On November 7th we left for the most incredible family vacation ever.
We had been planning on taking the kids to Disneyland as soon as they were old enough to really enjoy it. When Dave discovered that there was a Boston qualifying race in the area over Sydney's fall break we knew it was the perfect opportunity. We booked some flights and rented a house and planned for a week in LA followed by ten days in Phoenix. But we didn't tell the kids.
The morning we were booked to leave was a Monday and our flight was at 10:30am. It was all perfect timing to surprise the kids. We woke them up at the usual time and let them in on the big surprise. The next few hours were filled with a lot of luggage, some well behaved but excited kids and one quick direct flight to LA.
Dave's parents had a later flight to LA so we didn't tell the kids that they were joining us. The next morning we let them wake the kids up to surprise them. It was perfect. I had made outfits for everyone for each day that we were in the parks. We packed up our lunch and hit the road. Our house was about 2km from the entrance to the park so we just walked to the trams and jumped on.
We kicked things off with a few pictures with Ariel, some group photos in front of the castle and our first ride of the day... Dumbo. We had opted to use our magic hour on the first morning which got us access into the park an hour early. It was the perfect way to get a fast pass or two for the rides with longer lines and to get a photo with fewer tourists in the background.
The next stop was the Bibbity Bobbity Boutique where the kids got makeovers. It was such an incredible experience for them to be treated like royalty. Henry was made into a knight with a shield and sword and Sydney a beautiful princess with a bag full of makeup and accessories. It was totally worth having to book a month in advance to see how excited they were.
After the boutique it was time to hit some rides. We started with the Pirated of the Caribbean which scared the kids a bit. We got stuck in a dark part of the ride for a few minutes while they were having technical difficulties and I think it made the kids nervous.
The next ride was the Big Thunder Mountain roller coaster. David had gotten some fast passes for it so we didn't have to wait in line but Sydney was not interested in going so we ended up going in two groups taking Henry on twice! He loved every minute of it and screamed happily the whole way. Everyone around us thought it was so cute that this little guy was having such a great time on a giant roller coaster.
We took a break for lunch and then headed to the tea cups. For some reason the kids love wild spinning rides. We followed this up by some adventuring in Toon Town. Toon Town is perfect for kids their age. The rides are age appropriate and there is so much to see and do along the way. We met Goofy and Pluto and rode on the Roger Rabbit ride and the small roller coaster.
While in Toon Town we also got to meet Mickey and Minnie! The kids were so excited to meet two of their favourite characters. We had bought autograph books for them and they were loving watching them get filled with character signatures. It was amazing.
We wrapped up day one with some time in Tomorrowland and on the way there we met one of Henry's favourite characters of all time.... Peter Pan! He turned into a major fanboy and was sooooo excited. I loved seeing him in awe of these fictional characters who he thinks are real. A ride on Star Tours and Buzz Lightyear's Astroblasters finished everything off. We grabbed a Mickey shaped ice cream on the way out of the park along with some 1st time visitor pins at City hall. We met Cruella Deville and Donald Duck on the way to the trams and headed back to the house for some dinner and some much needed rest.
Our first day at Disneyland with the kids far exceeded any expectations we may have had. We were not sure if the day would lead to meltdowns or pure joy.... but it was all happiness.
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