We just got back from our quick two-day trip to Disneyland
over Fall Break – and we had a blast.
For the first time, we used a travel agency, Get Away Today,
to book our trip. This took a lot of the planning details off my shoulders, and
we got some discounts. And the coolest feature was that we could put our
vacation on layaway a few months prior and make payments. This was a great way
to budget out our trip.
We opted to stay in the Fairfield Inn across the street from
Disneyland, which is the closest we’ve ever been. Through the deal with the
travel agency, our parking fees were covered, and the Pizza Hut offered buy one
adult meal, get a kid’s meal for 99 cents!
Another benefit was that there was a McDonalds and Panera
Bread on the walk to Disneyland, which considerably cut down our meal costs.
The first night there we spent time in Downtown Disney and
had dinner at the Goofy’s Kitchen buffet, so the kids could meet some characters.
I didn’t expect the boys (age 7 and 9) to be into it as much as our 6yo, but
they were just as excited as her to see the characters. Pluto was their favorite.
The food on the buffet was amazing, and really the only negative thing I could
say about this restaurant is that the restrooms are outside of it in the
Disneyland Hotel, so make sure your little ones go before you are seated. We
had to make several trips and it took a lot of time. I was always worried they
were going to miss a character they were waiting for.
The next morning, we tackled Disneyland. We only had two day
passes that were one park per day, not park hoppers, so we had to pack a lot in
each day. The first thing we did was stop by City Hall and pick up a Disability
Access Pass for Boo. This allows him to wait for rides the same as everyone
else, just not in line.
So if the line
for Haunted Mansion was 30 minutes long, we got his card checked in and watched
the ducks in Rivers of America until our time was up. I will probably do a
later blog post about this program, but I wanted to say how wonderful it was.
It taught him that he doesn’t get instant gratification to ride things because
of his disability, but it made things more accessible to him, so we didn’t have
meltdowns in crowded lines. And it was all tied to his ticket now, so on most
rides it just looked like he was using a fast pass.
I would like it known that I climbed Tarzan's Treehouse with my kids, and my legs may never recover.
Speaking of Fast Pass, we opted to pay the extra $10 per
ticket for the MaxPass, which meant we could schedule fast passes on the app.
And included in that cost was a digital copy of all the photo opp pictures we
took (yay for mom actually being in vacation pictures), even our terrified ride
photos. The combination of the two features made it worth the cost, in our
opinion.
We also used the app to do the mobile ordering feature for
lunch, which really cut down the wait time for food. This was a godsend for a
family with a kiddo that has special needs.
We rode plenty of rides – and our kids spent a little of
their gift cards we had given them in the Star Wars store. Boo was picked to be
the rebel spy on Star Tours and he yelled “this is all my fault” for the entire
rest of the ride. And of course, we had some churros.
The highlight of the day was riding Big Thunder Mountain,
because my two littlest were way to short last time to ride it and they had
been waiting for years. They loved it so much.
We took a break at our hotel for some rest and pizza before
heading back to the park at night to ride a few more things, including the “fast
train” again.
The next morning, we started our journey in California
Adventure. We had a fast pass for Radiator Springs Racers, another first for
the two littlest, so we waited in line for the two smaller rides in Cars Land first.
Then we hit up Pixar Pier. My oldest was too nervous to ride
the Incredicoaster, so we waited for our pass to ride Toy Story Mania to be
ready. We had some ice cream and then we got to meet Woody! Then we rode on the
giant ferris wheel – which will now be referred to as the “wheel of doom.” My kids
begged to go on the swinging one, and because of my husband’s weight it swung
like crazy and we all thought we were going to die! The kids were screaming so
bad, the ride staff let us out after only one rotation. Next time we will going
for a non-swinging one.
We ate some lunch (again with the mobile ordering app) at my
husband’s favorite – The Corndog Castle, and then took a break for a couple of
hours at the hotel.
We came back for Soarin' (which the kis thought was the best ride ever), some dinner in Cars Land, and one more ride
on Radiator Springs Racers. This was the only real meltdown Boo had on the
trip, because he was tired, and the park was packed with people. He had enough
at that point and just dropped to the ground. Not safe because he could get
trampled, so I picked him up and did a guided walk with him. We found a quiet
corner in Flo’s Diner and he was able to calm down while I did mobile ordering.
In this instance, that app feature was so valuable because I could make sure my
whole family got fed, but Boo could sit in a quiet place and not have to stand
in the loud line.
After dinner, he was back to his happy self and ready to
ride his favorite ride. Because of Boo’s sensory issues, fast rides are really
soothing to him.
We spent the rest of our gift card money, bought some
Halloween cake pops at the bakery, and said goodbye to California Adventure. We
were all exhausted by the time our head hit our pillows that night.
It was a great trip, as we hadn’t gone in four years and we
were going through Disney withdrawals. But we did learn that we need more time
and flexibility – a few more days and park hopper options – to make it a better
trip for Boo. Cramming all that into two days was really tough on his system.
The other kids were exhausted too and were sad they didn’t get more time in the
pool because we were focused on Disneyland.
But it was all worth it. Boo's excitement to meet his best pal Woody for the first time. Our 6yo Tink holding her daddy's hand and skipping excitedly to the Disney music as we entered the park. Superboy, age 9, discovering the excitement of thrill rides and asking what was the next one after getting off Space Mountain. These are memories we will keep forever.
We’re already planning for a longer trip back next fall
break! I can almost smell the churros already!
Another highlight is the living statue, who lets the kids paint her dress every year. They always look forward to it.
