Disneyland Family Reunion 2024

This year was Chantel's year to be in charge of the Hill Family Reunion. She started planning more than a year ago, and with the very generous help of Mom and Dad, they arranged for the entire Hill family to go to Disneyland! They paid for the park tickets and the hotel, so all we needed to be responsible for was our travel, food, and souvenirs. They were so kind to help make it happen for all of us. It was a once-in-a-lifetime family trip, and we will remember it forever. Jonathon was the only person in our family that has ever been to Disneyland, so we were all excited and a bit nervous about how it would all work out. 

For several weeks leading up to the trip, I watched YouTube videos and learned everything I could about how Disneyland (and specifically) Genie+ worked. Genie+ is the name of the new fast pass system which allows you to book a time to ride a specific ride and then skip the line when your time arrives. It was an extra $25 per person, but if used correctly would save us lots of time. It seemed pretty complicated, but after lots of research, I felt like I had a really good handle on everything. I was a little worried about huge crowds at the park since we were going the week of Memorial Day, so I knew that we really needed to optimize everything else. 

A few months before the trip our travel agent, Kristin Hancock, let us know that the hotel was offering a special deal that gave us a free day because we had already booked 4 days. We decided to take advantage of it and go down on Monday. That gave us a bonus day to do whatever we wanted in SoCal. That ended up being huge because it gave us time to spend with the rest of the family in a more relaxing setting than the hustle and bustle of theme parks.

The drive down to California was rough. We left our house at 8 am. Our family travels great and rarely needs to stop, so we were surprised that our estimated arrival time kept getting farther away. After driving for 2 hours, we still had not made up any time. We knew that must mean that there was major traffic issues ahead. When we got passed Las Vegas, we understood. The traffic was horrific! We were stuck in stop and go traffic for 2 hours in the middle of the desert. It was miserable, but we finally arrived at our hotel in Anaheim at 6:00 PM, 11 hours after we left. It took 2 hours longer than it should have, and we were all tired and ready to never roadtrip again.

The hotel we stayed in was called the Cambria. It was about a mile from Disneyland and included a nice continental breakfast, and a waterpark outside with pools, hot tubes, slides, and a splashpad. Our room was nice and big with a bedroom and a separate living area and kitchen. It was a great place, and I would definitely stay there again. That night after everyone arrived, we had a little family get together with a prayer, spiritual thought (about Jonathon getting lost at Graveyard Lakes), and a run-down of the week.  

Day 1: Beach Day 

On Tuesday, we got up and had breakfast at the hotel. I was impressed with everything they had available. Plenty of fruit, bread, muffins, cereal, eggs, sausage, hashbrowns, and juice. The biggest hit though was the make-your-own waffle stations with cute Mickey waffles. The kids all loved making (and eating) them. The breakfast area was huge, but our family of 35 still took up about a third of it. It was fun getting to walk around and chat with everyone.

After breakfast, we decided to head to the beach for the day. We didn't know the area very well, so we just chose a random beach that looked decent on google maps, Junipero Beach. It ended up not being that great. There was quite a lot of trash on the beach, but we weren't sure if that was normal or because it was the day after Memorial Day and all the partiers had left it there the day before. 

Regardless, the kids jumped in the cold water and had fun. Some of the older kids and Uncle Sam had a race on the beach. Andrew just barely beat Sam at the very end. The competition was on after that and they did push up and plank challenges. Sam won those. The men (and Christian and Andrew) played frisbee on the beach and the moms watched kids and chatted. Suddenly, someone called out that they saw dolphins. Not only were there several dolphins, but they were very close to shore... probably about 20 yards away. They swam along the shoreline for several minutes while we watched. Pretty soon we saw more dolphins even closer. We were enchanted and watched them for a long time. It was definitely the highlight of the beach day. At lunch time, Mom and Dad brought Costco pizza for everyone to eat. When we left the beach at 1:30ish, we got a big group picture with everyone.

Dolphins close to shore

I was careful to put sunscreen on Hyrum and told everyone else to put it on, but Andrew failed. He was burned badly (along with several uncles, aunts, and cousins). That boy has had several severe sunburns, and I keep telling him he is risking skin cancer, but he doesn't seem to learn. He was in a lot of pain for several days after that with burns on the back of his neck and his legs and feet. He should know better, but it wasn't entirely his fault. Even after I worked hard to protect myself from the sun, I still managed to get a burn on my arm that was pretty painful. Basically, with our fair skin, there is just very little we can do to avoid sun damage except to stay out of the sun. I knew that staying at the beach for 3 hours would be problematic, and it was. 

After the beach, we went to a little strip mall on the boardwalk and got ice cream. It was delicious! The boys got waffle cones, and Jonathon and I split a funnel cake with ice cream and whipped cream. It was massive, but so yummy!

After the beach, we went back to the hotel to take a nap, apply lots of aloe vera, and when the sun went down, we went swimming in the pool. We made sure to get to bed semi-early that night because we were rope-dropping Disneyland the next day.

Day 2: Disneyland

We got up bright and early on Wednesday in time to rope-drop. That just means being there before the park opens so that we can be at the front of the lines. After all my research, I had a rope-drop strategy all worked out so that we could be efficient with the shorter lines in the morning and using our Genie+ options later in the day. After breakfast, Dad Hill was nice enough to drive us to the park entrance and drop us off. That was awesome because I knew we were going to be absolutely exhausted by the end of the day. We walked through the main gate and finally got in line about 7:30am. By 8:00am the park opened.

Rope Drop at Disneyland

When they let us in, we went straight to Indiana Jones. We chose that one because although it is eligible for Genie+, you don't get to skip much of the line, so it's not ideal. We considered rope-dropping Rise of the Resistance because it is the most popular ride at Disneyland, but so many people do that option that it ends up being longer first thing in the morning than many other times of the day. 

The line for Indiana Jones was very short, and we thought we had aced it, but the ride broke down. Luckily, it was only a 7 minute wait, and we were able to do it fairly quickly. I really liked Indiana Jones! We got to do several more rides, including Jungle Cruise and Pirates of the Caribbean. I was definitely underwhelmed by Pirates after hearing so much talk about it all these years. It just seemed kind of long and boring to me. 

Next, we headed for Star Wars land. By that time, the rope-droppers had finished riding, and the line for Rise was only listed at 45 minutes, which wasn't bad. In the end, it only took 35 minutes to get through it. Rise of the Resistance was an awesome ride. It was fully immersive and really unique. For our Star Wars loving kids, it was particularly enjoyable. After Rise, we went next door to Smuggler's Run. It is an interactive ride where you get to fly the Millenium falcon and try to pick up freight. 2 people got to be pilots, 2 were gunners, and one was an engineer. The first time we didn't do so great on our mission, but the second time was much better. Surprisingly, I think the kids liked that ride better than Rise. It could have also been that the line was so much shorter it felt worth it.

When we were finished with those rides, we walked around Star Wars land for a bit and checked out all the cool features. It was starting to get hot, so Andrew got some blue milk (similar to a vanilla slushy) and Hyrum and Christian got a Sprite bomb.

 

Next we went to Big Thunder Railroad. I wasn't sure what to expect with Big Thunder, but it actually ended up being one of my favorite rides of the day. It was exciting enough that it was fun, but it wasn't so terrifying that I was anxious the whole time. The wait time for the ride was high for the rest of the day, or I would definitely have ridden it again. 

By that time, it was time to go eat lunch and take family pictures in front of the castle. Mom Hill made the most amazing insulated bags for everyone. Nathan created the Mickey design with family pictures, and Mom sewed all the bags. I couldn't even believe that it was possible. They are real treasures! Since Mom and Dad weren't going to ride any rides, they volunteered to push strollers around with everyone's lunches. That saved us so much time and energy. They really are the best! We found a bench and sat down to eat while we were waiting for everyone to arrive. 

Then it was our turn to take pictures in front of the castle. Genie+ came with free professional pictures, so we had them take a group shot for us. It took some wrangling to get all the kids looking decent and all 35 people in the shot, but we did it! We also had them take some professional pictures for just our family, and they are some of my favorites of the whole trip. 

After lunch we hit Star Tours where I was chosen as the spy on the main screen. It was a super unflattering picture, and I hardly recognized it was me, but it was a funny memory. Then we went to Autopia, which was my least favorite of the day... too many exhaust fumes and old, clunky cars. We found out that they are electrifying the cars soon, which will be way better. We also rode Buzz Lightyear using our Genie+ to skip the long lines.

I decided that I wanted some Minnie mouse ears as my souvenir ("when in Rome..."), so we looked at all the stores for a pair I liked. When we were outside of Star Tours, we found the Star Wars ears. Since I'm a boy mom and my family is all about Star Wars, I decided to get some Darth Vader ears. Jonathon got a matching hat, and we were pretty cute together. While he was checking out, he complimented the cashier, and she gave him this pin that said "Honorary Citizen of Disneyland." She even gave them to the rest of the family. We didn't really know what they were, but we said thank you and left the store. When we googled it, we discovered that they are some of the rarest pins given out at Disneyland. You can only get them by having a special interaction with a cast member, and they are actually valuable and sell for $10-15 each on Ebay. Haha! Who knew? 

We were hungry again by that point, so we ordered some macarons from Jolly Holiday. My friend told me I had to try the rose, raspberry one. She was right on! It was delcious! The fresh, slightly tart raspberries were the perfect combination for the sweetness of the cookie. Yum! Then we went by Cafe Orleans to see if we could get a Monte Cristo sandwich. They said they did not offer them unless we sat and ate at the restaurant. We decided we would make that our dinner. They originally said it would be an hour wait, but less than 10 minutes later they called us and led us to our table. We were super lucky. Christian and I got Monte Cristo sandwiches to share with everyone and Hyrum got macaroni and cheese. The sandwich lived up to the hype. It was basically a fried donut with ham and cheese inside and dipped in a cranberry sauce. I only ate a little bit so I wouldn't get sick to my stomach on the rides, but it was amazing!

We made it to the Matterhorn bobsled ride in time for our 5:15pm lightning lane. Christian didn't want to ride it, so just the four of us went on it. The ride was a little jerky for my taste, but not too bad overall. Andrew really enjoyed it because he is more of a thrill seeker. 

Next it was time for Christian's appointment to build his own lightsaber. It was super expensive, but it was the thing he was most looking forward to. He doesn't get excited about much, so it was cute to see him really into it. It was a fully interactive experience where he got to choose the style of lightsaber and the color of the blade. They walked through all the steps while they built them together and then had a little lighting ceremony with the whole group. The cast member in charge did a really good job making it feel authentic. It was especially cool when they lit the lightsabers and then everyone raised them up together. He loved the whole experience and thought it was well worth the money. When we exited Savi's Workshop, we found a professional photographer just outside, and he took some fun pics of Christian with his new lightsaber.

 

While Christian was building his lightsaber, Hyrum built a droid at the Droid Depot. He worked hard and saved his money for several months in order to have enough to build one. It was actually a really cool process where he got to choose all of the parts and pieces and put it all together. After it was assembled, they "electrified" it and gave him a remote control. He named it FR3D (Fred), and he can drive it around like a remote control car. It stands about a foot tall and is actually really cool!

The last ride of the day was Space Mountain. We didn't have a lightning lane booked until 9:35pm, and some of the group was getting tired, so we decided just to wait in the regular line. It was the longest wait of the day because the ride broke down during the wait. I would have ditched the line, but Andrew really wanted to ride it. He wasn't super thrilled with most of Disneyland's rides because they were tame, so I wanted to make him happy. It was probably about an hour by the time we got on. I must admit that it was pretty fun, even for a chicken like me. Since it was Star Wars month, they transformed Space Mountain into Hyperspace Mountain. They had Star Wars music playing, and it was slightly lighter inside than usual, which I appreciated. We all loved the ride. Andrew and Hyrum loved it so much that they wanted to stay and ride it again using our lightning lane passes. 

Christian was done with the park by then, so he and I headed back to the hotel while the others stayed for the ride. They used our extra passes to get cousins on the ride too, so it worked out well for everyone. It was a fun day. We walked nearly 20,000 steps, had tons of fun, and rode every single ride we wanted without waiting long for the vast majority of them. Our first day was a huge success!

Day 3: California Adventures

We woke up early the next morning with tired feet and sore sunburns, but we weren't going to let that stop us. We ate breakfast and again got dropped off at the park around 7:15am in time for park opening. This time we rope-dropped California Adventures (DCA). 

We decided that today we were going to start with Radiator Springs Racers, which is one of the most popular rides. We decided that since we were all old enough, we would do the single rider line, which we had heard was super fast. We race-walked to the very back of Cars Land and made it to the line in about 5 minutes. The regular line was already pretty long, but the single rider line was super short and fast. We got to the front of the line in only 7 minutes.

Radiator Springs Racers was probably my favorite ride at DCA! It was so fun and nostalgic. Andrew was obsessed with the movie Cars when he was little, so it was fun to get to experience the real thing. We were all in different cars because we were single riders, but it was totally worth it for the shortened wait time. When we finished, we randomly ran into our friends, Mike and Kathryn Hawks, from the Hollister days. Jonathon and Mike have been friends since they were little, and Kathryn and I met in college when we both married our husbands. It was so fun to see them and their kids. We both wanted to ride Cars again, so we waited in line together. The line was a bit longer this time, but being with friends and chatting made it fly by. It was so so fun! 

While we went on Cars for the second time, Andrew went with Nathan, Leah, and Ezra to the Guardians of the Galaxy drop tower. None of the rest of us wanted anything to do with that one. As usual, Andrew loved it! 

Next, we met up to ride the Incredicoaster. One of Hyrum's friends, Calvin, rode it earlier in the year, so Hyrum had been trying to psych himself up to ride it for months. He had never really ridden a big rollercoaster with loops, so he was extremely nervous. I wasn't super excited myself, but Andrew and Hyrum really wanted me to ride with them, so If figured if I hated it, it would be over quickly. During the whole line, Hyrum kept changing his mind if he was going to ride it or not. I took this picture about half-way through the line and had to laugh at the terrified expression on his face.  

We finally got to the front of the line, and Hyrum strapped himself in. Away we went. It was fast, but the loop de loops weren't terrible. The thing I disliked the most was when they ratcheted the car up the hill and then it plunged forward. Not my favorite. I had my eyes closed for a lot of it. Hyrum loved it! He was so thrilled with himself for conquering his fears that he wanted to go again and again! Once was enough for me!

From there we rode some more rides (Spiderman, Monsters Inc., Toy Story Mania) and then ate lunch. In the afternoon, we got all the family together and rode Grizzly River Run (a fun water ride) and Soarin' Over the World. We really enjoyed those rides. Soarin' was one of my favorites. I loved seeing different places around the world and smelling the different smells associated with them. India and Fiji smelled particularly good like tropical florals and ocean breeze. Everyone agreed that Africa smelled like dirt. Ha! Christian and I loved it so much that we did Soarin' a second time, while Jonathon and the other boys went and did Incredicoater again. We also grabbed a pretzel and corndogs throughout the day to stave off our hunger.

At around 7:00 pm we headed back to the hotel. It was hot and we were tired, so instead of a true dinner, we decided to just get frozen yogurt from the Yogurtland that was next door to our hotel. Then we went to the pool and watched the evening dive-in movie. It was another super successful day full of lots of fun and memories!

Day 4: Universal Studios Hollywood

By Friday, we were all getting tired. Not only was it another park day (Universal Hollywood), but this time it was an hour away, so we had to get up extra early to make it for rope-drop. If we had to do it over, I think we would have skipped Universal. We have done Universal Orlando many times, and it is so much better than Hollywood. There weren't nearly as many good rides, the park was a lot smaller, and we were already exhausted from the rest of the week. I kind of thought this would be the case, so I was hesitant to spend the money, but Grandma Hill really wanted to spend time with the boys, so we made the best of it. It ended up being worth it just for those memories with Grandpa and Grandma.

 

We arrived around 7:30 am and joined the line to get in early for Super Mario Land. We decided to splurge and get Hyrum a Power Up Band so that he could play the Nintendo games. It was expensive, but without it, there wasn't much to do. The land itself though was super cool! It was completely immersive and brighter and more colorful than anything I have seen before. When we walked through the tunnel into the Nintendo area, I was in shock. It was pretty spectacular!

We paid extra to get into the park an hour early before Nintendo land got busy, so as soon as it opened, we hurried to Bowser's Challenge, the only real ride in the area. We were pretty close to the front of the line and moving fast, but then they announced that the ride was down. We were so annoyed. We stayed in line, hoping that it would be up and running quickly. Unfortunately, they said it was going to be down for a while. Since the rest of the park wasn't even open, we felt like it was better to just wait. We waited and waited. It was frustrating because we paid extra and then spent the entire hour waiting in line for a broken ride. 

Thankfully, the workers came through the line and gave everyone free express passes to use for Bowser's and for any other ride at the park. When the ride finally opened just before 9, we were really close to the front, so we got to ride it and keep the two other express passes as well. It ended up working out ok in the end. The ride itself was a VR ride where you wore glasses that clipped into visors. I had no idea what I was doing the whole ride, so I didn't get the full experience, but the other kids seemed to catch on quicker than me and liked it ok... probably not worth the hype though.

When we got off, we enjoyed wandering around the land for a bit longer while Hyrum played the games. Some of the group went to ride The Mummy, while others used our express passes to ride Bowser's again.

Then we all went to Hogsmeade to do all the Harry Potter things. We have done them all in Florida, so it wasn't nearly as exciting for us, but Tera and BJ's family was seeing it all for the first time. They were pretty thrilled. I didn't think there was any way that their little boys would ride Forbidden Journey because they were so scared of all the other rides, but they hyped themselves up and managed to do it. I think they were a bit scared, but they were glad they tried it. 

You can't go to Universal without getting frozen butterbeer, and it did not disappoint! We also got lunch at the Three Broomsticks. The fish and chips, mac and cheese, and shepherd's pie hit the spot like usual. It was nice to take a break to sit down and relax for a while because it was very warm. 

 

Sticking with the group was hard because everyone with little kids was moving so slow. We tried to make it work for a while, but after the 5th bathroom break in 2 hours, we knew the older boys were going crazy, so we split up and did our own thing for a while. We rode Kung Fu Panda, Minions, and Jurassic World. Then we went on the Universal Studios Backlot tour. A tram took us through the movie lot and a guide talked all about the different movies that had been filmed there and how specific scenes were shot. On the tour, there was a Jaws encounter, a 3D King Kong ride, re-creations of an earthquake and a flashflood, and a scene from the Fast and the Furious. I really enjoyed the backlot tour because it was something completely different. It also helped that we didn't have to walk on our tired feet or be in the hot sun. 

Lastly, Hyrum convinced Grandma and Grandpa to go on The Mummy with him, so we all did that for our final ride. She had no idea what she was getting into, but she was willing to do it for the grands. 

It was pretty hysterical because Mom Hill was so nervous. She laughed the whole time, and then at the end of the ride when it was silent she said, "Hey, that was actually kind of fun!" The entire car just laughed. When Hyrum mentioned that she was laughing a lot she said, "I was laughing so I wouldn't cry!" She was such a good sport and a fun grandma. I really think that was the highlight of the day for the grandkids. We got a picture of them so they can always remember it. 

After the ride, we hurried back to the Upper Lot to watch a stunt show called Water World. Some of the people in the front rows got absolutely soaked. I was so glad that I didn't let the kids sit in the Splash Zone, or it would have been a miserable ride home. There were some pretty cool stunts, including a floatplane landing in the small arena. 

When the show was over, we stopped at the giftshop for our souvenir travel magnet. When we were in there, we ran into Hyrum's friend, Kyler Bohrer, from school. It was another random meeting, and I wish I would have gotten a picture of them together. 

Then it was time to head back to the hotel. By that time the traffic had died down a little, so it wasn't nearly as long a ride back as it would have been an hour earlier. When we got back, we went to the pool and sat in the hot tub for a while before going to bed. 

The drive home was much better and only took 9 hours like it was supposed to. We were all so tired, but Jonathon was amazing and stayed awake the whole time to drive. It was a great reunion, and there were so many awesome memories. I am so grateful for Mom and Dad Hill and the chance to be with the whole family for a few fun days!