The First Day of Disneyland

There is no doubt about it... we are experiencing the magic of Disney in full force!

We arrived yesterday morning after a fairly uneventful flight down to California. Well, it was almost uneventful... about an hour before it was time to leave the house to cross the border I realized that Reagan's passport had expired. Yes, me, the ultimate planner and organizer let that very important detail slip right by me. Thankfully, we had no trouble at the border or at the airport, but you can rest assured that I will have that situation taken care of before we head down to the Carolinas in July!

We left our hotel in Seattle just before 4:00AM to head to the airport for our 6:00AM flight. I had expected Reagan to sleep on the plane, but I was completely wrong in that plan. She was wide awake for the 2.5 hour trip! She did manage to fall asleep on the short 30 minute shuttle ride from the airport to our Disneyland hotel, and I have NO idea how she managed to do it. That was the bumpiest ride I have ever been on. I was afraid that my head was going to smack the ceiling a few times!

We got checked into our hotel and in less than an hour we were on our way to the parks. Reagan chose to wear her Belle dress for the first day of touring, and she was just as cute as can be. The moment when she first saw Sleeping Beauty's Castle was priceless...
As unfair as it was, I was starving and I had to eat. Once we were through the castle, we headed straight to the nearest restaurant so that the pregnant lady could fill her tummy before getting sick. Since this meant that Reagan was going to have to wait to ride any of the rides, we decided that it was only fair to let her choose whatever she wanted for lunch. Only a birthday girl in Disneyland can get away with eating cake for lunch!
The first ride that Reagan wanted to ride was the Mad Hatter's tea cups. She had been talking about these tea cups for two days straight, so we were excited that they were one of the first rides that we came to. She rode them twice in a row before we moved on to the next big thing.
The next big thing was actually small... A SMALL WORLD!
Next came a moment I will never forget... the moment when Reagan first saw and met Cinderella. Reagan was simply starstruck. Cinderella was there with her helper mouse named Pearla. Reagan very proudly asked for their autograph and then posed for the pictures.
Next on the Princess Promenade was Snow White...
Sleeping Beauty/Princess Aurora was the final princess for Day 1...
We left from the Princess Fantasy Faire and headed on over to Mickey's ToonTown Madness. Pluto was happy to get some hugs from Reagan as we were walking down the street.
Pluto was hanging out just across the street from Minnie Mouse's house, and Reagan was thrilled to be able to go inside and take a tour. Of course, she was most excited about meeting Minnie out on the front porch! Ryan was excited to say that he had been in Minnie's bed, and I was happy to share a cup of tea with Reagan in Minnie's kitchen.
Mickey Mouse conveniently lives right next door to his best gal Minnie, so we took a tour of his palace next. Again, Reagan was bouncing off the walls when she realized that she was going to get to meet the BIG MOUSE!
Shortly after all of our excursions in ToonTown, it started to rain. Luckily for us, we had dinner reservations in only about 20 minutes, so we purchased a few ponchos and strolled on over to the Blue Bayou in the New Orleans District for dinner. By the time we had finished our meals, the rain had stopped!
After dinner, we joined the crowds lining up on Main Street for the Celebration parade. These characters in Disneyland sure know how to throw a street party!
By the time the parade had ended, it was almost 7:00 o'clock. After only 6 hours of sleep the night before for Reagan, we decided that we should call it a day and head back to the hotel. We would save the fireworks for another night!

On Day One, we managed to experience the Mad Hatter's Tea Party, Alice in Wonderland, It's a Small World, Storybook Land Canal Boats, The Disneyland Railroad, Disney Princess Fantasy Faire, Mickey's House, Minnie's House, the Gadget's Go Coaster, and King Arthur's Carrousel.

Day One was a complete success! The longest line was only about 15 minutes long, and most of the rides didn't have a wait time at all. The forecast had called for rain all afternoon, so we were pleased to only see a few minutes of rain that day.

When we asked Reagan what was her favorite part of the day, she said "ALL OF IT!" We finally managed to get a more specific answer out of her when she told us that the Gadget's Go Coaster was her favorite ride and meeting the princesses was her favorite part of the day. As we were heading back to the hotel, she asked if we could stay in Disneyland forever.

I will try to post about our adventures each night. But if I don't, just know that it is because we are having TOO MUCH FUN!!!!