About January, we decided to take the boys to Disneyland. Gabe and Wesley love the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse series and we decided they would probably enjoy the trip. The Best Western worked for us on our last trip and is just a few blocks away from the Disney campus. So I checked there first and they had availability Sunday through Thursday during our Spring Break week. So I booked it.
After doing a little research, we decided to try the Southern California Pass which included 3 day park hopper for Disney, Legoland and Sea World. After a little more research, I found if you purchase the Pass through Sea World, you could get an extra day at Sea World free. The catch, you have to visit Sea World first. So we went this route.
To say the boys were excited was an understatement. They were thrilled to get on the road. We left a little later than we planned, so we only made it to St. George vs. Vegas. I was able to book accommodations at a LaQuinta with our points. When we got to the hotel, we noticed Kylan had on his snow boots. When I asked where his regular shoes were, he said he didn't bring any. "No problem mom, these are comfortable!" So we made a quick run to the nearest store to find some appropriate shoes for Kylan.
Sunday morning, we got on our way and headed into San Diego to hit Sea World first. We arrived with only about 3 hours before the park closed. The first thing the boys wanted to do was ride the shipwreck water ride. Chris didn’t want to get wet and stayed with Wesley and Gabe who were not big enough to ride. I knew I would get wet, but I got soaked!
Ty, Kylan and I walked around a bit wet until the boys saw the manta ride. This helped to dry them off well.
Gabe and Wesley loved the viewing areas where they could see sealife up close and touch them. They both could have spent hours at the viewing areas.
At this point the park would be closing soon. We decided to catch the last Shamu show of the night.
After the show, we got on the road and drove north for a few hours until we reached our hotel in Aneheim. We had a small suite, so the older boys slept on the sleeper sofa and we barricaded the second queen next to ours for Gabe and Wesley.
Disney Day 1:
I had planned to be there when the gates opened, but we all moved a little slow and arrived about an hour after opening. The hotel is about 1 mile to the gates, so a 20 minute walk with the boys. The line was shorter for California Adventure, so we decided to go there first. I picked up fast passes for Radiator Racers while Chris took the younger boys on Mater’s Junkyard ride. From here we walked the boardwalk. The rollercoaster was not open yet, Toy Story Mania already had a line. So we ended up on the space ships and rode those a few times until they had to close the ride due to lightning. We decided to go stand in line at Toy Story Mania since there is always a line. They boys loved the large Potato Head that greeted us at the beginning of the line. Wesley kept people in line entertained with his moves and chatter.
The older boys were excited to find the roller coaster open after we rode the carousel. Chris and I each took turns going with Ty and Kylan on the roller coaster and then they boys went as single riders. We went back and checked on Goofy’s Flying School coaster and it was finally open. We took turns with the boys and then the boys did a few rounds as single riders. Then it was back to Cars Land. We arrived time to get pictures with Lightening McQueen, Toy Mater and Red the Firetruck.
Then it was time for Radiator Racers. This is such a fun ride with scenes from the movie and then the race on the track through the desert. We were going to try riding the new ride, but the line was terribly long, so we went and rode Mater’s Junkyard ride as a family. You get a good spin on the ride. Gabe was thrown a few times, but enjoyed it.
We were able to get a few character pictures. We got some great ones with Goofie!
Ty and Kylan just missed Donald.
Then we saw Princess Sophia. Wesley and Gabe walked right up to here and I got the cutest pictures of them with her!
Ty and Kylan would not do Twilight Tower of Terror, but we could all ride the Monster’s Inc ride together.
I went with Ty and Kylan to Soar’n – such a cool fun ride with great shots of California! While we were in the ride, Chris found Pluto and got pictures with the littles.
At this point, Kylan was begging to go to Disney side to go to Star Wars. Chris took the littles back to the hotel and I took Ty and Kylan into Disney. The lines were pretty long, so we went to the HQ building and stood in line for pictures with Boba Fett, Kylo Ren and Chewie.
Day 2:
Kylan insisted that we go to Disneyland and straight to Tomorrowland for the Star Wars rides. We went straight back to HQ to stand in line for the boys to do Jedi Training. It was an hour wait, so Chris took the boys to ride Astro blasters. When I got to the front, I had to call/text Chris to bring the boys as the boys have to be there when you sign up. After letting a few people go in front of me, the boys finally arrived. Ty, Kylan and Wesley were all able to sign up, Gabe was too young. After a few questions on if they could follow directions and hold a lightsaber and how old they were, the boys were signed up for 11:30 slot. We decided to go check out Toon Town for the littles. We found Pluto and Wesley shyly got a picture with Pluto in front of his house. We then headed for Mickey’s house. Wesley and Gabe were so excited to walk through Mickey’s house. We made our way through the house and to the line for Mickey. Chris took Ty and Kylan to ride the new Star Wars Space Mountain. Mickey was dressed as Wizard Mickey.
Wesley and Gabe were in awe! They were a little unsure, but were all smiles as Mickey gave them hugs. After the pictures, Mickey put out his hand to give Wesley a high-five, Wesley thought he was asking for his water bottle, so he handed Mickey his water bottle. Mickey took it and then handed it back.
We met up with Chris and the older boys and Chris took them to get ready for Jedi Training. Gabe and I went and got front middle seats for the show. It was fun watching all the kids walk out. Wesley was the smallest kid. Ty was placed up on the stage. Ty and Kylan did great, Wesley struggled a little following the movements, but he was happy to be there. Darth Vadar came out first, followed by the female Inquisitor. Wesley was sent out very first to fight Darth Vadar. He was so cute and just stared up at Darth Vadar. He did swing the lightsaber and did well considering.
After the show, each of the boys received a pin for completing the Jedi Training. Wesley walked over to us beaming so proud of his pin.
Next...It’s a Small World.
Ty wasn’t very excited for it, so he went to ride the Matterhorn as a single rider. We fast paced Star Tours and then walked over to Frontier Land to ride Splash Mountain.
Chris and I took turns going with Ty and Kylan. Chris took the littles on the Pooh ride while I went with
the older boys. Then we stood in line for the littles to get character pictures with Eeyore, Tigger and Pooh. Gabe was tired and was exhausted at this point – so he didn’t want a picture with Tigger or Eeyore, but did get a teary-eyed on with Pooh.
We headed back across the park to Tomorrowland to use our Star Tours fast passes. Chris and I took our turns with the older boys (love rider’s switch) and then they were able to go on their own with extra fast passes. I took the littles on Astro Blasters a few times while I sat out. Chris got popcorn with the littles when he sat out. After running out of passes for Star Tours, we called it a night and headed out to find dinner.
Day 3 Disney:
Kylan insisted we return to Tomorrowland and Star Wars rides again. We got in line for the rocket ships at the entrance because Wesley had been wanting to ride it.
We got fast passes for Star Wars Space Mountain. Then we enjoyed watching the Star Wars video. It was the same Space Mountain ride, but with sound and video clips from Star Wars movie battle. Ty and Kylan loved it.
After making the rounds with the riders switch and fast passes, we then fast passed Star Tours and rode Astro Blasters with the littles. The only place out of Tomorrow land that Kylan was interested in was Splash Mountain. However, as we walked over, the boys decided they wanted to do the Tarzan Treehouse. Gabe had fallen asleep, so Chris took the other 3 boys through it while I sat with Gabe. We took the boys over and fast passed Splash Mountain - took our turns then let Ty and Kylan do single rider while Chris and I looked for lunch.
We had brought in our on lunch up to this point, but had run out of our food, so we splurged and looked for something good. I grabbed a shrimp salad and then we went to the New Orleans area and ate at Cafe Orleans that had a fried Monte cristo sandwich with the parmesan fries that Chris wanted to try. I enjoyed the salad, but when the sandwich and fries came, I had to try it. It was quite tasty and the fries were really good. Gabe had fallen asleep, but woke up after the food came. He was a little funky on wake up, but would stick he hand out of the stroller to grab a fry.
After enjoying our lunch, we went back to Splash Mountain to grab the boys. The boys choose corn dogs and chicken strips and then we headed back to Tomorrowland to Star Tours, fast pass Space Mountain and burn out on Astro Blasters.
Chris took the littles back to the hotel and I took the older boys to Indian Jones ride. Kylan was anxious about the ride the entire walk over – worried that it would be scary.
Day 5: Thursday – After breakfast, we packed up the car and drove down the coast to Legoland.
What a difference after Disneyland. Not quite the same level, but the boys were excited. The rides were really restrictive on age and height – so the littles were not able to ride many of the rides. The positive, there were not very many people compared to Disney, so the boys were able to get on rides quickly. After a few rides, we found the Star Wars Miniland. The boys were happy building star wars ships with the legos they had there.
The mini –land displays were really neat, but the boys just wanted to build legos. We finally broke them away to go check out some other rides at the park. Chris rode the water ship ride with Ty and Kylan and then we all were able to ride the swinging boat.
We walked back across the park for Ty to do the Science Lab. Ty was the only one old enough, but this was probably the best part of the park. Ty was able to program a robot to complete different commands on the Heart table. The first task took some trial and error, but then he cruised through the other tasks. Chris took the older boys over to get their driver’s license and drive cars.
of them. We had promised the boys we would go to the beach, so even though it was dark, we drove to the beach and used our phones to walk over the rocky beach to the water. The boys thought it was cool. We stayed at a LaQuinta about 30 minutes from San Diego.
Friday: Sea World
We then found the Penguins and Gabe just loved looking at them.
We walked past the indoor glass at least 10 times, then told him it was time to move on, only to find there was an outdoor viewing area. So Gabe and Wesley sat on the wall and just watched the penguins jump in and out of the water and swim. He was so sad when we left over a half hour later.
We enjoyed another Shamu show and it was nice because it was a little different than the one we had seen Sunday. We took the littles to the Sesame Street rides while Ty and Kylan rode Manta a few times. The boys enjoyed the hands on pools of the different fish.
Dinner was in Ocean Beach at OB Noodles.
We left at a good time, by the time we arrived at the restaurant it was drizzling, then it really opened up and poured down. After we ate, we walked back to the car to find a large puddle of water surrounding the van.
A google search showed a chocolate place not far from where we were – so we made a quick detour to check it out. I picked out some different chocolates for Chris and I and then splurged to try one of their cakes. It was all excellent and well worth the detour. We made the mistake of driving past the airport which made for about a 30 minute delay, but finally got on the highway and began our return home. We spent the night in Victorville.
Saturday – we made the long drive home. We stopped in Vegas at Bachi Burger and had some Gourmet Asian flare burgers. We tried their speciality fries, but they were no where near as good as the ones we had at Disney in the Cajun district.
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