Disneyland August 2019!

My kids' favorite vacations, by a large margin, are Disney vacations.  So, we decided another trip was in order, and we headed out!  This time we didn't really plan very far ahead and couldn't find any reasonable air fare, so we DROVE.  I had broken my ankle the weekend before we left, but I had an air cast and a boot and some crutches.  We packed it all in the car and headed across the desert!  We ran into a HUGE traffic jam in the canyon on the way to Vegas, and so we ended up having to stop in Barstow (armpit) for the night, but we made it to Disneyland the next morning around 10:30.  YAY!!!

It was so nice to be in Disneyland.  I just love it and I feel so excited just like a kid every time I go through the gates.  I did NOT want to bring my crutches to the park, since I thought it was going to be really hard to find a place to put them on rides, so I kind of hobbled around.  The very first thing the kids wanted to do was get Mikey Ears.  Well, the girls did, and Dax wanted a hat with Stitch ears.  They looked cute.  We went on the Jungle Cruise, and we had a really funny guide.  We were in the Hippo pool, and instead of shooting the gun to scare the hippos away, he said something like, "I'm going to scare these hippos away the same way I scared away my last girlfriend."  He then put down the microphone, leaned over the side of the boat, and screamed "I LOOOOVE YOOOU!"  I looked at my mom and we both started laughing so hard.  None of my kids got the joke.  

My kids all enjoy the classic rides, and even enjoy the little silly ones like Mr. Toad.  Preston and Dax left in the afternoon to pick Grandma and Grandpa up from the airport, but me and the girls soldiered on.  

We stayed until 8:00 or so, and my leg was totally spilling out of my compression sock until it was actually bruising.  :-\ .  I used the ice machine to ice my leg every night and during our afternoon resting periods.  Once I started walking it would loosen up, but first thing in the morning it was pretty painful!!  

The next day we had a magic morning in Tomorrowland/Fantasy land, and my kids LOVE Space Mountain so much.  And Star Tours.  And the Matterhorn.  But when it was park opening time, we were very excited to head over to the new Star Wars "Galaxy's Edge" land.  I even wore my Chewbacca shirt, and as soon as we got in there we saw Chewy himself!  I also saw Rey and she told me she liked my shirt.  :)  

(You can see from the picture above that even though it is still first thing in the morning, one of my legs is maybe a little larger than the other one.  Oh well, suck it up, we are at Disneyland!)

The whole area was super cool.  It was amazing to see the Millennium Falcon!  

We waited in a VERRRRY long line to ride "Smugglers Run."  In this ride you get to actually pretend to drive the Millennium Falcon, but you are either the pilot, the gunner, or the engineer.  The pilot is the best (but most stressful), the gunner is fun, but the engineer, only pushes like one button the whole time, and is in the back of the cockpit, so avoid it if possible.  

We had a super fun day.  I had an app on my phone that let me book fast passes from there, which was super helpful to cut down on unnecessary walking.  For dinner, we at at Paradise Pier, and Arden was saving us a place and took about 20 pictures of herself.  She's adorable.

 

Here is a cute picture of Cora and Grandma on the Little Mermaid ride.  I appreciated any chance to sit down.  I especially loved going to shows and propping my leg up, but as the days went by my ankle actually felt better and better.

My mom and dad are such good sports and we walked all around, even though my mom's hip wasn't feeling the greatest.  They are the best grandparents, and I'm glad they are willing to run all over the parks with us.

I think Thunder Mountain was Dax's favorite ride.  

Arden's favorite ride is Pirates of the Caribbean.  One of my most favorite rides is the Haunted Mansion, which happened to be having its 50th birthday WHILE WE WERE THERE!  We got to ride it on its very birthday, and everyone sang "Happy Birthday To You" as we got out of the spooky elevator and walked down the spooky hallway.  

Cora's favorite ride was Matterhorn, and she also loved the IncrediCoaster.  Preston liked Star Wars Land.  One of my dad's favorite things to do is to go watch the nighttime show at California Adventure.  It is so pretty to see all the lights at night.

The next time we went on the Smuggler's Run ride I made the kids and Preston sit down at the space chess board for a photo op!  So cool!

Everyone was brave and went on the Guardians of the Galaxy ride.  It was really fun, but I am still angry that they switched it away from the Tower of Terror.  We were lucky and fast-passed our way onto all of the major rides mostly every day.  

We would get up early and be there around opening, and then around lunchtime we would head back over to our Marriot across the street, have lunch and take a nap.  The kids were tired enough each afternoon that they didn't mind, and they would actually sleep, or at least be quiet.  Then we would head back over in the later afternoon and stay until dark.  We even shut the park down a time or two, which was midnight!  The weather was perfect the whole time.

Did I mention that I love Disneyland?  My kids all mentioned more than once that it is magical there.  There was one night when we were watching the fireworks over by Its a Small World because they project movie images into the facade of the ride there.  I was holding 10-year old Cora so she could see (because she is still small enough to hold), and they were playing "Let it Go" from Frozen.  The fireworks were going and the projections were playing, and they turned on the snow machines.  As Cora and I were twirling around in the colorful lights,  watching the sparkly fireworks with beautiful snowflakes swirling around us as we sang along, it was definitely magical.   Arden promised that even when she was 16 or 17 she would still want to come to Disneyland with me.  

I also love the food.  I love the Mikey Pretzels, I love the King Corn Dogs, churros are always good, but my most favorite treat is a Dole Whip at the Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Room.  Clearly the kids agree.  

Cora's favorite ride, the Matterhorn.  New and improved Yeti since I was a kid.  They have changed the cars to add more safety, and we don't have to lap-sit anymore, but they are so narrow that my parents don't enjoy shoving themselves into the seats and generally sit this ride out.

Arden was usually willing to pose, and she is super cute!  Here she is with some droids: 

This is a fun picture of most of us on Splash Mountain.  None of the kids were willing to sit in the front, so Preston fell on the sword.  I love Splash Mountain.  

We were headed back to the hotel for lunch one day, but stopped to get our picture taken by one of the picture takers.  It turned out really well, but Dax was hungry and was not happy to have his lunch delayed.  He's still cute.  

Here is a picture we had taken one night at Galaxy's Edge also.  Me and Preston are in the back.  Grandma and Grandpa had headed off to bed, but the rest of us were still going.  The kids are supposed to be doing a "Force Push."   They are so cute.  

It was worth all the driving and walking and pain in my foot!  It was so much fun and I can't wait until the world gets back to normal and we can do something like that again.