As I mentioned in the last post, the kids loved California Adventure so much that they wanted to go back there for our last day - but because you have to make a reservation for the park/day you want to use your ticket we weren't able to swap (I'm not sure that I would have wanted to, anyway because there were things we hadn't done at Disneyland yet, but we did consider it). We also spent a significant amount of time trying to figure out if we could push our Disneyland Day back one more day because we had planned a beach day for the following day but we could really have used a break day in the middle. I think this is the only thing that I would have changed about our Disneyland trip- I would have done D, DCA, Break Day, D. My friend told me that her family goes to the park from 9-5 every day and even when I told her we typically go to Lagoon from open to close, she advised me to have different expectations. But our family just goes and goes and goes! We were there at open every day and we stayed until it was dark each night. It was a lot, packed in through the course of the whole day, but it was perfect. Our kids did amazing and there was very, very, very little conflict. They were cheerful, kind, patient, and flexible. Even just reflecting back on it I am filled with so much gratitude for these incredible kiddos and their good attitudes and for the experience we had here together.
Thats not to say that everything went smoothly this day because it didn't. It rained. A lot.
It dumped rain on us for most of the day and it was WET. We were cold and wet and soggy and it was still SO busy! To be fair, we had a wonderful morning and were able to squeeze in 10 rides plus a lunch at the Tiki Hut before the rain started. We knew the rain was coming and we were watching the storm roll in on our weather app, counting down the minutes. We mostly managed to hit all of the rides that typically get shut down when it rains. We were in line for Autopia, the last ride on our "pre-rain" list when it started sprinkling. I was able to get Lydia and Austin into their rain jackets and we got everyone else into their rain jackets right after the ride - right as it started pouring rain. (This was about noon.)
The rain didn't let up for the rest of the day. We hoped that it would help clear the park out, but it really didn't. It was our last Disneyland day and we wanted to make the most of it.
Official notes from the day:
Total Rides - 19
Total Steps - 19,986
We left the park earlier than we had either of the other two days. (Monday-home by 9:16, Tuesday- leaving at 9:34, Wednesday- on the shuttle home at 7:45). That was okay though. It was still raining pretty heavily, Lucy was cold, and was were pretty satisfied with our experience!
Notes from the day:
-The only time Lucy had a meltdown the entire trip was at the end of the day after she fell asleep in the stroller (in the rain) while the big kids went on Smugglers Run one last time (Caleb's choice) then woke up cold and miserable. Poor girl!
-The big kids loved the Star Wars rides, especially Rise of the Resistance which was a new ride with some really amazing special effects. (Our kids were so funny, because they got really caught up in what technology could create effects like that.) We went on Smugglers Run, which Lucy was just barely tall enough and she had to sit all the way on the other side of the cabin by herself - poor girl was so scared! I told her that she didn't have to ride it again. The other kids really liked it.
-We knew that we wanted to stay together as much as possible and so we pre-purchased a bunch of "Disney Prizes" for Lucy to pick after she went on a big ride. The other kids were good sports about Lucy being the only one to get prizes, but she was still a little small for the big rides and did a great job being very brave so we could all stick together.
When we got home, the kids talked us into letting them go out into the hotel pool one last time. It was dark and it was still raining, but we sat in the giant hot tub and it was the perfect end to our busy (and cold) day.
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