The Final Day

Friday was our last day at Disneyland. By this time we were dragging, but we had learned our lesson from the day before. We were at the park early, which was great because they opened the gates early. We couldn't go past Main Street until 9 AM (which is when the park officially opened), but we were at the front of the line with our plan in place. As soon as they lowered the rope and waved us in (wearing giant Mickey Mouse gloves, no less), we were off. Bryan raced ahead with Phoebe in the stroller. He was determined that she would be the first kid through the castle. She was the first one on the bridge, but someone else raced ahead to claim the castle.

Here we are, waiting at the front of the line to enter the lands other than Main Street USA. Did you know that Disneyland Paris also has Main Street USA?

Our goal for today was to catch all the rides that we'd missed on Tuesday. We knew that this was another grad night so our time was limited. And just like the day before, the park was pretty empty for the first few hours of the day. We went on Mr Toad's Wild Ride (which is mildly terrifying), the Teacups (which Phoebe and Cooper loved until they knocked heads and started crying), the Storybook Land Canal Boats (which I don't remember ever having ridden before), and Alice in Wonderland (which was a little trippy, much like the movie on which it is based) all in the first hour.

And that's basically when I stopped taking pictures.

Apparently we were so tired at that point that we were more concerned about staying alert and together than documenting our visit. I don't have pictures, but I can say that the boys loved Splash Mountain. However Peter did not care for Indiana Jones. And I think their favorite attraction of the day was Tarzan's Tree house. I went through it once with Phoebe and Cooper, and Bryan went though it once with Peter, but later in the day I stood where I could see both the entrance and the exit and let the boys climb that thing at least four times each. It was a great way to run down their (inexplicably still abundant) energy.

We also tried to ride the Dumbo ride during that first hour, but it wasn't working. Cooper still looked cute while we sat in the non-flying-elephant.

Bryan and Phoebe were in front of us. Peter was to have his own elephant, which made me slightly nervous. Perhaps it's a good thing we couldn't get off the ground.

The Casey Jr. Circus Train worked though.

Phoebe met the princesses again. She was in a much better mood this time. We also watched a short comedic musical based on Beauty and the Beast. Phoebe was thrilled to see Belle on-stage, but a little sad to not meet her in person.

Here's that popular tree house.

Near the end of our day we met Donald Duck. We also went and watched Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln. See, as the day progressed more and more people arrived at the park. The streets were packed. The lines for most of the rides grew ridiculously long. We occupied ourselves with the attractions that did not garner as much attention. We spent time in the Tiki Room (which is all kinds of weird), an art gallery on Main Street (which was really cool), we rode the Monorail (which Peter had been asking to do for days) and the train (the big one, not the Casey Jr. one). We were marking time so we could make it to an appointment we'd made for the end of the day.

Ever since Bryan was a kid, he had wanted to eat at the Blue Bayou. If the name doesn't ring any bells, then the description might. It's the restaurant inside Pirates of the Caribbean. The trip to Disneyland was a graduation present for the kids. A dinner at the Blue Bayou was a graduation gift for Bryan. That morning Bryan snagged the last reservation of the day. For 9:10 PM. We would have left the park sooner, but we waited around for the special dinner. We planned that we would eat, then head out and finish our visit by watching Fantasmic.

By the time we were seated, everyone was ravenous. We ordered quickly and started eating. Partway through the delicious meal I realized Cooper had dark circles around his eyes. He seemed extra tired. We finished eating, gathered our leftovers, and headed out. We were deciding where to go for the show when Cooper started to say that his stomach hurt. He cried and begged to be carried. I recognized what was going to happen in time and, lacking a proper receptacle, directed Cooper to throw up in an empty spot of pavement. He did.

Instead of watching Fantasmic, we waited for a janitor to come and apologized profusely. Then Cooper rode in the stroller while Phoebe walked/was carried out of the park. Within twenty minutes Cooper had perked up and was feeling fine. I think it was exhaustion, but I also wonder if we just needed to go and that was the impetus that got us out.

The kids were all sad on the bus ride back to the hotel and asked when we would be coming back. Bryan and I were not as mournful about our departure. We were tired and ready to be done.

In the last week the kids have talked about our Disneyland adventure. They pulled out a book about Disney from our bookshelf and compared what they saw in the parks to what they saw on the page. They've also talked about what they're going to do when they go back.

I'm glad that it was magical for them.