Trip to Disneyland
Thursday, December 8th - Disneyland
We sure love Disney! When we told the kids that living in St. George would put us only five and a half hours away from Disneyland, they were shocked. It definitely helped soften the blow of leaving all their friends in Colorado.
Finding time to go was a little bit tricky since our fall has been busy with High School soccer, cross country, and trips up to spend time with my Dad any chance we could get.
We finally found a December weekend and pulled the kids out of two days of school. We drove down to Anaheim on Wedneday night and stayed at a restaurant within walking distance of the parks.
Thursday morning we woke up and walked twenty minutes to the Park. Inside California Adventure we headed down Buena Vista Street and had to stop to take a picture by the trolley. Love that fun street. We walked straight to the Spiderman Ride, which he hadn’t done yet. It was fun! Then onto the single rider line for the Incredicoaster.
Then onto the ferris wheel which is always exciting but might be my last time… at least on the ones that swing all over the place! It makes me nauseous! Haha
The kids did Goofy’s Fly School and then over to my favorite: Soaring. Then over to Guardians which we did twice in a row. Love that ride so much!! We played lots of Concentration and made up a group version for Rock Paper Scissors and played it over and over again. Then over to the Incredicoaster and the Swings and back to Guardians. I’d love to see a map of our footsteps walking all around the park. No wonder we clock about 13 miles each day. At 1:00 we headed out of the park, saying hi to a festive CHIP on the way, and walked over to Panera Bread to relax and order lunch.
Then over to Disneyland for the rest of the day. Thunder Mountain Railroad is always a favorite and Splash Mountain hardly had any line because of how chilly it was. We got splashed but it was a lot of fun!
Star Wars Land
We walked through Star Wars Land just as the sun was going down.
We decided not to stand in line for an hour to ride Rise of the Resistance and spent the time walking around while it was still light. I just love Star Wars Land! So fun to walk through the shops and check everything out. Love being here with Chris and the kids.
Then we went on the Millennium Falcon — which makes Dad sick so he just sits and pushes random buttons while he closes his eyes.
Matt’s ‘check out this cool sweatshirt’ face.
Love seeing the Stormtroopers and Kylo Ren wandering around and causing all kinds of trouble.
After checking out the castle, we headed back home for awhile to rest. At 9:30 Dad and the kids headed back into the park to enjoy a few more rides… Radiator Springs (Meg’s favorite), Space Mountain, Pirates and Indiana Jones. I enjoyed relaxing in the hotel room and went to bed early!
Friday, December 9th - Disneyland
Friday was an even earlier morning. We walked to the Park and got in line for the Rise of the Resistance — which is so good! Then Haunted mansion ( :P) and then walked around Fantasy Land and went on Dumbo and Matterhorn and waited a long time for Thunder but it was worth it. Then Indian Jones and Buzz Lightyear.
Meeting Cruella
Definitely one of the highlights of the trip was running into Cruella. She was hysterical. When we spotted her she was crouched next to a little girl who was holding on to her Mickey Mouse stuffed animal. She said, “Yes, that’s the way I like to hold my animals too. So tight they can’t get away. Or in a bag over my shoulder.” Then she tried to ‘smile’ for the camera and looked like she was in absolute pain as she tried to do it. It was so funny. We all laughed.
When Matt approached to say hi Cruella said, “Oh, darling I’m just exhausted, I don’t think I can take ONE more picture.’ and then immediately launched into pose after pose, which had Matt laughing. It was so cute!
When she heard us say, ‘Go Matt’. She said, ‘What did you call it?' and then started saying, ‘Come on MATT, come on.’ He tried his best to match her poses…
… but he could NOT stop laughing. So fun.
For their last pose they discussed it and decided on this one. Chris got the whole thing on video. It was perfect!
Mickey and Friends Parade
We headed to Panera Bread for lunch again, watched some of a world cup game and then walked into California Adventure right when the parade was starting! I just love Mickey!!
Walking around Cars Land
We enjoyed walking around Cars Land and taking a few pictures. Then the single rider line on the Radiator Springs Racers Ride. (Megan’s Favorite!) It’s a fun one!
Late afternoon Dad, Megan and I decided to head back to the hotel for awhile and Luke and Matt decided to stay at California Adventure and go back and forth between Guardians and Incredicoaster. I think they loved being there just the two of them.
Dad, Meg and I got Salt and Straw Ice cream on our way back home.
Salt & Straw in Downtown Disney
We first tried Salt & Straw in Oregon with Cassie right before they got married. Such a fun place with some great flavors. We’ve been fans every since!
When we met back up with the boys then we watched a little bit on the Disney parade ending with Santa Claus. The kids next to us were so cute!! Then we went on the train around the park and read blogs of previous Disney trips. We walked around in Toon Town and went on Winnie the Pooh. Meg and Luke fearlessly enjoyed Splash Mountain together with lots of screaming. We walked back to California Adventure and explored the Animation Center and LOVED talking with Crush. It was SO SO funny. One of the highlights of the day.
December 10th - Disneyland
We were up early for our last Disney morning. We got ready, packed up the van, walked to California Adventure and were in line for Guardians minutes after the 8:00am opening. Love that ride. Then we did it again. Then single rider line for the Incredicoaster and then over to Toy Story Mania. It was a successful morning. After a few more rides, Mickey sourdough bread, more group ‘Rock, Paper, Scissors’ challenges, and Ghiradelli’s chocolate sundaes we were exhausted. By 1:00 all of the ride times were now to an hour each, so much to Matt’s dismay… we decided to head back to the van and drive home. What a great couple of days!
Grizzly River Run
Meg’s top five Rides: Guardians, Incredicoaster, Radiator Springs, Splash and Indiana Jones
Funny Quotes: “Y? I don’t know Y?” Disney workers on the boys sweatshirts. Lots of Y comments!
Matt eating a pretzel 🥨 that was so good. “I don’t want to eat anything else to take the taste of this away. Like broccoli or hairsparagus.” He really thought asparagus was really hairsparagus. Haha