We just returned from the perfect vacation.It wasn’t perfect in some of the ways people measure vacations.Yes, they misplaced our luggage. Yes, we had to wait in line 45 minutes just to fill out a form to get them back.The agent didn’t believe us when we told her we were staying at the Disneyland Hotel.She just kept saying, “There are a lot of hotels at Disneyland” to which we replied, “No, it is called The Disneyland Hotel.”We looked up the number, and then she called before she believed us.It was perfect in lots of other ways.We used our frequent flier miles to go to Hawaii, and our itinerary created a 12-hour layover in LA. The agent booking it suggested we extend that overnight and do something fun.Immediately, I knew we should extend it two nights and go to Disneyland.Our family loves Disneyland.It truly is the happiest place on earth.Disneyland is familiar to us, and we all have our favorite rides which we do over and over again.(Try Pirates of the Caribbean a dozen times.)Our good friend Kirsten went with us and got us a friends-and-family discount on the Disneyland Hotel which is the happiest hotel on earth.
The first day we arrived at 2:00 p.m. at the park and hit the ground running.We have a whole system in Disneyland including fast passes and other short cuts for avoiding the lines.The second day, we went the minute it opened through the hotel guest entrance and stayed until it closed.The third day, we got an early entry and did all our favorites one last time and then left the park to catch our evening flight to Maui, Hawaii.It was the ultimate layover.On our way to the airport, we felt like we already had a great vacation and we were only getting started.
After a six-hour flight we landed in Hawaii.The air was warm and breezy with lots of tropical fragrance.Our kids had never been to Hawaii and we had only been one other time.The condo was on a private beach and our first day was mostly spent on the beach.For a family whose beach trips consist of the Washington and Oregon coast with water that never gets above 60 degrees, this kind of ocean swimming was pure heaven.They swam and body surfed, buried each other in sand, and just ran from the waves.We rented snorkel gear which my son enjoyed, but my daughter was afraid to see any fish so she snorkeled two feet out for sea shells and then took to snorkeling in the pool.After seven days, we had been to the flea market, took surfing lessons, gone whale watching, attended a Luau, took hula lessons, braved the road to Hana, swam in the Seven Sacred Pools, jumped off a water fall and spent time relaxing on our beach.It was in so many ways the perfect vacation.It is so funny how you remember the good stuff, not the lost bags, the kids fighting, the two- hour traffic jam on Maui, and all the other things that can go wrong while traveling.We had the best time we had ever had on vacation and can’t wait to go again.I just have to remember to work in another two-day layover minus the lost luggage.
