Tuesday we were up and ready to go by 6:30 AM. Well, most of us. It was hard to have to wake this one up …
We could get into the park at 7 and we chose to take advantage of our early entry in Fantasyland.
And take advantage we did! We blew through more than a dozen rides before lunch!
Bobby still wasn’t full convinced of the fun-ness of these rides. Riding Dumbo with Tommy didn’t help. We couldn’t be up and we couldn’t be down … we had to bounce up and then down and then up and then down and then up again … Make up your mind, son! Your momma isn’t as young as she used to be!
Kevin was afraid I wasn’t going to be in enough pictures …
I’ve trained them well … no hands even on picture stops of rides!
I know we are in the minority here, but we really like riding “It’s A Small World.” We have fun looking for all the hidden (or not so hidden) movie characters intermingled with the dancing nation dolls.
I love sharing these memories with my boys!
And I love making them laugh with funny face selfies!
I love that Ricky enjoyed the puppeteering and costumes and would have happily ridden it again!
After all the kiddie rides, it was time for my favorite ride, Thunder Mountain.
I’ve done my best to convince them all that it is the best ride.
So far, so good!
It is still my absolute favorite and probably always will be!
And I love riding it with Kevin. He wasn’t so convinced about the joy of roller coasters when we first got married, but he’s a fan now!
Being with Grandmama is part of the fun of our Disneyland trips!
After Thunder Mountain, we met up with Grandmama and Bobby and went on Pirates of the Caribbean. Bobby’s favorite part of that ride was playing with the chain railings as we waited in line. He had to run his hand along each one – expressing his displeasure when the line was moving too fast for him to properly play with the chain.
Shortly before you get on the boats for Pirates, there is a pile of gold with a parrot watching over it. Kevin pointed the parrot out to Tommy and asked him if the parrot was real. Tommy acted all disgusted with Poppy and replied, “No! It’s a bird in a costume!”
There you go!
Generally, we don’t wait in line to see any of the characters, except Mickey and Minnie Mouse. We pay a little more to enjoy the character dining experiences where they come to your table and you interact with them that way. However, since Bobby really liked the characters and we’d made such good time all morning, we opted to wait in line to see Eeyore, Tigger, and Winnie the Pooh.
The boys just seemed so excited to see the characters!
There were hugs and high fives and knuckle bumps … and Bobby had to touch all their noses!
Serious heart melting moments when Bobby would hug these big fuzzy beasts!
And when Tommy did, too …
Then Bobby would want some loving from his dad to reassure him that the big fuzzy beasts really were his friends.
Bobby liked the characters, but he wasn’t interested in standing in pictures with his brothers AND the character. There would be none of that. So I got my picture taken a lot with the characters, too.
How happy Tommy was just cuddled up with the giant Winnie the Pooh!
And the nose kisses!
After visiting with our friends from the Hundred Acre Woods, Kevin and I took the big boys on Splash Mountain. They had seen the big drop as we entered Critter Country and Rusty and Tommy were excited but nervous about it.
But only a little bit nervous.
I was a little nervous having Tommy in the very front seat by himself as we went off the drop. Holding on with both hands would have been a little too … mothery … so I wrapped one leg around his waist instead!
The boys thought it was awesome!
There are a gazillion reasons why I love the Disneyland Hotel and staying there, but one pretty close to the top of the list is this …
Characters right in the lobby!
Or just outside the lobby doors …
Everyday there was someone else just wandering around waiting for 5 little boys to need a picture…
or to squeeze their noses!
I didn’t get many pictures at the pool, but it was pretty nice. We put Bobby down for a nap and Kevin took the older boys down to swim. Two pools, 3 water slides, and a couple of hot tubs and shooting geysers. The boys were in water heaven!
After the pool and some downtime, we went in to California Adventure and found a shady bench where we could watch the Pixar Parade and eat our hot dogs for dinner.
The Parade was fun and there were lots of bubbles that came floating down on our heads!
At one point, a girl dancer from the parade came over to us and put her hand out to Billy for him to give her five. Billy paused for a moment, looking at her hand, and then he shrugged as if to say, “I guess it wouldn’t hurt” before he finally gave her five.
Once the parade was over, we asked the boys how they liked it. We got “good” and thumbs ups. From Tommy, though, we got, “That was more awesome than my dreams! That was more awesome than my brain can think of!” I think he liked it.
After the parade, Grandmama took Bobby shopping. She tells us that he was a wonderful shopper and just perfect for her. That’s good because we were running back and forth between parks trying to use our FastPasses. First, we zipped over to Tomorrowland to ride Space Mountain (our passes were actually for earlier that morning, but the ride had to close for a little bit during our return window).
Surprisingly, Rusty and Tommy weren’t really fans. Actually, Rusty’s exact words as we got off were, “I’m space sick! I’m space sick! I’m space sick! I am NEVER going on that ride again!”
I’m sure they will give it another try some day.
Then we zoomed back to California Adventure and tortured the boys again by taking them on the Tower of Terror.
You have to break them in and, perhaps, freak them out while they are young! We succeeded.
There may have been several children who stated, “I am NEVER going to ride THAT ride again!” once we got off. Huh. I thought it was great!
I love that Ricky and Billy have their hands so tightly clasped!
Tuesday Rides and Attractions: Snow White, Pinnochio, Dumbo, Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, Tea Cups, Alice in Wonderland, Storybook Boats, It’s a Small World, Thunder Mountain, Pirates of the Caribbean, Winnie the Pooh Ride, Splash Mountain, hotel pool, Pixar Parade, Space Mountain, Tower of Terror