November 8, 2023

Disneyland at Christmas

A couple years ago we got to take the kids to Disneyland on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. It was a surprise for them, we were already on a road trip and a dream come true for me.

Walking from our hotel to the entrance Emmy somewhere guessed but we had the cover of the stroller down because it was raining. It was so so fun to see how excited they were when they realized what we were doing.

It was a little rainy in the morning but it didn’t dampen the fun at all.

The decorations are just magical at Christmas time!

It was 2021 so masks were required any time we were indoors or on a ride, but we didn’t mind!

Because this was our first time visiting Disneyland at Christmas and we only had one day we prioritized holiday events rather than riding every single ride. We loved the Christmas parade and Small World Holiday, each room had a different smell!

We enjoyed the fireworks, while Emmy fell asleep in the stroller. It was so loud but we put the cover down and she slept through all of it.

We had so much fun being together and just taking in the beauty of the park at Christmas time.

It was raining on Christmas day but as the video shows the kids just danced through it, they were having so much fun.

We had considered just spending both days in Disneyland and that would have been amazing but we decided we wanted to see California Adventure decorated for the holidays as well. Both Parks were not very busy which was very nice.

Cars Land was so cute!

While we definitely prefer Disneyland, DCA is fun too. There wasn’t any parades, or fireworks, snow or light shows so it felt less magical. So if you only have one day I would absolutely say just visit Disneyland, you won’t regret it!

We were able to get many of the rides in, mostly because we did buy the Genie+ pass for the day.

The park at night was all lit up and so beautiful.

We left for the nigh worn out and much past our bed times!

It was a very merry Christmas!

Have you ever visited the parks during the holidays? A friend told me that Disney World is even more magical so we will have to get down to Florida soon to see for ourselves!

February 10, 2019

Disneyland Trip 2019 – Days 3 – 5

If you missed it you can find days 1-2 from our trip HERE.

Day three started our second day in Disneyland. It was another rainy morning but we made the most of it with our Magic Morning Pass. We got in an hour early but only Fantasyland and Tomorrowland were open so it was pretty crowded.

We tried to hit all the rides and activities that we missed on day one. We also had to go back to Pirates because it was just so much fun. We did miss a few things we really wanted to do including riding the Rivers of America Boat and visiting Tom Sawyer’s Island. The island was often closed due to the rain, I guess that just saves us something new for our next visit =).

We had some great food for lunch but made sure to save room for the Kitchen Sink Sundae. This thing was huge and we were glad to have all five of us to help finish it. Cannon was actually really into eating this and he isn’t one to get excited about food.

We cleaned up the bowl and got a Minnie bowl (without the ice cream) to take home with us. I am looking forward to the kids eating ice cream out of these bowls when they are older and telling them about this trip.

Again we got epic stroller naps and cuddles from the kids.

We had the best time and Cannon was so brave on all the ride.

My mom had one request for the day and it was for Emerald to meet a princes. We had almost given up but as we were walking to dinner we found Ariel. My mom was right that even though the characters terrified her, she loved meeting a princess.

We had dinner in at the Grand Californian where I had the best burger ever! It was nice to sit and eat in the warmth and the kids did surprising well at a restaurant after such a busy day.

After dinner we said goodnight to my parents and headed back into Disneyland. We got to see some off Mickey’s Mix Magic projection show and it was really cute, but our main objective was to get to Autopia. We had been talking about letting Cannon drive there for so long and we couldn’t miss the opportunity. I felt like the ride had too many fumes and was too noisy for Emerald so we watched from the sideline. Cannon got to steer and had the best time.

On our last day at the parks we headed over to Disney California Adventure. The rain had passed and it was sunny and blue skies all day. This meant there were many more people in the park and it was much harder to get around, fast passes were selling out and lines were longer.

Grandma, Grandpa, Cannon and Emerald are in the red car!

We found there to be fewer rides at DCA that Cannon and Emmy could ride than in Disneyland. This is partially due to the fact the The Bugs Land used to be geared toward little kids has been closed. Although the new Marvel Land I hear that is to replace it doesn’t look like it is being built for toddlers. Even so we found plenty to do riding the Little Mermaid, the golden Zeppelins and the Grandparents took Cannon and Emerald on the ferris wheel while Cory and I got to ride the Incredicoaster. We had a blast but had to hurry to Cars Land to use a fast pass on Radiator Springs Racers.

Sadly Cannon and Emerald weren’t big enough to ride so Cory hung out with them in Cars land while the rest of us went to race (we lost). Cory said he didn’t like the ride that much so he didn’t mind missing it, I think he was just being nice. Mom and Dad had never ridden it before so it was important that they got to ride.

Cannon still had a good time seeing all the fun Cars in Cars Land.

We then spent a good amount of time at the Grizzly Peak Adventure area. Rides are great and fun but both Cannon and Emerald needed some time to run, play, climb and crawl. Mom and Dad even found sometime to ride some adult rides.

Then it was Midway Mania with the kids. In our last couple of visits to DCA we haven’t gone on Midway Mania because the lines have always been so long. They have added a fastpass now so the wait was more reasonable.

Cannon kind of got the idea of pulling the string on his shooter and made about 1% of his shots (I only did slightly better, LOL).

After that we went to Pacific Wharf for lunch. Then took our time wondering around with sleeping babies. After lunch and naps we lined up for the live Frozen show. Cannon wasn’t sure he was ready to be awake but we made the right call since he loved the show. Emmy loved the show too dancing a smiling to all the songs.

After the show we fit in a couple more rides including Mater’s and Monsters Inc.

We had dinner reservations at the Wine Country Trattoria . The restaurant was very pretty with excellent views but I would not go there again. We had to wait twenty minutes to be seated, even though we had reservations and the food was not that great.

After dinner Cory and I had fast passes for Mission Breakout. I loved this ride when it was Tower of Terror so I was excited to see if it was still as good. I would say the new overlay seemed to not quite fit but the animatronics were great and I thought the actual ride was even better! While we were on the ride Mom and Dad took the kids shopping. Cannon scored a bubble wand, I can’t wait for it to be warm enough for him to play with it in the back yard.

After that the park was closing, I felt like our time had gone so quickly and was sad to leave. I can only hope that we will be back in a couple of years.

Our fifth and final day of the trip was just a travel day. We spent the morning packing up and called an Uber for our 11am flight.

Cannon was still pretty excited about the planes.

On the way to California Cannon stayed up and watched movies. On the way home he passed out.

I guess we tired him out a bit this week.

We were so happy to get home and see the puppies that had been staying at my brother’s house.

The first picture was from when we dropped them off, the second the day before we picked them up. The weather changed a bit while we were gone. Coming home to seven degrees and six inches of snow was shock to the system.

Overall we had a great trip, it was more fun than I thought it would be. I would highly recommend taking a baby and a toddler to Disneyland, you may not get in as many rides as you used to but it’s so much more magical.

February 9, 2019

Disneyland Trip 2019 – Days 1 and 2

Our flight to Orange County left Denver at noon on Sunday so we had plenty of time to get up and get all packed into the car without having to get up too early. Even though our trip was only 5 days total it still seemed like we had to bring so many things. Traveling with a toddler and a baby is no joke. At least we knew from our last trip that Emmy was not going to sleep in a pack and play so we did not bother bringing one.

We had to pack carseats for both kids just so they could ride in a Uber to and from the airport in California. We were checking two suitcases and the carseats, I wanted to try Cannon just sitting in the airline seat and it worked out well. We pulled up and got in line to curb-check our luggage then Cory took Cannon to park the car while I had Emmy in the stroller that we gate-checked. I was worried about having a big double stroller in the airport but it was not a problem at all and much better than holding or trying to chase both kids through security and to our gate. Luckily my Mom and Dad showed up right as we were so I had an extra set of hands.

Emmy was pretty excited to have Grandma and Grandpa along for the adventure!

Cannon really enjoyed riding the bus after parking the car. It was a pretty epic day for him including planes, trains and automobiles. We picked up sandwiches from Einsteins Bagels to eat on the plane and made our way to the gate. There was just enough time to let Cannon run around and look at the planes and break down the stroller before it was time to board. We flew Southwest and didn’t pay for early seating, luckily family boarding did get us three seats together, we didn’t get a seat for Emmy as when we originally bought these tickets she was only four months old. She did great and slept the last couple hours of the flight in Cory’s arms. I am happy that when we fly again in September Emmy will have her own seat, she will be 17 months then!

The flight from Denver to Orange County (we flew to John Wayne airport instead of LAX because it’s closer to Disneyland) is just about three hours. I was a little nervous about how the kids would do on the plane but they both did great, neither of them cried at all. Cannon sat at the window and watched take-off and landing. For the middle part of the flight he happily watched movies on his tablet.

Cannon’s first flight! I still love seeing his name printed on anything.

We landed in California, got our luggage and ordered an Uber with no issue. It was a bit of a pain to have to install and remove both carseats for a 20 minute ride but it was necessary.

We got to our hotel about 3pm and unpacked a bit. A hotel room isn’t a great place to entertain a baby and toddler so we packed them into the stroller and headed for Downtown Disney. We intentionally planned to not go into the parks on our first day because we thought all the travel would be enough excitement for the kids. It was pretty fun to see the rides from outside the park! Our hotel was a little less than a mile from the entrance gates, it felt good to walk and not too far.

We met my parents and walked through Downtown Disney checking out all the shops and restaurants.

We decided to go to La Brea Bakery where I had the best clam chowder of my life.

After dinner we said our goodnights and rolled back to the hotel. Both kids were warm and snuggly so they fell asleep on the way back.

We got to bed as quickly as we could to rest up for our first day in Disneyland.

We started out or day with a Character Breakfast at the Grand Californian, where my parents were staying. While this was fun I wouldn’t do it again until the kids are both much older. The costumed characters were scary for both Cannon and Emmy plus the buffet was hard to navigate with a baby and toddler.

After breakfast it was time to head into Disneyland and we were all so excited!

The park was decorated for both Valentine’s Day and Mickey and Minnie’s 90th Birthday. It was all really cute.

We decided that It’s s Small World would be our first ride. We had heard that dark rides can be scary for some toddlers so we didn’t want to start with something that would put Cannon off all other rides.

Both Cannon and Emmy loved it and were ready to hit some more rides.

We had lunch in Toontown as we had heard some of the birthday food was worth trying. I especially liked the Minnie cupcake. Both kids had fallen asleep in the stroller so we let them nap for a while before it was time to play again!

Cannon enjoyed getting out to play and Emmy enjoyed lots of snuggles. I originally thought we might take a mid-day break back at the hotel for naps but both kids took great naps in the stroller so there was no need to leave the park.

You may have noticed from the photos that it was pretty rainy while we were there but we had some good rain gear and the stroller kept the kids warm and dry. It ended up being a good thing for us as we never had to wait in line more than twenty minutes.

We were so lucky to have my parents with us for this trip! Not only did we get to share the magic of the kids first trip to Disney with them but they also deepened their bond with these kiddos. Also they were kind enough to take the kids to do fun rides or go shop while Cory and I got a chance to do rides that were too big for the kids. Grandma and Grandpa got in their favorites too!

Some of Cannon’s favorites from the day were:

It’s a Small World
Pirates of the Caribbean ( I thought this might be too scary but he loved it)
Winnie the Pooh

Later we had dinner reservations at the Blue Bayou. If you haven’t been there it is the restaurant that is right at the begining of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. It’s dark and fun to hear all the riders in the boats and the food is amazing.

After dinner my parents called it a night but we were still ready to have fun so we got in a few more rides including Alice in Wonderland which was my childhood favorite.

This time of year Disneyland closes pretty early at 8pm and we were headed out right before they closed. We would have liked to have watched the parade but you have to claim a spot really early and at nine months and two and a half years old my kids aren’t ready to sit and wait for an hour. Some things will just have to happen on later trips.

_______________________________________

Days 3-5 coming in another post.

Are you a big Disney person? I really do love Disneyland it has a really special place in my heart from when I was a child.

Cory and I also went just the two of us a couple times. I know some people think that’s odd but we loved it. We went for our second anniversary back in 2008.

We went again in the fall of 2015, that trip was really fun because they had all the Halloween decorations up.

That trip was extra special because on the last morning right before leaving for our flight I found out I was pregnant with Cannon. It made a fun trip that much more memorable (and explained why I was so tired and not feeling great, LOL).

February 8, 2019

Friday Favorites – Disneyland Edition

We just got back from our trip to California, five days traveling and door busting at Disneyland was so much fun but also pretty exhausting.

We are all pretty glad to be home, especially since Cory seemed to come down with a cold as we were leaving and now the kids and I have it too.

It’s also nice that it’s Friday so hopefully we can take some time to put the house back together. Our two almost back to back trips has left us a little upside down.

I did not run at all during our trip, we didn’t have access to a gym and there wasn’t really time to run anyway. We walked over ten miles everyday so I call it good. I am happy to be back home and back to routine, too bad it was seven degrees and icy this morning!

_________________________________________

Here are some of my favorites from this week, many are from our Disneyland trip =)

These Nike Flex Contact shoes are so comfortable! We walked over 22,000 steps a day while visiting Disneyland and California Adventure. My feet felt great the entire time even though they were soaked most of the time!

I am in LOVE with these Tierra Sunglasses! They are comfortable, don’t fog up, are polarized and are only $20. Great find!

We love these Chobani Gimmies pouches. I love that they are low in sugar and easy to take with us, Cannon loves the flavors.

The Disneyland App is a must have if you are visiting the Disneyland Resort! It shows all the wait times, holds your tickets, you can mobile order food (skip the line!) and make reservations. You can also request Fast Passes for your entire party if you get the MaxPass, and I think it’s worth it for the MaxPass as well.

The iMuto Charger was a life saver! We knew from previous experience that even though the Disneyland App is awesome it also drains your battery. I asked for a portable charger for Christmas and Cory got me this one. I love that you can charge up to three devices at once and it charges quickly. The one downside is that it is pretty heavy but I think it’s worth it for a working phone.

Last but not least, I have talked about our Thule Chariot before but it gets a special shout out here. It rained a lot the first two days we were at Disneyland and it was pretty chilly. The built in rain cover kept the kids completely dry and warm all day. We also packed the diaper bag and extra jackets in the back and everything stayed dry. I was very impressed!

_____________________________________

I hope you all are having a fabulous Friday. Any favorites from your week?

runwithbeth