Disneyland Vacation

How Can It Be A Vacation With Three Kids?

Classic Castle Pic!

It can't. Anyone with young kids knows that a "vacation" is just work! More work than usual since you're not eating "your" food and not sleeping in "your" bed. With three kids, 7, 7, and 5 we knew this wasn't going to be a super relaxing vacation, but we wanted to do what we could to make it as easy as possible.

Since I am going to be working full time (for the first time since the kids were born) this year, we decided we needed a family vacation this summer, so we could have some fun family times before our time was significantly shortened. Plus, since Zach has been on his Growth Hormone medicine, he's finally tall enough to go on all the rides!

Things We ROCKED (and would do again)

One of the hotel rooms

• Hotel: This was AMAZING. We stayed at the Anaheim Desert Inn and Suites and it was MOMENTS from the front Gates. It took us less than 10 min (with kids) to walk from the hotel room to the front gates. BUT, that wasn't even the best part. We stayed in a "family suite" and it was even better than I expected. There were two beds in each room and the "kid room" didn't have an exterior door, so there was no risk of them getting out, or someone getting in. PERFECT for our family. It didn't stop at the excellent location or room, the staff was super nice, keeping Zach's medication in their lobby fridge both before and after check-in/out.
  I would stay there again in a heartbeat.
• 3-Day Passes: We have been twice before. Both were not times for Disney, but because we were going to be in CA and decided to go. This meant it was a one day trip and because tickets are so spendy, we crammed everything we could into that one day. With three days we could go back to the hotel when the kids were tired and not feel like we were missing out on anything. The kids still got to go on all the rides they wanted (teacups, all they wanted to do was go on the teacups), but no one felt rushed.
• Food: Because of Zach's allergies I wanted to pack most of our own food. I am assuming because we had three kids, no one batted an eye when we came in with snacks (apple sauce, granola bars, pb&j, etc.), bottled water, and fruit. We still purchased food in the park, but having snacks available made it easier for us to stay longer and enjoy our time.
• SHOES: I know this is dumb, but my shoes were awesome. REALLY awesome. I bought these Keens, and I walked for three days straight in them loving every moment. I bought them months ago and have been wearing them most days. They were more expensive than I like, considering they are a "replacement" for flip flops, but they were absolutely perfect.
• Dresses: I saw a blog that said dresses were the way to go in the heat. I am not a dress person AT ALL, but found a couple cute ones at Nordstrom Rack and they were perfect and kept me cool. That was a great recommendation.
• Stroller: Our kids are older, but I knew Annabelle (5) wouldn't make it walking the whole trip. Plus, I wanted to pack a lot of food, and didn't want to wear a heavy backpack in 90 degree heat. We packed 8 water bottles a day (my kids have Portland-water-tastebuds and didn't like the tap water in CA!), and no one wants to carry that around. The stroller allowed Annabelle to ride and gave me a place to store all my junk.
• Packing Cubes: If you haven't tried packing cubes, you really need to. They are AMAZING!! I know it seems dumb and like it won't save you space, but IT WILL! I had a set already and ordered a set of the medium size. In each I fit everything for the entire trip for the kids. 5 shirts, 4 pairs of shorts, 5 shirts, underwear, socks, swimsuits, sweatshirt and a pair of long pants. The medium size fit perfectly in their backpacks with their coloring books, so I wasn't stuck hauling their clothes. We fit clothes and JUNK (including food) for 5 days in backpacks and two carry-ons. It doesn't get better than that.
• External Phone Charger: This is the one we ordered. I was eying a smaller/cheaper one, but we wanted to be able to charge both our phones at the same time. This was perfect and did a wonderful job. I might order a smaller one just to have for me, since this wasn't really "purse" size.



Logan and Zach as
Chip and Dale

• Dollar Tree Spray Bottles: If you know anything, you know that things at Disney are more expensive. The spray/fan bottles are $17!! WHAT!?!?!?! That's crazy. Well, maybe not crazy when it's 90 degrees, but I bought spray bottles are the dollar tree (put them under the stroller) and they were just as good and MUCH cheaper. Takes the sting out of the $4 diet coke. :-)

 

On to the rides!!

Having grown up in Southern California I have been to Disneyland countless times. I have not, however, been to California Adventure. I heard a lot of good things about the Radiator Spring Racers ride, so we decided to do a park-hopper ticket for the first time.

They were not strong enough!

I downloaded the Mousewait app and kept an eye on most of the rides the weeks leading up to the trip. Most of the "big" rides were about a 30min average (Space Mountain, Star Tours, Splash Mountain, Matterhorn, etc.) and I was surprised at how short many of the other lines were (Buzz, Dumbo, etc.) most of the day they were about 10min. The two things I knew would have the LONGEST waits were the Radiator Springs Racers (I don't think I ever saw it under 60min) and the Frozen Princess Meet and Greet (which was never under 90min, and was at a few points 180min!!!).

If you haven't been to Disneyland in the past decade or so, you may not be familiar with their fastpass, but it's the WAY TO GO when you have kids. You get a "ticket" for a one hour window where you get a much shorter line (like 10 min). They can (and do) run out of fastpasses for popular rides and you are limited to the number you can have. Usually I would send Aaron to pick up a fastpass for us (he held all the tickets) while I did an easy ride with the kids. Seven is the MAGIC age at Disneyland. They can go on rides by themselves. So, on Dumbo, the boys could ride together and I could ride with Annabelle. It made it doable to ride while the other adult was getting fastpasses.

RANT I understand that I am super sensitive to this, but I feel like at a place like Disney, they should be sensitive to kid's needs. The first time we rode Dumbo, Zach wanted to ride by himself. Perfect, the age limit is 7, we're good. THREE different workers came up and asked him how old he was and then the last one asked where his mom was (sitting right behind him watching it all unfold), and asked me how old he was. I get that he's small, but then they should have a height limit, not an age limit. Plus, if you are REALLY that concerned, don't send three different people to make my kid feel like he's done something wrong, ask where his parent is right away. </RANT>

Back to the rides. We started in California adventure where there was a 15min LINE TO GET YOUR FASTPASS for Radiator Springs! There was no wait for the Mater ride, so we started there. Last time we went to Disney Annabelle was 3 and CRANKY, she took forever to warm up to rides and didn't smile until we'd been there for HOURS. She was much happier this time.

Mater!

The Mater ride is like a jerkier version of the teacups, where you have no control. It was perfect, the line was short and the kids liked it.

After that we headed to the Luigi tire ride (air hockey bumper cars), where Logan asked where Mario was... Wrong Luigi! Pro-tip: While dresses are great for beating the heat, they aren't great when air is being sprayed up beneath you.

Once Luigi was finished we headed to the Radiator Springs Racers. The wait time was 45 min and I had never seen it that low, so we decided to get in our first long line. I grabbed snacks from the stroller and we began our line wait. One thing Disney does well is entertain you in line. There was lots for the kids to look at, which made the wait bearable. Of course most of our time in line was spent like this.

The ride started and both Aaron and I were like... uh... okay. Then you get to the fun part. An actual race, it was awesome. It was then we understood while people stood in line for this! One thing to take into consideration is that you should put your shorter kids in the back if you want a decent picture...

The bar in the front TOTALLY cuts off the faces of shorter riders. I also think they "rotate" (random, or alternating, not sure) which car "wins" the race. We went on the ride twice and won the first time and lost the second time.

Speaking of the second time we rode, we did fastpasses the second time and it was 15min to get on the ride, MUCH better.

The other thing that I knew would have LONG lines was the Frozen Meet and Greet. Seriously, 180 min? That's just insane. I love Annabelle about 60min worth at most. We could chill in line, read books, have lunch, but that was my MAX! The first time I went and checked (less than half an hour after opening) and it was 150 min... Craziness

So, we watched the Frozen float and that was that. Annabelle was excited and all I could think was that they don't get paid enough to wear all that heavy garb in 90 degree heat.














While we spent three days at Disneyland/California Adventure, we didn't even break the tip of the iceberg. We never made it to Toon Town, we didn't really explore California Adventure. The kids got tired and while we tried to take breaks to make our days last longer, the kids were all asking to leave because they were tired. I REALLY REALLY REALLY wanted to see Fantasmic with the kids, but it starts at 9pm and they never made it. (If you're going to do it, buy glow in the dark bracelets and necklaces at The Dollar Tree, significantly cheaper than Disney).

The kids favorite ride was the teacups. They really only liked us telling them we felt sick. I think that's the only reason they wanted to continue to ride it. Over... and over... and over... BARF! At least there was never a line!

First teacup ride

Third? Fourth? Ride

The other ride we couldn't get enough of was Buzz Lightyear. First off, I hate guns, and this ride let's them shoot stuff. The line is short and moves quickly, plus it's inside, so nice and cool!

To Infinity and Beyond!

Day one Zach was just CRUSHING us with his scores. More than 10 times what the rest of us were getting. Say what you want about "letting" your kids win, but Aaron and I went online and looked up all the tips and tricks I had seen online. Zach was not happy when I beat his score (A LOT), but I was pretty stoked. :-)

Finally a decent score!

All in all the kids had a great time, but they were ready to go home after three days. Maybe if the weather had been cooler they would have lasted longer, but they are also young and I can't expect that much from them.

Souvenirs

Lightsaber war! Grandpa has a "lightsaber" app (okay just a flashlight)

I read all the tips about hitting the Disney Store and buying items there, but my Disney store sucked. They had shirts and stuffed animals, but I wanted pins, autograph books, and they had none of those things. In the future I would order online. Thanks to Aunt Lizzie, the kids got to pick out a small souvenir on the second day, they each wanted small lightsabers.
 We also let them each get a pin on the first day. They wanted something BIG but we told them we weren't going to do that until we were ready to leave. In hindsight, maybe that's why they were anxious to go home.

On the last day they all decided they wanted a "build your own lightsaber". They were about $22, which was about what I was expecting to pay. I was afraid they would be much more expensive. Plus, they had purple, so even Annabelle was excited. For now. I am waiting for someone to get hurt.

Mom, someone hit me!
Uh, you're swinging a big stick around your siblings
and you're surprised someone got hit?

I saw this and had to buy it for Aaron!

  Ride highlights!

Big Thunder Mountain
Annabelle: THIS IS NOT WHAT I EXPECTED
She didn't ride it again

Star Tours
Logan: Ugh, why do we have to take a picture with C3PO?

Teacups
Zach: Mom, please delete that picture

Splash Mountain
Me: There's a couple small drops, a medium one and then a big one
Logan: And then we die

It was a good trip and for the first time, more vacation than work. I can only hope that holds true as they get older. we'll start saving now for another trip in 2 years.