The park was open from 9 to 9 and we were there the whole time!! We hadn’t been for 3 years so we had to get our bearings at first. We brought Kelsey to help us with all of the kiddos and she was SUCH A BIG HELP. We really needed the extra adult. We easily doubled the fun by having her along. Honestly we needed one more adult to cover all these little kids. Kids under 7 have to be with an adult on MOST rides so… Anyway, CALIFORNIA ADVENTURE:

and we ended the night watching the World of Color show!

 

a few more pictures from Kelsey’s camera:

We did Magic Morning on the first day so we got in at 8am instead of 9am! There were already people EVERYWHERE at 8am as we rolled into the park.

 

We started in Fantasyland. We wanted to try Peter Pan because we had never done it but the line was long from the first moments of the day so we skipped it. Instead we did  almost EVERY other ride in Fantasyland: Snow White, Pinocchio, Dumbo, Mr. Toad, Carrousel, Tea Cups, Alice in Wonderland, Matterhorn Bobsleds!!

        

 

We were picture happy that first morning 🙂 There were just so many big happy smiles to capture. We worked hard to earn our Disney trip and the place really is magical for all ages… But don’t worry we did slow down a little with the camera… So then we strolled over to Big Thunder Mountain. Benji, Packer, Cali, and Rose loved it. Ray was freaked out and didn’t go on it again. And I got a turn on the Matterhorn. Then we went up to ToonTown to see MICKEY!

 

Next we headed to Tomorrowland:  We went on Star Tours a few times and Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters and Space Mountain!! These are 3 fun rides – loved them. We went on the rockets with the babies in between big rides.

 

Next we hit Adventureland and New Orleans Square: Indiana Jones, Jungle Cruise, Tiki Room, Haunted Mansion a few times:

Then to end the evening: Ben and Tiago got us a spot to see the parade. Kelsey and the big kids rode Space Mountain and I took Millie and Ray back to Ride the train and the carrousel and the tea cups:

  

The Lights PARADE was AMAZING! So fun! Then the kids fell asleep while we tried to find a place to watch the fireworks. We didn’t have a good view of the castle but we could see the projections on the Matterhorn mountain. And that is how we did Disney Day 1. We ordered pizza and crashed!