The Happiest Palce On Earth
We were very blessed earlier this summer (the middles of June) to go with all of Paul's family to Disneyland! It was three fun filled days of early mornings, late nights, sore feet, rides, parades, shows and good times with family!
The first day of our three day hopper pass found us in Disneyland. The timeshare had a service that we thought we would try, Ridemax. It mapped out an itinerary of rides for the day. It was amazing, by 11am we had been on half of the rides in the park. Which was a very good thing because it got very crowded. I don't think I have ever seen so many strollers in my life. And believe it or not Monday proved to the least crowded of the days we were there.
As we entered Disneyland they gave each of the kids a map of the park. Each of my girls treated it like a treasured possession, especially Sarah. She held onto that all day long! If she set it in the stroller to go on a ride, she quickly picked it up again before we headed to the next ride. It was pretty cute.
We weren't sure how John was going to handle all the noise, chaos and rides. He surprised us all and did wonderful! He kept his headphones on all day to soften the noises and loved every ride he went on; from It's a Small World all the way to Space Mountain. The only ride that he did not care for was Splash Mountain because he couldn't sit next to someone instead everyone on that ride is in their own section of the log. Funny story about Splash Mountain, as we headed down the last long drop Paul's hat went flying . . but I caught it! How amazing is that?
Elizabeth & Rachel are not among my thrill seekers, but thanks to their cousins, Aunt LeeAnn and Grandpa & Grandma they went on more rides than I think they really wanted to. Some for a positive experience and others they wished they had not given into peer pressure. Top on their list of things to do was to visit Pixie Hallow to meet the fairies. All three girls said that was one of their favorite things at Disneyland. (It was also the longest line we waited in 45min.)
Even our littlest Disney goer, Jacob, loved the rides. He would look around with great big eyes, and a smile on his face as he soaked it all in.
The second day we headed over to California Adventure, for more thrill rides and to experience Cars Land. My day started rather slow as I volunteered to get fast passes for everyone for Radiator Springs Racers, it was a 45 min long wait. That seems like a long time to wait for a Fast Pass, but considering the "normal" line would be about 2 and half hours, it wasn't too bad. Our time to be to the ride wasn't until the afternoon so we busied ourselves until then.
Grandma & Grandpa started to plan this trip before they knew that there would be three new babies born to the Strong clan in the first half of the year. They suggested postponing the trip to another year but everyone was so excited about coming even if there would be lots of little babies around. I had mixed feelings about taking a baby to Disneyland, but there is one perk to taking a baby; we had a stroller to stash all of our stuff. Because of the babies and a few toddlers too little to ride some of the bigger rides we opened the Strong Family Day Care to tend the kiddos while others went and enjoyed a ride.
I chose to be on duty while everyone else went on Soarin' Over California. Thanks to strollers and Dumb-Dumbs I did just fine with 6 kiddos, all 3 and under. (Steven in not in the picture)
After lunch we headed over to Cars Land to experience Radiator Springs Racers. Just as we got there the ride broke down. We were very bummed. Thank goodness they said they would honor our fast passes latter in the day. It was evening time before we finally were able to get on the ride. Cars Land was by far the favorite area of the day. We really felt like we were in the movie, Disney did such a great job recreating everything.
The kids wanted to go on Mater's Junkyard Jamboree, I didn't particularly want to go, it looks to spinning for me. Paul was somewhere with sleeping Jacob, so to be a good Mom I figured I would be brave and go so that Sarah could experience the fun (she needed an adult with her). I hadn't laughed so much in a long time, it was the funnest ride. I think half of the fun was listening to the music and Matter's voice as our silly tractors drove around and jack knifed the trailers they were pulling.
Thanks to rider swap passes several in our group were able to ride Radiator Spring Racers a couple of times. Notice all of the happy faces in the picture below, the ride was well worth the wait.
For our third day we went spent at back at Disneyland. Our family decided to walk to the park that day (as opposed to taking the car to the parking lot and riding the shuttle), since it was faster and easier than dealing with the shuttle. We spent the better part of the day just our little family, visiting the rides that we hadn't gotten to yet. While I was taking a break to feed Jacob in the afternoon, Paul, Sarah & John were stuck on Pirates of the Caribbean for a long time. The ride broke down just as they were about to enter the ship fight. Good thing the kiddos fell asleep so then Paul just had to listen to Davy Jones cackling in the mist. To payback the Jessee's for watching our kiddos one evening we watched their kids so they could take Breanna out for ice cream to celebrate her birthday. We thought we were smart, but instead turned out to be a little crazy and took 9 kids to Pirates Lair on Tom Sawyer's Island; We kept losing kids in the caves, Jacob had a leaking poopy diaper with the diaper bag across the river in the stroller. So I left Paul with 8 kiddos to keep track of while I went to change a diaper . Yikes!
Paul was able to check something off his bucket list on our visit; eating at the Blue Bayou (the restaurant you see while on the Pirate of the Caribbean). The Jessee's were kind enough to watch our kids (except Jacob) while Paul & I enjoyed a date at Disneyland. The food was delicious and dessert was amazing; they had the most incredible Crème Brule. Note to self: I've got to get their recipe and learn to make it.
The first day of our three day hopper pass found us in Disneyland. The timeshare had a service that we thought we would try, Ridemax. It mapped out an itinerary of rides for the day. It was amazing, by 11am we had been on half of the rides in the park. Which was a very good thing because it got very crowded. I don't think I have ever seen so many strollers in my life. And believe it or not Monday proved to the least crowded of the days we were there.
As we entered Disneyland they gave each of the kids a map of the park. Each of my girls treated it like a treasured possession, especially Sarah. She held onto that all day long! If she set it in the stroller to go on a ride, she quickly picked it up again before we headed to the next ride. It was pretty cute.
We weren't sure how John was going to handle all the noise, chaos and rides. He surprised us all and did wonderful! He kept his headphones on all day to soften the noises and loved every ride he went on; from It's a Small World all the way to Space Mountain. The only ride that he did not care for was Splash Mountain because he couldn't sit next to someone instead everyone on that ride is in their own section of the log. Funny story about Splash Mountain, as we headed down the last long drop Paul's hat went flying . . but I caught it! How amazing is that?
Elizabeth & Rachel are not among my thrill seekers, but thanks to their cousins, Aunt LeeAnn and Grandpa & Grandma they went on more rides than I think they really wanted to. Some for a positive experience and others they wished they had not given into peer pressure. Top on their list of things to do was to visit Pixie Hallow to meet the fairies. All three girls said that was one of their favorite things at Disneyland. (It was also the longest line we waited in 45min.)
Even our littlest Disney goer, Jacob, loved the rides. He would look around with great big eyes, and a smile on his face as he soaked it all in.
The second day we headed over to California Adventure, for more thrill rides and to experience Cars Land. My day started rather slow as I volunteered to get fast passes for everyone for Radiator Springs Racers, it was a 45 min long wait. That seems like a long time to wait for a Fast Pass, but considering the "normal" line would be about 2 and half hours, it wasn't too bad. Our time to be to the ride wasn't until the afternoon so we busied ourselves until then.
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| John & Daddy on Jumpin' Jellyfish |
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| Rachel & Emily (and various relations) on Tuck and Roll's Drive 'Em Buggies |
Grandma & Grandpa started to plan this trip before they knew that there would be three new babies born to the Strong clan in the first half of the year. They suggested postponing the trip to another year but everyone was so excited about coming even if there would be lots of little babies around. I had mixed feelings about taking a baby to Disneyland, but there is one perk to taking a baby; we had a stroller to stash all of our stuff. Because of the babies and a few toddlers too little to ride some of the bigger rides we opened the Strong Family Day Care to tend the kiddos while others went and enjoyed a ride.
I chose to be on duty while everyone else went on Soarin' Over California. Thanks to strollers and Dumb-Dumbs I did just fine with 6 kiddos, all 3 and under. (Steven in not in the picture)
After lunch we headed over to Cars Land to experience Radiator Springs Racers. Just as we got there the ride broke down. We were very bummed. Thank goodness they said they would honor our fast passes latter in the day. It was evening time before we finally were able to get on the ride. Cars Land was by far the favorite area of the day. We really felt like we were in the movie, Disney did such a great job recreating everything.
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| notice the sad kids . . . they were so looking forward to riding the Racers |
Thanks to rider swap passes several in our group were able to ride Radiator Spring Racers a couple of times. Notice all of the happy faces in the picture below, the ride was well worth the wait.
For our third day we went spent at back at Disneyland. Our family decided to walk to the park that day (as opposed to taking the car to the parking lot and riding the shuttle), since it was faster and easier than dealing with the shuttle. We spent the better part of the day just our little family, visiting the rides that we hadn't gotten to yet. While I was taking a break to feed Jacob in the afternoon, Paul, Sarah & John were stuck on Pirates of the Caribbean for a long time. The ride broke down just as they were about to enter the ship fight. Good thing the kiddos fell asleep so then Paul just had to listen to Davy Jones cackling in the mist. To payback the Jessee's for watching our kiddos one evening we watched their kids so they could take Breanna out for ice cream to celebrate her birthday. We thought we were smart, but instead turned out to be a little crazy and took 9 kids to Pirates Lair on Tom Sawyer's Island; We kept losing kids in the caves, Jacob had a leaking poopy diaper with the diaper bag across the river in the stroller. So I left Paul with 8 kiddos to keep track of while I went to change a diaper . Yikes!
Paul was able to check something off his bucket list on our visit; eating at the Blue Bayou (the restaurant you see while on the Pirate of the Caribbean). The Jessee's were kind enough to watch our kids (except Jacob) while Paul & I enjoyed a date at Disneyland. The food was delicious and dessert was amazing; they had the most incredible Crème Brule. Note to self: I've got to get their recipe and learn to make it.
Trying to keep track of 5 kiddos and keep up with such a large group in the crowds, (26 of us in all and the bulk of the time we all tried to stay together), was stressful and chaotic at times. But it was all worth it to see my kiddos get to experience the magic of Disneyland and create wonderful lasting memories with their cousins. Thank you Grandma & Grandpa taking us all to "the Happiest Place on Earth."
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