Disneyland Part XI*

Two nights in Vegas.

Six nights in Anaheim.

Five days in Disneyland.

Go big or go home!

(We did go home, eventually).

After Eva was born, and all seemed to be healthy, Scotty and I booked a trip to Disneyland along with Scotty's mom and step-dad, and Scotty's step-brother and his family (Scotty's step-brother is married to my childhood best friend, Michelle, so it turns out, you really can grow up and marry brothers!)

 

{Me & Michelle sporting our best Haunted Mansion faces}

   

{Me & Michelle on Splash Mountain}

We didn't tell the kids that we were going to Disneyland. We secretly loaded up the van, picked up Nicky from school, and told the kids we were going to Las Vegas. We went to Las Vegas for a couple of nights and pretended we were driving home. We were so excited to see how long it would take Nicky to realize that we were going the wrong direction.

 

{Daisy sight-seeing in Las Vegas}

We were surprised when we passed through the agriculture checkpoint with the giant CALIFORNIA displayed over the top without Nicky noticing. After that, we didn't think it would be long. When we were about twenty minutes from Disneyland, Nicky said, "Wait a minute... why are there palm trees here?" We thought This is it! and we waited for him to realize we were going to Disneyland, but he didn't get it. Then we passed a sign that said Disneyland Parking, and we thought Here we go! but Nicky still didn't notice. Then we pulled up next to a Disneyland Cast Shuttle, and Nicky said, "Hey, that bus says Disneyland!" then he went right back to drawing a face on his belly button.

Finally, we drove right past Disneyland, and none of the kids noticed.

At the stoplight after Disneyland, we told the kids to look back and see what was there. They said, "Oh, look! Tower of Terror," like it was a perfectly normal thing to see. Then we had to slowly guide them to the discovery that we were right by Disneyland and that we didn't actually drive home from Las Vegas.

We wanted one of those videos where the kids are all excited because they just found out they're going to Disneyland, but our video is more like, "What do you mean we're going to Disneyland? Are we going inside? Why are we going to Disneyland? So you lied to us?" Our kids were a little slow in processing.

On the day we arrived in Anaheim, it was 107 degrees. Luckily, it wasn't that hot the rest of the time we were there, but it was still miserably hot. Enough so that our laundry pile accumulated a stench we didn't know we were capable of creating! The heat made us slow and sluggish, but we endured and still had a blast (though I will avoid the heat in any future Disneyland trips).

Zoe was a bit of a struggle on this trip (as she was on our last trip to Disneyland). No road trip is complete without Zoe throwing up in the van. She delivered, as expected, and since we're practically professionals at van vomit, we tackled the car seat with grace with a hose on the side of a Pilot station. Our first day in Disneyland, Zoe had meltdown after meltdown. She mellowed out a bit for the remainder of the trip, but only in comparison to the first day. She was still quite difficult. Zoe had fun, but she needed a lot of special attention. She spent a lot (and I mean a lot) of time rolling around on the ground.

 

{Zoe having one of her "moments"}

Eva was a champ! She was very good in the car and while being toted all around Disneyland. She loved taking in the scenery. She was uncomfortable in the heat, but she was very patient and only fussed when she was at the very end of her rope.

 

{Eva and Minnie}

Nicky and Daisy are Disneyland professionals. Nicky is now old enough to go on rides without an adult (according to Disneyland rules), and he loved the independence. We let him and his cousins go on a few rides without us (while we hid and watched from afar), and any time we had an odd number of riders, Nicky would ask to go by himself.

Daisy got to go on Indiana Jones and California Screamin for the first time. She wasn't a fan of Indiana Jones, but she LOVED Screamin and wanted to go on it over and over. I love that my daughter is a rollercoaster girl!

We had a lot of fun, and we are already itching to go back (in 65 degree weather, of course!)

*Not sure if this number is accurate, but our accumulated family Disneyland trips fall somewhere near 11.