When You Wish Upon a Star

Our kids are the perfect ages for Disneyland. 

We went a few years ago and had a great time, but there were a few things that made this experience a bit different.

1- We went with our friends Carrie and Josh and their kids.

Carrie did a lot of the research and planning and I kind of swooped in at the end and said, "That sounds great, let's do it!" (I hope she isn't bitter, but I loved it).  We stayed at the same hotel and spent time together but we also had plenty of time to do our own thing, too.  It was perfect.  Plus, Korinne had her BFF with her at Disneyland.

The highlight of our time together was timing the firework show perfectly so that we could watch it from the boats on the storybook land ride.  During the firework show on that particular ride they know exactly where to stop the boats so you can see the entire show.  Within 1 minute of getting on the boat the fireworks started just as we got through the mouth of the whale and could see everything-- It was magical.  The low point was when we all got on the shuttle to go back to the hotel during the middle of the day and were about 1 1/2 blocks away from Disneyland chatting away when Cara and Korinne noticed that 2 year old Andy wasn't with us.  Oops, they had left him at the bus stop by himself.  The shuttle pulled over and Josh jumped out and ran faster than I've ever seen him run. Seriously, it was impressive.  We can laugh about it now because everything turned out fine, but for a few moments there it was tense.

2- My kids are now old enough to go on all of the rides.  Sure, Korinne still declared her favorites to be Dumbo and the Carousel, but she also tried rides that she didn't dare go on a few years ago.  Jenna went on everything and Britton was up for about 95% of the rides but was quick to opt out on The Tower of Terror and the California Screamer. It's just not his thing. It was crowded but with good planning we got to do everything we wanted and didn't have to spend a lot of time waiting in lines. 

3- We stayed at a hotel that had a shuttle stop right by it.  Last time we were close to Disneyland but still had to walk for a good 15-20 minutes to get to the gate.  This isn't a big deal until it is super late and you are exhausted and still have to walk a few blocks to get to your hotel. This time we rode a shuttle.  It also allowed us to easily go back to the hotel during lunch time to take a break and have more food options for less $$$. We are fans of the shuttle.

4- Korinne lost something very important during our last day at Disneyland--

. . .her first tooth!  She was so excited to lose a tooth and losing it at Disneyland made it even more memorable.

We spent 3 days at Disneyland and felt completely fulfilled by the end of the experience.  We got to ride everything we wanted multiple times and got to see and experience all of the shows we wanted.  We had a great time.

This was Jenna and mine's first ride on the Tower of Terror (the elevator ride that drops you straight down a few times).  They opened up the door at the top and let you see that you are at the very top and snap a picture.  Since neither of us had ever been on the ride we had no idea what would happen but when they opened the door I looked over at Jenna and she was ghostly white and was visibly shaken.  You can see me hugging her on the back row.  At the end she decided she liked it after all, but for a few moments there she wasn't so sure.

This was Jenna's second ride on the Tower of Terror with both Adam and me.  She was all smiles this time around (but she did have her eyes closed).