Disneyland 2015!

Back in mid-November, we finally got around to taking the kids somewhere other than Bear Lake.  It had been a couple of years since we had gone to Disney, and when you are six, a couple of years is almost beyond memory.  So, we decided we would shell out the cash and make some new memories!  Lucky for us, Grandpa and Grandma agreed to come along and Grandpa let us use some of his Sky Miles to save us from the long and painful drive across the wasteland between here and the Magic Kingdom (thank you thank you!).  We hopped ourselves on our nice speedy airplane and before we knew it, we had arrived in the land of palm trees.

The freeway drive from good old John Wayne airport to the cute condo we rented took forever and a day, but we made it eventually and happily unpacked.  The kids were beyond excited to have such a fun place to stay:

By the time we grabbed some dinner and did some quick grocery shopping, it was getting pretty late, so we hit the sack so we could get up bright and early the next day!  

My mom has had an injured tendon in her foot, and her doctor warned her that she should NOT walk all over Disneyland, so whether she liked it or not (and she didn't), she had a wheelchair.  We loaded her in it and headed to the parks.  We had to cross a busy-ish street with no crosswalk (which we dubbed "The Dash of Death" after a particularly scary crossing) and then it was a short walk to the Mickey parking garage and the shuttle to the parks.  

Here we are, on our very first "ride" (the parking shuttle):

We decided to head to the California Adventure park first, since none of us had seen the new Cars Land or any of the other changes of the past few years (except Grandma and Grandpa, who go to Disneyland at least once a year).  Here is a picture of all of us!

Cora saw the Tower of Terror (or "Terror of Tower") as she called it looming over the park, and it made her a little nervous.  We let her pick the first ride, and she chose "Mater's Junkyard Jamboree," which was actually pretty fun, and I liked to hear Mater give instructions in Spanish with his accent.  After that, we headed over to the Paradise Pier area and rode the rides.  Preston and Dax are ready to shoot everything at the Toy Story ride (Grandpa always wins).

After some roller coasters for some of us and carousel rides for others (Cora and Grandma), and a mandatory stop at Corn Dog Castle, we headed over the Cars Land to ride the "Radiator Springs Racers."  It was fun, and we "won" our race both times we rode.  

Cars land was decorated for Christmas, and it was fun to see the way they used car parts (hub caps as ornaments, air filters in the wreath, etc.)

We usually headed back to the condo for a late lunch and a little rest before heading back to the parks to enjoy the evening/night.  We headed to Disneyland for a while as the sun was going down:

After a few rides (Haunted Mansion was a favorite, the kids love Nightmare Before Christmas, and Jack Skellington and his friends had taken over for the holidays), we headed back over to California Adventure and watched the "World of Color - Winter Dreams" show.  I didn't take any pictures, but it was so amazing and fun.  I stood by Cora and she was mesmerized.  After the show, California Adventure was closing and so we headed back to the condo.

The next day was Saturday, and it was CROWDED.  Long lines for the parking lot tram gave us a clue as to what we were in for the rest of the day.  We rode Thunder Mountain, and Preston even talked Cora into coming along for the ride.  Doesn't she look excited?

Yeah, that is how she felt afterwards, too.  She was a little scared of the "fast" rides, and decided not to try any of the other "Mountains" (Splash, Space, or Matterhorn).  Oh well, someday maybe.  The big kids loved it and declared it their favorite ride.  They rode it quite a few times while we were there.  Cora preferred "Winnie the Pooh."  While the rest of the group did "Indiana Jones," Cora and I played in Tarzan's Treehouse.  We were looking at the statue of the leopard, and all of the sudden it made a roaring sound and blew air on Cora.  She couldn't get out of there fast enough and vowed to never return to the Treehouse of terror.

She did agree to go on "Star Tours" and actually loved it. Arden got to be the Rebel Spy!  They turned Space Mountain into "Hyperspace Mountain" with a Star Wars theme...space ships were projected along with the stars, and it had the Star Wars soundtrack playing and was actually pretty cool.  Dax, as you may have guessed, ate it up and asked for more.

We compromised and did a little of both as the day went on.  We took our break at the condo and then headed back to Disneyland.  Grandma and Grandpa agreed to stake out a bench so we could watch the parade, and the rest of us went and rode a couple more rides.  Then we headed over to wait for the show:

The parade was pretty cool!  I felt a little nostalgic for the old electric light parade, but this one was much more impressive, I'll admit.  It had fun music too.  After the parade, the fireworks were going to start.  Dax decided that it was his bed time, and he needed someone to get him to his bed NOW, fireworks or not.  He convinced Preston and off they went, while the rest of us watched the fireworks as best we could with the hoards of people there for the same purpose.  After the fireworks, the girls wanted to keep going, so we did another ride.

We headed to Its a Small World at Cora's request, but after she saw the line was 15 minutes long, she declared herself too tired to wait.  Arden and Grandma and Grandpa wanted to stick it out, so Cora and I headed for the exit.  She wanted me to carry her down main street, which was pretty crowded with people leaving, so I picked her up.  She promptly laid her head down on my shoulder and went to sleep.  Awwww.  The line for the parking tram was very long, so I decided to just take the walking path to the parking garage.  It was probably most of a mile, and Cora was getting pretty heavy by the time I made it back to the condo, but how many more chances am I going to have to carry her around?  I didn't mind that much.

The next day was more of the same...ride baby ride.  The Matterhorn had been updated with new Yetis since the last time I was on it.  Fun!

Cora talked everyone into a few Bugs Land rides.  Looks like Arden doesn't mind:

We got a silly picture taken of us.  Don't catch us, Dax!

We did Cars again, and I was really impressed with how much scenery they put in!

That night we saw the a little play, "Mickey and the Magical Map."  The kids loved it, and I thought it was pretty cute.  Sitting down was nice also.  That night we got fast passes for "Fantasmic," but we were too late to get the tickets for the earlier show, so the one we got tickets for didn't even start until after 10.  We had been playing hard for a few days by now, and the kids (and Grandpa and Grandma) decided that they would rather not stay for the show and headed back.  Fantasmic is going to be closed down in January as they make room for "Star Wars Land," so Preston and I decided to stay by ourselves to watch the show.  It was kind of fun to be there without kids!  We watched the show, and then decided that since the lines were getting short, we would ride a few rides.  We did Indiana Jones, (Hyper) Space Mountain, and the Matterhorn before we decided to call it a night (mostly because they closed everything down then since it was midnight).  We dragged ourselves back to the condo and fell into bed.

The next morning we had to pack our stuff up since it was our last day.  We got everything out to the rental car, and after losing Cora for about 5 minutes, we headed back to the parks for our last few hours.  Grandma and I cut Cora a break and took her on the Riverboat while everyone else rode Thunder Mountain (again).  The Rivers of America are going to be closed soon, and they are going to make the river a lot small I hear.  It was good to take one more nice, slow ride around the river, and Cora looked so cute in her Mickey Ears grandpa got her:

We hurried here and there trying to make sure everyone got to ride their favorite rides one last time.  Except poor Grandma, whose favorite ride is the Tower of Terror.  Arden and Dax were troopers and went on that one once.  They both told each other they liked it, but both agreed that they didn't want to go on it any more times.  :)  At the end, the big kids and Preston and I did Indiana Jones, and Cora and the grandparents finally got around to "Its a Small World" because that is Grandpa's favorite ride (kidding, Grandpa).  Cora loved it and declared it her most favorite ride at Disneyland.

We met up at the castle after.  It was all decorated for the 60-year Diamond Celebration.

Then, it was time to head to the airport (booo!)  Here we are, on sad walk down Main Street (Cora didn't want to wear her ears anymore, so I had them on).

It was an uneventful trip home.  It was hard to get up for school the next day, but it was almost a rest to be back home where we had bedtimes and stuff like that.  It was a super fun trip!