Disneyland, the details

I think I can safely say that Disneyland exceeded all of our expectations. We had such a wonderful time that we extended our 4 day pass to a 5 day pass, and enjoyed every minute of it.

We were in a family suite, comprising a lounge room, bedroom, and 2 bathrooms. The space seemed like such a luxury after 2 weeks of standard hotel rooms! The boys were given balloons and gift bags on arrival, and we were off to a flying start.

Our first morning we went to a "character breakfast". It was in the restaurant of our hotel (Paradise Pier Hotel, Disneyland), so nice and easy to get to bright and early. It was a Lilo and Stitch breakfast, which was a hit, as Stitch has long been one of the boys' favourite characters. There were also other characters wandering around, who went from table to table posing for photos, ruffling the boys' hair, etc. It was a buffet breakfast - always a hit with the kids, as they love to check out all the options available.

When we got to Disneyland, Patrick and Matthew were wide-eyed with excitement. It truly is a magical place. Characters wandering around, an old world feel to Main Street, staff that are so polite, and only to willing to help you, bands playing, and smiling faces everywhere (especially from the people selling the balloons that every child wants!).

We had planned to hit the popular rides early, before the crowds. However, we found we got sidetracked very easily, whenever we saw a fun looking ride and one of us exclaimed "Look, no line!!". Over the five days, it was very rare that we had to stand in line for very long. Part of this was due to our early starts, partly due to our willingness to use a "FastPass". FastPasses are available for the really popular rides. You insert your disney pass, and you are issued a ticket, giving you a time to come back, kind of like making a reservation. When you come back, you skip most of the line, and so cut your waiting time.

I think I can say, without a doubt, that the boys' favourite ride was Splash Mountain. They (and Paul) went on it 7 times, 8 if you count the time it broke down while they were on it! Thankfully, they hadn't gone too far into the ride when it broke down.

Paul and Patrick also braved California Screamin' twice - a rollercoaster that goes for more than 3 minutes, including an upside-down loop through Mickey's head. Matthew and I stuck to the flying swings instead.

Jack delayed his starts at Disneyland most days (we start too early) and found himself getting on Indiana Jones when he thought he was getting on the jungle cruise. On a scale of 1 - 10 (1 being sitting drinking tea and 10 being thrown around in the mouth of a bear), the Indiana Jones ride would be a solid 8. He did not enjoy this. We on the other hand thought it was great (Paul and Patrick rode twice). Best line on the ride "Tourists! Why did it have to be toursists?".

We also gave several other rides multiple visits - Pirates of the Caribean, Big Thunder Railroad, Matterhorn Bobsleds, and Star Tours.

2008 is Disney's "Year of a million dreams", and they had set up a Jedi Training Academy and a Princess Fantasy Faire to cater to those dreams. The boys were chosen to become Jedi Younglings, and were trained by masters to use a training lightsaber. Darth Vader and Darth Maul appeared after the training and the students were able to use their new skills in controlled battles - "right shoulder, left shoulder, right leg, duck, left leg, chop to the head". All shots were blocked (unless one of the students did not stick to the script) by the baddies, but it was still a lot of fun. The boys were re-graded as padawan learners and walked out with a certificate. The master also had a great banter going "the skills we learn are for defense, never for attack. If this rule I forget, to the audience I will go back." and when Vader gave his "I find your lack of faith disturbing" he shot back with "I find your breathing disturbing".

We saw most of the Parade of Dreams in Disneyland and all of the Pixar Play Parade in DCA.

The heat did get to us on a couple of days, with temps getting into the mid 30's. Rides where you get wet had really long lines, and the fastpass wait was sometimes up to 4 hours. We tried to get into climate controlled rides or break for lunch during these times, and found some good attractions in DCA to beat the heat. We saw Muppet Vision 3D and a Monsters Inc ride, which were really fun. Turtle talk with Crush was also great. Crush (the 150 year old sea turtle from Finding Nemo) swims in and talks with the crowd. Matthew had a chat with Crush (Do you and Squirt like playing together?) There is a guy who can see and hear the audience controlling Crush's movements and voice and it was great. BTW, Crush has 65 children. He also had some great one liners. When talking to the "parental units" of one child (and discovering they had 2 kids) - "stopping at 2 means more food for you!"

Patrick got hooked on pin trading on our second last day. Pins (badges) are sold in the stores in the hotels and the parks and can be traded with staff for pins that are not for sale elsewhere. You can tell the difference as the staff only pins have "hidden Mickey's" on them. Patrick now wants to keep expanding his collection using his pocket money via online purchases when we get home.

The hotel staff were particularly helpful. We had to check out by 11am, but our shuttle to LA was not coming for us until 1pm. We had them store our luggage while we went for an early lunch, and retrieved it at 12:50 so we were ready. Our shuttle had not arrived at 1:20, and when the bellman saw us waiting outside offered to chase down the company to see where they were. Keep in mind that they could have turned off the niceness at 11 when they had our money, but they (Jerry) seemed genuinely concerned that we were waiting.

Overall it was a great time.