California, Days 6-8 (The End!)

Day 6 & 7- Thursday, September 27 & Friday, September 28

Our first order of business on Thursday and Friday was to get into California Adventure and get fast passes for the new Cars ride.  My Dad took one for the team and stood in line for nearly an hour the first day to get fast passes for all of us.  And then we couldn't even use them until early evening.  That was one popular ride.  The non fast pass line was a 2 hour wait.  It was crazy.  On Friday, there was no line to get fast passes for the ride, but we couldn't use them until 7:00 p.m. 

We spent Thursday and Friday hitting up the big rides we haven't done yet that were must-do's, and then hitting all of our favorite rides again.

Stopping for a picture with Donald Duck was a must-do.  Ben and I loved watching the kids meet the characters.

Chloe did not want to meet Donald and waited with my Mom elsewhere.

One of our favorite rides of the week was the new(ish) Toy Story ride.  You wear 3-D glasses and get in little carts that take you into a virtual arcade. 

So, so cool.

The little guns in front of your seat "shoot" at the arcade screens and you earn points for everything you knock over.  Coolest ride ever.

The kids loved it, but it was equally as enjoyable for the adults, which is a great sign of a fantastic ride.

My kids, Ben and my Dad loved the Grizzly Rapids ride.  You were always guaranteed to get wet.

It usually had an hour wait or so, but Friday morning there was no wait and Ben took the kids on it a number of times.  (Ben is in the red shirt, waving his hand).

On Friday, I finally bucked up and went on Space Mountain.  I was hesitant all week due to certain rides bringing on migraines.  I was worried this one would cause one, but then decided to take a risk.

Chloe loved Space Mountain, although her stone-cold face here does not show any pleasure.  She loves to brag to people that she went on it 5 times!

These two sweet boys were so fun the whole week.  They loved the little roller coaster in Toon Town and took many rides together.  One of their favorite things to do all week was ask each other, and their parents, if they could ride together on a ride all by themselves.

While in Toon Town, Mickey made an appearance.  I love how Mickey is holding both of their hands. I can't say that dressing up like a character in a stifling costume in 90 degree heat would be even remotely appealing to me, but I am so glad that so many people are willing to do it.  It is what Disneyland is all about and makes it so much fun.

The boys also loved the Buzz Light Year ride.  Each rider gets their own laser blaster gun to try and shoot the enemy.  You get points for everything you hit.  It was the perfect ride for two 4 year old boys.

We must have gone on this ride 10 times throughout the week, since a lot of the time there was a short wait to get on.

Chloe got to meet up with cousin Stella again to watch Mickey's Parade on Friday. 

Thursday afternoon, we caught a short little parade at California Adventure.  Parades are just cute, especially at Disneyland.

Go Mr. Incredible!

We love Toy Story!!

We were so glad to FINALLY get to go on the Car's ride.  There are a number of rides in Cars Land but the hot one was the Radiator Springs Racer ride.  The one we stood in line for an hour, just to get fast passes.

All of Cars Land was amazing.  The attention to detail was simply phenomenal.  You really felt like you were inside the movie.  Everything looked the exact same.  It was really neat- all 12 acres of it.

 Radiator Springs court house

Just like in the movie!

Even though we had fast passes, we still had a little bit of a wait.  I'm not kidding- this was one popular ride.  No one got on fast. 

Me and Ben with the kids and my Dad, plus some random lady next to Ben.  I love how she is looking at the camera and smiling like she is part of the family.

The picture they took of us on the ride.  yes, it was that fun.  And random blonde lady was loving it, too.

Our second time on it Friday night- it was just as fun as the first night.

After one boring ride in Cars Land (Luigi's Tires), I was worried that all the waiting for this one might bring disappointment too.  But it didn't.  It was worth the wait for the fast passes and the wait in line.  This was one awesome ride.  A family favorite.  (Too bad the twins weren't tall enough to ride).

Thursday night, I took the twins home after the Cars Ride, around 7:30.  They were done and I was exhausted.  Ben was a Disneyland trooper.  I was amazed at his energy.  He wanted to do everything and leave no stone unturned.  He kept the big kids at the park to go on more rides.  They even went on the water ride Grizzly Rapids after dark.  He is such a fun dad.

Afterwards, the "long-winded" group got a 9:00 p.m. dinner at iHop.

 Friday night was similar- after riding our late evening Cars Ride again, I took the twins back to the hotel while Ben stayed at the park with the big kids.  His energy amazed me.  They stayed for the 9:00 p.m. presentation of "World Of Color."  It is a water/color/light show at California Adventure.  The kids were troopers too.  On Friday, the 3 of them stayed at the parks for over 13 hours.  Ben did say that as they were walking home at 10:00 that night, Mitch said "Dad, I just can't walk any more." 

Walking the twins back that night at 8:00, Lexi fell asleep in the stroller.  The week of 12 hour days, no naps and constant fun and excitement on the go finally caught up to her.  For all that we did, they were really, really good the whole week.  Of course there was tears and tantrums, but for only being 2, they did great.  And this was the only time either one of them fell asleep at the park the entire trip. 

Day 8- Saturday, September 29

The kids wanted to swim this morning in the hotel, and with no rush to get to the park this morning, we let them.  We swam a number of times during the week, but the kids almost wanted to swim more than they wanted to go to Disneyland.

After packing up all our stuff and loading it into the car, we stopped by a nearby Target store to buy the kids some inexpensive T-shirts as souvenirs.  Grandam and Papa were even nice enough to buy them all a cute little Disney key chain.  We were surrounded by gift shops all week at the parks, with fun and enticing toys, but the kids were great and never really asked for anything (which we were happy about).  Mitch did beg for cotton candy, which we caved and bought him one day. 

All ready to head to the airport in our trusty 12 passenger van.  That thing was a beast. 

My two little travel buddies on the flight home.

What a great, great trip.  I have never been that exhausted in my life (well, maybe my pregnancy with the twins was a good contender).  We will definitely be coming back again some day.  I decided going to Disneyland is like being pregnant/having kids.  You can't do it again until you've had enough time to forget how exhausting, tiring and even painful it is.  But just like a pregnancy, all the exhaustion is totally worth it for the end result.  We had the time of our lives watching the kids enjoy themselves.  A repeat trip will happen.... it just won't be next month.

To the Happiest Place on Earth- thanks for the fun, memories and magic.