We did it, we did it, I can’t believe we did it!

Back in the days when we were never having children, I cringed anytime Rob brought up Disneyland. Crowds, pushy people, lines, kids everywhere… how about Italy? Then we had the Bumble and I began my stall tactics. “Maybe when he’s five, or eighteen, or whenever.” No rush.

Then the Bumble began to get interesting, and the idea of Disney became a little closer to reality. Then the Bumble became hilarious to watch when he experienced new things. And we also wanted to see Rob’s 99-year young grandma and other relatives who live in the area, so we decided that maybe now would be a good time for a trip.

Our family has established a new tradition in which my parents are dragged along join the fun of the first trip. Something about seeing the joy on their grandkids faces (we think it’s because they feel guilty that they only took us once). Flights were booked, hotel reserved, car rented. The trip was on!

We flew South on Wednesday and met up with my folks at the hotel. We visited for a bit and then mapped out our strategy for the next day. Okay, let’s be honest. I pulled out the detailed itinerary I had crafted based on website and guidebook suggestions, which took into account a trip to the nearest starbucks, time to park, time to get to the shuttle, eyerolling by Rob, and be in queue a half hour before opening time.

Luckily for us Mom is hooked up with the magic blue ‘capper parking pass and also had scored us free parking, so we decided to drive to the park rather than sweat with the masses on mass transit. Oh the sweet sweet joy of being waved into the special close-in parking. Let’s savor the moment. . Ahh.

Selfish enjoyment of close parking aside, it really was convenient to be close to the shuttle, the less distance Mom had to walk, the better. We got in the park just fine and got mom hooked up with her zoomer. We hit the northern half of the park and I admit I was more than a little bothered by the lines. One reason we went in February, during the week, was to avoid the weekend and high-season crowds. I think I was naively thinking that there would be less people than there were. But even Mom was surprised at the lines we had to stand in for just about every ride. Colin took it all in in his usual serious-fun way. The Bumble just doesn’t really crack a smile when he’s taking in new situations. We knew he was having fun because he bounced around in between rides, but during them? No. Smile. At. All.

We made it until about three and hit the wall. When we planned the trip we agreed that we’d cruise the park until it became not fun, and not worry about having to hit every ride. The last two rides we attempted broke down as we got to the front of the line and the “yea let’s go!” refrain became “screw it, Mickey.” So we left the herd behind and hung out at the hotel (too cold for the pool) until dinner. During our meal I tried to browbeat Mom into using the handicap entrances, I mean, she’s entitled and all, and hey, no lines. Her argument was that she is perfectly capable of standing in line and while I agreed, Hello!? No Lines?

On day two we decided to try out the “for the love of pete let’s skip the lines!” strategy and cruised past the insane lines at some of the more popular rides. More sweet sweet joy. Overall the crowds seemed more manageable and we got to much more on day two than we had on day one.

Colin continued to amaze us all with his willingness to try anything. He even had arms up on the railroad roller coaster! And I went on it too! And I didn’t barf! Whee! Mom drew the line at using her wheels to get us on Indiana Jones and we weren’t willing to wait for an hour for it (the fast pass system? BLOWS. We never got to take advantage.) so we ended up our day with a trip on the railroad and a churro on main street.

We went, we thrilled, we got a little teary at our big boy, we rolled with the mood swings of a nap-skipping toddler, and we had a fantastically magical time. And that was our Disney adventure in a nutshell. As Colin woud say, in his best “just chugged a cold glass of milk” breathless way, “Dat was a good day!” (yes, he says that after drinking milk, why? Because he's a Bumble)

Rides Ridden (in no particular order):
Autopia
Tarzan's Treehouse
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
Disneyland: The First 50 Magical Years
Innoventions
Pirate's Lair on Tom Sawyer Island
Astro Orbitor
Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters
Enchanted Tiki Room
Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage
Haunted Mansion
Jungle Cruise
Mr. Toad's Wild Ride
Pirates of the Caribbean
Chip 'n Dale Treehouse
Dumbo the Flying Elephant
"it's a small world"
King Arthur Carrousel
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
Peter Pan's Flight
Storybook Land Canal Boats
Disneyland Railroad
Mark Twain Riverboat