We just got back from the most fabulous family trip to Disneyland ("California" was really secondary to the DISNEYLAND destination). I have such fond memories of traveling to Disneyland: as a child with my family, with friends as a young adult, and later with my husband to celebrate our "babymoon." I truly love Disneyland and the "magic" that is palpable throughout the park. I knew that I wanted our children to be able to experience that same joy and magic that left me with such a lasting impression. With Uriah being 4, and a lover of all things Halloween, and Elijah being 2, and still free! (yay), we decided October was as good a time as any to give it a try!
It has been awhile since we traveled with the kids, but after commuting from Maryland to Hawaii, a 5 hour flight to California seemed like a walk in the park! Even still, I did my best to set ourselves up for success! I packed lots of snacks, new toys, coloring books, crayons, silly putty, new library books, and loaded the electronics with games and shows for the kids. Thankfully, it paid off because our boys were angels on the flight! We arrived late Friday afternoon, got our rental (Hotwire score - $21/day minivan!), some food, and checked-in to our hotel, the Hyatt Place Anaheim. The Hyatt place was a great option - it is only two blocks from Disney (and a 5 minute walk to a Disney shuttle) and had a yummy hot breakfast included in its rate. With the military discount, I believe we paid about $122/night (before taxes, parking fees, etc). All things considered, it was a really good deal for what we got.
We wanted Day 1 to be chill so we could adjust to the time difference as well as ease into the chaos of Disney days. We ended up making our primary mission that day to get some legit Mexican food (something Rob has sorely missed ever since moving away from San Diego) and to check out Downtown Disney, which would likely get the kids more excited for Disney the following day. We stopped at a place called Cali Tacos that had looked promising. It did not disappoint! Rob and I split the Carne Asada California burrito and another burrito (I can't exactly remember what was in it, but I CAN exactly remember that it was delicious). The burritos were MASSIVE, so tasty, and the best part was, we fed our entire family for $22! The portions were so generous that we weren't even able to finish everything! Cali Tacos hit the proverbial spot.
 |
I just ate lunch, and this burrito STILL looks so good.
That's how you know it's good. I'd be willing to eat this on a full stomach. LOL. #LifeMotto |
From there, we went straight to Downtown Disney. It was bustling and busy, but still so much fun. We loved being able to walk through all the Disney themed shops, and to check out all the goodies and decorations on display. One of the things we stopped to admire was the sweet shop where they were making candy apples right in front of large glass windows! I'm sure that marketing strategy definitely brings in customers because the apples looked so delectable! Thankfully, I was disgustingly full from my Mexican food so I was able to narrowly resist the temptation.
 |
|
I fell in LOVE with a rose gold sequined Disneyland backpack, but talked myself out of it for both practicality and functionality's sake. It was so gorgeous, but at $90 and too small to house the black hole-sized bag required to contain kids' ALL THE THINGS, I decided against it. I honestly still find myself thinking wistfully about the bag now and then. I'll be fine...eventually. I placated myself with a new Disney shirt to wear on our trip :) At this same store, they also had the "Heidi Klum Minnie Tiara Headband," which sells for a cool $600.00! Someone (or multiple someones) will buy it, but that someone definitely won't be me. Decision made easy bc: 1.) It isn't even rose gold and 2.) $600. I prefer electricity in my house.
 |
See that little hand? Even Elijah likes it. Honestly, if this thing goes on sale
ever, I still may get it. #YOLO .. ? |
The boys, especially Uriah, were delighted with how decorated Downtown Disney was! There were huge candy and lollipop displays, along with a bunch of pumpkins and gourds. They also had a live music band which was totally not my cup of tea, but the boys liked it enough to run around and dance to them, so it was all good!
The next morning was our first day at Disneyland! We let the kids sleep in, got some hotel breakfast in the knick of time (closes at 9am and everyone got up at probably 8:40 - 6:40 Hawaii time, so right on schedule!), and headed out to the park! Our first stop was Main Street so we could request a DAS pass for Uriah. The wait time for the pass was long - about 45 minutes - but it was so worth it. Disney is so awesome in that they really try to accommodate all of their guests, despite physical or other qualifying medical conditions. With the DAS pass, it allowed us to get a "return time," for one ride at a time. It doesn't reduce your wait time for the ride (e.g, if Peter Pan is a 40 min wait, you are still waiting the 40 min), but it does allow you to wait outside of the lines, and then return at the point a fast pass probably would return (20 min max wait in line, but in most cases, we walked right through.) This was so helpful; we often took the time for bathroom or snack breaks, or even just to sit and rest awhile. It was pretty crowded on all the days we went to the parks, but if we were near rides that had short wait times, sometimes we were able to ride a ride in between the wait! In addition to the DAS pass, we also were approved for a stroller pass. This was also incredible in that we were able to basically wheel the stroller up until the point where we could get on the ride (Same as where a wheelchair would have access).The one ride where we didn't use the stroller access (Radiator Springs Racers - Elijah wasn't tall enough) the 20 minute wait in line was brutal for me! Uriah wanted to climb under and on the rails, touch all the plants, all the water, etc. He was so easily distracted that I constantly was having to (what I felt like) drag him through the entire line. It really emphasized to me how grateful I was to have the accommodations we did! I think the passes really influenced and enhanced our wonderful Disney experience. Though we had park hoppers, we spent the entire day at Disneyland (and mostly Fantasyland, at that). The kids especially loved Dumbo and King Arthur's Carousel.
Uriah generally loved all the rides - Elijah was generally a deer in the headlights. Thankfully, he didn't cry on rides, though! I thought Uriah would've loved the Haunted Mansion because he loves scary things and Halloween, AND the Nightmare Before Christmas. Disneyland decorates the Haunted Mansion and does a NBC themed version of the haunted house. At the very beginning of the ride, Uriah said he was all done, so Rob took Uriah and emergency exited the ride.
 |
I loved all of the details for the Nightmare Before Christmas-themed mansion!
To me, it was less scary than the original version. I wish Uriah could've lasted to get on to the actual ride; I
think he would've actually enjoyed it once he got past the very loud and dark hallway entrances. |
 |
One good thing about Uriah emergency exiting the ride was that he got solo time with Jack and Sally!
The exit just so happened to be the same balcony where Jack and Sally were waving to people in line from.
Most people have to wait anywhere from 1-3hours some days to take a photo with them, and Uriah
was able to have exclusive one-on-one time with them by chance! |
 |
Behold: The many terrified/unimpressed faces of Elijah during Disneyland rides. Mind you, these were
ALL obviously during little kid rides! HA! |
Each day, we ended up leaving the parks no later than 8pm (our earliest day we left by 6:15!). Our kids powered through the day with no naps, and thankfully, don't really care all that much about fireworks or parades yet. We'll save that for our next trip.
Day 2 we started out at California Adventure. The boys both love Cars and Lightning McQueen, so seeing the entire Radiator Springs/Cars-themed section was so fun! The characters were even dressed in Halloween costumes, which was cool. Uriah was tall enough for the Radiator Racers ride, which is the Lightning McQueen roller coaster. It is SO FUN! That was both me and Rob's favorite ride! Luckily, we were able to take advantage of the rider switch, which allows for parents who have to split up to be able to ride the ride again with their child! (One of us had to stay back because Elijah was too small for the ride) Not only did it mean we got to go into the fastpass lane, it also meant that Uriah got to ride back-to-back! Radiator Racers and Mater's Junkyard Jamboree were the favorites of the day.
 |
Lightning McQueen is a superhero - see his cape? And the firetruck clown costume took 80 wigs to make!
(I watched a behind the scenes Disney Halloween special) Rob also bought Uriah those cars as a surprise.
He and Elijah were so happy with them, and we were glad to have some toys to play with during waits! |
 |
| Even Mater got in on the Halloween fun and dressed up as a Mummy! |
 |
Uriah ended up wearing his noise canceling headphones on a lot of the rides. I didn't think we'd really need them,
but during a ride, Uriah covered his ears and said it was too loud. It's the first time we used the headphones,
and I was surprised how readily he accepted and liked them! |
At the end of the day, we headed back to Disneyland to ride a few more rides (California Adventure closes earlier than Disneyland). The surprise favorite ride for the boys was the Finding Neemo submarine! It was SUPER LONG (I guess good to rest legs?), and honestly, pretty boring for me, but it was the first ride Elijah actually smiled on, so it made me happy!
On our final day, we started out at California Adventure to ride Radiator Racers one more time, then to try Guardians of the Galaxy. Uriah was too scared to ride it, so we ended up not going this time around. I did, however, get a chance to ride my favorite ride at California Adventure - the Incredicoaster! The wait time was 15 minutes, but because I was a single rider, I literally walked on to the ride! The other big thing that day was that we had reservations at Cafe Orleans so I could get my Monte Cristo. Every day, we packed a small soft cooler with snacks like veggie trays, sliced fruit, deli meat, cheese, boiled eggs, crackers, and waters. We were so glad to have done that because Disneyland food is pricey, and also for the most part super decadent. Aside from that, Uriah is a picky eater, so even if we do buy something for him, we don't really know if we will end up eating it. Anyway - that was our one sit down meal at Disneyland, and it did not disappoint! Rob got a yummy salad, I got a seafood and sweet potato étouffée starter, along with my Monte Cristo. It was delicious and hit the spot! The other goodies I got while there were some churros (NATURALLY), and churro flavored toffee that my friend Jodie recommended. I'm not a churro or toffee fanatic - I like them - but these were SO GOOD! When we go to Disneyland again, I know what I'm buying as a take-home treat!
We took Day 3 easy, since we were all pretty tired. We figured today was a free day to repeat the rides the kids really loved. We did Small World, Dumbo, Finding Neemo, and King Arthur's carousel a few times. It was the perfect ending to three busy but fantastic days!
We flew home on an early flight Wednesday. We were supposed to be split up by 2's, and 20 rows apart. Unbeknownst to us, a Hawaiian Air agent had found an entire row and put us all together. It was such a pleasant surprise! Elijah actually was able to lay across our laps and sleep, and it was also great to be able to switch the kid's seats when they started to get restless next to one of us. We had such an amazing trip, and made some wonderful memories, but there really is no place like home.
