CA '12: Disney Day 1

One of our primary reasons to go to California was for our annual family vacation.  Last year we had such a great time spending our three days at Disneyland, that we decided to repeat it this year.  But this time we decided to actually stay in one of the Disney hotels as well...  I figured, if there is any time to do that, it's when you have a baby that could use more frequent breaks from all of the stimulus in Disneyland... which isn't a bad idea for a toddler or an autistic child either.

So we checked into the Grand Californian on Day 3 of our California vacation this year.  Charlie was beside himself with excitement.

We were early and our room wasn't ready yet, so we headed straight into California Adventure.  An hour or two later we were joined by the Harris cousins, who were taking a break from the parks when we arrived.

The boys were really excited to see the giant ferris wheel.  Ephram especially, he is a Mickey-fanatic.  (They rode the ferris wheel later that night!)

But I think that the biggest hit was easily Cars Land.  What an awesome job Disney did bringing Radiator Springs to life.  The boys even got to see Lightening McQueen and Mater in action.

We had to participate in the parade fun.  The parade that day was the Play Parade, and it included lots of water... squirted at us.  Everyone seemed to enjoy it.

This was the ride of the day.  It was a Little Mermaid ride.  I think the kids did it three or four times in a row!

Meanwhile Ephram was having the time of his life running around outside with his dad and his cousin Evin.

The pier is really pretty.  We hadn't really gone to this part of the park last year.

We spent almost the entire time at California Adventure, heading to Disneyland just in time to see the fireworks.  It was a great first day!