We left on a late Saturday night flight to Arizona. (Because we love Allegient's prices but hate just about everything else about them ;) Our flight was delayed and we got to my parent's empty home in Arizona at about 3:30 Iowa time. We slept there then hit the road for Disneyland with my parent's extra car the next morning. Iowa got suuuuuper cold that weekend (I think it was -12) so I really enjoyed our less-than-twelve hour trip to Arizona :)
Jack and David are traveling troopers. They fly and drive like champs regardless of the hour! This was David at Mesa Gateway Airport while we waited for our luggage at 2 am.
I was sad that almost all of my favorite places to eat in Gilbert were closed for the short time we were there, but we got delicious Bosa donuts for the road and I even tried one of their coconut bobas. The Street still beats all boba shops, but I'll take what I can get!
In-n-Out for lunch once we got to Anaheim.
Jack and David were so happy to play with their cousins once we got to the hotel!
The next morning, we went to Disneyland bright and early! When my mother-in-law was diagnosed with ALS back in October, the doctors told her that if she had a bucket-list, to get going on it fast. One thing on her bucket list was to take all of her grandkids to Disneyland! We are all so grateful for the hundreds of people who love her and helped make her dream come true! We all had a blast and are so grateful for the memories that we were able to make with her.
My in-laws had to call a wheel chair accessible bus to pick them up from the hotel every time they headed to the parks. The first morning, we all caught the same bus and we filled it all on our own! 22 people at Disneyland is no joke!
Finally at Disneyland!!!
It took the first hour or two of the first morning to get into a groove with 22 people, 2 riding scooters, five strollers, two pregnant ladies, and 9 kids ages 5 and under, but it went smoother than any of us imagined it would! The first two days in the parks, we actually stayed together almost the entire days.
Disneyland day 1 photodump:
Sat out during the teacups!! No thank you!!!
Pluto showed up in Toon Town! He was the only one of Mickey's friends that we didn't meet at Disney World so Jack and David were pretty excited! They are at such a fun age to interact with all of the characters and I know it won't last for long, so I really enjoyed watching them :) (They check my Disney World and Disneyland app every day to see what characters are in the parks :) I love David's smiling face peaking through in the first picture ;)
We went on the roller coaster at Toon Town and David was not a fan! Instagram video of his experience ------> here.
David hated the Toon Town roller coaster and Jack hated Space Mountain! Spencer said Jack sobbed and screamed the entire time. #parentsoftheyear
We ran into Pocahontas near the Thunder Mountain exit! She's my favorite!
One of the number one characters that Jack wanted to meet at Disneyland was Moana :) (Moana and Captain Hook, lol!) Love that boy :)
Ask Jack what his favorite ride at Disneyland is and he'll quickly tell you Splash Mountain. After we rode Splash Mountain, we asked him if he wanted to go again and he quickly said no ;) Look at his face, he's all talk! haha
The shorties who couldn't ride Splash Mountain were spoiled with treats :)
Disneyland is even more magical at Christmas time. These pictures don't do it justice! We saw one of the last showings of the Paint the Night Parade and WE LOVED IT SOOOO MUCH!!!!
All of us waiting for the parade to start.
The five Hall siblings!
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Day two at California Adventure was my favorite day!!! There are things that I like better about Disneyland and things that I like better about Disney World, but I have officially decided that California Adventure is my very favorite park of them all! I think it has the perfect combination of awesome rides and awesome shows and awesome food :)
First thing in the morning, I took the kids on the carousel while Spencer and my brother and sister-in-law went on the California Screamin' roller coaster (I was so sad I missed out, it's one of my favorites!) and then we went straight to the Toy Story ride, which we rode twice in a row. David was still pretty attached to Spencer this trip, but he occasionally would let me ride with him without crying for Spencer, which I loved :)
We grabbed fast passes for Radiator Springs Racers and got a picture of the whole clan before heading to A Bug's Land.
My mother-in-law gave all of the grandkids these cute Mickey and Minnie t-shirts for day 2 :)
The Radiator Springs rides and theming is amazing! Jack loved the cars ride and both Jack and David loved the Mater ride.
The new Frozen show was MAGICAL!
After Frozen, it was finally time for what David had been waiting for the entire trip - meeting the superheros! We waited in line to see Captain America and Spiderman while the brave people and non-pregnant people rode Tower of Terror :) The line to meet them was fairly long, but David did not mind one bit. He just stared and stared and played superheros while we waited in line :) I love this picture of David. While we were in line he kept asking me to make his hands like Spiderman's but then he wouldn't move them out of place because he couldn't make the Spidy hands by himself. So he kept his hands like this for about 20 minutes :)
Jack and David had soooo many questions for Captain America and Spiderman, and they would have talked to them all day but both Captain America and Spiderman gave them hints that their time was up by saying, "Well, should we take a picture now?" haha
Spiderman helped David get his Spidy hands in place for the picture. By the end of our trip, David could make Spidy hands by himself :)
This is what David was doing for most of the pictures :) He was star struck :)
Frozone was out walking around too!
How cute is my niece kissing on Minnie?
My mother-in-law got late lunch reservations for Ariel's Grotto and it was perfect! The food was amazing, we loved meeting the princesses, and we were seated outside in a kind of secluded area so it was relaxing and not stressful when the kids got rowdy.
Entertainment while we waited for our seats to be ready.
I was surprised at how much Jack and David enjoyed meeting the princesses :) In May, Belle made David cry and Jack was too shy to go talk to her but look at them now!
They loved talking to Tiana about New Orleans and alligators!
Rapunzel was so cute. We asked her how she got from Iowa at Disney on Ice to Disneyland and she went on and on about how she used to be such a horrible ice skater but then Anna and Elsa taught her how to skate :) My boys all loved her, including Spencer. haha!
After dinner, we went on the Monster's Inc ride and Soarin'! David's favorite rides of the trip were Peter Pan and Monster's Inc.
The original Halls rode Soarin' first and then the in-laws.
Cotton candy break for the cousins!
We rode Little Mermaid afterwards then split up before World of Color. Jack and David wanted to do Turtle Talk with Crush, but they both fell asleep on the way over! So instead, Spencer and I walked around Radiator Springs, got a treat at the Cozy Cone Motel, then headed over to meet up with everyone for World of Color. They had a seasonal Christmas World of Color show and it was super cute and mind blowing. Disney really is magical :)
Congrats if you got through reading all of this!
Disneyland part 2 ------> here
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