The Disneyland Hotel

A few weeks ago I found out that Sydney had a few perks at Disney that she was unaware of.  These special discounts forced me to plan a very quick trip to Disney at Christmas.  Originally I had planned to take the boys before Thanksgiving, but the boys wanted to finish their baseball games and Derek wanted to fulfill his commitment to being captain of his flag football team.  So the trip was postponed to the week after Thanksgiving.  In order to take advantage of small crowds and Sydney's discounts, we needed to go during the week.  So Wednesday morning, Nov. 30, we packed up the car, picked up my 4th son and his 1st mother and headed to California. 

We stopped for just 1 potty break and 1 lunch break and got to the Disneyland Hotel at 2:30 pm.

We were greeted by Goofy as we entered the hotel.  Jake wanted nothing to do with him.  He hid behind me as I snapped pictures with my little Cannon camera.

After we checked in and the boys got their balloons, we headed up to our rooms.

We enjoyed all the little things that made the rooms so special.  That make it just so Disney perfect.  My favorite was the wood carved headboards of castle.  When you pushed the buttons the headboard lit up and the music for "A Dream is a Wish your Heart Makes, when your fast asleep..."  I loved them so much I let the lights on all night every night.  As the boys slept peacefully, I took a picture in my mind and in my heart that is so precious to me.  I never want to forget that feeling of peace, contentment and love I feel for each of my sweet angel boys.

As soon as I got up the energy, we changed and walked over the the Paradise Pier Hotel to use their water slide and pool.  Our slides, the ones we had looked forward to using, were broken.  I was very disappointed, but as we walked over we explored the beautiful grounds at the hotel and the boys got in a little football game.

The Paradise Pier Hotel had a beautiful big tree in the foyer, the the hotel itself didn't have the same magical feel as the Disneyland Hotel.

It did have a cool movie room

a glass elevator

 a wadding pool

and a water slide.

The boys had fun at the pool while the moms stood in the very cold wind and watched the fun.  Sydney also came over and met us at the pool until it was time to go back and get ready for dinner.

We had reservations at the very yummy Goofy's Kitchen.   

We had a great time with all the characters.

We loved all the characters.  They were all fun, with the exception of the not so very lovely Snow White.  She wasn't the happiest of them all.

When we left the restaurant we were lucky enough to see Santa Claus.  The boys each had a visit to share the desires of their hearts.

Before we called it a night, we decided to check out Downtown Disney.  We played games at the ESPN zone, checked out Lego store and bought a few discounted items at the Disney Store.

We headed back to the hotel about 9:30 so we could take a quick dip in the hot tub before bed.  It had the best jets for legs and lower back ever.  I felt rejuvenated after a long day so we headed up to jump on the beds before we finally crashed for the night!