It's been a while since I wrote on here. I have had a busy week since I got back from Disneyland trying to catch up with everything since I left. So I've been trying to get back into the swing of things at work and at home. So I decided to write something today to keep everyone satisfied because as I've said before I hate it when there are large gaps between postings.
So I'll start by saying how awesome our trip was. It was so much fun. It's been 7 years since my family went. Jacob was 4 and Chaunie was 2. It had been 14 years since my dad had been. TJ and Mercedes have never been. It was fun. I got TJ on some rides that I thought he wouldn't get on like Indiana Jones (loved it), Splash Mountain (hated it), Tower of Terror (hated it), Star Tours (loved it), and a moving car on the ferris wheel (loved it). Sadie was a different story. She fought us on pretty much every ride we went on. Roger Rabbit, Indiana Jones, Star Tours, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, Snow White, Splash Mountain, the list goes on. She even started screaming,"I don't want to go!" when we were in line to go into Universal Studios. I have to say it was pretty funny. I could tell mom and dad were getting tired of it though. I had a great time as I usually do in Disneyland. It really is one of my top destinations for vacation. We stayed at a nice condo in Oceanside which is about an hour from Disney. We had to drive there everyday but it really wasn't that bad. We met up with Cheryl's sister Kathy and her family who happened to be there the same time we were for a wedding. It was a complete coincidence. We didn't plan a thing. So we did a couple things with them but not much. They weren't there as long as we were. And they didn't go to California Adventure which is what we did on the second day there.
So we Disneyland for 3 days and then we went to Universal Studios. That was cool but it's harder there to plan your day because all the shows are at such specific times. It's hard to show hop and hit the rides. We saw the Waterworld show which is always cool. We found a new attraction there that is a water playground outside and inside they have a bunch of air guns that shoot soft balls. The kids had a blast there. I don't know how long we were there but we lost track of time and had to hurry to the back lot tour. When we got on the tour we found out that a lot of the back lot was destroyed by fire including King Kong. Bummer. But they were rebuilding everything and next year they will have a new and much improved King Kong. Still pretty cool. Then we went on the Simpson's ride. It's where the Back to the Future ride used to be. I liked it but mom and dad had their fill of Simpsons while waiting to get on the ride. And Mercedes hated it. Then it was down to Jurrasic Park. The one ride at Universal Studios that I had been talking up to the kids the whole time. We walked right down onto the ride. It started out and we went through the first part of the ride. Then the second part starts and I start getting excited and showing the kids all the cool things that are about to happen. We come around the corner where the truck is pushed off the wall and splashes you. The truck starts it's descent and...WTF!? No splash. The dinosaurs that squirt water at you don't shoot hard enough to even reach you. Up into the building we go. OK, we still have the final drop to look forward to. Plus the raptors coming out at you and the T-Rex coming down from the ceiling. They slowed down the raptors so there is no jumping and the T-Rex doesn't come down anymore. It just sits at the same level too far away to be scary. Then the drop approaches. Please redeem yourself Jurrasic Park. The boat drops and...nothing. I didn't even get wet. What THE hell just happened? They dumbed down the ride. Why? They screwed it up. Oh well. So off to the Mummy ride. All I have to say about this ride is you just need to ride it. There really isn't an easy way to describe it. It was great though. My favorite ride there.
Then it was off to Seaworld. That was our last day in California. It was just a nice relaxing day filled mostly with looking at fish and watching shows. There were only 2 rides we went on. The only dissapointment I had with Seaworld was the Shamu show. They don't let you go down to the front row anymore so you don't really get that wet. We sat in the soak zone and didn't even get a drop. The tricks weren't that great either. The Dolphin show was closed because they were remodeling the stage for a new Dolphin show. Other than that it was fun. After Seaworld we went to Mission Beach and spent the rest of our day there watching the sun set and letting the kids play in the ocean. Perfect end to a perfect trip. It really couldn't have gone much better.
I hope my family will remember that trip when they are my age. I always remembered those family trips we took. Not just the ones we took to Disneyland but all of the family outings we had. Camping in the Uintas, the Wasatch Mountains, going to national parks, Moab, Lake Tahoe, etc. I want my kids to have the same kind of memories that I have. We will be doing some camping this year. Disneyland was our big trip for the next couple years. We can fill in the rest of the time with short trips here and there. We can have a lot of good quality family time. And we can have some fun with it too.
Thanks for reading.
