Baldwin Family Blog: Disneyland

Oh, Disneyland...where to even start?! I absolutely fell in love! Honestly, I've never really had a desire to go to Disneyland, because it seemed "smaller" or "less than" Disney World. I thought it would be a let down or something. Well...I WAS SO WRONG!! Disneyland was so charming and special...to see where it all started & experience the "original" Disney park was...well, it was magical!! Even in the pouring rain for a good portion of the day, we had the best time. It was fun to ride our favorite rides & see how they were different from the ones at Disney World. We even liked the Disneyland version better on a few of them...like Space Mountain & Pirates of the Caribbean for sure. Also, It's a Small World, Peter Pan, Haunted Mansion & Big Thunder Mountain were fun to experience in a new way, but I think Disney World wins on these rides. Then there were the rides unique to Disneyland that we got to experience for the first time...like the Matterhorn, the Finding Nemo submarine ride and Casey Junior's train ride...all so fun! And lastly, there were the things that we originally experienced at Disney World that have moved to Disneyland...like Mickey and Minnie's houses & and the ever famous Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. I can't even tell you how excited I was to get to do this ride again, 24 years after I first rode it at Disney World when I was 12. One night during that trip, Poppa got turned around while trying to drive around Disney World and from that point on, we lovingly teased him about driving like Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. While we waited in line, we got to FaceTime with G-Ma, Poppa, Louise & Grandma Shaw. So fun! The FastPass system at DL is very different from DW, but I really liked it and we were able to ride probably 7 or 8 rides with FP, which saved so much time. We ate too many churros, Mickey Mouse ice cream bars, corn dogs from the Little Red Wagon and a Mickey Mouse pretzel!

From start to finish, this day was a blast and we made so many sweet memories! And of course we took LOTS of pictures!! I really wish we would've been able to spend 2 days there, because there were things we didn't get to do. I guess that just means we'll have to come back soon, right?!

Quik Videos (4):

We Uber'd from our hotel right to the front gate of Disneyland, so we wouldn't have to deal with parking. I loved how quick and easy it was to get to Disneyland.

This pretty much sums up why I love Disney so much!!

These smiles are the best!!

The little girl inside of me was jumping up and down!

Rain, Rain, Go Away! The rain made things a little inconvenient and frustrating, but we didn't let it ruin our day at all! I was very glad I threw some ponchos in!

The Casey Jr train was really cute & we got to ride in a monkey cage!

There were literally churro carts EVERYWHERE! And they were so good!

Big Thunder was very fun! A little different than Disney World, but just as good! Jonah didn't want to ride, so the girls got to do rider swap, first with me and then with Brian.

We waited in line to ride Peter Pan longer than any other ride. The ride broke down a couple times & it just took FOREVER. But we couldn't miss out on Peter Pan!

Jonah didn't want to ride the Matterhorn at all, but we basically made him do it. He was scared for sure, but he did great! It was a lot of fun!

And look at that, he even gave it a thumbs up when it was over!

You can't really see anything, but here is some audio from the Matterhorn!

Oh yeah, gotta add cotton candy and popcorn to the list of foods we ate! Since we only had 2 Disneyland days, instead of our usual 4-7 days at Disney World, we had to fit a lot into a short time!

The submarine ride was very cool!

Star Tours!

The Haunted Mansion! (Very different on the outside from Disney World)

We were very proud of Jonah for conquering his fears and riding the Matterhorn! (Not that we gave him much of a choice!) We are trying to teach him that its good to do things that are hard for us.

I loved It's a Small World too! Especially the exterior of it and the way you load outside. The kids also thought it was so fun that there were Disney characters throughout the ride.

Mickey's Toontown was really cute and we loved seeing Mickey & Minnie in their houses!

How cute is this painted "celebrate!" wall?!

This was our first Disney trip without a stroller of any kind. Jonah did great, especially since he had his big sisters to help carry him every once in a while when he got tired!

Jonah and I visited Chip 'n Dale's treehouse and saw Goofy while the girls and Daddy rode the Goofy's Sky School coaster.

Finally got to take pictures in front of the "castle" about halfway through the day, before the next round of rain came through. Look at those storm clouds! I was definitely disappointed that the castle was completely covered up and under construction during our trip. But what can you do?! We will always look at these pics and laugh!

The parade was really good! It was fun to see a different parade than what we have seen at Disney World the last few times. Our favorite was the Mary Poppins part!

At the top of Tarzan's treehouse!

The monorail runs right through the park, and then over through California Adventure too. Jonah was very excited to ride the monorail!

I found our matching shirts at Penney's on clearance a few days before our trip.

Our Star Wars loving girl!

Mackenzie wanted to use some of her souvenir money to make another light saber.

Mackenzie and I rode Space Mountain...I LOVED it!! It was so much better than the one at Disney World! I'm kinda proud of myself for learning to ride roller coasters! =0)

I think they were getting tired...haha!

While Brian and the girls rode Space Mountain, I took Jonah over to Fantasyland to ride Dumbo. We missed that one earlier in the day because of the rain, and I just couldn't leave Disneyland without riding Dumbo! =0) We got to see part of the fireworks show on our way over there.