We have been DYING to take Drew to Disneyland this year (since he was finally tall enough for most of the fun rides) and my dad and Judy surprised us with tickets to go (Ava couldn't come because she was with her mom on a cruise to the Caribbean for two weeks plus she has already been to Disneyland twice before)! I thought it would be fun to mess with Drew by not telling him where we were going. We just called it "vacation" for weeks. He was completely oblivious :)Here is just some of the snacks that I packed for our 8 hour road trip...I may have gone a teensy bit overboard.
I also was sure to pack Drew an entire surprise Cars duffel bag full of movies, toys, coloring books, etc to keep him busy in the car!
Grandpa Frank, Judy, Linda, Sotirios, Breanne, myself and Drew all packed into the van and we were on our way to see Mickey! The drive took just about 8 hours with all the stops and there was not one negative word or whine spoken from Drew's lips the whole ride! I was so impressed!
DAY 1: This was right after we finally told Drew where we were going!
Here's a picture of Drew and I after just walking into the park! The weather was AMAZING! Sunny and about 76 degrees.
Here is auntie Bre and Drew!
The first character spotting was none other than Pluto (one of mommie's favorites). We didn't have anything for him to sign and then Judy thought of the awesome idea to have him sign Drew Disneyland jacket his dad had bought for him)!
Next it was off to ride some rides! First stop...Buzz Lightyear Astro Blaster! It was an interactive ride where you had a "Shooting gun" (as Drew liked to call it) and shoot bad guys! He rode it 5 times throughout the three days we were there. He LOVED it!
Next we rode Pirates of the Caribbean! There was hardly any wait so we pretty much got right on. Drew got a little bit scared and said he didn't like the dark...however, as soon as the ride was over, he said he liked it. So who knows if he actually did. He didn't want to ride on it again. He was singing the song all day though ;) After Pirates, we rode on the Haunted Mansion. I was nervous to bring Drew on this after him being a little afraid of the dark in Pirates but he actually enjoyed it for the most part. Once he discovered he could close his eyes whenever he got scared, he did good. He really liked the part with the dancing ghosts! Next was Big Thunder Mountain Railroad! I was super excited to take Drew on this because of his love for trains. We finally boarded it and took off! Of course, Drew was all business and said he didn't like how fast it was...until AFTER the ride ended. Then he liked it.
Because he got tired of walking, we decided it would be fun to get Drew some popcorn ride and the Disneyland Train around the park. It was super cool actually! The tunnels had all different scenes from cowboys to the Dinosaurs (Drew's favorite part!).
After we got off the train we saw Mickey!
Lunch time rolled around and we went out to the Picnic area to dine on some Sub sandwiches we picked up from Subway that morning (a heck of a lot cheaper than eating in the park!).
After lunch, we headed off to Toon Town! We rode the Gadget's Go Coaster and walked around to check out everyone's houses and the rest of the town! We also saw Goofy!!
Next, we went on Star Tours! Drew thought that was super cool!
After that was Autopia! Drew was tall enough to drive mommy around...he thought that was pretty cool :)
Next we rode on Finding Nemo's Submarine Voyage. He really liked that!
Next, Drew saw Tarzan's Treehouse so, of course, mommy had to fight her fear of heights to bring him on that (oh the things we do for our children).
Next he rode on the Jungle Cruise with Linda while Sotirios, Breanne, Grandpa Frank, Judy and myself rode on Indiana Jones. She said he really enjoyed that one! He was laughing and pointing at all the animals.
Then we rode It's a Small World (he said he liked how slow that ride was). He really looked like he was having a great time in that ride :)
We rode a couple of random kid rides before we saw the Mickey parade go by!
After the parade, we were all pretty cold and ready to go back to the Hotel for the night. We were there a total of 12 hours and Drew was still going strong (even despite having no naps!)...until his head hit the pillow :)
DAY 2: Disney California Adventure!
The weather was a little bit more chilly today! It didn't rain but it was definitely overcast...no matter to us! This is my dad working his "voodoo magic" on the weather (he said it would take 2-3 days before it would work)...
This is Drew in front of one of the planes that were in the park! He said "these are very cool".
Drew also really liked this big bear he found!
On the way to the roller coasters, we saw Mickey again!!
Next was a Bug's Life: It's Tough to Be a Bug! This is Drew modeling his bug 3D glasses for the show! He really liked this ride!
After riding some rides in Bug Land, we saw Buzz Lightyear! Since this is Drew's favorite guy right now, we had to have a picture with him! We waited in line and were two kids away from visiting with him...when Jessie switched with him. Bummer! I was still able to snag this picture of Buzz shaking Drew's hand on the way out :)
Even though Buzz left, Drew was still excited to see Jessie...and from how Jessie was acting with Drew, she was excited to see him! She was kissing him all over his face and Drew was kissing her right back! It was so freaking cute!! She even signed Buzz name for Drew on his sweatshirt :)
Next we rode on Toy Story Midway Mania! Drew, Breanne and myself waited in line for over an hour to ride on this! Drew was excited when he saw Mr. Potato Head! Because he waited so patiently in line, I thought he deserved a Buzz Lightyear "Shooting Gun" :)
After we got off that ride, we saw Goofy again!!
After Goofy, we saw the Phineas & Ferb parade!
After the parade, we rode on Arial's Undersea Adventure! Drew kept saying how much Ava would like that! After that we rode on Monster's Inc: Mike & Sulley to the Rescue then saw the Muppet Vision 3D show! Those were more "Drew paced" haha
Later that night we got ready to watch the World of Color show! How amazing that was!!
Drew was so tired that night he fell asleep on the way to the parking lot and stayed asleep through changing him into jammies.
DAY 3: Disneyland
Well today the rain followed us from home! It was pouring...but that won't stop us (it did stop Grandpa Frank, Judy and Linda however)!
Sotirios took Drew to ride on the Buzz Lightyear ride again a few more times while Breanne and me rode Space Mountain! After we did that, Drew said it would be a good idea to get out of the rain and ride the Monorail around the park so he could see everything! I had never been on it before so it was fun for everyone. We decided to get off the train in Downtown Disney (it was really raining and not much fun at that point). We met up with everyone and went to Dave & Buster's for dinner before we went bowling. Here's Drew playing some of the games!
Look how close Drew was to winning 500 tickets!! I still think he was robbed (The machine said it landed on 4).
Drew ended up getting around 431 tickets and bought a couple different candies and some random toys :)
Next was bowling at Lucky Strikes! We set him up with bummers, a five fingered bowling ball, and a handy bowling contraption so he could bowl all by himself! He actually beat me by 25 pins on his own.
The next day, it was time to go home :( We woke up, packed and headed into the lobby to get breakfast. There was a pancake machine! In less than 1 min, it made two pancakes just by pushing a button. Needless to say, Drew had pancakes every day for breakfast :) The ride home was as uneventful as the ride there. No complaints from Drew the entire time. I am so proud of our little man! He exercised patience, good manners, kind words and a big boy attitude the whole trip! Here's his sweatshirt...with plenty of room for more signatures another time :)
