Jimmy and I are huge Disneyland fans, we’ve gone for 4 years in a row! This time was extra special though, it was so fun having our little guy with us! My mom, two of my brothers, and our niece, Marissa, came too.
We actually surprised Marissa the morning of, she had no clue, it was so hard to keep the secret. We needed to arrive at the airport at 7am, so the night before, we “spontaneously” (even though we had it all scripted out for weeks), said to Marissa, “Wouldn’t it be fun to go to breakfast before Jimmy has to be to work tomorrow morning?” (and we did go to breakfast… in the airport) We had packed our suitcases a few days before, and so all we had to do was load them in the trunk the morning of. We got up that morning, and I asked Marissa to come help me get Zeke ready. Meanwhile, Jimmy grabbed all her stuff she had brought for her stay with us, and loaded it into a suitcase and put it in the trunk. We hurried out the door, and were so relieved we had made it, and she didn’t know! We were headed for Salt Lake, and Marissa still didn’t expect anything out of the ordinary because Jimmy worked downtown. Once we got on I-80, I asked Marissa if she wanted to see where the special lunch was that we were going to the next day in celebration of her 4.0 the whole school year. I handed her a folder, and the first page said, “The Blue Bayou Restaurant”, (that’s the restaurant in Disneyland) She had never heard of it though, and she was confused. I told her to look at the next page, which was her airline ticket. She was even more confused by this time, so I said look at the next page, which was her Disneyland ticket. She thought we were joking, but we said we were serious, and that were were going to Disneyland today! She was totally shocked! It was so fun surprising her, but it was so hard to keep the secret, it almost got spilled so many times! It was her first time on an airplane too, and she was so nervous that she couldn’t eat her breakfast! Once the plane got off the ground, she really enjoyed it.
Zeke liked the airplane ride too, especially sitting in his own seat.
One of Zeke’s favorite rides was the new Finding Nemo submarine ride.
One of Zeke’s least favorites was the Peter Pan ride, he’s crying in this picture, poor thing!
Everyone at the Blue Bayou Restaurant. This is the cool restaurant you can see when you’re on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride, I had to call and make reservations a week in advance. It was fun, and yummy!
One of my favorite things about the trip was watching Zeke run around the park while the others went on a big-kid ride.
Zeke also loved the Bug’s Life Land. Jimmy was so cute running around with him through the water!
Jimmy carried Zeke on his shoulder a lot of the time, I thought it was darling!
Tuckered out with his Mickey light saber.
The Rain Forest Cafe is awesome! If you go there, get their ribs, they were delicious!
Back in the Salt Lake airport, totally exhausted from a great trip!
wow! what a fantastic surprise! someday i’d like to do a big surprise like that for someone.
Jimmy was telling us about this and we mentioned that Camden would love to go to Disneyland!! It looks like you had a bunch of fun! So cute that you took your niece, what a fun aunt. Also, I love the picture of Zeke on the Peter Pan ride. He doesn’t look like he is crying at all, he looks totally happy!
How fun! That’s cool that you surprised your niece, your such good aunt and uncle, and mom/dad. Glad you had fun!:)
How fun! I’ve been waiting for this update. I wondered what would be a good age to take Dash to do something like that, so it’s good to see that Zeke had a good time. Oh, and we went to the Rainforest Cafe in Vegas and Kevin had the ribs–they were huge! And so good!!
I love that last picture. The rosy cheeks tell all about a fun day…
What a fun trip! I love the pictures of Zeke sleeping with all his Disney gear. He’s so cute.
That so fun! I miss Disneyland!
That was a Cool Trip! I wish we could visit disneyland someday!
That’s such a fun story about surprising her. I am impressed that you were so sneaky about it. I love the pictures…it looks like SO much fun.
I give you permission and encourage you to surprise me with the same trip :)
I just love your spontaneity! Well, I guess it wasn’t spontaneous for you — but still. What a surprise!!
Sounds like so much fun.
And we just went to the Rainforest Cafe in Schaumburg, IL — it was SO cool! The kids (my two boys and my niece, all 3 and under) LOVED it. We loved the “volcano” dessert!
Zeke is so adorable in all the pictures and I am so happy that you guys had such a great time and that it was a fun surprise for your niece, yay!!
What a great surprise for your niece! That is so neat that you did that. Also, what a fun family tradition to go to Disney Land! Looks like you all had a blast.. especially Zeke!
FUN!!! You got some great pictures!! and you are SO tan!! Disneyland is always a blast!
That is so cool, we love Disneyland so much. I can’t wait till Ella eats more food and we can go.
HOW FUN!!! i love disneyland too! It really does make you happy huh:) That was the cutest surprise for you niece! Wow, how fun!
That looks like so much fun. I love going to DL but think it will be so much more magical with kids. I love the little sleepy picture of Zeke.
Wow looks like life is good for the Zimmermans. Zeke is adorable, “TIP” Jimmy if you start working out hard now you can still “LET” him win at wrestling in a few years. Keep in touch through allison’s blog!
Jay Linford (bishop byu140)
Your family is beautiful! What a handsome little guy! We took our son to Disneyland back in January when he turned 1 – it was our last week in the US before moving south. Going to Disneyland with a child is one of the coolest experiences! Keep in touch.
I loved reading about the trip we took together. It was so fun and I love the pictures of Zeke.