Theresa's cousin and his whole family are visiting Disneyland this week! T is out of town for work, but I was free, so I got off work early, grabbed the kids and left for Disneyland!
Leaving home at noon afforded us great traffic and empty freeways for the entire drive. Even the parking garage only had 1 person in front of us in line. There's something to be said about these weekday visits.
As is our tradition, the kids hopped in the stroller and we walked from the parking garage to Downtown Disney. That pathway they were working on just this past weekend is now complete!
Where is everyone?
It's Mike, Lindsey, and the kids! Everyone was excited to see each other. They're just wrapping up lunch and about to head back to the hotel.
So we joined them. Theresa and I have never stayed in the Disneyland Hotel before. Just the Grand Californian.
The kids got a chance to run around and play together.
Showing off some of their candy from the Oogie Boogie Bash.
One of the little ones in the group is going to take a nap. Which means...
The rest of us get to go play in the pool!
They spent 30 minutes going down water slides.
And afterwards they wanted to go into the big pool and swim around.
It is just a beautiful day here in Anaheim. Blue skies and warm weather.
Perfect for a smoothie and those fried green beans they have here at the pool.
Did someone say smoothies? They've got a sixth sense about it.
These guys are little water bugs. They loved playing in the pool for nearly 3 hours until nap time was done.
One of the benefits of ducking into the park when we arrived was being able to snag fastpasses. Soarin is a favorite for everyone so I was happy that fastpasses were available.
Time for a snack break! Grammy packed everyone a bunch of delicious California fruit. Grapes, strawberries, nectarines, apples, and Asian pears. It was quite the feast!
The Oogie Boogie Bash is happening tonight at DCA so that park closes early at 6pm. As people find their way out, the lines for Disneyland start growing.
The kids are having a lot of fun together.
Everyone is big enough for Big Thunder Mountain so that was our next stop.
The kids all wanted to ride together.
Having lots of fun.
Holding on tight with one hand and putting the other one in the air.
Everyone was all ready to ride the Holiday Haunted Mansion, but it went down and our fastpasses turned into anytime fastpasses. Great! Let's go on Space Mountain instead!
Unfortunately once we got there we were told that Space Mountain and the Holiday Haunted Mansion aren't the same class of rides, so our passes wouldn't work there. Bummer. They're similar wait times these days. With Mansion being even longer in most cases. But no use arguing with the cast member. How about dinner instead.
Pizza Planet worked well earlier this week. The kids liked the pizza and pasta. It worked just as good tonight. The kids were promised Mickey ice cream bars if they ate well.
Time to use that last fastpass. Giving the kids a vote between Holiday Haunted Mansion or Big Thunder again, they really really wanted to ride Big Thunder.
The kids swapped riding buddies and everyone enjoyed a ride in the dark on Big Thunder.
We're rarely here after dark, so it's fun seeing some of the things that only appear at night.
Time to find those Mickey Bars. I didn't see them in their normal spot by the hub. A cast member suggested we look near the corn dog wagon. No luck there either, but a cast member did radio around to find it.
Here we are! Right in front of City Hall. I didn't realize these snack carts moved around so much.
Loving the treats.
It was great seeing everyone!
It's late and past the kids' bedtime. As they ate their ice cream, I walked them through Downtown Disney and back to the car. Not surprisingly, Alli fell asleep in the car and as soon as we got home, Ian was ready for bed. The swimming, walking, and heat wore them out today.
That was a nice midweek Disney surprise for the kids and you, and even included a rare evening visit. Great that Mike and his family were able to meet up with almost the entire family (hope they enjoyed the Oogie Boogie Bash, too!) Looks like a lot of Big Thunder Mountain fans! That was a fun "elevator squeeze" family photo...that must be a tradition when your family meet in hotels :-) It's certainly been a sweltering week...heat, alone, can tire many people; but add in swimming and lots of walking, Ian & Alli (and you) held up well! Instead of the "Milk Smile", Alli & Ian gave everyone the "Mickey Ice Cream Bar" smile...nice way to end the evening :-) EOM
ReplyDeleteHa. The elevator squeeze photos are usually the result of me realizing that we've got everyone in one place and that doesn't happen too often.
DeleteIt's great to break with the norm and do something different every once in a while.