This past May I went and visited my friend, Erin, in California. While there she told me she's been waiting for a blog post on our Disneyland trip because she's dying to see some pictures. So, Erin, this post is for you!
We had our trip planned for the week before Thanksgiving in hopes that we'd get to see the Christmas decor there and also that it wouldn't be too busy. We succeeded with both our goals, mostly. It ended up being busier than we'd hoped, but it ended up being just fine. Michael and I had booked the trip quite a few months before and we were so excited to break the news to our kids. It was hard to keep a secret about the happiest place on earth! (Post of how we told them is located in November 2012 posts.)
Our vacation began early on a Monday morning. We wanted to leave around 4 in the morning, but it was almost 5:00 when we pulled out. We figured the kids would sleep for a few hours of the drive. They did end up falling asleep but not right away. They were both so excited! We had invited Michael's dad to come with us and so he met us there since we wouldn't all fit in one car with all of our luggage. It was a lot of fun to have him with us and share in the memories. I think the kids really liked having Grandpa Royal with them, too.
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| Landon was ready to be packed in the suitcase. |
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| Here they are at 4:45 am ready to roll! |
I had taken Wyatt to my mom and dad's the night before. I have to give a huge shout out to them for watching him because he got a pretty bad cold while we were gone and gave them a run for their money. He was up in the night a lot and really sad. My dad even came up to our house in the middle of the night to get some medicine for him. Really, of all the times for him to get sick, it's just Murphy's Law.
We stopped in Cedar City for some breakfast and then were on our way again. We made a lunch break and a couple other potty breaks but made really good time to Cali. With the time change I believe we pulled in to our hotel just after 4:00 p.m. It was so exciting to finally be there! Luckily there was a pool so the kids got to swim and keep busy since we wouldn't actually be going to Disneyland until the following day. It wasn't super warm there but compared to Utah where we'd just come from it was very nice and felt so good. We were the only ones in the pool because I'm sure everyone there thought it was too cold to swim, but not us folks from UT!
Tuesday morning we were up bright and early to get ready and head in to the park for our big first day! We were all so excited! The whole week we were mesmerized by the tallness of the Christmas trees and how jam packed they were with ornaments. Holy cow, it was a sight to see. It got us in the Christmas spirit yet it was funny, it was so warm! Once again, in UT we don't have warm Christmas's usually.
We spent our whole first day in Disneyland taking it all in. I think the kids were in for a shock when they'd see characters and you couldn't just walk right up to them, you had to wait in line. First off I waited in line to see Rapunzel and Flynn. Once I got close, I just called Michael and he brought the kids over. It worked out pretty smooth. I love how the workers are so lively and in character. They play the parts so well and really make it a great experience for the kids.
That night we were pretty much blown away by the awesome Christmas lights that lit up the night. Sleeping Beauty's castle and also It's a Small World really were amazing.
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| Kay did get to see her very favorite princess, Ariel, right as we walked in the park. |
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| Waiting in line for our very first ride, Peter Pan. |
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| The Carousel |
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| Kids on the Tea Cups |
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| Meeting Rapunzel and Flynn |
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| Grandpa waiting with Landon while we rode The Matterhorn. |
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| Landon LOVED meeting Belle. In this pic he is showing where she kissed his forehead. He was in heaven! |
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| It's a Small World lights |
The first night we were able to see the Christmas Parade that they do. It was one of the cutest parades we have every seen! We had perfect seats on Main Street thanks to Grandpa Royal who saved them for us. We really were spoiled with him helping us out with all those types of things.
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| Waiting for the parade to start |
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| Look how cute these 2 are! |
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| A Christmas Parade |
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| Goofy and his son, Max |
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| The Beast |
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| Woody on some blocks |
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| Santa |
We went to the Cheesecake Factory on the way back to our hotel that first night. The kids completely CRASHED on the bench while we ate. It was pretty hilarious! They were worn out.
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They slept great in their fold out bed together.
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On day 2 we hit the beach. We found a great little spot that we had all to ourselves. Kay and Landon loved digging in the sad and using their sand toys. There really isn't anything in our city back home that's remotely like the beach so this was super fun for them. Grandpa helped them build a neat sand castle and even though the water was kind of cold, Kayleigh was brave enough to venture out in it with Michael. After spending about half a day there we did go back to Disneyland for the evening.
That night we rode Space Mountain which Landon wasn't too sure of but we got him to go on it a couple more times. It's such a fun roller coaster, one of Michael's favorite rides. The highlight of that night would for sure be when we got to meet Mickey and Minnie in their holiday attire. They were standing right at the exit of Autopia and there was hardly a line to see them. Landon was so excited to meet Mickey!
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| Seriously one of my favorite pictures from the beach |
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| Excited to ride the train |
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| I love this pic! |
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| Tarzan's Tree House |
For days 3 and 4 we spent our time in California Adventure Park. Here is where Kayleigh discovered that her favorite ride is California Screamin. She loved it! Landon was too short to ride so we did have to take turns riding it with her but the fast passes did come in handy. There was a carousel right by California Screamin and Landon usually spent his time on that while we waited. I think his favorite ride was probably Pirates of the Caribbean and the Cars ride. He also liked the Toy Story rides.
It was really fun for the kids to meet Buzz and Woody, that was great. We also met Donald, Flik and some of the cars from Cars while in California Adventure.
Cars Land and the Cars ride literally blew us away. It was so well created, you really felt like you were walking in Radiator Springs. It was so neat! The other big hit of California Adventure was the World of Color show. Spectacular is the word that best describes it. Pictures don't do it justice but we were able to see it both nights we were there and we're glad cause it's a highlight for sure. We also saw the show Fantasmic and that was Kayleigh's favorite show. It is also pretty cool.
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| Ready to ride the Cars ride |
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| The boys eatin popcorn |
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| World of Color |
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| Kids with their stuffed animals, they thought long and hard about which ones to get |
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| Landon asleep in the stroller, glad we brought it |
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| Landon trying on Grandpa's glasses |
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| Ready for Toy Story Mania |
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| On our last night, goodbye Disneyland! It was sad to be leaving. |
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| The kids fell asleep on our bus ride back to our car. |
We got the kids to ride Holleywood Tower of Terror which was so fun! The kids both hated it and to this day talk about how it's so scary. Landon was crying after he rode it. I'm sure not many 2 year olds are tall enough to ride it. Landon called it the "scary evabator ride". We did bribe Kay to go on it one more time.
Disney Junior Live on Stage was a show we went to that was really fun for the kids to watch since they love Disney Junior and watch it pretty much every morning. It consisted of Little Einstein's, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Jake and the Neverland Pirates and Handy Manny. Luckily those 4 shows we like and watch.
It's nice that Disneyland isn't all just rides. There is so much other entertainment that is fun to see and do. We feel so blessed to have been able to take our kids when we did and have that experience. They, of course, want to go back and hopefully we'll get to make it back there someday.
Our drive home was quite nice and we made super good time, just under nine hours. Thank goodness for car DVD players, it makes all the difference in traveling with kids. It was fun to get home and see Wyatt, we sure had missed him. Next time he'll come with us I'm sure.
I know that was a very long post, but hey, lots of fun memories made and I had to document! Thanks for reading!
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