Disneyland Return

We did it. We broke down and renewed our passes. Even though we had decided against it, we changed our minds and splurged.

We got our Disneyland annual passes once more.

Since the girls got out of school, we've been four times already. I am determined to go to Disneyland and/or California Adventure as often as possible - once a week if I can swing it - until summer vacation is over. Even if we only go until the crowds get there, which is usually about four or five hours into the day, we can get a lot of rides in and a lot done.

In our four trips there, there have been a few new wrinkles from last time.

New Attractions, Part I: A few new attractions have opened or re-opened since we last went, namely Star Tours and The Little Mermaid. We've not done Star Tours yet because the lines have been ridiculous, and the girls aren't all into that anyway. But we've experienced The Little Mermaid. It's a really fun ride, with lots of music and singing. The line is really long but it moves very quickly. There's also a ride called the Silly Symphony Swings which the girls can go on alone; for that ride, you sit in a swing and you spin around and around and around... I can't handle it for very long because I'm old and am way more susceptible to spinny rides.

New Attractions, Part II: We are now able to do some more rides together, some new to us, because the girls are taller. We rode the Indiana Jones ride for the first time on our last trip, and the girls really liked it. Kennedy was very scared right before and she even asked to get off right when the ride was going to start, but later she was begging to get on it again (the line is usually very long for it so we couldn't go on again). We've done the California Screamin' coaster at DCA as well. That one is very fast and has a loop and the girls like it. Well, Yvie loves it. I've let her go on the single-rider line a few times (under my watchful eye of course) and she has a blast. She went on three times in a span of about 30 minutes on our last trip there. And Kennedy returned to her nemesis, the Tower of Terror. She didn't cry on that one (you sit down on this ride in a simulated elevator and it takes you real high and drops you very fast over and over again). But she wasn't exactly asking to go back on it.

Pictures: I will post pictures later since I've got them on my other computer but I've taken some cool pictures.

Costly: Yes, the passes cost us some serious change, but we aren't planning on anything extravagant this summer, or year, in terms of a family vacation, so spending this money is like going on a vacation somewhere in terms of cost. Plus the girls really enjoy Disneyland/DCA and it helps me keep them entertained as well. It's a win-win for us all, especially if we can get in a double-digit number of visits before the girls get back to school.