A Day with our Grandson June 5th

[ozmom]

Who:
DBF
Me
DGS 2 1/2

We had one day left on our passes from our previous trip that we had saved to take our grandson. He is actually a disney veteran as his other grandparents have annual passes and he has gone to the parks with them many times. Our goal was to take him to the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail in California Adventure and just let him run and play as he had not visited that area on his other visits.

He was picked up on Friday night from his mom's house so he could spend the night with us and we could hit the road early Saturday morning. We did not take the stroller, his mom thought we were crazy but DBF told her that no, he could walk and we would go at his pace.

Got up early Saturday and got to the park about 9:30 am and headed to California Adventure as we were headed to the Challenge Trail we were passing Bug's Land and Joey decided we needed to go that direction, this was his day so we followed. We did all the rides in bug's land and then went to see bug's life - I had not seen see this in years and when the bugs were leaving I lifted my feet and was I in for a surprise when I felt the movement against my back. As we left the theatre we dropped back so we would be at the end so as not to slow other people down, then something magical and disney happened. Joey was walking up the steps in front of us and up walks Chip or Dale (sorry not sure which one) from behind and takes Joey's hand and walks with him up the steps and takes him over to the picture spot so we could take pictures.

After this we took a nice break and had some frozen lemonade (it was hot on this day) and watched the High School Musical dancers. We then headed to Toy Story Mania, I was expecting a loooong wait with the crowds but was pleasantly surprise that it was about half hour. Got some popcorn and drink to help pass the time while in line. We also did the Zephyr and Mickey's fun wheel, Joey was not tall enough for the other rides.

We then headed to the Redwood Challenge Trail and spent alot of time there, just running around and climbing and sliding. At this point we decided we needed to eat something more substantial so we went to Storyteller's Cafe in GCH and had a relaxing late lunch, we thought Joey might want to rest, but he was raring to go after we finished lunch. We headed over to Disneyland to ride the train, monorail and maybe Autopia as Joey had not been able to ride the cars due to long lines in the past. We got on the train at Main St Station and proceeded around the park and as we approached Tomorrowland I suggested that I get off the train and get fast passes for Autopia and for them to continue on for another loop. I got the fast passes not paying any attention to the fact that the standby time was only 10 minutes. I could have walked over to Buzz instead and got those fast passes and had them walk onto Autopia. By the time the train circled around they were still able to walk onto the cars and go for a ride. While they were on the cars the window opened for more fast passes so I went over to Buzz and got those. Once off the cars, we did Buzz and then headed to the monorail. We asked if we could ride upfront and only had to wait until the next one coming, we had to wait about 15 minutes but we were able to get the front and make the full loop through Downtown Disney and back to Tomorrowland while in the front. After this we headed to Small World and this was where we had a small breakdown, as the ride was ending Joey wanted to stand up and we wouldn't let him, he wasn't too happy with us but was fine once we exited our boat.

We headed back to the train station and rode back to the front of the park to try and decide about dinner before leaving as we were concerned that once we hit the road Joey would be fast asleep. We ate at the Plaza Pavilion and did one last ride on Buzz and then headed back to the car. Changed Joey into his pajamas and he was asleep within a few minutes of leaving. We left the park to head home about 8:30 pm. We did not make it to Toon Town or Fantasyland on this trip, but we know he has visited these areas many times.

For 2 1/2 he did great walking, we let him set the pace and did not rush, he did not ask to be carried once. You could tell he enjoyed the freedom of walking and not being in the stroller.

We had a great time and we all slept in a bit the next morning.

[pdrlkr]

Thanks for the Report!

[VWL Mom]

Sounds like a truly wonderful day! Thanks for sharing.

[NotaGeek]

Thanks for the report! It sounds like you had a very magical day!

[Disney4us2]

Sounds like you all had a great time. Thanks for sharing your visit.

You ate at my favorite places. I was there the same day. We ate dinner at the Plaza as well.

[Magic Smiles]

Sounds like a great day. Good for you guys going at Joey's pace and kudos to Joey for walking all day! More kids should try that.

[Tigerinvestigator]

Its those days where you take everything in and go at a relaxing pace that everyone remembers. The hectic days seem to be forgotten. I guess you had a day much like the one Walt describes when he talked about taking his daughters to the park!

[Joannelet]

awe what a wonderful day you had with your grandson! I am shocked too that he did it with no stroller!! What a trooper!
The encounter w/ chip/dale sounded so neat
What a magical moment for him and you to always remember!
Thanks for sharing!