Disneyland Day One

Disneyland, here we come! We got up extra early to make the trek to Disneyland. We had lots to do, starting with an 11:30 brunch reservation with Chef Goofy :) The drive over was pretty smooth and we arrived at the Disneyland hotel around 10:30. It took us a while to get checked in as it seemed everyone and their mother was checking in at the same time we were. That, and I took pictures of literally every little step we took ;) Giant warning, there are TONS of pictures! 

As soon as we took Henry out of the car, he was off and running! He wanted to explore everything! There was a fountain, statues of characters, plants, chairs, tables, tons of people... etc. Poor thing didn't know which way to go! Eventually he settled on getting up close and personal with a special friend, Mickey Mouse! 

Henry's first encounter with Mickey. 

 Grabbing Mickey's nose.

 Now entering the Disneyland hotel! 

 Hmmm, where should I go first? 

 There were some lovely teacup chairs in the lobby. Henry sat in just about all of them! For about two seconds each. 

 Then he found a TV playing some old school Chip and Dale cartoons. He LOVED it! 

 James was busy checking in while Henry did all his exploring of the lobby. I was prepared to check our bags with the bell desk since check-in wasn't until 4:00 and we were way early. Much to our surprise, the suite was ready for us! Sweet :) We were on the TOP floor of the Frontier tower! The TOP floor!!! That is 14 stories up people! (Well technically, 13 floors up but they didn't have a 13th floor, weird) Anyway, what is the first thing you do when you get to your room on the top floor of the hotel?? You go look at the view!!! And we had a balcony too! Score! I was way nervous to let Henry out there at all but of course, he HAD to get a good look.

Do NOT let go of his hand!! 

 Jeez that is high! 

 Our view down to the amazing pool, complete with water slides!! 

 Can you see that?!? It's Space Mountain over to the right and the Matterhorn to the left! Whoo-hoo!!! :) 

 Who has two thumbs and is super excited to be in Disneyland? That girl! 

 My absolute favorite part of the room, the head board above the beds had Sleeping Beauty castle and at the touch of a button, played music and had fireworks!! Henry must have pressed that button a hundred times while we were there :) 

 Watching the fireworks on the headboard :) 

After we got settled in the room, unpacked a few things and slathered on some sunscreen, it was time for our first stop, Goofy's Kitchen! I was a bit afraid of how Henry would react to seeing his favorite characters so BIG and up close. So I decided that this might be a nice way to ease him into it. Let me tell you, if you are going to Disneyland with little ones, Goofy's Kitchen is a MUST. Yes it is pricey but the food was REALLY good (not that I got to sit and eat much!) and the characters come right to your table, no waiting in lines! Score! And we went for brunch, which is a little less money and I think, better food! When we first walked in, there were not many people waiting, which was great! We got to go right over and meet Goofy! Henry was a little hesitant at first and did NOT want to stand next to Goofy for our picture, which I anticipated and was fine with. As time went on and more characters came up to him, he got MUCH better :) Yay! 

 My little family :) 

 My big family plus one Goofy extra ;) 

Once we got some food, the characters started coming by. Luckily, the first one to come by wasn't scary at all! It was Princess Jasmine :) 

Henry and Jasmine 

 Next up, Dale. Henry is still a bit wary but at least he wasn't pulling away anymore! 

 We just couldn't get him to look away from the characters to take a picture! 

 And now, Chip!

 Getting more comfortable and grabbing his nose! 

 Rafiki and Henry.  

Henry is all chilled out now :)

 Goofy came back for round two, and this time Henry gave Goofy five! 

 And knuckles! :) So cute! 

 Almost looking at the camera! 

 Honk, honk! 

 Let me check out your teeth Goofy! 

 Pluto's turn! 

 Grabbing the nose ;) 

 Pluto is sniffing Henry...

 Henry giggled the whole time! 

 This was my favorite part! As thought Pluto knew what a hard time we were having getting Henry to eat with so much excitement, he decided to let and hand, literally! Pluto picked up a fork, stabbed a chicken nugget and fed it to Henry! And much to everyone's amazement, Henry ate it!!! How cute is that?!? 

 If only Pluto could come to my house every day! 

 Getting a kiss from Pluto. 

 And a high five! 

 Henry had just about finished with the whole sitting thing, so we let him down and who strolls by for a hug? Baloo! Yay! He hugged a character! We did it :) 

 High five! 

 And this is the closest we got to looking at the camera and smiling :) 

Whew! What a terrific start to our trip! A great meal, TONS on characters and now Henry is totally cool with all the characters! Yippee!!! Next up, actually going to Disneyland!!! :)