There And Back Again: A Conlins' Tale, Back To Happy Land

Thursday we got out for the day a little earlier, having slept soundly through the night, but still didn't make it to Disneyland before the park opened, always our elusive goal! We had arrived 40 minutes after opening Wednesday and only 20 minutes after opening Thursday. One day we will get there as the gates swing open! I know it! Happily, my sister was able to join us for the day. Hooray! When we arrived in the parking garage (Daisy, 3G) we could already tell there were a lot more people there than the day before. Oh well. We took Wednesday as an unexpected gift (I mean really, who goes to Disneyland thinking they won't have to wait in long lines?) and prepared for longer lines.
We had planned this week's Disney adventure more than I think we ever have before, mapping out where we wanted to go and what we wanted to do and when the best time to hit those things would be. So Thursday's first ride of the day was in Fantasyland on Dumbo The Flying Elephant. Adam and Ben ran ahead once again to get fast passes for Space Mountain (we planned some ride repeats-- 1) because we knew my sis would want to do them and 2) because they are our favorites). I have to say that I loved having my sister there with us, it made the day even more special, if that is at all possible.

And then we had a Mad Tea Party. There was the spin free teacup:

And the super-spin teacup:

Tommy was determined to make us spin even when we tried to tell him he was in the spin-free teacup.

And then we went for a different kind of spin on King Aurthur's Carousel. The carousel always makes for great pictures. :) I think it was Tommy's favorite ride of the two days. When it was time to get off he was gripping the handles with every ounce of his toddler strength and made loud grunting and shrieking sounds of angst when I had to peel him from the horse.
Josh mastered the snap during the morning of our second day at Disneyland, so he was snapping all day long. "That's cool!" {snap} "Aw, darn!" {snap} It was funny. He snapped for the rest of our trip. And came home with a blister on his middle finger from all the snapping. No joke.
While Josh was mastering the snap, Luke was working on his eyebrow wiggle technique. While we stood in line for Peter Pan's Flight in the rain the day before, a nice young grandpa showed the boys how he could wiggle his eyebrows up, down, and independent of each other without moving the rest of his face. The boys thought it was hilarious. Luke was so intrigued that he took it upon himself to learn the skill. Luke's style was more "wiggle your whole face except your eyebrows" rather than "wiggle your eyebrows without moving your face." But it made for some funny pictures!
The line for Alice in Wonderland, the last ride in Fantasyland I wanted to go on, was pretty long, as usual, and I didn't want to go on it that badly, so we left for Frontierland and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. On the way we passed a huge line, with an hour and 20 minute wait going into a building with a sign that said "Tangled." We thought it might be a new ride, so Adam asked the "cast member" what the ride was like and if it was worth the wait. She said, "Oh, this isn't a ride, it's the line to meet Rapunzel." While I have moments where I feel sad that I don't have a daughter, I am usually content and very happy that I am the mother of five fantastic boys. And then there are the moments where I just think, "How did I luck out?" This was definitely one of them. AN HOUR AND TWENTY MINUTES just to MEET the princess?!! No thank you! Once I was aware of the insanity of this predicament parents of young girls must face, I began to notice that this scene was repeated for all princess/fairy meet and greets throughout the entire park. You'd almost have to plan a third day at Disneyland, saved only for meeting princesses. Wow. It's good to have boys. This marble scene of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves that "comes to life" singing and spurting water when you throw a penny in the magic well is all the princess my boys really cared to see.Anyhow, on to Big Thunder Mountain! Even though there were more people at the park, the lines still weren't bad and moved quickly. It was only 30 minutes for the scary runaway train roller coaster.

I love roller coaster pictures. They crack me up!

Aaaaaaand that was it for Frontierland. In the Rivers of America part of the park we spotted a bit of Colorado, a petrified tree stump from the petrified forest in Florissant. Hey! We've been there!

Sisters!

The kids were still in good spirits, but the previous long day was definitely showing on the sleepy faces of the littles. Luke took a little cat nap on Zach's back while we waited in the Pirates line.

Tommy passed out at about the same time, waiting to sail with the pirates, in Daddy's arms.

But Luke was awake and alert when we visited his ghostie friends again! Despite the terrified look on his face in the picture, he loved it just as much the second time.
It was time for our Space Mountain fast pass return, so we left New Orleans Square for Tomorrowland. While passing through the center plaza we stopped for a couple of those classic, not-to-be-missed pictures with Walt and Mickey.

And in front of Sleeping Beauty's castle too.Space Mountain really is the best ride in the park.

After we freed up our fast pass eligibility by riding on Space Mountain, Leah and I decided to head over to California Adventure to get fast passes for the World of Color show. The fast passes guarantee you good viewing spots. Adam and the boys decided to stay in Tomorrowland and wait for the next Jedi Training Academy show. We had gone to one the day before and none of our boys were picked. I guess the force wasn't strong enough in them that day. So we left. We tried to go back later, but it had already started raining and the show had been canceled. So if the boys were going to see it on this trip, this was it, because we were ready to head to California Adventure. On the way back from getting the fast passes, Leah and I stopped to grab some lunch and bring it to Adam and the boys who were watching the show. I called to check on the progress of the show and Adam said, "Hurry! All three of the boys were chosen!" Wow. That was a bloomin' miracle! There are usually at least 250 kids sitting there jumping up and down with their hand in the air, hoping to be picked. A Jedi walks around "sensing who has the force strong enough in them" and selects them to come into the training ground. Maybe 25 kids are picked. That all three boys were chosen for one show was amazing. The Jedi didn't choose them all at once, they were each selected separately. Zac was the last picked. Adam had been worried that he was going to be left out after Josh and then Ben were selected in the "sensing" process, but miracle of miracles! Zac was chosen too. I really think it was the highlight of the Disneyland experience for them.

Anxiously waiting!

Sensing the force...who will have the force strong enough to be come a padawan?

Holy Mackerel! THE CHOSEN ONES!

Practicing their skills. Zac is on the far right, Ben is the closest kid to the camera and Josh is just to the left in front of him.

Putting the skills to the test! Zac battles Darth Maul! GO ZAC!

Ben takes on Darth Vader! Stay strong, Ben!

Josh fights Lord Vader too! Use the force, Josh!

It was awesome. To say the least.

Following the Jedi battle, I overheard a mom saying to her two boys, "We need to go do some girl things for your sister now, we've only been doing boy things all morning." Once again, I had a moment of, "Phew! I never thought about that. That would be hard. And I've seen the time investment those 'girl' things require. Good to have boys!" Before we could leave Disneyland, Auntie Lili decided she wanted to get the boys each a special extra souvenir. Ben picked a plush Yoda, Zac picked a Star Wars figurine set, Josh got a mini flashing lightsaber, Luke got an R2D2 spinning light-up toy and Tommy got Mickey Mouse ears. His very first pair. Awwww! Jedi Training AND unexpected gifts?! They were happy little boys!

It was off to California Adventure for the Conlin Chaos! I felt a little sad to be leaving Disneyland, knowing it was the final goodbye for this trip. Although, I know we will be there again!

California Adventure has a lot of construction going on, but no one does construction zone fencing like Disneyland!

For California Adventure we split up. Again, we didn't want the littles waiting in a line only to be too small for the ride, so Adam took Luke and Tommy to A Bugs Land and Leah, the bigs and I headed for Grizzly Rapids. It worked out well because after having spent the day before feeling damp, Adam had no interest in going on a ride where you could potentially get wet.

The ponchos came in handy once again!

And the littles LOVED A Bugs Land. Adam had a blast spending the time with Tommy and Luke, seeing them really enjoying these rides that were made just for them was a gift.

There was a little 3D movie about bugs, narrated by Flik, that they watched. Adam thought it was cool, but the 3D effects were a little too much for the little boys, like a spray of water in the face (acid from an acid-producing bug) and the seats that "crawled" with exiting bugs when the movie ended. Tommy and Luke were both pretty happy when it was over.

But Heimlich's Chew Chew Train was a hit!

And nothing topped Flik's Flyers! With no prompting from Dad, Luke shot his hands in the air and started shouting, like he was on a roller coaster. Adam couldn't stop laughing.

And then Tommy joined in! Adam said he had a difficult time taking the picture he was laughing so hard!

While the little boys got their scream on, Ben, Zach and I were screamin' in a different part of the park, Paradise Pier, on the California Screamin' roller coaster! I started screaming the second we shot off, and didn't stop until, well, we stopped. Josh had been just a teensy bit too short for the ride, but his auntie eased the disappointment of having to miss it by buying him a rock candy stick. After that he didn't mind so much.

We all met back up again so that Adam could rider swap for Screamin', and while we were waiting for Adam and Ben to finish their ride, we found a place for a fun photo. I'd buy those adorable action figures!

As a side note, Tommy was in food heaven getting to partake of treats that are usually forbidden to him. For lunch we had these giant corndogs, I had bought a little cup of macaroni and cheese for Tommy, but when he saw those corndogs he HAD to have one of his own! Tommy "I'm Getting One" Conlin. This kid has more nicknames than any baby ever had! This one stems from a line in the first Lord of the Rings movie. Good thing I had had a big salad earlier in the day, so I only had a few bites of the corndog intended for me, while he ate almost the entire thing and Luke was happy to eat the macaroni. So the food swap worked out well in the end.

And his thoughtful brother Josh gave up the last bit of his rock candy stick because Tommy was desperate to have one. See the joy in those eyes? It says, "I've just won the lottery!"

Here we are waiting for Mickey's Fun Wheel, the giant Ferris Wheel that provides views of the entire park and some of Disneyland. Boy do I love that mug!

Luke wanted me to take a picture of R2D2 while we waited in line. I had been taking a lot of pictures of Tommy, and I think Tommy was tired of it, so when he saw me pull the camera out again, he hid.

A lot of the rides in the Paradise Pier section of California Adventure were closed because of all the construction. We were especially sad to miss Toy Story Mania. Luke is a HUGE "Stoy Tory" fan right now. It's really the only movie he ever wants to watch. Good thing there are three of them to choose from! But at least we got to go up on the Ferris wheel. It's so huge and obvious, the kids wanted to go on it the instant they saw it towering over the park. It was a pretty view, but REALLY cold up there!

After we disembarked from Mickey's Fun Wheel, Adam once again set off with the little boys so we could wait in line for Soaring Over California, another amazing ride. They went back to A Bugs Land for a bit, and then ventured over to Turtle Talk with Crush in the Hollywood Pictures Backlot, while we waited, and waited, and waited. Right after we had gone through the doors to the building where the ride is housed (mercifully because it was getting cold outside) the ride malfunctioned. But we waited hoping it would start up again, making friends with the people in line and playing I-Spy. We were happy when it finally got going again. It's such a fantastic ride, it was worth the wait.

Leah and Zac then took the little ones on Monster's Inc. Mike and Sulley to the Rescue (twice--they walked right on!) and to get in line with our fast passes for the World of Color show while Adam, Ben, Josh and I waited in line for Hollywood Tower of Terror. This line and Soaring were definitely the two longest lines we had in the two days. Fortunately both rides are great, so it makes the wait a little more worthwhile. We had tried to sway Josh from wanting to go on the ride because time was running low before the World of Color show, but he still remembered the terrifying elevator drop from last time we were at California Adventure two years ago and really wanted to give it a go again. He happily proclaims it his favorite ride. I was glad he insisted. It is pretty darn scary/fun!

The day concluded with the AMAZING World of Color show, a show that is new since last we were there. It is hard to explain, but similar to the water show at the Bellagio, but 1000 times better! The water lit up in rich colors set to music, the sprays and plumes and jets of water seem to be dancing, scenes and songs from movies are featured on the "water" screens, and they use fire too. It was stunning, beautiful, a feast for the eyes and a perfect finale for our Disney days.

This one is taken from almost the exact same angle as that from which we watched the show.

Yeah, that's fire among the water.

It's a testament to how wonderful these days were that even finishing this post is making me kind of sad! Spending the day with my sister Leah, feeling the magic of the place, witnessing the happiness that being there brought to my family, feeling the Disney joy...it was perfect. I'm already daydreaming about the next trip there....

**I did not take the photos of the World of Color show, I was too jaw-dropped, eyes-wide entranced to remember to take pictures, plus I was holding Luke. These photos were found on the internet and I make no claim to them being my own other than that they represent what we saw in the show Thursday night.**