New Adventures in Mommyhood: Always Magical Disney Adventures!

New Disney Experiences

by, Nahyr Galaz Ruiz

It's no secret that we are a HUGE Disney family. If you're one of our out-of-town close friends, you've most likely been repeatedly offered to come stay at our house and come with us to Disneyland and/or Disney California Adventure. Since we live a short sixteen minute drive away and are AP holders, we frequent Disneyland as often as we can! We also love going with friends and family, so if you're one of our peeps; we'll most likely keep offering *chuckles*

Even though we are seasoned Disney-goers (we've been going as a family since Sia was 20 months old), almost every time we go we discover something new or do something we've never done before! It's truly magical! This past Sunday we visited Disneyland and opted to stay in the one park for the day. Despite how often we usually go, due to work commitments, school, and travel; we hadn't been able to get our Disney fix in a few weeks and we were really excited about finally remembering to participate in Disney's annual Easter Eggstravaganza egg hunt!

Easter Eggstravaganza

If you've never been at Disneyland for this event, I highly recommend it; particularly if you have children 5 and under (it's not very challenging for older kids but we even saw some adults participating in the fun!). To participate, you purchase the egg hunt map for $5.99 (plus tax) at a designated kiosk This year, the small table under a red umbrella was located as soon as you enter the park on the right-hand side just past the Great Moments with Lincoln attraction tucked away in the corner where the characters disappear to for their break. Be careful! We almost missed it! It's pretty tucked away if you don't know what to look for! For $5.99 (plus tax) you get your map and stickers to go hunt for all 12 eggs; once you've found them all, you return to the kiosk to redeem your map for your prize- an exclusive, Disney themed egg! You have until Sunday, April 16th to partake in this fun Disney tradition!!! There are also different maps at Downtown Disney and DCA respectively; we're going to attempt the other two maps as well!

Our spoils!

Character Breakfast

After we picked up our maps, we decided we were hungry. (We had left the house in a whirlwind rush and, while we packed snacks and juice, we didn't actually eat breakfast). While I snapped some reppin photos of Gavi's dress, the hubby scouted a breakfast place to dine in. We had never eaten at the Plaza Inn so he wandered on in. It turns out we lucked out! The Plaza Inn usually requires advanced reservations due to its popularity for its Character Breakfast Buffet!

We were all very excited to "discover" this experience; we had done the Character Breakfast at DisneyWorld but thought it was only available at the Disney hotel here in Cali- goes to show you that we don't know EVERYTHING. The girls had an absolute blast and the food was delish (I even broke my diet a little bit to sneak in some mickey mouse waffles...shhhh). What's neat is one of Disney's photographers is stationed near the entrance to snap some cute photos of you and your littles. They'll come to your table and show you your printed photos for purchase. Your also of course free to take as many photos as you'd like with your own cameras and devices and the characters come around and stop at each table.

Gavi was a little apprehensive about seeing her beloved characters up close, but Sia LOVED talking to each character and giving them a BIG HUG.

Finally 40 inches tall!

The egg hunt and character breakfast weren't our only new Disney experiences, though. Turns out our oldest, Sia, is finally 40 inches and could ride on a few big kid rides! This means she can now go on Star Tours, HyperSpace Mountain, Splash Mountain, and Big Thunder Mountain!

As we don't normally do the big kid rides (because until now she wasn't tall enough!), we didn't arrive early enough to get a fast pass for HyperSpace Mountain, but that's now high on our priority list for our next visit!

She did however, go on Star Tours, Big Thunder Mountain, and Splash Mountain. My daredevil child loved these rides and can't wait to go on them again! This time around her daddy took her on them. We did use the Child Switch pass for Star Tours but as I had a sore throat/cold, I refrained from riding anything that makes you scream!

If you have littles, I highly recommend the Child Switch pass (most theme parks have them!), the adult who stands in line (whether FastPass or StandBy doesn't matter) with the child tells the attendant that they will need a Child Switch Pass (note the other adult and young child need to be visible to the attendant so don't run off just yet!). The attendant hands you the pass and when your spouse or other adult exits the ride with your child, you then get to use the pass and your child gets to ride twice! The second time you just walk right through with your pass; no waiting! It's a really great option for families with both young and older kiddos!


Sia totally ready for a second go at Star Tours, Mommy used the Child Switch Pass!

When you exit Star Tours, I highly recommend a stop in the Star Tours shop to build your own lightsaber and join the Rebel Alliance! May the Force be with you!

My little daredevil completely unfazed by the drop!

While Big Sis and Daddy rode Splash Mountain, Gavi and I went on the Winnie Pooh ride, met Tigger and Winnie Pooh (again) at the 100 acre wood meet and greet and shopped for Gavi's first Disney stuffed animal. (She has others she's been given, but this would be the first time I take her to pick one for herself like I did her big sis!). When we first entered the shop, Gavi made a dash for the Minnies and I was sure she'd pick one of them. Except she didn't want one Minnie.

She wanted ALL OF THE MINNIES.


(Blurry shots happen when mom tries to take photos while simultaneously making sure the toddler doesn't run out of the store with 20 Minnies in tow)

Things changed as soon as she spotted Tigger on shelf nearby. She immediately dropped all of the Minnies (Sorry, Minnie!), and ran over on her tiptoes squealing and gesturing for me to pull one down for her. She's found her Disney bestie. Fitting since Tigger is as playful, bouncy, and smiley as Gavi and Pooh Bear is Sia's bestie!