Nolan did surprising well on the trip down to Anaheim, playing nicely in the car, stopping for a quick lunch break in Barstow and falling asleep for his nap on the rest of the trip down. It was perfect timing when we got to the hotel, checked in, changed, and started our afternoon at the park around 3:00! We decided to check out Disney California Adventure first, so off we went and our Disney day began!
When we entered Buena Vista Street, Nolan was in awe and couldn't stop checking everything and everyone out around him, while Jason and I were already swooning over all the Christmas decorations swarming the street. The giant Christmas tree in the center of Buena Vista Street was gorgeous even during the day, and was so much more massive in person!
We didn't waste any time getting to ride some rides, so we made our way over to a Bugs Land and started off on Flik's Flyers. Nolan was a little hesitant at first, but was looking forward to riding while waiting in line, and wasn't disappointed as he loved being up in the air! As we discovered through most of the week, even if he enjoyed the rides, he always had a very serious face through the entire ride and then as soon as it would come to a stop, would yell for more and "Again!" so we knew he really did actually enjoy it!
Next, we made our way to Francis' Ladybug Boogie, and although Nolan was excited to ride and even picked out his own ladybug to sit in, the excitement quickly faded as he became terrified of the spinning motion and screamed for the remainder of the ride. Whoops, we totally felt like "those" parents (especially with that look on his face in the last picture)- looks like we would be avoiding any kind of spinning ride for the week (No teacups for us)!
To change his mood, we took a spin on Heimlich's Chew Chew Train, and Nolan quickly became a huge fan of Heimlich and his funny sayings and the amazing smells through the train ride! We made our way out of a Bugs Land and had to snap a few pictures while leaving, and also caught some dinos from The Good Dinosaur peeking in at us while we watched Mater's Junkyard Jamboree and ruled out that Nolan would also not be a fan of that ride!
On our way through the park, we were greeted by Andy's Green Army Men marching through and gave them a quick salute:
Nolan decided to unwind and run around like a crazy man in front of Paradise Pier, which was fine by us as we took in the awesome sunset and enjoyed the view.
On our way to Toy Story Midway Mania, we bumped into Buzz Lightyear and Nolan was loving his bonding time with him! With each character we met during the week, he was always super excited to meet them, and would instantly run up to them and give them hugs and love, but was so shy and wouldn't talk! He just wanted to snuggle and love on them and was in absolute shock that he was meeting his buddies that he watches on TV!
We knew Toy Story's wait was going to be one of our longer ones, so we came prepared with snacks and toys for Nolan to be distracted by. With a few moments of impatience here and there, overall he did great waiting for 30+ minutes, and was totally entertained by Mr. Potato Head when we first entered. We took some pictures while waiting in line to keep him busy, and once we got to the front of the line, he was a little anxious to get on. To our surprise, he absolutely hated the ride and was terrified of the sharp movements and overwhelming graphics flying at him. Poor kid! Hopefully next time he'll enjoy it, because it's one of our favorites!
To wind down from our Toy Story craziness, we caught a spot right in front of the parade starting line, so we took a rest before the parade began. Nolan decided it would be a great place to roll around and get his wiggles out:
Soon enough, the parade started, and Nolan was intrigued to see what this was all about. He had never experienced a parade before, and since this was the Pixar Play Parade, I knew he would totally be into it. And, I was so right! He knew all of the characters with the exception of The Incredibles, and waved to all of them as they passed by. I loved this parade the best because the interaction is awesome with the kiddos, as some of the characters and dancers come up and high-five and play with the audience as they walk through. Bubbles blew down from the sky which was an amazing touch and the music is super catchy, and it wasn't packed with people so Nolan could actually have room to move and enjoy himself.
After the parade, we decided to check out Cars Land, all lit up and decorated, before heading to grab some dinner at Smokejumpers Grill. At this point, Nolan was so amped up, overtired and delirious, he really just ran around during dinner rather than eat, but 'tis the Disney life, we figured!
Before heading out of the park, we rode Monster's Inc., which Nolan absolutely adored. It was by far one of his favorites from the entire week and he laughed throughout the entire ride. On our way out of Buena Vista Street, we saw Minnie had the shortest line evvvvvver so we hopped right in and Nolan was losing his mind with excitement that he was about to meet his little love! Once we reached the front, he ran right over to her and gave her the biggest hug, and kissed her right on the nose, all on his own! Both me and the photographers were melting over the adorableness. He kept hugging her over and over, and towards the end, decided to go in for the real deal with the kisses, of which we all were dying of laughter. Once he was done with pictures, he wanted to just stand and watch her for a good ten minutes, just waving and awing over her. He was definitely a fan of Minnie, and I love the pictures of these two the most of all of our character meet and greets!
Because California Adventure closed early, and we didn't want to bombard Nolan with more theme park craziness by hopping over to Disneyland, we decided to check out Downtown Disney since none of us had ever seen it before. We walked around and checked out the skating rink and beautiful Christmas Tree by the Disneyland Hotel. There was a live band playing, and Nolan, at this time, in super-delirious state, was rocking out dancing like a madman, tripping over himself but getting right back up to jam. He was loving it!
Before heading back to the hotel, we stopped into the World of Disney humongous souvenir store and picked up our Blue or Pink Mickey Ears for our gender reveal the next morning! (Yes, I kept them in a bag, wrapped up tight all night and the next morning until we found out... willpower, people!)
Stay tuned for Day Two, our most action packed and with the most special moment- our Gender Reveal!
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