Oden Adventures

Our Family Disneyland Adventure (The Kids' First Time) ~ March 2015

Posted by Amy Evelyn Oden , Friday, March 13, 2015 7:37 PM

We hit another parenting/childhood milestone this past Monday:  Our first family trip to Disneyland!  We decided to go now as an early birthday celebration for Vianne's upcoming 3rd birthday (because they start charging admission at age 3...) and it coincided nicely with not-yet-too-crowded season and gorgeous weather and Patrick's spring break.

We had a GREAT time!  So much fun & cuteness was had and what a pleasure to introduce the kids to the wonder that is Disneyland.  They both did better than I had anxiously imagined (each had only one major meltdown ~ not bad for a long day!) and we have so many happy memories in our hearts & minds.

We arrived in time for the 9:00am opening and rode the bus over from the parking lot with one very excited Minnie Mouse fan...

 

 Smiles all around while we wait to go in!

 Got them 1st Visit pins

 

 Vianne & Mama on Main Street

 Vianne had some spinning to do!

 First up: the Dumbo ride with Daddy!

 Next ride: It's A Small World for all four of us!

 Oliver was entirely entranced!

 Next stop: Toon Town to meet Minnie & Mickey

 A little wait outside Minnie's door...

 ...then a tour of her dwelling (love this one...)

 Baking a birthday cake

Watching the dishwasher in action

 We had another little wait at the back door...

 ...with an eager Vianne...

 Mama has plenty of time to try out different angles from the camera...

 And then (do you have your "awwwws" ready?) the magical moment arrived!  

Vianne ran right up to her friend Minnie...

 ...and gave her a big hug!

 They danced...

 ...and posed...

 

 ...and hugged some more!

 Bye, Minnie!

 Then we were off to Mickey's house!

 And as if our meeting with Minnie wasn't great enough, the meeting with Mickey was even more magical and awwwww-inspiring ;-). 

 I mean, seriously, folks...does it get any cuter than this????!!!

 Sadly, Mickey can't hold babies or we'd have gotten a picture of just Oliver with his favorite pal, too.  Something for next time!  Oliver thoroughly enjoyed the meeting nonetheless.

 We lunched at the Jolly Holiday and were a little disappointed that Mary Poppins wasn't there to join us for fish-shaped turkey sandwiches and baby carrots.

 After lunch, it was off to the Tiki Room where Daddy & Vianne enjoyed a Pineapple Whip while we waited to go in...

The kids both loved the singing birds & flowers.  I was sure one of them would get freaked out but they both listened & watched quietly the whole show!  After the Tiki Room, we procured a fast pass for Autopia and then stopped by the Mad Hatter shop to get Minnie ears for Miss V.  Trying them on...(this is about 1:15pm - do you see the fatigue starting to set in?)

 I love the way her name looks! <3

 Then Mama & Vianne went on the carousel.  More waiting!

 She picked this horse and was utterly delighted with the whole experience!  

"It's like Mary Poppins!" she told me.

 Daddy got some pictures of us, too...

 ...while Oliver got in a long nap!

 A (kind of nauseating) video...

Then we headed over to Tomorrowland and Daddy & Vianne went on Autopia while Oliver continued to sleep and Mama hunted down a Mickey-shaped pretzel.  While there, we discovered something we didn't know: Innovations was featuring The Avengers and we could meet Thor!!  Of course, this was our next destination.

 A bit of a wait in line, a quick trip on the Bifrost, and we were in Asgard!

 Vianne shyly passed up the opportunity to try to lift Thor's hammer, but after giving some boys the chance, Thor greeted each family and posed for pictures.  He was delighted to learn that our last name was Oden and told the whole room :-).

 Next, Vianne felt some popcorn was in order, as we made our way over towards Adventureland.

 We came upon some performing pirates and did a bit of dancing...

 ...and then wove our way through the line for the Jungle Cruise.

 By the end of the cruise, it was time for dinner so we had burgers at the Village Haus and then headed over for a family ride on the Casey Junior train, where we found Dumbo, too!

 And more waiting...

During which Oliver was trying to eat/grab the camera...this shot cracks me up :-).

And finally, front row on the train!

 View from the train as night is falling on Disneyland...

 ...so Daddy & Vianne went for just one more ride, at her request: The Teacups!

Oliver passed out in the stroller...

 ...while they snagged a pretty pink teacup...

 ...and spun themselves silly...

 ...while Mama enjoyed this lovely sight!

 And on that happy note, we decided it was time to call it a night.

So, with Minnie ears and souvenir popcorn bucket in hand (and dark circles under our tired eyes), we said goodbye to Disneyland and boarded the bus back to the parking lot...

...and headed home!  One cute memory ~ as we left the bus, Vianne turned of her own accord to the bus driver and said, "Thank you!"  He didn't hear her, but an attendant standing nearby let him know, and this dear man was so delighted by this, I think she made his whole day - he just went on & on about how sweet she was for saying that and how she could ride his bus anytime! :-)

Until next time, Disneyland! We already want to go back!

2 Response to "Our Family Disneyland Adventure (The Kids' First Time) ~ March 2015"

Marie Says:

Amazingly adorable! I love love love seeing these priceless pictures of Vianne's and Oliver's first visit to Disneyland!!!!!

March 16, 2015 at 5:07 PM

molly Says:

Fun! You seem to have hit many of the same rides we did on my first trip to Disneyland (when I was about a year older than Vianne is) -- Dumbo, Small World, Jungle Cruise (where I thought the animals were real, ha.) :)

March 16, 2015 at 10:42 PM