Disneyland in December

No lines, great weather, non-napping kids - the gods were with us when we went to Disneyland! We could not have asked for a more perfect day... unless Gary had been able to come. (It's finals at BYUI, plus he has his research, so he had to stay home. :-( He got a lot done though while we were gone... which was part of the plan.)

I've never seen the park at Christmastime before, and it was beautiful! I get a kick out of Disneyland as it is because of the esquisite, entertaining details and imaginative love they put into creating every corner of the park. Add Christmas lights and decorations as only Disney can do them, and it was stunning!

 

Maggie was a bit underwhelmed initially though, walking down Main Street first thing in the morning. She turned to me and said, "that's it? That's the famous castle? It's not very big you know." For a girl who's been to Versailles, Chenonceau, Chambord and Carcassonne, I guess I can see her point. Then that night during the the fireworks Cinderella's castle was entirely shimmering in white lights, like an ice sculpture, and "snow" began to fall all down Main Street. My breath was literally taken away - suddenly the castle gained substantially in cool factor.

                                                                     

Look how pretty Main Street was!

 No lines on Splash Mountain at all - score!

It's been about three years since our last Disney experience - we loved the pirate updates they've added to Tom Sawyer's Island.

 The kids were too young to do the Haunted Mansion last time - visiting it at Christmas when they totally redo it "Nightmare Before Christmas" style made it really fun. I love these creative people!

 We had a holly jolly day all around, from zipping right on to rides like Splash Mountain, Pirates, Star Tours, Thunder Railroad and Matterhorn (yes, the kids have graduated to the fun rides - YES!). I was so proud of all three of my kids - Thunder Railroad was my favorite as a kid, so I wanted to see if they were ready for it yet. Not only did they love the ride, but we turned around and got right back in the (very short) line to ride it again!

The only one we didn't get to was Space Mountain, because by then it was late and Soph and Spence were tired and wary. They were such troopers though! No stroller, not much rest, and they hardly complained once. They were total amusement park rock stars! I was so proud of them- we ran and ran and ran and they gave it their all. Didn't even melt down during our last minute shopping. Spen totally fell dead asleep in my arms while waiting in line for the bus to the parking lot when the park closed. But he got his pirates sword ($6!) and the kids each got a jawbreaker, and they were more than pleased! Best day at Disneyland ever! minus Gary. :-(