The BIG DAY of our vacation had finally arrived.... our Disneyland day! This was definitely the one the kids (and us grown ups) were most looking forward to, and true to Disney fashion, didn't disappoint.
I really wanted to try for rope drop, but, as always, we were running late and missed it by 20 minutes. There's always next time, though we still have yet to cross rope drop off our Disney bucket list! Even still, we arrived at the park early and waited through long lines of security before being able to enter the main gates of Disneyland, but once we were in, the crowds dissipated and we were ready to go!
I follow the @magic_kingdom_mamas on Instagram and read their blog often, and one tip we've learned from them is to linger by the Livery double doors, for characters to enter and exit from their breaks. It just so happened that as we were walking right by, Donald decided to come out! I showed Nolan and he immediately ran right over to him, and that lucky duck (no pun intended) was able to walk hand-in-hand with Donald to his designated spot, and be the first kiddo in line to meet him! Nolan looked SO proud of himself and felt super special to be walking with one of the characters, and you could see the magical feeling just beaming from his face. Disney magic, within minutes of entering the park, is what these trips are all about!
We passed by Minnie on our way through, but the line was already miles long, so we waited to meet her for later in the day.
We took in the sights of Main Street as we made our way towards the castle, and hearing the sounds of Disney around you is the best feeling, knowing you're starting the day in the Happiest Place on Earth.
We let the kids run around the side of front of the castle, which I've learned is one way to capture some fun photos. We brought back our bubble wand from our last Disney visit, and they played and had the time of their lives while I got some winning candids.
After walking through Sleeping Beauty's castle and parking the stroller, we hit up Fantasyland first. The kids chose to ride the Casey Jr. Train (as always), so we made that our first ride of the morning.
Dumbo already had a 30 minute wait, so we passed on that for the day since it only got longer. Nolan was bummed, but we cheered him up by riding the teacups, where there was no line and we walked right on! Grandma and her motion sickness passed on this ride, and decided to take some photos from the sidelines, instead.
When we walked off the ride, we ran right into Captain Hook, and Nolan went right up to him to shake his hand, and Acelyn screamed in terror, wanting nothing to do with him.
We hopped on King Arthur's Carrousel and took a spin around. Nolan loved it as usual and Acelyn rode in awe, not quite laughing but definitely enjoying herself!
On our way over to Small World, Peter Pan snuck up on us and I barely had time to get a picture of him and Nolan goofing around! I tried convincing Nolan to ride the Matterhorn with me, and we even got Fastpasses because he started out strong... but eventually he changed his mind and we took a pass on this one (just like all the other "big kid" rides I tried to get him on the rest of the day)!
We walked right on to Small World, and both kids were really into it this time, constantly pointing out all the things they saw and singing along to the music.
Toontown was our next stop, which is one place we rarely spend time on our previous Disney trips, so this was new for the kids and they loved seeing many of the characters hanging out. We missed Pluto (for the second time of the morning, and missed him a total of 4 times the entire day!) as he was taking a break to get some dog treats, but Nolan got in a high five at least this time around.
We took a spin on Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin, a first for us, and it was waaaaaay bumpier than I expected but the kids still loved it. They drove Mickey's car and took a break in the trolley for pictures, before we realized Mickey's character visit at his house was only a 10 minute wait. We met the big guy, and Acelyn was so excited to see him but definitely wanted to keep her distance.
On our way from Toontown, we stopped for a Mickey pretzel (the best pretzel to ever be made) break before heading over to Frontierland and eventually New Orleans Square. We spent 20 minutes in line for Pirates, until we realized the ride had suddenly shut down right before we entered the building. We deciding to nix waiting, and continued on to Critter Country to ride Winnie the Pooh.
I realized while waiting in line for Pooh that Acelyn had her own Poo-situation... a complete blowout! Girlfriend hasn't had a blowout since she was under a year, so what were the chances! I sat her on top of her changing mat for the ride since we were literally next in line, and booked it to the nearest bathroom for a change as soon as we got off, while Nolan and Grandma shopped through the candy shop at Pooh's Corner (hence why there are absolutely zero pictures through this whole period of time).
We decided to grab lunch at the Hungry Bear Restaurant, and found a seat on the patio overlooking Rivers of America and a great view of the construction at Star Wars Land (it looks amazzzzing).
After lunch, we hit Adventureland, where Jungle Cruise was next, and Acelyn loved pointing out all the animals, while Nolan questioned if "everything was real?!" during our boat ride around. I loved his age this trip, because everything is still so magical and believable, yet he's old enough to comprehend rides and remember all the memories being made.
We finished up with Dole Whips to cool down from the heat, and enjoyed them while watching the Enchanted Tiki Room. I hadn't been here since I was 9, and was amazed to see how nothing had changed with the show and it was exactly how I remembered it. SO GOOD! The kids absolutely adored it, and Nolan continued to ask if everything he was seeing was real - "Mom, are those birds REAL!? Are those flowers real? Is it really raining outside?! They can really talk?!" Acelyn was so into it in the beginning, but also SO tired, and she ended up passing out halfway during the show.
She slept in the stroller on our way back to the entrance, so we could make our way back to the hotel for afternoon naps. On our way out, we ran into Goofy at the Livery double doors again... and sure enough, Nolan's luck continued with character meets, because he got to hold Goofy's hand through the park before getting in line for a picture! He got lots and lots of hugs from the Goofster, and poor Acelyn missed out since she was sound asleep.
Both kiddos ended up zonking on the walk back, and I had to maneuver these two to their beds for afternoon naps.
As soon as they woke up, it was instant questions about when we were going back to Disney, so of course, we hurried up and got changed into our second outfits of the day to enjoy the night at the park. We went with a Pixar theme since it was the week opening of the new Pixar Pier and Disneyland's celebration of Pixar Fest, and Acelyn dressed like one of her favs... Buzz Lightyear!
We snagged a Photo Pass Cast Member to take our picture upon our reentry into the park, and Acelyn was way too pumped about seeing Cinderella mingling with guests right in front of us.
We decided to grab a spot early for the parade, while we mobile ordered some dinner to eat while we waited. It worked out perfectly, and we all were able to enjoy my absolute favorite meal on the planet... Jolly Holiday's Combo, which is the best grilled cheese and tomato basil soup you'll ever have. We finished that off with the Raspberry Rose Mickey macaroon I've been eyeing our last two trips to Disney... and that also got added to my list of favorites of Disney food. Nolan went straight for it and took a huge bite off before I could snap a picture, but trust me, it's worth it!
Not long after we finished eating, the kids danced in the street and made friends with the balloon cast members, all before the Pixar Play Parade was about to start. Once the music started, they were pumped and ready to see their favorite characters come down Main Street! Both kids were familiar with the parade, since we watch it often on YouTube and have our own Disney parade dance parties at home. But, their reactions to seeing the parade in person was absolutely priceless! Nolan loved literally every character, and Acelyn screamed at the top of her lungs for her favorites through the entire parade. A fun surprise was the water they squirted at the crowd throughout the parade! I didn't know that was a thing, and the kids, especially Nolan, were totally into it!
The Inside Out float was really neat to see, and Acelyn was all about "tuh-tles" in the Nemo float, while Nolan was really into the Bugs Life characters marching by!
I looooooove the Pixar Play Parade, and am so glad they moved it from Disney California Adventure over to Disneyland, so we could experience a little Pixar love during our one and only day at the park. As much as I would have loved to visit DCA this trip, it just wasn't in the cards for time, especially since it was so busy during the Pixar Pier opening that week. At least with the parade, we were able to experience the same Pixar love of DCA in Disneyland, and it was just as fun and magical!
We decided to check out Pirates of the Caribbean again to test our luck, and to our surprise, it was a short 10 minute wait. We hopped on quickly, and it easily became Nolan's favorite of the day. As soon as we exited the front entrance of the ride, the Cast Members were turning people away, saying it had just shut down again. We were super lucky to get in like we did, especially after our earlier morning attempt!
We spent the rest of the evening in Tomorrowland, and rode Autopia for the first time. The app told us it was a ten minute wait, which really ended up being thirty, so that put a damper on things. The kids hung in there, though, and actually had a blast on this ride (who knew?!) Nolan drove Grandma and Acelyn rode with me, which was full of bumps that she loved. Nolan felt super proud that he drove his own car and loved talking about it for days after!
Walking through Tomorrowland, we came across some First Order Stormtroopers, where they were calling out people in the crowd to go with them in front of everyone. Nolan got called out and didn't quite know how to answer some of their questions, especially when they asked where he had been at training, but took pictures with them regardless and thought it was awesome.
Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters was our final ride of the night, and I really wanted a picture of Acelyn and some sort of Buzz picture, since her outfit was just that. Girlfriend was not having it, and this was the closest thing we got, hah!
Nolan loved blasting through the ride and was stoked about his ending score.
We were right on time for fireworks to go off, give or take 15 minutes, so we squeezed into a spot a little right of the Castle. The kids got out their wiggles and snacked on jellybeans while we waited. Because we weren't there to get a spot early, we didn't have the best view of the projections on the Castle, which really makes a huge difference for this show... but between the music and the amazing fireworks themselves... it gave alllllll the feels and is definitely my favorite fireworks show I've seen (the Up balloon!? OMG, so many chills... I die)! If you're a fan of Pixar, definitely give this bottom video a watch (and way better quality than my fireworks videos!)
We ended up back at the hotel that night and zonked out from our big day, slept in a little bit in the morning and ended our trip by driving back home. It was a great way to spend our time with Daddy gone, so we weren't bored at home for the week, and everything went so smoothly and the kids were amazing the whole trip. We can't wait to go back to Southern California soon!
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