We're going to Disneyland!

Saturday was the big day... Disney!  I have to admit, I was almost as excited about taking the kids to Disneyland as I was about Hawaii.  There was something that appealed to me about bringing them before they really knew what Disney was - before they had expectations.  I imagined how they would be in awe of everything; how they would meet their heroes and "friends" and believe they were the actual Buzz, Minnie and Pooh; and how they would do a little happy dance when they figured out where we were.

So imagine my horror when we arrived at Disney's gates first thing in the morning, video camera rolling, shouting, "we're going to Disneyland!"... and Will immediately broke down crying.  Yes, that's right. He cried... he got very angry and cried. He wanted to go on rides. We told him we were going on rides.  He "did not want to go to Disney, he wanted to go on the rides," he repeated. I guess there is a downside to all that innocence ... he didn't get it.  He just wanted to go back to the roller coaster on the Santa Monica pier.  Ugh.

There we were, dragging our son into the "happiest place on earth."  Buzz Lightyear would save the day, I thought.  We'd head straight for the Buzz ride, and all would be right with the world.  We practically ran there, only to find out that the Buzz ride was closed for repairs.  They didn't know if it would reopen that day.  Double ugh.

But then Will saw the rockets, and all really was right with the world.  From that ride on, we had a blast.

We drove race cars... 

Those are Anna's little fingers and hat behind the wheel!

We learned to maneuver our light sabers at the Jedi Training Academy.  While every other kid booed, Will cheered for one his favorite heroes... "Dark" Vader

It was at this point we decided it was time to let Will to watch Star Wars.  Patrick watched it with him when we got back home from vacation, and Will loved it.  He still thinks "Dark" Vader is cool, but I think the Jedi are starting to edge him out.

We found Nemo on the submarine, played at Goofy's house, waved to Minnie (Anna's favorite!) and searched for Pluto.  We never found Pluto.  The kids still talk about how we didn't find Pluto, so of course we need to go back.

While Patrick took Will on his first big roller coaster (Thunder Mountain), Anna and I rested.

Then we all headed to the Hundred Acre Wood to hang out with Pooh and the gang.

Once again, waving was enough for Anna -- she had no need to get up close and personal (saving us a lot of time on lines).  But I think you can see from her face how thrilled she was to see her buddies.  She even got to show the real Pooh her little Pooh!

Then we climbed around Tarzan's tree house and discovered the Jungle Boat Cruise.  Will is definitely my kid, as he LOVED the Jungle Boat as much as I did when I was a kid!  We must have gone on it 4 times in a row, and Will cracked up at the same jokes every time -- the humor was right up his alley.

I couldn't resist taking a picture of this guy... he's always been one of my favorites!

After dinner we discovered that Buzz's Astro Blaster was open again, and there was almost no line.  We went on over and over.  Will took his mission very seriously and assured us that he defeated the Evil Emperor Zurg.

Even Patrick, who is not the biggest Disney fan, had a great time.  We opened the park and didn't leave until after 9:30.  We wore ourselves out.  Patrick carried a sleeping Will back to the hotel, and we all curled up on the bed and watched Will and Anna's first fireworks show.  

They were in awe.

I do hope the Force guides us back - it was a fantastic day!

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