Disneyland - Day 1

I've finally done it! I've finally gone through the 1500 pictures from Disneyland! Some of these might be repeats from my sneak peek post, but I want to hold onto these memories forever, and stories will be incomplete without some of the pictures... Also, it's REALLY hard trying to go through every photo and remember what I have or have not uploaded already!

So, to tell the story, I have to start at the very beginning. This trip has been planned FOREVER. Hubbyman and I have gone to Disneyland twice together as adults - for both our honeymoon, as well as a belated anniversary trip. And it was magic both times. We have been impatiently waiting to go back. We've had opportunities before, but something has always come up that has ruined the plans. This trip has been over 6 years in the making, and we spared no expense. It was definitely a trip of a lifetime both for us and our children.

So last December, Hubs and I started talking. We kept saying "next year" or "maybe after this". We finally decided to put-up or shut-up, and started planning our 2012 trip to Disneyland, during the Christmas season (our FAVORITE time of year!) We did our research, chose our hotel, chose our experiences, and started to book!!

Fast-forward... This secret KILLED me!!! I am AWFUL at secrets, and even more so if it's something I'm REALLY excited about!! I totally spilled the beans more than once, but thankfully the kids didn't even begin to pick up on it. I shopped during the summer for supplies, kids got strategic gifts for their birthdays (including Mickey and Minnie swimsuits, and their own luggage), and a few weeks before I started to slowly pack (so that Princess wouldn't notice when jeans go missing, or certain shirts).

We also started to plant the seeds - Daddy was going on a trip. We were going to take Daddy to the airport. We were very careful so as not to outright lie, but we wanted to make sure they were in the dark until the very end.

The night before we put the kids to bed early, and it was a little heart-wrenching when Princess started to cry because she didn't want her Daddy to go on a trip. We almost spilled the beans right then and there! But she was quickly calmed, and quickly fell asleep. I had been having excitement-induced insomnia for weeks before, so actually had to take Melatonin to help me drift off, but I did!!

3AM didn't come soon enough! We had loaded the journey the night before with our luggage, all that was left was a few pieces (toiletries, my camera bag, and the electronics bag). Hubs and I got up and dressed, and then we woke up the kids. It was all I could do not to bounce off the walls that morning, but they still didn't know. We got them dressed, and loaded up in the journey and off we went!

We arrived at the airport, and I took the kids to the departures level of the parkade (one level up from where he let us off) to "surprise" Hubs. He and I planned this out before - they thought we were surprising him, but instead, it was the BIG REVEAL!!

The youtube video is here: http://youtu.be/cGg1dWsH9Ek (for some reason, Blogspot won't let me actually upload it to my blog post!)

A few things I would have changed... We led with "we're going with Daddy", which is what set the kids off, versus "WE'RE GOING TO DISNEYLAND". Once they found out we were going on a trip, they were at the highest level of excitement they could muster. But it was still an awesome surprise!

So off we went! Princess has been asking to go on the plane ride again forever, and this was Tobes' first trip by plane ever.

I get a lot of questions about the luggage - they're called Trunkis by Melissa and Doug and the kids LOVE them!

Sleeping in Seattle - it was a LONG day!

 

TA DA!!! THE HOTEL!!!

EVERY hotel should come with the option for bunk beds! They were amazing, and the kids loved them so much!!

My surprise from Hubbyman!! He got a Christmas tree sent to our hotel room!!! It now is in my living room.

After we got set-up in the hotel room, we quickly changed and headed to the park. We had no expectations that night, we just knew we needed to get to the park and see the castle :) I was pleasantly surprised - the kids were exhausted but in amazing moods, and we were able to get a couple of rides in as well. The lines were huge, because they were getting ready for the Candlelight Processional Performance, and Mainstreet was slow-moving. It turns out that we arrived literally minutes before they lit the big Christmas Tree in the park for the evening, so we actually had a front-row view for the lighting! 

This is what greeted us when we got to the park...

 

Their first ride was Peter Pan, and they LOVED it!

After that, we took a ride on the Merry Go Round, which was also a huge hit!

We then grabbed a bite to eat in the park, and headed back to the hotel. It was SO awesome to stay in the park!! It was just minutes away, AND they had a special channel that played "Disney Princess Bedtime Stories".

The kids fell asleep almost instantly, as did Greg and I. It was an amazing start to our amazing adventure!