DISNEYLAND -- Day 1

Over Spring Break this year we took a dream trip to Disneyland. We decided to keep it a secret and told the kids that Travis had another conference in California. They were excited because they enjoyed our last trip to San Diego but they had no idea what was in store. 

When we first got to our hotel (about a 1/2 mile from the park) the kids noticed all the Disney decor. Passion said, "Wow, they sure decorate a lot with Disney stuff here" but she didn't seem to catch on. The last 30 minutes of the 5 hour car ride had been torture for kids and parents alike but when Passion saw all the Disney stuff at the hotel, she announced that she would "drive in the car for 3 more hours" if it meant she could go to Disneyland. Little did she know that Disneyland was only a few blocks away!

We decided to walk towards the park to find some lunch and see if they figured it out. We were walking down the sidewalk just outside the park and there were garbage cans like the one below every 30 feet or so. Kindly stopped at one and said, "it's a Disneyland mailbox. I wonder if I can send a letter to Disneyland!"

We walked the rest of the way to the gates of the park. I think by this point Passion had it figured out where we were but she wasn't letting on. We told the kids that we lied and Travis didn't really have a conference. Kindly got really confused and asked what we were going to do. Then her eyes lit up and she said, "Can we go to Disneyland instead?" I nodded my head and her eyes got huge as she said, "REALLY?!" (I don't think she really thought I was serious). Then she and Passion turned to each other and were jumping up and down. They asked if we could go right then and we told them we'd come back tomorrow and two more days after that. It was one of those moments as a parent where you feel like you're really awesome!
On our walk back to the hotel we stopped at the Garden Walk which is a cool collection of shops/stores and everything outside the store is covered in vines and plants and ivy. There were a lot of water features too. It was really cool. Here are the kids in front of a big mural, attempting to pose like the people drawn on the mural.

The Garden Walk - Anaheim, CA

Here is the entrance to Disneyland the next morning. Just waiting for the light to change so we can walk across. We were SO excited!

Passion got to meet Peter Pan and Wendy while Wisdom, Kindly and I were on the Dumbo ride. She couldn't decide if she wanted to ride Dumbo but after getting to see these too, I think she was pretty confident she made the right decision!

A new attraction had just opened the day we got there. It is called Fantasy Faire and it's basically just a cool castle-looking place where you can meet princesses. The girls and even Wisdom thought this was pretty cool. The design of the building was amazing . . . no detail left out.

Aurora or Sleeping Beauty

Ariel - even Wisdom knew who she was!

And of course, Cinderella!

We caught Belle just outside Sleeping Beauty's Castle

Snow White's Wishing Well

This was by far the kids favorite ride: Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters. We rode it twice the first day and came back for more on the 3rd day. You compete with the other person in your ship to shoot the most targets with your laser. Passion actually beat Travis by 20,000 points this time. I think she hit some awesome target worth a lot at the end!

All ready to watch Michael Jackson in EO!

We really tried to keep the whole trip all about the kids. We didn't rush to get places or do anything the kids weren't interested in and we didn't wait in the really long lines (unless the kids wanted too). I think this really helped keep it relaxed and fun when we weren't worried about seeing and riding everything the first day. We just played! We also let the kids take turns deciding what we were going to ride in each land. Kindly had been begging to go on the Monorail since the day before when she saw it zoom over our heads outside of the park so when we got to Tomorrowland and saw that there was no line, we hopped on! We even got to ride on the end for a cool view of the park.

There were different Disney Characters hanging out everywhere. Unfortunately we didn't get to this line before they closed it but at least we got to see Merida from a distance.

Merida from Brave

Hanging out inside Minnie's house in Toontown

This was the longest wait we had the whole time we were there (40 mins!) waiting to see Minnie Mouse. I'm sure it was worth it since the kids talked about it non-stop.

Mickey was actually a lot shorter wait than Minnie (maybe 20 mins).

The fireworks at the end of our first day at Disneyland were amazing. I have never seen anything like it. They are not only shooting them off over the castle but they went off all around us and even behind us. It was amazing! Definitely worth staying out a little later for. And we got to see Tinkerbell fly across the sky amongst the fireworks. It was awesome! Of course, pictures never do it justice but just imagine music and different Disney characters speaking while the fireworks go off all synchronized. Did I say it was amazing yet?