Travel
I hate snow. I like the sun. I hate driving in the snow. I like driving in the sun.
Rides/Broken Rides
I broke three rides. Not really, but it felt that way. While riding the Mulholland Madness roller coaster, the girls and I (and another single rider that filled the fourth seat) got almost halfway through the ride when the car stopped and we were stuck. What sucked the most was that we were stuck in the sun. After several minutes, Josh called me on the cellphone, he was with Matt and Millie. He asked where we were and I told him we were stuck in the sun in the middle of the roller coaster. Just then, a cast member came to tell us to stay seated and that we would be escorted off soon. A member of maintenance had to help us off, so he got there and we got to do something not many laymen get to do: take the stairs off of the roller coaster. As an "I'm sorry" we got six fast passes for any ride we wanted. We used them to ride Soarin' Over California. It was a very fair exchange.
The monorail also broke. This one happened right before we got on it. We weren't in a hurry, so we just waited for it to be back in service. It took about an hour. We didn't get fast passes for that one, but everyone got a little nap while we sat in the non-moving monorail.
The third problem happened right after Abby and I rode Indiana Jones. Josh said that right after I got on, an announcement was made that it was down and out of service for a while. He and Abby got to ride it later that night.
Character Dinners
The character dinners were really cool, but Josh said he didn't think he'd recommend them. Pretty much, we spent $20 for each kid to eat a hot dog at Goofy's Kitchen and close to that much a plate for fancy shell macaroni and cheese and Matt's roll at Ariel's Grotto. Seeing the characters was really, really incredible, though. The biggest bummer of Goofy's Kitchen was that Mickey wasn't there. I'm glad we did them, but we won't do them again.
Illnesses
Our first night at Disneyland we realized that Emma had a Urinary Tract Infection (UTI). That was great. Josh started out the trip with a sinus infection. I ended the trip with major head congestion that was completely irritated by flying and driving over mountain passes. Yuck.
Fanny Packs and Backpacks
We bought a fannypack for Josh to wear and we were laughing that he looked like the 30-something dads that we used to make fun of. But it was probably the best $10 we spent in preparation for the trip. Josh used it four of the five days at the Park. We used the back pack the other day and it was actually not such a good idea. We planned to keep it underneath the stroller we rented, but it was too big to fit under there. We had to affix it to the stroller handles instead. We also had the kids wear their own backpacks. They carried around their waterbottles, a jacket and sunglasses. They didn't mind them at all and they were very useful. It was a brilliant idea, despite the fact that it sounds like we were mean to make them carry them around. It worked.
Celebrities
On Saturday, the rumor was that the Jonas Brothers (if you don't know who they are, just ask any young girl) were in Disneyland Park for a few hours. Emma was so upset because we spent that day in California Adventure. She had no chance to see them, even if they were there. She was so sad.
You know how you see someone and for a split second think they are someone you recognize? I did this as California Adventure was closing. Josh and the big kids were on Soarin' Over CA and Millie and I were waiting for them. I looked up and swore I saw Kevin James (King of Queens, Mall Cop). Then I noticed that his uniform was that of a Disneyland employee. And he was emptying the trash. Probably not Kevin James.
The next morning Josh thought he saw Screech from Saved By the Bell. It wasn't him either.
Travelling With an Infant
Travelling with Millie really wasn't so bad. There were a few things that we figured out and I know at least Cindy will appreciate these. Maybe other people will benefit too.
I learned to use a combination of Fast Passes and Rider Switch Passes. Fast Passes are available for most big rides. You're given a ticket that assigns you to a certain time to return to the ride and you get to go in a much shorter line. Rider Switch passes are for parents that have a child too small to ride the ride. One parent rides with the other kids and then the parents switch so the second parent gets a chance to ride. Here's the problem. The Rider Switch pass only allows two people to ride, but it doesn't require you to use your Fast Pass. So, on rides when we got Fast Passes, I could go with the big kids and then Josh could go with two kids by using the Rider Switch pass and the extra Fast Pass. Does that make any sense? Anyway, some attraction guides would give us two Rider Switch passes so all three kids could go with the second parent, but some were very strict and held onto the rules with white knuckles. But, we rode almost every ride that uses Fast Passes with a combo of Rider Switches.
We figured out to use the Snugli or baby wrap on the days Millie could ride most rides with us. That way we didn't have to mess with leaving the stroller around or packing it up to take on the train with us. On the days we switched a lot, we used a stroller so she didn't wake up when we switched back and forth. We rented a stroller during California Adventure and our final day when we did so many different activities.
Millie could actually ride many of the rides. All of the ones in Fantasyland, Haunted Mansion, Pirates, Winnie the Pooh, Tiki Room, Jungle Cruise, Buzz Lightyear (Astro Blasters), Toy Story, Heimlich's Chew Chew. Matt could ride anything the girls could except for Indiana. The minimum on that is 46". He's about 43".
There's also a Baby Center on the north end of Main Street. It's a place where you can change or feed your baby. I'm not that shy about nursing, so I just used a blanket wherever I was. I nursed on the train is it went around the park, in the courtyard of the Tiki room, in line for rides, in the shade out of the way, it didn't really matter. I went to the Baby Center once to check it out. Only the mother and baby are allowed in the nursing room, so it was pointless since Josh was riding Indiana with Abby, so I had Matt and Emma with me. I just ended up nursing Millie in the front room of the Baby Center. I could've done that at the tables near the ride. But, I thought I'd see what it was so I could report it. Use it if you want to, but I don't think it's that big a deal. Either no other mothers were nursing or everyone else used the Center, though, because I didn't see anyone else nursing their babies. I did have several mothers tell me that I made them miss that part of having a little infant.
Mickey is The Godfather
I've decided that Mickey is the Godfather, or Don, of the animated world. He's paid his dues. He did what he needed to make his name, but now he gets to sit back and relax. Others do all the hard work now. Mickey hasn't made a new appearance on the silverscreen in YEARS. However, everyone knows him. Everyone loves him. Everyone waits in line for hours to be able to kiss his ring. Figuratively speaking. And if Mickey doesn't like you, you have no hope left in this world. Never cross the Godfather. Who knows which animated character's head you'll find in your bed.
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