Disney Land

We kind of feel like experts at Disney World since we have been twice in the past year, but I was really excited to experience Disney Land since it was the original theme park. And they are celebrating 60 years. I explained to Sadie that it is Cinderella's castle at Disney World but Sleeping Beauty's castle at Disney Land:

 

 

We got the kids up at & left our hotel by 7:00 so we could be parked & walking in the park at 8:00 right when it opened. Luckily my family is just as crazy as we are so we were all ready to go & prepared for a long day! We decided to go straight to Fantasy Land to see the princesses first before the lines got too long. The girls were in princess heaven:

 

 

We thought we would ride all of the rides in Fantasyland first since they are geared towards the younger kids. We didn't know how long Max & Sophie would last. Of course, we let the girls ride the carousel first because that seems to be our Disney tradition:

 

 

I feel like we rode almost every ride there & we did a pretty good job of taking turns riding with each other:

 

 

After lunch we spent some time in Toon Town & all of the big kids rode Gadget's Go Coaster while they took Max & Sophie to see Mickey Mouse. This was Zoe's first official roller coaster & I don't think she quite knew what she got herself into:

 

 

I don't know if you can tell but Sadie & I were in the first car, Zoe & Daniel were behind us & then it was my Dad & Kason. After this ride, poor Zoe decided she didn't want to do anymore big rides (plus I don't she was quite tall enough) but Sadie & Kason decided they were the Big Kids Club & they were going to ride every big ride there was:

 

 

Luckily, Sadie was tall enough this time! So Bryan, Daniel, Natalie & I joined their club & had a blast riding all of the big rides while my Mom & Dad stayed with the little ones. Well, my Dad actually joined the club on some of the rides too. For the first time, we got to finally ride Big Thunder Mountain, Splash Mountain & Space Mountain:

 

 

That girl is so brave! She wasn't scared of anything & it was so much fun getting to experience these new things with her. There were 2 other rides that Sadie wasn't tall enough for so Kason got to ride those with his parents but I don't think Sadie realized. While he was on the Star Wars ride, she ran into one of their characters:

 

 

We were so busy that day that we mostly rode rides & didn't have time to make any of the parades or shows. We did stop to eat a couple of times & we had a nice break from the sun on the submarine ride that afternoon:

 

 

It was definitely hot. Not as hot as Texas, but when you are standing around outside in the sun all day, you definitely feel the heat. Thank goodness we slathered everyone in sunscreen several times so none of us got burned. Did I mention the crowds?! It was definitely crowded. Several people told me before we went that they like Disneyland better because it is smaller. It was hard to tell since we were there in the middle of the summer because it was definitely hot & crowded.

 

We pulled a Fast Pass for Space Mountain & it was from 9:30 - 10:30 that night & the park closed at 11:00. All of the kids had done so good all day staying awake, not napping & not complaining until Space Mountain. The Big Kid Club got to go ride while Mimi stayed back with the little ones. Apparently they couldn't hang anymore because this is what we found when we walked out:

 

 

Even though all 3 of them fell asleep, it wasn't time to leave yet - we had to go find a spot for the electric parade! They have an early parade, then fireworks & then a late parade, but we missed the early parade since we were using our fast pass, but it kind of worked out because since it was late, we were able to find good seats for the parade. We parked all of the little ones to save our spots & then we took turns going to get dessert. I mean seriously, you think I can leave Disney without getting a chocolate covered rice krispie treat, marshmallow or cake pop?!

 

 

Before the parade started, Max & Sophie woke up just in time for the entertainment:

 

 

She perked up once she heard the music & saw my snacks :) Those final moments were my favorite of the day. I absolutely love the electric parade! There's something about the music, the characters, the lights that is just so special. As cliché as it sounds, you can really feel the magic & I think it is the perfect way to end the day. I sat there clapping, singing & dancing the entire time, but thank goodness my sister had her camera because she got some great pictures:

 

 

We were all still going on adrenaline when we left the park even though it was after 11:00 - another 15 hour day at Disney! These kids are super troopers! Unfortunately, almost all of them were passed out before we even made it to the car:

 

 

All 3 girls passed out & only the boys were hanging on. The bad news, is we got to the car & our battery had died:

 

 

You can't really tell, but it was basically an empty parking lot. There weren't a whole lot of people left there that late at night! But in true Disney form, their customer service surprised us & showed up ready to give us a jump. Finally, we headed home after a long day with 2 tired girls:

 

 

Guess that's a sign of a good day, right?! Or in this case, a good trip! Thanks again Mimi & Doc for spoiling all of us, big kids & little kids :) We had a wonderful time on vacation & loved spending time with everyone.