Tag: Disneyland

We were much more leisurely getting out of the hotel room this morning. We packed everything up and brought it down to the car so we could just grab the car and head to the airport.

The big things on the to-do list for the day was to meet Donald Duck, Daisy, take some magic pictures and buy souvenirs.

We got to the magic kingdom park around 8:30 and the kids began their shopping.

They looked around in several of the stores and Lexi settled on a Minnie Mouse color changing pen and a Minnie Mouse autograph book that she was going to use to color. William picked a plastic Mickey Mouse figure that he could move his arms and legs. They picked out a stuffed Piglet for Kate and some cookie cutter/pancake molds for Grammy. Mommy got a Minnie hat and a christmas ornament. We also admired some of the Character villans that were on main street, that only come out at Halloween time.

Next up, we took some magic photos in front of the castle and then rode the Astro Orbiter Ride and made our way through Pixie Hollow to meet Tinkerbell.

Finally, Donald was out, so we made our way back to the front of the park to meet Donald. It was probably one of the funnest things to watch as a parent. William was beside himself that Donald Duck was right in front of him. He was just in awe.

It was nearing lunchtime so we explored Tarzan’s treehouse and grabbed a bit to eat.

Then Daddy, Lexi and William took the train half way around the park (it wasn’t very conducive to strollers) so I met you on the other side.

We rode the Buzz Lightyear ride again and then headed to downtown Disney to find the shirt that Daddy wanted in the right size. After that we headed back to the hotel, grabbed the car and made a quick stop at Panera to eat at the airport.

Both of you kiddos changed into jammies since we weren’t scheduled to land until midnight. You played with your toys for a bit on the plane and then both cashed out.

And that my sweet kiddos concludes your first Disney experience. I can’t wait to go again–especially with Kate!

Love,

Mama

William woke up around 5:45 and therefore everyone else woke up around that time as well. We got ready, grabbed a bit to eat for the ride to the park and arrived at Magic Kingdom a little after 7 am for magic hours. I grabbed a FastPass to the Cars ride and then headed to Peter Pan’s flight. It was raining, so we we threw on some garbage bags I had bought at CVS the night before and went to wait in line (which was already 35 minutes!). William refused to wear anything so we did our best to try and protect him and keep him dry.

While we were waiting, Lexi, William and I rode the carousel and then popped back in line with Daddy.

The ride was so fun as we flew through the air in a hot air balloon type basket through Neverland.

We walked out of the ride, right at 8:00 and jumped into Snow White’s Scary Adventure, which was very similar to Winnie the pooh, just a little scarier (with the witch).

After this, we headed over to California Adventure Park to go on the Cars ride. Unfortunately, it was closed due to the rain as were most of the other rides, except for the Incredicoaster, so Bill got a fastpass and was literally sitting in the car ready to go when it broke. So, we split up–William and Daddy used a FastPass and went on the ToyStory ride while Lexi and I went on A Little Mermaid. The Boys LOVED the ToyStory ride as it was like a game where you had to shoot different things and get points.

After that, we waited in line for 20 minutes for the swinging Farris Wheel. William and I popped out quick and went to meet Woody, which was a big highlight.

 The magic of Disney came through once again, and they allowed us to pop back in line with Daddy and Lexi so we could all ride together. I was not a huge fan of the ride. I didn’t like how the car slide and swung back and forth, but William was laughing and thought it was very fun.

All the FastPasses we were booking were turning into multi-use passes because the rides were shut off from the rain. A multi-use pass means you can use your FastPass on any ride at any time verses typically being tied to a specific ride during a certain time slot.

Next we went over to Soarin, where you sit in a thing like an Airplane and sore through different habitats. Our FastPass got us through the line in about 15 min verses the 60 min that everyone else was waiting.

It was around 11:00 at this point and the rain was starting to slow down a little. We grabbed a bit to eat and then went to try to find Donald and Daisy, but didn’t have any luck.

Instead we headed to Frozen the musical, which was fantastic. It was just like a broadway production.

After that we met Captain America while we were trying to find Spiderman.

Around 2:15 we went to the Disney Jr. Dance Party where the kids got to see Roadster Mickey and Minnie, Doc McStuffins and the Lion King characters. Lexi asked to go up with the rest of the kids dancing near the stage while William was perfectly content watching on my lap.

The rain had pretty much stopped by this point and the Cars ride was back up and running so we went over there to redeem a FastPass. The line was 45 minutes long because all of the FastPasses that had been given out for the day for almost all of the rides had been turned into multi-use. Anyways, Disney nailed the execution of Cars land. The executed the town perfectly to replicate the movie and the ride was no exception. It started off by getting into a real lightening McQueen car and a leisurely stroll through plot lines in the movie. Then, it gets into race mode and you are racing fast like a rollercoaster on a racetrack. William was horrified. I mean terrified. Straight terror. He passed the height requirement by about a half of an inch and had never been on something that went that fast and spun around. About 10 seconds into the ride, I took my hand and covered his eyes so he couldn’t see. When we got off the ride, we really built it up like ‘oh my gosh, that was so fun! William, you did so good’ and didn’t acknowledge the fact that he had been scared and he bought it.

After that, we went over to the Incredicoster and watched Daddy ride in the front car. We all went on the Toy Story ride and then met Buzz after.

Finally Spiderman was out so we ventured back over to his posting and waited 30 minutes for the meet and greet. William’s dreams came true. He was very shy when he was meeting him, but couldn’t stop talking about it after.

Next up, we grabbed a Mickey pretzel for dinner, ate a couple of snacks and went to go on the Cars ride again. This time the wait was 60 minutes long for the FastPass, but the non-FastPass line was over 3 hours. William did better this time, but was still pretty scared.

By this time it was starting to get dark so we went to find a spot to watch Paint the Parade. Both kiddies feel asleep before we even found a spot to watch.

Again, it was out of this world. So good. I wish the kids could have seen it. After this, Daddy and I each took a turn riding the Incredicoaster again and Daddy wanted to try and beat his score on the Toy Story ride again. The park closed around 10 and Daddy and I walked back to the hotel. We were both exhausted. A full day of walking and adventure.

Love,

Mama

Lexi and William

You both woke up around 5:30am, which wasn’t a huge surprise considering it would have been 7:30 am back home. William seemed to be feeling much better. He took a quick shower to clean away and vom smell and him and Mommy headed upstairs to check out the breakfast situation.

Around 6:15, we started to give you clues on where we were and what we were going to do.

• Clue number 1: We need sunscreen today (your guesses were the beach)
• Clue number 2: Where are we (Lexi pieced together that we must be in California because that is where I was)
• Clue number 3: We’re going to meet some of the fun characters that are on your jammies (Lexi figured it out!) and was jumping all over the bed.

We quickly put on your new Mickey and Minnie shirts, headed up for breakfast and were at the park entrance around 7:30 or so for an 8:00 open. The park was all decorated for Halloween so there were huge pumpkins that had Minnie, Goofy, Donald, Pluto and Mickey carved into them.

Upon entering the park, I quickly purchased the max pass to get photos and the ability to book fastpasses. We took a family picture in front of the train depot and then started to make our way back to Peter Pan’s flight.

On the way, we saw Chip, Pluto, and got Minnie’s autograph.

We also met Captain Hook and Peter Pan.

By the time we got to Peter Pan’s flight the line was pretty long, so we passed and went to ride Dumbo and then went over to a Small World.

It was about 9:00 by this point and we headed into Toon Town. We rode the goofy gadget coster a couple of times, played on Donald’s boat, saw Mickey’s & Minnie’s house and met Minnie.

We also saw Goofy’s house and met Goofy too.

After that, we went to go ride Roger Rabbits Toon Spin. It broke about 3/4 of the way through the ride, and we were escorted out, which was probably a good thing as William wasn’t a huge fan.

After that, we headed over to Big Thunder Railroad mountain where Mommy and Lexi rode it. Lexi said she liked it, but didn’t want to ride again with Daddy.

We were hungry for a snack so Daddy found some food, while Lexi and I waited in line to meet princesses. While we were waiting, we saw Gaston and Repunzel.

We were all pretty hungry and decided it was lunchtime, however, everything looked packed. While we were deciding what to eat, Lexi fell asleep in the stroller. I found a place that allows you to order online and then pick up at a window, so we did that and relaxed in the shade a bit. Next up was Winnie the Pooh’s Adventure. It was the cutest little ride that took you through the story of ‘The Blustery Day’ everything was neon and a cute mellow ride. We had to wake Lexi up for this one, but she really seemed to like it.

Then right around the corner, which is also in the back of the park, Eeyeore, Tigger and Pooh were signing autographs. They commented on our autograph book (mine from ’93) and even looked through it to see who we had.

Next up, we headed over to Buzz’s toystory ride to use a fastpass. This ride was also pretty fun. We wore 3D classes and it was a slower but fun ride for the kids.

After that we headed over to Autopia where the kids were able to drive mini cars. While waiting in line, William had to go potty, so him and I jumped out to find a bathroom. I thought we were going to miss going on the ride, but I asked if we could come back in line after the bathroom and to my surprise they said yes!

After the kids learned to drive, we found a good spot to watch the Pixar Parade and enjoy a Mickey ice cream. This parade was fantastic. The music was great, engaging floats with fire bursts and shooting water. Very entertaining!

We then took advantage of the short lines to go on the Finding Nemo submarine ride.

We were quickly approaching our character dinning dinner experience, so we hopped on the monorail that took us to one of the disney hotels that had Goofy’s kitchen.

After paying almost twice what I had expected (they raised the prices the week before AND the estimate I received didn’t include taxes and service fees… we were seated and had an amazing time. The kids met chef Goofy, Mickey, Minnie, Chip, Dale and Pluto. Mickey and Minnie even danced with Lexi and William in during one of their little performances. You two kids could not stop smiling.

 

 

While we were there, it rained a little but it looked like it was going to clear up, so we headed over to California adventure land to meet some characters and catch the nighttime parade. It kept getting delayed due to the weather and William was hanging on by a thread and eventually crashed in the stroller.

Lexi and I took advantage of a short line to meet Elsa, which was a total highlight. After that, she crashed in the stroller and we wheeled ourselves back to our hotel room (about .5 mile) and all crashed.

Love,

Mama