DISNEY

Disneyland/California Adventure Park did not disappoint. We had 3 days to spend there and filled them up well. We had the park hopper pass, so spent the first day in California Adventure, the second day mostly in Disneyland and then spent the third day hopping back and forth depending on what Wyatt was interested in.

Here is sleeping beauty's castle. WAY smaller that you would imagine. I guess it does have to fit in the park though.

We didn't meet many characters this trip. Wyatt was a little nervous about them, and I hadn't realized that you have to stand in line to meet them like you would wait for a ride. I think maybe next time we go Isla will be older and I'll encourage her to meet a princess or two, but the only characters we met and took pictures with were ones we stumbled upon as they were setting up their line, so we didn't really have to wait.

We waited to go to Disney until Wyatt was 40 Inches tall. That meant he couldn't ride about 95% of the rides whether he was interested in them or not. He was pretty nervous about a lot of them, but I think he still enjoyed himself. We tried to be completely honest with him, and Brett and I were able to have a good sense of what he'd be able to handle and what would freak him out too badly.

I was in awe of how well maintained Disney is. Obviously they see thousands of visitors weekly, and things must get worn down, but everything looks brand new. Brett and Jeremy figure they have a full time paint staff that just repaints the park constantly.

Mickey's toon town. It was unreal, you could barely tell where the real sky started.

Our two favorite rides, above is a Buzz Lightyear ride, where you have a lazer gun and shoot the alien target and Zurg.

Below was Toy Story Midway Mania. 3-D ride, where you are in a ride car, and you pull up to a number of different screens where you play midway games with your little gun. ex. breaking plates with a ball, popping balloons with darts. It is very well done! It always had the longest line though.

I got some flack for liking the jungle cruise, but the tour guide did a good job of making it entertaining with corny jokes and cheesy lines. I thought he was hilarious. The rest didn't agree with me.
Autopia. Wyatt should have been able to drive this car by himself, but he had some trouble, that and it kept stalling on us. The gas petal was difficult to press, and when Wyatt gets ahold of a steering wheel he just twists back and forth really fast. We weren't getting anywhere!
A bugs life 4D show. Wyatt was not a fan of the 4D. You watch the movie in 3D and then they squirt water, or blow air as the 4th dimension. "It's tough to be a bug" was a little intense, and Wyatt and Brett left, but they are just so clever with the things they think of. A must see! On our last day we went back just so Brett could go watch it alone while I waited with the kids.
We took turns on the rides. Brett and Jeremy would go wait in line and get a "parent swap" pass. When they were finished, they'd take over watching the kids and Chantal and I would take the pass and were allowed in the fast pass line, getting us right to the front. It is a really great system.The whole trip Wyatt told everyone that would listen about the dragon he was going to see at Disneyland. Everyone seemed confused, thinking there wouldn't be one. We looked, and looked, and this is all we found. BUT- Wyatt was THRILLED!!!

We had such a great time with the Chiu's! They were perfect traveling companions, and were interested in doing the same things. Even on days when we spent time apart, we always ended up running into each other- we thought a lot alike. It was always very comfortable, and we were happy to be together, and were o.k if we ever wanted to spent time apart. PERFECT!

We will definitely be back!