Disney recap. For now.

So my computer seems to be busted.  Not in a "I saw it go up in a cloud of smoke" kind of way, but in a "I'm so spoiled by technology that I whine when something doesn't work perfectly" kind of way.  I can't get photos to upload from our card readers.  Sometimes it works- sometimes it just deletes them ALL instead.  We've tried three readers with the same issue, so I'm now convinced the problem lies somewhere within our fancy-shmancy Mac.  Grr.

(Anyone know about computers?  I'd love some help!)

In the meantime, I can't really share pictures of new projects. I've had two different tutorial pictures vanish on me, and I'm scared to upload any more before we get this figured out.  Mr. was able to upload the recent Disney pictures, though, before the latest card reader stopped working (thank goodness!).  So, I'll toss a few of those up to tide you guys over...

We went for three days, on a park hopper pass.  Here in California, there are two parks included in Disneyland- in Florida there are...four?  five?  I don't remember.  For us, two parks in three days was perfect.  If you can only do one day, I'd pick one area and try to stay there.  The kids just get too crazy pushed to run from ride to ride, trying to get it all in.  We were super relaxed- in fact, we never even went to one area of the park- the newly opened Cars Land- because we just didn't want to face the crowds.  We never waited in long lines, we used fast passes for the popular rides, and we went back to the hotel every afternoon for naps.  I highly recommend this!  The kids were up at 7, and we left the park around 11pm at night- yet they didn't melt down and never got overtired because of the afternoon break.

They were giddy and smiling and loving every minute of the trip.

Here is Asher mid-giggle on the Ferris Wheel....

And everyone who goes to Disney must try to get a picture in front of the castle...

I also highly recommend watching the parades and the evening shows.  Mr. was dreading this trip (I only convinced him to go because we got sucha good deal on the tickets/lodging) but he was won over by the evening shows.  I kept looking at him, to find the biggest grin plastered on his face.  He said "wow!" a lot, too.  

Watch your kids' faces during the parade.  They will look like this:

There wasn't a ride that the kids didn't love.  We got an ap for our iphones that showed the wait times for different rides.  There were so many that we just walked right on.  Asher wasn't a fan of waiting in lines, even when plied with treats, so this really helped keep everyone sane.  

We didn't get any pictures of their expressions on the rides, so we faked it....

Another thing I recommend is turning on the auto focus when asking someone to take a family picture for you....

Because in the next opportunity, your husband may look a bit deranged, spoiling the effect ;)

Let your kids meet some characters.  There's usually a bit of a wait, but it's not too bad if you target some favorites early in the morning.  

I think Mr. enjoyed Princess Jasmin as well....

                         

And of course we had to take the girl to meet Merida.  She was thrilled.  Asher was not as impressed.

There!  Finally, a decent family picture.  I know those sunglasses are driving my FIL batty, though...

It's not just about the kids though.  Mr. and I really enjoyed ourselves, too.  

We were struck by how well everything worked.  The entire park, I mean.  People were just... happy.  I didn't see any major tantrums, no fighting parents, no dirty bathrooms or surly workers.  We even had tasty food (veggie jambalaya in a bread bowl at an amusement park!?).  For us, Disneyland worked.  For anyone with doubts, check this out:

And this picture was NOT followed by hitting, screaming, grabbing, or name calling.  Just by more.... happiness.  

(ok, you can gag a little.)