Disneyland - The Happiest Place on Earth!

What a perfect day! We're finally here and the weather is gorgeous. It was overcast in the morning with no rain so the temps were down a little. In the afternoon, it was in the low 80s with a little breeze. Couldn't have asked for anything better. We had been talking about going to Disney for quite some time and we entered the park (and it looked just like I had remembered from many years ago) and started with a picture of the kids with Downtown Disney and the princess castle in the background. Brian and family were already here and my cousin John and his girls came with us. We jumped on the horse drawn trolley and rode downtown.
We found Brian and Kim by some of the smaller rides, including the carousel, Dumbo and Fantasyland rides. We did some of the smaller rides in the morning and then it was off to see the Princesses. There was a special show at 10am and the kids got to have a special photo shoot with three of the princesses. Here is Aubrey, Emily and Chase with Belle from Beauty and the Beast.



After the Princess show, we moved on to Mickey's Toontown. We were able to see Mickey, Minny and Goofy. The kids even got to sit on Goofy's firetruck. There was a small rollercoaster that the kids decided to go on 2 times. It was pretty fast and they absolutely loved it. I think it might have been because there wasn't a long line. After this, we rode the bobsleds through the Matterhorn mountain. This was Emily's favorite ride of the morning. She actually rode it twice in a row!!

Just before lunch, we were able to meet Mary Poppins and Bert. They were very kind and Mary Poppins spent time prepping the kids for pictures and making sure their clothes looked perfect, just like she did for the kiddos in her movie!

My aunt Karen was so kind to pack us a fabulous picnic lunch for the day. My dad and Jan came and met us right outside the main gate and we found a shady picnic area. We enjoyed lunch together as a group and then dad and Jan took Abigail (who is 15 months) for the rest of the day. That gave Brian & Kim a little more freedom in riding!! After lunch we decided to get down to business. We rode a spaceship ride and also a Star Wars flight simulator. After that we went on to Space Mountain. I think this is the biggest roller coaster at Disneyland. It is inside, completely dark, and VERY VERY fast! Chad is not a roller coaster rider, but he was talked into trying it. I can't say he came out loving it, but he was a sport in trying it and didn't get sick (I'm pretty sure the people behind him were glad of that!!).

Throughout the afternoon, we rode the Monorail, the train, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, drove Autopia cars and had a few snacks. Here are Chad, Chase, Emily and cousin Sonya on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.

Another favorite ride of the afternoon was Pirates of the Caribbean, which we rode 2 times. The kids were a little scared the first time with so many skeleton bones and Pirates that looked so real, but they loved sitting in the front row of the boat!! Here is Aubrey, cousin Ana, Emily and cousin Sonya together - basically 4 girls scrunched in one side of the boat.

Our family with the Matterhorn mountain in the background.

We decided to eat supper a little on the early side, by 5pm, and found a nice Mexican restaurant to partake in. It was fabulous. You got a lot of food for the money and our family actually ended up eating for $40! I was surprised and the food was delicious.

At 6:30 pm, there was a parade down Mainstreet Disney. Here Princess Ariel and Sebastian above their sea kingdom. All of the floats were beautifully decorated and the kids had fun seeing all the characters that they so often read about and see in their home videos. There was one instance where a rhino from the Lion King came right up to us and I think Aubrey jumped 10 feet in the air, but the rest of it was not scary at all.

After the parade, we thought we better organize which rides we wanted to go on. We visited Space Mountain again, but Chad decided to sit out this time. And then went on to Splash Mountain. This is water ride in which you ride in a log, that has seats, and at the end you go down a pretty steep drop into the water. I was in front, followed by Chase, Aubrey, Kim and Brian. I got pretty wet through the ride, but I think Chase got the bulk of the water on the drop! We got off the ride and he said (with a few tears), "I got wet - SOAKIN' WET!" He was a big sport and dried off rather quickly. They have a camera that takes your picture on the drop, so here we are going down!!!!!

We went on Pirates of the Caribbean one more time, and Chase fell asleep during the ride. He had a good time during the day and was ready for some zzzzz's.

Chase fell asleep around 9:15 pm so we walked around just a little more and by 9:50 pm, Emily was asleep too. I think we wore them out so we stopped at the gift shop for a souvenier, and headed to the car. We were home shortly after 11pm. This was a dream come true for me to take the kids to a place that I got to go as a child. I think they had as much fun as I did, and for that, I'm grateful. It was a fun day with all of us together!!!! Thanks everyone for making it awesome!