The Happiest Place on Earth

Monday we took the boys to Disneyland. Kevin and I haven't been to Disneyland in about 8 years or so. We went to California Adventure about 5 years ago and we were supposed to go to Disneyland, too, but ...uhh... that didn't work out so well. But that's another story.

Annnnnyway....

Monday morning we got up early, got ourselves ready and the car packed and off we went. Boy. Disneyland has definitely changed since the last time we were there! It's funny - it's not like I go there a lot, but when I was a child, we went there quite a bit, so that's really the Disneyland I remember. It's strange to see how it's changed. One big difference is that you park off-site and they bus you to the entrance of the park. That's not bad in and of itself, but it certainly curtailed our plan to go out to the car for lunch. Oh well, you know what they say about those best laid plans.

We had a GREAT time! We go there early enough to get a few fast passes and to go on several rides before it a) got really hot, and b) got really crowded. For instance, when we went to Pirates of the Caribbean, we stood in line maybe 15-20 minutes. When we passed by the same spot later in the day, the line was nearly 2 hours long! When we first went in, we picked up fast passes to Star Tours. We figured since they've just renovated and updated this ride, it would be pretty popular so we figured rather than standing in line, we'd get a fast pass and come back later. So glad we did! Our return time was 1:30; at that time they were no longer giving fast passes - they were all out for the day - which meant you'd just have to take your chances and stand in line. A two-hour long line. We used our fast passes and waited, again, no more than 15-20 minutes max. And it was totally worth it!

Over in California Adventure, Pat really wanted to go on the Tower of Terror ride. Ugh. That's the ONE ride I would never go on again. When Kevin and I went last time, I was SO excited to go on this ride! It's the first place we headed. Big mistake. I hated every.single.second of that horrible experience. Needless to say that I wouldn't go on it, Kevin passed, and there was no way Drew was going on it either, but Pat rreeeeaaaalllllly wanted to go, so he got a fast pass for it and we came back. The three of us waited for him at the exit of the ride. You've never seen such a huge grin. He absolutely loved it! More power to ya, kid!

We stayed until after the fireworks show was over and then we headed home. We were all completely exhausted. While we were waiting in line for the bus, Pat said he couldn't wait to sit down on the bus. He said it would be the first time he'd sat down since the last ride we'd been on ... about 2 hours before! It was a crazy fun, long, hot day - and I'd do it again in a heartbeat!