Get ready for some PHOTO MADNESS! I just can't choose, I love each and every one. So I'm just going to share them all.
For the past two Christmases, the boys were given gift cards to Disneyland from their grandparents, Adam's mom and dad, which allowed us to save up for another family Disney trip more quickly than we thought we would be able to. Three cheers for Grandma and Grandpa!! It's kind of crazy to think this one may be the last Disney trip before our Zac graduates and heads off on a mission and to college. Nope. I'm just going to stop that right now. Maybe we can sneak one more in.... A mama can always hope!
We debated about when would be the best time to use the gift cards, and although we had just been out to Cali for Thanksgiving, we just couldn't wait one more second to get the family to Disney, so pretty much on December 26th we had decided to plan for spring break Th best part, Grandma and Grandpa would join us! We haven't been able to Disney with them!
We knew it would be crowded, we've done Disney over spring break before, and generally try to avoid it now because it's so busy, but it's just too hard for Zac to miss (and then play catch-up for) a full week of high school, so we decided on doing Disney for three days, to account for the lines. The real perk was that my sister was able to buy the boys' tickets using the current CA Resident deal for a 3-day one-park-each-day pass. That helped the cost SO much! Thanks a million, Sis!
Grandma and Grandpa wanted to be close to the park, so anyone could come and go if they were tired, or wanted to start later in the morning, and Grandpa had a meeting or two he needed to sneak away for, so we stayed in a great little Disney-themed house just a few blocks from the park, and I completely forgot to take pictures of its cuteness! The night we arrived, we had a special surprise visitor, Adam's brother Ryan had been in Vegas and drove out to surprise us in Anaheim! It was really great!
It was a perfect Disney-magic-packed three days! Good golly, I love Disneyland. It was crowded, yes, but Disney knows how to make crowds work. We had so much fun! In addition to our crew of Chaos and Grandma and Grandpa, Ryan was able to spend the first day with us, plus, my sister also got a day-off from mamalife and came to play with us, thanks to Jason's willingness to stay home with the babes and miss out on the fun so she could relax at Disneyland for the day. Thanks, Jason! It was the best!
We hit all of our favorites on day one, some of them twice. We were able to get some rider-swap passes for a couple of the rides, so we could re-do them when Dan and Nicolle arrived late-morning. I have been following an Instagrammer called Disneyhugry, so in addition to all the rides, we had to eat our way through all the deliciousness of the park. Day one was SO much fun!
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| "Pull over at that scenic viewpoint, now!!" Screeeeeeeech! Gorgeous Capitol Reef! The pictures really don't do it justice. |
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| "OK, everyone! Look directly into the sun and smile!" |
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| Pool time in Beaver, UT before the second leg of the drive. |
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| The drive from Utah into Arizona is so stunning along I-70! Adam doesn't let me drive it because I am too distracted oohing and ahhing! |
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| Arrived. YES! |
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| Let's do this!!!!! |
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| "EEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!! We're at DISNEYLAND!" That's what's going through my head. |
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| Sissies! But not sissies. |
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| Pirates: the very best Disneyland ride! We did it 4 times in our 2 days, lines be darned! |
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| Dead men tell no tales! |
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| I love this one! Nom nom nom. Mmmmm...Mickey beignets.... |
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| Haunted Mansion with our creepy little Mickey beignet friend! |
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| Let's go visit Winnie the Pooh! |
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| Treats at the Hungry Bear! |
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| I love a good kid-with-map photo. |
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| Going on a cruise through the jungle! |
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| In the Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Room! (with the Dole Whip!) |
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| Joined by Grandma and Grandpa for some Star Tours fun! Little did we know, Grandpa turned out to be a Rebel spy and we nearly crashed our spaceship! |
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| The trees were in gorgeous full-bloom! |
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| Wait, that kid should NOT be driving us into the Temple of the Forbidden Eye! He doesn't even have his license yet! |
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| Let's go on Star Tours again! This time TOMMY was the Rebel Spy! We are just a bunch of rebels! |
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| The real reason we go to Disneyland--the corn dog cart on Main Street. Rides, schmides. |
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| Look who we ran into! She was mean! And hilarious! "Go ahead, bow to me." (Colleen stumbles from an awkward curtsy). "Don't fall, silly girl. Who will pick you up? No one." "Go ahead, take the selfie. I'm always ready; I have no bad angles." She was awesome! |
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| Bro v. bro. |
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| Autopia! We thought Ben needed to practice his driving after the disaster on our trip to the Temple of the Forbidden Eye. |
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| Note: Don't selfie and drive! |
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| I LOVE Mary Poppins, so obviously, I love the Jolly Holiday Cafe! |
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| That Mickey macaron is amazing! The chocolate mousse cupcake also not terrible. |
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| Dancing down the walkway with Uncle Ryan! |
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| Three handsome Conlin men! |
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| Splash Mountain! |
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| I love this reaction that I caught when the older boys saw Tommy, drenched, get off of Splash Mountain. |
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| I'm fine guys; all good here. |
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| I can't not scream. |
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| Nicolle, Adam and Ryan, calm and pensive, Luke just can't look, and Tommy looks like he's going to poop his pants! Hahahaha! |
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| Well, if we're going to do Bear Country again, we're going to have to go back to the Hungry Bear. |
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| We are suckers for a good caramel apple. |
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| Splash Mountain...AGAIN! |
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| The attendant at the end of the line on Splash Mountain gave us these bonus skip-the-line passes because we actually knew the name of the movie that Splash Mountain is based off of! (thanks to my Aunt Barb who owned it from way back when!) Not only do we know it, some of us have SEEN that not-so-subtly-racist flick! On that note, it's actually nice to know that most people don't know/have not seen.... We used them to jump the line at Thunder Mountain, that line always moves so slow! |
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| One of my favorite pics from the day! |
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| Corn Chowder in New Orleans Square. Didn't need Disneyhungry to tell me about this one, it's been a fave for a long time! |
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| Let's visit the spooky spooks again! |
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| Grandpa chose to sit this one out. I sure do love my people! |
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| The robotic voice announcing the Main Street Electrical Parade is basically my favorite sound. So much nostalgia from when I was a kid! |
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| Ahhhhh...so satisfying. A perfect day one. |
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