The only thing that was frustrating about staying at the StayBridge was that we were dependent upon the shuttle to get to and from Disneyland. The shuttles were not reliable at all and sometimes with tired or impatient kids it could be a challenge.
On the second day we were able to get into the park for Morning Madness. We woke everybody up at 6:15 in the morning. They were a little grumpy, but once we got into the park everyone was excited.
Huck figured out very quickly about taking pictures with the characters he loved to run up, give them a hung, pose and then he was off on his next adventure. We were very blessed to have my parents on this trip with us. They were able to take the little ones if we wanted to do rides with the bigger kids, they watched all of the kids one night so Ken and I could have a date night in the park and they helped us keep any eye on everyone. It was a difficult week for my parents because of some personal losses they faced at the beginning and end of the trip, but I really appreciated how they were able to stay happy and enjoy these memories with the whole family.
A friend loaned us this leash for Huck and it was a lifesaver. There was one day we forgot it and it was horrible chasing him all over the park. Of course he still managed one day to climb out of a strapped stroller. As soon as he was free he started running. Luckily some quick thinking security guards grabbed him. My mom looked up and saw a cute little boy across the roundabout with some disneyland workers wearing a monkey on his back that looked ... very similar ... to her ... GRANDSON!
We were so proud to get a picture with our beloved duck. Did you know Oregon's mascot is Donald Duck? After the picture the duck pointed out Little Miss's shirt which had his girlfriend Daisy on it.
On this day we took the kids through the castle into Fantasyland. Our first ride was Peter Pan. We all loved being able to fly in our own boats.
The kids loved King Arthur's Carousal. Huck and Little Miss
especially wanted to do this over and over again.
After the Flying Dumbo ride Mimi and Papa were able to head off for some alone time.
We took the kids for a calming Storybook Canal Boat Ride.
After we did everything in Fantasyland (except the teacups and Snow White "scare the dickens out of little kids" Adventure Ride Little Miss desperately wanted to see Tinkerbell. We kept waiting for the wait time to go down, but it didn't seem to shorten. This was by far the longest line we waited for the entire week. It was insane. Ken and I took turns waiting and we would wait for 15 minutes without moving but a few feet.
At one point I was walking with Huck who was having the hardest time waiting. We came out of the side door of the castle and ran in to ...
A little history is needed here. Huck has seen Little Miss playing with princesses for his entire life. Often Little Miss will sing when she plays with them so for several months now Huck will call any beautiful girl a La La. So when we came around that corner and saw Snow White he yelled out, La La.
She had just arrived so there was only a few kids waiting, but Huck had such a hard time waiting. He was trying to wait his turn, but as soon as I told him he was next he couldn't contain himself. He pushed past the little girl in front of him and dove in to Snow White's arms. To say he loved her was an understatement. He wouldn't let her go, and she didn't want to stop hugging him.
After a few minutes Snow White's step mother arrived. Snow White asked if Huck wanted to give her a hug and he graciously agreed but he really just wanted to hang out with Snow White.
After Huck had his time with Snow White I rushed back to get the rest of the kids.
We were able to get back in time to see Aurora and the Step Mother. The Step Mom was a crack up because she stayed in perfect character and demanded that the children politely request her autograph rather than demand it of her.
After all this time with beautiful women we went to go join daddy in line who had moved a whopping 15 feet. The lifesaver of the entire trip was Dum Dum suckers. We would break these out any time the kids needed a little pick me up.
Finally we made it to the entrance.
Pixie Hollow has giant flowers and leaves that makes you feel like you have shrunk in size and gone in to a fairy world.
Tinkerbell was really cute with the kids. The amazing thing is that even though you wait a long time once you get time with the characters they spend a lot of one-on-one time with the kids and interacting with them. The entire time we kept commenting that in only a few years we all anticipate that Midge will be working at Disneyland.
Before we went to Disneyland I made a list of all the food items we wanted to eat when we were there. A Dole Whip was one of the items on the list, along with a peanut butter chocolate sandwich and a corn dog from the red cart on Main Street. We got all of them and they were delicious.
We also managed to do Pirates of the Caribbean. The kids really liked it and it was one of our more favorite rides. Interestingly enough Huck was fine the first time on this ride, but later in the week when we took him on it again he turned to me after the first dip in the dark and said, "no more hills." He then kept asking to get out. Which wasn't really an option since we were in a boat. I realized that for little ones these rides are often really loud and that seemed to get to him more and more as the week went on. I would sit him in my lap and cover his ears and this seemed to help more.
