We made it to the Happiest Place on Earth, DISNEYLAND. Our first morning we got up early because we had a breakfast time scheduled in the park. We did a character dining breakfast at Minnie's Plaza. We all got on our matching outfits and headed out the door. We were just down the street from the park so it only took us about 10 minutes to walk. The kids were getting excited to see Disneyland.
Once inside, we made it to Minnie's Plaza and checked in. After we were checked in, they led us around the corner to meet the true Minnie Mouse. All of the kids faces lit up and Charlotte's smile was priceless.
All of the kids could not wait for her to sign their autograph books. The girls gave her a big hug and Charlotte had to give her a kiss. Even the boys were excited to see Minnie. She was so nice and excited to see us too.
The excitement was growing as we were outside because all of the kids were seeing more and more characters coming out. They were like "Mom! Dad! Look over there and over there!"
Once inside, the food eating began. They had Some really good food to eat and lots of different choices of what kind of breakfast we wanted. We loved the Mickey-shaped waffles and everything else they had.
We got all the kids' meals and were just sitting down to eat when all of the characters came out to see us. The kids were so excited and lots of pictures were taken. The eating was slow but that was okay because we were busy meeting characters. We all had a blast and that was to be expected. There were a lot of characters there during breakfast and the kids put a good size dent in their autograph books. It was a great breakfast and we were glad that Santa booked a characters breakfast for us. We could have stayed all day if they would have let us because the kids were having a great time with each character.
The coolest part about seeing the different characters was they were all perfectly matched to look like the character they portrayed. Also the way they acted in the movies was the same way they acted and talked to the kids. Good old Eeyore was one of my favorites. They did such a great job with his facial expression. It was priceless to see.
One funny story was when Dale came around, he tried to eat Logan's food off his plate and when Logan saw him trying to eat it he laughed. We got to see so many characters. We saw Max, Chip & Dale, Fairy Godmother, Eeyore, Captain Hook, Lizzie from Cinderella, and Rafiki. Tigger was also there but for some reason we kept missing him. This was a super fun experience for the kids and it really kicked off our Disney stay. Charlotte loved every character and all of the kids were so happy. I think we all forgot to eat breakfast because we were so busy with characters.
After breakfast it was off to the races to go on the first ride of the day. We asked the kids which ride they wanted to start on and the boys were bound and determined to go on Splash Mountain first. Off we went to get in line. The nice thing about this ride was it was a short and quick line. Because it was winter time, people did not want to go on it first thing in the morning. Another cool perk about having kids that are too short to go on the ride is we could do a parent swap. It was great because on a lot of the rides, Emily, Colby and Logan got to go twice. They were excited to know this little perk.
As you can tell Charlotte and I were the first ones to wait and we are glad we did because we got this awesome picture of the clan going down the hill with the big slash at the end. When they got off the boys ran over to me and said this was the best ride ever and they wanted to go again, and that is exactly what we did. The whole rest of the trip they could not stop telling us that Splash Mountain was the best ride ever.
The next ride we went on was Thunder Mountain and once again the kids said this was the best ride ever. Oh the good times. At first Emily was nervous to go on this ride because she thought it would be too fast or she would get dizzy but once she got off the first time, she was no longer scared and couldn't wait to find me to go on it again.
During our walks to each ride, it was awesome to see some of the characters that were out walking around in the park. The first Toy Story Character we saw was Jessie and Charlotte was beyond excited to see her.
I think she was getting the hang of things when it came to seeing the characters, she would get excited and ask us for her book. After Jessie, it was off to go to Tiffany's favorite ride, Pirates of the Caribbean.
I was really surprised at how fast the lines were moving with it being still Christmas break for some states. We looked at all the information about how busy the park was going to be when we went and all of the info said it was going to be packed. It was packed and busy but we made it to all of the rides we wanted to go to. Thank goodness for fast passes and the parent swap.
Pirates of the Caribbean was the first ride Charlotte was able to go on so we were able to go as a family. The sad thing was that she fell asleep while we were waiting in line so she almost missed her first ride. Luckily though she woke up as we were getting started so she was able to see everything. When we got off she was so happy and said she wanted to do it again. Another one of Charlotte's favorite rides was the Winnie The Pooh ride. She was so happy on that ride and was super sad when we had to get off. After every ride she rode, she said "Wanna do it again!"
As got off Pirates and were walking around we found Tarzan's treehouse where he grew up.
We were able to climb up into the Treehouse and pretend we were Tarzan. There were some cool things and activities the kids were able to do as they walked around. Of course Charlotte wanted to be just like her older brothers and climb the rope.
The first princess we saw was Princess Tiana.
It was Emily's turn to get all giddy and excited. She loves her princesses. I think Tiana even made the boys blush as they handed her their autograph books. Charlotte loved feeling her pretty dress.
Once we got done with Princes Tiana it was off to the Pirate ship to sail the waters of Disneyland. It was a fun time to sit and eat lunch as we waited to board the ship. While we were on the ship, we were able to walk around and see the hull of the ship where the crew slept and ate. Emily was the Captain of the ship and got to steer the ship.
Charlotte loved the water because she saw all of the ducks and geese in the water. The ride was fun because it did a little tour of what was around Disneyland. Colby thought it was cool to be riding in a real live pirate ship.
Another one of the boys' favorite rides was the Buzz Lightyear ride. This was probably one of the longest lines we waited in. But it was worth it because the ride was really fun. While we were waiting in line, we got to see Buzz Lightyear and he explained our mission as we rode this ride. Our mission was to use our laser blasters to shoot Zurge and the other aliens. As we rode, we used our laser guns to shoot different targets on the walls. Each target we hit gave us points. At the end of the ride, we got to see who had the highest score. It turned out that Tiffany had the highest score but Colby was not far behind.
The whole day was full of rides and lots of fun. Around 3:30 pm it was time to take a break and find a spot on Main Street to watch the Christmas Parade.
It was amazing to see. We got to see many of the characters and hear them sing. It was by far one of the best parades I have seen. It was also a great time to take a load off our feet. The toy soldier marching band was very good and so were all of the dancers. We even got to see Mickey and he waved to us!
Emily was excited to see Elsa and Anna from Frozen. We never did get to meet them for their autograph but at least we got to see them in the parade. Emily and Charlotte were excited to see all of the princesses.
Logan and Colby were super excited to see Woody and Buzz. They were toward the end of the parade because they were in the toy shop at Santa's workshop. They led up to the big man himself:
At the end Santa Claus came around in his sled! Since it was after Christmas, he told everyone thank you for the cookies and milk and for being such great kids. The parade was great and I am glad we got to see it.
Since we were at Disneyland, we had to take some pictures by some of the great landmarks that make Disneyland "Disneyland." One of those is to get a picture with Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse.
The next best picture to have is the Disney castle lit up at night. And there you have it!
Another fun perk about going to Disneyland around Christmas time is to see it all decorated for Christmas. Everything was decked out in Christmas lights. As soon and the sun went down, the place lit up. Even some of the rides were changed for the holiday season. One ride that was totally changed was the Haunted Mansion ride. Rather than a ghostly Halloween-ish ride, it was transformed into "Nightmare Before Christmas" so it was still haunted but with a Christmas twist.
Another ride that was totally transformed was the classic "It's A Small World." This ride was totally decked out and lit up for Christmas. It was a beautiful sight.
Of course we had to go on this ride because it is a "must ride" for everyone who comes to Disneyland. This is one of the original rides and even though the song gets stuck in your head forever, you have to ride on it. This ride though was changed for Christmas. Instead of singing "It's a Small World" over and over, they threw in some Christmas songs as well. The songs were in different languages as you floated through the different lands. The lands were decorated as though it were Christmas in those lands and it displayed different Christmas traditions from different countries. It was definitely a change from the original ride but still good.
We went on a lot of other rides this first day as well. I think another one of the boys' favorite rides was the Autopia ride. In this ride, we drove go carts around a track and raced the other cars. The boys loved going fast and steering while I pushed on the gas because they were too short. Emily also loved being in the driver's seat and racing Charlotte and Mom around the track.
We also loved the Finding Nemo Submarine ride. This was a relaxing ride in a submarine around the lagoon in Disneyland. As we looked through the windows of the submarine, we were able to see different scenes from Finding Nemo. One thing we all wished was different about this ride was that it should have had real fish and sea creatures in the water to see. Instead they were all fake but it was still a fun ride.
The whole day was a blast and worth every minute. We saw almost every character and the kids got to go on about half of the rides which meant there was still more to see the next day. On our way out of the park we went into the different stores and looked at cool stuff. We found a lot of penny smashers and the kids started a collection of smashed souvenir pennies. We decided as a family that these pennies would help us remember the different rides we went on and also the different areas we went to in the park. Another fun souvenir we got was the traditional Mickey Mouse ears. Each of the kids got a set of ears and had their name embroidered on the back. They loved them.
Just as we were about to leave the park for the night, we got to see two more characters. The first one we saw was Pluto!
The kids loved Pluto and he was so funny when he signed their autograph books. He would put the book on his nose and then sign it. Then he would had it back to the kids with his nose. Logan though this was pretty funny.
Then we saw the best person in the whole park. The character that everyone wanted to see and give a hug to. Mickey Mouse! It was perfect timing for us because we were right there when he came out.
We got our fun family photo with Mickey and the kids got his autograph. The fun thing we noticed about each characters signatures was they were unique and had fun designs in them. Charlotte was ecstatic. She did not want to wait her turn in line, she just wanted to run up to Mickey and give him a hug. When she finally got to, she was all smiles. Emily, Colby, and Logan were also running up to him to get to meet him. It was so fun to see the looks on their faces. It totally made the trip worth it. What a great way to end the night!
Once we got back in the hotel room, the kids did not last long once their heads hit the pillows. They were out so fast. Then it was time for Mom and Dad to prepare for the next day. We were both tired also and ready for bed. We had another fun day planned and we needed to get up early and be ready for our magic morning.
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