Disneyland Extravaganza!

Saturday, June 27th, Jeremy and I left for California. By ourselves. No cute kiddos to entertain in the back seats. Jaina and Reilly Spent Saturday, Wednesday, and Thursday with my mom, and Sundy, Monday and Tuesday with Jeremy's. They had a blast. We did, too, but we were a lot more worn out than they were at the end of it all!

We stopped in Mesa to go to the temple and have lunch with Phil and Sophie. We also got to see their fun new house. It is SO hot in Mesa... We made it to La Habra, CA at about 8 that night and stayed with our friends Mike and Naomi. It was so fun to see them! Mike had to work Sunday, so we went to church with Naomi and then relaxed, preparing for our Disney marathon the next 3 days. Our hotel was about a 15-20 minute walk from the front gate, but that first morning Naomi followed us to our hotel and dropped us off outside the gate. Isn't she nice?

The lines weren't actually that bad for the middle of summer. We made sure to get there at opening (yes, at the slight sacrifice of sleep) and walked on to most things for the first hour or two. Wednesday morning I went on Big Thunder Mountain twice in a row with no wait and then on Splash Mountain twice without having to even get out of the log. (Jeremy had opted to stay and get ready, clean up, and check out of our hotel while letting me make opening!) Some lines got up to 60 or 70 minutes in the afternoons, but we never waited in those. The first two days we actually left the park for 3-5 hours to rest at our hotel and eat some dinner out of the park. The food was really expensive, and not as good as it used to be. To be fair, we didn't sample too many places, but we were happier with our outside meals. Jeremy was especially fond of our In-N-Out burgers, fries, and shakes the first evening.

It was, however, HOT. Not intensely hot, not Arizona hot, but still too warm for me to be spending all day in it. It was pleasant in the evenings, but a little warm and humid in the mornings. Fine in the shade or with a breeze, thankfully. The last day (Wednesday) we didn't have anywhere to go rest, and spent 8 am to 5 pm in the park, and it was a little much sun for both of us. Jeremy actually got slightly burned (that rarely happens) and I had some heat rash on my arms and legs. But it really wasn't that bad, especially when we took the afternoons off. One of the last rides we went on on Wednesday was Grizzly River Rapids at California Adventure, and we were more than happy to get soaked!

My favorite rides were California Screamin', Space Mountain, and Tower of Terror. But I also loved Soarin' and Grizzly River Rapids... I like them all, mostly. The Matterhorn was even rougher than I remembered it, and the Maliboomer was a little much for my stomach this time. I'm not sure which ones Jeremy liked the most (he's asleep, and doesn't get any input) but I know he loved Indiana Jones. Fun story: The second time we went on it it ended up stopping within the first 20 seconds. After waiting for about 15 minutes (and visiting with the family from Utah behind us in the car) it finally started going again, but with the lights on. That lasted about 1/2 of the way through the ride, and was really awesome! The lights suddenly turned off in the middle of a fast part, and it was super scary, (especially for the 8 and 10 year old girls behind us) but really fun. They let us go again for having to wait (minus said girls, who were actually in tears because they were scared and were NOT going on that ride again) so we got to ride it twice after waiting in about 15 minutes (that was WITH our fast passes...)

There weren't many rides we DIDN'T make it on, and it was mostly by choice. We skipped a Bug's Land and didn't make it on any rides in Toon Town this time, but did hit most of the Fantasyland rides during our early morning admission day. We watched the fireworks twice (from two different spots) and enjoyed the Street Party celebration.

It was a really fun, if rather tiring trip. We ate dinner (and really good cheesecake) with Mike and Naomi Wednesday night and stayed with them again before heading home Thursday morning. Here are some pictures. There are more from the first day, when we were the freshest. :)

First line of the trip- "Finding Nemo!" Actually, the ride kind of made me a little seasick, but it was fun to ride in the submarines again.

Yay for Splash Mountain!! But I got absolutely positively soaked... Fabulous track record at like 9 in the morning...

Seconds before most of the soaking.

Yes, I waited in line (for about a minute) just like all of the little kids.

Of course we had to get a shot with Mr. Potato Head! :) Outside Toy Story Mania.

In line at Toy Story Mania. This is the longest we waited for a ride - about 30 minutes. It was pretty toasty, but at least they had a lot of umbrellas up. Like our nifty 3D glasses?

Jeremy is always such a good sport to go on the carousel with me. I love it.

Yay Tower of Terror! I got braver on future rides, just so you know, and put my hands up too...

Getting ready to get on the Matterhorn Tuesday morning.

A very nice shot of the Mouse on Main Street (signing someone else's autograph book)

Jeremy, looking hot and enjoying a Dole Whip for my dad

Me, posing with some of our favorite Disney characters

What a trip! It totally wore us out! This one is from Tuesday night, after the fireworks...

Naomi and I - To be fair, I must say that she was still in her pajamas, and I was recovering from Disneyland...

A quick shot of Reilly, refusing to take off the Christmas Mickey ears we got at the Character Warehouse (a Disney outlet store) and playing with Jaina's Mickey sort 'n shape...