This post is quite picture heavy. Sorry to those that are not into pictures of other peoples' kids! This post also took me a while to piece together. Thank heavens for the video I went through afterwards. I totally forgot about some things!
It was a great one. Wonderful.
Magical. Not crowded. A bit warm. But still amazing, and pretty much what I dreamed and hoped for!
We were all up by about 6:30-ish and had to kill time and get ready to go for an hour and a half because the Park didnt officially open until 10! We donned our matching t-shirts that DH had picked out and I had Mickey-ized and tried not to blind each other with how bright we were.
We got SO many comments on these shirts all day, and we wished we had done different neon colors and personalized them for the other days, too. (This pic isn't a very accurate one of the actual color - the pics further down are correct)
DH is good to me and understood my need to be there super early on our first day, so we started our 20-ish minute drive (avoiding the freeways that time of morning!) about 8 AM. I. Was. So.
Excited. And everyone else was happy too. ;-) Wonderful DH dropped us (and our double jogger, and our huge bag of snacks, and my shoulder bag with all the things we might need, and our Mickey ears (that our kids were done wearing after about 1.5 hours) and our tickets, and no less than 4 cameras and one video camera) off at the gates and went to park the car at the Anaheim Plaza Hotel & Suites. The kids and I frolicked (pretty much) to security, where there was no line, since they had been open for some time for CAs EMH and took our place in line at gate
12, I think, according to the video. Somewhere in the middle section, 2 groups from the front. I think we got there at 8:40 AM. After about 20 minutes DH joined us, I passed out the first snacks of the day, and we applied lots of sunscreen.
So, SO happy. I couldnt believe we were actually at the Happiest Place on Earth with our kids. It shouldnt have been able to happen, in our current circumstances, but it did, I was thrilled.
The gates opened right about 9:30. We bought our tickets through a friends work (we checked with several people to find the best discount) and we had printed passes that said to take them straight to the gate. They didnt take much extra time to issue us real tickets and write everyones name on them (mine was already printed on mine). They didnt take our pictures that morning, though they were taking other peoples.
As soon as we walked under that arch, (the left one) I cried. I dont know if Ive ever done that before. Like there were a few actual tears that needed wiping. I was so happy! We went straight to City Hall and got the kids their 1st Visit buttons, then strolled down Main Street to wait for rope drop. I dont know how often they do it, but all the shopkeepers, etc. were out lining Main Street with white Mickey gloves giving our kids high fives and welcoming everyone. It was so cool, especially for our 1st day! They didnt do it when we started the day there Friday. I wish I had had the camera out for the first part of our walk down Main Street to capture that! The train station was draped, which was a little weird, but not a big deal.
We knew Peter Pan would be a perfect first ride, and we didnt want to stand in any kind of line later in the day for it, so we settled on the benches by the Partners statue and waited another 20 minutes or so. Many, that sun was getting warm at only 10 AM!
At rope drop we ran
er, speed-walked (not running over anyone) through the castle and then had to pause to park our stroller. That extra minute put us just outside the building, which means we waited in line for 5-10 minutes, but the stroller was essential, and we didnt begrudge the extra time it took. Someone else didnt properly lock their jogger though, and we saw it strolling by itself back to the castle. A kind soul stopped it and park it to the side.
Our kids loved- Peter Pan so much. They had never been on anything anything like that! We are the family that doesnt ride the carnival/fair rides, or even very often the mall rides unless we can get a free carousel ride. They are so expensive, and I always think of Disneyland, and how that money could be better applied to a cooler, cleaner experience
The black lights were awesome with our neon shirts. You can see an instance of them really glowing once or twice in the video below.
After Peter Pan I followed the rules and we rode Dumbo next. Another bit of a wait. Almost more wait on those two rides, first thing, than most of the rest of the day. The kids liked Dumbo, especially DD2. She kept asking for it until we rode it again on Friday.
Then we checked Snow White, but it was closed, so we headed to the Teacups. Another hit, of course. It was fun that we could all get in the same one! I love the pics we have from the Teacups. (Does anyone actually call that by its real name?)
This was all so exciting and fun! Fantasyland with almost no lines is such a rush, and one that I never experienced until I was about 23 and 8 weeks pregnant with my first! (And running to Space, Indy, or Splash wasnt an option). My family (parents) didnt have a lot of patience for Fantasyland lines, except for Peter Pan or maybe the Carousel. We never did it all at once! We jumped in line for Alice again, 5-8 minutes. They loved this one, too.
(this is before, in the line obviously)
The older kids were anxious to try to Matterhorn (and we didnt really want to do scary rides like Pinocchio or Mr. Toad yet) so we went over to get a child swap. On this one (though not on any others) the CM had us wait in the line that was starting to wrap to the left for a few minutes all together with the stroller until we got to the split line, at which time she gave us a child swap pass. Then DD2 and I strolled over to Tomorrowland and got FPs for Space Mountain and walked around through Main Street by the castle. I saw two stormtroopers in Tomorrowland and was sad that DS6 wasnt with me! I took a picture for him, but hoped he would get to see them. (Hes a little Star Wars fanatic the original trilogy are actually the only grown up movies weve let him watch so far.) I would have relaxed if I had realized that theyre parading around fairly often there. So cool, and something I hadnt ever seen before! (We hadnt been back since they redid Star Tours).
At that point I saw Cinderella with just a few people lined up by the wishing well. I already had a healthy fear of waiting in a 45-60 minute line just to meet a few princesses (which I had never been into), so when DH called to say they were done, I asked them to come meet me! We took a quick bathroom break there between the Matterhorn and the castle and then went to see her. (BTW, my DD5 always noticed the theming in the bathrooms and liked it!) The girls loved meeting Cinderella and it was so fun to watch. I have such respect for the face characters; that wouldnt be easy! (But it would be fun if you were any good at it!)
After Cinderella I stood in the standby line (because I heard it was fun) with the older kids for Star Tours while DH took DD2 to ride the Carousel and what-have-you. The line for Star Tours actually took us at least 20 minutes. Maybe 30. I think we waited in line more that morning in Disneyland than we did the last half of the day
The kids LOVED Star Tours. DS6 was already excited about it, but DD5 was even more enjoyable to listen to. We scored front and center seats, which meant they couldnt quite see the bottom of the screen, but they were fully immersed in the action. I was impressed with it too. It was so fun to be experiencing Star Tours again and while not pretty much having the ride memorized. After Star Tours we went over to meet up with DH and DD2 as they were getting off the Storybookland canal boats. (Im not good at even knowing- their real name
)
We trekked back over to Tomorrowland for DS6 and I to use the Space Mountain FPs, but grabbed a quick snack in the shade first. I was really expecting cooler weather in March, though I knew its anything-goes in California
It was pretty much lunch time (especially with the time difference) so we had granola bars, Go-gurts, and Bel Vita breakfast crackers to get everyone full. (Probably shouldn't have done that -right- before Space Mountain, but DS6 had actually had half a dose of Dramamine that morning because he's prone to motion sickness, so I hoped we'd be okay!)
Both older kids wanted to try Space, but I knew it was unsettling enough that I wasnt going to have them experience it the first time without me or DH right next to them, so we had to take turns. DS6 seemed a little nervous in line, and I told him I could hold on to him or he could hold my arm once we got settled. He declined both, but grabbed right on about 30 seconds later when we started up into the tunnel
He did great, but said he didnt like it much and probably wouldnt ride that one again until he was older.
When we got out we opted not to use our child swap right away (or ever if DS didnt like it, I didnt want to scare DD5 too!) and DH hurried to take the older kids on Star Tours again with the child swap while we still had a valid FP to get a second child on. (The child swaps are only for two people). I took DD2 on Buzz Lightyear, and she enjoyed it, especially the talked Buzz in the queue. When they got off ST (the FP line wasn't much shorter than the standby!) we deliberated what to do next, then decided a bathroom break was in order. Somehow on between the deliberation and the walk over to Adventureland, DD2 crashed.
DH said he was watching her and that she deliberately snuggled in and went right to sleep when he offered her pacifier. This does
not happen. With the later bedtimes and busy, exciting morning, coupled with the warm weather, she was just ready to sleep, apparently. This was pretty awesome since I had worried about whether she would sleep in the stroller or if we would have to take precious time out to take her back to the room to try to get her to sleep there! (Or if she wouldnt sleep at ALL and just be cranky in the evenings!) Isnt she adorable?
While she slept (for quite some time) we had our bathroom break (at what would become our most-visited bathroom) and then we grabbed a FP for Indy.
After that we ran over to Splash Mountain with the remaining 3 tickets to get FPs for that.
I sat outside the Haunted Mansion (which isnt my favorite anyways) in the stroller lineup (with the sleeper) while DH took the older kids on the ride. He likes Haunted Mansion. I am not a fan of ghosts and spooky things, so its not a must-do for me.
They are such brave little people! He said they seemed a little spooked at first, but once they got a good look at the ghosts and remembered it was all for fun, and nothing is really real or can hurt you they settled down and enjoyed it. I enjoyed resting in the shade for a few minutes, people watching, and chatting with my mom, who had been thinking about our adventures excitedly all day. She was wishing they had decided to come with us (both our families were technically invited) but they had just been with my brother and SIL in September (during another heatwave) and hadnt really wanted to spend the extra money. It would have been fun with some grandparents along, but we were actually pretty happy with the way it ended up working out. Its never as stress-free when youre trying to coordinate with people, and this was the neatest opportunity for our own little family to experience together. Im sure there will be grandparent involvement in the future, which will be a different kind of fun.
After they got off HM, I sat outside of Indiana Jones while DH did single rider line. Its one of his favorite rides and we were both interested in the recent upgrades. Our older two are both right at 43 inches, so it will be a couple years before theyre big enough for that one!
At this point our Splash FPs were valid, so I took the older kids. This is one of my favorite rides! DH likes it, but didnt like the idea of possibly being wet for several hours if things didnt go well. The fast passes were awesome; we basically walked all the way to the front of the line, with only a handful of people ahead of us! Many memories of waiting 45-60 minutes in that line (my family never entered a line that said more than 60 minutes, and rarely any that said 45 or more!) really made me really appreciate this! Luckily (or perhaps on purpose) we got put in the back, where one of the kids could sit next to me. DS6 was brave and took his own seat. (Which he said he almost fell out of, as in, probably caught some air, on the drop!) The kids both did great on it and liked it, though later DD5 said she hadnt liked the big drop, and didnt want to go again.
The little one had woken up while we were Splashing and DH had taken her on Winnie the Pooh. After that we finally went on Pirates of the Caribbean, which had been calling DH's name. The line had been 5 minutes for quite a while though, and other things (with slower loading times) had been taking precedence. The older two really liked it, and DD2 watched a lot of the time, but buried her face in me during quite a bit of it, too.
12 rides, (16, if you count the double-ups when we were split!) 2-3 bathroom breaks and a meet and greet in less than 6 hours. And all of it fun. Not too shabby!
We were having such a good time and couldnt decide if we could really leave Disneyland and park hop over to California Adventure. We had decided to see World of Color that night if possibly, because there was an AP event (the Peter Pan showing) going on in Disneyland, and we thought crowds might be increasing as the day went on. Also, Thursday night was extended hours in CA for APs, which would make World of Color busier I thought. And we hoped to see Fantasmic Friday night
For you video-oriented people, here is the video to accompany this first part of this day. (It's really more than half, at least picture-and-video wise. I tried to keep it short, but it's over 3 1/2 minutes...)