Disneyland

Ok I know this post is way over due. In my (weak) defense, I've been waiting for Chris to fix the memory card reader so that I could upload all my pictures. But it's been a very busy time for us. Chris had lots to do finishing up with his previous job. He's also taking some online classes and we've had some very busy weeks of homework.

Disneyland was the most amazing vacation we have ever taken. It was a rather sudden decision to go to Disneyland. Chris got approval to take his last few vacation days and called me on Thursday to make the reservations. We drove out on Friday afternoon. Talk about last minute plans. Since it was so last minute, the only hotel that had availability for a group our size was the Grand. And we had to get two rooms.

One of the best things we did on this vacation was take two of our teenage nieces with us. They were so helpful. It was really nice to be able to split up and only have two or three kids with us at a time. Everybody got to have more fun that way. The teenagers also stayed in the hotel with the kids in the evenings and Chris and I got to have time to ourselves in the park. I've always kind of wondered why people would go to Disneyland without their kids sometimes. I don't wonder anymore. It was wonderful!!

Staying in one of the Disneyland hotels was really nice too because when the little ones needed naps, the hotel was right there. Of course it wasn't until our 2nd or 3rd day there that we realized our hotel had it's own entrance into the California Adventure park which was by the way, right next to the elevator that was right next to our room. The other elevator was down like five hallways and went to the lobby and then we would walk through Downtown Disney to get to the entrance of the parks. Kind of a hike - especially for Calvin.

The customer service in the hotels and parks was amazing!! If one of the kids wet the bed, I'd call housekeeping. I'd be like "I'm so sorry..." they're like "it's no problem - happens all the time" with a cheerful tone in their voice even. One morning Derrick tossed his little Mickey Mouse over the balcony. I called the front desk, of course I was rather embarrassed, they said it happens all the time and they sent a maintenance guy right out to get it. We bought the kids all ears one night while Chris and I were out alone. I left the list of names with the lady and we went to wait outside. They were done about fifteen minutes later and the store was already closed by then. But she had stayed open for me and I looked over the hats quickly and went on my way. I didn't notice until the next day when we gave them to the kids that she had done both the girl ones with Dana's name. Emma didn't have one with her name. I took it into a different shop that was by the entrance, explained what had happened and they made me a new one right then. No hassle. Not even a hint of attitude.

My only disappointment in the whole trip was that the characters do not roam the parks anymore. When we were there four years ago, all the characters roamed the parks and we got to see almost all of them. This time, they stayed in their designated areas and you had to go to them. We didn't figure this out until our last day in the park - in the afternoon. So I took Emma to go find the princesses. We got there 15 minutes after they closed. I was so bummed for Emma. We had told Emma that she would get to meet princesses at Disneyland. Our first day there we didn't see any and when it was time to go back to the hotel she was upset about it. We told her we were coming back and that she would get to see some in the next couple of days. Well, didn't happen. By the end of the trip though I think all the kids had so much fun they didn't hardly notice that they only saw a few of the characters. Bradley was ready to move in permenantly.