Disneyland - Day One

#3-Take The Kids To Disneyland

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The day had finally come!  We left early Tuesday morning and headed to Anaheim for our two days in Disneyland!  Everyone was totally stoked.  The only ones out of all of us that had ever been before were Danny and Jeff.  I was excited, but not only because I had never been to Disneyland before.  I was also excited because it would be the first of our 30 goals on our 30 Before 30 list to get checked off!  Yay!

Like I said, we left early on Tuesday morning.  Around 5:30 am early.  I woke up not feeling so well, but figured I was just tired from all the fun we had been having.  We got on the road, and I started to feel worse.  After throwing up a few times before we reached our hotel, I was worried I was going to miss Disneyland!  But Danny had given me a blessing before we left, and the hotel was kind enough to let us check into one of our rooms early.  After getting out of the car and getting some fresh air, and spending a little time chilling out in our room, I was ready to go.  I had been feeling so miserable, I consider it a Disneyland Miracle that I was able to go at all.

We stayed at the Residence Inn Maingate, and it was awesome!  My favorite part was the full kitchenette that we had in each room.  This allowed us to put in a crock pot dinner for that night before we left for the park.  This saved our wallets and our stomachs!  Especially mine and Jami's.  :)  Once we were all ready to go, we decided to try the shuttle that ran from the hotel to the park.  We got there just after it left, and found out we had about a half hour before the next one came.  So we waited...

For about five minutes!  We realized that the main entrance to the park was only two blocks away, so at that point we decided to hoof it ourselves!

We were there!  We were actually at Disneyland!  I was so excited, and the girls could barely hold still.  We got through the security gate pretty quickly, and then we waited to get in the park.  I didn't realize how many people would be waiting to get in as soon as the park opened.  Even so, I don't think we waited longer than 10 to 15 minutes.

And then we were actually inside!

This really cool marching band greeted us upon our arrival.  Most people probably just passed it by, but it was right up my alley!  I love marching bands...

We made our way into the park, maps in hand, and tried to decide where to go first.  It wasn't a hard decision. 

But first thing's first.  A little body needs nourishment.

Fantasyland was our first stop.  After telling our girls non-stop about how they were going to be able to see the Princesses and go to Sleeping Beauty's castle, we really couldn't put it off.

I have to admit, it was pretty cool.  So I can only imagine what it must have looked like through Claire and Sophie's eyes!  Though Danny had been before, it was new for him too, seeing how much joy it brought to our girls.  Daddy loves his princesses...

The first character we got to see was Peter Pan.  Megan, Rose, Tali, and Lily were quick to get over there with Lily's autograph book.  My girls didn't quite know what to think.  First, they have no idea who Peter Pan is.  Second, the guy was a stranger, after all!  So, they observed the excitement from a distance this time. :)

As we made our way farther into Fantasyland, we saw a beautiful carousel.  The girls just HAD to ride those beautiful ponies!  Danny took the girls, and Jeff took their boys.  I waited with Johnny by the stroller.  I was still feeling a bit queasy.

   

The girls loved their very first ride at Disneyland!  And while they were going around and around and around, Claire spied her next adventure.  She found Rapunzel's tower!  Believe it or not, it was a 90 minute wait to get to meet Rapunzel, but Claire was up for it.  If any little girl in this world has that much patience, it's Claire!

We passed "The Sword In The Stone" on our way.  You can't pass up a photo-op like this...

When the rest of the crew found out how long the wait for Rapunzel was, it was decided that it was time to split up for a while.  Danny, Claire, Sophie, Megan, Tali, and Lily went to wait it out for Rapunzel while Jeff, Rose, and the boys went to do some more exploring around Fantasyland.  Jami, Johnny, and I took a nice break and watched the people in droves.

Megan, Tali, Lily, and Sophie got bored really quick, waiting in line for forever.  They decided to skip out and leave Danny and Claire to do the waiting.  So Jami and the rest of the girls went to scout out some more Princesses and get some more autographs.

They were able to meet Princess Tiana and Ariel!  They also got to listen to story time with Princess Aurora.

And while they were meeting Princesses, Claire was still waiting in line.  She got a little sick of it toward the end. 

But as she peered around the corner, at about minute 89, she realized it had been worth the wait.

Rapunzel!  The real Rapunzel!  And her hair was just as beautiful and long as it was in the movie!  Claire was in heaven.

Danny said that Rapunzel and Flynn Ryder were really nice to Claire, and took the time to talk to her for a few minutes.  Rapunzel even signed Claire's autograph book, referring to her as "Princess Claire-Bear".  Danny said he'd never seen Claire so happy.  

After Claire left Rapunzel's tower, she wanted to meet up with the rest of the girls, who were waiting for the Princess Coronation.  

We realized when we got there that we had another half hour or so to wait before the Princesses arrived.  This is about the time I realized how much of the Disneyland experience is waiting! :)  We waited for a few minutes, but then decided to ditch the Coronation and meet up with Jeff and his crew.  Jeff had something he wanted the whole family to do.  One of the memories he had of his trip to Disneyland when he was 10 years old.  The "It's A Small World After All" ride!

Of course, there was some waiting in line before we could actually get on the ride.  Johnny provided us some entertainment.  He's too stinkin' cute...

This was one of the only rides we were all able to go on at the same time.  It was fun to all be together!  It's awesome to be able to do these things as a family.

The ride was fun!  But you'd be nuts not to be annoyed with the song halfway through. :)  Claire was a little nervous once we got into the tunnel, cause it got a little dark.  But she got into the spirit really quick!  She also memorized the song... :)

Sophie is our daredevil child, so she thought the ride was nothing but fun!  It was loud and bright and slightly obnoxious.  Sophie's version of heaven! :)

After you exit the ride, the bushes are all manicured to look like various animals.  That's what I really came to appreciate about Disneyland.  The whole thing is an experience.  Everything around you is there on purpose, and meant to make you feel like you're in a magical land.  I loved it!

Believe it or not, we managed to do everything so far before lunch!  We realized once we got off the "It's A Small World After All" ride that we were all pretty hungry.  After consulting the map, we headed off to Mickey's Toontown to get some grub.

We all enjoyed our hot dogs and pizza.  We didn't so much enjoy trying to find Bowen when he took off into the crowd.  He was lost for a good 10 minutes or so, and there were SO many people!  We eventually found him in the car, pretending to drive.  Silly boy.  Needless to say, all toddlers wore their backpack harnesses after that!

Next up was Adventureland.  We mostly just walked through, making a mental note of where the "Indiana Jones" and "Pirates of the Caribbean" rides were, and ended up in Critter Country.  We just had to take the kids on the "Winnie The Pooh" ride.

Everyone really liked the ride!  It was easily the kids' favorite of the day.  Even Johnny couldn't get enough of the colors!  

After we were done in Critter Country, we figured it was time to get the kids back to the hotel for a nap.  Jami was needing a rest as well, and I was still feeling pretty weak from being sick that morning.  We took the shuttle back to the hotel, and were welcomed by the wonderful aroma of our crock pot dinner.  Chicken Azteca!  Some slept, and some swam, but we all took a couple of hours and rested up.  Then we met up in our room and had dinner.  But the kids weren't really up to eating.  They were excited to get back to Disneyland!

Bowen was pretending to be a cowboy with Ace's Indiana Jones hat.  Claire was his princess, and they were going out to their cows.  Bowen: "Are you with me?"  Claire: "Yes."

Once we were all full, we headed back to the park.  And what would you know, we weren't even all the way through Main Street, U.S.A when Mickey Mouse showed up!  Claire was right there to hand him her autograph book.  He gladly took it and then...WALKED OFF!  We were all a little confused, but we followed that book!  He was just going to the next spot (I'm thinking the characters move around in 20 minute shifts), and once he got there he gladly signed Claire's book.  But due to all the hub-bub, we didn't get a really good picture.  

After Mickey moved on, we made our way towards Fantasyland again to get a good seat for the famous fireworks.  The kids played while we waited for the big show.

Sleeping Beauty's castle looked awesome at night!  For me, the castle at night and the fireworks is what really made Disneyland feel magical. 

The fireworks were beyond incredible!  I've never seen anything like it, and to think they do them every night!  The coolest part of all, I think, was when Tinkerbell actually flew around the castle.  The girls were beyond themselves!

After the fireworks, we pretty much called it a night.  Our kids were pretty tired.  Danny and I took them back to our room and they were asleep instantly.  What an incredible day!  It was a bit overwhelming at first, with all the people and things to see and do and wait in line for.  But as I fell asleep, I couldn't help but be excited to go back the next morning!