Disneyland Trip

Our family went to Disneyland with two other families that are friends of ours, the Petersons and the Finlinsons.We had a lot of fun!

Day 1, Wednesday, January 21st:

We left in the afternoon and headed to St. George. We met up with the Petersons and had Cafe Rio, then did a little shopping and got ice cream. We then headed to the house where we were spending the night, which was a home show home a few years ago, it was really nice.

Day 2, Thursday, January 22nd:

The next morning only 20 minutes out and 2 potty stops later we got headed towards Baker, CA where we stopped at the Mad Greek for some lunch. Wow, we won't be stopping there ever again. The food was not that great to say the least. Then we continued on to Anaheim, CA where we checked in at our hotel, the Desert Palms Hotel & Suites, which was just down the street from Disneyland. We had a large suite that had two rooms connected with a shared vanity. Let's just say it was a little cozy, but it was cheaper to share than to get our own rooms and it was fun for Madelyn and Alexa to be together.

After unpacking, we headed to Disneyland. Ty and I bought annual passes since we're going back with my family in October. Madelyn and Audrey were mesmerized as we entered into the park. We headed towards Pinocchio and Snow White, and after those two, Audrey was screaming, they were a little too loud and dark. So then we went on a few happy rides after that...Dumbo, the Casey Jr. Circus Train, the Carousel, and Alice in Wonderland. Our last ride of the evening was the Matterhorn, Addison, Madelyn, and Alexa were now tall enough to go, which is amazing because it was fast and a little scary for the girls. Madelyn was covering her eyes most of the time. Here is a video clip talking about the ride the next day...

Then we headed back to our hotel. Our kids both crashed on the way home.

Day 3, Friday, January 23rd:

We headed back to Disneyland in the pouring rain that morning. Fortunately our stroller has a great rain cover that kept the kids dry, and I had bought an umbrella in St. George so we were prepared, however while waiting in lines was when we got really wet. The girls also couldn't help jumping in the puddles. We headed back to our hotel after lunch to change rooms because our room was right next to the pool and the elevator and it was really loud. We then gave our girls a little nap and changed clothes. Then we headed back for more fun. We ate at a great little Mexican place for dinner and then went and watched the show Fantasmic. We finished off with a few more rides. We played hard and stayed until the park was closed at 10pm. Here are the rides we rode that day: Buzz Lightyear, Space Mountain, Jungle Cruise, Pirates of the Caribbean, Winnie the Pooh, Splash Mountain, Indiana Jones, Finding Nemo, and Autopia.

Day 4, Saturday, January 24th:

It was raining a little in the morning, but fortunately it didn't last long. We spent most of the day in California Adventures. We first rode Monsters, Inc. then headed to Disney Animation and saw Turtle Talk with Crush, which was fun. Then we saw the Disney Playhouse show, which Madelyn loved because that's mostly what she watches on tv. It was fun to watch her get so excited when each new character came out. We then rode Toy Story, which was one of our favorite rides. Then the adults took turns with the rider switch ticket and rode California Screamin', which made me feel like a teenager again. We then had lunch and then spent time in Bugs Land and rode the rides there and saw the show, "It's Tough to Be a Bug". Next we went on Soarin' Over California taking turns with guys and girls, and then watched the Pixar parade, although Madelyn had fallen asleep and missed the whole thing. Then we took turns as couples and rode the Tower of Terror, wow! After that we headed back to Disneyland and ate dinner. Madelyn wanted to ride Dumbo one more time and then the guys offered to take the girls back to the hotel and put them to bed while Liz and I rode a few more adult rides. We took the offer and ran around riding Star Tours, which made us sick, then Thunder Mountain Railroad, Splash Mountain twice, and finally ended up with Space Mountain. We were very tired and dizzy by the time we were done. So we headed back to the hotel and crashed.

Day 5, Sunday, January 25th:

We packed our things up, ate breakfast, and loaded the car. Then we drove down to the ocean in Newport and drove down Balboa Island. We headed home stopping at In and Out Burger on our way out. We drove as fast and hard as we could knowing that we would be hitting a storm soon. We stopped in St. George meeting up with the Petersons and had a late dinner at the Cracker Barrel, which was very average, then headed back on the road at 9:30pm. Sure enough we hit the storm in Cedar City, where it was snowing pretty hard. It took us 5 1/2 hours from St. George. We drove between 30 and 40 mph on horrible roads. We didn't get home until 3 am. We were exhausted.

We had a great time and look forward to going back in the fall with my family! Here are some pictures from our trip.