Oops! We did it again!

Last week we took a trip to California and spent a day at Knott's Berry Farm and five days at Disneyland.

Six days in a row at theme parks is a bit extreme, but that's how we roll. We have this problem - we could spend fewer days in Disneyland, but once you've hit three days, it becomes more affordable to add more days. And we like to go mid-week so the crowds are smaller, so if we did three days, we would prefer to go Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. That would put us traveling there on a Monday. If we're going to travel on a Monday, why not just go on Saturday? And if we're going to come home on Friday, we might as well stay until Saturday or Sunday.  

Do you see the snowball forming? 

So anyway, we went to Disneyland five days in a row (which we have done many times... because snowball). And it was so magical and so horrible. Which means it was a genuine Disneyland experience!

Now, if you've been reading this blog for a while, you know that we go to Disneyland a lot. I admit, my kids have been spoiled in that way. I don't even know how many times we've been. But can I just say that I know multiple families who go more than we do? So let it be known that there are people out there who are worse than us (and we love them for it!)

Since we've been to Disneyland so many times, I don't really have a lot to say about our trip, but for the sake of documentation, I like to do some sort of blog post after we go. I didn't take a lot of photos. I don't have a lot of specific memories that stand out, but here are ten quick things about our trip:

Thing 1: We stayed at the new Holiday Inn Express near the parks. We will not stay there again. They have valet parking only, and they park your vehicle about three miles away. This was a major inconvenience, and we never would have booked there had we known this beforehand. We had difficulty getting our vehicle in a timely fashion. An example: we called for our vehicle from the back of Disneyland during a parade. We walked through the parade crowd and all the way back to the hotel and still had to wait twenty more minutes before they had our car ready. 

Thing 2: Flying was nice, and I was worried that once we flew, I'd never want to drive again, but it wasn't that much better than driving. So in the future, if we need to drive, I'm okay with that. Each has it's pros and cons.

Thing 3: We briefly considered not taking a stroller, but we ended up bringing it, and I'm really glad we did. We brought the double, and even though Zoe and Eva are old enough to not need a stroller, it was really nice to have it for navigating the crowds. It's handy to have the two little kids in the stroller so we don't have to worry about them walking through the masses of people. When they are in the stroller, we have control of where they are. 

Thing 4: We saw Peter Tu again - this time, Scotty wasn't with us, but we saw Peter getting off Dumbo wearing his classic fedora!

Thing 5: Autopia will forever be the dumbest ride of all time. I hate that ride so much!

Thing 6: But Guardians of the Galaxy will forever have my heart. I loved Tower of Terror and was truly devastated when they announced that they would be changing it to Guardians of the Galaxy. Now I take it all back! Guardians is a blast! There is such a fun energy on that ride! Everyone cheers and dances and laughs... It's absolutely delightful! 

Thing 7: Time out happened in Disneyland.

In fact, it was the first thing we had to do when we got into the park. Zoe and Eva were at each other's throats this whole trip! Every time we waited in line, we had to separate them because they were constantly attacking each other. It was kind of a nightmare. 

Thing 8: Nicky is a Disneyland tyrant. He woke up at 5:30 every morning and tried to wake up everyone else by making discreet noises and pretending he wasn't doing it on purpose (we warned him every night not to wake anyone else up in the morning). He constantly nagged everyone to get up and get ready, and even when we told him we weren't going to rush, he would freak out and tear through the room going, "Eva, get your socks on! Mom, what do I need to pack? We need to get to breakfast! Hurry, we're going to be late!" We told him there was no "late." He was not convinced. Each morning we would send him to breakfast alone just so we could have a break from his reign of terror. 

We have created a monster.

Thing 9: One of the memorable things from this trip was the Disneyland Tyrant's insistence on saving all the Fast Pass cards so he could play Go Fish. Several times throughout the day, we would stop for a break, and the kids would play Go Fish. It was fun, and the Disneyland employees (which are referred to as "cast members") commented that they'd never seen that before!

Thing 10: One thing we did a little different this trip was spending more freely than we ever have. You want a churro? Get a churro! You want a chimichanga? Get a chimichanga! I have to admit, it was really fun to not be a tightwad. Frivolity has its perks! We couldn't bring ourselves to fork over $90 a day for our family to use Max Pass, but lived it up on Disneyland treats!