Surprise Trip To Disneyland

My Mom and I planned a last minute trip to Disneyland for us to go and take just Drake. We only planned a few weeks before we left, and it was absolutely perfect.  We told Drake that we were going on a little vacation to St. George. He was pretty excited to be going with just the two of us and have us all to himself.

He was an angel the whole way down. He watched Disney movies the entire way. I had that kid prepared for what was ahead of him.  He watched every Disney movie possible leading up to this trip.

We stopped in St. George for the night, but Drake thought we were at our final destination.  He loved having Grandma and me all to himself.

The next morning we started packing up and Drake was asking a lot of questions. So right before we got in the car to leave we gave him a backpack that was full of Disney stuff.  Some shirts, coloring books. crayons, a new Disney movie, etc.  He opened the stuff and we asked him where he thought he was going.  It took him a few minutes to figure it out, but when he did, his whole face lit up and he was soooooo excited.  He jumped up and down and said "thank you, thank you, thank you!" It was so much fun being on the other end and seeing his excitement!

We drove to the hotel and got all unloaded and went to eat that night and got in bed in good time for our big day.

The next morning we got up and went to Disneyland. It was really rainy but we made the best of it, put our ponchos on and got on the train first thing to keep us dry.  Drake loved the train and was able to see all of Disneyland.  We rode it around a couple of times until the rain started to lighten up.

It started to get sunny and it was so nice!  There was no one in the park because of the rain, and we felt like we had the whole place to ourselves, and we didn't wait in any lines.

The first ride we went on was Small World.  Drake remembered that ride from before and wanted to go on that first.  It is always one of my favorites too.

After a couple more rides we got some lunch.  Their famous corn dogs are so dang delicious!  Especially with a diet coke.  YUM!!  Drake got a Mickey Mouse shaped pretzel and was very happy about it.

We saw so many characters while we were at Disneyland and because it wasn't busy there were hardly every any lines to meet them and the characters spent more time with him than normal because there were no lines.  While we were sitting eating lunch the first day, Drake was able to see some of his favorites.

Goofy

Chip or Dale?

Alice and the Mad Hatter were darling with Drake and talked to him for a good couple of minutes about opening up a pet shop together with Drake. He couldn't stop laughing.

The Buzz Lightyear ride is one of our favorites!

By about 2:00 we were ready for our first churro. They are by far the best thing at Disneyland. 

This was Main Street in the middle of the day. Not a cloud in the sky and no one in the streets. It was amazing.

Drake spotted Donald Duck and ran to him.  Donald took Drake by the hand and walked with him to the spot he was going to be standing. Drake was in absolute heaven and loved being teased by Donald. I sat back and bawled like a baby and was so grateful for that cute Donald Duck and making my kids day!

Mickey treated Drake the same way and he couldn't stop laughing!

Drake loved spinning us on the tea cups. 

The Jeppesen's were there the same time we were so we went with them on a few rides because of the pass they get with Carson.  We went over to California Adventure and got on Radiator Spring Racers.  Drake loved it and so did I. 

Drake really loved all of the parades.  He loves music and dancing anyway, so they really capture his attention.

We went on simple rides all day and at the end of the night we decided to push him a little and take him on Space Mountain.  This ride has always been my favorite! When you go on it as a teenager and when you go on it as a mom with your 5 year old sitting in front of you, you realize that it is a bit scarier than you remember.  He did fine, but when we got off he said, I don't want to do that every again!

We ended the night with a big ol' sucker for the bus ride home.  Thank goodness we had my mom with us, because she decided we needed to upgrade our park hopper passes to a 4 day instead of the 3 day... we were stoked!

The next day was exactly as I dream Disneyland should be the first time you ever enter the park.  The day before it was so rainy that we just ran to the nearest ride. But this time when we walked in we were greeted with music, and characters.  It was so magical.  Drake had to bring Pluto with him.  That dog has gone with him everywhere else, so we decided he probably better come with us to his hometown.

We went on Pirates of the Caribbean and the Mark Twain river boat to start the day.

Drake could not wait to get to Toon Town.  It was by far his favorite place and the first person to greet him was his all time favorite.... Pluto!! He was so excited to show the real Pluto his pluto that he keeps at home and sleeps with every night.

We spent a couple of hours exploring Toon Town and Drake loved every second.

We hit up Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and Drake loved it. He was a little nervous getting on but then he did great, especially with Grandma right by his side.

We did something I have never done before at Disneyland and had lunch at the Blue Bayou, the restaurant inside of the Pirates ride. It was really fun and something different we had never done.  We got the famous Monte Cristo Sandwich and enjoyed every bite.

The Haunted Mansion was our next stop and quickly became a favorite of Drake's.

We took a break for a treat and a parade.

And this kid knew how to draw in Pluto every time we saw him.  It made him laugh and smile every time and made this mom happy and proud!

Drake was bound and determined to find Mickey so he could show him that he was on his shirt. Well we found him and Mickey gave the reaction we were hoping for!

Minnie Mouse is always one of my favorites, and she was just as adorable and sweet as ever!

Drake loved the Mater ride so we went on it quite a few times while we were there.

I think this was our 6th churro and it was only day 2.

We took Drake to see the Aladdin musical and he loved it. He couldn't stop staring and fell in love with the monkey Abu!

And we may have grabbed one last one for the night. Seriously there is nothing better than a hot churro and an ice cold diet coke!

Waiting in line for the shuttle to take us back to the hotel. We wore this kid out today!

The next day was another beautiful day at the Happiest Place on Earth. With Pluto in tow we were ready for another day at Disney.

We started the day off at the Jungle Cruise and spent some time in adventure land.

We went back over to Route 66 and enjoyed some time in Cars Land and got a yummy ice cream cone at the Cozy Cone.

After going on everything Drake wanted to go on, we forced him a bit to go on Tower of Terror.  He was really nervous, but I at least wanted him to try it once.  He was brave and tried it, but really didn't like it and didn't want to do it.

When the ride ended the people on the ride with us all turned around and clapped for Drake. He didn't crack a smile once and told us he was never going on that ride again, ever!  Ha ha ha, I was just glad he at least did it once and hopefully when he is a bit older he will like it more and not be scarred for life.

They had a new part of Disneyland that was there for a limited amount of time that was there for the movie Frozen. They had snow and sledding.  It was really cute, but nothing great considering that we see snow all of the time in Logan.

The line to meet Olaf was over 2 hours long. I was not too excited about waiting that long and Drake didn't care a whole lot either, so we were standing in the line for sledding and I had Drake pose with Olaf int he background. Well Olaf was so kind and in between meeting kids gave us a little pose!

We went to the Beast's library to see what character we are most like. 

I am the most like Cinderella.

They could not have hit in on the head better with this one. Drake is the most like Woody!

Grandma is the most like Rapunzel.

"Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest one of all?"

Drake loved those Mickey Mouse pretzels.

This happened at least once a day!

Drake wanted to meet Captain Hook, so Grandma was bound and determined to chase him down!! Drake and I followed and laughed!

Cheers!

We were so lucky to have my mom their with us. She made sure that Drake got the best experience possible at Disneyland. She was making sure to be first in line at the Monorail so that we could ride in the first car with the captain.

We got Drake to go on Space mountain again, and he actually liked it a lot more! But there was some negotiating that went on and it meant that we would head over to Toon Town after.

The last ride of the night was Dumbo.

Drake and Pluto were up and ready for their 4th and final day at Disneyland.

We started the day at California Adventure and went on the Toy Story ride. By far the cutest ride in the park. Drake was lucky to be greeted by all of the characters when we got off the ride. He was really excited to meet Woody and what do you know, Woody was so cute with Drake!

Drake thinks Daisy is cute and wanted to meet her for Stella.

While we were there the last day, my Aunt Holly and Hannah were there with Hannah's dance team. We met up with Holly and spent some time with her.

We went to the Tiki Room and got a Dole Whip.

Drake was so excited to meet Mary Poppins.  For some reason he adores her and couldn't wait to meet her.

After we walked away, he said "Oh my gosh, she is the prettiest girl I have ever seen!" It was so sweet.

We watched the parade again and loved it just as much the second time as we did the first.

Grandma bought Drake a bubble machine and he used it against her!

Grandma was spun a little to much on the teacups.

This trip was absolutely Magical. It was a trip that I will never forget and I am so grateful I could go with my mom and my first born child and experience some one on one time.  It was good bonding time for Drake and me and I couldn't ask for a a better person to go with than my mom.  She made our trip the best it could possibly be, and I can't forget about the man who paid for it, my wonderful Dad.  He works so hard for our family so we can experience stuff like this. He is one awesome man who I love and appreciate so much!

Peace out Disney!

Turned around to find Drake in only his underwear. The ride home was a bit long and not quite as fun as the ride down, but we still had a blast and couldn't have asked for a better trip.  By far, the best trip I have ever been on!