For Jack's third birthday we promised to take him to Disneyland for the first time. He has been telling practically everyone he met for the last 6 months that he gets to go to Disneyland on his birthday and even though he had no real idea what Disneyland was he knew enough to be super excited. We decided to make it a two day long Disneyland celebration since he was free until he was 3 and then free on his birthday and we thought it might make it a more manageable experience if we weren't trying to cram everything into one day.
Friday we drove down to Disneyland in the early afternoon. The lines weren't bad at all, in fact Jack was so excited to actually be at this elusive Disneyland that he even enjoyed the lines. We started off on the Rockets, Storybook boats, Dumbo, and then the main event itself, Autopia. Zack must have taken Jack on Autopia at least 10 times over the course of the two days. Finally, we stopped to see the Fantasmic fireworks show. Jack was really excited to see fireworks, but we forgot that the beginning of the show was a bit scary, so at Jack's request, we went into the New Orleans' square and "hid" for a while. We taught Jack to listen to the music, and when the music no longer sounded scary, it was time for us to go see the fireworks.
Disneyland - 1 Jack - 0
Saturday morning Jack woke up to our hotel room being covered in streamers, Happy Birthday signs, presents and the requested lemon cupcakes.
After breakfast cupcakes and presents, we headed over to Disneyland to meet our fantastic friends, Bruce, Maryanne, Zoe and baby Audrey at the Breakfast with Minnie where we tanked up on food and Jack got his first glimpse of the lifesized Disney characters. He was a bit reserved at first, but warmed up towards the end. Jack's biggest birthday wish was to meet Mickey Mouse. When Jack finally saw Mickey, he ran right up to him and gave him the biggest hug like he had just found his long lost best friend. I was too busy enjoying the tender moment to remember I had my camera in my hand. Right before we had to leave, I managed to snap this picture to at least remember the meeting.
Our second day introduced Jack to roller coasters (which he loved)
The Teacups (which he loved)
Autopia, Autopia, Autopia, and did I mention Autopia?
The dreaded Jungle Book Cruise (which brought Jack to tears). We shortly thereafter realized that he was old enough to understand what the tour guide was saying (ie. "Oh no when hippos ears shake that means they are going to eat us") and not old enough to know that it wasn't real, especially given how much time we had spent at the Wild Animal park and the Zoo lately.
One of the best parts was getting to see these two friends together again. Thank you Maryanne and Bruce for making Jack's birthday fabulous!
Disneyland - 2 Jack - 0
6 comments:
What a perfect birthday celebration! I love his enthusiasm. Don't worry too much about the jungle book cruise. It was too much for our 8-year-old too.
We were thinking of him on January 17th. 3 is BIG. Disneyland looks like it was perfect for you guys. How very, very exciting. We took Henry on his 4th birthday and it remains his earliest memory. I think that's kind of awesome. I'm sure Jack will remember.
P.S. I CAN'T believe Zack still owns that shirt. Seriously, Sarah wore it in Junior High. I wish we had some sort of tally of how many times it's been wash and worn. That would be one for the record books. It still looks handsome, don't get me wrong. Just amazing, that's all.
Those are great pictures. What a fun boy he is. You are a great story teller.
We had such a wonderful time, thanks so much for letting us enjoy it and him with you!
What a perfect 3-year-old birthday. We're going to Disneyland! I love to see the pictures. It sounds like the anticipation doubled the fun. Many Happy Returns of the Day, Jack. Love, Grandma and Grandpa Z
Indeed we had a great time!
Annee: I do love the shirt, I think the collar might be wearing through, but it has lasted a long time... thanks Sarah!
Mom: did you say you are going to disneyland? When? We'd love to go with you or anyone else who is coming to town!
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