TIM & JEAN: California or Bust: Day 3

Welcome to... DISNEY DAY 1!

Okay, here's where the pictures start to pick up. I think I have something like 43 in this one blog post alone. Wheeeeee! (You're welcome, Grandalf.)

The first thing we did on that morning was drive our car to our hotel, where we could park for $4 per day (instead of $15 per day at the Disneyland parking garage). Then we walked to the park entrance from there. Here are my boys, getting ready to go through security:

And finally, FINALLY, after SO MANY months, we were back at DISNEYLAND!!! Wonderful, happy, blessed Disneyland!!!

Before our trip, we put a lot of thought into very minute details, such as whether or not to bring a stroller for Weston. We ultimately decided that we'd move MUCH faster by pushing him than by constantly nagging him to try to keep up with us. Fortunately, he was more than happy to sit and ride most of the time:

That first day, we waited for a little while for some more good friends: the ADAMS!!! A year and a half goes by, and all of a sudden kids everywhere look SO much older! It was wonderful to see Emma, her little brother Nick, and their mom Kim after all that time. (And Brad joined us later, too!!)

Oh, I love Disneyland.

So, this is probably of zero interest to most people, but here's how our day went:

-Star Tours (so awesome)

-Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters (Jean missed this one, thanks to a diaper blow-out!)

-Space Mountain (REALLY scary for Weston... we regret it in retrospect)

-Monorail

-Lunch at Big Thunder Ranch BBQ

-Winnie the Pooh

-Tarzan's Treehouse

-Jungle Cruise

-Tiki Room

-Disneyland Railroad

-(Over to CA Adventure for...) Monsters Inc.

-Redwood Creek Challenge Trail

-Dinner with friends in Downtown Disney

So. As I mentioned above, Tim sorta kinda took Weston on the spooky Halloween version of Space Mountain. Weston was willing and eager to get on, but after that ride (he came out with tears in his eyes), his outlook on Disneyland COMPLETELY changed. All of a sudden, he basically refused to go on any ride that he couldn't see from the outside -- even rides that he'd been really looking forward to, like Haunted Mansion. This, at first, was really frustrating to me and Tim, because we obviously wanted to go on the rides that we liked and that we knew he'd enjoy. However, Weston is ridiculously stubborn, so that first day ended up consisting of a lot of discussions/battles about which rides to try.

Later that night when we were walking back to the hotel, Tim and I had a long discussion about the whole situation. We realized that we were trying to experience Disneyland as we used to, when Weston was little and didn't have any reservations or fears about rides. That was no longer possible, so we came up with a new strategy. More on that later...!

Anyway, here are a few photos to highlight Day 1!

This is the gift shop at the end of Buzz Lightyear. Back in our CA days, Weston used to love this place, and he seemed to remember it a bit. (At least he remembered those Buzz Lightyear toys that spin and light up!)

Here, we're about to get on the Monorail:

Weston, Emma, and Tim got to sit in the front!

They had a really fun time together:

Lots and lots of walking. Lots of walking.

Ahhh, the castle! (The first time I saw the Disneyland castle, I couldn't believe how small it was. When Weston saw it for the first time on this trip, he said, "It's the castle! It's... small..." Hahaha!)

A fun little Halloween themed photo op:

And here's the Big Thunder Ranch BBQ! I was so excited to eat here again:

As we waited for our table, I took a picture of our caravan:

This place is really fun, what with the live music and all:

We got lucky because our table was right next to Woody's break area. So, he kept walking back and forth, and Weston was able to get a couple photos with him:

We were hungry. And a little bit silly:

And... ohhhh. Big Thunder Ranch BBQ delivered!!!

Weston even got to participate in the kids' pumpkin parade!

A quick fist bump with Woody, and then we were off to more rides:

Weston used to LOVE the Winnie the Pooh ride when he was little, so I took a few pictures. He even loved it so much one time that he barfed all over the place!

Fortunately, no barfing this time. Just good ol' fun:

Of course we had to visit the gift shop right by the exit of Winnie the Pooh, where Weston (just like he used to!) thoroughly examined all the sweet treats:

He decided on a giant candy-corn sugar cookie (yumma):

Here, he's crossing the bridge in Tarzan's Treehouse:

He also enjoyed the playstuffs at the end:

And then it was finally time for Cole's FIRST RIDE!! (We're excluding the Monorail here.) We decided that it should be Jungle Cruise, as with Weston:

He was so totally pumped. (I love that he and Brad are in the same pose here!)

And just look at that sweet childlike wonder:

Haha... those crazy gorillas! (Did anyone notice that the baby gorilla is gone? Now the mama on the left is just dangling a rope!)

Sadly, we had to say goodbye (just for a little while) to the Adams, but Weston recovered when he got to play with all the cool stuff in the Indiana Jones store:

Later, we headed over to California Adventure. We'd been forewarned about all the construction craziness, but I think we underestimated the number of boarded-off walkways. They were everywhere! (But it's all good, because it sounds like the new Buena Vista Street entrance is going to be spectacular.)

After Monsters Inc., we briefly explored the Redwood Creek area, where Weston got to do lots of climbing. (Again, he refused to go into the cave where you see your spirit animal! Too dark!) But still, he had fun. I can't believe he had energy to play after a full day of fun with NO nap:

Later, we met up with our fab friends in Downtown Disney for dinner: the Nutters again, plus the Hansons!! Nothing like a good old Hannutson reunion. It was loud and crazy and wonderful, as usual.

Six adults and eight kids plus a ninth in utero. In each of our families, we have children only of the same gender (at least so far). The Hansons and Nutters have girls, while the Andersons have boys. Hahaha! I love it.

After dinner we explored the Lego Store, where the kids (and adults) got to have a little fun:

Note the placement of Tim's left hand:

Hahaha! Weston and Becca were so cute:

After a quick visit to the World of Disney store, we decided to call it a night. Tim stopped to snap a picture of the new, art deco style CA Adventure gate:

It was 9 PM, and while Cole was fast asleep, Weston was still hanging on:

By the time we reached the hotel, though, he was out!

While we were in Anaheim, we stayed at the Anaheim Plaza Hotel, which is just across Harbor Boulevard from the parks. It wasn't fancy, but it was a decent hotel, especially since it was SO much cheaper than the Disney hotels. While I really miss those fun years when we were Annual Passholders at Disneyland, I have to admit, I really liked being a pure "tourist." It was SO WONDERFUL to just walk five minutes to the hotel after a long day and fall into bed, rather than take the tram, find the car, and drive 45 minutes back to Pasadena. We liked it so much, in fact, that we stopped at the front desk that first night to extend our stay to a second night! SO WORTH IT. I wish we'd done an overnight at Disneyland long ago!