Memories at the Happiest Place on Earth

Today's post is dedicated to someone very special to me and I'm filling it with pictures of her favorite things at Disneyland!  I have so many wonderful memories at Disneyland with her, many more than I have time to write about today.  It's a joy to think back to the great times at Disneyland with my Mom!


Happy Birthday Mom!  I love you :)


My Mom's favorite character is Dopey!  If she's not at Disneyland with me I make sure to take a picture each and every time of him to bring back for her.  I have so many fond memories of when I was little of both my Mom and I yelling out to Dopey as loud as we could: "We love you Dopey!!" anytime we saw him in a parade or show.  It made the moment that much more special anytime we could get him to wave back to us!






This second Dopey picture is more of an "action shot" of him in the finale of Fantasmic! :)






Next up is a shot of Sleeping Beauty Castle at Christmastime!  My Mom and I both love to stand in front of the pretty castle at Christmastime and let the snow, or as we call it: "snoap" (snow+soap!) fall over us!  It's one of the prettiest sights to see at Disneyland and I'm so happy I've been able to share this sight with her!






Our next picture reminds me of my Mom because she took the exact same shot back in the 80s before I was born!  This picture is stored safe in a scrapbook of mine but it inspired me to take the same shot now. I'll make sure sometime to scan it in and post both side by side!  It's neat to see the "then and now" of the same shot!






Another fond memory I have of going to Disneyland with my Mom is that we always stop past the Enchanted Tiki Room to sing along with the birds!  From probably the time I was able to talk (or even before that) she started teaching me the song so I was able to sing along with her.  We still sing along even now and have a blast every time we do!






To finish off today's post I have a picture of my friend Erin, my Mom, and myself during our last trip to Disneyland!  Can you tell we coordinated the "red shirt day"? :)






Again, have a very happy birthday Mom!  I love you :)

[Mickey's] Fun Wheel Friday

Thought I'd do something new for today's "Friday" post :)


The patterns that you can capture on Mickey's Fun Wheel are so neat!  You never know what you're going to get!  Since the colors and movements of the lights change, you can really get some awesome shots.  Also, photographing the wheel like this gives you something fun to do while waiting for World of Color to start!


Mickey's Fun Wheel is such a pretty icon in California Adventure now!  The big happy Mickey face along with those pretty dancing lights always brighten my day at the park.  I love the sight of that huge ferris wheel and it's even more fun to ride.  So my question for everyone who reads this is: Do you go on the swinging gondolas or the non-swinging ones? :)  Please leave your answer in the comments!!  It would be fun to see what people prefer to ride!


Happy Friday and enjoy!!

Adventures in Wonderland

"My adventures in Wonderland began when I followed the White Rabbit down the rabbit hole.  All of a sudden, I fell! Down, down, down..."







Alice in Wonderland is just one of those little cute Fantasyland rides that is a must-see when you go to Disneyland!  I've always found it so fun because it goes on two different levels of the building and is both outside and inside too!  I thought it was the coolest thing when I was little that I got to sit in the front all by myself, like that little seat was made for me! :)


All the oversized "plants" and such at Alice in Wonderland make it a pretty place to look at, as well as all the bright colors!  Love it!







Something I really love to look at and take pictures of in the Alice in Wonderland area are the big oversized leaves in all the pretty colors!  I even made these out of paper for a scrapbook once!  They're a nice thing to shoot picture of if you have time to kill in line, which is exactly what I did!












Finally, I have a pic of the lanterns that hang above the Mad Tea Party which is right next door to Alice in Wonderland!  These lanterns seem to bring out a smile from me every time I see them!  To me they mean a fun ride of spinning my teacup till I'm super dizzy!  :)