Now on to the fun stuff!  We planned this trip for early November because according to all the research we did, Disneyland has smaller crowds at that time.  Thanksgiving and Christmas are very crowded and summer too.  So even though I had misgivings about making this trip with OUR kids (the fighting, the arguing, the overstimulation), I did not have misgivings about the crowds.  In other words, I had low expectations of what would happen with the kids this time (unusual for me) and high expectations about the number of people we would have to deal with in the park.  I was not disappointed in my expectations of the kids.  Well, I was disappointed, let’s be honest.  But apparently the whole country had the day before Veterans day off and they all decided it would be a great day to go to Disneyland.

We hit the park as it opened and headed straight for Star Tours because it’s always a popular ride; one I’ve had to wait hours to ride before.  We got there so fast we zipped right through the line.  There is something very satisfying in walking the zigzag of theme park lines super fast.  You feel like you are cheating fate.  It was the last time we enjoyed that feeling all day, at least for most rides.

The boys loved Star Tours.  But it was just the first of many rides that Liberty did not like.  Basically she didn’t like any dark or loud rides.  This eliminates a LOT of rides at most theme parks.   So I got to spend the day riding the little dinky rides with her and Reagan, because even though we don’t mind the dark rides, Reagan was not a fan of the loud ones and neither he nor I like big roller coasters.  The drops make me sick.  I am, after all, probably the one person you know who has actually used a barf bag on an airplane.  We did make her go on several she didn’t like, though.  You can not go to Disneyland without going on Pirates of the Caribbean.

The Dumbo Ride-very tame.

Everyone had to take a try at King Arthur’s sword. Levi’s faces are hilarious.



 

The Swiss Family Robinson Tree is now Tarzan’s Tree house.  Whatever it’s called, it’s still the coolest tree house I’ve ever been in!

Disneyland was already decked out for the holidays.  Poinsettia was everywhere!

Levi and Cade LOVED the big fast rides, so while Rock took them to ride the Matterhorn and Splash Mountain we tried to find Sleeping Beauty.  No Princess, but we did find Minnie Mouse.

Later that day Liberty also got to meet
Ariel

Snow White

and Cinderella

No Sleeping Beauty, though.  

In the hopes of catching a glimpse of her we tried to  to watch the parade that evening.  We were supposed to meet up with Rock but there were so many people and so many sections had been blocked off, we could not even get to the spot where we were supposed to meet.  To make matters worse, both our cell phones were dead. (I will just say here that I do NOT know how our parents ever survived before cell phones.)  So we tried in vain to find each other.  It became almost impossible to steer the stroller around and I finally decided, to heck with it, I was going to stop in the aisle in a place that was out of everyone’s way, no matter what those D-Land workers with their big light sticks were telling me to do.  But the worker bees would have none of it.  I was so fed up with the crowds and the impossibility of getting around all day that I lost it.  I did something I’ve never done in my life.  I told that twerpy 18 year old worker that I was not in anyone’s way and I would not move.  He made up some excuse about fire lanes and since I did not have the energy at that moment to argue the fire code,  I moved.  My little rage against the machine was pretty pathetic I suppose, but I was tired and grouchy.  We gave up and rode the tea cups instead.  Ironically enough, they turned out to be Liberty’s favorite ride of the day.  She rode them three times in a row.  “Let’s do it again, Mommy!”  is so much better than plugged ears and crying.  While in the tea cups who should ride by on her parade float, but Sleeping Beauty! 

A few hours later we crammed into main street to watch the fireworks over the castle.  Disney did not disappoint. The fireworks were amazing and at the end, as the last firework fell to the ground, it started to snow!   Up and down Main Street snow fell from the tops of the buildings.  That was the most magical moment of the whole day.  Nice touch, Disneyland!

We went back to the hotel after that, feet aching and utterly wiped out.  The kids fell asleep before their heads hit the pillow and for our kids, that’s a miracle.   My overall impression of Disneyland this time around was, I admit, frustration.  The crowds and lines are harder to handle as an adult herding kids around the park.  But Rock and the kids had a great time.  I will always remember the snow on Main St. and the kids faces when they realized it was “snowing”.
Stay tuned for Part 4-Legoland!