Magical World of Disney!

We had SO much fun at Disneyland! Even though Ellie couldn't ride on all the rides we were able to do the switch passes with each other. Usually one of the girls was happy to ride on it a second time with Ken or I.

We decided to keep it a surprise from the girls. I figured since it was so last minute that it wouldn't be that hard to keep it a secret. But I was wrong. :) A couple days before we left Ashlan saw our neighbor outside after school. She started talking to her and said "So are you guys going to Disneyland or did you change your mind?" And then my mom sent them Valentine Cards in the mail. I never got the chance to talk to my mom about it, so she heard it from my sister. Apparently she didn't get the memo that it was a secret. So the girls are reading the cards and it says "Have fun in Disneyland!". I totally played it off and said "It must be someone else that she is thinking of". Thankfully the girls believed me. :)

On the way to the airport I had made a puzzle for them to do. They weren't as fast as I thought they would be at it. They had to cross out certain letters and then the letters that were left uncrossed they had to fill in at the bottom to spell the message. We were getting closer to the shuttle parking so I quickly grabbed Ashlan's paper to help her out. I ended up having to fill in the message myself and then I handed it back to Ashlan -- "Here, read it." It said "We aren't going to grandma's, we're going to Disneyland!". They were still surprised and didn't believe me.

They have the most amazing landscaping! I loved the flowers at the entry into the park. If that didn't make me antsy for spring, I don't know what would.


Me and Ellie in front of the Winnie the Pooh ride.

The Adams Girls!

Caitlin helping out with the High School Musical parade. :)

Those of you who are planning a trip to Disneyland I have a helpful website for you to visit. It's called Ridemax. You can order this program for $15. You tell it which days you are going, which rides you want to ride and it will figure out the ride schedule to save you time in line. They also give you really good tips and hints about the parades, fireworks, shows, and anything else! It's guaranteed too, so if you decide after your trip that it didn't work for you, you can always get your money back. I loved it! We didn't spend more than 20 minutes in any line...and we went during the busiest weekend in February.

Something else we figured out on our last day. We booked through Getaway Today and they give you free pins to stick on your lanyard. I didn't know this, but you can take those pins and find any Disneyland worker who also has pins and exchange your pin! The girls had fun switching their pins out and hunting down the cute princess ones.

One last highlight of our trip was on our last day. We happened to be at the front of one of the lines when the gates opened. We were standing there and one of the workers came to ask for a family to volunteer to help them. My hand immediately went up "We will!" :) I didn't know this either, but they have a family each morning welcome everyone into the park. So we were the first ones into the park that day and we were given "honorable citizen" button pins to wear. He introduced us as the Adams Family from Utah and we were able to help count down from 10 and welcome the crowd in by saying "Let the Magic Begin". The whole trip was truly Magical!