Surprise Disney Day!

Ed and I have been planning to take the kids to the beach for a few weeks. The week before we were planning on going Ed said to me, "you know, I was looking at hotels by the beach in Newport and if we stay at the Courtyard Mariott in Anaheim we'd actually save enough money to go to Disneyland on Saturday..." I was shocked and could only say, "are you serious?" and he responded by showing me a screenshot of our reservation that he already made. Seriously?! He is the BEST.

 I was excited, but bummed it had to be during a weekend because I figured it would be super busy. We were optimistic and decided we'd just go with the flow, be happy if we rode one ride and ate a churro! We decided to let it be a surprise to the kids and Tenley couldn't stop talking about Disneyland as we got closer to our hotel. She remembered the area and kept saying, "can we just go to Disneyland tomorrow?" After checking in we told the kids and they were so excited for Saturday:

We headed to California Adventure first because Wes wanted to see Superheroes and we were in luck because it was the 'Summer of Heroes' at the park! We made it into the park at 8:30am and began skipping down Buena Vista Street towards Hollywood Land:

We started the day by going to the 'Summer of Heroes Showcase'. Wes loved seeing the real costumes used in the movies and loved the show about all of his favorite dudes:

After the Showcase, we slung some webs with Spidey and even got his autograph. He was for sure Ev's favorite and we caught her throwing webs all day:

We spotted Groot in the distance and headed his way! As soon as we got close they warned us to put away our autograph book because Groot eats paper products and it kind of hurts his feelings to see paper. Tenley literally hid the autograph book under everything in the stroller and made sure we kept it far away:

The park was empty (on a Saturday!!) so we hit up Bug's Land and walked onto 'Flik's Flyers':

Ev spotted churros and had to make a pit stop while Tenley, Wes and I went on 'Francis' Ladybug Boogie':

Next up, we got a glimpse of Teenage Tenley behind the wheel of 'Tuck and Roll's Drive 'Em Buggies' and let me just warn you now...you're gonna wanna stay off the roads in 2027:

On our way out of 'Bug's Land' we ran into the main bug himself- Flik! He was definitely the first bug that the kids didn't run away from:

Next up, Ev wanted to go on 'Ariel's Undersea Adventure' and Tenley finally got to sit in a pink clam shell:

We stopped to buy some Mickey lollipops and admire 'Mickey's Fun Wheel':

We headed to Car's Land and took a spin on 'Mater's Junkyard Jamboree':

We ran into Doc McStuffin's and Ev was so excited to get her autograph:

As we made our way up Buena Vista Street we met Minnie Mouse and were all excited to see her:

After a long and perfect morning in California Adventure we ventured into Disneyland:

As soon as Ev laid eyes on the 'King Arthur Carousel' we had to ride it (girlfriend is obsessed with horses!):

We never get to ride 'Peter Pan's Flight' because the line is always way too long, but since we didn't have to wait for any rides we bit the 30 minute bullet and the kids loved it, despite their hatred for Captain Hook. After 'Peter Pan's Flight', we headed to 'It's a Small World'; which had Ev in utter awe:

We quickly walked through Toontown and got Goofy's autograph:

On our way to Fantasyland Tenley asked to take our picture in front of the castle so, of course, we obliged and returned the favor:

We couldn't go to Disneyland without seeing some Princesses so that's where we headed next! Wes loved Snow White and was so shy:

The next Princess we saw was my personal favorite, Cinderella. She was so sweet and when Evie told her that Ariel was her favorite Cinderella had Ev close her eyes and walked her to the next room, then told her to open her eyes and it was Ariel! Ev freaked! It was so sweet and truly magical:

As we ate lunch, Tenley spotted Alice and was so excited to get her autograph:

We found a spot in the shade, did some shopping and got some ice cream before the parade began:

The Soundsational Parade never disappoints and was just as amazing as ever:

Ev fell fast asleep on our way back to California Adventure. While she rested, we walked around Hollywood Land and Wes and T were so excited when they spotted Captain America. Wes thought he was just the best and thought it was so cool that he told him to come get him if he spotted any bad guys:

We found some shade and posted up until the Pixar Parade began:

The Pixar Parade began and I personally love this one because it's SO fun:

We headed back to Car's Land and rode 'Luigi's Flying Tires'; which was our first time ever and we loved it:

We had dinner with the best view ever- 'Mickey's Fun Wheel':

After dinner, we went on one last ride- 'King Triton's Carousel':

We ended our 13 hours of pure magic at my most favorite Disney show- World of Color:

We went into the day with no expectations at all, except to eat churros, and we far exceeded our expectations. We experienced 13 straight hours of pure magic! Just seeing the smiles on the kid's faces and seeing their joy brings tears to my eyes. This truly is The Happiest Place on Earth!