Sunday, March 14, 2010

Fun times at the Happiest Place on Earth

Long, long ago, in a galaxy one state over, we went to Disneyland. Actually, it was about a month and a half ago, and I am finally getting around to posting about it. I think when I have so many cute photos of an event, it is a little intimidating to actually get the post done. Anyway, we went to Disneyland on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday the first weekend in February.
It rained all day on Friday, which was actually okay with us, since we had come prepared with jackets and umbrellas, changes of clothing, etc, and the rain kept the crowds away. It was seriously the lightest Disney day I think I have ever experienced. I think the longest we waited for anything was about 5 minutes.
Here we are below just after entering the park with Pluto. You can see Finley was thrilled to be meeting a giant, human size dog who had eyes as big as her head.

I just have to point out here that this photo took place before they let us in past Main Street, in case some of you are thinking, "Disneyland just opened for the day, and they're standing around posing with a dog with giant facial features?" Rest assured, if the rides had been operating at this hour, we would have been zooming towards one.
We rode Jungle Cruise. This happens to be Keith's favorite ride.
I don't know why Finley looks so apathetic. She did actually enjoy herself.
And that is all of the pictures I managed to take the first day. It just was not convenient to pull out my camera in the pouring rain. One bad thing about both Friday and Saturday--they closed the parks earlier than they had posted. We were pretty disapointed, but even with the shortened hours I'm pretty sure we managed to ride more than we usually do.On Saturday, we made sure to catch a showing of Aladdin in the Hyperion theater. This show is so awesome and practically worth the price of a ticket on it's own.
It rained for a couple of hours on Saturday, but then cleared up and was absolutely beautiful. Fortunately, the crowds stayed away and we practically had the park to ourselves. Okay, just kidding, but it was much lighter than usual. Keith, Verne, Maira, Hillari, Finley, Sareny, and Isaac in DCA. Also note how the kids are arranged in our stroller--we used this setup quite a bit and it worked really well for us to only have one stroller.
Posing with Hopper.

Waiting for the show.

We actually rode the Mickey Wheel twice. I had never even ridden it once before! Isaac with his Grandma.

All of our kids love their grandparents! One day as we were walking into the park, Nancy and Verne were in front of me and Isaac holding hands. Isaac ran up in between them, forced their hands apart and held onto their hands himself. I thought it was pretty funny.
We were in the carriages that swing, and Isaac was pretty terrified. I'm surprised we got a smile out of him for this picture.

The group minus Marcella and Manuela. I heard they are taking out the giant golden California letters for some reason.

We rode a lot of kid's rides Saturday evening. The lines were just so non-existent, we were able to just go from one to the next really quickly, which for Fantasyland hardly ever happens.
Outside of Winnie the Pooh.

Breaking out of the Toon Town jail.

So strong they bent the bar.

Nancy, Marla, Manuela, and Marcella riding one of my favorites, Alice in Wonderland.
They really wanted to pull the sword out of the stone.
I told them to try really hard.

We rode the Carousel.

Isaac bravely holds on with only one hand!

Riding Pinnochio.

I think this was the first time I had ever ridden Casey Junior Circus Train.
We were in the Monkey cage.

Even Dumbo had no line!

I somehow managed to get a picture of Marla smiling. I think this might be the first time anyone, anywhere has ever accomplished this feat.
Our last morning, waiting in line.

Perfect weather all day=lots of crowds. Really the lines were only about 20 minutes in the middle of the day, but after our first two awesome days, that just seemed too long!
I was utterly and completely shocked at how much Isaac walked at Disneyland. This is not normal for him. Just walking into the mall from the parking lot yesterday, for example, we were almost to the door when he stopped and said, "I'm tired. I want Mommy." I expected this to happen at Disneyland, and still can hardly believe it didn't. He walked from our hotel, into DCA, and around to the ferris wheel by himself and refused the stroller when I asked him if he wanted to ride. Below is a rare time when he consented to riding.
My boys in the caboose of Casey Junior.
Sareny spun our teacup.

Finley was a pretty good girl. Keith held her a lot, and she got to where she didn't want me or anybody else, just Daddy. (although she started calling him mommy...) When we rode Mr. Toad, I held Finley in the line while Keith and Isaac's car started driving away. Finley started screaming "Mommy! Mommy!" And reaching out for Keith's retreating form. It was pretty weird.

We rode Dumbo again. I think I rode it a record-breaking 3 times this trip.
Me and my kids outside of Mr. Toad. I love this picture!
We had an awesome time. It was especially nice to spend time with our family and friends we don't get to see very often.

7 comments:

cassidy said...

Love all the pickies! It's so funny that Finley started calling Keith mommy! I like that picture of Isaac and Sareny trying really hard to pull out the sword. And that picture by the honey pots is totally cute. Thanks for posting about Dis!

Jolynn said...

I'm glad you finally did this post. It looks like so much fun! Was that actually a pair of jeans I saw on Sareny??? I'm shocked, if it was. I love that Finney called Keith Mommy. Were people laughing when she was screaming Mommy and reaching for him? I would have been.How fun that it wasn't so busy while you were there. Makes it much more emjoyable.

Anonymous said...

I can't believe there wasn't a line at Dumbo! It MUST have been minimal crowds. I too like the Alice in Wonderland ride but don't care for the movie! :-) It looks like you had a fun trip. Maybe we'll see you there again some time!

Lexi said...

about time you posted about dis. im jealous. i cant believe there were no lines. but the rain doesn't sound like fun. you have a lot of cute pictures. i like the one of you guys on the ferris wheel. i want to go to disneyland now...

Andrew, Amy, Evelyn& Owen said...

What a fun vacation! I would love to go there sometime soon!

Tanya said...

It does look like fun times at Disneyland! Your kids are too cute!

holli jo said...

Cute pictures! Looks like you guys had lots of fun! I'm jealous of the fact that it wasn't crowded. That's probably 90% of why I have a love/hate relationship w/ Dis.

Also, we are still laughing at Finley screaming for "Mommy" at Mr. Toad's ride. I wish we could have seen that.