Disneyland

I just want to start out by saying that this may be a boring and very long post for most of you. I am writing about each day at Disneyland for us. We just wanted everyone to know that we went to Disneyland with the Merrill side of the family. Jeremy's Grandma got an inheritance from her mom and wanted to take here whole family on a trip. We love her and want to thank her for her kindness and generosity. She payed for the plane tickets, chartered bus, hotel, and tickets to Disneyland/California Adventure. All we had to pay for was the motel the night before and after we flew, food and souvenirs.

Oh, you should also know that Jeremy and I are getting old. The last time we went to Disneyland we slept in and were never in the park when it opened, but we stayed every night until it closed. This time we were in line to get into the park when it opened everyday, but never made it until midnight. We always headed back between 10:00p.m. and 11:00 p.m.

You can read it if you want, or just enjoy the pictures. I also have to mention that we were having some troubles with our camera. Thankfully we had our camcorder and it would take pictures. The only problem was we did not really know how to do it and some of the pictures we thought we took I guess we did not. Oh well we still have some good pictures.
Day 1: Jeremy, Ethan and I drove down to Neil and Shelley's house because we were going to catch a ride to Salt Lake with them. After lunch we headed out. Ethan was not to happy to be stuck in his car seat for this long and let us know it. He did finally fall asleep!

Oquirrh Mountain Utah Temple. I did not take any pictures of us at the temple. Jeremy and I did not take pictures at the Rexburg temple open house ether. What was I thinking?

David, Wendy, and their kids met us at the motel and we then got ready to go to the Oquirrh Mountain Utah Temple Open House. We watched a video about temples outside in a tent. The wind was blowing so hard I was hoping the tent would not get blown away. Despite the wind I could really feel the spirit during the video as it testified about how important temple work is. The tour was a silent tour which I did not love. This means that you just walk through and look at the temple. There are no people to talk to you about the rooms. I thought that it took away from the reverence because people talked about everyday things as they walked through the temple instead of just focusing on the temple, but once again I could still really feel the spirit. They did have a couple in the sealing room that spoke to us. After our tour was over we got a very yummy cookie, grabbed some Wendy's on the way back to our motel and then for some swimming.

Playing in the motel swimming pool

Day 2: We got up at 5:30 a.m.to get ready to head to the airport. Jeremy, Neil, Shelley, Mandi, Drew, Travis and Tanner left on a shuttle bus at 6:30 a.m. and took most of our luggage to start getting it checked. I stayed with Wendy, David, Anna, Cody and Michele and got Ethan ready to go. We had some breakfast at the motel and then we took the bus at 7:00 a.m.

At the airport we finished checking in and met up with Jeremy's cousin Lacy, her husband Larry and their two girls Kailee and Sandy. We made it through security with out any problems. (I was a little worried with all of the things we had to take for Ethan). Then it was just a waiting game. There is a little play area in the airport, so the waiting was not to bad.

Jeremy and Ethan waiting to get on the plane in Salt Lake.

We got on the plane and it was time to see how Ethan would handle his first plane ride. He actually did really well for a little boy that had to sit still for so long. He fell asleep after we landed in Las Vegas and were waiting to get off. It was a very short nap. He was awake as soon as we got off.

Ethan's First Plane Ride

In Las Vegas we met more of Jeremy's family: his cousin Jill, her husband Mark and there kids Andrew and Ranee. The next flight went by quickly because we talked to a man who was rushing home to his little girls second birthday. He was really nice and parents always love to talk about there kids.
A lot of Jeremy's family were already at the John Wayne Airport when we landed. His cousin Lesha, her husband Brad and their two boys Josh and Zack, His cousin Krystal, her husband Steve, and their kids Lanay and J, His cousin Dalee, and her husband Matt, Jeremy's Uncle Lee and Aunt Sharon, and two of their kids, Karli, Caleb were all there. We grabbed a way too expensive hamburger from the McDonald's in the airport as we waited for the rest of the family. I was lucky my bag got there because all of the tags came off, but we made it with all of our luggage. After a short wait the rest of the family got there Jeremy's Grandpa and Grandma Merrill, Aunt Kimberlie and Uncle Sal, Cousins Brett, Brandon and Crystal, and Jeremy's mom's cousin Jaque with her to kids Jagg and Cadesha.

This is the only picture we have of all of us together.

We filled up a chartered bus that took us to the Paradise Pier Hotel in Disneyland and waited to get us all checked in.

Grandpa and Grandma Merrill outside our hotel

One of Ethan's favorite things was the balloon they gave him. He played with it all week.

Once in our room we put Ethan down for a nap. Jeremy and Neil took a taxi to a grocery store to pick up a few things, (We ate breakfast and either lunch or dinner in our room, so we only ate out for one meal a day to save money),while I just relaxed. When they got back Ethan was up and we got ready to head to California Adventures

This is the view from our room. It was even better at night with all for the rides lit up.

One of the nice things about going with family is they could watch Ethan so that Jeremy and I could go on some or the bigger rides. Thank you to all those who watched Ethan at any time! We used our fast passes to go on Soarin' Over California, then Jeremy and I ran over to California Screamin'. We thought it was about time for Ethan to get out of his stroller, so we took him to the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail. He really liked that he could get out and move around. After being there for a little bit we left Ethan to play with his cousins and Neil, Shelley, Michele, and Travis. Jeremy and I went on Grizzly River Run. After being in the heat getting wet was nice.

Jeremy and I getting ready to go on Grizzly River Run. We got very wet and I had white pants on. Not so good!

We took Ethan on Mickey's Fun Wheel. We even did the one that slides around. He did not cry, but he was pretty cuddly for the whole ride. Luckily we rode with a mom and her two young kids, so no extra rocking.

Disney's Electrical Parade

When we got off it was time for Disney's Electrical Parade. I was very impressed with this and so glad Ethan was right up front. It was one of his favorite things. He even clapped. We called it a night and went back to our hotel room to go to bed so we could get up early for another fun day.

Day 3: The next day we were up and ready to go early. Neil and Shelley were not and said they would watch Ethan until they were ready to go. I was a little sad because I wanted to take Ethan into the park for the first time, but it did give Jeremy and I time to go on a lot of big rides before the lines got really bad. Thanks to the Disneyland Monorail we were some of the first people in the park.We went on Autopia (Ethan is two inches to short for his ride, and I was very disappointed I did not think it was that good. It went very slow, and I think Ethan could have rode on it. He probably would have liked it, but I would not go on it with out a kid!), Space Mountain (loved it), Star Tours, and the Matterhorn Bobsleds. We met up with Wendy and her family, Grandpa and Grandma Merrill, Neil and Shelley and Ethan.

Ethan Crashed in his Stroller at least once a day. Side Note: We were so glad we took our jogging stroller. It did not collapse really small, but it moved around in the park, so easily that it was worth it.

Ethan and Cody were out, so we went on Indiana Jones while David watched the two little boys and Anna. By the time we got out Ethan was up and ready to go on some rides. Jeremy's Grandma got too tired walking and standing in lines, so we got her a wheel chair. We took advantage of this by getting to skip a lot of the lines. We went on the Jungle Cruise.

Jeremy, Ethan, and I on the Jungle Cruse.

Then to the Enchanted Tiki Room, and "it's a small world." We tried to go on Buzz Light year, and Finding Nemo, but the lines were too long and we did not want to wait. Ethan was really intrigued with all of the lights, sounds, and movements on the rides, but it was getting really hot and about time for a nap and some lunch, so we headed back to the hotel with Neil, Shelley, Grandpa and Grandma Merrill, Wendy and Cody. Poor Wendy got sick and threw up as soon as she got in her room.

When we got back to the hotel Ethan had a burst of energy and played with Cody for about an hour before we got him down for a nap. I woke up from my nap at 3:00 p.m. and hurried to get Jeremy and Ethan up because we had a reservation at Rainforest Cafe at 3:30. We made it, but Ethan was grumpy for quite a while after being woken up. The food was only okay and very pricey, but the atmosphere was fun. It was nice to have all of Jeremy's parents, sisters and their family's and his grandparents together.

Jeremy, Ethan and I at the Rainforest Cafe. We have a picture of all of us, but I have not scanned it into the computer yet.

In our hurry to get to the Rainforest Cafe we forgot Ethan's shoes, so after lunch Jeremy ran back to grab them and was going to meet us at the Pixar Play Parade in California Adventure. I took Ethan who was screaming in his stroller, with Wendy, David and kid, and Michele. We got so turned around we did not get into California Adventures until the Pixar Play Parade was over. When we finally got the gate they almost would not let me in because Jeremy had taken my ticket and all I had was a stamp. And yes Ethan was still screaming. I also had left my cell phone in the hotel and could not call Jeremy. Luckily we found him just as Ethan fell asleep.

David and Wendy watched Ethan so we could go to It's Tough to be a Bug! with out taking Ethan out of his stroller. I did not want to wake him up and their kids were playing in the splash park. After the show I conquered my fear. I went on The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. I don't know why but I hate rides that shoot you up or drop you. Any other ride I am good with. I have been on the Tower of Terror before. I just did not like it and told Jeremy I was not going on it, but I did. I actually liked it this time. It was not as scary. This could be that I was sitting next to Travis and he was really scarred, so I had to act like it was okay.

Jeremy and I After Riding The Tower of Terror.

Ethan was awake when we go off, but Neil and Shelley were going back to the hotel and they offered to take Ethan back, let him play, feed him and put him to bed. David took his kids back also, so Jeremy, Wendy, Michele and I went over to Disneyland to play. We went on Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, and Star Tours for the second time that day. Michele bought us all churros and we sat down to watch the fireworks.

Jeremy observing the Master At work. You can see who won!

After the fireworks we went on Buzz Light Year Astro Blasters. You can see that I won. Jeremy is trying to watch me to see how I always do so good. Last time we went to Disneyland I won also. We then headed back to the hotel to put Ethan to bed because when we called to see how he was doing they had not got him to sleep.

Day 4: This was a Magic Morning, so we got to go into the park at 7:00 a.m. David, Wendy and their family came with us and we went to the front gaits to be there for the count down to go into the park. Also we took pictures at the front of Disneyland.

Disneyland's theme right now is Celebrate

We then rushed over to Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage and still had to wait 15 minute. It was worth it because this is the first ride Ethan really liked. He was bouncing up and down on Jeremy's lap as he looked out the little submarine windows. Then we watched Cody so the rest of the Lee family could go on the Matterhorn Bobsleds. We followed that with going on Mad Tea Party, Alice in Wonderland, Storybook Land Canal Boats, (this is were our camera started acting up and when we thought we were getting pictures that we did not. There are quite a few pictures I thought we had for the rest of the trip that we don't! Oh well), Dumbo the Flying Elephant, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, Snow White's Scary Adventures and Pinocchio's Daring Journey. We stood in line for Peter Pan's Flight, but it broke down and we were not willing to wait for it.

Jeremy, Ethan and I in front of the Castle

We stopped to take some pictures in front of Sleeping Beauty's Castle. Then David ran and got us fast passed to ride on Splash Mountain. The rest of us took a Ride on The Mark Twain Riverboat. Ethan did one of his favorite things, climb up and down the stairs.

After the boat ride Jeremy and I took Ethan over to ride on The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, but it was not working, so we headed over to Tarzan's Tree house to let him climb some more stairs. He really likes this, but it is hard with so many other kids running around. By the time we were done the Winnie the Pooh was back up and running. Finally, we got to go on my favorite ride Splash Mountain! Mandi took Ethan and Cody to see Winnie the Pooh, Tiger, and Eeyore while we were on this ride. (Shelley took pictures, but I don't have them). Then Mandi and Michele took them on the Winnie the Pooh ride again.

We could tell by the tired yawns that Ethan was having that it was time we headed back to the hotel for a little lunch and a nap for all three of us. Then we went to Coco's Restaruant and Bakery for lunch with all of the Merrill family.

Eatting at Coco's Resterant

We took up the whole back room. The food was good and the prices were excellent for being right by Disneyland. Even better was that kids ate free after 4:00 p.m. I am glad Jeremy did some research before we left on this trip of where to eat. While we were eating we saw a lot of cops. The waitress told us that Disneyland workers were on strike and picketing. We were a little worried, but by the time we had finished lunch it was over and we still don't really know what was going on.

Jeremy and I as well as Wendy's Family, Jill's Family, and Lesha's Family and two of his cousins family headed over to "a bug's land" after lunch to let the little kids play. Wendy, David and Tanner went over to Disneyland to ride on Space Mountain soon after we got there and left Travis, Anna and Cody to play with us. Michele stayed with us to help with the kids as well. Ethan and his cousins got to ride on Heimlich's Chew Chew Train, Francis' Ladybug Boogie, and Flik's Flyers. But he was to short to go on Tuck and Rool's Drive 'Em Buggies. Oh well. Jeremy and I took Travis, Anna and Ethan over to ride Monsters, Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue! Anna was scarred it was going to be like Slash Mountain, but ended up loving it. It was also the only ride that Ethan laughed on. We then meet back up with Michele and Cody at Bountiful Valley Farm to play in the water. Ethan was so excited to get in the water. He walked right into the middle as fast as he could the water squirted him, he fell down, started crying and that was it. We tried to get him to go back in, but he just did not want to.

The night ended with us meeting up with Wendy, David, Tanner, Neil and Shelley to watch Fantasmic! It was amazing, but very crowded. After the show we stayed and watched the fireworks. By this time Ethan was asleep in the stroller, so we headed back to our hotel to put him to bed.

Day 5: Once again we were up early to get into the park. This time we took the Disneyland Monorail in. We wanted to go to toontown, but had to wait an hour until it opend, so we took some pitcures (most of which did not turn out because of our camera problems). We road on Peter Pan's Flight, Casey Jr. Circus Train and Astro Orbitor. Then it was time that we could go into Toontown, but by the time we got there Ethan was asleep and we did not want to wake him up, so we left.

We did a little shopping for soveners and got Ethan some Mickey Mouse Ears. We later found that he hates them. We saw Goofy, Mickey and Minnie, but did not go get Ethans piture taken becasue he was asleep and then just wanted to eat. Finally we went over to watch"Honey, I Shrunk the Audience." Then we saw Grandpa and Grandma Merrill and Neil and Shelley. We went into Innovations. Ethan liked to walk around and touch all of the screens that reacted when they were touched. We found out what we would look like in 50 years, and it was so bad that I would not even e-mail it to myself. Lets hope it is wrong. When we were leaving Disneyland we decided to ride on the Disneyland Railroad all the way around the park and then back to the main entrance.

In California Adenture we took two tours: Mission Tortilla Factory (very warm and yummy tortillas) and The Bakery Tour (good sour dough bread). Neil and Shelley took Ethan, Cody and Anna back to the hotel for lunch and a nap while Wendy, David, Tanner, Travis, Jeremy and I went on Mulholland Madness. Jeremy and David went on the Maliboomer, but I chickened out. I can still remember the last time I rode it. Then David, Wendy, Tanner, Jeremy and I went on California Screamin' for the second time.

After that Jeremy and I waited to go on the new ride Toy Story Midway Mania! It was really fun and Jeremy beat me, but it was the longest we waited for any ride. I still don't know if it was worth the wait. We were so hot and tired from sitting in the sun waiting that we just headed back to the hotel for lunch. Unfortuneantly I got a smallblister on the side of my foot,but it did not really stop me.

Jeremy waiting to go on Toy Story Midway Mania!

After a short rest (no nap for us today, thankfuly Shelley had gotten Ethan to take a nap) we headed back to Disneyland. The Monorail was not working, so we had to walk. We stopped in The World of Disney Store and bought a picture frame for our trip. Then we finally made it to Mickey's Toon Town. We walked through Donald's Boat (we were not that impressed, so we skipped goofy's playhouse, Minnie's house and Chip 'n Dale Treehouse. This was also a time thing) We did walk through Mickey's house to see Mickey. I can't tell you how many times we almost gave up, but we made it!

Jeremy, Mickey, Ethan and Heather

Then we went out to find a spot to watch the Street Party. We got a really good spot because we were early. I stayed there to save it and Jeremy took Ethan on "it's a small world" agin. They almost did not make it back, and people were getting mad at me for taking up so much room for just me. The Celebration was so fun. Ethan really liked it.

Ethan watching the Celebration. He is so into it.

Street Party!

Our Camera was still giving us trouble and the camcorder got left on, so the batteries died. We only have a few pictures of this. I was really sad because we missed the characters that came up and would try to dance with Ethan.

After the Celebration was over we went on Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin. Then we took Ethan to ride on Kind Arthur Carrousel. He started bouncing up and down on the horses like he does on his rocking horse at home.

We bought a few more souvenirs then met, Neil, Shelley and Michele for dinner at Rancho Del Zocalo Restaurante. I was not that impressed with the food, but it was nice not to have to leave the park for dinner.

Ethan went on the Winnie the Pooh ride for the third time while we were waiting to go on Splash Mountain. Then he went for the forth time with Shelley while Jeremy, Michele and I went on Splash Mountain. I rode in the front and got soaked. It was later at night and the only time on our trip that I think I felt a little chilly.

Ethan was asleep after a short ride in the striller, so Neil and Shelley took him back to put him to bed while Michele, Jeremy and I went on Big Thunder Mountain in the dark. Very fun! Michele was not feeling great after that, so we headed back to the hotel.

Day 6: This was our last day at Disneyland and another Magic Morning. Jeremy got up and ready to go. Planning to leave Ethan with Neil and Shelley, and hoping he would sleep in. Just as we were leaving he woke up, so we got him ready for the day and fed him. He still stayed with Neil and Shelley and we left for the park.

The Monorail was still not working, so we had to go to the main entrance. We rode on some of our favorite rides: Matterhorn Bobsleds, Space Mountain, and Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters. After telling Jeremy the secrets to my success on Astro Blasters, so he would stop complaining, he finally beat me! Although the ride broke down while we were on it, so no picture to prove it. We got to Adventureland just as it was opening and were exited to ride Indiana Jones one more time, but it was not working. It was down for about a hour and people stood and waited for it to open, so when it was finally open the line was way long. Needless to say we did not ride it again. We did go on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad for the third time and tried frontierland Shootin' Exposition. Jeremy was really good, and I hit nothing. I really mean I did not hit a single one of the targets.

Jeremy and I bought one last souvenir and then met Neil and Shelley to get Ethan. We walked Ethan through the Sleeping Beauty Castle Walkthrough, then bought and eat and carmel apple even tought it was still morning. It was not as good as I had hoped, but not bad. A little boy walked by with his family and asked his mom if they could have dessert for breakfast too. We did not set a good example.

Around 10:00 a.m. we had to go back to our hotel room to pack. Check out was at 11:00 a.m., but Neil and Shelley got a late check out, so we put our bags in their room. After packing we finally took advatage of the pool and slide at our hotel. Ethan did not like the cold water at all, and they would not let him go down the slide with us, so we did not stay long.

Jeremy and Ethan in the Hotel Swimming Pool.

When all of Jeremy's sister and his parents got back from the park we went to Coco's for lunch with his grandparenats. Lunch was better than dinner. Ethan fell asleep on the way, but woke up in time to be so helpful as we tried to eat.

The hotel has a cute beach themed room that plays Mickey Mouse cartoons and has small beach chairs for the kids to sit on, Ethan loved sitting in his beach chair and I loved that it kept him entertained until the bus came to pick us up.

Once again Ethan fell asleep on the way to the airport, but woke up as soon as we got there. Going through sacurity was not as easy as it was in Salt Lake. I had the same things, but we had to put our bags through more than once, the people were not as helpful, and we kept forgetting little things like take Ethans shoes off, but we got through. We had a nice last visit with family before saying good-bye and flying to Las Vegas.

Everyone waiting to fly home.

Ethan slept most of the way. We had a short layover in Las Vegas and bought some very expensive food from a Wendy's. Said good-bye to Jill and her family and then we were off to Salt Lake. Ethan fell asleep and this time he did not even wake up when we put him in the stroller in Salt Lake. After getting to the motel we all crashed. I think that was the best nights sleep I got for the whole trip.

Day 7: We got up just in time to eat breakfast at the motel. After breakfast we went swimming. Ethan kept climbing out of the pool and wanting to go to the edge to step in. He does not know how to jump.

Jeremy and Ethan Playing in the Pool

Then we got dressed, packed the cars and headed home. Only a quick stop at McDonalds outside of Ogden to eat lunch. (The prices seemed great after where we had been), we made it to Pocatello and stopped at Neil and Shelleys long enough to unlod our things from their car to put them in our car. Ethan had not slept in the car at all, so we were glad he finally crashed after leaving Pocatello. We got home about 5:00 p.m.

The trip was fun, but it is always nice to be home. Our garden survived, but was ready for some tender loving care. We are all taking it easy and hope to be ready for our next adventure soon.