Wes is a lot like Chevy Chase's character in the National Lampoon movies. He's really one of the last true family men around. He loves to plan big vacations and wants more than anything for everyone to have fun, damnit. So he planned what's becoming our annual trip to Disneyland, where we stayed in the Disneyland Hotel for two nights, and hit up Disneyland and California Adventure.
We didn't tell the girls we were going until the morning we left, and they were thrilled. We spent Friday at the always crowded Disneyland, and Saturday at the much more mellow and empty California Adventure. Can you tell which one I prefer? Taylor kept asking, "Is this a dream?!" She is a Disney girl through and through.
I'm always confused after a family trip to the happiest place on earth. When people ask me if we had fun, I always have to pause before answering. Yes, we had fun. Yes, we laughed a lot. Yes, we did almost everything we wanted to do. But Disneyland is a lot of work, mainly because we still have a three year old in tow, and there is A LOT of stimulation that can be overwhelming for everyone at times. And today, three days later, we found out that Corinne had an ear infection while on our trip. At least that explains why she was such a crab.
But here are some things we LOVED about our trip:
1. The hotel
The head board in our room lit up and sang "A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes." They were in heaven. They loved being in the hotel room as much as they liked the theme park. And the pool with the water slide was a huge hit. Taylor and I had some time together there while Corinne napped, and then Corinne joined us for some fun. They must have gone down the slide a million times. And the 80 degree water was heavenly.
2.The characters at California Adventure
Every corner we turned, there was a character for us to take a picture with and we never had to wait in line.
3.Talor's kisses
Whenever Taylor got particularly excited, she'd kiss our hands. She was so thankful to be there and it showed. We were walking down Downtown Disney and she said, "I love being with my family." A little appreciation goes a long way. She had her crabby moments too, like all of us, but she sure was happy to be there.
4.Face Painting
Mom and dad are suckers for face painting. $14 for each one,but they were so excited that it was worth it.
5.Small World
Corinne's favorite ride, by far. I loved watching her eyes get huge as she took it all in. The girls also loved Finding Nemo, Pirates of the Caribbean (after much peer pressure from Mom and Dad), Peter Pan, Monsters Inc. and The Little Mermaid. Man, were we thankful for short lines!
6.Cars
Corinne loved Autopia and the bumper cars. She was laughing hysterically during both rides.
Random footage of Rinny dancing in line for Nemo.
7. Spending time together
Sometimes it's nice to get out of the house and just be together outside of our daily lives. We had a great time playing I Spy when we were in line, and just enjoyed chatting throughout the weekend. I know the girls will be teenagers before we know it and they'll be mortified to be in public with us, eventually. So I'm trying to enjoy the moments when they're openly affectionate and loving, and don't mind being seen with us.
8. The Beauty and the Beast attraction at CA Adventure
Wes loves this attraction. You answer some questions in the Beast's magical book, and it tells you what Disney character you're most like. Ironically, our dog obsessed daughter was said to be most like "Lady" from "Lady and the Tramp." Taylor was thrilled.
9. The Rainforest Cafe
Wes was Super Dad and scored us a table at The Rainforest Cafe, right next to the animatronic elephants that come alive every few minutes. Taylor and I thought it was a pretty sweet table, but Corinne wasn't a fan.
And things we didn't like:
1. The Ferris Wheel
So maybe this one deserves to be on both lists, because 3 out of 4 family members loved it. I was having a panic attack, gripping my seat with sweaty palms while everyone else wanted to look around at the scenery. Never. Again.
2.) Toon Town
If all you saw were our pictures from Toon Town, you'd probably assume we had an awesome time. But two events put a damper on this part of the trip.Someone was blowing bubbles and Taylor was chasing them with childish glee. It was all Disney fun, until she didn't notice a curb and tripped right over it in her pursuit of a bubble. She had two huge bruises left on her side, and was ready to go back to the hotel for a break.
Corinne didn't have the best experience there, either. The two of us stood in line to see Minnie Mouse. After 20 minutes of waiting and about 10 minutes away from getting to the front of the line, one of the "cast members" announced that Minnie would be taking a 15 minute break. A break! Really?! Can't they excuse Minnie to blow her nose for two seconds and just bring in a double? Is there a shortage of Minnie costumes?....So we left in a huff. It was getting pretty tense at Minnie's house, and I felt an uprising of emotion among the parents. A riot was about to break out, so we took off.
3. Idiots
The #1 reason I have a hard time at D-land.
This is a picture of Taylor at the Disney Jr. show. It's a show the kids loved! They saw all their favorite characters and had a ball. However...this rather large woman comes and sits down right infront of Taylor just before the show begins. Only at Disneyland do you find turds like that. Who does that? Who sits infront of a child, knowing full well your body is eclipsing half the stage? I don't wanna get mean, but it REALLY ticked me off.
4. Toy Stores
Sure, they look happy and adorable in this picture. That's because we caved and bought them their souvenier early. The original plan was to buy one on the way out, but Corinne had a hard time with that concept after being forced to walk through toy store after toy store. Walt and the rest of the gang are pretty brilliant. There's no avoiding the inevitable exit through the toy store after every, single, ride. We were able to appease Corinne after the first three rides, but by Small World, her tears for a stuffed Minnie were so sincere that we had no choice.
5. A Bug's Life in 3D
This is a picture of Corinne after watching "A Bug's Life in 3-D". I still laugh when I think about it. It's a 3-D show in CA Adventure, where bugs fly at the audience in 3-D, of course. But not nice bugs. Wasps and bees. Stink bugs and spiders. Mean ones. And every child in the audience was crying. Screaming, even. It was pretty hilarious. At least to me and Wes. Corinne...not so much. Even Taylor wanted out of this one. What in the world was Disney thinking? Silly me, but I assumed everything in A Bug's Land would be aimed at entertaining kids, not terrifying them.
6. CA Adventure Explorer Camp
This is how we started off Saturday. We were all sort of hungover from the fun we had on Friday, but we got up early and were the first people in the Adenture Camp. The girls even got to announce over the loud speaker that it was open, and got "special buttons" from the camp director.
But once we got up to the Nets of Death, as Taylor refers to them, the fun ended
The kids hated walking across them and whined the whole time. Then, Taylor wanted to go down this slide pictured below. Weeeeeee! Right?
That is, until she reached the bottom and saw a bee on the end of the slide. The next picture shows what happened next.
You've never seen a kid climb up a slide so fast. And screaming the entire time. I was half annoyed and half ready to pee my pants. I think we'll skip this one next time.
But all in all, we had a great time. Wes and I love to see the kids happy. We live for it. And we hope they remember little snidbits of these trips because we sure will
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