And The Rain Rain Rain Came Down Down Down

Disneyland in February is quite rainy and cold! We decided to go down for Cayden's birthday shich was Friday the 6. He got in for free that day so that was a good way to save $60 and soend $300 more! We left for California on Thursday February 5 in the afternoon about 12:30. We stopped at Wendy's on the far side of town and then headed out. We did our customary stop in Barstow and shopped for about an hour. When we left Barstow it was 5:30. We did not get to Anaheim until 8:00. Cajon Pass was fogged in and it took a long time to get down it. Then it rained and rained and rained all the way into Anaheim. The kids were quite nervous-Connor especially-but Don did a marvelous job not looking nervous about that scary drive in the fog. It was so late that we headed right to Rainforest Cafe at Downtown Disney and still had to wait 20 minutes for a table. Pretty pricey place but I guess it's more for the atmosphere than the food. After dinner we went to our hotel. We have stayed at the Anaheim Hilton the last 3 times we have gone to Disneyland-Don's bosses niece hooks us up with a sweet deal on the rooms. The kids were pretty wound up but settled down by about midnight. Disneyland opened at 9:00 Friday morning so we got up at 7:30, went upstairs for the complimentary continental breakfast and then caught the shuttle around 8:45. While we were waiting for the shuttle it started to rain. We put on our ponchos and got out the umbrellas and that was the way it was the rest of the day. We always take the shuttle from the hotel and it drops us off close to the gates and you don't have to pay for parking. We went to the ticket booth to get Cayden's free pass-I had to take his birth certificate and a coupon from the Disney website for him to get in for free but he got a nifty Birthday button with his name on it. The first ride we went on was Pirate's of the Caribbean. We had been to Disneyland since the ride was redone so that was a must do! Connor and Cayden were not thrilled about it but the rest of us loved it. Then we traisped across the park to do Pooh Bear which was not that big of a hit the first time around. Cayden just cannot grasp the fact that none of it was real and so kept asking if all the characters were robots or in costumes. It made it easy though because there was no chasing down the man in the pooh bear costume to get his autograph and a picture. After Pooh Bear Don and Cody went to Splash Mountain and that was about the time that we decided to split up. Connor and Caleb hung out with Cayden and me and we went to Fantasyland. Don and Cody went off to do all the big rides like Indianna Jones and Space Mountain-the ones that I hate and Connor and Caleb refuse to do. We met up for lunch at our favorite place-The Hungry Bear and then after much pleading and begging Connor and Caleb took off on their own. Now normally there is no way I would have allowed that but Connor had his cell phone, they promised to stay together and there was hardly anyone there. We practically walked onto everything and I think the most that we waited was for Peter Pan-15 minutes and the new Nemo ride maybe 15 minutes. The kids had a great time and after doing Winnie the Pooh the first time and then a few others Cayden was convinced that all was well and so he and I went on Winnie the Pooh and Small World over and over. It rained almst all day but it kept the crowds down and the lines short. Even though it was wet and cold, we had our ponchos and umbrellas and we are thinking that we will never go to Disneyland in the summer again.

We all ran around the park until 5 when Cody took Cayden to Small World for the billionth time and Don and I went and had a $17 Monte Cristo-yeah $17! After that Cayden, Caleb and I went back to the hotel for a bit to dry out-literally-I stuck blow dryers in our shoes to dry them out. By 9:30 Cody, Connor and Don were pretty water logged so they headed back for the room to do our traditional room service pizza order and hang up our pants and ponchos to dry out for day 2!

Day 2 started out partly sunny but we were soon puddle jumping again. But we forged ahead and went straight to California Adventure. <



After riding Monsters Inc we split up again and Cayden and I went to the Playhouse Disney show while the others went to ride rides again. California Adventure was practically empty but it was fun riding the new Toy Story ride-once Cayden got the hang of it we went on it 3 times. We did everything we wanted before noon, had lunch at the usual place next to Soarin-our favorite ride- and then went back to Disneyland. Cayden and I rode Winnie the Pooh 5 times and Small World 5 times then Cayden went on Winnie the Pooh with Don another 4 times and Small World another 4 times. We weriously just walked on everytime. Cody Caleb and I rode Pirates 4 times in a row and 3 times just stayed on the boat-they did not even make us get off. We had dinner and then Cayden and I went back to the room to dry off before heading back to see the Fantasmic Show-the only issue about rain at Disneyland is the really awesome Fantasmic Show could be cancelled and some of the rides shut down. Cayden and I barely made it on Alice and Wonderland before they closed it for the rain and we were in a total downpour on the Storybook Boats. Fantasmic was cancelled on Friday night but was a go for Saturday. That is an amazing show and totally worth standing in one place for an hour. We could have paid $60 a piece for a nice comfy chair to sit on down front but we spent all our money on Churros and Dole Whips! After the show we all did Pirates and Small World one more time just for the heck of it and then headed back to the room at about 10:30. It was a fun trip but I learned a few things about Disneyland in the winter-

1. Purchase good thick ponchos before you go-we had the cheap $1 ones but they were mostly tore up by the end of the first day. We even had 2 extra ponchos but we used them too. You can totally purchase the extra special extra thick Disneyland ponchos for $7-which we did buy 2 of mind you. I stronly recommend getting some good ones before hand. Having experienced the joy of tromping through puddles, sitting on wet rides and carrying umbrellas all day going up down up down up down-I decidedly will be purchasing some better ponchos for the emergency kits as well as some tarps. I so do not want to be sitting on the sopping wet ground with only my fabulous non-dragging on the ground designer jeans trying to survive whatever emergency includes lots of rain.

2. Each person really should have 2 pair of gloves as your hands get soaking wet and then cold and then your gloves are wet and they just won't dry.

3. Do not wear long pants that drag on the ground as you will be soaked up to your knees by noon.

4. Definitely have a hat handy for the the lovely rainy wet very bad hair day!

5. Take 2 pairs of shoes for everyone and if possible go back to the room and change socks and shoes halfway through the day. Flip flops are a no no in Anaheim rain-I did not experience this just saw others in abject misery flipping and flopping in their normally-very-comfortable-for- June flip flops.

6. If you pass the Dole Whip stand, purchase the Dole Whip or 2-because of the weather they are quite unpredictable as to whether or not they will be open or not.

7. Don't bother taking a handtowel from the hotel to dry off the seats of the rides because it won't dry and then you will be hauling a mostly wet hand towel around in your back pack all day because if the hotel notices it missing they will charge you $30 for said hand towel.

8. Take lots of Ziploc bags. 1 smaller one for your park passes and shuttle tickets and one larger one for the birth certificate of your 7 year old so that you can make sure that it stays dry in the bottom of your soggy backpack.

9. Leave the video camera in the room as it just adds extra weight to the already soggy backpack and you don't want to pull it out just to have it slip out of your cold, wet hands.

10. Take your other pictures early and just put the other camera in one of the other Ziploc bags you brought along. Too much effort to keep snapping fun family memories while juggling an umbrella in one hand and holding the very wet hand of the birthday boy with the other.

11. If you not in the charcter hunting mood or if your kids are deathly afraid of costumed Tiggers Disney in the rain is quite nice as the characters stay in their warm and dry dressing rooms making it completely impossible to chase them down or wait in line to get a picture or autograph.

12. Pirates of the Caribean is the greatest ride ever for a damp and dreary Disney day. You get to stay inside for a good 10 minutes and as you descend into the cavernous realms of Jack Sparrow you realize that you are toasty warm and dry despite the slighly mildewy yet hint of clorox boatride in the darkness.