November Disneyland Trip Part 2: 3 Kids and a Sick Husband

To follow up on my last post, I wanted to address the second day of my most recent Disneyland vacation.  My husband unfortunately came down with the flu on the second day of our trip.  Thankfully, he had his flu shot and the worst of the symptoms lasted only one day.  But, that's one day I ended up with no help, 3 kids, and a very crowded theme park.  As a parent of twins plus 1, this is one of my worst nightmares.  The idea of losing one of them terrifies me.  And yet...I did it.  I did it because I didn't want to ruin my kids' vacation.  So armed with a diaper case, jackets, some snacks, a stroller packed with 2-year-olds, and my...well, for this vacation we'll call him 7-year-old boy (technically he's not quite 7 yet, but we'll get to that...and yes, I know it was not the best choice, but we had no other option)...we embarked on a journey to Disney's California Adventure.

First off, we could not have done this trip if my older son hadn't easily passed for 7.  There aren't really any attractions that allow 4 in one row of a vehicle.  So, yes, my son was 7 for the day.  And he acted every bit as mature as he needed to.  It wasn't a choice I wanted to make, but it was the only choice that would allow all of my kids to enjoy the day while their daddy was passed out in bed moaning like death warmed over.  So, please try not to judge.  As I said, I don't like the choice I had to make, but that's that.

So, first off, we went on Mater's Junkyard Jamboree.  The twins rode with my and my oldest rode by himself.  My boys enjoyed it, but my daughter was less than thrilled.  Perhaps it has to do with her being the smallest and being smashed between her brother and me.  Other great rides we went on included the Chew-Chew train, Monster's Inc., and the Little Mermaid.  Our options for rides were very limited.

We also managed to visit Santa Claus over in the wilderness area.  When we arrived, it was about a 20 minute wait.  Somehow, my kids were all calm and patient.  Santa was great, too.  Even my oldest decided this was definitely the real Santa since he looked so much better than the mall Santas.

The highlight of our trip was the Disney Jr. show.  While my oldest is bordering on being too old for it, even he enjoyed this show where kids sit on the floor and all their favorite Disney Jr. characters (or at least the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse gang, Jake and the Neverland Pirates, Sofia the First, and Doc McStuffins) come out to sing and dance and celebrate Minnie's birthday.  My 2-year-olds loved it and were singing and dancing right along.  When the bubbles and confetti flew from the sky, they were in heaven.

By lunchtime it was pretty crowded and my 2-year-old boy was displeased at having to ride in the stroller.  He had pulled one of his stubborn "refusal to move" tantrums right in the middle of a busy walkway.  Oh, the joys of parenthood!  So, when my oldest decided he wanted to leave and go to McDonald's for lunch, I jumped on the opportunity.  We grabbed some McDonalds on Harbor Blvd. and went back to the hotel to check on Daddy and get some rest.  Five hours with 3 kids and me in a busy theme park though?  I felt pretty accomplished.

Thankfully, my husband felt well enough to keep the little ones for a while in the afternoon since they needed a nap and rest time anyway, so I returned with my oldest and spent a little time in Disneyland, just the 2 of us.  Let me tell you though.  It is no joke when crowd levels between a 9 and 10 descent on the parks.  By 2PM, we could barely walk.  And, there was even a line for Tarzan's Treehouse, which is just ridiculous (and was the one thing my son really wanted to do).  We managed to get the treehouse and the teacups in, but all else was far too packed.  So, after our second viewing of the Christmas parade and a very long wait for a circle tour on the monorail, we took off, grabbed Panera for dinner, and took it back to the sickie and our starving preschoolers.

Overall, it was a good day.  Not perfect, but I am so glad I took my kids even if I did have to do it on my own.  Parents, and especially those with multiples, I know the idea can be daunting.  But, go out and do this for yourself and for your kids sometime.  Even if it's hard and you're ready to have a breakdown, you will be glad to have done it.  I'm not so scared of taking the three of them by myself anymore.  So, some good did come of it.  Word to the wise though--don't do this on a peak day.  The crowds were unreal even if I had had help.

Edited to add:  I'm sorry I never got a chance to talk about day 3 and day 4.  Life got busy with the holidays.  I promise to be back in 2017 with more stories.

Disneyland and DCA--Back for Another Year, This time with an Extra Month! (Part 1)

I'm a bit behind on my review of my last trip to Disneyland.  With Thanksgiving and upcoming holidays, it's been a busy time.  But, the good news is that we were able to upgrade our tickets to APs!  With the current 13 months for the price of 12 deal, I couldn't say no.  So, we'll have another year of Disney to share with all of you, including D23 in July.  It's going to be a great year!

So, for this past trip, we stayed the Sunday-Wednesday before Thanksgiving.  We stayed at the Howard Johnson, but this time chose to go with the cheap basic level rooms.  The room itself was a decent size and clean.  However, as all the basic rooms are in the older, 2 story buildings, there were some signs of wear and tear.  There were a few tiles cracked in the bathroom and a cracked fixture or two.  It also wasn't quite as quiet as building 1.  For the price, it was still comfortable and clean.  But, I definitely prefer paying a bit more to be in building 1 with queen beds and slightly better upkeep.

Our first day was awesome and easily the least crowded of the days.  I would call it "normal Sunday" in terms of crowds.  It was a rainy day, which I think helped.  We managed to go on Pirates, Haunted Mansion, Splash Mountain, and a handful of other rides before lunch.  I am happy to say that my 6-year-old is finally brave.  His new favorite rides are Splash Mountain and Indiana Jones!  Thrilled that I finally have a companion for Splash Mountain as no one in my family enjoys it but me.  Jingle Cruise was the favorite of the day among my almost-3-year-olds.  The decorations seemed extra "in-your-face" on the ride and the jokes were...well, the same classic jokes we've all heard for years, but isn't that part of its charm?

After a quick lunch in Toontown, we decided to check into the hotel and take a break before coming back.  The line for Small World was 45+ minutes and that was one of the shorter waits, so it was time for some down time anyway.  Upon return, we picked up our Aladdin's Oasis to go meal for Paint the Night.  Unfortunately, we didn't get to see PtN as it started raining, but the food in the meal was fairly good and worth the money, especially taking into account the parade had it been running.  Much easier than having to wait 2 hours for a good spot for the parade.

As far as parades go, we were able to see the Christmas parade before the rain became too much for us (and the performers).  I hadn't seen it in the evening before, usually opting for the earlier one.  However, I will say after seeing it that the evening parade is the one to see.  It's much more beautiful as the sun is going down and it starts getting dark out.  Here are a few pictures:

So, that was it for day 1.  Tomorrow, read about my day 2 adventure, or, a day with 3 kids and sick spouse.