Disneyland, May 2007
May 9 through 11 we made the drive down to Anaheim to spend 3 days at Disneyland and the California Adeventure theme parks for Tyler's 3rd birthday. It was Tyler's first time there, as well as Daddy's. Grandma and Grandpa Mok came along for the ride as well.
Click on the picture for a larger version.
Day
1
May 9 - Checking in and
Disneyland - We arrived in Anaheim about 11 a.m. and after checking into the
Disneyland Hotel we rode the Monorail into Disneyland. Only after waiting in
line forever for the Monorail did we realize that we were within walking distance
of the main entrance.
The first ride we took Tyler
on was Autopia (the little cars that you drive around the track) and he loved
it. Then we took our first ride on the It's a Small World boats and he LOVED
it. His mouth dropped open and he had a fun time counting all of the different
animals and objects he saw. Then we checked out Toon Town and Tyler had his
first run in with the giant cartoon characters that walk around the park.
Needless to say, he wanted nothing to do with them. I guess no pictures of
Tyler with Mickey Mouse this year. We tried a few more rides. He loved the Tea
Cups, the boat rides and the carousel, but hated the flying Dumbo ride and the
kiddie roller coaster.
Before heading back to the
hotel for the night we had dinner at the Cajun restaurant in Downtown Disney
(which was nothing to write home about by they way). It was later in the
evening and Tyler had only had a short nap during the car ride down and boy did
it show. The boy was running on fumes and just started getting plain silly. He
was shouting and laughing and couldn't sit still. It didn't hurt that Grandma
and Grandpa Mok were there for him to show off for.
After such a long day we thought for sure that he would konk out right away, but he had to come down from his high and didn't get to sleep until well after 10. What a first day!
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Tyler checking into the
Disneyland Hotel with Grandma and Grandpa Mok close behind. |
Daddy and Tyler getting ready to go into It's a Small World. |
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Getting a bird's eye view of
Toon Town. |
Playing around in one of Toon
Town's cars. |
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Riding the carousel in
Fantasyland. |
WOO HOO!!!! I LOVE
DISNEYLAND!! |
Day
2
May 10 - California Adventure
- We spent all of Thursday at Disney's newest park, California Adventure. We
woke up that morning and had breakfast at Goofy's Kitchen in the hotel where
the Disney characters walk around the restaurant spreading cheer, but all that
they did was freak Tyler out.
So after that excitement we
walked over to California Adventure. Once there our first order of business was
to head over to where Tyler's idols, Lightning McQueen and Mater from the movie
Cars were going to be meeting and greeting guests. We were expecting some of
the same thing where a person would come out dressed like a giant stuffed
animal, but to our surprise actual life-size cars rolled out and parked in
front of everyone (with moving eyes an engine noises, Mater even honked his
horn a few times). When Tyler saw them coming down the thoroughfare we thought
he was going to have a heart attack. He pointed at them and let out a
"ooh!" Of course, it was a different story when they actually got up
close. He got a little shy, but we stayed the whole time they were there and in
the end he would stand by them and actually touch them. Then when it was time
for them to leave Tyler started bawling. It was like he was losing his best
friends. We had to follow them all the way back to their gate and when that
closed he started crying again. He was soon over it though when we got him on
some of the rides.
In addition to McQueen and
Mater he saw Sully from Monsters Inc, both on a ride and walking around on the
park. He also spent a lot of time in Bugs Land where there was an area for him
to run around and get soaking wet. We basically shut down the park here. Mom
and Dad did get in a few adult rides too while Grandma and Grandpa watched
Tyler, including the Tower of Terror and the California Screamin' roller
coaster. Mom even convinced Dad to get on the Maliboomer which shoots you
straight up in the air and drops you a couple of times.
After California Adventure closed we headed over to Disneyland for the parade. The parade didn't start on time and it was really hard for us to sit around and wait for it, but it was worth it in the end. Tyler loved all the larger-than-life floats. His reaction was worth the price of admission alone. Of course, now he's spoiled and will never enjoy our small town parades around here anymore.
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Bill and Tyler checking out
Lightning McQueen. |
Mater blew his horn a couple of times and freaked out more than one kid. |
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OK, you can get a little closer
Daddy. |
Dad, quit posing for pictures,
I want to check out Mater! |
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Sully looking for Boo around
the California Adventure back lot. |
Bill, Tyler and Grandpa
running into each other on the kiddie bumper cars. |
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Tyler loved the Tuck and Roll
bumper cars. Crash! Crash! |
Next time we'll bring his
swimsuit. He was soaked clear through his shoes and socks! |
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Here comes the Beauty and
the Beast float! |
Tyler is into the Lion King. He roars like a lion really well. |
Day
3
May 11 - Checking out and
Disneyland again - Since we only got half of Disneyland in the first day we
headed back after checking out of the hotel on Friday.
Before we went into the park
we had breakfast at The Rainforest Cafe in Downtown Disney. There we experienced
a couple of rainstorms and a really annoying gorilla grunting at us every 15
minutes. The food was OK except that they seemed to have forgotten Alana's
meal. She had to wait a while for it to come out.
Once in the park we headed
straight for Pirates of the Caribbean. Unfortunately, the park was a little
more crowded than the previous 2 days since it was Friday and it was a little
harder to maneuver around everyone. Then the wait times for the rides were a
little longer. In any case, we eventually got on. Unfortunately, we forgot
about the 2 drops on Pirates, which also happen to occur when it is pitch
black. This freaked Tyler out and needless to say he was ready to get off in
the end. One note about the newly updated ride, Captain Jack Sparrow looked
pretty realistic!
We also checked out Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters where
Tyler had a great time shooting his blaster trying to defeat Zurg. We also rode
Autopia and It's a Small World again. Mom and Dad checked out the new Indiana
Jones ride and we were going to ride Space Mountain, but the wait was close to
an hour. We were tempted to borrow Grandma's wheelchair to try and get on
faster, but decided against it in the end.
We ended our trip to Disneyland with an early dinner at the Carnation Cafe on Main Street where Tyler promptly fell asleep. He slept all the way through the meal and woke up just before we left (of course).
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3 gorillas hanging out on a
bench. |
Mom! There's so much to see!
How can I possibly sit still?? |
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Just one more picture with
Grandma and Grandpa. |
The end of Tyler's first trip
to Disneyland. |
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