The Happiest (and most expensive) Place on Earth

It was finally Disneyland day! This was the day we were all looking forward to the most, for sure. Our hotel was blocks from the park so we took a shuttle over an hour before it opened. We decided to head to the back of the park first and work our way from there. First up was Splash Mountain.

Now, it's been 15 years since I'd been to Disneyland so I honestly forgot what Splash Mountain consisted of, besides the obvious of course. I could have sworn that there was maybe one slight drop inside, so that's what we prepared the kids for. We could not have been more wrong. It was darker than I remember and there were three pretty substantial drops, in the dark. By the time we got to the conveyer to the final drop the kids were all losing it. I was holding Briella in front of me, holding James's hand behind me. They were all crying and wanting to get off the ride and never go again. What we got was the best Splash Mountain photo ever. Ben and I are extremely mean parents because we could not stop laughing at it. I promised the kids I wouldn't put it on Instagram but I did warn them that it was going on the blog.

It was a good thing Space Mountain was closed that day because there was no way we would have been able to talk them into that one! 

Right when we were waiting to get our prints, Winnie, Tigger and Eyeore showed up! Perfect timing!

Totally recovered from their super traumatic experience.

 

We headed over to Frontiersland next and climbed Tarzan's Treehouse a couple times (I'm still sad that it's not called Swiss Family Robinson's treehouse, I had the kids watch the movie in preparation for it!)

I had checked online and thought Briella was tall enough for all the rides. We got in line for the Indiana Jones ride and then found out that she was two inches too short! So Ben, James and Avery went on that while Briella and I wandered around.

We went over to the Captain America experience and met the man himself. The kids were starstruck. He asked them all to pose like an Avenger. Avery was Thor, Briella was Hulk and James - Captain America. 

I had an app on my phone that listed the wait times for rides and character meetings. I had my eye on the Frozen meet and greet and when it said only 45 minutes (rather than 2-3 hours) we headed over there. Then we learned that you actually have to get a Fast Pass for it first thing in the morning and that they weren't offering any more for the rest of the day! The girls were really looking forward to meeting Elsa and Anna and I was upset at myself for not doing my research and learning about that beforehand. We stopped in the restaurant by them to get a snack and had just sat down when Elsa and Anna walked in! It happened so fast that I couldn't even get my camera out. The girls were completely shocked and couldn't stop talking about how pretty they were and how they couldn't believe that they actually saw them.

We did all the rides in Fantasy Land. The lines were a little crazy and it was hot. The kids entertained themselves by trading pins with other kids in line. 

Briella was the only one that would go on the teacups with me. I videotaped her while we spun and giggled like crazy.

We headed over to It's a Small World and the kids had a scavenger hunt to find all the Disney characters that had been added to the different countries. Briella was super excited when she found a purple hippo (her favorite color and animal).

Excuse the blurriness, I just love how excited she is!

Ben and James went on a hunt for a certain pin that James wanted so the girls and I got in line to meet Rapunzel. The line was taking forever and then we found out that she was leaving and being replaced by Merida. The girls weren't willing to wait that long for her. So we snuck a picture. 

Ben took James and Avery over to the Indiana Jones ride again so Briella and I headed to Toon Town to hopefully meet Mickey. He wasn't there because he was getting ready for the parade.

The parade was amazing. It was probably the highlight for me. Watching the kid's faces light up, especially when the characters waved at them was priceless. Even James got into it. 

It was definitely a memory filled day. The kids were the perfect age. They didn't complain about the lines or the heat. We had to run to catch the last shuttle for the day but even that couldn't put a damper on the day.

We were all exhausted and slept super well. Next up, San Francisco!