MAGICAL DISNEY DAY ONE

Oh man, we had such a delightful day at Disneyland with each other. I keep thinking about all of the adventures these kids have together and I as they grow up it might be strange to think about how much time they spent together as kids because their mommies are friends. Hopefully though, they will all still be pals.

Obviously, we matched. ;) It is always fun going with Christy because she makes time for the pictures which is all that counts in the end. We got our traditional welcome shots and then as we walked in we saw Minnie. She was in her traditional outfit which had  not been the case for awhile so we had to stop and see her. We had the grumpiest photographer, but in the end we have the pictures to prove we saw her.

It was HOT. I'm not sure I have ever been there on a summer day and it was something. It was also more humid than usual. I don't remember why, but we started talking to this cast member and we told him about the grumpy guy so he offered to take pictures of us in front of the castle and so of course we modeled for him.

We headed to Fantasyland and rode the carousel, Teacups, Storybook Boats. Casey Jr Train is  my favorite and it was down the last time I was there so I was pretty happy to get to ride it. We also took Vivi on what will likely be the last time for a long time on a ride on Pinocchio. The ride terrifies her and I don't blame her honestly. Every time I ride it I think I have my sunglasses on still because it is so dark. I took a hilarious video of Vivi covering her eyes and peeking out of them and then covering them when she got scared. She has since refused to ride the ride. Fantasyland is my favorite area of the park for sure. I love the colors of all of the rides and table umbrellas and just the whole feeling in that area of the park. It is such a magical spot.

Everyone was starting to feel hungry so we went to The Plaza Inn for lunch. This was our first time eating there. It has stuff my kids really love, but it is not my favorite. But I love the setting SO much. We then headed over to the wishing well by the castle to meet Jasmine and Aladdin. It was a highlight for Emmy who I guess has quite the crush on Aladdin these days. We then headed over to Star Wars land. My friend Tiffany had been to the park the day before and had left us a suprise hidden on one of the garbage cans in Star Wars land. Stella was super grossed out and wouldn't get it because it was two pennies taped up with bandaids. We definately got a few looks while we hunted the garbage can for them. The kids were pretty burned out by the dead of the heat at this point so I was sure to get a picture of all of them sitting around and melting.

Me and the bigger girls rode Indiana Jones while Christy took Vivi to get a Dole Whip. We had a fast pass for Big Thunder, but it was down to we headed up the road to Star Wars Land.  I am not what you would call a fan of Star Wars. So I wasn't even interested in going, but I have to say, that even if you don't like Star Wars, the Land is pretty impressive. I was (and am still) too scard to ride the ride because it is a video simulation ride but everyone else rode it, including Miss Vivi. I took a little rest and sat down on this extremely uncomfortable bench. Everything is supposed to look all worn down and clunky even the rock benches that had crumbling rock in parks so you couldn't sit down on them without hurting your bum. The kids both loved the new ride and Vivi was real proud of herself for riding it.

We made our way to Matterhorn before our fast passes expired. Me and Cali and Stella rode it twice while Christy and the littles rode Alice. The second time we rode Matterhorn I put my phone in a pocket that had a melted chocolate bar that I had forgotten about, and it got chocolate all over. Christy saved the day again by having chewable ibuprophen for Stella and a wipe for my phone. (I had thought I ruined my phone speaker when I got home, but thankfully I took it to a phone place that was willing to clean out the speaker for free and they fixed it! Wahoo!)

We then had fast passes on Small World. Poor Vivi wasn't watching as she was walking onto the ride and she bonked her head on a pole and then her whole body bounced to the fence. It was like watching a human pinball baby and it looked like it hurt so bad. I was so sad for her because she loves Small World (favorite ride). Thankfully the ride is long and she was able to cheer up.

We were starting to run out of time, and the kids all had things they wanted to do. Emmy is an especially demanding child to have with us. She was pretty pouty the whole day about when she didn't get to do what she wanted to do that moment. It is a hard thing to balance, because when she is grumpy, it affects the whole group. We had fast passes on Space Mountain, but not really time for us to all take turns riding it. Emmy really wanted to ride Star Tours so I had gotten a fast pass. Stella and Cali rode Space Mountain together and while we were walking over there Mickey was having a dance party in Tomorrowland and I always love me a dance party with Mickey and friends. So unfortuneatly it did not leave any extra time for us to ride a ride while the big girls were gone and that was not cool with Emmy. It didn't matter that they were all about to ride Star Tours, she was over not being in charge of the day. And I get it.

It was Vivi's first time riding Star Tours and she really liked that one too. I was proud of her for trying two new big kid rides that day. We headed over to try our luck at Big Thunder again and while I was waiting with the little kiddos I had the girls think back on the day of all the fun things we had done that day and asked them to pick a favorite thing. I was trying to help Emmy focus on how many things we did that she wanted to do instead of her focusing on all of the things she wanted to do but didn't get to because of time. It worked...maybe. Then I rode Big Thunder with the girls and Cali and Stella would not bunch up in one row with me so I was bummed to be riding alone. But then all of the sudden this teenage boy started getting in with me. I was a bit confused at first and then realized his friends were in front of me so I told him to hop on in. Turns out, some things can actually make me feel awkward and riding with a teenage boy on Big Thunder after I told him not to get in the car with me is one of those times.

When we got off of the ride, Christy had taken the young kiddos over by Jolly Holiday to stake out a spot for the fireworks. And that is how we accidentally found the perfect spot to watch fireworks. At a certain point they rope off this area for a walkway and no one can stand in front of you. We just happpen to be able to pop in there right as they were doing it and no one was standing in front of us as we watched the show. It was a good one. I loved it. As I love the Disney magic of fireworks every single time.

Christy was about to lose her 20% merchandise discount so we spent some time in the stores and me and the girls each got a pair of ears. After we shopped we plopped down on Main Street to watch the electical parade. Vivi didn't make it and she fell asleep in her stroller before it began, but it was fun to sit and watch. We left the park and that was the end of our day.

At this point, I was seriously thinking about getting season passes. Disney had just introduced the Flexpass a few months prior and they were quite reasonably priced for how many days you could use them. And then you could make reservations for days that you were technically blocked. I was going to be spending $700 on passes for two days (these were at a discount mind you) and putting that money towards season passes was kind of making sense. I have always decided not to get them because I was afraid I wouldn't use them enough, or it would make me spend too much money on flights, hotels and food while useing them. I was definately on the fence, but it seemed too good a deal to pass up...