As most of you know, we took the boys to Disneyland on Friday…it was our gift to Nicholas, for his birthday.
For 3 weeks, all we have heard is, “When are we going to Disneyland? Can we drive those gas cars? Mom – remember last time, Daddy was in front of us and we bumped him? Remember?”
I kid you not, over and over and over. Every day – he would ask. A few days before we went, I told him that there was a CarsLand now and he would get to see Radiator Springs in real life. He didn’t flinch. His response…”But can drive those gas cars??”
(He was talking about Autopia, for those that don’t know D-land).
Aunt Dani knew we were taking the boys so she and Neal got them Lightening shirts from CarsLand.
Oh – and the other surprise for the boys was – staying in a hotel for the 1st time!! They did pretty good with sharing a bed.
(They were super tired on the drive up to Anaheim on Thursday night. We didn’t get to the hotel until almost 10 pm).
We decided to take the bus from our hotel to the park — also, another bonus for the boys. They love buses! And, can you believe this?! The bus that pulled up to get us….
We started in CA Adventure so we could see CarsLand right away. Joe immediately got in line for the Racers FastPass (it’s the new BIG ride in CarsLand).
The boys and I went on a ride while Joe was waiting.
Tow Mater’s Junkyard Jamborie is really cute. AJ loved it and wanted to ride twice 
I thought CarsLand was adorable. It looks EXACTLY like the movie. AND, the Cars even drive up and down the street!! Life-sized cars! We saw Red, Mater, Lightening and one of the DJ Rice-Rocket cars (that helps Mack fall asleep in the the first movie).
A couple highlights:
We both got to take NCL on Space Mountain. That was his first real roller coaster. He liked it!
We took both kids to see Captain EO. Joe & I LOVE that show – and it was REALLY cool to take the boys to see something that was apart of our childhood Disney experience.
AJ and I went on Small World — and WHOA!! I could NOT believe the decorations! They decorate the ENTIRE ride! I was totally impressed.
Snack time at the Cozy Cone was pretty cool. AJ and I got ice cream.
The castle was awesome. And, it snowed on Main Street after the fireworks. It felt magical.
Our boys were TIRED!! We left just before 10pm. Nicholas couldn’t stay awake — and doesn’t remember taking a bus back to the hotel.
Joe has all the pictures of “the gas cars” – he took NCL while AJ was sleeping. Nicholas got his license and was in heaven. We even went back to ride a second time when AJ was awake. (And we recreated the “Daddy Crash” from before…NCL really enjoyed that).
We also have a family picture with Donald Duck. It will probably debut on the Christmas Cars this year — if it makes the cut.
It was so fun to take our kids to one of our FAVORITE places on earth. Back in 1998, when we went for the first time together, I never in a MILLION years thought that we would take our CHILDREN to Disneyland….and they have been multiple times now. Lucky kids!!
