disneyland 2015

i suppose if i have to be back at work today, i may as well post a blog about my favorite place to go...

disneyland!

usually we go as a family every 3 years, which should have put us at going in 2013 and then in 2016, but somewhere since our last trip we just didn't make it down on our usual time schedule.  with us all being not small children anymore (or in some people's case, getting married) my dad has been saying this would likely be the last "big" trip to disneyland with all of us.  i guess we'll see if we can twist his arm in 3-5 years ;)

anyways, we packed 7 of us in the van and drove down the sunday after christmas.  when we were leaving the house, google maps said it should take us 6.5 hours to get there.  clearly, everybody and their dog wanted to ensure that didn't happen.  we left at 2:30, and made it to the hotel about 9 hours later.  ugh.  we crashed in to our beds and were prepared for the early alarms the next day.

6:45 hit, and we rolled out to get ready.  by 7:20 or so, we started the walk to california adventure, getting to the gate in time for the park to open at 8.  dad went and got tower of terror fast passes while the rest of us headed to the back of the park for toy story mania.  i started off losing to aileen.  but i turned that around, as you can see.

holly, markham, dad & josh jumped on to california screamin' then we got on to toy story.  after that, we went to radiator springs racers, where we learned the fateful mistake of not getting passes.  the line started at a 90 minute wait, but we got in the line right around 9, and got off the ride around 11:30.  the plan was to hit the aladdin show at 11:10, but it is safe to say that didn't happen.

folks, if you want to stay sane... GET FAST PASSES or you'll be stuck listening to these lovely songs the entire time

roly poly was a constant that was sung the rest of the trip.  and lets be real...
it still gets sung.
there was a lot of back and forth across the park, since they wouldn't accept the tower of terror fast passes at this point, so they waited in standby while mom, aileen & i did some character hunting.  the incredibles left, so we went to where i knew toy story characters were, and buzz lightyear was leaving once we got there (here he is kissing my hand as he went by and jessie showed up)
so we jammed back over to the hollywood backlot for the incredibles, got that picture, then went BACK to the pier, got a picture with woody as he was leaving and then one with my man, buzz.
there was a lot of wandering around at that point as we now waited for the aladdin show at 5, so we went on mater's junkyard jamboree and soarin' over california, and we went over to the bridge by the pier to take some pictures.
i ordered these ears off etsy for us, and even though they showed up barely in time, they were so worth it!  you can get a pair of your own (either ready to ship or a custom order like i did) from elephant and mouse shop.  holly's are marie, aileen's have mulan characters on them, and of course, mine are buzz lightyear :)
mickey pretzels are the best pretzels. end of story.
we saw the aladdin show for the final time, since it closes this month.
i'm semi intrigued to see how the frozen show plays out (and if it has a run as long as aladdin did) but also wish they picked something besides frozen.
but don't tell andrew i said that...
we left the park to go get dinner at the earl of sandwich in downtown disney, and it was wonderful to finally get some caffeine and warm food.  i had the chicken tortilla soup, and it was delicious.  we came back, wandered the animation area, and went in to the beast's library where we found out who we are.  i got...
pretty sure last time i got mrs. potts. i'm sensing a theme here. after that, we went and met elsa, because there was no line, and i wanted to send andrew a picture.
then we went to turtle talk with crush before heading to world of color's holiday show. after world of color we called it a night in order to get a smidge more sleep and make our day in disneyland a longer day.  which is also the day i have less photos for, it seems.  so here's day two!
as you can see, we aquired an extra body for day 2 in the parks. aileen's fiance drove down monday, spend tuesday in the park with us before heading back to idaho on wednesday. we started off the day in tomorrowland, then jumped over to indiana jones & pirates. then back to tomorrowland for space mountain & buzz lightyear astroblasters. i'd like you all to be aware that they flipped the scores on this print out...
FINALLY got to ride thunder mountain for the first time in years, since it was either closed or broken down. we also waited in line for matterhorn for an hour and a half, because it also broke down. but it was absolutely worth the wait.
we bounced over to california adventure to get soup and bread bowls for dinner, as well as let the others get one more ride in for those that wanted to go on tower of terror. on the way back over to the land of disney, i was able to successfully cross paths with one of my favorite photographer friends! alas, her first day in the park was the day we left, but it was good to see her for the first time since WPPI 2012 in vegas!
we headed to thunder mountain to ride it one more time, and then were going to do matterhorn single rider, but it was still down and everyone else was good to go. so we watched the parade and called it a night. wednesday morning we ate breakfast at denny's, sent ben on his way and then headed to the science museum where we saw the endeavor
it was cool to look at, but clearly one of those things where i would feel like i learned more with a guided tour or someone there to talk about it. there were little signs all over, and docents giving little facts, but that was it. we went inside the rest of the museum for a little bit as well before heading home.
it was a pretty action packed 3 days, as well as a whole lot of car time, but it was overall enjoyable.
though it's pretty safe to say i'm already ready to go back to disneyland.
who's coming with me??