California Day 1

What a day! I have been awake for over 23 hours and am surprised that I haven't fallen asleep sitting up. However, I did promise that I would blog daily to let you all know how our trip has been going.

Here is a recap of today's events:

We started our day by waking up at 3am to get ready to leave for our flights to California. (If you know me at all, you will realize that this was no easy feat!) We left the hotel at 4:15am for the airport. We were officially TSA screened, frisking included, and then waited for our flight. The first flight was from Philly to Denver and it was a pretty turbulent flight. We arrived in Denver 45 minutes early, which was nice because we originally only had a 35 minute layover. The early arrival gave us time to hit the restroom and get our bearings before loading the plane to Santa Ana. The second flight was much less turbulent, and in a little over two hours, we arrived at the John Wayne Airport.

Once we had our luggage, we caught a taxi-van and were at the Disneyland Hotel in about 20 minutes. We had a few issues at check-in but eventually got it all sorted out and found our way to our rooms. Although they are a little bit of a walk from the convention center, it is totally worth it! The rooms are newly renovated and the walk is worth being away from all of the existing construction noise.

Once we unpacked and relaxed for a little while, we headed off to dinner and Disneyland. Dinner was a nice relaxing meal at the Rainforest Cafe. Once we got to the park, we managed to catch the afternoon parade, although sitting on a park bench waiting for it to start resulted in a lovely sunburn on my forehead and my nose! The parade was a lot of fun and I got some great pictures. (see some below) We rode a few rides, including Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and Pirates of the Caribbean, before my knee decided it had had enough. We came back to the room and I finished unpacking while my travel mates headed back to the park for the evening festivities.

Now I am in my PJ's, ready for bed! The last picture posted below is my favorite feature of our room. The headboard is a carved wooden image of Cinderella's Castle, and it is stunning on it's own, but there is a secret surprise. There is a switch on the light on the night stand. When it is flipped, the headboard plays music and the fireworks light up! They stay lit until you decide to turn them off. I may leave them in all night. It is simply magical :-)

Here are a few of my favorite pictures from the day. As always, click on any picture for a closer look. Enjoy!