DISNEYLAND! (California Adventure Park)

Friday morning we woke up, ate a good breakfast, checked out of the hotel and headed to Disneyland! 

I had my doubts about whether or not this was a good idea. We had just spent an exhausting week away from home and Camden had spent the whole week skipping naps. It just seemed like a recipe for disaster. Much to my surprise, everything went smoothly and our day at Disneyland was awesome! Largely due to the fact that this happened.

Twice!  :) 

We were worried about Brady being tall enough for some of the rides. He is just barely 40" if he is standing tall and holding his head the right way. He was turned away from the first 40" ride we tried to get him on (curse you, swings!) but he had no trouble riding all the 40" rides for the rest of the day! Here his is on the Jellyfish ride- his very first 40" ride! 

Classic Disney shot.

Ryan and Zach rode the water rapids ride. It was a 46" ride so me and the little boys hung out in the splash zone and waited for them!

I packed a lunch and we ate at some tables in the park. By mid afternoon, however, the sun was beating down on us and we needed a rest. We found a quiet spot with some benches and camped out for a few minutes and had frozen lemonade and cotton candy. It just might have been the highlight of Brady's day.

The boys got autographs and their picture taken with Donald Duck, Woody, Mater, Lightning McQueen and Jake. We never tried to track down the characters, we just stopped whenever we happened to run into them.

These boys were loving it! Their favorite ride was the Radiator Springs racers. That ride was worth the cost of admission alone. It was awesome.

 I was surprised to see that the height requirement for Tower of Terror was only 40". In a short bout of insanity I decided to take Ryan and Brady on. I got more than a few judgey looks in line. It has been 10 years since I last rode that ride, so I only vaguely remembered what it was like. I did my best to tell the boys exactly what they were getting themselves into. As the ride was going I looked down at Ryan. He was almost in tears. I reassured him and then turned to Brady to assess the damage. He. was. loving. it. As soon as we got off he asked if we could go again. Ryan said, "I will never do that again!" I guess we know who the daredevil in our family is!

Before we knew it, it was time for dinner. We got the little boys hotdogs and Zach tracked down a turkey sandwich and chips for me. Brady fell asleep right as we were getting dinner so we saved his and let him nap in the stroller. While I hung back with Ryan and sleeping Brady, Zach set out with Camden to find a turkey leg.

Success!

We spent the rest of the evening riding rides in the Radiator Springs portion of the park. They do a light show at 9:30pm every night that we were hoping to see. When the day started I wondered if we would be able to stay busy until then. As it ended up, the boys were riding rides and having a blast up until the last minute before the show started. Our seats for the show were right outside the Little Mermaid ride. Brady fell in love. There was no line so we rode the Little Mermaid ride over and over again until it was time for the show to start. When we got home, the first movie Brady wanted to watch was the Little Mermaid. I guess he had never seen it before! (mom fail!)

The light show was amazing! It was a great way to end the night. It was delayed for quite some time and didn't end up starting until after 10pm. By the time it was over it was almost 11pm and the park closed while we were making our way out to the front gates. I'd say we squeezed every last drop out of our day! Camden fell asleep in Zach's arms on the way to the shuttle that took us back to our car. The hotel we stayed in that night was about an hour away and then the computers were down when we arrived so we didn't get checked into the hotel until well after midnight. Camden woke up on the drive there and had a terrible time getting back to sleep, so we all didn't get to bed that night until about 1:30am. We slept in the next morning as much as we could and then headed back to Zach's parents house in St. George! 

Other Disney highlights that were not pictured: 

The first ride we rode was the Toy Story ride. It was the longest line we had to wait in (30min) all day, but it was a great ride. The best part is Camden got to ride on Zach's lap so we were able to go as a family! 

Our first stop after getting into the park was to go get a Fast Pass for the Cars (Radiator Springs Racers) ride. It was a great decision. Our Fast Pass was for 1:00pm and by the time we were riding there were no passes left and the wait time would have been 70 minutes long! We waited for maybe 10 minutes. We loved riding with Fast Passes and pretty much got them for all the rides we rode for the rest of the day. 

We went to the Alladin show in the afternoon. Camden had just fallen asleep so I waited with him in the stroller while Zach and the boys got a spot in line. I got a little ticket thing (Disney is so accommodating to families!) that let me join them when the theater opened and they finally started seating people. Camden stayed asleep in my arms until the show started and then he sat in my lap and watched the show! He was completely entertained and engaged the whole time. It was an awesome show and I was so happy to actually get to enjoy it instead of chasing Camden around. Like I said, Camden made our trip what it was. He could have really screwed things up for us, but he was the perfect toddler the whole day! 

The Fly Over California ride was a favorite. We did a stroller pass for that one so Brady got to go on twice in a row. He loved it and it was so cute to watch his little face as the simulator flied us all over CA and the ocean. He really enjoyed the fireworks at the end. 

I'm sure there is more that I am forgetting. But the take home message is this: Disney is awesome. I was an unbeliever before this trip. I always wondered what the big deal was. But I have been converted! It was such a fun day and one that our family will remember fondly. Now if we can just figure out how and when to go back!