We were up and ready to go for our 1st day at Disneyland. It definitely helped that we gained an hour. We all slept until about 8, got breakfast, packed for the day, and everyone ready. As we drove in the night before we realized that walking to the park was going to be a stretch and was further than we thought we wanted to walk so we bought a pass for the hotel shuttle. It ended up being money very well spent. We got to the park about 10 minutes before they opened. 
We had our map in hand with where we needed to go first and what fastpasses would go the fastest. We got thru security and admitted into the park just as it opened we rode a handful of rides and got a our fastpasses in hand all within the first 30 minutes...love when a good plan comes together. I was impressed by how many rides Em could ride but the ones she couldn't Matt and I would rotate out and then would go get our next fast pass.
This quickly became one of the favorite rides...Buzz Lightyear
Em and I waiting while Matt and the girls were on a ride
Meeting Chip
Getting Signitures from Tigger and Eyore
Winnie the Pooh
Fairy Godmother-really the first character that Em really liked
Dale
Minnie Mouse
Captain Hook
Our Mickey waffles
Max
Em didn't care for the characters with full face masks on
At All...even when they tried to play with her
Rafiki
The breakfast was a huge success and something we would definitly do again. We got to meet and intereact with so many characters. The meal was buffet and was yummy. It also gave us time to get food, eat, and meet characters. After we got our bellies full we were ready to get to some rides. We stopped to take some pics before doing our fast passes and getting new ones. The awesome thing was we didn't wait in line for more than 10-15 minutes.
We explored Sleeping Beauty's castle
We randomly saw characters wandering around and would get autographs and pics with them. Gaston said he didn't sign autographs since he couldn't write his name. Gracie was really confused since she can write her name..lol
We watched the band perform a couple times...they were really good. This is girls waiting behind the yellow line where the perform
Then we met Rapunzel and Flynn Rider. Gracie was so excited this was one princess she really wanted to meet
When we went to get fastpasses for Indiana Jones we noticed there was no line for Genie so we stopped for a autograph and a quick pic. I love the pics of the kids candid intereaction with the characters. Just so fun
The jungle cruise was one of Gracie's favorites and usually what Matt or I would ride when we traded off for Indiana Jones. Only Hallie was tall enough to ride it.
Pirates of the Caribbean was another great one when it got warm because it was in the water and was dark and cool. It didn't get very hot. Our 1st day was the hottest at 88-89 which was plenty warm for us. We even got to wear our jackets in the morning and evenings.
Our fullintention was to go back to the hitel for naps and take a break in the middle of the day but when we asked the girls they didn't want to go back so we stayed and it seemed to wrk out really well. Em slept in the stroller with her fan to keep her cool and we just rode most of the big kid rides she couldn't ride anyways and just rotated out.
The girls loved Thunder Mountain..we also rode it multiple times
On our way to the potty we ran into Merida. She was just headed back for a break but when a cast member saw that we were waiting he went to get her so we could get a quick picture and an autograph....he defintely went above and beyond
Em was so good. I loved her little Minnie tank top and ears
Space mountain was a hit and miss. Hallie liked it but Gracie was scared since they had just turned it into Ghost Galaxy for Halloween. So just Matt and Hallie rode it after the first time
They had a 5 pc band that we also stop to see. They threw beads to the girls for dancing with them. Em was so cute watching Hallie and Grace and dancing when them
The Winnie the Pooh ride was the first ride that Em seemed to really like complete with smiles and giggles
We found a new way to use our fastpasses/riderswap. One of us would take one of the girls and then we would trade then each of us would get a riderswap since we had Em(which is good for 3 people) and then Matt and I could each go again and take both girls so Matt and I each got 2 rides out of one fast pass and the girls would get 3-4 depending on how they worked the ride
All the Halloween decor was up and it was even prettier at night with all the lights
After talking to a cast member we decided to forgo finding a place to sit for the fireworks and just watch them from where ever we were. It ended up being an awesome idea. We were taking advantage of the short/no lines in Fantasyland while everyone else was waiting for the fireworks when they started we had a from row seat while riding the Dumbo ride. It was awesome.
We also loved the cooler weather we got at night and surprisingly everyone did great no meltdowns despite short naps and running all day
By the time we got to It's a Small World Em had given up and gone to sleep. We debated about one of us staying with her but we all wanted to go. I love this ride I remember it the most from when I was little. So I picked her up and took her and she must have been exhausted because she didn't even move and slept the entire time.
To our surprise we opened and closed the park. We definitelty wore the kids out. So once the park closed we headed back to the hotel. They were all asleep before we got back we woe them up long enough to have a bath and get pjs on and then off to bed.
It was a great first day. Matt and I stayed up and packed for the next morning. We got our plan mapped out for the following day and then we headed to bed too.
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