November Road Trip Part 3: Disneyland

Time for the main event!  When we knew we were moving back to the US from Germany, I thought it would be a good time to plan a trip to Walt Disney World.  Then our plans changed and we moved to Utah instead of the East coast, so we planned to visit Disneyland instead.  This was a "one and done" situation for us, as the price tag is just too high for us to consider repeating it, so we tried to make our 3 days at Disneyland the best they could be!

 

We started each day bright and early with some Mickey waffles and headed to the park before the gates opened.

 

Our first day it drizzled off and on, but I had packed along ponchos for everyone, and they were so excited that no one fussed (much.)

 

Over the three days, we rode on about 60-70 rides (counting repeats on favorites.) 

Hyperspace Mountain was one of the very favorites.

 

Indiana Jones was neat, but a little too loud and jerky- we rode it only once.

 

I thought the Nightmare Before Christmas overlay at the Haunted Mansion was cool, but some of our group prefer the original.

 

We even got to ride a few rides (like the Jungle Cruise and It's a Small World) with Grandma and Grandpa and Dad's sister and her boyfriend which was a special treat!

 

Sometimes the kiddos were good sports for photo ops, but they were not interested in waiting in lines to meet characters when there were rides to be tackled!

 

We tried to keep food expenses down in a few ways like bringing our water bottles and a few snacks, sharing treats like these churros, and eating meals outside the park when possible.  Disney is just crazy expensive, but we did want to enjoy the fun foods too!

 

Galaxy's Edge!

 

We rode the Millenium Falcon ride twice.  Once the first day and once the second day, allowing the boys and the girls each to have a turn piloting.  (Yes, Sissy is having a tired meltdown in this photo, but she got over it.)

 

I liked it, Dad was not a fan.

 

It was pretty neat to be immersed in Star Wars for a little while.

 

I was really looking forward to the Guardians of the Galaxy ride myself!

 

It was awesome!  The big kids and I loved it, but the littles and Dad did not. At all. 

 

Hey, we got at least one cute family photo!

 

Radiator Springs was a favorite area for everyone.

 

We rode the Radiator Springs Racers three times, early in the morning on day two when the line was short.

 

Super cute.

 

The Incredicoaster was another favorite with the whole family.  I think we rode it five or six times? Our kids were the perfect age for this trip with everyone being tall enough to ride all rides, but young enough to still enjoy some of the kiddie rides.

 

I did not enjoy the Pixar Pal-a-Round!

I took the girls in one of the "swinging" seats (it was too appropriate that Sadness was on it) and Dad took the boys in a non-swinging one.  I really dislike Ferris Wheels.

 

Sissy with her doppelganger Disgust at the Emotional Whirlwind.

 

And the Bear with a tractor in Radiator Springs.

 

On day two we tried the famous hand-dipped corn-dogs for lunch. I am not usually a fan of corn-dogs, but these were really good.

 

We found Dad's happy place at the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail. This was extra forest-y with ziplines, slides, and cargo nets for the kids to climb on and made us want to visit Northern California at some point for sure. 

 

Despite the weather having turned cooler, we still rode the water rides!  

Grizzly River Run only got a few of us really wet.

 

But Splash Mountain got everyone!

 

We recovered with some hot soup in bread bowls.  

It was okay, but not as great as we'd hoped.

 

We rode the classic Tea Cups.

 

And the Astro Blasters before leaving the park for the day on day two. We were feeling pretty tired and thought we'd like to have a nice dinner outside of the park.  

 

It was pretty with the Christmas lights all on, but very much busier in the evenings.

 

So we walked over to Cheesecake Factory and had a big meal and decadent dessert before relaxing in the pool. This was our longest walking day of the entire trip and we had walked about 12 miles.

 

Our last day at Disneyland was a Friday and while we started out strong hitting our favorite rides in California Adventure, the parks quickly became very crowded with longer wait times than we had experienced the first two days.  We had lunch at Galactic Grill and rode a few rides nearby that we hadn't yet- like Finding Nemo and Autopia.

 

Then we took a break from the crowds and rode the Monorail to Downtown Disney to shop a little and have dinner.

 

The Thanksgiving Sandwich at the Earl of Sandwich was pretty tasty.

 

After dinner, we walked back to California Adventure, as we wanted to stay for the fireworks at least once.  We rode a few more rides, like Jessie's Critter Carousel.

 

And then we got in line for our viewing area for the World of Color light and water show.  (I had gotten fastpasses for us early in the morning.)

 

We were able to be right down front close to the water, and the Christmas music and light show was really impressive.  Despite everyone being really exhausted, we all agreed that staying for the show was worth it.

 

On our way out we stopped just outside the gates to watch the fireworks over Disneyland. Not the best viewing spot for sure, but we saw them without being in the massive crowds again, and that was perfect for us!

 

So, that was our three days at Disney.  It was busy, expensive, and exhausting... but I think we made some memories that made it worth it for us.