Happiest Place on Earth!

Be prepared for a VERY Long Post!!!

We arrived at the Disneyland Hotel Sunday afternoon. After checking in (our room wasn't quite ready yet) we decided to hit Downtown Disney. Ian loved the Lego Store and took pictures in front of Woody, Darth Vader and a robot.

After looking at all the shops, we went to the Rainforest Cafe to have a late lunch/early dinner. Luke really enjoyed coloring! They both liked the mock rainstorm and the moving elephants, monkeys and butterflies.

We headed back to the hotel when we were finished eating. That's when we saw Goofy hanging out in the hotel lobby! Ian was super excited.

Even though the weather was quite cool (it was only 64) it didn't stop us from taking a swim in the hotel pool. The Neverland Pool was AWESOME!!!

A little later...when it was dark out we re-walked Downtown Disney. BTW, Downtown Disney is very pretty at night. They have the trees the shops all decked out and lit up.

Around 8pm, Ian received a call from Mickey, Minnie and Goofy. I recorded the call which I will post later.

Also, we could see the Disneyland fireworks from our hotel room (which was a good thing, since they only do the show on the weekends). They were spectacular! Ian ended up falling asleep before the show was over, but Luke stayed awake for the entire thing!

Monday...we woke up early...mainly because it was really cold in our room and a hot shower sounded real good. With the tickets we had we were able to get into Toontown an hour before it opened. Once in Toontown, we went to city hall where we all became honorary citizens (they even gave us a button). We got to see where Mickey, Goofy, Minnie, Donald, Daisy, and Chip and Dale live. Ian rode his first roller coaster here (Gadget's Go Coaster).

(left) Luke playing in Goofy's Backyard. (right) Ian and Ty on Gadget

Ty and Luke on the Roger Rabbit Ride

After a few hours in Toontown, we left to see the rest of the park. Surprisingly, Luke was able to ride most of the rides...and he loved them. He cried and we had to pry him away from the ride when it was over. The rides Luke couldn't go on (the ones with height requirements) Ty and I did the "child swap" which basically means I would go on the ride with Ian and when we were done, Ty and Ian would ride (and not have to re-wait in the line)-a super nice feature Disneyland has!!! Ian loved the roller coasters, with the exception of Space Mountain, because of the dark. Luke and Ian both really really liked the tea cups! We rode them 2x's. Also, the carousel was big with both boys (Luke rode it 4x's, I'll post the video I have later).

(left) Ian on the Tea Cups (right) Ty and Luke on the Tea Cups

(Left) Ian and I on the Big Thuder Mtn Railroad (right) Me, Luke and Ian on Dumbo

(left) Ty, Luke and Ian waiting for the Parade to start (right) Mickey and Minnie on the float

The castle at night was very pretty!

Tuesday... we went to Disneyland for a couple hours since California Adventure did not open until 10am, and we were able to get into Disneyland an hour before opening (8am instead of 9am). We were able to get right onto the Submarine Voyage and the Matterhorn without much of a wait. We rode a couple other rides and re-rode the tea-cups and the carousel. Then we headed back to the hotel to check out, eat lunch and then head off to California Adventures. Ian got to meet Mr. Incredible, as we walked to the back lot. Luke really wanted to ride the Ferris wheel and kept pointing at it, by the time we got on the ride he was fast asleep. We missed the parade, but we were able to see the Playhouse Disney show, which the boys really loved!

(left) Ian and Mr. Incredible (right) Luke and Ty on the Ferris wheel

(Left) Ian and I on the Jelly Jump (right) Luke and I on Toy Story Mania

Luke on the Carousel

Ian catching bubbles during the Playhouse Disney show!

Family Shots:

Behind the castle and next to the carousel

Outside of California Adventure

On the bridge of Grizzly River Run

We all had a great time at Disneyland! We were able to ride almost all the rides (we missed 2). And we did not have to wait in long lines, I think the longest we waited was 30min for Toy Story Mania, other than that the wait was about 5-10minutes.

Thanks again to BFMC (Ty's work) for giving us this wonderful vacation! And for giving Ty time off to use it!