Even though we are pretty much still without jobs, no income, and the economy is a mess, we decided that we owed it to ourselves and our kids to have a belated graduation celebration. We still have some savings, our kids are the perfect ages, and we wouldn't have to worry about taking time off of work.
We had been planning this for a while, but left it as a complete surprise to our kids. We picked them up right after school on Wednesday, Oct. 1st and started driving. After a few hours, we finally told the kids where we were going. They were so excited! They had no idea of what to expect from Disneyland (Kylee thought it would be like one big football field with Disney characters scattered about to meet).
It is about a nine hour drive from Reno to Anaheim. Unfortunately, we followed some wacky directions from Mapquest that took us through a steep narrow switchback highway across mountains just outside of L.A. at midnight. Along with that, there were three major freeway detours where the entire freeway was shut down for the night. The last thirty miles or so, the van started acting really funny. Any time we had to brake, it started violently shimmy-shaking. When we had to get off of the freeway and actually stop at a red light, the van wanted to lurch forward, revving faster and faster. When we got off the last freeway into Anaheim after one in the morning, the van couldn’t take anymore. Sean had to put it in park to keep from running a red light. But the RPM’s revved up higher and we smelt a powerful burning smoking rubber odor. Sean quickly shut off the ignition before it blew up or something. We thought for sure we had just blown-up our transmission. And this after just spending $2000 two weeks earlier to get it all fixed up. Luckily, our motel was right in front of us across the street. So we only had to push it a few hundred yards. What a fun start to our first family trip to Disneyland!
The next day, Thursday, ended up being much better. The weather was beautiful, the kids were excited, and the van was towed and being fixed while we had fun in Disneyland. That morning we explored Frontier Land and Adventure land. The lines were relatively short, and the kids couldn’t believe what they were seeing. It was so fun seeing them experience the magic of Disneyland for the very first time. Turns out Will was just the perfect height to experience all the rides that required you to be at least 42 inches. Will cleared with an inch to spare. It turns out that he is quite the daredevil too, along with Celeste and Aspen. Splash mountain was everyone's absolute favorite, except for Kylee who was tramatized for life. We were so mean and made her ride that a second time on Friday because everyone (but her) loved it so so much.
In the afternoon we explored California Adventures. It didn't have quite as much magical feel as Disneyland, but it sure was a lot of fun! It was so conveniently close, lots of kids areas, and fun family-type rides. It was a lot more Pixar character oriented with a strong California boardwalk/carnival feel. We especially liked the swinging-caged Ferris Wheel, the spray park in Bug's Life Land, and the Brother Bear adventure trail area.
Friday morning Sean took a taxi to go get the van. It was fixed all in one day! It ended up being an electrical problem that caused the engine to idle REALLY fast. Luckily this was much easier and cheaper to fix than the transmission. We were really counting our blessings. Then it was off for another fun-filled day at Disneyland!
All Friday morning we spent in Toon Town. This place brought the kid out in everyone, especially Aspen. The kids loved feeling like a cartoon and meeting all of the Disney characters and seeing their cool toon houses.
Then on our way to Fantasy Land we saw the princess area. We were warned that the line to see the princesses was always at least an hour. And this was to see a random 3 princesses. We geared up for waiting in line just sure that the girls would want to, but they said it wasn't worth it. They did have princess storytime every few hours, so we did catch Snow White telling her thing. Unfortunately, "It's a Small World" was closed for renovations, but all the other fun original Fantasy Land rides were a hit with kids, especially Kylee who didn't appreciate the faster rides. These were some of the longest lines we had encountered so far, but they were still usually less than 15 minutes. Not bad! And Kylee found out that she actually liked the Matterhorn roller-coaster, so we rode that twice. Then in the afternoon, we saw the Main Street parade. The music, characters and floats were so incredible! (Most of the parade pictures are down way below in the character section).
Unfortunately, Friday evening didn't go quite as smoothly as we entered the realm of Tomorrow Land. The bad luck started after we decided to wait in the slow line for Space mountain. It said it was a forty-five minute wait and fast-pass time didn't start until 8:30 p.m. (a whole three hours later). Well, after waiting in line for over an hour we were finally getting really close. It became very apparent to Kylee that this was going to be a fast and dark ride and she was starting to freak out. She huddled against Sean and declared, "I'm afraid of the dark." Seconds later the whole place lit up with fluorescent lights. A guy announced that maintenance needed to check the ride and that we could leave if we wanted or wait until they resumed. At this point there were literally only a dozen people in front of us. After waiting another ten minutes, the guy announces that the ride has been shut down for the evening. Very frustrating to say the least. We still blame Kylee for jinxing the ride. Right afterward, we went to Autotopia which was still quite a long line considering we were in the fast-pass line. The kids absolutely loved it though!
After that, we decided that we needed dinner. We took the monorail to the Downtown Disney hotel and shopping area outside of the Disneyland park. The minimal wait and smooth ride was a relaxing change of pace. The Lego store was right in front of us when we got off, so we looked around and saw amazing life-sized Lego creations (like Darth Vader). Afterward we decided that there were no suitable fast and cheap restaurants around. We needed something fast so we could get back for the fireworks that start at 9:30 p.m. So we headed back to the monorail just in time for the worker to put the rope barrier across and tell us that the monorail closes at 8:00 for the fireworks. Oh, we were so ticked! Neither Sean and I had seen any signs or had been warned by anyone that the monorail would shut down early. The walk back ended up being only ten minutes, but it was still frustrating.
After we ate something and found a nice place in Fantasy Land to watch the fireworks, it was around 9 pm. Then an announcement sounded over the whole park, "Due to high winds at higher elevations, the fireworks MAY be canceled. A final decision has not yet been made in hopes of better weather." It was a bit windy, but nothing like the violent Reno winds we were used to. We decided to wait it out just in case. At 9:30 it was announced that the fireworks would be temporarily postponed in hopes of calmer weather in the next few minutes. Fifteen minutes later the announcement said, "Due to high winds the fireworks tonight have been canceled. We are sorry for any inconvenience this may cause and hope you enjoy the rest of the park." How crushing after all the other bad luck we had that night. We tried to cheer up the kids in the midst of our exhaustion and frustration. We did have one more day to make up for it though!
Saturday and Sunday were "Gay Days" in Anaheim. This made Saturday considerably more crowded than than the past two days. Literally, half of the crowds were a see of red. Red shirts we found out were the symbol of the "Gay Days" celebration. We just laughed this off, the kids were oblivious, and it didn't deter us in the slightest. We were determined to have a better experience in Tomorrow Land and finally ride Space Mountain. We got fast-passes this time and rode the other Tomorrow Land rides while we waited for our fast-pass time. The first ride we waited for was the Nemo submarine ride. They did a really good job with the decor and special effects under the water.
We made our way around to the other rides we hadn't been on yet. Then we watched a special Jedi Training show where some of the kids get to participate and be a Jedi Trainee. Both Aspen and Celeste got picked! Even though Will and Kylee were said they weren't chosen, they had fun watching. Aspen got to fight Darth Mal while Celeste fought Darth Vader himself!
All Saturday afternoon we spent in California Adventures. It was much less crowded than Disneyland, and we had a marvelous time riding and seeing all the things we hadn't gotten to yet. We loved the kid-friendly Bug's Life area. They did such a good job with the props and construction of the place. It really made us feel like small bugs as we walked through a huge cereal box or watermelon. They used huge fiberglass clovers for shade and real bamboo to feel like huge grass.
We loved the Grizzly River Rapids Raft Ride and got very soaked. It was also great fun watching the kids experience 3-D shows for the first time ever. California Adventures has their own parade with all of the Pixar characters in it. Will finally got to see his idol, Lightening McQueen (see character pictures way below).
That night, Sean left us to go spend time with his good childhood friends from Semi Valley. The kids and I stayed around the park to wait for the fireworks. Even though it was very overcast, it wasn't very windy at all. We found a spot near Main Street and sat and waited while we ate. Before nine, we started hearing those recordings that the fireworks MAY be canceled, and I thought, "Oh no, da-sha-vou all over again!" At 9:30 when they were supposed to start, the recording said they were temporarily postponed. Around a quarter to ten the last announcement declared that the fireworks were about to begin! Everyone cheered. The kids and I were so excited. Aspen turned to me with a huge grin and told me that she had said a little prayer. Everyone stood up when the fireworks started. It was like a standing-room only concert. We were packed like sardines, and the kids could barely see in between the trees and the adults in front of them. We didn't end up having as good of a vantage point as I thought. But what we did saw was breathtaking. It was such a glorified finale of our adventure and a poignant synopsis of everything we had experienced at the park. Everything was synchronized with music and voice recordings going through the different feel of every "Land" in Disneyland with snippets of soundbites from many of the rides that we had been on.
Sorry for the travel log feel and the length of this entry. There was just so much we want to remember and record for ourselves, and so much to share with you. Even though we had our setbacks, the trip was SO fun, and definitely memorable! I was so sad coming home on Sunday, I just wanted to stay and keep feeling the magic that is Disneyland.
Disney Characters we saw:
In Case You Need the Review:
Row 1: Minnie, Mickey, Goofy
Row 2: Pluto, Chip & Dale, Tinkerbell & Fairys
Row 3: Cinderella, Aerial, Belle
Row 4: Snow White, Dwarfs, Aladdin & Jazmin
Row 5: Pinocchio, Moose totem (from Brother Bear), Coda
Row 6: Winnie the Pooh, Eeyore, Tigger
Row 7: Lightening McQueen, Mater, the Incredibles
Row 8: Baby Jack-Jack, Sully, Mike
Row 9: Squirt, Nemo & Marlin, Bloat the Blowfish
Row 10: Flick & Princess Atta, Stick Bug, Remy from Ratatouille
Row 11: Toy Story, Buzz Lightyear, Alien Toys
