For those of you who don’t know – I’m a bit of a Disney Geek. I love the movies and I love the history and I just love it. Once I had children, I think that love has just grown. Sharing these special movies with my kids has been incredible and it has cemented that love for Disney in my heart. Growing up, I was a bit of a tomboy, so I enjoyed Disney movies but the Princesses never meant much to me. Now that I have a daughter, that has really changed and I love it all – especially the Princesses. I love that Disney brings out the magic of fairytales and using your imagination and I love that my kids get to experience that – you know what its even more than that – I love that I get to experience it too. It brings out the kid in all of us – the wonder and the magic – and I think that is a wonderful thing!
I love Disneyland too. I have been there a total of 4 times. The first time was in 1990, when I was 11 years old and we went with my mom’s side of the family. It was a great trip and I will always remember the time we had with my uncle’s family. We didn’t get to see them much so this was amazing to spend so much time together and it just felt really special. I’m not sure how many days we actually spent in Disneyland, but my brother got sick and had to be in the hospital for awhile, so our trip was extended, so I think we spent several days inside the park.
The next time I went was on my Senior Trip in 1997 and it was only one day. I remember really enjoying spending that day with my parents and it was so fun to have them all to myself.
My 3rd Trip to Disneyland was also just one day. I actually went on my sister’s senior trip with her and my parents in 2000. My sister spent the day with her friends, so once again I got to hang out with my parents and it was nice.
My last trip was in 2009 and I got to bring my kiddos and my husband for their first trip to Disneyland! My mom’s side of the family got together again and we went to California – together on a bus! We also did Universal Studios, Knott’s Berry Farm, and Sea World, so we only had 2 days to experience Disneyland and California Adventure. It was an awesome trip and even though my kids were younger, they still talk about it. They loved it and even my husband said then that we should come back someday.
Eight months ago, I decided that this had to be the year that my family went to Disneyland again. My kids are getting older and they might soon grow out of their Disney phase (I hope they don’t). My daughter still loves dressing up and being a Princess and JJ loves Cars and Star Wars, etc. So it just seemed like the time.
I discussed it with Joey and he agreed, so I started planning. I pretty much immediately decided that I wanted to give my kids something that I always wanted when I was young – A DISNEYLAND SURPRISE TRIP! I knew that it would be amazing and I just wanted to do it. And then the next decision – when to go…..it didn’t take me long to realize another dream. I wanted to see Disneyland at Christmastime. Once we made that decision, I have just been so excited! It has been a long 8 MONTHS! I don’t think a day has gone by that I haven’t done some planning or something for this trip. Disboards.com has been an amazing resource! I want so much for this trip to be completely magical and wonderful for my family. Joey and I celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary this year and instead of doing anything, we decided to go all out on this trip. We have scrimped and saved and planned to make this happen. It has been our anniversaries, our birthdays, and will be our Christmas!
There were a couple of things that Joey insisted on that I completely love that we get to do. He wanted to stay in the Disneyland Hotel and he wanted to fly there! Of course, I wholeheartedly agreed to both of those things! 🙂 So we are spending 7 nights in the Disneyland Hotel, 5 days in Disneyland, and we are flying with JetBlue (first class, no less)! Now after all the time and planning – it is finally almost here! In 21 days, we will be at Disneyland and I can’t wait!
Anyways, I can’t wait to share this amazing adventure with you! I hope you won’t mind all the posts in the coming weeks as I share all the details with you!
I’m so excited to share my family’s magical Christmas adventure of 2014 with you!
To see all the postings in this series go HERE.
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