Disney Bound

Usually when we make a trip to visit my side of the family in the Bay Area, we stop at a resort either in Palm Springs or Indio, just to break up the trip. We thought it would be fun to see if we could get a unit in Anaheim this time around. As luck would have it, there was one available, and even luckier, my Dad decided to fly down for a day and head to Disneyland with us! 

The night before Disneyland, we headed to a fun restaurant in the Gardenwalk.  Mr. and Mrs. Clause were roaming around the shops and stopped to take a picture with us. They were kind and gentle and so sweet with Zane. 

The next morning, we woke up to rain. We hopped on the shuttle from the resort to Disneyland. 

It was a little cold and rainy off and on all day, but it made for a fairly empty park. It was perfect!

We were able to go on most of the rides with Zane. He loved Pirates of the Caribbean, The Haunted Mansion, Winnie the Pooh, Dumbo, and more. His favorite was probably Dumbo. He was furious when it was time to get off. He tried to crawl back onto the ride. 

For lunch, Dad treated us to the Blue Bayou. This picture was in the lobby. 

I love the ambiance in the Blue Bayou. It's fun watching the boats from the Pirate's ride go by. Zane sure enjoyed his food. And look at how wet Clay was and the day wasn't even half over!

This was Zane's second favorite ride. It was hard to get a good picture of how ecstatic Zane was while he was riding, since they spent most of the ride up high in the air. 

We went for a ride on Nemo's submarine, then drove the cars. It was my first time on the submarine ride since they redid it, and it was great! And Zane was an awesome helper while I drove around the track. 

In Toontown, we went on the Roger Rabbit ride. This was at the end of the ride and Zane could tell that it was time to get off, so he started to slide off the seat. 

This picture pretty much sums up Zane's attitude toward Disneyland. He was so excited about absolutely everything. 

Zane is a most excellent driver. 

Mickey's house was almost completely empty. Zane got to play with a lot of the fun things around his home. 

Goofy surprised us by being in Mickey's living room! Zane didn't like him much until I was holding him. He was still a little tentative, but eventually warmed up to him. 

I wish that I had a picture of the front of Zane's face when he saw Mickey for the first time. He was totally awestruck. He shook hands with him, gave him loves, and kissed him on the nose. As we walked away, Zane kept his eyes glued to Mickey and had a shy grin on his face. It was perfectly magical. 

After visiting Mickey, we headed to Minnie's house. I'm pretty sure that Zane thought it was Mickey again but he was perfectly happy to give her high-fives and kiss her on the nose too. I loved seeing how excited he got. 

The Small World ride was all decked out for Christmas. It was beautiful inside. 

This snowman was crazy-bright. I love Christmas lights, and Disney didn't disappoint. 

By this point, we were all pretty wiped out. Zane made it through the day with a smile on his face, without a nap. He was a champ. He took the time on Small World to relax and just enjoy the lights. 

Because of the rain, they couldn't do the fireworks show, but they still lit up the castle. It was a spectacular end to an even more spectacular day!