Disney Family Trip

This November we went with our Jefferson family to Disneyland California. We made it a road trip and stopped first in Las Vegas. We walked the strip with the boys at night and saw so many cool Casino's & Hotels. The boys first impressions made us laugh, Jefferson said "Oh my gosh this is amazing" when he saw the Vegas skyline. And Carter said "Wow these trees are awesome" when he first saw palm trees. The Venetian was Brad's favorite- especially the ceiling. We stopped at the Belagio and saw the fountain show and the botanical gardens all dressed up for Christmas. We ended at the Coke & M&M store and tasted coke drinks from around the world. Mary's favorite's were cucumber sprite from Romania and fanta melon frosty from Thailand. Jefferson's favorites were inca cola and fanta strawberry. Brad's favorite was ginger beer from Tanzania. Carter's favorite was aqua arius from Spain and no one liked the beverly from Italy. In the M&Ms store the kids and Brad were literally kids in a candy store and we will always laugh that Brad almost spent $90 on M&Ms. We tried PB&J and Pumpkin Pie M&Ms and liked them both. We had breakfast at Siegals Bagelmania the next day and then drove the rest of our journey to Anaheim.  

We started our Disneyland adventure with pics with the family at Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty's castle and then it was rides! rides! rides! The kids wanted to prioritize rides so we went from one ride to the next from 8:30 until 7:00 until we finally took a much needed long dinner break and ate delicious broccoli cheese soup in a bread bowl and jambalaya. So so good. We spent the most time in Star Wars land and talked to Star Wars characters and everyone was blown away by the ride Rise of the Resistance. We saw the holiday lighting of It's a Small World and it was delightful to see Disneyland all dressed up for Christmas. The boys got main street penny souvenirs and we were exhausted by the time we got to our hotel. We made it to 16 rides and got to see the Holiday parade while we were standing in line, Brad's favorite was Rise of the Resistance, Jefferson's favorite was Indiana Jones, Mary's favorite was It's a Small World, and Carter's favorite was the fireworks. It really was a magical day. 

The next day we took a Disney break and headed into LA for a city adventure. We went to the Broad museum to see the infinity mirror exhibit- which made you feel like you were in space and saw some cool modern art. We walked to Grand Central station for lunch and ate some delicious food and discovered we all loved the korean drink- sac sac. We had to pivot our big family dinner plan from Yorba Linda park because of traffic delay and not realizing how early the sun sets when it is daylight saving, but we got to see the sunset and play some football. We switched our dinner to a restaurant and the kids gave mom and dad Thankyou notes and a gift for this amazing vacation. And that night the kids had a pool party with cousins.

Our last day at Disney we wanted to take advantage of the weather and got up super early to be at California Adventure when the rope dropped. We headed to Radiator Springs and loved the cars ride. We did rides all day and then took a churro break. It started drizzling so we put on our ponchos and then went on Grizzly run- not knowing we were going to get wet- thank goodness we were wearing our ponchos. By 4:30 it was pouring rain but Carter wanted to go on Incredicoaster one more time, so by the time we left California Adventure we were all soaked. The kids had a cozy movie night and we used blow dryers to dry their shoes. We did 15 rides, Jefferson's favorite was Guardian of the Galaxy (we went on twice), Carter's favorite was meeting Iron Man, seeing Spiderman jump, and the Incredicoaster (we went on twice- once in the rain which Jefferson said he loved more), Brad's favorite was the Grizzly river run, and Mary's favorite was singing all through the Little Mermaid ride. 

The next morning we got up super early and had breakfast with grandparents. The kids thought we were headed home but when they got in the car they found a gift on their seat. It was such a fun surprise to tell them we were taking them to Legoland for their Christmas Gift from us. Legoland was a delight, short lines and lovely weather. It was only opened until 4:30 so we made our way through the whole park, taking lots of pictures of the AMAZING lego creations, inspiring us for our own legoworld at home- especially the Miniland. Carter smoked us all at Ninjago, and Jefferson loved the race car roller coaster. Mary was super impressed with the submarine adventure and Brad loved Miniland USA. The boys got Legoland pennies as souvenirs. Sadly just as we were leaving Legoland our check engine light turned on so we drove to a Jiffy Lube and they told us it was not anything too serious but the huge nail in our tire was a huge problem- we were very lucky to have them notice that and replace our front tires before our drive back. So the check engine light was a blessing in disguise. We had a delicious dinner at the Windmill Food Hall and Jefferson made us laugh when he said "I'm in the mood for some lobster." The lobster roll and lobster bisque from Lobster Lab were on level if not better than Legal Seafood in Boston.

The next morning after our tires were replaced, we headed to the beach to brunch and watch the surfers and fishermen. It was so relaxing, and then we headed back to Las Vegas and met up with some cousins for a pool party. We had dinner at Tacos El Gordo- and realized our family favorite are sopes. The next morning we headed home. Total driving time for our whole trip was about 30 hours- we watched 9 movies- all Disney most were the boys first time seeing, and they will never forget mama knowing all the words and songs of Beauty and the Beast. We are so grateful we were able to have this Disney family vacation, and that we were all safe and healthy. It was unforgettable!