Ok, this is long, but here it is! There were 6 of us-James & I, my mother, and Lauren-9; Kenna-5, and Colin-2. My dad joined us on the last day. Day One Wed 12/13
Crazy morning as we woke up the girls at 4:15 am! We only had 15 minutes to wake them up, get them in the car and on to the airport. We had everyone in bed the night before at 6:30 under the guise that we were getting up early to take Grandma to the airport. When James ran in yelling “Get up! We’re going to Disneyland!” there was no movement. Finally they drug themselves up only to find we were serious! Lauren told me she thought we were kidding. They were ecstatic when they realized what was happening. After that they were ready in no time and as the car was already packed we were on our way. Colin was just happy to have the stuffed Mickey that was his surprise.
Our 6:00 am flight was quick and we were there early. We were going to wait for the Disneyland Express but took the first shuttle and got to the Disneyland Hotel by 8:30. Disneyland hadn’t even opened yet! We checked in, they were going to upgrade us to a pool view room but I wanted the rooms to be adjoining so we had to wait, and no upgrade. But that was ok. We checked our bags with the bell desk and were on our way. We had beignets at the Jazz Kitchen (yum!) and then went to World of Disney for autograph books and picked up our lanyards. Then we were at Disneyland. I couldn’t believe that in one morning we had accomplished all that and Disneyland had only been open an hour. Amazing what you can do when you don’t sleep!
We rode the Jungle Cruise first, and then Pirates. For some reason we seem to always head to Adventureland first. No lines. Then we headed over to the Carnation Café for our lunch reservation. Can I just say the best food in Disneyland? We got to meet Oscar and he was wonderful. He said he was going to retire next year, after 51 years, if they let him. James had the meatloaf and it was incredible. My mom had the Shepherd’s pie; also great, I had Oscar’s chef salad and the most incredible baked potato soup. The kids loved the peanut butter palette. Colin ate some of everyone’s. It was a great meal. So great that I called to make a priority Seating for Saturday with my dad.
After lunch we rode Buzz Lightyear, the teacups, and the Haunted Mansion. By this time it was 1:00 and I called and our rooms were ready. We decided to go over to the Hotel with Kenna and Colin and Lauren and James hit the big rides. On the way back we shared a couple Dole Whips. Amazing! Why have I never had one of these before? The rooms were beautiful. The “standard” view was gorgeous of lush palms and other greenery. I much preferred the quiet instead of a noisy pool view room which would have been an upgrade. I had asked for the Sierra Tower and they obliged. The rooms were very large, very clean and I loved the Disney touches. I had read some bad reviews but was very happy. I am glad we got two rooms instead of a suite, we got two large bathrooms and 4 queen beds. And it was a lot cheaper!
We had reservations at 5:00 at Rainforest Café. We got right in without waiting. The kids loved the restaurant and the food was good too; fabulous crabcakes!!!! Then we went back to Disneyland to ride Small World (no wait, the parade was on) Buzz again, (already Colin’s favorite!), Haunted Mansion, Splash Mountain, (no wait with fastpasses) and then over to Main Street to watch the fireworks. The snow was magical. My mom especially loved it. I felt for one day we had done so much! We went home exhausted back to the hotel.
Day 2, Thursday 12/14
Early Entry today! We were a little late getting to the park and the line to get in was kind of long! We waited to see Minnie, Mickey and Chip in their holiday sweaters. Then on to Fanstasyland. There was already a line at Peter Pan. Today Kenna decided she didn’t want to do any rides. We tried making her, thinking she just didn’t know what she was missing. We went on Mr Toad, Dumbo, the carousel, Alice, the teacups, and the Matterhorn, and Small World. She was serious. She only likes outside rides, no dark rides and no roller coasters. Lauren loved all rides at age 5 and I thought Kenna would be the same, but after some power struggles we realized everyone can enjoy Disneyland in different ways, and for her, that meant the teacups, characters and Dumbo. After that I didn’t make her ride anything except Peter Pan and Winnie the Pooh, which she did enjoy. But no more Pirates and absolutely NO Haunted Mansion. She never did ride that even though she loves the Nightmare Before Christmas Movie.
We decided to bag the the whole Mickey’s Morning Madness thing as it was on Friday and we wanted to go to California Adventure, so went when it opened Thurs. It was wonderful. I wasn’t interested in the show so I didn’t think we missed anything. We wandered around Minnie & Mickey’s house virtually alone and had 10 minutes alone with Mickey! Then the kids ran around Goofy’s yard, we rode Roger Rabbit (no wait) then a 5 minute line to meet Santa Goofy. Definitely the way to go for our family—no crowds!
After that it was the one thing I had treated myself to on this trip—lunch at Blue Bayou! I admit it was kind of fun when there was a huge line being told no openings today, and we got our party of 6 priority seating. I love priority seatings!!!! We got the first reservation of the day and got waterside! It was awesome. We have done this on our last 3 trips and I didn’t want to miss it even with 3 kids. The kids were very good. They got to keep the pirate hat/menus. The kids food wasn’t great but the Monte Cristo and gumbo were! My mom and I split because the portions are huge! It was so much fun. I have read reports of bad service, but we were lucky to have great service today. My mom has never been and she loved it.
After lunch we saw Capt Jack Sparrow-which was a huge treat for Lauren! Then we went to Winnie the Pooh ride and met Pooh. Then over to Buzz again, Space Mtn (fastpass) and then saw Buzz Lightyear in person. The highlight of my trip was seeing Colin when he met Buzz! It was so cute! We then headed over to CA Adv, everyone rode Soarin’ except Colin & I (yes Kenna did ride that!). I had wanted to see Aladdin but the girls were begging to go swimming so we went back to the hotel and then went swimming. The pool was way too cold for me (it was about 65-70 outside) but the girls loved it and after everything, it was probably their favorite thing of the day. (who knew?) The pool is quite nice but they closed the slides after we got there so they just enjoyed swimming alone in the almost dark-it was about 5:30. Then all the kids had baths, and we got dinner from Tortilla Jo’s window—it was delicious and cheap!! We took it back to the hotel and called it “room service”. Everyone was tired and after they were settled (watching cartoons and Princess storytime which they loved) James & I went back to the park. We hit CA Adv—rode Soarin’, Screamin’, and Tower of Terror; loved them! Then over to Disneyland to ride more rides and grab a bite to eat. It was a blast to be together and run wherever we wanted (3 children make that very difficult!). Plus the kids really needed the rest as I noticed they were growing a little more “irritable” as the days wore on. My mom said they were all asleep by 8 pm!
Day 3, Friday, Dec 15
At the park at 7:45, got in at opening, headed over to Tommorrowland to ride Buzz, Space Mountain (we would take turns taking Lauren on Space Mtn and staying with Kenna and Colin. My mom loves this ride! Kenna and Colin were content to play with their “astroblasters” or ride the Rockets.) Then we saw “Honey I shrunk the Kids”; James and Lauren went to grab Fastpasses then we headed on over to California Adv to spend the rest of the day. We hit Monsters first, then went to the Lightning McQueen & Mater meet n greet. It was so fun! Colin couldn’t believe it. Then we spent some time in Bug’s Land, finally a place everyone loved! Absolutely no waits and Kenna and Colin enjoyed all the rides. Lauren & I then took my mom on Tower of Terror quickly before the Princess Lunch. James & Colin did “boy stuff” (not sure what that consists of) but I am so glad he was not there. Being two years old, he would not have lasted. We had to wait about 20-25 minutes for our PS, then we were the very last in the room to see the Princesses. It was worth it though. The food was so-so, but the characters were wonderful. We saw Ariel, Cinderella, Belle, Snow White, and the Fairy Godmother. Kenna was enraptured. Lauren, who is outgrowing the princesses still enjoyed it. Now that you can’t see the princesses anymore without going to the Princess Faire, I felt it was 100% worth the extra money. The last time we went to DL in 2002 we saw all 5 big princesses in the park. But now that is a thing of a past.
We met James, he & my mom rode Soarin’ and we were off the High School Musical Pep Rally. Lauren was in heaven. It really is hard to please all ages (9, 5, and 2) but it was amazing how much we did in one day to make everyone happy. Then we used our Priority Seating for Aladdin which was outstanding, a must see. Plus it was a nice break. We hit the first part of Block Party Bash, then on to Disneyland for the parade and to meet Leanne & Holly. We were lucky enough to get front row seats for the parade while James ran to get chicken strips for the kids. It was a brief meeting with Leanne & Holly but so fun to meet and put names with faces. I was so glad to thank Leanne and Andy in person for the wonderful site and info to make our trip so wonderful!!!!! The parade was awesome. The kids were amazed and once again, to see Colin’s face was priceless. He started waving at all the characters and yelling HI MICKEY!! HI BUZZ!!!! It was so cute. After an almost 12 hour day with no breaks we went back to the hotel. It was amazing how much we did. The kids crashed in the hotel and James and I ran back to the parks. I was tired and we didn’t do much, just enjoyed being together and using all our fastpasses. We enjoyed a Dole Whip on the way back to the hotel. I don’t know if Disneyland was busy this day or not, but it was great to be in CA most of the day-we didn’t see any crowds.
Day 4, Saturday Dec 16
We actually made it to DL at 6:45 for early entry at 7! I know crazy. But we did so much! Peter Pan, Dumbo, Alice, Matterhorn twice, teacups-all Kenna’s favorites. We hit Big Thunder Mountain when the park opened at 8 (Lauren’s favorite) then Pirates and Haunted Mansion, and Tarzan’s treehouse. Then it was time to meet my dad who was joining us for the day (he is teaching right now near LA). He was so excited to see the kids. We went to see the Tiki Birds and then onto the Jungle Cruise and Indiana Jones. By now the line was almost an hour but we had fastpass. We wandered around and then went to see Billy Hill & the Hillbillies. A MUST SEE! They were hilarious and fun and everyone enjoyed the show. Then Buzz again (with fastpass) and then lunch at Carnation Café. While we were waiting for our PS it rained but quit soon afterward and we were able to eat fairly dry. Again, the food was fabulous. Then it all out rained and they closed so we made it just in time. Again, the food was fabulous. We decided to go back to the hotel for awhile since we had such an early day. We had done so much since we had gotten there for early entry so it already felt like a full day. The girls wanted to swim but it was raining too hard. We had planned to rest and go back and hit all the evening things like Fantasmic and the fireworks.
After a rest, we took the girls to Build a Bear which they had been saving their Disney dollars for. We got them food at Whitewater Snacks. It was so great to feed them first so they wouldn’t be hungry later and have to wait in lines at Disneyland. My mom and dad were already at the park so we went to meet them. Down came the rain. We were covered in rain ponchos and Colin fell asleep in the stroller. Everyone rode Space Mountain again and I tried to keep the kids out of the rain. Then it let off a little and we went to New Orleans Square to ride Haunted Mansion and Pirates. The rain kept coming and I just couldn’t keep the little ones happy. We decided to go back. It was about 7-8. I knew we would miss the fireworks and Fantasmic but it was too hard when Kenna didn’t want to ride any rides and there wasn’t many places to keep out of the rain. I would have liked to spend more time with my Dad but he and my mom stayed to enjoy the park. I don’t think the rain is a big deal if you have one child, but carting strollers and unhappy kids is a challenge in the rain with 3. But I can’t complain—we had 3 perfect days of 75 degree weather and we had accomplished so much. I really was exhausted by this point! The kids were not sorry to spend the rest of the night in the hotel. They loved playing with their toys!
Day 5, Sunday Dec 17
For the first time in the whole trip we slept in!!!!!!!! We weren’t going to the parks and had a 10:00 PS for Lilo & Stitch breakfast. I called and asked if we could check out at 12:00 instead of 11:00 and they said ok for one room. That was nice. The Lilo & Stitch breakfast was spectacular. Lauren’s favorite movie is Lilo & Stitch and Kenna loves it too. The food was fabulous-salmon, coconut scones, bananas foster French toast, fruit smoothies plus all the regular stand bys. The character interaction was great; Stitch was the best ever, Lilo was good as were Pluto, Minnie & Daisy. We got great pictures and Colin really enjoyed the one on one interaction that you can’t get at the parks. It was the best way to end our trip. We then checked out, walked around Downtown Disney a little and then got our shuttle back to the airport. The flight left without a glitch.
All in all, it was a wonderful trip. My mom was so impressed by all the things I had pre planned and knew about. She loved the meals we had planned and the kids loved everything. I learned that every child is different about the way they enjoy Disneyland and that’s ok. There were still things we didn’t get to see, like Santa’s Reindeer Roundup and the Redwood Creek Challenge but we saw so much and did almost everything we wanted to. I think the planning helped accomplish that. James was even impressed! Now I can’t wait to go back! Unfortunately, that won’t be for awhile so I am glad that this was the best trip it could be since we won’t be going for a couple years or so. I have to say though for those planning, we couldn’t have gone at a better time. We got the benefit of full operating hours with no scheduled maintenance (except the monorail); wonderful weather in the 70s most days, the awesome holiday decorations and characters; and very manageable crowds. I hate wall to wall crowds and we really didn’t have them. We hardly ever saw long waits for rides, and when they were long (30-45 min was the worst for Indy and Space Mtn) we had fastpass. Our average wait time for rides was 5 minuter. It could have been that we were there early everyday but all in all It was a great time to go!