Our Family Vacation: Disneyland 2011!

We had a great vacation. We loved the weather. Then of course we returned home to freezing cold temps in the 40's with wind, rain, and snow. Oh Utah, I'm so over your very very very long winters. Let's move on to another season and let Old Man Winter return when it's Christmas time again.

On Thursday night we drove to Vegas to stay the night. It was my first time in Vegas and Curt's first time since he was little. It was pretty surreal to see it all the lights in person. We got there around 10-10:30p.m. and drove down the strip. The next morning we did a little shopping at the outdoor Las Vegas Town Square. I thoroughly enjoyed shopping in the 75 degree weather. I got Cache some summer clothes at Gap and H&M. Curt and I got some clothes at American Eagle and I also got a top and skirt at H&M. We got some frozen yogurt with fresh blackberries and watermelon at Yogurtland. The boys played a little bit at the park area then we were on the rode again.

We got into Anaheim at 6 o'clock that night. We checked in at our hotel and were off to Disneyland. We ate a nice dinner at the French Market in New Orleans Square. Curt had jambalaya and I had roasted chicken, mashed potatoes and steamed vegetables. I don't really like the food at Disneyland. It's mostly all fried and fattening and extremely overpriced of course. I was surprised how good my meal was and I really love Disneyland cornbread. After dinner, we went on the Pirates of the Caribbean and caught the last part of Fantasmic. Casen saw Mickey driving the Mark Twain Riverboat along with all the other Disney characters and was saying all their names. We went and played Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters and came out right in time for the finale of the fireworks. We went on Alice in Wonderland and then we let the boys pick out something from the Disney Emporium on Main Street. Cache picked out Mickey Ears and Casen picked out a Steamboat Mickey. We saw Minnie Mouse on our way out of the park and Casen got to meet her. Casen seemed to like Minnie Mouse better than Mickey. He would smile and look at her and let her "kiss" him. He cried and was scared when I wanted him to get a picture with just him and Mickey.  He loved the Disney bear though, because he's just a big Teddy bear.


Saturday morning we went to California Adventure. We stopped and got some pictures with Mater and Lightening McQueen out front of where they are currently building Radiator Springs. We can't wait to take our boys back there in 2012 when it is finished and open. Cars is our boys favorite! It is every little boy's favorite. We spotted Mickey Mouse and got some pictures with him on the Pier. Then we went to Toy Story Midway Mania. We all loved that game. It's 3D and a bunch of games where you "throw" pies, eggs, darts, etc. at different targets. It was our favorite family ride. We saw Duffy the Disney Bear and got some pictures with him. Cache got a Buzz Lightyear costume for his Mickey Disney Bear I got for him when he was a baby in 2007. Casen got a Duffy bear wearing an Easter bunny outfit. We took the boys to "A Bug's Life" and rode the chew chew train. Then we did Monsters Inc. and headed to Disneyland and ate lunch at Cafe Orleans. We rode the "big fast train"aka monorail at Cache's request. Then we went back to California Adventure for the Disney Junior Live on Stage show. It was a fun show that let the kids interact with all their favorite Disney Junior characters. Then we headed back to Disneyland (see this is why you buy Park Hopper tickets:) and walked through ToonTown. We decided to eat dinner at Big Thunder Ranch BBQ in Frontierland. It was an all you can eat BBQ chicken, ribs, baked beans, corn on the cob, coleslaw, and cornbread. They just brought buckets of food to your table. The chocolate chip cookie bake was really good. That meal and the meal the night before were the only really good meals that we had in Disneyland. After dinner we went to Fantasyland and went on Pinocchio, Snow White's Scary Adventure and Dumbo. We headed out of the park at about 8:45p.m. and headed back to the hotel to get plenty of rest for our Magic Morning.

Our tickets included one "Magic Morning". It is when you get into the park one hour early before it opens and certain rides in Fantasyland and Tomorrowland are open. Sunday morning, we were some of the few first in line and we got in the park right when it opened at 7a.m. We headed to Fantasyland and we all rode on Peter Pan's Flight as a family. Then Curt took Cache to Dumbo and they got to stay on the ride and rode it around and around three times! I took Casen back on Peter Pan. It is so fun to just walk back on a ride! Then I took Casen on Mr. Toad's Wild Ride and Alice in Wonderland. We met up with Curt and Cache on the teacups and spun around in them two times before I got to dizzy. I'm not the biggest fan of rides that go in circles. It makes me feel too dizzy. Cache really wanted to go on Nemo's submarine so we went there next. Cache loved that ride. We headed over to do Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters again. Another one of Cache's favorites. After the ride we got Cache the Toy Story 3 Lotso bear that smells like strawberries. We rode on the rockets in Tomorrowland before heading over to the Haunted Mansion and finishing off our Magic Morning with the Pooh Bear ride in Critter Country. We headed to Main Street and had breakfast at the Carnation Cafe. Saturday and Monday morning we had free buffet breakfast at our Red Lion hotel which was really good food. After Breakfast, we headed to California Adventure which was just opening so it was really good timing. We headed to Toy Story Mania again first thing. On our way back to Disneyland we spotted Minnie Mouse and got some pictures with her. Then we headed back over to Toontown in Disneyland. Casen fell asleep in his stroller. Meanwhile, Cache played around the playhouses and Curt took him to meet Mickey in Mickey's house. I bought a really cute picture of Mickey and Cache. Curt and Cache went on Gadget's roller coaster and we found out that Cache LOVES "roaster coasters"!!! Cache was smiles the whole time and begged to go on again or on another "roaster coaster". So we headed over to Frontierland and Curt and Cache went on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad roller coaster together. Cache loved that roaster coaster even more and wanted to go again! They were having some technical difficulties with it when they went to go again, so good thing they got to go when it was working properly. We ate lunch at the River Belle Terrace. We hung out on Main Street and watched the flag ceremony. Then headed over to take the boys on the Pooh ride again. Casen really liked that ride. Then we made the trek from Critter Country all the way over to California Adventure again. We went on Monsters Inc and walked all the way over to the very back of the park for one final ride on Toy Story Mania. We ate hot dogs for dinner and headed out of the park. Our feet were exhausted at the end of the day! We had done so much walking back and forth park hopping and I was so glad we were able to do everything we wanted to do. It was a very fun trip. I love watching my kids get to experience the magic of Disneyland at such a fun young age. I'm grateful we were able to make the trip and take them. We made memories that will last forever.