what we did with our extra day this year

Thank you everyone who left such insightful and helpful comments to my last post.  I'll write more on that topic hopefully this week, to respond to some of those great ideas.  I did not have a chance to blog at all the rest of last week, because. . .

Yes, we made another trip this week down to Anaheim and Disneyland!  In Sept. when we went down for my cousin's wedding, we decided that this would be a Disney year (something we had not done since Happy was a baby) and get annual passes.  So, this was our second trip, and the timing worked out really well, since we were able to house-sit for my Aunt and Uncle while we were there. 

We did not realize, however, that the timing would coincide with a huge Disney event:

We found out the night before that Disney was celebrating Leap Day with "One More Disney Day," an event during which Disneyland (and DisneyWorld in Florida) would be open and operating for 24 hours straight, from 6 a.m. Weds until 6 a.m. Thurs!  Since it was the middle of the week, in February, I didn't think it would be all THAT busy, since even though there are lots of Disney fans who would love the chance to be there all night long, it was a school/work night.

The official commemorative T-shirt/sweatshirt we kept seeing all day.

And sure enough, the day started out quite nice--cool and comfortable weather, short or even no lines, and no big crowds.  But around dinner time we noticed the park was getting more crowded, and by evening, it was packed.  You could tell locals were coming after work, and I figured most of the crowd was not planning on being there all night, but would likely stay until 1 or 2 a.m.  So, I knew evening would be the worst time to be there--the most crowded--but we did not have much choice if we wanted to get some of the fun "special event" feel.  So, we decided to stay as long as we and the kids were still having fun--and we ended up staying until 11 p.m! 

In fact, the kids were tired but would gladly have stayed later, but the place was packed at that point, and so what had been short lines became ridiculous--like two hours wait for Space Mountain, with no FastPasses available.  After our breezy and casual ride experience earlier in the day, we really had no incentive to wait in lines, esp. when we knew we were coming back the next day, when the revelers would all be sleeping off the night.  And it was bone-chilling cold (to us CA folks at least--probably in the lower 40's), which really did not make us want to stay without good reason. So, we decided to leave after the second parade--only to find a LOT of other people had the same idea.  It was crazy trying to get down Main Street, which was completely blocked with bodies, like stopped traffic on a highway, since more people were still trying to come in!

Disneyland seemed extra beautiful that night.  Above is the view of Tomorrowland from the end circle of Main Street.  The rocket ride in the middle is one of my favorite rides, visually--it is just beautiful to watch, and is even vaguely Steampunk!

If you are interested, you can read both the positive and negative spins on the evening's festivities here and here.  When we left at 11 we heard the park was already at full capacity (they have to count the people who might be gone but who could theoretically be hand-stamped and returning), but yet the trams were crowded with people still arriving, and we heard newcomers talking about being stuck in traffic for over an hour trying just to get to the park! When we drove away, we could see the waiting cars snaking for blocks. . . .

From what I understand, it is very rare for Disneyland to max out.  So, for once in my life, I was actually part of A Momentous Occassion.  Even if only for a few hours.

Smiley completely sacked out when we got back to the house.  Just flopped fully asleep from my shoulder to the bed, like a sweet little sack of potatoes.

The next two days we went back, doing Disney till we dropped.  It was exhausting.  It was fun.  Our kids are TROOPERS and we can drag them around all day with very few complaints.  Friday morning my longtime friend Mina drove up from San Diego and we got to hang out and have lunch for a few hours.  And that night, our last night at Disney, we met up with my newly married cousin and her son and husband, and ended up staying at the park until it closed at midnight!  All in all a very fun but rather crazy trip.

I'm so glad we came home yesterday--we slept in this morning, spent the day in our PJ's, and lounged around.  But oddly enough, my legs are really aching--they want to be up and walking again!  Too bad the rest of me just wants to catch up on my blogs. . . ; )