Disneyland Day 1

Here we are folks! The place where all your dreams come true!

As you can see- we had a great first day!

We stayed in the Anaheim Majestic Garden Hotel. It was made to look like Snow White's cottage-Tudor Style. But who are we kidding- it's not like we're going to "spend time" at the hotel.
The kids were raring to go- bright and early. Ari made these cute matching Mickey shirts for us using a stencil and craft paint.

Super Mom!

Super Dad!

60th Diamond Celebration. It was so nice- right as we were walking into the park we ran into our favorite Saffordites- the Webbs. They kindly took this picture for us.

The standard/traditional entrance to D-Land pic

Lo and behold- the first character we saw, with no line was Ariel. Gemma met her and got her autograph complete with drawn bubbles.

This is my favorite part of the Disneyland experience- walking into the park. The magic in the air, the beautiful pink trees and the castle. It was all just what we needed.

First stop- Fantasyland and the carousel. This was the kid's favorite ride the last time we went. They were so excited to do it again. And we learned a lot from last time- NO SNOW WHITE RIDE! Ha ha.

They don't appear to be excited at all, right?

A ride Lottie could enjoy as well!

She was SO CUTE!

As we were waiting to get on the Merry-go-round, look who we ran into. We had NO IDEA they were there. That was a fun surprise.

We loved how much love the kids were showing each other.

Next up- Dumbo! This is always a classic.

Lottie was pretty darn cute!

Mom rode with Lottie, Dad with Gemma, and the boys together.

Do they look like they have the "disney spirit" or what? Bright eyes and big smiles!

Next we just had to float down the Fantasyland Canal. Kodee HAD to see what was up with that huge whale from Pinocchio.

The line for the Matterhorn was really short so we did that real quick. Jaxon rode alone so I could ride with Kodee. He was very brave and seemed to like it all right. Just don't get him near Snow White's Scary Adventures.

Gemma was pretty upset she couldn't ride at the moment- but we'll make up for that later.

Time for Toon Town. The perfect place for Lottie!

Gemma was feeling especially "pose-y" throughout the day.

The piano in Mickey's house- future star musician here.

In front of Goofy's Playhouse.

Goofy's car

Donald's boat- I especially love Gemma's pose here. Ha ha.

A view of Toon Town

The perfect car for the perfect girl.

Gadget's Coaster- Lottie's first roller coaster. She loved it- kind of.

We also did the Chip n Dale tree house, then it was lunch time. I had my heart set on a lobster roll WAY over in Critter Country/New Orlean's Square, but that's ok cause it was on the way to Pirates. The Lobster Roll I'd been hearing so much about did not disappoint. The kids and mom got corn dogs and chicken tenders at a corner place.

Too bad this is the only pic we got in Pirates of the Caribbean. Always a great ride for the heat of the day.

Next we went to the haunted house and thunder mountain railroad.

After that we went to the Mickey's Magical Map/ broadway type show. It was fantastic and truly magical. Mickey kept going in and out of this map and painting it with a magical paint brush. Very cool. It reminded me of wanting to be a Disney performer so bad.

The kids of course had to have cotton candy- we obliged.

Dole whips- one of my FAVORITE treats at Disneyland.

For all the "line waiting" we did, I think we kept in pretty good spirits.

 

Time for the Buzz ride. We finally made our way over to Tomorrow Land.

Mom had a sleeping Lottie in her arms.

After Buzz we went over to Star Tours. I opted to sit this one out with a sleeping Lottie. This ride for some reason always makes me sick. On top of that I still wasn't feeling too great.

The kids seemed to really enjoy it, but Gemma was a little skeptical. Maybe next time. The boys are on a big Star Wars High right now so it was great for them.

Rolling the heavy ball in the water in Tomorrow Land.

We ran over to a pasta joint and got some yummy pizza, pasta, and salads. We really liked this place. We also ran into Joanna and David again.

Next we hit up the Path of the Jedi movie- which is Star Wars for Dummies. In the old Michael Jackson theater.

Posing at the Path of the Jedi.

Now a highlight- SPACE MOUNTAIN! I would say this was everyone's favorite. And they've added a bunch of new Star Wars tweaks to it so it's really fun.

I took these three on the ride while mom sat out with Lottie.

The were all SO EXCITED to ride this roller coaster. Gemma couldn't stop telling and showing people that she was tall enough. She felt pretty special about that.

It's too bad because she wanted to ride this more than anyone but...

Somewhere in the ride she poked her eye with her finger and ended up crying through the whole thing. Exhibit A-

So sad. The boys and I sure enjoyed it though. Gemma would have to have a redo on this later.





Mom took the boys on the ride again while I ran over to the Tea Cups with the girls.

I've always been a bit nervous to ride these tea cups thinking I'd get really dizzy and sick, but they were so much fun. The girls LOVED them. We rode the purple cup. I highly suggest riding it at night with all the chinese lanterns aglow.

Mom met us over at the cups when they were done with Space Mountain, and then we all road Alice and Wonderland together. It was a great way to end the day.

Check Check- Day 1- SUCCESS! Little Gemma was plumb tuckered. When we returned to the hotel I ran over to a Neighborhood Walmart marketplace to grab a cord for our iphone portable charger. It was a life saver on the trip.