We had originally planned on taking a trip to Disneyland in October right before Grayson's birthday to take advantage of their under 3 is free policy, and to experience the park decorated for Halloween.
God had other plans, and instead we will be welcoming our sweet baby 2 in October!
We had to decide pretty quickly what to do about our plan, and decided that if we wanted to still get a trip in before Gray turns 3 and make the off-season we were going to have to book a trip like.... now. Which meant that this is now my second trip to Disney in the last three years while pregnant. The one and only trip before that was when I was seven.
We booked our trip through Costco Travel and got a bunch of really great perks but not any real discount on tickets or hotel.
We were totally that family on the flight and I won't lie... this prego was giving the side eye to the Bloody Mary on the Southwest drink menu from the second we boarded the plane.
We decided to stay at the Paradise Pier on the property and upgraded to a premium view room so that we would be able to see World Of Color from our room and I'm so glad we did! Having the option to do that took away the pressure of feeling like we had to see everything else at night, knowing we could just go back to the room if we needed to and still see a show.
The room was also adorably decorated.
The view from our room was amazing. You just can't beat that.
We had our Extra Magic Hour in California Adventure on Wednesday morning and headed straight to Cars Land. Gray absolutely loves Cars and Lightning McQueen and it was so much fun to see him look around Radiator Springs and actually recognize what he was seeing.
Almost immediately after we got off of our first ride, Mater passed us walking down the road and we took off running after him to be first in line for a picture. Gray wasn't so sure but agreed to take a picture with him, but not by himself.
We spent the rest of the riding as many rides as we could, met Lighting McQueen and after a few tantrums and absolute refusals to get in the stroller, we went back to the hotel to swim for a bit and nap.
Boys from a family of plumbers...
We played in the toddler pool for a little while and then my tiny two year old decided that he needed to go on this water slide.
And then actually did it. Twice. And he would have kept going but we had to shut it down before I had a panic attack. Insert wide eyed emoji here. Seriously. My kid is such a bad ass.
After naps we headed over to the Disneyland side to watch the parade and positively blew Gray's mind. Our cousins from Utah were in town and we met up with them for the parade and then met up with them later again that night for the electrical parade which was such a special part of the trip. Gray loved meeting his big cousins, especially Landon who is "so so so big" and he was absolutely amazed by seeing Mickey and all his favorite characters in the parades.
He decided on this trip all of a sudden that he hates riding in the stroller. Which is super inconvenient and led to us either carrying him or dragging him, or chasing him for 50 miles a day. So that was fun. No matter that I just dropped a bunch of money on a new stroller right before this trip. Toddlers don't care about that kind of stuff.
We spent the rest of our first day frantically passing out snacks to avoid a freak out and waiting in line for rides. Gray did such a good job being patient in line and melt downs were relatively few.
Gray was so excited and shy but totally gave the big guy a hug and it was everything I could have hoped for.
We had such a good time and I'm so glad we were able to make this memory with him before we become a family of four.
After naps we headed over to the Disneyland side to watch the parade and positively blew Gray's mind. Our cousins from Utah were in town and we met up with them for the parade and then met up with them later again that night for the electrical parade which was such a special part of the trip. Gray loved meeting his big cousins, especially Landon who is "so so so big" and he was absolutely amazed by seeing Mickey and all his favorite characters in the parades.
He decided on this trip all of a sudden that he hates riding in the stroller. Which is super inconvenient and led to us either carrying him or dragging him, or chasing him for 50 miles a day. So that was fun. No matter that I just dropped a bunch of money on a new stroller right before this trip. Toddlers don't care about that kind of stuff.
We spent the rest of our first day frantically passing out snacks to avoid a freak out and waiting in line for rides. Gray did such a good job being patient in line and melt downs were relatively few.
Saying good morning to Mickey's house!
Our second morning we woke up and had breakfast and headed over to the Disney side for our extra magic hour. We rode a few rides in Fantasy Land and then waited by the gates at Toontown to get in early to meet Mickey!
Gray was so excited and shy but totally gave the big guy a hug and it was everything I could have hoped for.
Gray waited so patiently the whole trip to get to ride the Dumbo train and he was so excited to finally get on. He loves Dumbo and watches it all the time. Because "it's about a train!" except not...
At the end of the second day we let Gray pick out a prize from the store and he picked a light saber just like his big cousin Lando has.
We had such a good time and I'm so glad we were able to make this memory with him before we become a family of four.
