I know what you're thinking; "Brodie is almost 10 years old and he's never been to Disneyland? What kind of parent are you?" True, we saw lots (and lots) of baby strollers, lots (and lots) of toddlers, and quite a few new-born infants there during the last two days, but in most cases neither the children nor their parents seemed to be having a truly magical experience. Marion and I have always thought that it wasn't worth the trouble to take our child to Disneyland until they were 5 years old and old enough to take it all in, old enough to form lasting memories, and most importantly, old enough to walk through the park under their own power and not demand to be picked up and carried the whole day. By the time Brodie was 5, little brother Nik was newly born and the clock started all over. True, a younger child would definitely have fun spending a day with Mickey, but they would enjoy spending a day with Chuck-E-Cheese just as much.
Case in point. We got to the front gate early and were in line to enter the park. They opened the front gates half an hour early, but only to let you shop on Main St. First thing we saw was Mickey Mouse, dressed up for Halloween, and only 5 or so kids in line to see him. We got in line and the boys posed for a picture with him. Great! Mark that one off the list, and the park hasn't even opened yet. Next we took the boys across the square to the Disneyland Fire Department to see the old horse-drawn fire wagon there. The boys had fun climbing all over it and playing for a while. Ready for the rides now, boys? No, Nik wanted to stay and play on the fire wagon. Don't get me wrong, he enjoyed the rides over the next two days, but he never stopped asking to go back and play some more on the fire wagon. (He could do the same thing at Chuck-E-Cheese.)
We spent two days in the park and stayed overnight at the hotel closest to the main gates at Disneyland. The schools in Ventura take a one week fall break in the middle of October, and many people from Ventura use this opportunity to visit mid-week when there are no summer crowds. In fact, we saw 4 families from Brodie's school while we were there. On our second day we met up with our friends, The Yunckers, and spent most of the day with them so that Brodie and his friend Shannon could have fun together. The lines were almost non-existent, and we were able to virtually walk onto every ride without waiting. The exceptions to that rule were the Submarine ride, Peter Pan's Flight, and Splash Mountain and Indiana Jones on our second day. Knowing that we had a second day to enjoy the park we skipped Peter Pan on our first day and then made that our first ride on our second day. We avoided waiting in line for Splash Mountain and Indiana Jones by taking advantage of the FastPasses, and with the Submarine, Nik and I bit the bullet and waited 35 minutes in line for our ride. Everything else, Pirates of the Carribean, Space Mountain, Star Tours, Haunted Mansion, Rocket Jets, everything, we just walked right on!
While Nik and I waited for the Submarine ride, Marion pulled Brodie out of line to watch the Jedi Training Academy show at the nearby TomorrowLand Terrace. Brodie was chosen to be one of the apprentice Jedi knights and take part in the show. He was outfitted with a Jedi robe and a training light saber, and then drilled in light saber basics. Later in the show Darth Vader and Darth Maul showed up to try and convince the young apprentices to come over to the Dark Side of the Force, but each apprentice took turns dueling with the Sith Lords and fought them off. Brodie got to go one-on-one with Darth Maul.
We got to take part in many shows while we were there. Brodie and Nik got to play percussion for the New Orleans Jazz Band, and then Brodie played drums while Nik shredded on electric guitar in Innoventions. Their friend, Shannon, filled out the group on piano. I was even picked out of the audience as Cowboy #1, vying for the hand of Miss Sophie (the mayor's daughter and the ugliest girl in Frontierland) outside of The Golden Slipper Saloon. 
The boys totally enjoyed the whole experience. For Nik, this was his first time ever at a major amusement park, and at first he was acting a little fussy after some of the more exciting rides. It turns out that he was embarrassed to have been afraid when everyone else was having fun. I explained to him that we all get a little scared on the rides, and that is the very fun of it. Once he knew it was ok to be scared and still have fun, he had a great time. The boys' favorite rides were Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters and the Autopia race track, both of which we rode no less than 6 times.
We were first ones in the park each morning, and the last ones out each night. The boys spent fully 12 hours on their feet both days without complaining once, but didn't last long once we got in the car for the drive home last night. They were asleep in minutes, both of them with little smiles on their faces.
You can view all of our photos by clicking on this link: http://picasaweb.google.com/vtashore/BrodieAndNikVisitDisneylandFinally##
