It'll Be Alright: February 2019

Our vacation started very early in the morning. We had to wake the kids up and Ellie didn't want to get up even though we were going to Disneyland. Our flight was at 8:10am so we had to leave by 6:00am. We made it out on time and Lisa's mom was nice enough to take us to the airport again. She dropped us off and we used Skycap to check in. We then had to go to the ticket desk to check Grady in. We went through the TSA Pre-Check line (which is the greatest thing to have when flying) and got through security with no problem. We had a lot of stuff with us, but other than that, no problem. This was the beginning of the crazy. My brother and his kids were already there and through security, so they met us. Half of the group went to the bathroom while the rest went to the gate. They started boarding while the bathroom break was happening. It all worked out and we got on the plane as part of the small children pre-board.

The flight was another type of crazy. We had 9 seats for 10 of us. Lisa and I sat with our 2 kids, my brother sat with his wife and one of his kids and my parents sat with his other kid. This was Grady's first flight and it went as expected. He didn't sit still. He cried for half the flight. He played for a little while. It was a lot. Ellie did pretty good, but wanted to get everything out, which we didn't have room for. She also wanted to sit by her cousin, so halfway through the flight she switched seats with my brother. We did pass Grady around, which helped, but he was still a lot. We found that Ellie wasn't great to fly with until she was 3.

We made it through the flight and got to LAX and baggage claim. Thankfully it was a non-stop flight. We got our bags no problem then had to find our transportation. I had booked a small bus through Best-VIP Chauffeured Worldwide. The driver arrived right as we got to baggage claim and we met them right outside the door. This was VERY handy. The driver was very friendly and helpful. The bus was VERY comfortable. It was nice to not have to drive and the seats and atmosphere were great. They even provided all 4 car seats, which was wonderful. The kids even fell asleep on the way. One of the best lines of the trip was the driver's seat was lower than our seats. We were getting the kids in their seats and Ellie couldn't see the driver, so she asked, "Is it driving itself?" It was funny.

The ride to the hotel was very comfortable and because it was Sunday morning, there was very little traffic. It only took us a little over 30 minutes to get to the Disneyland Hotel from LAX. When we got to property we could see the backside of Star Wars Land being built, which was cool. We drove up to the hotel and unloaded. We had to wait a while to get checked in and come to find out they had 2 out of 3 rooms ready. We took our stuff up to the rooms and got changed and ready for the park. We decided to do this in one room. The kids were crazy, and we had ALL of our stuff in one room. We finally got ready and headed to the park.

From here on, I'm going to write the way I did from our last trip, using my notes as a guide and adding comments to the notes. This worked really well for me and still gave a great overview with plenty of detail.

Day 1: Sunday -

Grady cried most of the way on the plane

Ellie - Is it driving itself? (After we got in bus)

Hotel check in

Crazy time getting ready

Walk to park and lunch - Once we were ready, we headed to the parks. We had our tickets pre-purchased so we went through security into Downtown Disney and walked to the park. We all really enjoyed walking through Downtown Disney on the way to the park. We got through the turnstiles and into the park. We walked down Main Street and stopped at the Little Red Wagon for corn dogs. Man these are good. We bought too many. We always had trouble with guessing how much food the kids were going to eat.

Toon Town & Mickey - We got a FastPass for Small World and while waiting we went to Toon Town. The kids enjoyed this area and they wanted to meet Mickey. The sign said 10 minutes which is a really short time to meet Mickey. It actually took over an hour. The awesome part was we got to meet Mickey in his Sorcerer Apprentice outfit, which is my FAVORITE! Ellie was really hesitant at first, but that was the only time the whole trip. Grady even interacted with Mickey, which was really cute.

Small World - We rode Small World Holiday together which everyone loved. Lisa loves the Holiday overlay on this ride. This was Grady's first ride. He seemed to enjoy it. He was looking around and very engaged.

Storm Troopers - We got a FastPass for Buzz and on the way from Small World to Buzz we walked through Tomorrowland. On the way, we saw some Storm Troopers walking around and my sister-in-law yells, "Here's a rebel!" and they looked directly at her and she pointed to her son. They walked over and 'investigated' us. It was really cool. Lisa was scared as usual. My nephew hid in the stroller because he didn't want them to take him.

Buzz - We rode Buzz after that and I went with Ellie. Lisa went with Grady. It was fun. Ellie is getting better at it.

Dinner - I had booked early dinner reservations for all of us at Blue Bayou with the Fantasmic dining package. I booked it early (4:00pm) because it would be dinner time at home and that was all that was available for a party of 10. Dinner was good. It was a little crazy with the kids. They were starting to get tired and cranky. All of the meals on this trip were a little crazy, this one was one of the craziest. The kids were everywhere. It was delicious and the service was really good. Overall we enjoyed it, but our group was crazy.

Pooh - We got a FastPass for Haunted Mansion and while we waited we rode Winnie the Pooh. Grady fell asleep in the stroller on the way so my dad stayed with him. We enjoyed Pooh, the kids really liked it.

Haunted Mansion - Next we rode Haunted Mansion, my favorite. Unfortunately the Holiday overlay was not up, but it is still a great ride.

Jungle Cruise - Next was Jungle Cruise because there was no line. I waited with Grady and everyone else went on the ride.

Tropical Hideaway - Next to Jungle Cruise was the brand new Tropical Hideaway. This was a really cool spot that just opened. They have Dole Whips with different flavors. The line setup was not great. It was confusing to figure out where we should go. We got the Loaded Whip. Man it was good. We got one for me, Lisa and Ellie to share and we destroyed it.

Fantasmic - Then we went to get seats at Fantasmic. We had some issues with seats because my dad can't sit on the ground. And Grady was still asleep in the stroller and they wouldn't let us bring him in the stroller to the FastPass section. My dad ended up staying with him. The show was great. We love this show. Ellie loves the princesses and the paddle boat with all of the characters.

Hotel - craziness - After Fantasmic, we called it a night and headed back to the hotel. Our room was ready, so we had to get moved in and then get all of us unpacked and ready for bed. That was a lot to do after a full day. Ellie went right to sleep. Grady didn't sleep very well (more to come on Grady sleeping).

Another full first day. Someday we'll learn not to do too much on the first day.