The 4 T's Adventure through Life: The Happiest Place on Earth...Disneyland

Way back in April I started thinking about what to do for Trent's 6th birthday. I know April and his birthday is in August, but if you know me, you know that I am a planner. To get the ball rolling I asked Trent if he wanted a birthday party or go to Disneyland for a few days, which would mean staying in a hotel near Disneyland. He picked Disneyland, so I booked a hotel room at the Disneyland Hotel and started planning the weekend. I was excited because for as many times as we have gone to Disneyland I haven't stayed at a local hotel. I was looking forward to not having to drive home after a long at Disneyland. So, maybe it was a treat for me too.

We headed down to Disneyland Friday morning and we were all excited to start our mini-vacation. We checked into the hotel and headed out to get the day started at Disneyland. Our first ride was Buzz Lightyear, which is always a good ride to start with. Next, we went to Space Mountain. Trent was finally old enough (in his mind) and tall enough to go on the ride. The line was only about 15 minutes, which was great because it didn't give Trent too much time to change is mind. We got him on the ride and he loved it! He did feel a little sick after the ride, maybe from the stars, but he felt fine in no time.

Our next stop was the Jedi Academy. The last time Trent tried to get picked for the Jedi Training, he didn't make it. So, we were going to try again. Trent kind of had a meltdown a few minutes prior to starting the show, saying he didn't want to do it, but we convinced him that he should try to get picked and he finally walked to the line in hopes to get picked. He was the second kid picked and once he got his robe and lightsaber he made his way to the stage. He had a great time in the show. He got to fight Darth Vader, which he wasn't thrilled about because he likes Darth Vader and didn't want to hurt him. Trent and Darth Vader had a cool duel and Trent was all smiles by the end of the show. I am so glad he got picked!

Not too soon after the Jedi Training, Cindy, John, Jeff, April, Zach and Maddie arrived at Disneyland. The day was pretty complete for Trent at that point, he was so happy to see everyone. We eventually made our way over to CA Adventure and had a great time there. Trent's favorite rides are Toy Story Mania and Soarin' Over California.

One highlight of the day was when we saw the show Turtle Talk with Crush (the turtle from Nemo). It's an interactive show where Crush asks the audience questions and gets questions from the audience. April took Maddie and Trent to sit up front on the carpet, they had front row seats. The rest of us sat in the seats a little ways back. The show gets started and Crush is taking questions from the audience, Trent raises his hand and gets picked. The microphone is put in front of him and he asked Crush, "What happens when turtles fart?" The audience went wild and everyone was laughing so hard, even Trent could not stop laughing. Crush was totally milking the laughing from the audience and then asked Trent if he has ever swam in the ocean? Trent answers, yes and then Crush says then you don't want to know. Everyone laughs again and then bubbles come up from behind Crush and the laughter continues. Crush tries to blame the bubbles on Andrew, but we weren't fooled. Trent thought it was all so funny, but I got the impression that he wasn't just asking to be silly, he really wanted to know. BOYS!

In the evening, we saw the new water show, World of Color, which was awesome. The people around us weren't too awesome because they were blocking our view, but from what we could see the show was pretty spectacular.

After the show we made our way back to the hotel and what a hotel room we had. It was so cool. Our room was on one of the remodeled levels, so everything was so new. Disney definitely does not miss a detail. The coolest thing was the mural over the bed that lit up and played music, so cool. It was so nice not to have to drive home after a long day, we just fell right asleep in the comfy king size bed. We didn't have too many hours of rest because we had a wake up call at 6:15 a.m. Since we were hotel guests, we could enter the park an hour early on certain days. So, Saturday morning came really fast, but walking into the park at 7:00 a.m was pretty cool.

We took the monorail over to Tomorrow Land and went on Nemo, which was a great choice because there was no wait and the usual wait is at least 45 minutes. After Nemo we met up with the group and headed over to Fantasy Land. We went on Peter Pan, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, Dumbo, Casey Jr. Circus Train, Storybook Boat Ride, Alice in Wonderland and the Tea Cups (just the kids went on the tea cups). We had a bit of a scare on the tea cups, Trent got a little woozy during the ride. He drank some water and recovered pretty quickly. While we were at Fantasy Land Scott and Fiona joined us. It was great to see them.

From Fantasy Land we went over to Winnie the Pooh, Splash Mountain, Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean, Indiana Jones, Jungle Cruise and Big Thunder Mountain (or Little Thunder Mountain we liked to tell Trent to get him on the ride). Trent was game for all the rides, except Splash Mountain, which was fine. While some of us were on Splash Mountain, Trent got to see Pooh and Tigger. One of the things I love about Trent is one minute he can act so old and into Star Wars and fighting evil and the next minute he sees Pooh and Tigger and reverts to a 3 year old and bounces around with Tigger. It brings me back to when he was little and I am so glad he still loves seeing the characters. I don't want him to grow up too quick, it's already going by too fast for me.

This visit to Disneyland was like no other. It is a whole new experience now that Trent can go on the bigger and faster ride. It was so much fun to go on these rides with him and to see his expressions of pure excitement and anticipation of what was coming next.

We were joined in the afternoon by Debbie, Alli, Sophia and Rocco. It's always fun hanging out with them. The kids play so well together and always have a good time.

We ended Saturday with a hour and a half wait for the show Fantasmic. Trent and I had never seen the show from start to end, so it was a must for us. We were in the standing room only location for the show, which meant that people pushed their way in during the entire show. It was quite annoying, but not as annoying as the dragon not working and the show ending early. Even though the show ended early, we had great seats for the fireworks and enjoyed that show.

We got to sleep in a little longer on Sunday morning, which was nice. We started the day with breakfast at the PCH Grill Cafe which is great for seeing the characters. Trent wasn't quite awake and in a bit of a cranky mood when we got to breakfast, but once he saw Mickey he quickly snapped out of it. From breakfast we made our way back to Disneyland to enjoy a few more hours of our mini-vacation. Trent's first ride of the day had to be the Matterhorn. We rode a few more of his favorites and then headed over to CA Adventure and, of course, went on Soarin' one last time before heading to Downtown Disney. Trent was looking forward to going to the Lego store before heading home. He got his wish and picked out a cool Star Wars Lego battle tank.

I can't say enough good things about our weekend. We had a great time. I will never get tired of seeing a smile on Trent's face at the Happiest Place on Earth.

Let the weekend begin.