Disney Day 1

"Every child is blessed with a vivid imagination." -Walt Disney

Day 1 was so incredible and perfect. I had seen a great idea to buy Disney t-shirts ahead of time at Old Navy & Target and let the kids open one up each day of our trip. After the shirts were on, we made our way to the gate to check in through security and wait for the countdown until the Magical gates opened. Staying at the Disneyland Hotel gave us the opportunity to be in the park during "Magic Morning" which is when the park opens an hour early for Disney hotel guests before the rest of the public. Our plan was to check out the Peter Pan ride first thing. We are BIG into Peter Pan and I thought the kids would love it. Plus it's a pretty tame ride and even Hank could go on it with us. **Dislaimer...we do not have kids with a love for fast-paced amusement rides. Turns out the ride was a bit too dark for the kids and had a quick swoop at the end and before you knew it, Lola and Mac were in tears. Parent fail.

We decided to continue on with our plan which was to check out the Teacups and then head into the Mad Hatter's shop to pick out ears. I had told the kids that we wanted them to have Mickey ears to wear an have as a souvenir. Then the kids could spend the next few days thinking about what one trip treat they wanted to pick out. There's an overwhelming amount of "things" to buy in the parks, outside of the parks, the hotel...everywhere. Luckily, our kids do very well with being limited to having one choice and they both did a great job of being very thoughtful with their choices. It made me SO happy to buy those ears and see my kids having fun in the Teacups. Success!

Making our way to meet Tinkerbell,  we ran into Mary Poppins and Bert. LOVE them! Pixie Hollow was magical, and Mac even had the courage to ask Tink to share some pixie dust with him. He believes so fiercely and was in a bit of a funk that he didn't fly ;) After a quick bite to eat, we made our way to the Small World ride. My fave! Hank snoozed through the whole thing and the kids were totally mesmerized! Time for a break at the hotel!

After naps, we made our way to California Adventures. Dan and I had both been to Disneyland when we were kids but this entire park didn't exist, so we were excited to check it out! We found a spot on the street to watch the Pixar Parade. The kids were excited about seeing the Finding Nemo and Toy Story characters. Mac and Lola danced in the street almost the entire length of the parade. They were so excited. it was SO fun! We grabbed dinner and then tried to find a place to catch the World of Color show. It is a water and light show that is amazing. We didn't know what to expect and when it started, we put the kids on our shoulders and were completely amazed.

The show tells the story of Walt Disney's dreams and imagination, the story of how Mickey Mouse came to be, and then showed a montage of clips and songs of all the the Disney and Pixar animations, all while fountains danced on the water and music played. Then, the screen played the entire song from Frozen, "Let it Go," and Lola sang every word and the top of her lungs (quite amazing and a out of character for her to belt anything out in public). Dan and I were grinning ear to ear and I had tears in my eyes just listeing to her sweet voice. Dan looked at me and said, "I am so happy we are here. This is magical. They totally believe."

Walking back to the hotel, I was so excited about the rest of our adventures that we were going to have over the next three days, but at the same time, we had such an amazing day that I could have ended our trip then and there!