However, Micah got sick with Roseolla and had high fevers off and on and the temperature was supposed to be in the hundreds, so I was planning on staying home with him. I got online the day Colin, Jackson and his parents were heading out for L.A. and bought 1 child and 3 adult tickets to Disneyland.
Minutes after I printed them out Colin's dad hurt his back somethin' fierce and we all ended up staying home. Instead of a wonderful and memorable trip to Disneyland, my in-laws got a wonderful and memorable trip to the local chiropractor.
Of course time with family is still precious time with family whether you're at Disneyland or not and we made the most of it. But, the tickets are non-refundable.
So, our next trip down to L.A. was planned for Micah's birthday and that's why we decided to go to Disneyland then. We had one extra adult ticket, so we invited my sister and her husband along too. It was a special time seeing as our families won't be geographically close for much longer. (Side note: we'll be staying in California until this coming summer. I'm hoping our little girl will be around 3 months old when we move ... or at least sleeping through the night.)
Anyway, while I was planning the trip to Disneyland in August I knew that it was going to be crowded (1. because it was the last weekend before school started and 2. we were going on a Saturday) and I began researching tips on making the most of your Disneyland trip. That's when I came across Ridemax (a download-able software program that helps you make an itinerary for your Disneyland and/or Disney World trip so that you avoid long lines, most large crowds and spending an exuberant amount of money). I want to say it was about $15.00 for a 90 day software download and I think it was well worth it.
Although we ended up going on a day when it was not very crowded at all (it being the Friday after Halloween weekend) the tips from Ridemax were still very helpful. We arrived at the park around 9:30am and left a little before 8pm. Even with a 2 year old, a 4 year old and two pregnant ladies we were able to hit at least half a dozen rides (if not more), see the parade and a show. All at a somewhat leisurely pace with plenty of potty breaks and time to sit and eat our meals.
Anyway, enough of the commercial ... I promise Ridemax didn't pay me anything to mention them in my blog ... here are a few pictures from our trip:
Ridemax recommended doing either the "Nemo" ride or "Peter Pan" but not both because they tend to have the longest lines and they recommended riding them first. It was our longest wait in line (about 20 minutes)all day.
The armada of strollers outside of "Peter Pan."
Micah loved all of the rides (with the exception of "Winnie the Pooh"). Here we're on "Casey Jr. Circus Train."
Oh yeah! I forgot to mention above that we were first in line to see Winnie the Pooh, Tigger and Eeyore and it wasn't even a part of my itinerary ... extra BONUS and the boys LOVED it!!!
Jackson steered the whole way on "Autopia."
We planned "Tom Sawyer's Island" during Micah's nap time because we knew all of the walking may put him to sleep. SUCCESS!
"Tom Sawyer's Island" was definitely one of Jackson's favorite places. So many things to explore including caves. He was very adventurous! However, if he was at all apprehensive about a dark cave he'd say, "Dad, can you go in there and check it out?" As soon as Colin gave the all clear sign he was off to the races.
The two times we've been to Disneyland we've always gotten Mickey ice cream bars, so it's sort of become a tradition.
We didn't have the best seats in the house for the parade, but that was by choice and we didn't have to stand behind anyone either. The boys loved all of the music and dancing.
If you ask the boys what their favorite ride was that we went on they'd say "Buzz Lighyear," hands down. It had a laser gun you could use to shoot Zurg and all of the aliens and it had a joy-stick for moving the car around in circles. Even though it was near the parade route and the parade had just ended so there were crowds headed toward the line we used FAST PASSES to get through the line in about 7 minutes.
Here's the birthday boy at Grandma and Grandpa K's house. Notice the Mickey Mouse cake pop. ;)
