As soon as we sat down at our table, we were instantly greeted by Chip! Nolan jumped out of his seat and gave him a hug, while Acelyn was still processing why the heck giant characters were walking around the restaurant and how she should feel about them all.
We grabbed some breakfast and the kids were pumped for Mickey waffles, while Jason and I chowed down on just about everything else the buffet had to offer.
The Fairy Godmother made her way over next, and Acelyn had a stare down with her, but lightened up once she talked it over a bit with her. (Dying at that face in the first picture!)
Dale came by next, and by some stroke of luck, he was able to get a hug out of Acelyn!
On the contrary, she gave lots of screams and "NOOOOOOOs!" when Rafiki made his way over, but Nolan was thrilled to see him! (I had to leave these pictures uncropped, because her hand and her screaming face in the corners just make me laugh so. freaking. hard)!
Max from A Goofy Movie stopped by, and Acelyn screamed and waved her arms in terror, yet again. Nolan loved giving him a hug despite not really knowing who he was!
This poor, poor girl and her sad face over meeting all these characters! Oh man. One day she'll love them... so it's all in fun to laugh about it now!
Jason ran to the bathroom, but Eeyore was making his way over, and I could tell Acelyn was going to react the same, so I totally set up my phone for a video of her reaction. Pretty much how it went for all the characters through the week, minus Dale, Pooh, and Minnie. Luckily, Nolan was the complete opposite and absolutely adored each new character he met. He really was a fan of Captain Hook, too! That smile!
Both kids were super excited to leave the best for last, and Minnie delivered (although rather quickly) by making her round and giving lots of hugs and kisses!
When we had completed our meet and greets with all the characters, we hit the road and got to exploring Disneyland!
We made a pit stop for some photos at the castle as we made our way to Fantasyland. The kids ran around like crazies, chasing bubbles and giggling like crazy, and it was probably one of the highlights of our trip. Jason and I talked about how magical that moment felt and how true Disney magic really is in the air!
Nolan tried his hand at the Sword in the Stone, but had no success. One day!
We rode the teacups, and this by far was Acelyn's favorite ride of the week. She laughed and laughed while Nolan screamed with excitement, and Jason and I could have watched them ride this 100000 times... another one of our favorite moments!
On the very short walk from Fantasyland to Small World, Acelyn completely passed out in the stroller, so I strapped her in the Ergo so we could still ride Small World since we had Fast Passes to use. She slept through the whole ride, which I was bummed about because I knew she was going to love it. Luckily, we made it up the next day and she got to enjoy the ride, awake!
It's a Small World is probably my favorite Disneyland attraction, especially at Christmastime! There is something so amazing and magical about all the lights and every single detail, it's relaxing, and anyone of any age can experience that magic! I. LOVE. IT. And so do my kids, which makes it 100 times better.
Since Acelyn was still snoozing, we stopped for a cotton candy break, since Nolan had been asking for "a cotton tail" (haha!) all night before and all morning.
We took a walk to visit Woody in Frontierland, and tried to meet Moana in Adventureland, but just missed her. Nolan was SO excited to meet Woody and I love the big smile he has in his picture with him!
It was a little before the parade started, and right about lunch time, so we had Daddy grab us some Jolly Holiday grilled cheeses and tomato soups (because I can't visit Disneyland and not get this.... it is my favorite food on the entire face of the planet. I could eat this combo from here every day of my life and be happy!) while we grabbed a spot for the parade on Main Street. Nolan passed out before we even started eating, while Acelyn danced around and played with stickers that I brought as a nice distraction.
It was perfect timing as Nolan woke up, Jason brought the food, and the parade started just a few minutes later. Acelyn was wild and tried to dart into the middle of Main Street through half of the parade, so we had to keep a close watch on her or Jason held her for half of it. Nolan waved to every single float, person or character that came by, and was SO excited to see everything about the parade that we've watched a million times on You Tube over the last month or so. He made a friend that sat next to him, and the two giggled and talked through the whole thing. Santa made his appearance at the very end, and Nolan was super excited to see The Big Guy in person! We followed the parade out of Main Street and headed back to the hotel for naps, where everyone (including Jason and I!) passed out quickly, before a quick wardrobe change and back to the park!
When we returned, the sun had set so all of the Christmas lights were on, and it was beautiful. Disney at Christmastime is something so, so special, and you can never get that same feeling of walking down Main Street, under all the lights, listening to the Christmas music amongst the bustle of people anywhere else.... it's the best vibe for both kids and adults, alike, but as an adult, it's so much more sentimental!
We made our way to Critter Country to visit with Santa, but we were about ten minutes early, so we hopped on The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh and did some window shopping at Pooh Corner Bakery (YUM). We timed it just right, and got to get right in with Santa, where Nolan excitedly ran right up to him and Acelyn, no surprise here, screamed "NOOO!" so I stepped in to help her along. Nolan chatted it up with Santa and asked for a Doctor's Kit for Christmas, we snapped some pictures and both kids were stoked for the candy canes afterwards.
We grabbed dinner at Stage Door Cafe, where we splurged on corn dogs, chicken bites, fries and the best smores funnel cake EVER. The kids played with their characters while we waited, and in the background, live Christmas and Disney music played on the River and the weather was perfect. Just another one of those moments that I have engrained in my head as so memorable!
As we walked from Frontierland to Tomorrowland, we passed the castle up close and unfortunately, pictures just don't do it justice. It is SO pretty lighted up and gives off the best holiday feel.
We hit some rides in Tomorrowland, and also visited the Star Wars Launch Bay. I wasn't sure if Nolan would enjoy this, so I was shocked to see how much he was really into it! We had the choice to meet Darth Vader or Kylo Ren, since it was getting late, and Nolan chose Darth. He ended up being his favorite character he met through the whole trip, and even Acelyn didn't mind his scary get up (ironic, right?!).
We waited in line for a bit to ride Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters, and Nolan said that it was his favorite ride while we were there, so it was definitely worth the wait! Afterwards, it was close to fireworks time, so we made our way to the center of Main Street to try to get a spot. We lucked out and sat ourselves dead center of the castle and surrounded ourselves between the Main Street shops, since I knew about the projections and "snow" that would be coming. Unfortunately, the winds were a little too high, and both nights that we were in the park, the fireworks show was canceled. The good news was that they still performed the projections on the shops and castle, and the grand finale snowfall was still in the plan, too. As soon as the snow started falling and the Christmas music started playing, the kids were in awe and I lost it and started tearing up. You can't help but feel all the feels when you're in that moment, and Disney sure does know how to make a Mama sentimental about her kids watching magic happen. It was beautiful, and my favorite moment of our trip, for sure.
We had grabbed Fast Passes earlier in the evening for Small World, since we've yet to ride it at night and I'm determined to cross that off our bucket list for Holidays at Disneyland, so we made our way back to take one last ride before heading back to the hotel. Apparently, everyone else in the entire park had the same idea, and as we came upon the glorious lights of the attraction, we were also greeted with a sea of people. I've never seen so many people in one area for a ride before, and they weren't letting anyone on due to technical difficulties. We hung out for a bit to make sure they wouldn't open it back up, but sadly, it was closed for good, so we decided to call it a (late) night, take in the last of the magical lights of the castle and Main Street, and head back to get some much needed sleep and gear up for our last day!
The kids did amazing for such a packed-full day, and it was by far all of our favorite things mixed into one. There were so many great memories made in just one day, and even some tears shed, from character scares for Acelyn to sentimental happy tears for myself, watching my kids experience the magic and joy I hoped they would. That night, they crashed hard at the hotel, Acelyn passing out on the walk back and Nolan fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow!
Stay tuned for our final day in Disney, coming up soon!
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