We finally made it!! We got a later start to the day than I would have liked (we were inside the park at around 9:30am) but we had the whole day ahead of us with nothing but fun in mind!
My cousin Chrissy was able to join us for the first day, and having her there was super helpful because she was more familiar with the park layout. It was a bit cloudy and overcast that morning, so everything kind of looked a little dreary (although the cooler temperatures were nice!)
We walked through the turnstiles and ended up walking through Fantasyland and made the Princess Fantasy Faire our first stop! The line wasn’t very long at all (we probably ended up waiting 10-15 minutes) and the cast members working were very nice! They asked if it was our first time visit, and we said yes! So he disappeared for a minute and came back with three “My 1st Visit” buttons for Darnell, Daisy, and Eleanor. It was a fun way to start our trip!
Once it was our turn to go inside, we got to meet Snow White, Cinderella, and Belle. It was my first time really “meeting” any characters (I don’t remember meeting anybody when I was younger, outside of Mickey and Minnie) so it was a very cool experience for all of us! Daisy was still a little shy (I prepped her before so she wasn’t too timid) but having the autograph book there as a buffer was a lot of help! We took pictures with all three princesses and then went on our way!
Our first ride of the trip was Dumbo! The line didn’t appear too long, and I would guess we waited around the 20 minute mark. Chrissy and Britt took one Dumbo with Eleanor, while Daisy and I rode in another (Darnell decided to grab a coffee and sit this one out). It was super fun! Eleanor giggled her way through it, and Daisy was able to get her bearings on a ride. It was the perfect choice for our first Disneyland ride.
Our next ride was another classic - the teacups! The line was short and moved quickly. We all squished into one teacup and had a blast!
From there we hit the Storybook Land Canal boats, another cool iconic ride. It was nice to be able to sit altogether and get a peek into all of the different Disney stories. Again, the wait on this one was probably around the 20-25 minute mark. At this point, it was getting more crowded but if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em!
We gradually made our way back to Toontown and checked out some of the cool little houses and cars you can run around in. Eleanor ended up falling asleep in the stroller at this point, so the girls went to visit Minnie’s house.
This was our longest wait to date (30+ minutes) but it was fun. Who can go to Disneyland without visiting Minnie (Daisy’s favorite). We played in the house for a bit (Chrissy showed Daisy some cool tricks) before posing for pictures with Minnie.
Eleanor was awake by this point so we let them run around Chip and Dale’s playhouse to burn off some energy. Both girls loved it! Eleanor loved being able to run around, and Daisy ended up making a friend. We hung out there for awhile, before we left to make our lunch reservation.
After doing a little research, I wanted to splurge a little and have a meal at Aladdin’s Oasis, that included preferred seating tickets for the Paint the Night parade. The food itself was a little mediocre and overpriced, but the ambiance of the restaurant was cool, and it was nice to sit down and eat altogether.
We pulled our first FastPass of the day for Big Thunder Mountain railroad, before heading to the Pirates of the Caribbean line (that was pretty short). It was probably only a 20 minute wait (it went by really quickly too) and it was so much fun! Eleanor was able to ride with us (double-bonus!) and we all enjoyed the ride, even Daisy!
We headed to go meet Pooh (and friends) after riding “The Many Adventures of WInnie the Pooh”. Eleanor absolutely LOVED meeting all of the lovable, fuzzy characters - especially Tigger! She kept leaning into him for hugs and was beaming ear-to-ear the entire time! It was definitely the highlight of her trip (and it was a highlight of mine, to get to see her so happy!)
We decided to go check into our hotel at this point (we were all tired) and we hung out in the the room for a bit, before heading back to Disneyland. We met Mickey on the way back in and snapped a quick picture,
We hopped in line to ride Buzz Lightyear Astroblasters and made it all the way inside the building until we were escorted out because the ride closed down due to malfunction. It was a major bummer! We made our way back to a quick dinner before Darnell, Britt, and Chrissy rode Splash Mountain. I ended up taking the girls to our reserved spot for Paint the Night
The other three didn’t make it back to our reserved area by the time the parade started, so I ended up just watching with the two girls myself. They loved the parade! It was tricky trying to help both of them see, but we managed OK. It was worth it though - the parade was super fun! The music was upbeat, and the floats were all lit-up against the dark night sky.
We hung around the area to wait for fireworks, and in that short window both girls fell asleep. In the end that was OK, because the fireworks show was cancelled due to high winds. Bummer.
Overall it was a great first day! We took our time and tried not to feel rushed through the day, knowing we had 2 full days ahead of us.
