Well the time has come when we just can't make Disneyland Annual Passes work in our budget because we have nothing else that we can cut out and no more ways to cut back. We've always been extremely budget conscious, and for the past 2 years we've found ways to cut back (or in my case, work a few more hours at my side job) to make the passes possible, but the prices keep rising and we add another pass just about every year as a new child turns 3, so it's just not do-able for us anymore.
It was a difficult decision to make though because a downside of letting your passes expire is that you lose the benefits you had (like at least some discount each year for renewing the passes and being grandfathered in to still buy the parking pass which is no longer available). But this year the price raise was significant (even for AP holders) compared to the first two years, plus I was laid off from my job scoring the high school exit exams this year because the test no longer exists. SO, we knew it wasn't going to be possible, but we looked at every possible idea to keep them and checked and re-checked the budget. No dice. But hey, that's life, and we aren't looking back except to remember with fondness all the many fun memories we made as a family at Disneyland over the last 2 years.
Just take a look at the Disneyland label in the sidebar of our blog, and you will find many a post with bright eyes and smiling faces, princess encounters and thrilling rides, silly shows and spectacular parades and fireworks. If you recall, it's even the place we chose to share our special news that Miss Sophie was coming....
It's been a wonderful blessing for our family to live near Disneyland and be able to take advantage of our annual passes for 2 whole years. We have all experienced the magic of Disney and have become closer as a family through the many fun, sometimes stressful, always memorable moments we've spent at Disneyland.
So without further commentary on how much fun we've had together and how much we'll miss our time at Disney, let me just go ahead and share a bundle of pictures from our last days as annual pass holders.
I just loved Elise's smile in this one
And Ava's attitude in this one. Playing shy....
Nothing is more terrifying than....Belle? Really, Sophie? She's so friendly with everyone she meets that I thought she'd love to get out of the carrier and meet the princesses. Boy was I ever wrong. Stranger Danger!!
Iridessa
Tink!
Elise is afraid of so many rides at Disneyland, but she has also made great strides in the 2 years we've been going. She has conquered her fears of a good many rides even though there are still a lot that she cries at the very mention of it (half of them she's never even tried, she's just our cautious little scaredy-pants. :)
But I was SO proud of her for going on the Silly Swings Symphony with me. And though she was a little frightened at the beginning of the ride as we soared into the air, she quickly adjusted and went on them during her Disneyland date with Daddy recently too...
Oh my gosh, isn't this just the cutest?
Just a week or two before our passes expired, we had Kayla wear her hiking boots so that she'd be the tallest she could possibly be to see if she could ride Indiana Jones. She was tall enough. And though she was a little apprehensive about the snakes and spiders :P , she went on it with first Chris, then me, and had a blast!
dark, but there's our proof!
I mentioned that Chris took Elise on a Daddy date. Back in June, he had taken Kayla on a Disneyland date for her birthday (just keep scrolling down till you get to that part...). When we realized we wouldn't be able to swing the Disneyland passes this year, we hurried to make Daddy dates for Elise and Ava possible too. Here are some pictures Chris took during his afternoon with Elise. I can't tell you how happy these make my heart.
Riding Jingles (the ever-favorite pony of all three girls and apparently of Walt Disney too) on King Arthur's Carousel
This is true love because Chris HATES the teacups. Generally that is a ride I take any of the kids who want to go on. But it was Elise's day, and he is an amazing dad.
What's a daddy date without Ghirardelli ice cream?
Awwww
Bumper cars!
As I mentioned, Elise isn't into a lot of the rides, but she has her favorites (see above) and she loves to watch the entertainment. On the left is the Disneyland Marching Band. They played just before her beloved parade began. And of course, there's always the ducks to watch if you have a spare moment.
Ava's daddy date was a brief one (she'll have to get her ice cream treat outside the park some weekend with Daddy....there just wasn't enough time to fit it all in). It was brief, but she rode several rides with Chris; just the two of them, off on their own for awhile, and she LOVED every minute of it.
As you can see, she also got a coveted ride on Jingles.
But her favorite was Mickey's Go-Coaster in Toon Town. It's the only roller coaster she's big enough to ride on (if she and Elise were reverse ages, I am certain we would have found her to be another roller coaster lover like Kayla is, but now we'll have to wait a little longer to see). It's a small roller coaster, but it twists and turns and goes fast enough to give the little riders an idea of what a bigger roller coaster would be like. I tried to get a picture when she went on it again the other day, but only Chris was visible.
At any rate, I'm told that both times she giggled and put her hands up, and just had herself a blast with her daddy.
In the last month, we were able to catch a number of our favorite shows one last time and see all three of the parades again. And of course, we caught the fireworks a time or two because I'm not entirely sure that there is a fireworks show better than those put on by Disney. Wow.
As you can see, that was a beautiful day for weather too. :)
Kayla and I went on a little mini-date too for a couple hours one day. Because I was largely pregnant and/or carrying/nursing a baby for a good part of the time we had our passes, I went on far fewer rides with our little daredevil, so Chris suggested we have a last hurrah!
I finally got to ride Space Mountain with the new Star Wars overlay.
I rode Grizzly River Run (the water ride) for the first time ever. It was not a hot day, so I had to beg Kayla to go on it with me because she was not excited to possibly get wet, but it was my only chance to (possibly ever) get to ride it, so she gave in. And we only got a little bit wet, there you go.
Kayla also wanted to complete all the steps to get her Junior Explorer Badge at the Redwood Challenge Course. And she did. Here she is on the tire swing and the rock climbing wall.
With 4 little girls, you know we visited a lot of princesses during our last few visits to Disneyland...
And now we arrive at our very last day.
We were lucky enough to visit a character we've never ever visited before on our way into the park.
The Fairy Godmother.
We didn't have time for many pictures because we were too busy making the most of our last evening at Disneyland, but (OF COURSE!) we rode the Carousel.
and we went on Dumbo, which we hadn't been on in forever. (nice face, Ava!)
Behind us in the yellow Dumbo were these goofballs
We did a lot on our final evening, but I don't need to get into all of it. The many happy, smiling, silly, goofy pictures above in this post tell more than I ever could in words about all that we experienced at Disneyland in the past few years.
We will certainly miss it, but we are looking forward to the adventure of many new and exciting endeavors together outside the park too.
"Laughter is timeless,
imagination has no age,
and dreams are forever."
-Walt Disney
