We arrived really late Monday night. We got to the hotel and it felt just like Christmas Eve. We had been talking up Disneyland to Grant for weeks and it was finally time! Grant climbed into Grace's bed and jumped and jumped and made her laugh so hard.
The magic of Disneyland had already begun because these two normally fight like cats and dogs.
{There were tons of tender mercies that occurred on our trip, some actually before we even left. One of the big ones was that our hotel room for some reason was a suite- so we had two separate bedrooms, which was wonderful for the kids.}
Early the next morning we made our way to the most magical place on earth- Disneyland!
We were all so over the moon happy and excited to be there! Spirits were high while we waited in line to buy tickets.
Grace was our normal little ray of sunshine and Grant was so overwhelmed with everything he saw! He pointed out absolutely everything with lots of excitement.
Once we got into the park, we were pretty overwhelmed with all of our options and didn't quite know what to do first.
I checked my handy dandy Disneyland App (I will talk more about this at the end of this post), and saw that the Winnie The Pooh ride was only a 5 minute wait aka NO wait, so we tried to head over to Critter Country to do that- BUT... I got us lost.
WHICH actually ended up by being a really good thing because guess who we saw?
Yup, Woody.
One of Grant's favorite movies is "Woody-ee-Buzz", so right out of the gate one of our Disneyland Wishlist items was checked off! Too much of a coincidence to be a coincidence if you ask me- tender mercy number two!
Grant wanted to "Go see 'im." really bad, but once it was his turn to meet Woody he got pretty shy. I wasn't surprised at all because well, he is pretty darn huge.
After that, we went and rode Jungle Cruise.
That one was about a 15 minute wait, and 15 minutes is a reaaaallly long time when you have a toddler. That was our first time waiting in a long-ish line, and it was the most difficult. But I will say that as the day went on, and each line we waited in, he just got better and better and better at it. I am proud to announce that Grant now understands what "waiting his turn" means.
We had a lot of fun riding Jungle Cruise, especially Grant- who loved being on the boat, and seeing the jungle "animals" a lot closer than he ever has at any zoo. ;)
After Jungle Cruise, Jaron led us correctly to Critter Country and we rode the Winnie the Pooh ride.
To say Grant loved it is an EXTREME understatement.
Grant has loved Winnie the Pooh since he was a baby and on the ride he literally looked like he could not believe his eyes the whole time!
After the ride, we had a great surprise outside waiting for us!
After a couple little tantrums while having to wait in line, Grant got to meet some characters from Winnie the Pooh.
First, he got to meet Tigger. He gave him a high five and bounced and bounced and bounced and bounced and bounced with him! Then he met Eeyore and gave him a great big hug. (Grace hated all of these characters by the way- they scared her to death lol.)
At the end of the line, Grant's dreams absolutely came true and he got to meet Winnie The Pooh. He walked up to him so slowly and just started at him- again, not believing his eyes. He went up and touched his nose, hands, face, ears and tummy, just taking it all in. He gave Pooh a hug and a kiss and wasn't so thrilled when we broke up their meeting for a photo.
Because there was a line behind us, we literally had to pry Grant away from that silly old bear. :)
We ate lunch at the Jolly Holiday Bakery Cafe, where I had the most delicious Caprese Sandwich I have ever had in my life. We chose a little table toward the back in some trees so that Grace could keep sleeping while we ate.
That place was not outrageously priced and the food was excellent!
During the day we were able to ride a TON of rides! All of us! Even Grace! I know some people think it is stupid to take little kids to Disneyland but seriously-- it was so wonderful.
We rode It's a Small World, Casey Junior Circus Train, Pirates of the Caribbean (the only one that scared Grace- she wasn't a fan of the big drop in the dark) King Arthur Carrousel, and Indiana Jones (we got Fast Passes and took turns since the kids couldn't ride) Grant also visited Goofy's Playhouse and rode Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin with his Dad.
It was so cute because after every ride we went on, Grant would give us a little report and it always went like this... "It's so fun! Ride again?"
But he said it especially about the Winnie the Pooh Ride.
"It's so fun! I see Pooh, Rabbit, Teeger, Pig-wet! Ride again? Ride again!"
Grant rode Winnie the Pooh I think four or five times that day? I lost track! :)
I think Grace's favorite part about Disneyland was the live band, because she clapped and giggled through their whole performance (well, all that we watched at least), all the Trail Mix she ate, being worn by dad, and King Arthur's Carousel. She also really loved her Minnie Mouse doll that she got as a souvenir. She held on to that Minnie and didn't let go for anything. I've never seen her act that way with a toy before. Those things made her happiest, I think. :)
After 12 straight hours of Disneyland, both the kids were fast asleep and our feet felt like death but I was determined to watch the Paint the Night Parade. I read that it was the most over the top parade ever because of it being the Diamond Celebration for 60 Years of Disneyland, and I reaaaaally wanted to see it!
We had to wake Grant up for the parade, and because he accidentally hadn't had a diaper change in a while... he peed on me. So, I held a grumpy toddler on my hip (because we were squeezed like sardines in between a billion people) and he had pee pants and I had pee overalls because of it.
The parade took longer to start than expected, so I put him back in the stroller and he fell back asleep for a few more minutes.
Then the music started.
His eyes bolted open, and he started dancing. It was too hilarious. So we got him back out of the stroller and I held him while we danced to the music. Then the floats started coming- it was so spectacular!
Jaron offered to hold Grant on his shoulders so that he could see- pee pants and all. #1 Dad Award right there. <3 (Happy Father's Day Sweetheart!)
The parade was amazing! Worth the wait. So so SO much fun. So magical. It was amazing. Every float was HUGE. It was breathtaking! Grant made his dinosaur dance and loved it! I think Grace liked it too.
I really wanted to stay for the fireworks too, but we decided to head back to the hotel.
It had been the most perfect day ever.
We got do to everything we wanted to do. We saw everything we wanted to see. We met everyone we wanted to meet. All of our Disneyland Wishlist Items were checked off. It was like a dream. It went off without a hitch. It was magic.
The best part of the whole day, was that Grant and Grace literally fell asleep giggling.
And hey, I fell asleep with the biggest smile on my face too.
I will never forget our family's day at Disneyland and I hope we get to go again. I really REALLY can't wait to go back.