A trip to Disneyland is like coming back home.

It's been a couple years since we have visited Disneyland. And having been former annual pass holders for years, where we often went more than once a month, we were all having serious withdrawals. We decided to book a 3 day stay at the Disneyland Hotel, The kids were so excited! Each park has an early entry day. Early entry for Disneyland and California Adventure is a real benefit. During our 1 hour of early entry, we were always able to walk on a hand full of rides with no waiting. This is the greatest advantage for Cars Land and Radiator Springs Racers.

On day 1, we headed straight to Disneyland. Seeing this sign is like arriving back home. I love all of the little added touches for the big 60th Anniversary!

First stop for us was at Guest Services to get the Disability Access Service Card. This card has received so much negative press, but I have to say that we experienced no problems. The cast members were all very kind, and the card really helped us in the evenings. In order to get the card, we had to explain what our concerns were, present all of our park tickets, and Noah was photographed. By arriving early to the parks every day, having a park touring strategy, we usually only had to use the card later in the day. During the morning, most rides had minimal or no waits.

Our second stop was at the Photography shop in order to exchange our photopass plus voucher for our photopass card. If you purchase it at least 14 days before your trip, the cost is only $69.95. https://www.disneyphotopass.com/specialoffers/dlrppp.htm If you like to stop for group photos, or enjoy the ride photos, it's worth it.

We decided to head to Indiana Jones first. That ride always has a long line. And when it doesn't have a line, it's broke down. On our way over, I spotted these little ducklings and their mom. So cute!

Indiana Jones was a walk on! Just as fun as we had remembered!

Next up was Pirates of the Caribbean. The California version is way better than the Florida version. It's one of our favorite Disney rides!

After Pirates, we went straight to another family favorite, The Haunted Mansion. In honor of the 60th Anniversary of Disneyland, they brought out an original character from the ride, the Hat Box Ghost. Noah was super excited to see it.

We had a fast pass for Big Thunder Mountain, so we headed over there.

We saw a few selfie sticks at the parks, and they could get annoying. One lady had to be told repeatedly to put her selfie stick away. That's why I really love my Samsung NX 3000, that has a selfie mode. The screen flips over and makes selfie pictures so easy! Here are a few selfie shots from Big Thunder Mountain.

Using MouseWait app, we were able to figure out a strategy where we had little to no wait in the morning. It works great, but you need to be willing to bounce around the park. 

According to the ride app, it looked like Snow White was empty, so we headed over there. 

I've been practicing my dark ride photography. It's not perfect, but it's a challenge to take pictures on a moving ride and not use flash.

And guess who we met?! She was so mean. We loved it!

Of course, we had to visit Star Tours. I look cross eyed, but I think it's due to my progressive lenses. Middle age problems.

We were getting pretty hungry at that point, so we decided to have lunch and relax for a bit. I love the boxes and cups that our food came in!

I could tell that the kids were ready for a break, so we grabbed a fast pass for Radiator Springs Racers then headed to the monorail to get back to the Disneyland Hotel. I love the monorail!

Even the hotel had little 60th Anniversary touches!

We really picked a perfect time to visit. Southern California can get so hot in the summer. But early June means June gloom skies in the morning keep the temperatures down. Then it's glorious sunshine in the afternoon. It gave us time to enjoy the pool.

The kids loved the slides!

After a nice swim, it was time to head back to the park. We walked over to California Adventure. First stop was Cars Land. OMG this place was awesome!

Watching the cars drive along the streets was pretty cool.

It was our fast pass time for Radiator Springs Racers, so we made our way over. Even with the fast pass, it took us about 15 minutes to ride. Way better than the 2 hour stand by wait! This ride is a new favorite for us. It was so awesome!

After the ride, we decided to use our photopass plus card to get some group pictures.

And some of the photos I took with my own camera.

We had so much fun walking around Cars Land, soaking up the sights and sounds. The kids were getting thirsty, so we bought some drinks at Cozy Cone, and found a shady bench.

The souvenir cups were great! They look like oil cans.

After that, we rode Mike and Sulley to the Rescue, then the kids wanted to go back over to Disneyland. It was packed over there, so we had to use Noah's pass for a few rides.

We were able to get on Matterhorn and Haunted Mansion again. Here is another attempt at photographing Hat Box Ghost.

We kept trying to get on Alice in Wonderland, but it was broke. So we headed over to Pinochio, then Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. 

By that time, it was getting dark. And once it gets dark, the kids want out of the park. They do not life fireworks one bit. So we high tailed it out of there!  We were safely in our hotel room enjoying dinner from Tangaroa Terrace when we could hear the fireworks go off. Phew! We got out of there just in time! What a great ending to day one!