jack's first trip to disneyland

one of the things i was most excited about when it came to our trip was DISNEYLAND. my family has a tradition of taking kids on their first trip to d-land right before their third birthday (once they're old enough to "get it," but before you have to actually buy them a ticket ;) and since this would probably be the last time the three of us would be in CA before the summer, we went for it.

i'd been brainwashing prepping jack for it by letting him play the totally awesome disneyland app on the ipad leading up to our trip -- it walks you through a virtual park, so before we even got there he already recognized the castle, matterhorn, dumbo, etc. the thursday before christmas we dressed him up in a mickey t-shirt and hit the road.

it was a BEAUTIFUL southern california day. i mean, seriously. look at that #nofilter blue sky.

b and i scored some free park-hopper passes from a family friend (do you know we've been to disneyland four times since we've been married and never once paid for a ticket? it pays to know people, i guess ;) so as soon as we arrived, we ran over to california adventure to grab fast pass tickets to world of color. then we met back up with my mom & jack and went to disneyland!

first stop: city hall to get jack an official "1st visit" pin. then we checked out the christmas tree and all the cute decor and walked down main street. i LOVE disneyland at christmastime.

it was a little too sunny for our poor seattle eyes ;)

our first ride was dumbo and jack LOVED it. he did awesome in line the whole day and never got restless or whiny.

they were shutting some fantasyland rides down for a parade after that, so we walked to toontown. i'd really only been to that section of the park once, right after it opened, so i didnt know much about it -- but was pleasantly surprised. jack thought all the characters were really cool. especially the cars. :)

seriously, the faces on this kid!!

we got in line to meet pluto and i was freakedddd -- i've had an irrational fear of costumed characters since birth, so i've never really taken a picture with one or anything. but i got up close and personal to pluto with a smile on my face so that jack wouldn't be scared -- i just stayed two feet away the whole time ;)

we went to mickey's house and jack was in HEAVEN. i don't let him watch much TV or movies, so the only disney thing he's ever seen is mickey mouse clubhouse -- and he is a huge fan. he was so, so excited to meet mickey.

post-mickey, we realized we'd still only been on one ride so far and that needed to change asap. the closest thing was that roger rabbit cartoon spin thing and there was no line, so off we went. THAT was a mistake. have you been on that ride?!? it's all clowns and flourescent lights and spinning and horrible music. jack totally cried and i felt awful. moral of the story: do NOT go on roger rabbit's cartoon spin.

after that we needed to lighten things up so it was back to fantasyland. we went on the storybook boats (my favorite!) and small world. the christmas parade was going on RIGHT next to small world when we got there, so a.) there was no line and b.) we got to see the parade up close! i loved watching santa & his reindeer come through the gate -- the very same gate i marched through in high school when we did marching band parades at disneyland. so much fun.

by that time the park was getting reallllly crowded (apparently it was the last day for season ticket holders to go before blackout dates so everyone in a 100 mile radius decided to join us for one last hurrah) but we still squeezed in a few rides. buzz lightyear (again, who jack didn't even know existed), the jungle cruise, tiki room + dole whips, pirates of the caribbean. jack did great on all the rides, even pirates, and didn't cry at all. we got churros and took a potty break and got the best mickey sighting of them all:

and then we parted ways. mom & jack braved the INSANE crowds and went back home, and me & b stayed for date night! we had dinner at the carnation cafe on main street, then headed to california adventure. i loved the renovations and had so much fun walking around. we got ghiradelli hot chocolate and perused the new cars land (two thumbs up) and didn't ride anything because pregnant people totally get the shaft. eventually we just headed over to save good seats for world of color and that was my favorite part of the night. we sat on the ground, finishing up our hot chocolate and looking up random disneyland trivia on our phones to read to each other. i loved hanging out, just me & b.

world of color was pretty awesome but nothing sob-inducing or anything like i'd heard. after the show we took a spin on the new little mermaid ride and then headed home. such a good day!