Seven Taylors: Surprise! We're going to...

...DISNEYLAND!

Thats right, our "Utah vacation" was really a Disneyland Vacation in disguise. The kids had no idea about it until the day we left, when we sat them down and had them open a surprise gift containing Disneyland t-shirts. Heres how it all went down...

As far as the kids knew, we were going to be visiting Grandma and Grandpa Heaton in St. George for the whole week. 3 days into our trip, we sat them down to give them a gift bag we pulled from Grandmas closet. Brylee was especially excited about this idea. The other kids were acting strangely suspicious for some reason, and Alissa...well she was downright distraught. She doesnt handle surprises so well. Her personality is one of order, routine and nothing unexpected.

We had the kids all open their gifts at the same time. Madi was the first to catch on and asked "Were going to Disneyland?!"

As a discussion ensued and Alissa calmed down, we then asked Brylee who seemed strangely calm about this new plan, how she felt? I asked her, "Brylee, do you know what that shirt is for ?" She replied..."what?"

"Do you want to go to Disneyland?"

"Today?!"

"Yes!"

"Yippee!"

Apparently, she missed the present conversation. Heres the unveiling video: (If it works. If not try clicking this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tfex-JkDBk )

Brylee and Zack tried on their shirts to model for us, then we were on our way!

Day 1:

The first thing we saw when we got through the gates, was an autograph line-up. We just missed Mickey Mouse, but were told he would return shortly, so we tried on hats at the Mad Hatter while we waited. The kids were told they could each get one souvenir, so they were on a careful lookout the whole trip to find the perfect gift.

As soon as we saw Mickey return, we jumped right back in line to snatch our photo. Check one off the list for that one.

The kids were a little dissapointed at the size of the Castle, except Brylee who wanted to go inside and see all the princess'.

Take a good look at this smile, because it turns out to be a rare occurrence for this girl. The only rides Brylee didnt cry on, were "Its a Small World", the carousel's and 90% of "Ariels Undersea Adventure" (she hated the part when Ursela comes).

First Day in Toon Town and in trouble with the law already!

Zack agrees that Pluto has a plush doggie bed.

The boys went off to meet Thor, while the girls played elsewhere. Apparently, he was the real deal...and he can totally beat Captain America in an arm wrestle in case you were wondering. Just ask him.

We had to see what Captain America thought about this claim, so we went to visit him too. He says Thor needs to quit spreading that false rumor.

Brylee thinks Captain America talks too much.

For the end of day 1, we tried to watch the "Fantasmic" show, but Disney in the first part of August was not the best plan. There was standing room only which made for a long show and no room to move. Still an amazing show, but killer on the back when you are standing for that long holding kids up to see. Lucky for us we could see the fireworks every night from our condo patio, which was exciting for the kids.

Day 2:

For day 2, we split up our time between Disneyland and California Adventure. Disneyland included a visit to Tarzans treehouse.

Alissa found these pilots goggles after exiting "Soarin' USA" and just had to try them on.

It was much less crowded at California Adventure, so we ended up spending the majority of the rest of the vacation here. Bonus: There are always people around willing to take your family picture.

Maters ride at Radiator Springs

Day 3:

Waiting for Dad to grab fast passes. He did a lot of running around to save us time from standing in long lines.

California Adventure had a play park with a little climbing wall. All the shorties got to try it out, even Brylee did it!

And for our favorite character meet and greet...Woody! He was so good! He spent a lot of time "talking" and playing with the kids. We even played a friendly game of Duck Duck Goose!

Hes gonna getcha Madi!

Group hug!

Cars Land was pretty cool in the evening. It was all lit up just like the in the movie, but its getting busy at this point because the evening water show was about to start.

Day 4:

Our last day there, we tried to hit everyone's favorite rides again. We wanted to get Disneyland done early to avoid the big crowds. While there, we sat in on this live Rapunzel re-enactment. It was actually pretty funny.

After we hit the favorite rides in Disney, we headed back over to California Adventure. We hadnt made it onto the new "Radiator Aprings Racers" yet, so we had to check that out, with a fast pass of course because we figured out the lines were insane. After riding it, we understood why. It was awesome. Brylee hated it, but she hated most every ride. Afterwards,we took some touristy shots of Radiator Springs. Ryan really wanted to get a room at the Cozy Cone.

Luigi's tower of tires

Stanley

And the real Mater. he talked and moved and everything. Pretty cool.

Another ride we had yet to try was the giant Mickey Mouse Ferris Wheel. This was probably Brylees most hated ride. Maybe she's afraid of heights?

She spent most rides in this pose...hiding in Ryans shirt. This time she was so afraid, she was digging her claws into him. The kids thought this was an added bonus. He's laughing here, but its a response to pain.

To be fair, we were up pretty high...

Zack was lucky enough to meet up with Phineas and Ferb and join their dance party.

A good majority of our pictures included Brylee shielding her eyes from the sun with her arm. I finally lent her my glasses and she discovered bliss. Too bad it took 4 days.

One last stop before saying goodbye, the Aladdin play. Pictures werent allowed during the performance, but it was pretty awesome.

We couldnt leave California without visiting the Ocean, so after we left Disney, we drove to Huntington Beach. We were lucky Ryan was wearing his BYU hat, because the lady at the gate let us in for free seeing how we were her "instant friends" in the gospel and sports. Also, we found out Jesse, from Toy Story is also a cougar fan, so that was fun.

The beach was beautiful at sunset and the kids wished we had more time to spend there. They might have enjoyed this as much as Disney.