Nullmeyers Do Disney - Part 1

Our journey to Disneyland begins back in March 2020 when we were originally supposed to go. We had just gotten back from the snow and we all got really sick the week before our scheduled Disney trip. Then the world shut down and we had to cancel everything. Fast forward almost a year and a half and we finally made it!

This trip was a total surprise for our kids. They've never been to Disneyland, and Adam and I hadn't been there in 20 years. I packed up the car without them knowing and we woke them up bright and early, telling them we were visiting our cousins (who live an hour away).

 After 3 hours in the car Ryan finally started to question things. They were so surprised/confused/excited when we told them the news! They did surprisingly well on the car ride. We entertained ourselves with an audio book, lots of snacks, and a couple episodes of I Love Lucy.

We arrived at our hotel mid-afternoon and for various reasons, Adam immediately requested to switch to a different one. 

After some calling around, we switched to the Anaheim Majestic Garden Hotel, which was less expensive but much nicer! 

The view from our hotel room.

We had one more surprise for the kids. In the parking lot for Downtown Disney District, we met Uncle Sean, Aunt Nicole, and their kids! We had a terrific dinner at Ralph Brennan's Jazz Kitchen (little did I know this would be some of the best food I'd eat all week!).

Wednesday morning we were up bright and early for our first day in the park! Each day Adam and I got up at 6, woke the kids at 6:30, got down to eat breakfast at our hotel by 7, and then went outside by 7:45 to catch the free shuttle to the park.

We bought these shirts last year....thankfully they still fit! 

Also, the stroller rental was a life-saver! SO much walking!

I love this picture I snapped in front of the castle!

We went through Fantasyland first, and of course we had to ride on the It's a Small World Ride, along with most of the others. At this point the park wasn't crowded and our wait times were really short! This was probably my favorite time in the park all week....everything was new and magical and just easy. 

About to ride the teacups with this cutie!

We walked through the Star Wars section but our kids honestly weren't that into it because we're not big Star Wars fans. It felt better-suited for older kids.

It was now lunchtime and were we all hungry and hot. (It was a high of 80 each day we were there, so not really bad at all!) Finding good food at Disneyland proved to be pretty impossible. There were very limited options, and everything had to be ordered through a mobile app. We finally settled on some sandwiches for Adam and I, and some (expensive) food for the kids that they really didn't eat.

Feeding Lucas on this trip was really hard. He is SO limited in what he will eat that he basically lived on granola bars, applesauce pouches, and the occasional fried chicken and french fries.

We learned the exciting news that Sean and Nicole are expecting a baby! That made this trip extra special, along with the fact that our first day in the park was Shayla's 14th birthday.

We all agreed that this was our family favorite ride. We probably rode it a total of 5 times during our 2 days in the Disneyland Park!

We rode on a raft across the water to an island in the center of the park. We had fun exploring the island and hiding from the mid-day heat.

Adam took the boys on Splash Mountain next, while the rest of us cooled off with Dole Whips. This was my very first dole whip and it was very refreshing! (I got the pineapple flavor)

We rode around on the ferry which was a beautiful ride!

For dinner we settled on a Mexican restaurant in the park, but I was pretty underwhelmed with the options. Lucas ate nothing and I'm pretty sure Andrew just ate chips.

After we ate, Lucas and I snuck onto Thunder Mountain. We discovered the lines for rides get short during dinner time! Lucas loved this ride! We also discovered that Ryan does NOT love roller coasters.

We ended our evening in Critter Corner on the Pooh Bear ride. Afterwards Jenna fell in love with a stuffed Piglet, so we promised to come back and buy it on our last day. (We let each of the kids pick out something to bring home)

We basically stayed in the park until it was almost closed at 9pm, and then went back to our hotel and crashed! That ends Part 1 of my Disneyland recap....stay tuned for part 2!