Newbie Family of Seven Goes to DL - updated with our final day

[jjames]

The dates: April 13-16, 2008
Location: Anaheim Resort RV Park
The cast:
The Mommy (aka me): age 35, very type A, loves adventure, likes to move as quickly and efficiently as possible
The Daddy (aka DH): age 38, not very fond of traveling, moves very slowly, utterly incapable of multitasking, does everything the slow way
#1: 15 yo dd, has perfected teenage sarcasm and eye rolling, tends to lose her cool with younger siblings, typically very happy and bubbly
#2: 13 yo ds, uber responsible, not fond of adventure, fabulous when dealing with younger siblings
#3: 9 yo dd, spends many hours off in her own little world, the family daredevil, loves going new places
#4: 5 yo ds, moves VERY slowly, will go anywhere and do anything, likes to make make bunny ears in pictures
#5: almost 2 yo ds, the family DIVA, likes to run and collect balls

Here we are:

Pre-trip and background information

Going to Disneyland was one of my biggest childhood dreams. Unfortunately I grew up very, very poor, and a vacation to Disneyland (or anywhere else for that matter) was absolutely out of the question. Years passed, I began a family of my own, and I lost a little of my love for Disney. They ruined the little mermaid story!! How could they?! Sniff. But I digress. I simply could not understand those crazy families that run off to Disneyland every chance they get. Don't they know there's more to this beautiful world than Disneyland? However, as I became older and a bit mellower, the old Disneyland yearning began to return. For the past several years, we have considered going to Disneyland, but have always had something else come up, bills to pay, etc. Last November I had finally had enough of the delays. Once again I asked DH, “Why don't we go to Disneyland next year for our vacation?” He replied, “Yeah, we could maybe do that.” That was enough for me. Within twenty four hours the trip was booked and all of the reservations made. He was not going to find an excuse to back out this time.

Now it was time to tell the offspring. I gathered them together to give them the good news, which was received with cries of, “No! Not Disneyland!” “Everyone goes to Disneyland!” “All you do is stand in line!” Apparently our children have inherited their father's pessimism and my scorn of all things Disney. The next five months were spent trying to convince them that a family vacation to Disneyland is not a form of child abuse.

And then the fun began. Research, research, and more research. Did I mention that I love research and planning? You all have no idea how much joy the disboards have given me these past months. I planned, I took notes, I made itineraries, I reworked my plans of previous itineraries....oh, the joy of it all.

Now to discuss our choice of lodging. We chose to stay in our “Summer Cottage,” aka our travel trailer, at the Anaheim RV Resort. While this may seem a bit unorthodox, it was perfect for us. Each of our children had their own bed to sleep in, we were able to eat nutritious, inexpensive meals (imagine, if you will, the horror of trying to feed a family of 7 in the parks), it fit our budget, and each of the RV resorts we stayed in had multiple showers. That's right, we could get our entire family bathed in under thirty minutes. Trust me – this is big. Yes, it was a little bit more work, but for us, it was totally worth it to have our own little home to return to each night.

After months of planning enjoyment, we were off! Our first stop was at a weekend dance competition for #1. While she had a great time, #s 2 – 5 were NOT impressed. Spending the weekend at a campground with Dad is apparently no fun when Disneyland is just on the horizon.


Day One

Sunday morning, we were up bright and early. We left the campground at 8:00 am, (quite the impressive feat) and were on our way!!! Nine hours later, we had survived the California freeway system (please, California, FIX YOUR ROADS), set up camp, fed the young'uns, and were on our way to the big DL! Our first obstacle: parking. Being the tightwad that I am, I decided to first check out Puumba. Hmmm. We couldn't even find it. I had pretty detailed directions to Mickey & Friends, so we decided to head there, instead. Forty five minutes, a lot of walking, and several ticket booths later, we were entering DCa. (Editor's note: Disneyland apparently does not believe in signs. This makes it very easy to get lost if you have never been there before. It also makes for a lot of confusion when you are looking for a ticket booth vs the regular entry gates. None of this was a big deal, but signs would have been oh so nice. We got our tickets through ARES, by the way, and would use them again in a heartbeat.)

We happened to arrive at the Sunshine Plaza just a few minutes before the Pixar Parade was to begin. This was actually on my schedule for Wednesday, but I figured that since we were already there (and miraculously still running just a bit early), we might as well stay and watch it. It was terrific! Even #5 got into the music and dancing, and I'm pretty sure he's never even seen any of the Pixar shows.

As soon as the parade was over, we hustled over to the Hyperion to get in the mezzanine line for Aladdin. And by line, I mean enormous disorganized crowd. No worries. We ended up with wonderful seats once we made it into the theater. I had worried about how #'s 4 and 5 would react to having to sit through a play after a 7 hour drive, but they were absolutely captivated, as was I. This was an amazing show. I really can't stand the Aladdin movie, and am not a huge fan of the storyline (spoiled princess falls in love with good-for-nothing won't even attempt to get a job pretty boy who cheats his way into the royal palace), but they really did an incredible job with this. The genie was hilarious! Unfortunately, there must have been some sort of problem with the flying carpet, as it didn't make an appearance, but still, great show. Once it was over, #4 went skipping out of the theater saying, “That was awesome!”

We made our way over to Flik's Fun Fair for the little ones to blow off some steam. We all thought it was cute cute cute! We loved all the buggy little details. The rides themselves were pretty boring, even for #4, but it was still enjoyable.

We were then on our way to Disneyland. We headed to Tomorrowland first, since my #1 goal for the night was to ride Nemo so that we wouldn't have to worry about being the first on the ride during our MM. (Trust me, my children and I are very competitive. If we'd have had to race to Nemo, we would have won, but there may have been blood. To avoid being thrown out of the park, I decided to take the non-competitive way out.) As we passed Star Tours, we saw that it only had a 10 minute wait, so we had our first opportunity to baby swap as #s 1-4 went on the ride with me while DH chilled out with #5. We LOVED it! Once again, #4 went skipping off the ride, saying, “That was awesome!” It was then DH's turn to ride with #2 while the rest of us attempted to find Finding Nemo. After a bit of aimless wandering, I saw something that looked like the FN queue. But wait, where were the crowds? I asked the CM working the line how long the wait was, and he looked a little bit dazed as he replied, “20 minutes.” Woo hoo! My first DL victory! As soon as DH and #2 were finished with ST, we were in line to find Nemo, with a wait of just under 15 minutes. While we were in line, the fireworks were going off, so we even had entertainment! We then found Nemo (cute ride, but I'm soooo glad we didn't have a long line), hopped on the DLRR, and were on our way to NOS to find a spot for the late showing of F!

Regarding F!, we found a great spot, and I was VERY excited to finally be seeing it after all of the wonderful comments I'd heard about it. The music started, Mickey came out, and.....meh. We just didn't get it. On well, now that we've seen it once, we won't have to do it again, and someone more appreciative can have our spot.

Once Fantasmic was over, we followed the large herd of people exiting the parks. Overall, it had been a great day, and we couldn't wait for tomorrow! Stay tuned for day two....

 

[Goofster57]

Jumping on board for the trip, sounds like you had some luck with timing for some of the attractions. Sorry about Fantasmic, I still enjoy watching it every once in a while

I always enjoy hearing what other people think of our home park.

 

[Hound 109]

Great report.

You really write well.

Like you, I love Aladdin & can take or leave Fantasmic.

It's great that your WHOLE family can enjoy the DL together. It will be great memories for all your kids. Looking forward to the next installment.

 

[Brenna&Noah's Mom]

Can't wait to hear more about your trip!

 

[6Smiles]

Love your trip report and the way you described each one of your kids. Really cool. Looking forward to reading more.

 

[anicholson75]

Great report so far! Subbing so I can read more...

 

[momto2nenas]

You are off to a great start! Waiting for the rest! Pics to come I hope!

 

[jjames]

Ahem. First of all, I must apologize for the inordinate amount of time it has taken me to add day two. Between yard work, sick children, soccer season, and the school year coming to an end, I haven't had a spare second to breathe, let alone write a trip report. Unfortunately for all of us, my type-A personality will not allow me to leave anything unfinished, so here goes....

Day Two
7:50 am – Birds are chirping, the sun is shining, and the entire family is lined up at the ART bus stop, anxiously awaiting pick-up.
7:55 am - #5 decides waiting is no fun and attempts to escape the clutches of his nefarious parents by screaming, throwing himself backwards, flopping, screaming some more, and running as fast as his two little legs can carry him when he finally manages to escape.
8:05 am – Another family joins us at the ART stop, casting apprehensive glances at the small but loud tyrant we know as #5.
8:15 am – ART finally shows up (keep in mind, we are the first stop on the route). We hop aboard, figure out how to activate our passes, and away we go, arriving at DL at about 8:30 for a 9:00 opening. Could've been better, but also could have been much, much worse.

There was already quite a crowd on Main Street waiting for the rope drop, so we did the sneaky shop trick and ended up being behind just one other family. The clock struck 9 and away we went – myself to pick up fastpasses for Space while the rest of the family headed for the Matterhorn. DH rode with #'s 2-4, while #1 held onto #5 and a baby swap pass. By the time our first group had finished the ride (#4 again skipping off the ride while making declarations of its awesomeness), I had caught up to them, and after sending them ahead to wait for us at Buzz, #1 and I were ready to face the Abominable Snowman. We rode the left side, and exited the ride feeling “all shook up.”

We were then on our way to Buzz to meet up with the rest of the family. We got there quickly enough and were excited to see that there was no wait at all, but alas, we couldn't find Daddy and the other 4 offspring. We waited, and called, and waited, and watched Buzz Lightyear himself meeting up with a long line of excited children, but still no sign of my own troop. Hmmm...maybe they're already on the ride. Nope – no sign of a stroller in the stroller parking area. We called them again, and waited some more, and then finally – FINALLY - #1 spotted the stroller knocked over and hidden behind a garbage can. They WERE on the ride! Cursing them under my breath (or maybe over my breath, according to #1), we headed down the queue to help Buzz defeat the evil Zerg. No sooner had we boarded the ride than our phones began to ring. DH and the munchkins were off the ride and wondering where WE were! The nerve of some people. After exiting the ride, I gave DH a strict lecture on how he should never, NEVER deviate from my plans without letting me know first. The plans are everything!! We then rode Buzz two more times, because as DH said, “Its the best of both worlds – a video game and an amusement park ride all rolled up in one!” As a side note, thanks to my disboards research, my score was totally higher than DH's. Take that, computer geek!

Now it was time to use our Space fastpasses. Daddy and #5 played with the cool water ball while the rest of us raced through the stars. What an amazing ride! I could have stayed on it all day. Once again, #4 went skipping off the ride, exclaiming, “That was awesome!”

And finally, FINALLY, it was time for the event we'd all been waiting for: the Jedi Training Academy. The signs were made, #s 3 & 4 had been coached in the proper jumping and yelling technique, and we were ready to kick some Sith behinds. We were also 30 minutes early. Tomorrowland Terrace was a ghost town. Not to be deterred, the kids parked themselves front and center behind the line, signs at the ready. I headed off to pick up some BTMRR fastpasses, having neglected to read that BTMRR wasn't offering fastpasses on that day. It turns out that the Times guide really does have some valuable information printed in it. I returned to JTA to see that the crowds had begun to gather. More waiting...waiting...and then the music began playing, the announcer's voice came on, and the Jedi Master took the stage. He immediately began choosing children to participate – beginning with ours!! Unfortunately, we were all a little slow on the uptake, and by the time we realized they'd been called, the Jedi Master had moved on to the other side of the stage. We didn't know what to do. Should we still send them? What if we were wrong? What if it was too late? Oh, the pressure! Luckily, the Jedi Master took pity on the two pathetic creatures still jumping up and down with their signs and called them up again. Whew! (Editors note: The Jedi Master is HILARIOUS! He also speaks very quickly and with a lower tone, so he can be a little bit hard to understand at first. Pay close attention when he begins speaking, so that you won't feel like the village idiot when he has to call your children up to the stage twice.)

With light sabers in hand, it was time for the young padawans to begin their training. The Jedi Master first instructed them in the proper activation technique: push the button and swoosh. Twenty nine lightsabers swooshed out. #4's light saber was stuck. #4 scratched his head, shook his handle up and down, and...nothing. The Jedi assistant came over to help. She activated the lightsaber. #4 then couldn't figure out how to deactivate it. She gave him a new lightsaber. Meanwhile, the rest of the young padawans had moved on to the fighting routine. #4 took the new saber, gave it a shake, and...nothing. The Jedi assistant came back and once again helped him with the activation. He swung it around a few times, deactivated it, and...once again couldn't get it to reactivate. Meanwhile, jokes were flying through the air at light speed as the Jedi master continued to coach his young trainees. Between the Jedi Master and our own little padawan flunkee, we were laughing hysterically the whole time. #4 finally managed to successfully deploy his weapon – one time.

And now it was time for Darth Vader to take the stage. He rose from the stage in a display of very dramatic mist and music, and tried to persuade the padawans to join him. Nice try, Vader, they'll never join you! But alas, Vader had brought back-ups. A very scary, very skillful Darth Maul joined him. (Editors note: Darth Maul fans should sit on the left hand side of the stage, as this is where he does all of his stalking and glaring.) The padawans were ready to fight!! #4 was put in Vader's line, while #3 was selected to take on Darth Maul, which she did in a very business-like and slightly terrified manner. It was #4's turn to take on Darth Vader. He bravely walked up to the Dark Lord, held out his lightsaber, and....nothing! He still couldn't activate it. He shook it, tried again, and...still nothing. The Jedi Master stepped in. “Dude, he's standing right there – we don't have time for this! Take mine!”

With the Jedi Master's lightsaber in hand, #4 became a blur of motion as he ducked, posed, whirled, and completely disregarded all of the training he had received. He was a little Jedi fighting machine!

He also got the biggest cheers from the crowd (Mommy blushes with pride). Thank you, Jedi Master, for rescuing my poor clueless padawan and letting him have his moment of glory.

The fighting was over, the Sith lords retreated, and the padawans were presented with their diplomas. For all of us, the Jedi Training Academy was the highlight of our trip. We would definitely go to see it again, even if we didn't have any kids!

After all of that excitement, we moved on to BTMRR. Daddy and the young un's went on first, followed by #1 and myself with a babyswap pass. We ended up behind two adorable little girls who were determined to let us know where each hill was, and when we should put our hands up for maximum ride enjoyment. We had so much fun watching them that we didn't see much of the ride, but I'm sure the theming was terrific.

We then took a slow ride aboard the Mark Twain, and headed over to the Golden Horseshoe for some deep fried food and the Billy Hill show. I left DH in line for food while I took #5 out for a quick diaper change in the nearest restroom. Hmmm, the nearest restroom. Where were all of the restrooms? Once again, I was foiled by DL's lack of signs. I walked, and wandered, and asked various random strangers, but no one knew where a restroom was. I asked a CM, who muttered a vague response and pointed toward some buildings across the way. I hopefully made my way across the street, and still couldn't find any restrooms. I returned to the Golden Horseshoe, where my family was still in line for food, and pulled out my handy-dandy list of restrooms at Disneyland. I finally found the Adventureland restrooms, and changed a very stinky diaper. Adventureland, indeed!

I returned once more to the Golden Horseshoe, where the show was about to begin. Alas, DH, not realizing that our children are to be utilized as slaves whenever possible, had attempted to carry all of our food over to our table by himself, and had dropped half of it on the floor. I was greeted by five very grumpy faces and three partial meals. Sigh. As for Billy Hill, while they were very talented musicians, we just didn't think they were very funny. The Golden Horseshoe will live on in infamy as our worst hour at Disneyland.

It was time to explore Tom Sawyer Island. What an amazing place! The detail that went into creating all of the tunnels was amazing. We let the children explore the caves while I did a little searching of my own for the devilishly handsome Captain Jack Sparrow. Alas, he was nowhere to be seen. I later discovered that once again, if I had only read the Times guide, I would have realized that we were on the island during Captain Jack's break. Bad Mommy! Bad, bad, Mommy! The moral of this story: No matter how much research you've done before your DL arrival, always read the Times guide. The Times guide is indeed a useful tool, no matter how small and insignificant it may seem.

It was time for our midday break. We were hot, we were tired, and thanks to our sensible, sturdy, and very supportive shoes, our feet hurt! (We spent the rest of our trip in sandals and flip flops, and were much more comfortable.) We headed back to Ye Olde Trailer Park for a nap and some quality time with a very large pile of laundry.

Several hours later, the laundry was done, the family was rested and well-fed, and we were ready once more to conquer the Land of Disney. The day before had seen record high temps (102 – yikes!), and it had been a really warm morning, so in my great mommy wisdom, I decided that we wouldn't need to lug around all of our jackets, and chose to only include a jacket for #5 in our backpack. We entered DL, and found a spot to watch the parade towards the end of Main Street. Yes, yes, I know there are better spots to watch the parade from, but our feet still hurt, and our spot was closer to Adventureland, where we would be heading right after the parade. To kill time before the parade began, DH and #4 went for another ride on Star Tours, while #1 persuaded #2 to join her on a quest for conditioner, since apparently she wasn't pleased with the 2-in-1 shampoo that I had packed. As it turns out, Disney sells everything BUT conditioner. #1 was not happy with me.

The parade was fabulous. DH was particularly impressed with the young lady who ran down Main Street mooning the crowds with her miniskirt hiked up around her waist just before the parade began. Miniskirts are a bad fashion choice at Disneyland. Miniskirts are a bad fashion choice anywhere.

We were beginning to feel a little chilly as we headed over to the Jungle Cruise. It turns out that jackets would have been a very, very good idea. We found the JC to be very punny! We had a great skipper, and the little ones were actually frightened by the piranhas!

Indiana Jones was up next on our itinerary. I got to go first this time, while a very disappointed and just barely too short #4 waited with Dad and #5. Again, we basically walked on the ride. I was almost wishing the lines would have been longer so that we could have taken more time in the queue. The ride itself was terrific. All of the effects worked perfectly! Once we were finished with our ride, DH was able to ride with the three older children again, thanks to the babyswap and #4's unused fastpass. I took the little ones on another chilly Jungle Cruise adventure. Same skipper, slightly different jokes. Way to go, Skipper!

We then headed over to Pirates of the Caribbean. We walked, and walked, and realized that we had gone way too far. We retraced our steps over the bridge and began looking for it again. Back and forth over the bridge...the silly ride should be right here! After about 10 minutes of searching, we finally figured out that the entrance to Pirates was UNDER the bridge – very funny, Mr. Disney! I thought Pirates was very enjoyable. The rest of the troop thought it was boring, but we all loved Captain Jack, even if he wasn't real. Sigh. The Times guide, always read the Times guide.

Shivering, we hustled over to the Haunted Mansion. We all packed into the first room, and when the walls began to stretch, poor #5 was TERRIFIED. I'm pretty sure he thought we had all lost our minds at that point. He did better once we were on the Doombuggies, but it was definitely NOT his favorite ride.

After HM, we were supposed to ride Splash, but we were all freezing! We decided to call it a night and headed back to our ART stop for a very long and chilling wait for the bus home. We were tired, we were cold, and we were having a GREAT time.

Stay tuned for day three...I won't take another month this time, I promise...

 

[minniecarousel]

ah - such fun!

I'm enjoying your trip report. Always fun to see Disneyland through someone else's eyes.

 

[momto2nenas]

Great so far!

Do tell about the "sneaky shop trick" before rope drop! *wink *wink

 

[chickyann]

Looking forward to day 3

 

[tofubeast]

Great read so far. Still laughing that your kids though a trip to DL was a form of child abuse.

Can't wait for the next entry!

 

[jjames]

Awwww, thanks all for your nice comments.
The sneaky shop trick: All of the shops on the right hand side of main street are connected at the back. You simply have to step into the first shop that interests you, and then browse your way to the front of the crowds.

 

[kaoden39]

You have a wonderful way of telling a story. I am enjoying your thread alot. We also have a 15 year old daughter, a 14 year old daughter amd a 12 year old son. You my friend are amazing

Michele

 

[DBBean]

Would the shop trick work with a stroller? I'm bringing my double umbrella
stroller for my 20m & 4yr old boys.

30 days until our Disney trip.

 

[kaoden39]

I think it would work with the stroller too.

Michele

 

[jjames]

Day Three

The previous evening found me frantically reworking my Ridemax plans, as I had only planned on riding Space Mountain once, and as those of you who've been there know, once is NOT enough. I then settled five sleepy heads into bed and crawled into my own sleeping bag for a few hours of well deserved rest. A few hours was all the sleep I would get, because it was Magic Morning day, baby!

We were up bright and early on our quest to experience every single ride in Fantasyland before the park's official opening time. We arrived in the magical Line 13 at 7:28 am. Aaargh! We were behind schedule already! At 8:00 am SHARP the gates began to open. The family in front of me consisted of two very entertaining parents, 3 preschoolers, and two grandparents on ecvs. They'll be slow getting through the turnstiles, I thought to myself. I'll just scootch our family over to line 12 now.

I must take time out from this narrative to inform you all of my magical superpowers. My first superpower is the ability to lose keys. Anytime, anywhere. I've literally had keys jump off of my keyring just to get lost. Honest – I have witnesses. My second superpower is the ability to always choose the slowest line. Always. Cash registers break down in front of me, people forget their wallets, sometimes we just enter an alternate time reality in which everything moves v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y.

So there I was, having smugly moved my family into the next line over in front of the tree pot. We were neck in neck with the preschool family. The family that was now in front of me consisted of two parents and three teenagers. Never underestimate the cluelessness of a teenager. The preschool family BLEW through the gates, strollers, ecvs, and all, while the teenager family meandered through the entrance procedure. Oh, you need to see my ticket? Hmmm...I'm not sure which pocket it's in. Which side to you need to see? Do you need to beep it? Not just one of them, but EACH of them went through these very same shenanigans. Oy.

We finally, FINALLY made it through the entrance lines. Now, I am a very fast walker, and my children are very fast joggers (poor kids), so I really wasn't too worried about the time we had lost in the slow lane. Hot on the heels of the preschool family, we flew down Main Street, through the castle, and right onto Peter Pan. Triumph! We did enjoy Peter Pan. There's something about sailing through the stars in a ship that just makes you happy.

Next, we moved on to Dumbo. We were there for its second ride of the day. Who did I see exiting Dumbo's first ride? The preschool family! They were STILL beating us! It took everything in me to not give their stroller a flat tire. I should really see a professional about my hypercompetitiveness. I need help. I see this now. Anyway, Dumbo was the one ride that #4 really, really wanted to go on, and it didn't disappoint. He loved it!

We then moved on to the Matterhorn, Mr. Toad, Alice and Snow White. We all thought the ending to Snow White was HILARIOUS! #2 was laughing so hard he was almost crying. It's a classic ending, just classic.

Some of you may be wondering when we rode Mad Tea Party. We didn't. After exiting Mr. Toad, I left the rest of the family with strict instructions to get in line for Mad Tea Party while I changed a stinky diaper. They got in line for Alice instead. I came back from the diaper change, saw them in the Alice queue, and assumed that they had already ridden MTP. Silly me. So yes, we traveled across country to the happiest place on earth and didn't ride their most quintessential, most widely recognized, most “Disney” ride. Oops. (Editors note: Disboard gurus will know that in ideal circumstances, we should have ridden Alice before MTP, anyway. However, on the morning in question, Alice wasn't open at the proper time, so we had to do some schedule rearranging on the fly.)

At this point, Magic Morning was over. The park was officially open, and I headed over to Storybook Land with the young'uns while DH made the long, long, walk to get Splash fastpasses. I loved the Storybook Land Canal Boats. We had a terrific skipper, and I was fascinated by all of the tiny trees and intricate details. The kids loved it not so much. They just wanted to get on with the adventure.

The family then took a snack break while I headed over to pick up Space fastpasses, and then we wandered on up to Toontown. There was already quite a crowd gathered for its opening. The clock struck 10 and away we ran to explore Mickey's House. Toontown was very...cartoonish – lots of great photo ops. We spent about an hour exploring while we waited for Roger Rabbit to open up. Alas, it was not to be. We couldn't even pick up fastpasses. Oh well, the kids had a great chance to blow off some steam and meet some Disney characters. “So this is where they all hang out,” said #3, who had been pointlessly packing around her autograph book up until then.

Since we had been frozen out of riding Splash the night before, we decided not to take any chances of missing it again, and decided to ride it as our last ride before heading out of DL for our afternoon break. You'll recall that earlier, while we were still in Fantasyland, I had sent DH, with his poor, blistered feet, for Splash fastpasses. It was a very chilly day. You really don't need Splash fastpasses on chilly days. He still hasn't forgiven me. I hung out with #5 while the rest of the family walked right on the ride, after being laughed at by the CM for attempting to use their fastpasses. We watched our family take the plunge into the briar patch, and then it was my turn to take on Brer Fox with #3. #1 stayed behind to hold on to our jackets while we rode (we used our jackets as towels and/or blankets when get got off) and the rest of the family made their way back to the ART pickup. I loved Splash. Loved it, loved it, loved it! I loved the surprise drops, happy songs, tragic songs, and the vultures. I loved the drop into the Briar Patch. I really loved the zippity-do-dah after the plunge. How could we have thought it was too cold to ride Splash the night before? HOW?!

We left the BEST ride at Disneyland, stopped by to pick up some churros (shhh...don't tell the rest of the family – they still don't know), and headed for the ART stop ourselves. I'd had DH call me when he and the little ones boarded the ART, so I knew exactly how much time we had before the next shuttle came for us. We had a lovely time browsing Main Street and people watching, and then made our way out to the ART stop. Oh no! As we approached the trolley lanes, I could see that our bus was already there, and it was ready to leave. We ran - ran like the wind, past all of the laughing and pointing people, and hopped on our shuttle just as the doors were closing. Woo hoo – we made it!

We were then on our way to a very cold picnic at the beach (because you HAVE to see the ocean when you go to California), and then DH went on a quest for the magic ramen noodles while the rest of us snoozed in the Suburban. You'll have to ask HIM about that one. While you're at it, see if he can explain why he felt the need to order $150 worth of noodles on Amazon when his quest proved unsuccessful. Not that I'm bitter or anything.

We headed back to our trailer, got the little ones all gussied up, and made our way to the Silhouette Studio. If you haven't had a silhouette done while at Disneyland, you really must. It is a fascinating process. It literally took the silhouette lady (I've forgotten her name, but she was the older one) less than 30 seconds to cut out each child's silhouette. And voila! Here is our masterpiece:

We then chilled out at Honey, I Shrunk the Audience. We all thought it was cute, but not a must-see.
We raced over to Space for another smooth and fabulous ride through the galaxy, and then were on our way to Adventureland. Egads! The parade was in progress, and we couldn't get to Adventureland. Luckily, we were standing right next to Buzz, and when near Buzz, one must ride it. DH beat my score this time. Sigh. It was good to be at the top, if only for one day.

With the parade over, we rode Indy (loses something in subsequent ridings, but still fabulous), Jungle Cruise with the little ones while everyone else was on Indy, and Pirates in rapid succession. (We found it this time!) #5 had fallen asleep at this point, so I hung out in the beautiful area by the NOS train station with him and #s 3 and 4 (who had not been impressed with HM the day before) while everyone else got re-spooked at the Haunted Mansion.

And for our final ride of the evening: Splash. Oh, how I love Splash. Some day, when I'm really really rich, I just might build a life-sized replica of Splash in my backyard. Hey, if DH can spend $150 on ramen noodles, I can build a Splash replica.

Once again, I sent DH ahead with the little ones to get an early seat on ART while I hung around for the next ride on Splash, when I finished, I called DH to see if he was on the bus yet. He wasn't. The rest of us raced through the park, trying to catch up so we could all ride the bus home. At the top of Main Street, he called to say that the bus had just pulled up. We RACED through Main Street, out of the exit, and down the trolley lane. Thankfully, there was a family in front us with a very confusing stroller. Their daddy could not figure out how to fold it to get it on the bus. This bought us the needed time to catch up and leave the park as a family. Another wonderful day at Disneyland had come to an end!

Stay tuned for next time, when #4 goes on a quest for the perfect bunny ear picture, and mommy and the elder children hit Disneyland alone! No strollers, no babyswaps, just lots and lots of mayhem!

 

[ta2edgoofy]

The first time in Disneyland is so exciting! It sounds like you were quite prepared for what was in store. Although many complain about the small nature of the castle, I still remember the first time I saw it, and to an 8 year old, it was the most elegant and perfect thing I had ever seen, and 16 years later when I stepped onto main street I thought the very same thing. Plus there is something special about the park the walt personally oversaw and completed in a year. Its simply amazing!

 

[tofubeast]

I love your family's Silhouette picture! So nicely done. Something you will treasure for a long time.

Glad you loved Splash. Have you been on it at WDW? I actually think that version is a tad better, but I agree, the ride is amazing!

How did RideMax work for you? I am using it to prep for our upcoming trip in August. Any tips would be great!

 

[jjames]

What?! Splash is even better at WDW? I MUST find a way to get to Florida.

I LOVED Ridemax. On our first full day at Disneyland, we clung to it as if it were the gospel. Once we knew our way around a bit, we followed it more loosely. We didn't realize just how well it had worked until we got home and started to compare trips with four other families that went at the same time (it was our school district's spring break). Just as the program says, we rode a lot more rides with a lot shorter lines.

The big advantages for me were that I could play around with it endlessly before our trip (and trust me, I did). This in and of itself was worth the $15. Also, it let me know that there was, indeed, plenty of time to ride as many rides as we wanted and still have time to take breaks. I tend to like to push too hard, and I don't know that I would have allowed my poor hostages, errr family, to take breaks if I hadn't seen on paper that we had time.

Oh, and we used the most extreme settings and it still worked just fine for us, even with all of the babyswapping that we had to do.

A big thumbs up for Ridemax from our family!