7 years

Day 2556. Today was their 7th birthday! Wow! As we're back in Los Angeles where our 8-week journey started, Disneyland was the perfect place to take them on their special day. When they woke up this morning, they found their birthday T-shirts and put them on. I was pretty tired, but at 8:50 am we were able to drive off.

We drive south, in the direction of downtown LA, so there was lots of traffic. It took us just over 2 hours to get to Disneyland.

We parked in the Mickey parking structure, unloaded and started walking to the elevators. Tammy put her Disney ears on that someone had given her. Once on the ground floor, we walked through security, then to the little train that would take us to the entrance of Disneyland. There was a special entrance with a ramp for wheelchairs that we took. They then tied down the wheelchair, and off we went. After getting off, we walked to the entrance but first we stopped at the "special services". There was a short line but it took way too long for Sammy. It was also an unusually hot day for California. Sammy started crying really hard. The lady in front of us who had a grown-up son with Down's syndrome then turned around and talked to us which made Sammy stop crying. And then it was her turn, and just after our turn.

The guy behind the glass had a mask on his face. Strange; shouldn't the glass be enough protection? It made it harder to understand what he was saying. He started asking me questions about Sammy, some were repetitive, and it was starting to aggravate me. All we wanted was the disability pass so he wouldn't have to stand in line which Sammy can't stand. Finally he said he needed an "expert" to come and take over and that she would ask me the same questions again. At least she had no  mask and was way friendlier, also interacting with Sammy once he was starting to cry again because this was taking so long. At least she got the point why lines are not doable. She then told the guy what kind of disability pass to get, and it was added to my Disneyland app on the phone. That way I was able to request a ride and it told me when the earliest was to come back to get on right away. It was always something between 5 and 20 minutes which was perfect. 

It was noon when we finally showed our tickets at the entrance and went inside. We asked about the birthday buttons and got them later at a kiosk. They wrote their names on each of their buttons. I also tried to find out when the parade was, which took me forever. I simply couldn't find the information in the app. Finally a worker told me that me there was no parade and no fireworks. What?!? I couldn't believe it! They said it was because the season was over, and that they only had a Halloween lightshow at night. What? It was August!!!

We started walking down Main Street to the Cinderella castle. We saw Goofy standing there for pictures but didn't want to stand in line as it was already after noon. Before reaching the castle, we had a picture taken, then at the castle, we went inside to see the Cinderella story. Back outside, we used the app for the first time to book the Peter Pan ride, one of my two favorite rides before today (now I have a new favorite). As we still had time, we got on the carroussel that was right there, all of us riding the horses. Then we went on the Peter Pan ride. After that, Randy left to go change Sammy's diaper, while the three of us waited by our next ride. It took a while, but then we went on the Mr. Toad right. All the rides in those area were for smaller kids.

Sammy had been asking to go see Mickey over and over again so we just had to go to Toontown before doing any of the other rides there. When they were at Disneyland three years ago, it was so late in the day by the time we got to Toontown that we hadn't gotten in any more. 

Right after walking in, there was Goofy again. Unfortunately the lady said we had to stand in the long line. So Randy stayed in line, while went went to the Roger Rabbit house to have a look. There was no line, so we went inside, thinking we could do this quick ride before Randy would reach Goofy. How wrong I was! It turned out that there was a VERY long line on the inside of the building. Oh no! I had no idea that we'd be in that line for that long. Eventually Randy came inside to find us. But the kids and I got on the ride by ourselves after having waited 40 minutes or so, and it had been worth it.

Back outside, Sammy reminded me that we had to go visit Mickey so we went straight to Mickey's house. There was no line at all so we were able to go straight in, walk through the house, then had a brief wait to go in and see Mickey. You should have seen how happy Sammy was!! He was radiating, hugged Mickey and gave him a kiss. Then we took some pictures and left.

Back outside, the kids wanted to go to the playground there. And then there was Donald, and Sammy got to hug him. Next we saw Goofy again, and Sammy finally got his picture with him. Then they had some fun on the slides while eating the sandwiches we had brought with us. Finally there was Pluto, so we got a picture with him as well. 

Sammy said he wanted to see Minnie as well. The line at her house was much longer. We talked to someone there, and they told us to come back 25 minutes later to go straight in. There was a kids' roller coaster there so we went there while waiting, that is, Randy went on there with the kids while I waited. It was very short, only going around once, and they did it two more times after having seen Minnie.

Afer the first round, we went to Minnie's house and were taking to the exit that took us to her kitchen. One of the workers took us to her oven and her dishwasher that were moving and funny. Then Minnie came through the door, and Sammy lit up. He hugged her and kissed her, then she took us to her living room where we took pictures. After that we looked around her house and more and left.

After the roller coaster, we headed out of Toontown. "It's a Small World" was right outside, and there was no wait time, so we went there next. It was cute. Then we walked back in the direction of Fantasyland to do the rides we hadn't done. We did Pinocchio, Alice in Wonderland and Snow White. Then the kids wanted to do the Matterhorn rollercoaster, so Randy and the kids got on. They all loved it and wanted to do it again! 

Then we headed to Tomorrowland. We had a reservation for Nemo but it wasn't time yet so we continued walking, and they went on the ride that goes round and round high up in the air. I was watching them. After that we did the 4D Star Wars ride which was really cool. Then we headed to Nemo. It's such a cute ride in a submarine. 

It was time to make our way to Indiana Jones. My last two times it had been closed and it had been my other favorite ride. I was excited that it was open, and the kids were tall enough for it. I told them how exciting it was. We walked in and got into the jeep. Well, I was wrong as far as the kids were concerned. While I loved it, it was only Sammy who did, and in fact he loved all the rides. Tammy was really scared and crying the whole time, while Emmy was quiet but cried at the end. There was too much scary temple stuff there. 

We needed something relaxing next. The jungle cruise was right next to it, so we got on. We rode the boat while the guide was commenting on everything we could see in the water and on the banks of the river. It was funny. 

Back out, we continued walking in the direction of the brandnew Star Wars rides. First, we got to Pirates of the Carribean which is a cute ride, and we all enjoyed it. Then we reached Bayou Country. There was a water ride, a rollercoaster in water, and the kids were eager to do it. Randy and the kids got on while I tried to take their picture when they fall down the waterfall but I never saw them. After a while I walked to the exit to meet up with them. They were a little wet but all sharing with excitement how great it had been, especially Emmy.

The Winnie the Pooh ride was right there, so we got on it next. It's so cute. Then we continued walking in the direction of Star Wars. The sun was starting to go down. It was really impressive what they had built there. There were two Star Wars rides, and everything was really impressive. The workers also played their characters, and the ride had different stages. We were taken prisoners so they acted accordingly. Well, this is my new favorite ride! It was absolutely amazing, so cool! Unfortunately Tammy and Emmy did not agree with me and didn't like it, especially Tammy. She was getting really tired, and she didn't like the enemies and the shooting so she was crying the whole time. She had also been complaining for a while that her feet were hurting. 

We walked to the second Star Wars ride where you had to pilot a shuttle yourself. Tammy and I were in the front as the pilots, and the boys in the back as those shooting. It was cool but Tammy didn't want to be there and was crying.

We only had one more item on the list before leaving the park - another rollercoaster the boys absolutely wanted to do. Not Tammy who was done for the day. It was dark by that time. We reached the rollercoaster, and Randy went on with the boys. Emmy was all excited again when they returned because he'd had so much fun. 

It was time to make our way to the exit, and the kids reminded us again that we still needed to go to a store so they could spend their $20 each they had received from our friend the day before. So we went into one of the gift shops on Main Street, and it took a while, but they each found something. Sammy got a Mickey, Tammy chose a Mickey coin purse, and Emmy a Buzz Lightyear car. Leaving the shop, the 9:30 pm Halloween lightshow had started, and while it was by the Cinderella castle, we could see the lights and hear it. The kids were scared of the Halloween stuff so we left as quickly as possible. We walked back to the train that took us to the parking garage and walked to our car. The kids were really tired and hungry. They all wanted to go to Wendy's so I put in an order on my app; it was only 9 minutes away. 

It was 10 pm, when we started our jouney home, and there was no more bad traffic this late in the day. I asked them to stay awake until Wendy's to be able to eat before sleeping but only Sammy stayed awake. He actually only fell asleep 10 minutes before arriving. 

We got to Wendy's at 10:15 pm but while I had expected our food to be ready, it was not. The guy told us to park out front and that he would bring it to us. We waited, and waited, but it was not coming. We finally went through the drivethru a second time, and this time we finally got our food. We had spent 20 minutes at the "fast" food place. 

Randy, Sammy and I enjoyed our food on the way home. It was nearly midnight by the time we arrived. Tammy was okay when we woke her up, and she went to bed right away. Emmy was upset and crying, and it was much harder to get him ready for bed. Sammy simply went to bed and fell asleep right away. I was beat myself and went to bed right away, some time around 12:30 am.