've watched several of them on Youtube...

 

[RedHotMama]

I can just feel your stress at the cell phone situation! All the time I think, "How did we do stuff like this before cell phones?" There was a larger amount of waiting around to meet up with people, but who has the patience for that anymore, when there's a more efficient way? Those shows both look great! Somehow we didn't manage to see any shows on our last family trip, but we've watched several of them on Youtube...

I know! First world problems! Pretty pathetic to be at Disneyland! and be upset because my phone was dead. I just didn't have any perspective at the moment. We got too tired on that trip. But we have plans so that the next one, we'll get more sleep.
We love the shows!! All of them! And little P, especially! They were his favorite thing in Disneyland. We're going to try to see the Frozen show on our next trip, but its hard to set aside a whole hour of park time.

 

[RedHotMama]

Friday Evening 2/9 Disneyland - “Exhausted”


I was curious about Disneyland’s corn dogs, since I’ve heard they’re the best. So we headed across the street to the Little Red Wagon. T (Dad) and E (14) chose to get food at the Jolly Holiday instead. We all sat over there to eat.

The corn dogs were super yummy! The batter was so thick and had a nice crunch. E took a bite and said the batter tasted like a donut. (She eats a lot of donuts. They’re her favorite.) And it comes with apple slices, which are a perfect accompaniment. The cold, sweet crunchiness offsets the salty, hot corn dogs. Plus, you remember that you don’t eat as many fruits and veggies on vacation. You can see how thick the batter is here:

E got the Jolly Holiday Salad. It had cranberries, pecans, and feta cheese. It also came with a breadstick. She loved it! She said the breadstick and the salad were amazing! The soft feta cheese and the vinaigrette really made her love the salad.

T ordered the famous Jolly Holiday Combo (grilled cheese and tomato soup). He also really enjoyed this.

Everyone was happy with their food.


We had promised the kids Dole Whips after dinner. But we were getting cold and didn't want to get ice cream anymore. I suggested maybe we'd get churros instead. N (7) was upset about it. She had been complaining all day because we weren't doing roller coasters that day. I was getting tired and cranky.

E and J (12) went to the Adventureland bathroom and we were going to wait for them at the table. But T suggested we head over and wait outside the bathrooms. Since it was dark and pretty crowded, I was nervous about missing them. T assured me we could catch them so we headed over. We had only been there a minute when I noticed E walking the way we'd come. I'd almost missed her! A moment later J comes to us upset because he had returned to our table at the Jolly Holiday and we weren't there! Thank goodness we had all found each other!

So, we were right by the Tiki Room and remembered we hadn't done it this week. Now, E and I hadn't planned on it. (Whisper: We don't like it.) We were going to do something else while the rest of the family watched. But we were tired and cold. And if we went inside, we could have Dole Whips after all. N was happy! J complained because he wanted a churro. Grrr. Good grief, kids! But J said he was fine with it.

So, we did the tiki room. And E and I were again weirded out a little. I mean, the decor is all Polynesian. The pre-show is Polynesian gods. The first time I saw it, I expected… a Hawaiian themed show. Right?? Then the show starts. And it's hosted by a parrot named Jose. I just remember sitting there wondering what happened. Where were the flamethrowers and the hula girls? Or anything islander?? I just was not expecting what I got. At all.

At least this time we would know what to expect. E and I were ok because this time we wouldn't be disappointed. But there were some things I'd forgotten about (or they added). Like the CM YELLING a welcome (S jumped twice). Then the sing along, and the whistling. N LOVED it! She stood up with the most excited, radiant smile, clapping and cheering! I just love her. All the family loved it. E and I just kept looking at each other, and chuckled a little. At least it wasn't cold inside.

After the show, we were ready to ride the train! We hadn't done it yet! So we headed up to the Main Street station. We could see a bit of the construction at the hub from the top.

I had forgotten to get the fleece blanket out of the stroller, so T was sweet and went back down to grab it. It was nice to have on the cold, dark ride. And it was dark! We couldn't see much, but we were glad we did it.

The kids still talk about a little boy, probably 4-years-old, that ran after the after the train as we were leaving, crying, “NOOOO! Don’t leave! I want to ride!” We all felt bad for him, even though he’d get to ride in 15 minutes.


It was now 9pm and the park was open till midnight. But we were done. I felt bad that I felt completely okay leaving Disneyland for the last time (well, for seven months). I was just so tired. So I got one last quick click of City Hall, and we left.

I didn’t even ask the family what their favorites were that day. At least, I didn’t write it down. Looking back at the pictures now, and remembering that day, J says his favorite was the Mickey and the Magical Map show; N says Tom Sawyer Island, the Royal Theater shows, and the Magical Map show. E liked meeting all the characters; she really liked when P had a crush on Belle. But she is sad that we didn’t meet Rapunzel the whole trip. S says his favorite thing was the Peter Pan ride.


We did end our trip much more chipper the next day with a Surf’s Up! breakfast with Mickey Mouse!

 

[Jaina]

That last day can be a tough one. You just get so TIRED touring, even if you take breaks! And our kids never sleep, so there's that... that corn dog looks amazing right now. I love those!

 

[RedHotMama]

Saturday 2/10 - “Surf’s Up!”

Saturday we would drive home after a breakfast with Mickey Mouse!

I can’t find any notes from that day, so we’ll just have to go on memory and photos.

We actually scheduled the latest breakfast available (I think 10:50) so it was actually an early lunch. So we ate a little bit first at the hotel breakfast. I got an omelet and biscuits and gravy. We had a nice view of Guardians of the Galaxy and the back of Cars Land from the breakfast room.

We packed up and said good-bye to our hotel room.

Then we drove over to the Paradise Pier Hotel!

We were brought in about 15 minutes after our reservation and led to where Mickey was greeting in his lifeguard outfit. I really wanted P to walk to Mickey, and he got most of the way. I shouldn’t have said anything about giving a Mickey a hug. Lol

There was a PhotoPass photographer, but we also gave one of our cell phones to an attendant to take photos. (That's a flaw with the current PhotoPass/Maxpass system. On days when you're not entering the parks, you cannot purchase a Maxpass to use for PhotoPass. We just used the photos from our phones instead of purchasing the PhotoPass ones separately.)

We were then taken to our table, and before we could all sit down, Daisy came by! She gave everyone hugs, posed for photos, and signed our autograph mat.

We were sneaky and took a group photo behind P.

Daisy was great with P, and tried to get him to interact with her, without freaking him out.

She spent almost 10 minutes with us, and immediately after Daisy left, Minnie was there!

She played really nicely with P, too.

After Minnie left, I finally went to get myself a plate. But while I was serving up (this breakfast is buffet-style), I notice Stitch over at our table. So I quickly went back for his visit.

Stitch gave E a hard time for giving him the sharpie with the cap on. Lol.

Stitch also noticed our shirts, with him and Mickey surfing together. He crossed off Mickey with his finger.

Then I went back to finish filling my plate. And this is what I ended up with. It was all pretty good.

Minnie returned and got farther with P. She got some kisses.

Then Stitch came back and handed out special “Surf’s Up!” buttons.

And then Stitch picked his nose and wiped the booger on the Mickey on J’s shirt! And licked S’s head! He was a lot of fun.

Then Daisy came back.

And Minnie again!

 

[RedHotMama]

Saturday 2/10 - “Surf’s Up!” Part 2

Then Stitch came back and the real shenanigans started! J was gone at the bathroom. And Stitch stole his seat! And “ate” his bacon! He hid it under a napkin after T (or E?) suggested it.

Then J came back and Stitch was like “I didn’t do anything!”

He gave back the bacon.

But then he blamed T for the idea. And he blamed me!! Naughty Stitch!

J loved it!

We saw a lot more fun while we finished eating. There were a couple little girls who kept following Stitch around and he would “scare” them. So Minnie put him in the corner! Daisy kept motioning that Stitch is crazy.

The restaurant was clearing out. We paid the bill, and then we got a private dance party with Stitch!

Even P couldn’t resist getting in on this!

As we were leaving, I got some photos of the decor.

The characters had all gone out to the Paradise Pier lobby to visit. We hung out with Mickey a little longer.

Stitch licked the envelope that held our autograph mat (and P’s pacifier).

We went back to the car and were packing up when a couple of the kids realized they needed to use the restroom. When I took them back in, I decided to get a photo with just me and my girl, Daisy.

And then we were off! We had had a wonderful, wonderful trip!!!

I’ll have one (or two) more posts with some final thoughts.

 

[RedHotMama]

That last day can be a tough one. You just get so TIRED touring, even if you take breaks! And our kids never sleep, so there's that... that corn dog looks amazing right now. I love those!

Yeah, it's tiring to play so hard for so long. Lol. We have a plan so this next trip won't be so exhausting!

 

[Lesley Wake]

Such great character interactions!

 

[RedHotMama]

Final Thoughts

Here are some post-trip thoughts. T and I talked about them and wrote them down on the drive home, and within the first few weeks after our trip. And I’m glad we did! Because we're driving to our next Disneyland trip right now!!


Things learned from Feb 2018 Disneyland trip:

• No doing laundry! Bring a full week of clothes. Mom and Dad needed more sleep.
  
• Get P on a bedtime schedule so Mom and Dad can go to bed. (That has been successful! A month or two after our trip, we got P on a bedtime routine. Now he goes to bed around 9 or 9:30. He loves it and even asks to go to bed early sometimes. So much better than staying up until midnight like he used to!! But at the same time, we started putting him to nap in his bed regularly. I hope he will still be able to sleep well in the stroller this week.)

• Bring ear coverings for S. Fantasmic! and World of Color were loud and he would have enjoyed them more. (World of Color is down right now, but we’ll be doing the Fantasmic! dining package again. We ordered these too late and had them shipped to our hotel.)
  
• Bring ear plugs for T for Indiana Jones.
  
• Use the middle gate that doesn't look like an entrance at Disneyland!
  
• Meet more characters (about 3-4 / day would be good)
  
• Search out photopass photographers and ask for magic shots!
  
• Take more videos!!
  
• Tom saw shirts he liked with the castle in a Mickey head. Have him help design it. (We didn’t make that particular shirt for this week’s trip, but we did make two new ones we’re excited about!)
  
• Tom wants to plan a trip. He'll give the rough idea, I'll fine tune the details. He said this one will be hard to beat. I told him we don't need to beat it. (Things have gotten really busy for T since our last trip, so he had me plan this coming one again.)
  
• The mini mylar balloons were a hit with P. Just don't bring one already blown up to the parks. (Just yesterday, I made more Mickey head stickers to put on the balloons)
  
• World of Color: Hydrant spot was great. Have our family's standing room right against the railing. Sit on cushions before show starts, leaning against railing. Place the stroller parallel to the railing behind our spot. Just plan on holding the kids during the show. Unless they are asleep, it will happen anyway. And that way everyone can see. (Not needed for this trip…)
  
• Fantasmic!: Loved our seating area. We kept ourselves along the back of the roped area, as close to center stage (Blue Bayou area) as we could. But make sure we are enough left that the pole won't be in our way. Had to park stroller outside. It was fine. Eat at Hungry Bear earlier, while light, to enjoy atmosphere and food more. (We have reservations for Hungry Bear at 3pm this Friday!)
  
• Have a plan for where to meet if separated every day. Mark phone number on younger kids.
  
• Make the train a priority to do during the day.
  
• Make tiki room a priority. N loved it and if E and I want to do other things, we can. (Tiki Room is closed right now.)
  
• Motion sickness medicine for everyone before Tomorrowland. Space mountain,star tours, autopia, and orbiter combined left us feeling ill.
  
• Having P face away from the characters at the breakfast was a good idea. We could get a photo of them and him without him knowing.
  
  
• Start the trip with Small World to start the littles on a good note with the dark rides.
  
• Get photos with the Grizzly Peak waterfall.
  
• Don't bother with park hoppers at this stage in our family. We didn't hop once, didn't even think about it. Save the money.
  
• Take half a Benadryl before bed so I can sleep instead of think (tip from @Jaina )
  
• Maxpass was awesome. Definitely worth it, at least up to $15/person/day. (We happily paid $10.)
  
• Bring 2 thin fleece blankets, at least on nighttime show nights.
  

Things we missed that we want to do next time:

• Star Wars Land model in Launch Bay
• Mr Lincoln
• Rest of Animation building
• Trolley Boys show
  

 

[Lesley Wake]

Because we're driving to our next Disneyland trip right now!!

Have fun! The Halloween stuff looks amazing right now-I was hoping to get down there yesterday but had an emergency root canal on Thursday evening...so probably not a good idea! Especially since I’d want to eat all the stuff and can’t really chew right now!

Make sure to be there for shaboom-it’s extra special now! And lots of awesome photo opps in Carsland! Pixar Pier and Incredicoaster are best at night, and make sure to get a Jack Jack cookie.

 

[BrerMama]

Gah. So jealous that you're going again but what an end to this trip. First, no feeling guilty for having an hour or so of meltdown. Headaches are the worst and they cloud the mind so you can't see obvious solutions. It's a lot easier to see them in hindsight. And what a list of great things you've learned and can use for this trip! I love that you've got a bedtime routine going. I'm a huge supporter of routines for everything, but bedtime is a huge one. It will really help you out this trip.

And, you know, I loved the Tiki Room this trip. I went and saw it all by myself once, I loved it so much. It's just pure Disney magic. The park hopper thing seems strange to me because we hopped four times a day some days, but if not hopping is what works for your family, then go with it. Love the tip for young ones with characters at breakfast. We do that with Santa in my classroom.... have him sneak behind a child while he/she is happily playing (and he even holds his finger up to his lips as if he's saying "shhh"). And honestly, your report of Surf's Up just reinforced how much I love that breakfast. The only thing better is the Lilo & Stitch breakfast at the Poly in WDW.... and that's not because of who the characters are but because both have really good food and amazing character interaction. We've had the best experiences at both.

Have a *magical* trip! Hope it is all your dreams come true!

 

[Jaina]

I'm so excited for you!! I don't know if we'll do park hoppers again either. $40 x 7 people could be put to better use! I prefer park hopping myself, but if making a trip more affordable (especially for shorter trips) and more likely to actually happen, I will try it out! I hope you guys have a great time, with lots of magical moments, and not too many meltdowns.

 

[Zarina_Stardust]

We did the same thing our last day. A character breakfast before heading out but unfortunately we didn't get as much character interaction as you guys did. Still loved meeting all the characters and only my 4 year old would pose with them for pictures.

Looks like a great trip and I hope your next one is just as fun!

 

[gusgusandmimimouse]

Thanks for the awesome trip report! I had just finished them before going on our last trip. Well much to my surprise, we saw you Monday morning exiting Small World! It felt like a celebrity sighting!