Oct.- Week 1- Disneyland, Day 1

I had to do many, many picture collages because otherwise, I'd have over 200 pictures to post.  You're welcome ;)  

Our first day was Tuesday.  The 3-day Park Hopper ticket/hotel package we bought included one "Magic Morning."  Which means, we got to enter the park 1 hour before it opened to everyone else.  On our first day, the regular park hours were 8am-6pm.  Soooo, we decided to use our Magic Morning this day thinking that not many other people would be crazy enough to head to the park around 6:45am for the 7am opening!  And for the most part, we were right.  The crowds weren't that bad.  But still, there were certainly hundreds of other crazy people, just like us!  :)  

Here's McKenna and Ben ready to head into the park the first day, wearing their new T-shirts, and looking excited.  The park was decorated so nice for Halloween!  

We had heard/read horror stories of people waiting 2-3 HOURS to meet Anna and Elsa from Frozen.  And of course, this is one of the main things McKenna was looking forward to the most!  So, we booked it straight over to their line, waited maybe 5 minutes to get our "Fast Pass" or return time, and then sat and ate a little something for breakfast which we packed and brought in with us.  

Can you see the excitement on Ben's face knowing he would soon meet Anna and Elsa??  We also made sure to get the buttons that let everyone know it was our FIRST VISIT to Disneyland.  :) 

Turns out all our early rising and hurrying paid off greatly and we ended up meeting Anna and Elsa BEFORE 8am!!  Mission accomplished!  They were so nice!  McKenna acted a little shy and played with her "Anna braids" most of the time they talked to her.  They mentioned Ben also being shy and asked if he was sometimes silly like Olaf?  

This girl was in HEAVEN! Hugs all around! 

The rest of these pictures aren't necessarily in the order we took them throughout the day.  

We met LOTS of characters, especially in Toontown!  Meeting the characters was one of the things I had looked forward to the most.  Thankfully, the lines were so good and we didn't have to wait longer than 15 minutes to meet anyone.  For the most part, the kids weren't too shy either.  

Here's Pluto

The kids loved playing inside Minnie's house before we met her.  Ben especially loved the cake in the oven that inflated and deflated.  He asked to go back there on Day 3 but we had to pass.  

Meeting Mickey probably took the longest, but still not bad since they showed movies, in addition to exploring his house.  They kinda treat meeting Mickey like you're meeting the King himself... Naturally! ;) 

We also explored Chip 'n Dale's Treehouse, Goofy's Playhouse, and Donald's Boat.  

Ben was a little shy to meet Goofy.  But Goofy tickled him and got him to smile in the end.  

While in Toontown, we rode Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin, and the Gadget's Go Coaster.  Seeing the perfectly clear blue sky behind the fake mountain backdrop of Toontown kind of made us feel like we were walking into a dome or something.  It didn't look real.  Like it all had to be part of one huge backdrop.    When we were done with Toontown, it was nice to check off one whole area of Disneyland--DONE!   

In Tomorrowland, we went in the Innoventions building to see some superhero stuff.  We loved seeing Ben's reaction when we first saw the Ironman suit.  McKenna wasn't too thrilled to pose since she said, "I don't like superheroes."  We also got "transported" to Asgard where we met Thor!  Both the kids were a little shy to meet him.  Thor also let another little boy try to lift his hammer, but of course, it couldn't be done.  ;) 

There was a "suit-up" experience where the kids could "put on" Ironman's suit and practice shooting and flying.  

Even though McKenna "doesn't like superheroes," she liked the suit-up experience.

Some other rides we went on and took pictures of below: It's a Small World, Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage (really slow to load and unload), Dumbo the Flying Elephant, and Star Tours (X2) (made me SO motion sick, so I only went on it once).  Since Ben is right at 40in tall, he had to be measured many times for many rides!  Thankfully, he was only turned down once and we went back later when new people were there, and he got on just fine everytime thereafter.  

It was confirmed that we are not royalty as the kids could NOT pull the sword out of the stone.  We enjoyed King Arthur's Carousel though. 

Other rides we went on this day but are not pictured: Pinocchio's Daring Journey, Snow White's Scary Adventure, Casey Jr. Circus Train, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, Peter Pan's Flight, Storybook Land Canal Boats, Space Mountain (Fast Pass), and the Astro Orbitor.  

I knew at some point during this trip I'd get emotional watching my children's wonder and amazement during their first Disneyland experience.  However, I did not expect that time to be during the Jedi Training...and our kids didn't even go up to participate!  It must have been something about the loud music, the atmosphere, and the picture perfect costumes that made me lose it.  I'm such a baby.  ;)

We also packed a lunch everyday to take into the park to help us cut back on expenses.  There were always plenty of shady spots to enjoy our meal together.  This particular day, we ate under the Monorail track.  

Dan took Ben to check out Frontierland and rode the Big Thunder Mountain Railraod while McKenna and I just barely made it into the line to meet some more Disney Princesses at the Royal Hall!  Seriously, they closed the line at 5pm and we were second-to-last in line.  They were each so nice!  And I love that the workers don't let the next group in until you're done meeting and taking pictures with them!  Because we were second-to-last, I do feel like they may have rushed us just a little bit, so I don't remember much of what was said.  But I do remember Snow White even talked like the real one from the movie. :)  

We LOVED the parades!  The music, the dancing, the characters! A Frozen float came by about 15 minutes before the rest of the parade to help get everyone excited.  Mickey and friends started the parade with an awesome drumline.  

Here's Aladdin and the Princess float.  

Ariel, Donald Duck, Simba, and some guys on stilts with amazing balance.  

Tiana, Peter Pan, Tinker Bell, The Chimney Sweeps from Mary Poppins

And Mary Poppins herself!  However, because we had arrived in the park so early this day, Ben was SO tired he fell asleep on Dan's shoulders!  Poor dude missed the whole thing.  We put him in the stroller right after this picture so he could have a more "proper" nap.  

After the parade, we met up with one of Dan's co-workers and her family, the Boyacks.  They have an annual pass and just happened to plan a trip the same time we did.  We spent a little more time with them on day 2 at California Adventure.  We left when the park closed at 6pm and was then only open for Mickey's Trick-or-Treat Party (those who payed an extra $63 per person!!).  We headed across the street to IHOP for dinner where kids ate for free! :) 

After IHOP, we swam in the hotel pool for a bit and then gave the kids their "bigger" souvenir gifts.  McKenna got a Cinderella princess dress that one of Dan's co-workers had at her house and was nice enough to just give to us!  Ben got a Millennium Falcon toy carrying case that Dan found on KSL.  McKenna was a little sad it wasn't an Elsa dress, but she still loved it!  Then, we put the kids to bed.  There's wasn't a way to make the room dark to help the kids fall asleep easier, without making it too dark for Dan and I.  So, we figured out a way to drape a blanket from their headboard over their heads, but still give them breathing room.  They fell asleep rather quickly, of course.  Once they were asleep, we uncovered them and there was no chance of waking them no matter how loud we were or how much light we turned on.

We had also read on the online reviews for our hotel, that if we requested a 3rd floor room, we could see Disneyland's fireworks from our balcony.  And sure enough, there they were!  I also got a picture that night of both kids asleep with their arms high in the air.  Could you tell we'd been riding rides all day?  ;) Such a great first day!