Disneyland

I will add pics soon. I need to add my thoughts while they are fresh on my mind. Overall we had a good trip. It was fast, too fast, cause of the two days spent traveling. But overall good trip. Here are my thoughts:

Key 1:most important to Disneyland is to get there when it opens. We had ridden nearly every ride we wanted to by about 11. It continued to get busier and busier throughout the day, until, boom, it was overflowing with people by dinnertime.

Key 2:Have a gameplan. We had an itinerary that we followed, varying here and there when opportunities arose, and stuck with it. We started in Fantasyland with Peter Pan, which surprisingly is one of the worst lines in the park, we didn't have to wait. We hit all the small rides in Fantasyland, then the Matterhorn, Big Thunder, and were well on our way to little to no waiting in lines.

Key 3:Fast Pass. This was a great way to hit all the favorite rides with a minimal wait. We did Space Mtn, Indiana Jones, Big Thunder, Splash Mtn, and Haunted Mansion, without waiting despite some real long lines when it got late. Our longest wait overall was 30 min. and that was by choice.
Here are my overall impressions and thoughts from Disneyland

Porter either has the best or worst set of kidney's ever. I am not certain which it is yet. That kid had to pee at least eight times. We hit the bathroom in Critter Country 3 times. On the drive up we stopped six times for him and five on the drive back. One time Janalynn made him pee in a cup because we were so tired of stopping for him. One thing I need to add is that he really did go. Believe me I witnessed it. Each time was like he had been holding out for hours.

Night time at Disney is a little scary. Its dark and extremely crowded. If we had another night we would definitely not have stayed for the crowds. Couldn't believe how crowded it was at night. Wall to wall people.

Space Mountain is just a great ride. The Ghost Galaxy was kind of hokey and a little dumb, but it couldn't take away from the ride.

Mr. Toad's Wild Ride needs an overhaul or at least they need to remake the movie. My kids had no idea who Toad is, and the ride was the lamest by far of all.

Liked the Buzz ride. Though its not much of a ride, but the interaction and shooting targets makes it cool.

No matter how well you clean off your hands at the beach you are going to eat some sand in your lunch.

Body surfing is a blast. Sure the scraped knees, overly salty taste, and stingy eyes take their toll, however, hitting that right wave is a great feeling.

Building a sand castle with your kids, well that's priceless.

Have to say my kids are at a tough age for enjoying the waves. Porter and Natalie are too little to really enjoy them much, and Kailey and Kelsey are too worried about how they look to have much fun.

Little bakery at Newport sells the best ham and cheese crossaint there is.

Eating out every meal is no good, no fun, and way too much.

Disney food is more than stadium food and not as good.

Every vacation ends too soon. Before you know it you are wishing you were back again.