Disneyland Vacation Day 3

The day the boys have been looking forward too for such a long time finally arrived.  Actually going to Disneyland.  They have heard so much about Disneyland from their friends, but really had no idea as to the fun they would have there.  

With our 3-Day park hopper passes, it allowed us to go into the park one of the days an hour early to get a jump on the rides.  Tuesday was the best option for our early entry so we met up at 7:15 a.m. and walked into the park (our hotel is so close to the maingate, I love it). 

We got into the park took our family photo,

then realized the Buxton's weren't with us.  What happened?  Dave had gotten a great deal on military tickets and the ticket takers said that his passes didn't include the early option. While I didn't actually witness it, it's reported that Hayden ripped up his map and yelled, "I hate Disneyland!" 

Luckily within minutes Dave spoke to enough people that his family was allowed into the park.

There was no wait to get a picture with Pluto so we seized the moment for a picture.

While Jill went to get "1st time visitor" badges from City Hall, Aaron waited in line for a picture with Mickey.  They had one of the biggest Christmas tree's I have ever seen decorated with so many ornaments, it was amazing.  (by the next day the tree was gone and there were flowers in it's place).

The first ride was the first one we could see.  It's a rocket ride at the entrance to Tomorrow Land.

We've heard about the Buzz Lightyear ride and it happened to be right next to our last ride so we checked it out too.  What a great attraction.  Later Dave read up on how to maximize your score and we did this ride again where Dave scored an amazing 480,000 points! All the boys loved this ride and I'm not just talking about the little ones. 

Alyssa enjoyed the finding Nemo submarine.

So did the boys.

At Disneyland you have to ride the teacups.  Aunt Jenn with the boy cousins. Jill and I got to ride this one together which we thought probably looked a little weird to the onlookers.  We were there with children, they were all together with aunt Jenn.

The Tarzan tree house was a fun walk through adventure.

We aren't exactly sure who hit Grandma up for treats, but she bought treats for the grandkids which they loved!  Here are the boys sharing.  It's the little things that give you hope as a parent that your kids have learned life's important principle's like sharing.

Tom Sawyer's island.

Many of the rides aren't conducive to taking pictures, but we were able to see most everything we wanted to inside Disneyland.  One of the biggest surprises was how adventurous Landon was.  He loved roller-coasters.  It was fun to ride by him and see his eyes so light up with joy and to hear him yell with excitement.  It was also neat to watch Logan try and keep up with his older cousin Hayden, but still be a little bit afraid.  Logan did put his foot down and said he never wants to ride on the Indiana Jones ride ever again.  It was too scary for his taste, although he did love Space Mountain.

In the winter Disneyland closes at 8:00 p.m. We exited even earlier than that to go have dinner and we found the best place.  Mile's Diner was right next to our hotel and they accommodated our group of 15 people with no wait time at all.  We were all able to relax and rest from our fun day at the park. Thanks Grandma Bunkall for the delicious dinner.

After the women and children all went back to the hotel to put kids down and charge the batteries for tomorow's adventures.  The men and boys all went back into the park for another chance to score points on the Buzz Lightyear ride.  Then we still had time to ride the Thunder Mountain rollercoaster.  

The highlight of the day was Logan asking me while waiting in line for a ride, "Dad did you bring us here?" I didn't know if he meant the ride or to Disneyland the park.  He clarified and asked if it was my idea to bring the family to Disneyland.  "Mom and Dad both wanted to bring you to Disneyland" I responded.  He gave me a huge hug and said, "you're the best Daddy in the whole world."  

The trip was worth it.