Niederhauser vacation. Part 3. All things Disney.

Oh Disneyland. What a wild couple of days! I have a more positive outlook on the whole thing after it's all been said and done. Ha. I will share my unfiltered thoughts about it. Here is us riding on the shuttle first thing in the morning. All fairly happy :)

Moments after getting in the door. It's a good sign right, when the day starts off like this?! We had already had a few late nights, not great naps, and very early mornings so Greta was already behind the 8 ball on sleep and was pretty whiny and opinionated etc from the get go. It got better and worse :)

We walked in and saw Pluto first and the line was really short and Harvey was all about going to meet him and was SO FLIPPING adorable! And when we walked away he yelled out how Pluto was his BEST PUP EVER! 

And then we saw Mickey and again the line wasn't too long so we waited to see him and again - just adorable. And at the time, it was fun but I was a little stressed about all the family going one direction and if we were supposed to catch up or stay with them etc etc. So I didn't FULLY appreciate how cute it was. Looking back, it really was so cool and how cute Harvey was about it. Greta was terrified and did NOT want to be close to any character...at all! Kind of funny. I would have loved to have him see more characters but we didn't cross paths with much more and as the day went on and everything got more crowded, lines were much longer for meeting anyone. He didn't care seem to care too much about it so I guess that was one good thing about him being kind of young, etc that we didn't have to spend time waiting for characters as well as in line for rides, etc.

First ride was Dumbo. He kind of flipped and didn't want me to push the stick that made us go up. But I MADE him and then he really liked it.

Then we did the storybook cruise and he loved that and kept getting in trouble for standing up, but it was impossible to see everything for him without doing so.

The kids are always fans of a good carousel! We met up with Mimi and Papa for that. Oh - and we did some Mad Hatter ride that was really loud and dark and jerky and terrified both kids. Greta was scared of a lot more than I thought she would be.

Harvey loved Autopia!

Winnie the Pooh while the rest of the clan did Splash Mountain. I got to go on that after with Carrie and some kids who joined us on our rider switch/stroller pass.

Thank goodness for a nap - but it was NOT as long as she (and I) needed.

He doesn't answer this too often or easily but he mentioned a couple times how much he loved Goofy's playhouse. We spent about an hr here maybe. Letting them run around and us sitting and taking a breather. We ate a twist cone too which was awesome.

Tanner made him go on this roller coaster. You can see them in line here.

If you can zoom in on this, he's with Tanner in the 2nd to last car from back and his arms are up and he's excited and brave :)

This one he looks a little more terrified :) but I was still pretty proud of him! He didn't cry, but it made him nervous!

He picked some Cars 3 cars and Greta picked a Minnie Mouse phone.

I tried a cake pop per my friend Andrea's request - but I didn't find the same kind she had. This one did not disappoint though :)

Neither did any of this! Eclair, red velvet cupcake, macaroon and a couple macaron's. The red macaron had fresh raspberries in it and was AMAZING. I felt so sick after our tasting platter. But it was so worth it and I was happy :)

The kids approved too!

The one ride Tanner and I got to ride alone, together. We waited with kids and Mason while everyone did Indiana Jones, and then we got to go. Even with a Fast Pass, it was still a LONG wait. And when we came out it was POURING. We were going to go to the Thunder Mountain Railroad but it was so late and the kids were tired and we were dead and then it ended up being super rainy so we just bailed. And instead of waiting in the HUGE line for a shuttle, we walked back. I was EXHAUSTED by the end. My feet were killing me but it was good we walked. Much faster and it was nice to be moving instead of waiting in another line. So overall - my feelings are this - a lot of the day I was wondering why people even like Disneyland. (I had only been one time before for one day when I was 18, and I remember having a lot of fun, but don't really remember much else...which is good I guess). I knew it was going to be crowded and I knew we'd stand in lines, but it was REALLY crowded. Over by Pirates and Splash mountain and the Haunted Mansion etc, you could barely even walk through because there were SO many people. I don't like that. There were a billion people in Toon Town too. So all the lines (except for a few and some at the very beginning of the day) were REALLY long. I would have loved to take Harvey on a few more and a few multiple times, but it was just overwhelming seeing the wait times. Harvey honestly was a CHAMP the whole day. He had a lot of fun, never whined about waiting in line, had fun with cousins, liked monkeying around on bars while waiting in line, etc etc. Greta was really hard. And she just was too young to do much or appreciate any of it. She was harder than I was expecting. Lottie was typical newborn hard. No different from any other day, but being in a park it was hard. There was like 1% of the whole day that I wasn't carrying either her in the bjorn or in my arms, or Greta, or changing a diaper or something. My neck and back and arms and feet were KILLING me by the end of the day. It was just too much. I was so tired and decided that it's not that fun with little little kids. We decided we probably wouldn't need to go back until Lottie is almost 4 at least. When kids don't need naps and they are all completely potty trained etc. Now that I survived that day, looking back I really can see how cool it could be. I think having a better game plan might help. We missed the parade. Maybe a show to break up the standing,etc. Maybe going a less crowded time. And for sure with a little bit older kids. It was REALLY fun being with the family, but it also was kind of hard to coordinate where and when and how with everyone, especially with the age difference in all the kids and what the interests and abilities were. I can see how it could be a lot of fun in a couple years and I do look forward to that :) It was just a little more hard than fun for me most of the day.

California adventure. It started out kind of awful. Again - before we are even through the gates, Harvey was throwing major on the ground fits about how he didn't have his milk that morning (didn't even mention milk until we are walking up to it and he realized he didn't have it (insert major eye roll here)). And Greta - again - just way too short on sleep.

We did Luigi's junkyard jamboree first cause there was no line and we were waiting for fast passes to Radiator Springs. Harvey liked it (sort of). Greta cried.

While waiting for fast passes, we wandered around. Then got in line for the Toy Story ride. That was fun. Nat was a gem and took Lottie. I went with Greta and she CRIED the whole time. Don't even know why. It wasn't scary or even that fast or crazy. It was really fun and so cool inside. But she bawled the whole time and Harvey was SO excited when we got out and started telling me about it and then accidentally bonked his head on a railing. So meltdown mode again. Then we walked through the toy store and we didn't let him buy the first toy he saw and so melt down again. Then I had my meltdown. Well, mostly internally and a mild snap at Tanner and said that I was sick of whining kids and I WASN'T HAVING FUN! It was about this time we were getting onto Radiator Springs. We left a very freaking out boy and luckily two sleeping girls back with Nat and Mimi and Papa and a bunch of other crying kids. Ha. I didn't even want to be in line, I was stressed and just not ready for another day that I expected to be like Disneyland. Well, the ride was so fun (Disneyland and California adventure - just so cool all the incredible detail and design and decorations outside and inside the rides - that's what is so fun about it and I saw that more clearly afterwards. Or at least just after Disneyland). We came back to happier children and the day just got better and better from there.

Harvey was excited to do this again and was getting a lot more into the rides too, so that was really fun.

A few long lines and short, pretty boring rides in Bugs Land - but again - cool details and stuff and the kids liked the rides..

We waited for Harvey and dad to do the bumper bug things and I don't know why she thought it was so fun to crawl around on the ground and lay there, but she did. That first smile one is her saying "CHEESE!"

We did a show - Disney Junior's dance party. SOOO fun! I loved it. It was a fun break up of stuff outside and the music was fun and it was just high energy and cute and I really liked it. I sat at the back with Lottie while T did floor with kids. They didn't get really aggressive with getting up and dancing but they did really like it!

Soarin' was AWESOME!

Did the raft ride with this crew and got cold and wet but it was really fun.

This picture is too dang cute! Harv and Lib were the best of buds the whole trip. It was awesome.

More carousel's while people went on Screamin'. I got to go with Tanner afterwards. We got the front car and it was SO fun!

Dance party in Cars Land when they turned on all the lights.

Pooped kids!

So my thoughts on California Adventure - 100% better! The crowds were much less and I loved the park. Just how open and not claustrophobic it felt. We got to go on a lot more rides that were a lot more fun. It just didn't feel as tiring and overwhelming. It was a blast, and we still had some challenging kid moments but it was easier to overlook :) I loved it! 

Then we spent another night in St. George - had dinner with half the crew at Spaghetti Factory and went to the fun park again in the morning. Took some cute pictures of the kids. Harvey and Tanner went swimming while girls napped after the park and I cleaned up the condo. 

It was a REALLY fun week. Tiring, yes, but mostly fun. I wish the kids could remember it all better, but thanks to pics and blogs, they sort of can. I love being a part of the Niederhauser family! They are all so great and it was fun making some fun memories with them and our own little Niederhauser crew. Sorry for the negative moments - gotta be real - but really, it was so fun overall. The kids had so much fun playing with cousins and we had perfect weather pretty much and everyone was safe and healthy and happy! Hooray!!