This is my 100th post on our blog and what a fun thing I have to write about:) Since we took over 1300 pictures on our 1 week trip (which is I'm sure slightly higher than the amount of 35mm pictures that our parents' took of us as kids;) I am going to have to break this down into several posts! Todd and I were like Jaden and Bryson's own personal paparazzi!On Tuesday morning April 28th we left for California. Brothers excited to go on vacation!
What a little poser Jaden is here:)
Bryson getting his pose on!
I wanted to get out Bryson's excess energy before boarding so we explored SeaTac. Here he is checking out a cart.
His personal favorite, the moving sidewalks! Later Jaden and I had races on these, so fun!
The flight was easy and very quick, the boys enjoyed having their own tv to watch (I heart Jet Blue) and we landed at Long Beach before we knew it! I am now also a HUGE fan of Long Beach airport, which is very small and easy to manage. We picked up our luggage and literally walked across the street to pick up our rental car and we were out of there very quickly. On the way to the hotel we stopped at an In-N-Out Burger because we were famished (snacks on the plane were great but we needed some "real" food:) After checking into the hotel and unpacking we decided to walk down and check out Downtown Disney which has some great shopping and restaurants. Disneyland/California Adventure/Downtown Disney was 2 long blocks from our hotel so we decided to walk and not use our transportation bus pass.Here is Jaden in the "O" in the large letters that spell CALIFORNIA.
Of course I had to stand by the "A"!
One of the stores that we stopped at was the Lego store. Jaden was super excited to see so many amazing things built out of lego's. Todd and Jaden in front of Lego Darth Vader.
Bryson couldn't get over the enormous lego giraffe, which was about 3 stories tall!
There was also an area to practice building with lego's.
Jaden didn't want to leave!
Bryson worked with the Duplo's.
What a fun store!
Bryson really enjoyed playing in the water of this fountain.
The boys even threw in some money and made a wish.
We had a nice meal at The House of Blues and then went into the Disney store to buy them some Mickey ears. Here's a picture of Bryson sportin' his!
The next day we woke, had breakfast at our hotel (which served an extensive "continental" breakfast), and walked back to Disneyland. We took a few pictures before entering the park as it didn't open until 10 on this day. 
Jaden took this picture:)
Here we are on Main Street waiting for 10 o'clock and the rest of the park to open (Main Street is open an hour early on many days).
The castle
As soon as the rope was lowered we rushed over to the Pirates of the Caribbean ride and were disappointed to find out that it was closed and wouldn't reopen until Friday, May 1st. So we decided to head over to Fantasyland and go on the Matterhorn.
Bryson and I about to get on the Matterhorn bobsled.
I had forgotten that the Matterhorn had the scary abominable snowman/monster which scared poor B:( So we decided to hit some of the kiddie rides and went on the Storybook Land ride next. Bryson kept saying, "Is this one gonna be scary?!?" Whoops! I guess taking your 2 1/2 year old on a big "scary" ride first thing at Disneyland wasn't the best idea!
He loved that ride so we went to ride Dumbo next, which is the ride that Bryson had been talking about since we showed him some rides online from home. Jaden rode with Todd and Bryson and I rode together. The boys had fun moving the stick up and down to make Dumbo go higher or lower.
Then we had a snack and went on Pinnochio. The lines were really short this day and the average wait time was 5-10 minutes long. I remember as a child waiting for hours! It was a great time to go mid-week at the end of April:)
Jaden trying to pull out the sword in the stone.
Mama even tried to help;)
We did the teacups next, so fun!
Then my favorite ride as a child, A Small World. Bryson sings the song now and it is so cute, "It's a fall worold affa all!"
They had updated this ride (since I was last on it 12 years ago), and it was really amazing! Bryson loved this part with Donald Duck playing the guitar.
Next we went to Tomorrowland and went on the ride that Jaden had really wanted to visit: Star Tours. Bryson barely made it on this ride, and was measured several times by several people, but finally passed!
Then we went on the new Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters ride which turned out to be the very favorite ride of both boys. Bryson still talks about going on this ride everyday (he calls it the shooting ride because the point of the ride is to shoot at targets to gain points).
We had lunch and then the boys were exhausted so we rented a stroller for Jaden (which is something we should've done at the beginning of the day) and they both took a 2 hour nap in their stroller. During this Todd went on the Indiana Jones ride, while he waited in line for 30 minutes I noticed some people who had tickets in their hands for single riders. Apparently on all of the big rides you can ask for a single rider pass and then proceed up the exit skipping the long line and get on the ride in a matter of minutes! So when Todd got back I tried it and was able to ride Indiana Jones and be back in 10 minutes! 
The boys with Pluto (or as Bryson calls him, "Mickeys dog) after their nap.
We decided it was a great time to head over and check out California Adventure. We got fast passes for Soarin Over California ('cause we didn't want to wait 45 minutes in line).
Then walked over to the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail, where the boys had a blast running and crawling through tunnels,
crossing bridges,
and climbing down rope ladders:)
This is a new ride called Mickey's Fun Wheel, but it wasn't open while we were there:(
The new Toy Story Midway Mania ride was so fun, and it turned out to be the longest line of the day (about 30-40 minutes). It is a new 4-D attraction where you try to shoot at different carnival-type games. This Mr. Potato Head was at the beginning of the line and was really fun to watch.
And went to ride the Jungle Cruise!
It was getting close to 7 o'clock which is when the Main Street parade starts so we went over and tried to find a spot, finally finding a place towards the end. Bryson needed a shoulder ride to be able to see!
Todd and the boys waiting for the parade to start.
The end of our first great day at Disneyland!
I told the boys that they could choose 1 toy per day that we were at Disneyland so after the parade they found these light-up guns and had a great time "blasting" eachother in the dark:)
Of course I had to stand by the "A"!
One of the stores that we stopped at was the Lego store. Jaden was super excited to see so many amazing things built out of lego's. Todd and Jaden in front of Lego Darth Vader.
Bryson couldn't get over the enormous lego giraffe, which was about 3 stories tall!
There was also an area to practice building with lego's.
Jaden didn't want to leave!
Bryson worked with the Duplo's.
What a fun store!
Bryson really enjoyed playing in the water of this fountain.
The boys even threw in some money and made a wish.
We had a nice meal at The House of Blues and then went into the Disney store to buy them some Mickey ears. Here's a picture of Bryson sportin' his!
The next day we woke, had breakfast at our hotel (which served an extensive "continental" breakfast), and walked back to Disneyland. We took a few pictures before entering the park as it didn't open until 10 on this day. 
Jaden took this picture:)
Here we are on Main Street waiting for 10 o'clock and the rest of the park to open (Main Street is open an hour early on many days).
The castle
As soon as the rope was lowered we rushed over to the Pirates of the Caribbean ride and were disappointed to find out that it was closed and wouldn't reopen until Friday, May 1st. So we decided to head over to Fantasyland and go on the Matterhorn.
Bryson and I about to get on the Matterhorn bobsled.
I had forgotten that the Matterhorn had the scary abominable snowman/monster which scared poor B:( So we decided to hit some of the kiddie rides and went on the Storybook Land ride next. Bryson kept saying, "Is this one gonna be scary?!?" Whoops! I guess taking your 2 1/2 year old on a big "scary" ride first thing at Disneyland wasn't the best idea!
He loved that ride so we went to ride Dumbo next, which is the ride that Bryson had been talking about since we showed him some rides online from home. Jaden rode with Todd and Bryson and I rode together. The boys had fun moving the stick up and down to make Dumbo go higher or lower.
Then we had a snack and went on Pinnochio. The lines were really short this day and the average wait time was 5-10 minutes long. I remember as a child waiting for hours! It was a great time to go mid-week at the end of April:)
Jaden trying to pull out the sword in the stone.
Mama even tried to help;)
We did the teacups next, so fun!
Then my favorite ride as a child, A Small World. Bryson sings the song now and it is so cute, "It's a fall worold affa all!"
They had updated this ride (since I was last on it 12 years ago), and it was really amazing! Bryson loved this part with Donald Duck playing the guitar.
Next we went to Tomorrowland and went on the ride that Jaden had really wanted to visit: Star Tours. Bryson barely made it on this ride, and was measured several times by several people, but finally passed!
Then we went on the new Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters ride which turned out to be the very favorite ride of both boys. Bryson still talks about going on this ride everyday (he calls it the shooting ride because the point of the ride is to shoot at targets to gain points).
We had lunch and then the boys were exhausted so we rented a stroller for Jaden (which is something we should've done at the beginning of the day) and they both took a 2 hour nap in their stroller. During this Todd went on the Indiana Jones ride, while he waited in line for 30 minutes I noticed some people who had tickets in their hands for single riders. Apparently on all of the big rides you can ask for a single rider pass and then proceed up the exit skipping the long line and get on the ride in a matter of minutes! So when Todd got back I tried it and was able to ride Indiana Jones and be back in 10 minutes! Here are the boys asleep in their strollers.
The boys with Pluto (or as Bryson calls him, "Mickeys dog) after their nap.
We decided it was a great time to head over and check out California Adventure. We got fast passes for Soarin Over California ('cause we didn't want to wait 45 minutes in line).
Then walked over to the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail, where the boys had a blast running and crawling through tunnels,
crossing bridges,
and climbing down rope ladders:)
This is a new ride called Mickey's Fun Wheel, but it wasn't open while we were there:(
The new Toy Story Midway Mania ride was so fun, and it turned out to be the longest line of the day (about 30-40 minutes). It is a new 4-D attraction where you try to shoot at different carnival-type games. This Mr. Potato Head was at the beginning of the line and was really fun to watch.
Afterwards we went back to redeem our fast passes on Soarin' Over California and were disappointed to find out that Bryson couldn't go on it even though the height was 40 in. supposedly the same as the Star Tours ride:( So we did the family swap, where Todd took Jaden on it first while I stayed with Bryson, then came back and I took Jaden on it. What a great ride which you soar and swoop over some famous California landmarks.
Afterwards, California Adventure was closing so we went back to Disneyland and went on the Disneyland Railroad train to New Orleans Square where we got off.
And went to ride the Jungle Cruise!
It was getting close to 7 o'clock which is when the Main Street parade starts so we went over and tried to find a spot, finally finding a place towards the end. Bryson needed a shoulder ride to be able to see!
Todd and the boys waiting for the parade to start.
The end of our first great day at Disneyland!
I told the boys that they could choose 1 toy per day that we were at Disneyland so after the parade they found these light-up guns and had a great time "blasting" eachother in the dark:)
1 comment:
What a great post! I love every detail : ) We are possibily going to go in October and this makes it all that more exciting to plan! Can't wait for part two.
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