Brooks and I having been talking about taking our boys to Disneyland for over a year, but we hadn't been able to make it happen. Thanks to a generous Christmas gift from Brooks' parents, we were able to go for three days with most of Brooks' family. It was better than I could have imagined! Landon and Elliot had no clue what to expect and it was so fun to watch them experience it. They loved all the kid rides and they even enjoyed some of the faster rides. There are so many things about this trip that I wish could remain permanently en-grained in my memory because it was just that good.
I know I'll forget if I don't write them down, so here are a few of my favorite quotes and highlights from the trip.
- Landon on the monorail after doing "knuckles" (followed by an explosion) with Grandpa, "We exploded the whole train!"
- Elliot and Landon after Star Tours, "Did we really go into outer space?"
- Elliot and Landon before and after Soarin' Over California, "Are we really going to fly?" and, "Were we really flying?"
- - Elliot about almost everything, "Was that real?" (He is all about the facts.)
- - Landon after Tower of Terror, "I did NOT like that!"
- - Elliot regarding Tower of Terror, "Well...I liked it, but I don't want to do it again."
- - After Soarin' Over California, "That was the funnest thing in the world!"
- - Laughing with the boys on the Ladybug ride as we spun around faster than any of us were expecting
- - Elliot after riding on Space Mountain, "That was the funnest ride! I want to do it 600 times!"
- - Elliot skipped happily everywhere we went! It was awesome!
- - Landon's dance moves while trailing behind the parade were some of the best I'd seen in a while. He danced to Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious for at least five minutes and was so happy doing it.
- - Watching and listening to the boys reactions as we waled into Cars Land. They were pointing out characters and places as we walked.
- - On the way out of the park, Elliot was trying to explain where Tower of Terror sat on his list of things he liked the second day. He was trying to say it was at the bottom of his list, or his least favorite, but he could not figure out how to explain it. It was so cute to listen to him stumble through the list.
- - Landon's response to everything (except Tower of Terror) was, "I liked it!" with a big grin on his face.
- - During Captain EO, Landon kept trying to reach and grab the 3D items. He also started bouncing when the music was on. He liked it a lot more than I was expecting.
- - On our last night for our last ride, we wanted to go on Space Mountain again. It was late, The kids were getting tired and Landon started to have a meltdown. I told him I would sit out with him and that he didn't have to ride it, but he wanted Daddy and Elliot to stay with him too. After a minute of thinking about it he said, "Is this the monster ride (Matterhorn)?" After we explained that it wasn't he said, "Well, is it really, really fun?" Elliot told him it was. Landon then made some circular motions with his hand and asked, "Does it go like this?" Elliot once again confirmed that it did. Landon then decided he was excited to go on it and we finished out our trip with a family ride on Space Mountain.
- - We went non-stop everyday and they were asleep within minutes of getting back to the hotel each night. They were practically begging to go to bed.
Disneyland with two 4 year old boys is pretty spectacular!
Ian, Elliot and Landon
We drove over early Wednesday morning and had seven hours in Disneyland the first day. Walking into the park was exciting for us all. We'd talked about this for months and now it was finally here. Landon and Elliot grabbed onto the maps right away and there was no turning back after that. They loved looking at those things on the whole trip. We had to keep an eye on them while we were walking and then were "navigating" so they did not fall too far behind the group or crash into random people or poles.
Our first ride was Peter Pan and then it was on to Dumbo, Casey Jr., Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, Storybook boat, the teacups, Toon Town, Small World, the train and Matterhorn. The park wasn't busy at all so we were able to fit a lot in. Being at Disneyland made me realize how few Disney movies my kids have watched. They barely knew what Peter Pan was, but they still loved it. Once we got off the first ride, they started to get the hang of this place and pointed to the next place that looked exciting. Because we were the only ones who had never been before, we were sort of in charge of where to go next. It didn't really matter what we did though, because they loved it all.
Brooks hates the teacups, but I wanted to take the boys. They thought it was awesome! They loved it and wanted to spin as quickly as possible.
Small World
We came all the way to Disneyland to ride on rides, go to shows and enjoy the park. But, as soon as they saw old cartoons on this TV on in Mickey's House, they settled in to watch TV. This wasn't exactly what I had in mind. After we dragged them away from the show, we went to meet Mickey.
Day 2 was spent at California Adventure. Since hearing the news that we were going to Disneyland, the boys have been the most excited about Cars Land. This was the day they were waiting for! Walking into Cars Land was such a treat. They kept pointing things out they recognized and were thrilled to be there. Lightning McQueen is part of who they are and this was so fun for them. We walked through the town (being herded like cattle with everyone else in California Adventure) towards the Radiator Springs Racers Ride. I knew this would be a highlight of the trip for the boys, and it did not disappoint! We went on it three times the first day (never waiting more than 30 minutes) and one more time the next day. They were still begging for more after all that. The ride was a perfect mix of a slow drive through the mountains, an indoor section featuring all the characters and a fast race at the end. Elliot was trying to sweet talk us into doing the ride one more time, but we ran out of time.
We even got to meet Lightning McQueen. We don't have a single picture of Landon looking at the camera because he wouldn't stop looking at Lightning. We also rode Luigi's Tires, Tower of Terror, Soarin' Over California, the ferris wheel, and Toy Story Mania. We also saw the Aladdin show, went to the parade and did Turtle Talk with Crush. They loved it all, except Tower of Terror.
Day 3 we went back to California Adventure to ride the racers and then took turns on Tower of Terror. We hung out with the boys in Bugs Land while the other was on the ride. The Ladybug ride was a favorite. I was expecting a chill ride, but this was far from that. We were sliding all over that ladybug and the boys were giggling the whole time. I couldn't stop laughing either because the whole ride was such a shock to me. It stands out as one of my favorite memories from the trip.
After we left California Adventure, we met up with everyone in Disneyland. We went to the tiki room and rode Splash Mountain and Pirates of the Caribbean. Once again, they ate it all up. Elliot kept telling everyone that he didn't even get a little bit wet on Splash Mountain. He didn't get wet because I think all the water splashed on me.
This is us on the Finding Nemo submarine ride. Elliot looks terrified, but he wasn't. He loves the ocean so this was the perfect ride for him. Before we started he said, "Are we going to stay in the sunlight zone?"
With a three day park hopper, we even had time for a little Lego building at the Lego store in Downtown Disney.
On the way out of Disneyland that night, I told the boys to say goodbye. For the next minute or so they shouted things like, "Goodbye Disneyland! I love you Disneyland! Goodbye California Adventure! Goodbye Space Mountain!" They even blew kisses to everything. I think they had a good time! We are extremely grateful to those that made this trip possible! What an incredible adventure for our family of four!
