This past Tuesday, February 21st, the six of us traveled on an airplane with four kids (one still a baby), slept in a crowded little one bedroom hotel, hit three different theme parks in three days where we stayed and played ALL DAY LONG, walked 30+ miles, and then survived to tell the tale! Phew! And, we had a LOT of fun too!
Our Disneyland trip was born about six months ago, when we found a great airfare sale on Southwest with $45 tickets to L.A. for everyone! The only catch was we had to pick the last flight out, which didn't leave until 9:30 p.m. and wouldn't arrive in L.A. until 11:30 p.m. (12:30 a.m. our time). This made for an incredibly stressful late night-- dragging 4 kids, 3 backpacks, 2 suitcases, 2 carseats, and 1 stroller through the airport to the rental car center, so we could pick up our rental minivan and drive the 45 minutes down to Anaheim, finally arriving at our hotel around 1:30 a.m. (2:30 a.m. our time).
We'd decided that due to the very late night (or morning, however you decided to look at it) we'd just play it by ear Wednesday morning and let the kids sleep in as long as possible. After a late start thanks to those amazing hotel blackout curtains, the kids slept in, and we loaded up the car and headed over to Universal Studios Hollywood. The new Harry Potter World opened last spring and we've been dying to check it out! Welcome to Hogsmeade!
Lucy and Zach are the ultimate HP fans and they were thrilled to see Hogwarts castle looming off in the distance! We were all geeked out in our HP gear, with wands in tow.
First ride of the day: Hagrid's Hippogriff roller coaster!
And Miss Leah was just tall enough to ride it as her very first roller coaster ever! Woohoo!
Next we headed over to the castle to ride Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey. This is us next to the baby mandrakes in Herbology, who's adult cries are fatal to anyone who hears them! I sure love that ride-- it's so clever and fun and makes you feel like you're really riding a broomstick along with Harry on the quidditch pitch.
We'd worked up an appetite after all that so we headed over to the Three Broomsticks where Jon had saved us a table for lunch. We chowed down on Harry Potter's pub favorites-- fish and chips, bangers and mash, sticky toffee pudding, and a butter beer pot de creme.
And of course, the elixir of life, BUTTER BEER!
Yum! Seriously so much fun to pretend we were in Hogsmeade eating lunch with Harry, Ron, and Hermione on one of their days out.
We had fun looking around the streets at all the fun shops, and trying out the kids' wands to cast spells. Aloha mora!
Jon was a good sport and let me do most of the rides with the kids. He gets really motion sick on those visual-simulated rides and can't do any of them without being nauseated for the rest of the day, poor guy! I don't mind though!
We found some kiddie rides Leah could do over in Minion Mayhem that afternoon.
She was a good sport too because she wasn't tall enough to do most of the rides either, but she sure loved meeting Bob, her favorite minion!
Cheese! We did the minion ride and Leah just giggled and giggled the whole way through. She loved it! It was definitely her favorite ride of the day.
We checked out a few more roller coasters before calling it a day-- Zach loved the Transformers ride, and Lucy's favorite was the Jurassic Park ride. Zach was also super brave and went right up to this zombie and asked for his picture. I love how he's trying to look tough, but really he was kinda freaked out!
Beetle Juice, Beetle Juice, Beetle Juice!
We finished up over in HP World (again) so we could load up on souvenirs and ride the roller coaster one more time. We even had a beautiful sunset to walk back to the car with.
Universal Studios, Harry Potter World
February 2017
We found an In N Out right next to our hotel and had a little burger picnic before we all crashed into bed, exhausted but so excited for Disneyland the next morning!
Bright eyed and bushy tailed we woke up Thursday morning, got dressed, and then headed down for breakfast hoping to get an early start at the park!
This was Lizzie's first Disney trip ever, and I think she made a pretty cute Minnie Mouskateer!
Our hotel was great, maybe only a mile or so away from the entrance, so we hoofed it on over there (no paying for parking, wohoo!) and made it just as it was opening. We stopped for a quick pic on Mainstreet but then booked it over to Space Mountain to nab some fast passes!
Disneyland is always, always, always packed with people, but honestly the lines weren't too terrible, as I kept reminding Jon, so we started checking off as many rides on our list as possible! First ride of the day was Alice's Tea Cups.
Cute Lizzie loving King Arthur's carousel!
I waited with Lizzie while these guys rode Splash Mountain. It was Leah's first time ever and is a rite of passage for any kid to say they've done it!
This picture totally cracks me up!! I love Zach's terrified expression, and Lucy was so freaked out they made her sit in front, and of course, why Jon chose to shield poor Leah's eyes! Ha ha ha.
We had a reservation at the Blue Bayou for lunch-- my favorite Disney restaurant ever. It's located inside the Pirates of the Caribbean ride (which was closed for repairs sadly), but the ambiance is so fun. I shared the monte cristo sandwich with Lucy and we both loved it!
Not a great picture, but we sure had a fun lunch together! It was a nice break from the hustle and bustle of the park, too.
Lizzie was totally ready for a nap, but our sandwich came with some really yummy dipping sauces which she quickly discovered, and she happily dipped her little fingers into those the whole time. She was much too busy doing that than to bother with a picture.
The French Quarter where the Blue Bayou is located, all decorated for Mardi Gras.
Our Space Mountain fast passes were up next, so we headed over to Tomorrow Land and Zach caught this Storm Trooper in action!
We finished up most of the rides over in Fantasy Land and Adventure Land, including the family favorite of the Haunted Mansion, and then of course stopped for a Dole Whip float on the way back to Mainstreet USA.
Waiting for Mr. Toad's Wild Ride
Beep, beep! Lizzie loved all these rides. She didn't want to get out.
While Jon and Zach went to check out some of the new Star Wars stuff in Tomorrow Land, I sucked it up and waited the 45 minutes to meet Fawn and Tinker Bell in Pixie Hollow. It was worth the wait though to see Leah's excited reaction when she meet these fairies!
Lucy was a good sport and waited with us too.
Hands on hips like Tinker Bell!
We had our last fast passes of the day for Thunder Mountain Railroad, and then the Indiana Jones Ride, which are two of my favorite rides ever. As it got dark, it got a lot colder and people were pouring into the park for the Electric Parade, so as soon as we finished those two rides that was our cue to head back home! We still had to walk back to the hotel. Of course I would have pushed for us to stay and see the parade, but I'm working on pulling back a little and realizing there'll always be a "next time," especially when the kids are older and can stay out later and longer. Lucy and Zach walked the entire time without complaining once, and even though we were all tired and a little people-weary, we had such a magical day at the Happiest Place on Earth!
Friday morning Jon stayed back with the little girls, and Lucy, Zach, and I got a head start over to California Adventure. We'd been told to get our fast passes for the new Cars Land ride ASAP, so that's what we did first! Then we went over to the California Screamin' roller coaster while there wasn't any line!
Jon met us about an hour later with the little girls, and we did some kiddie rides in Bugs Land.
We love the Bugs 3-D show! The kids get a kick out of when you feel the bugs crawl under your seat and poke you in the back.
The new Cars Land wasn't finished last time we were here back in 2011.
These two did the roller coaster there in the background 4 times, and would have done it more if they could! They are definitely members of the daredevil club! They also had a blast trading pins whenever we saw a worker with some.
We splurged and reserved lunch at "Ariel's Grotto" restaurant that afternoon.
We had an absolute blast! The girls were in princess heaven, the location was fun (it's right underneath the ferris wheel and roller coaster, along the waterfront), and we got to meet Ariel as soon as we walked in.
Zach was not quite as thrilled, ha, ha, ha. He was totally mortified by all these princesses!
As you order and eat your lunch, all of the princesses are introduced and on parade, and come up to your table for pictures and to sign autograph books, and it's amazing because you get to meet them all without having to wait a single second in line!! That's worth every penny.
Rapunzel
Cinderella
And Tiana-- who we've never met before!
The service was quick, the food was really good, and Lizzie was totally entertained by all the commotion and clapping and music. She fit right in! This for me is definitely one of my favorite moments of the trip.
Dessert was included and was probably our favorite part! Yum!
The kids also loved their little Under the Sea desserts, so Zach (our resident sweet tooth) even left a happy camper. We had a blast and will definitely do it again!
We finished up most of the rides over by Paradise Pier, and this swing ride was hands-down Leah's favorite. She did it with daddy and just raved about it!
Our fast passes for the new Cars ride were finally up, so we headed over that way, and there was a 2 hour wait for those doing it standby! Thank goodness for fast passes!! We only had to wait about 10 minutes.
Here we go! It was pretty fun to see Radiator Springs like in the Cars movies, and at the very end you race another car around the track and go pretty fast. We thought it was fun (but definitely not worth a 2 hour wait!).
While Jon and the other kids did the Cars ride again with the rest of our fast passes, we headed over to Soarin' and took turns, and then Zach and I looked for more pins on Mainstreet. Once again it was getting cold and dark and people were pouring in for the fireworks that night, but our little ones had absolutely had it. We decided to head home and take it easy for the rest of the night, but there's always next time Disneyland, and we will definitely be back!!
We got some takeout from a nearby restaurant and had a yummy picnic dinner in the hotel. I sure love these guys! They did AWESOME with our jam-packed days, and never complained once about all the walking and standing, they spent their own money they'd earned on souvenirs, and made the trip a blast for mom and dad.
Saturday was our last day in California, and we celebrated by sleeping in, packing up, and checking out Downtown Disney before driving back up to L. A. X. We got lunch at the Rainforest Cafe, which is always a fun place to eat.
It was the best weather day yet, and we soaked in as much vitamin D as possible! Love that California sunshine!
My cute matchers! Next time we're going to go all out and buy matching mouse ears and everything. Just don't tell Jon I promised that....
Disneyland
February 2017
I'm so thankful we got to take a little trip together as a family, and make so many fun memories together. It wasn't perfect, and there were lots of hard parts and stressful moments, but I wouldn't trade spending time with my family for anything. I feel like every time we do Disney we learn a thing or two and how to make it easier for next time, (and I always swear I'll never take a baby again! ha ha), but it's just too much fun when they're still little and not "too cool" yet to love the magic of Disney! Cheers to next time!
