M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-Eeeeeeeeee!

View from the Plane

In July of 2011 we took off once again to sunny California.  This time, all three boys and a girlfriend in tow.  THIS was going to be the largest group vacation i'd ever organized.  I was taking the boys to meet my parents before Tracy and i tied the knot in October.  First things first though...how can i take my new little family to California and not hit Disneyland?  The answer...i can't...so we went!

2 for $.99 Tacos

We flew out of Milwaukee and after some small setbacks with flight delays and seating we made it to L.A.X.  I might as well state now that when we fly to California we will likely always end up at L.A.X.  It's just not affordable to fly into other California cities such as San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Santa Maria or even Burbank.  Almost twice the airfare.  So the choice is L.A.X. and rent a car...or in this case a mini van.  Upon arriving we stopped at the best fast food place EVER...Jack-in-the-box. Now, i know people who live near a Jack-in-the-box don't really care, but for those of us living without the 2 for $.99 tacos this is a must stop.  I'm not sure exactly what's in the tacos but they are completely addicting.  Basically the rule of thumb is to order them WITH your meal instead of fries....well, that's our rule of thumb. They look like the shouldn't be good, but they are FANTASTIC!

Devin at Michael Jackson's Star

Brad at Bugs Bunny's Star

After we filled up at "Jack's" we headed over to Hollywood to show the kids the same touristy stuff Tracy and i experienced in April 2009 (read in full detail about Hollywood in my California Here We Come! blog post).  Although i do have to say i had more fun walking around and looking at the stars on the walk of fame with the kids.  They found their favorites...Devin's was Michael Jackson and Brad found Bugs Bunny.  We had fun at the souvenir shops too.  Once we got back to where we parked we all agreed to get going.

We finally headed to our hotel in Anaheim, The Desert Palms Hotel & Suites.  The lobby was beautiful, much more than i expected due to so-so reviews online.  I think we lucked out and caught this hotel between its completed renovations and overcharging customers with the new face-lift.  Lucky us.  Apparently the room we ordered had not been vacated so we got an upgrade...YAY!  Our room was awesome.  4 queen beds and 2 FULL bathrooms which we quickly denoted girls on the right and boys on the left.  We had a view of the California Adventure theme park - too cool all lit up at night.  We were very happy with our room, the cleanliness, the view, and the pool at the hotel.  We stayed here because it was a 10 minute walk to Disneyland so i didn't have to deal with parking.  We relaxed around the hotel and ordered my favorite pizza...Round Table Pizza.  We don't have one near us so it's a treat for me when i come home to California.  After dinner we went for a swim in the indoor/outdoor heated pool.  After a full day we were all ready for a good night sleep before our exciting day at Disneyland.

I was the first up i think out of sheer excitement.  I'd been to Disneyland a few times in my life, but Tracy and the kids had NEVER been.  I know Tracy was REALLY looking forward to it...a dream come true for her.  The kids didn't know what to expect.  We all got moving, showered, and fed and were able to walk from the hotel to the front gates of Disneyland.  As soon as i walked in it was like i was a kid again myself.  Before we really got into the park we were greeted with a performance from the Disneyland marching band.  Too cool!  I feel like we were in the right place at the right time for that experience.  M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-EEEEEEEEE! As lame as it sounds it was one of my highlights and i was VERY excited for Tracy and the kids to experience a great magical moment at Disney.

Into the park we went.  As we turned the corner and Tracy saw Disneyland Main Street she paused and kinda cried.  Of course that made me choke up too.  It's a magical place by every definition of the word and until you experience it for the first time you won't understand.  First stop: Tomorrowland where Sarah and Matt had us check out the Innoventions area which had a ton of hands on experiences in science, computers, and video gaming.  This was a very interesting place, but i was chomping at the bit to see the park, not be stuck in a room of gadgets no matter how cool they were. There were rides to be ridden...let's go, let's GO!

Astro Blasters

Captain EO

Finally we decided to go and we got in line for Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters.  This was so much fun.  We all had lasers on our carts and got to fire at objects all around while your score on the dashboard accumulated.  It was great fun and we, of course, competed for best score.  We split up after this ride.  Matt and Sarah went their way while the two younger boys, Tracy and i stayed in Tomorrowland to see Michael Jackson's Captain EO. Since Devin is a die-hard MJ fan, it wasn't too hard to convince them to see this 3D experience.  Off to Adventureland to ride Indiana Jones Adventure - this line was LOOOOOOONG - like 1 hour long!  It was a pretty cool roller coaster type ride, but Tracy and i found it to be too jerky to be fully enjoyable.  Probably because we're older though because the boys LOVED it!  I had a few "have to" rides and the Jungle Cruise was one of them.  I loved this ride as a kid and i wanted my kids to at least check it out.  It's a classic.  Next stop New Orleans Square where we of course did the Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean (both rides on my "have to ride" list).  Neither disappointed us.  In fact, Disney had upgraded Pirates of the Caribbean to include Captain Jack Sparrow which wasn't a part of the ride in the past.  This was a welcomed addition and didn't take anything away from the original ride.

We grabbed a quick bite to eat then we ventured into Frontierland where we fired away at the Frontierland Shootin' Exposition.  This is a ton of fun for just a a buck or two.  It lights up or makes noise when you hit a specific target so you can kinda rate yourself.  I prefer to try and find the furthest item away and nail it!

Space Mountain

We headed back over to Tomorrowland  to ride Space Mountain.  We found out you can do a fast pass that has a time stamp on it instead of waiting in long lines.  When you go during your timestamp you can go to the front of the line.  Fun story about Space Mountain...we were at the absolute end of the hair-raising ride when it stopped cold.  After the lights came on and the problem fixed we got offered to go again without waiting in the line.  So a second go-round!  Space Mountain is a roller coaster that is entirely in the dark.  It's super fast and there are lots of unexpected turns and drops.

Mickey Mouse in the Parade

When we got done with Space Mountain Brad wanted to ride Astor Orbitor at the mouth of Tomorrowland and just as he and Devin got off the ride we started hearing whistles.  We headed towards the noise and realized we perfectly timed getting a great spot for the Disneyland parade.  This was truly a sight to be seen and i got the chills as colorful float after float past us.  The music was amazing and the characters on the ground matched the themed float and danced around. The highlight was seeing Mickey of course.  I can't even put into words or capture on film the way this parade makes you feel inside if you're a Disney fan.  So much to see and hear...it's almost overwhelming.  Again we were in the right place at the right time to experience this.  If we go again, i'm going to make a point to find out when it is actually scheduled.

Cinderella's Castle

Kissing Mr. Toad

After the parade we headed towards Fantasyland which takes your right through the iconic Cinderella's Castle.  There are so many classic rides in Fantasyland but a lot of them are for little ones.  I really wanted everyone to go on Mr. Toad's Wildride so we got in line for that.  This ride is kinda cheesy, but still fun.  You get in your cart and it runs along tracks avoiding all sorts of potential pitfalls.  I think to this day Brad thinks his steering kept us from a fatal accident with an oncoming train.  Everyone loved the ride and i was taken back to my childhood once again.  I think part of the magic of Disney is so little changes and you can count on it over and over again to be pure and innocent.


We did finally hit Mickey's Toontown, the new addition (new to me), in the back of the park. We met up with Matt and Sarah again for a bit and toured around this area. The structures were phenomenal and it felt like you were inside a cartoon the whole time you were there.  I'm sure this is the intended idea.  We could NOT pass up the opportunity to "do the ears".  I think everyone needs a pair of Mickey or Minnie ears when they go to Disneyland.  Plan on spending at least $20 average on a pair of them and you get your name on the back.

We hung out and ate dinner and then decided that 15 hours at Disneyland was enough and started to head out.  As we were moving towards the gate we spotted them.  Goofy and Minnie Mouse...so, of course, we stopped for our photo ops.  All and all, Disneyland did not disappoint, it was good, clean, wholesome, family fun. Although i would definitely pay for front of the line passes next time just to be able to do more within the same time frame.  I don't think there can be a bad review of Disneyland...except maybe the walk BACK to the hotel after walking literally miles inside the part for 15 hours.  One of the funniest moments was Brad hitting the side of his leg as he was walking trying to wake it up.  We were all behind him looking at him like "what the heck are you doing?"  Too funny.

Brad, Minnie Mouse, & Devin

Devin, Goofy, & Brad

Tracy, Goofy, & Cindy