We took our first trip as a family of four last week. We had originally planned to go to Disneyland and then head to Yosemite for the remainder of the week, but that ended up seeming a bit much so we settled for a nice four day Los Angeles trip.
We stayed at the Sheraton Park Hotel at the Anaheim Resort. Our room faced Disneyland so every night we were able to see the fireworks. The anticipation of going to Disneyland was almost too much for Afton. He said his heart was going to explode. How cute is that?!
If you don't know (I don't think I blogged about it), Afton's first visit to Disneyland didn't go over so well. He was 2 1/2 years old and completely overwhelmed. He's a sensitive boy. To be clear, he cried on Small World. He was so afraid of Fantasmic that he puked. So, even with an exploding heart and all, he was still a bit wary of being there.
We started off the day with a nice walk around Main Street. We checked out the Firehouse and visited guest services to reserve a table at the Blue Bayou. Then we made our way to Tomorrowland where I took Afton on his first ride, Star Tours. Probably not the best choice, but he really was excited to go since he loves Star Wars. Nippon and I used the child swap pass so that we could both go on the ride. That and Space Mountain were the only rides we HAD to go on. Anyway, Afton disliked it (no surprise there, too much movement and noise) but he was really good about it. No puking! It did take almost 4 hours for him to go on another ride though.
We decided to eat lunch at Redd Rockett's Pizza Port where he played in the rocket steam. Then we let Afton acclimate in Toontown since there is lots to do there besides going on rides.
His next ride, which took some serious convincing, was It's a Small World. He insisted on sitting on Nippon's lap but once he saw that he could touch the water, he sat down. He did say it was loud but that he really liked it. His especially loved spotting the Indian dancers. I tried to get a picture but was too late. You should have seen Rowan's eyes. So wide!
When asked what his favorite part of Disneyland was, Afton replied, "The Sword in the Stone!" He loves the movie and was super excited to see they had a real sword to pull on. He was determined to pull it out and even had to come back for another try a few hours later.
At the hottest part of the day, though the weather was fairly nice, we visited Innoventions to check out the Iron Man 2 exhibit. Rowan was grateful that she was able to crawl around a bit after being held or pushed in the stroller all day.
We ate an early dinner at the Blue Bayou. Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures. Well, I did but they didn't turn out so well. I had never eaten there and it was a such a cool experience. The food was okay but the atmosphere was phenomenal. I thought Afton might be afraid since it's so dark but he didn't mind at all. I got a "glow cube" in my mint julep that I think helped distract him. Rowan of course was fabulous. She ate all her food and quietly played while we finished.
We went on a couple of other rides, including the train around the park and then walked back to Main Street to get the kids silhouettes. I remember my Aunt Lisa getting them of her kids and always loved it. I think it turned out great!
Afton refused to go near any characters all day. Then by chance we spotted Mickey without an enormous line and Afton was totally down for it. Hooray!
Afton wasn't interested in Fantasmic, so I jumped on Splash Mountain for a solo ride while Nippon and the kids watched the fireworks. We then finished our happy visit munching on churros and dragging our feet. It was the perfect start to our lil vacation!
