Austin & Cami Richards: California Vacation -- Part 1: Disneyland

Sunday, May 18, 2014

California Vacation -- Part 1: Disneyland

For Christmas, my mom and dad gave us the gift of a vacation. They must have known that is one of my absolute favorite things to do! We were given a trip to San Diego. No trip to Southern California is complete without a Disneyland trip though (especially since Austin and Kennadi has never been). We headed out on the long drive to California on Sunday morning. We left way early in the morning, 4 am early to be exact, in hopes that Kennadi would sleep most of the way down there. Boy were we wrong. Kennadi only slept for about an hour the whole way down. She was a perfect angel though. She hardly made a peep and was pleasant the whole way. We were anticipating many stops along the way but due to Kennadi being a rockstar we made it to California much earlier than expected. We arrived before we could check into our hotel so we parked the car and walked over to Downtown Disney. This is the first taste Austin had of Disneyland and I think he was impressed! We both were getting really anxious to actually go into the park the next day. At Downtown Disney, we wandered through the Disney stores, grabbed a bite to eat, and then headed back to the hotel to check in. We then spent the rest of the day relaxing, waiting for the rest of my family to arrive, and swimming.

Sitting in the car...

The next morning, we headed over to Disneyland first thing in the morning! My family has a tradition of always heading onto Pirates of the Caribbean as the first ride of the trip. Unfortunately that ride was closed down for our whole trip as well as Indiana Jones. Talk about disappointing! We opted to ride Thunder Mountain Railroad first and then ventured over to Fantastyland. Kennadi was in heaven riding all of the rides. I was surprised she never got scared and was always willing to try different rides. She absolutely loved Dumbo, Teacups, and the Winnie The Pooh ride. I am sure Kennadi wouldn't have minded riding those rides over and over again. During the afternoon, we headed back to the hotel room for a quick nap break. When we arrived back at the park, we stopped and watched the parade. Kennadi loved seeing all of the Disney characters and was perfectly content just sitting on my dad's shoulders and staring the whole time. After the parade we rode more rides until they finally kicked us out of the park. It was a successful first day!

On Tuesday morning, we opted to go to California Adventure first. We hit the Radiator Springs ride first so that we didn't have to wait in the 2+ hour line that usually accumulates throughout the day. We were definitely fans of that ride, it may even be Austin's favorite ride! Later on that day, Austin and I waited outside The Tower of Tower with Kennadi and Easton while the rest of my family went on that ride. We were sitting right by a cast member entrance/exit when out pops Mickey Mouse. Kennadi was so excited but a little intimidated at the same time. Mickey Mouse came and grabbed her hand and walked her across the road. He even stopped and posed for a few pictures with her! That afternoon, we once again headed back for naps. With Kennadi, a nap is a must! After nap time, we headed back and did some last minute shopping and rides. We then went and watched World Of Color. This was my first time watching the show and it was incredible!

We really enjoyed our time at Disneyland. It was nice going with my family because we had plenty of hands who were willing to watch Kennadi while we hit a few rides (mainly Darci and Dad. Thanks!). I think Austin really enjoyed Disneyland. I was so nervous to take him because he swore he wouldn't have fun because it was a "kiddie" place and didn't have thrill rides. I think Disneyland definitely wore off on him though and he is even planning our next trip. No complaining from this gal!