The Rest Of Disney (In A Nutshell)

I took a record number of pictures this time around at Disneyland, so I have been having a really hard time going through them all and trying to pick out only a handful to post.  There are so many good ones… I can't wait to get them all into a photo book.  We really did have a great time.  The kids were so much fun and easy to travel with.  Ryder was scared of two characters (Darth Maul and Captain Hook) and that's it, he wasn't scared of any ride, scaredy cat Savannah came out of her shell a little bit and actually rode some roller coasters, we didn't have to stop to change diapers, there were very few attitude adjustments needed, Ryder napped perfectly in the stroller, Disney was insanely allergy friendly for Ryder, Savannah was a trooper and walked all three days with maybe a handful of complaints, there was no crying for souvenirs… I really could go on and on.  It was a fantastic family trip!  It really does get easier and far more enjoyable to travel as the kids get older (hang in there parents of little littles).

One of my most favorite pictures from the trip.  I have one just like this with Savannah when she was Ryder's age.

Savannah and Cheridan in their princess ears.

One of the best things about all of the pictures from our trip is this toothless smile.  I love that she is toothless in all of our pictures.  What a perfect time stamp.

That moment when you get to meet the princess who you are dressed up as.  Totally a special moment for a little girl.

These two little people are the best two little people in the whole world.

Savannah's "which character are you?" quiz resulted in her being Maleficent.  She was so excited about that!  My little villain lover.

Having characters sign his autograph book was one of his favorite things about Disneyland.  He was very committed to getting as many as he could.

You will laugh when I tell you that I showed up to the park at 6 a.m. one morning with the kids so that we could be at the front of the line to meet these two ladies.  We ended up being fifth in line and only had to wait maybe 25 minutes.  The wait time on average throughout the day is 3 hours plus.  No way was I waiting in that long of a line… I knew how much both the kids wanted to see Elsa and Ana though, so waking up way too early seemed like a better option than a long ridiculous line in the middle of the day.  It was worth it, Ana and Elsa were perfect and so in character… Savannah and Ryder were in love.

Radiator Springs Comes To Life

Ryder's absolute favorite movie for well over a year now has been CARS (one and two).  Eric and I both were both looking forward to getting to take Ryder to Cars Land while we were at Disney.  No joke, the boy plays with his CARS cars every. single. day. all. day. long.  The movie is always on somewhere or being quoted by him while he is driving his cars around.  We have grown to love it as much as him.  The look on his face when he saw Tow Mater and all his other favorites cruising down the streets of Radiator Springs was priceless.  This is why people pay the high prices to take their family to Disneyland over and over again.  Disneyland is magical and the way that they bring the movies to life is amazing.  Getting to see Ryder blown away by their animated favorites coming to life in a real life built Radiator Springs made our trip worth every penny.

It is seriously unreal how they brought this movie to life.  Every little detail is perfect.

Fans Of The Dark Side

Months and months and months of listening to Ryder talk about getting to see and fight Darth Vader at Disneyland finally came to be.  Well, not the fighting part… turns out you have to be at least 4 to participate in the Jedi training.  So no fighting the dark side this trip.  Thankfully, getting to meet Darth Vader and everyone else was more than enough to satisfy him.  He was so so so excited to see the dark side!  Well, all except Darth Maul… that dude's make-up is legit and very freaky.  It didn't help that he growled at Ryder when he got close to him.  It was pretty much game over after that.  He got Darth Maul's autograph, but that was it… he would NOT go near him for a picture.  It was pretty funny.  The whole Star Wars meet and greet experience and getting to take him to watch the Jedi training made the trip for Eric and Ryder.

I love this picture… high top wearing Pocahontas using the force on one storm trooper while talking trash to the other.  Pretty sweet.

This was the moment that changed it all and forced Ryder to take about five steps backwards.

OMG… Disney Videos Are The Best!!

I'm still sorting through the hundreds of pictures that I took while we were at Disneyland… it will probably be a few days before I get any posted here on the blog.  In the meantime, how about some videos!  Those are way more fun than pictures anyhow.  

Our group selfie before our ride on the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad began.  I got to sit with the two little girls… they were hilarious!!  I am so glad that I took video of them riding the ride.  Let me warn you, there is a lot of high pitched squealing… so maybe lower your volume.

The Radiator Racers ride in CARS Land was by far Ryder's favorite ride.  He almost did not get to ride it… technically he was not quite tall enough, but the worker did not really check well (lucky us).  Ryder had the biggest smile on his face the whole time he was on the ride.  Then when we got off the ride he kept telling us how awesome that ride was.

Disney Day Three: One Last Hoorah!

Our third and final day at Disneyland was spent riding all the rides we didn't get a chance to on day one and then re-riding or re-visiting anything that we absolutely loved and just had to do again.  We also caught the parade and a couple of shows that we didn't have time for on the first day.  Truth be told, we probably could have used a fourth day... that is just how much there is to do.  Not sure any of the adults would have been up for that though.  Three long days at an amusement park with the three kids was exhausting.  Totally worth it, but totally exhausting.  

Good thing we realized on the last day that we hadn't even taken a group photo... otherwise we wouldn't have this picture (which is one of my favorites).

We started the day off with a breakfast buffet (that got the boys' attention) with the characters (that got the girls' and kids' attention).  The food was awesome and the characters were all over the place.  I love that we just sit there and they come to us for play time and pictures.  No waiting in lines or fighting other parents for pictures and autographs.

We made sure to make it to the Jedi Knight Training show.  Savannah really really really wanted her daddy to see her participate in the show.  Thankfully she was chosen... seriously almost the last kid they picked to come up and train.  That would have been a bummer if she had to sit that one out and just watch.  As an added bonus, she got to fight Darth Vader this year.  Score!