Disneyland Family Trip 2010

After my Dad announced just over 5 years ago that he was planning to take ALL of us to Disneyland....it has finally came to pass!! It was an amazing, sometimes stressful, mostly magical, unforgettable experience!We all met at the Jetblue terminal at the Salt Lake City Airport. This was the first flight for our girls. It was also theirs and Bill's first time to Disneyland!



Ce'Nedra was so excited to have a window seat!



Acacia took her first flight very seriously!

We wasted no time getting to the parks!



We began our adventure with a trip Soaring Over California. As we waited in our first of many lines, we were able to meet our first character - Goofy the Pilot!
We headed to a Bug's Life movie theatre - the Bug 3D glasses were about the only fun part of this for the girls. I'm glad we took pictures of the fun before the movie as Ce'Nedra was so scared we had to leave the show early.


The girls were so excited about the huge carousel. So we took a spin around King Triton's Underwater Kingdom.




After the Under the Sea Carousel we met up with one of our favorite Toy Story Characters - Woody! We LOVED seeing Lydia as she was so in love with Woody we had to drag her away from him.
Time was flying as we had one fun adventure after the other. Before we knew it, it was dinner time! So we headed out of the park anticipating our dinner at Bubba Gump's Shrimp Company!
The newest member of our family - Matt Ivory, let each girl have a shoulder ride out of the park. He's so fun! We LOVE you Matt!

I was in complete and total seafood heaven! What a fuss was made as the waiter brought not just a plate, but the whole pot of steamed fish for me to enjoy all by myself!! Okay, I did share some mussel's with Bill! :)


The guys and girls had to do their own photo shoot!



After a delicious seafood dinner we headed to Grandpa Bill and Grandma Malene's room for a very special surprise for the kids. They didn't know that they were each going to receive their favorite princess' dress and matching cape. These were a gift from a family friend.



We then headed back to the park to finish off our enchanted evening with fireworks and a wonderful chance encounter with all of our favorite characters.


Goofy's laugh is infectious - even after a long day!



We also made a stop at the Emporium to purchase our Mickey Ears!


Ce'Nedra's face shows how we were really feeling after such a long and eventful day!

It didn't take long and they were all fast asleep in their beds with dreams of much anticipated adventures in their heads.

Our next day started out bright and early! Today we would head to The Rain Forest Cafe for a delicious breakfast!

The atmosphere was amazing! As you walked in to the cafe you were greeted by a huge aquarium with a live diver who stopped her cleaning duties to pose and wave at the kids for pictures.
Bill's sister Carolyn made each one of us a beautiful leis to wear for this fun day!
As we found our table the waiter told us to take some time to look around but to be aware that there was usually a thunderstorm every 20 minutes. Since it was so early, we had most of the cafe to ourselves and had fun posing for and taking pictures.




This is my favorite picture of all of my sisters!
Ce'Nedra even captured some fun ones of Bill and I by another aquarium.


Then the FOOD arrived! Wow! The portions were out of control. Just FYI - I only ate two full pieces of the breakfast pizza! I was able to share with everyone!


After breakfast we took the monorail into Disneyland.






We started off by taking the Submarine Finding Nemo ride. It was so exciting to be in a real submarine!






Then we headed off to one of Ce'Nedra's favorite rides, Autotopia. She is still telling us she has a "real" license to drive now.







We made a stop to shoot at some targets at the Toy Story ride. Bill Hooley was the big winner!


Then we headed to my favorite part of Disneyland - Fantasyland! We had to stop outside of Sleeping Beauty's Castle for pictures!
We all took turns taking a ride with Dumbo!




I meant to take a close up of myself and Bill, but didn't do a very good job! Instead it ended up being a perfect shot of how much fun my Mom was having watching the grandkids!Now on to the ride that is left forever sining in your head, "It's a Small World After All, and on and on and on and on....."





Toon Town Trolly Car Family Photo Shoot!

My Dad having a blast driving his personal Roger Rabbit Toon Car!


We had to make a stop at both Minnie Mouse and Mickey's House while we were visiting Toon Town!






The Micky Mouse Roller coaster turned out to be a big hit, especially when Matt promised the girls he'd sit with them.



Then comes my favorite part of the trip! Meeting Pooh Bear and his friends. I've always had a soft spot for all the the Hundred Acre Wood creatures.


I was so excited when Pooh gave me a big fluffy hug and Tigger was bouncing with delight after I gave him a huge kiss on the cheek! I think the girls really loved trying to cheer up Eeyore.








Acacia was excited when she noticed that he did in fact have his tail with him!

The end of the night was fun as the girls enjoyed a spin around in the Tea Cups with Daddy!

The final day at Disney was a nice day to do things with just our own family.
However, before we took off on our own Grandpa Bill had a HUGE surprise in store for us all at Goofy's Kitchen for breakfast.







All of the girls put on their new princess dresses and were off for a fun day! We were able to enjoy Mickey Waffles and lots and lots of yummy foods from the huge buffet while all the Disney Characters came to our tables to visit!! It was simply amazing!!





This was the day each family had the chance to go and do their own thing.
Of course, we started back at Pooh's corner - again, my favorite place.

Plus, it was close to Splash Mountain, which Acacia ended up loving so much she rode it twice and even enjoyed being soaking wet! The girls also enjoyed a trip up Tarzan's Tree House - so did I! I really needed to burn off those extra calories!
All the girls met up with my Mom for lunch at The Tortilla Factory for some yummy Mexican food and the guys headed over to the ESPN Zone for some guy time with my Dad!





After lunch the girls were treated to their first experience at Build a Bear. It was so much fun watching the girls create their own animal and find accessories for it too.





We rode the train back to Fantasyland and enjoyed the fireworks from a better angle this time! We were able to see TinkerBell and Dumbo flying just above us! We were so excited to be the first ones to the Pinocchio Ride once they reopened the rides. We then let the girls pick out a HUGE lollipop from the Candy Shoppe and the last ride of our trip was Snow White!




This was the view of the castle under the moon as we left Disneyland and brought with us lots of magical memories! Thanks for taking this trip with us!


Please leave us a comment - we like to know who else enjoyed our adventures!