Disneyland

Spring has been desperately trying to be sprung after a long winter, so for my mom’s birthday we happily flew with her to Cali, Cali, Cali. To where else? Disneyland! The original. It’s been a dream for us to go.

And it’s so different from what we are oh so familiar with at Walt Disney World! You might even call it slightly quaint? The scale is different, but it has a charm all it’s own. We stayed at the original Disneyland Hotel, which was super nice and had touches of the glamor of classic Disney. Very cool, with a retro vibe – something we can get behind!

We got to do character dining at our hotel at Goofy’s Kitchen to kick things off, which was as fun as ever…even if the lighting wasn’t so conducive to all the pictures we took with the likes of Aladdin and Jasmine, Chip and Dale, and of course Goofy.

And a sleep later, and we were walking where Walt walked. I think all of us had no idea what to expect – but the coolest thing that stuck out to us was how much Walt’s stamp was all over the park. His apartment over the fire station, the bench that inspired the whole idea, and so many cool things. It was a really fun day of rides new and familiar, Jolly Holiday Bakery and many other treats, exploring a new park (to us) and most of all – a search for the elusive Dumbo popcorn container!

And to meet Mickey in his sorcerer’s robes to cap a magical day? We knew for sure that it was going be a good birthday for Mom!

Next up? California Adventure and perfect west coast weather!