Disney!!!

The last time we went to Disneyland, Archer was about 1.5 years old...so, about 4 years ago. We went with my parents, and we had a double stroller! Very different from this time: only 2 adults to run herd on the crazy kids, and no stroller!

Let me say, I had NO idea how it would go. I wasn't sure if Archer could handle all of the walking (or Bryton, for that matter); I had no idea if the boys would be able to go on the rides they wanted to go on; I wasn't sure if Archer and I would be able to find acceptable food to eat. 

And, while we came home completely exhausted, we had FUN! The boys loved it, and were able to walk most of the time - with Archer being carried every now and then, and Bryton being carried maybe once a day for a few minutes.  The boys were able to go on almost every ride they wanted to (Archer couldn't do California Screamin' because he was about an inch too short), and Preston was able to do all of the rides by himself if B & Arch needed to ride with an adult. For the most part, we packed food to take into the park, and/or ate in our hotel room, but we were able to get gluten free pizza in the park which was nice! 

The main downfall was that a few of our favorite rides were closed. Splash Mountain, Soarin' over California, and the Matterhorn were all down for refurbishment. I know that is the price you pay for going at an off-time to Disneyland, but honestly, the weekend didn't feel like an "off-time" as far as crowds were concerned. I was disappointed in the wait times when we were there Sunday, but at least we did a lot on Fri, Mon, and the few hours we went on Tues.

Archer's favorite ride: Tower of Terror. Favorite part of the trip: the plane ride.

Bryton's favorite ride: California Screamin'.

Favorite part of the trip: the rides.

That's B in there!

Preston's favorite ride: Buzz Lightyear.

Favorite part of the trip: Legoland.

Other "big hits" with the boys:

Cars Land! This was new since our last visit, and I may have loved it as much as the kids. It's so cute, and the Radiator Springs Racers ride was pretty awesome. Too bad the wait topped 60 min most of the time, and the fast passes generally ran out by mid-afternoon. But, we went on it a few times (once right as the park opened, another time or 2 with fast passes...plus it broke down once when we were on it so we got to ride again!). The boys also liked the Luigi's tire ride (which I heard is closing!), and the Mater junkyard jamboree ride.

Our last night there, we stayed until the park closed at 8:00, which doesn't seem bad, but considering we had stayed until about 10:30 the night before. Poor Archer was DONE, but P & B wanted one more ride on RSR, so John took them in the single rider line for one last ride.

Toy Story Mania:

The swings (and me trying not to puke!)

Disney Jr. Show (P&B were definitely a little bored during this, and if Archer wasn't such a "Jake" fan, we probably wouldn't have gone to this one):

The Aladdin show - the boys all loved this!:

And just some other random Disney pics:

The Ferris wheel at Cali Adventures

Toon Town!

Archer loved meeting the characters...last time we went, the boys were all kind of scared/not interested in the characters.

Overall, it was a success. Next time I think we will try to stay at a Disney hotel (although the place we stayed was really close and convenient!), and we will definitely go mid-week! But, I'm thinking it will be a while until we go back since the kids unanimously agreed that cruises are better!