Our day started with a Meet N Greet with Pluto -- and we got a free printed photo, as we are Disney Rewards Cardholders!

Thanks for joining me as I looked back at pictures from our day.  The park was not too crowded (it was a Wednesday) and we had a good time together.  Here’s to many more years of being young (and in love)!

Americana Classic

I loved the way these letters looked. I was in a rush to take the photo, so perhaps not the best angle. This part of Main Street is about old-fashioned Americana. Admittedly cheesy, the Americana look at Disneyland has become a classic. It seems silly to say that they don’t go overboard with the themed ideas — because, hello, it’s Disneyland and why not?! — but maybe it’s just because they keep it clean and cheery. The Music Man tunes and smells of ice cream and waffle cones don’t hurt either. These amusement letters are hard to find, and I’ve scoured some good antique fairs and haven’t seen any. To replicate this look, I’d stick to the idea of letters, barbershop quartet stripes and white trim.

Spice up the Basics

This first idea — coming from the elevator signs at California Adventure’s Tower of Terror ride — may not be possible. I’m not mechanically minded, but wouldn’t it somehow be a cool clock? Maybe I can get someone to figure out how to make me one.

Secondly, you may recognize the second photo from the doorway of the exclusive Club 33. Anyone ever been there? This photo is as far as I have gotten. It would be fun as your address number. I’m thinking you could find a similar photo frame at a thrift store and the gold and blue materials at a hardware store. As for the actual 33 sparkly part, you could find metallic paint, of if you really wanted to go above and beyond, try a mosaic!

Colorful Outdoors

If any place is going to have beautiful landscaping, it’s Disneyland. One thing I noticed about the plants is that they were colorful. Look at the cool purple leaves in the top photo and the bright pink blooms in the photo below. Both really seemed to add an air of sophistication. We went during  a wine tasting event, and the wine-colored plants were nearby some of the tasting stations. The pergola area seems right out of Italy — not that I’ve been there … yet! — and perfect for a place to eat a nice meal with a favorite glass of wine. I’m not a plant pro, so you may want to bring some inspiration pictures to your local nursery for help with that!

Preserve Your Memories

Now, with a photo this awesome and memories to go along with it, the best way to bring the magic back home is to frame a favorite photo to keep in your home. We probably should have gotten a better background shot, but oh well. It’s some of our favorite people in one of our favorite places. Frame it!

Want to see more of our Disneyland fun? Check out our Hidden Mickey adventures and the weekend of NewyWife togetherness in the Magic Kingdom.

I am guessing that many of our readers have been to Disneyland.  But I wonder — how many of you know about the Hidden Mickeys?  I was shocked when I found out that the Matts did not know about them. Emily and I made it our job to share some of the hidden Mickey joy with them, with a little help from my dad’s new hidden Mickey guidebook: Disneyland’s Hidden Mickeys, 2nd Edition: A Field Guide to Disneyland Resort’s Best-Kept Secrets!

Step 1: Get out your guidebook — or you can just look one up online, Finding Mickey is a great resource!  They have a checklist that you can print out and bring with you to the park that includes pictures.  It can ruin the fun if you look at them before you go, but might be worth it to take a look after you visit the park!

Emily and I deciding where to start our hidden mickey search for the day

Step 2:  Get out and enjoy the park.  Along the way, look for Mickeys.  They can be anywhere.  The guidebook gave us ideas of where to find them in certain areas (it had a clue in front, and then details about where exactly it could be found further back in the book).  The checklist online contains more Mickeys, but fewer hints.

Do you see one in the castle? Nope!

We found two of them on this doorway!

Can you tell how frustrated I am here?

This was one of the harder hidden Mickeys to find.  If you want to see it close up, then click on over!

There it is -- quite faded! This is in line for Indiana Jones

As you can see, searching for Mickeys is a great way to kill time while you are in line.

Step 3:  Don’t be afraid to ask for help. And honestly, the Castmembers can tell when you are searching for them, and sometimes ask if you would like help.  We asked someone for help while looking at this wall in California Adventures, but she wasn’t much help.   Everyone else was very helpful, though.  It was actually a Castmember who showed us the one on Indiana Jones!

Does this one count?

Almost positive this one counts!

The rules are that the mickey silhouette is supposed to be intact, so the ears are supposed to touch the head.   Some are a bit distorted and do not touch, like the one that Emily found.  Do you see it?   The one that I found seemed to be too much of a stretch, what do you think?

Step 4: The search does not have to end after you leave the park.  We happened to find a few in the next few days — Matt found one in the upholstery at Panera, and I found one in our ice cream at BJs.  Now, these are not true hidden Mickeys, as Disney Imagineers did not plant them, but they are still fun to find!

This pizookie looked a lot like a Hidden Mickey to us!

Did you enjoy our search for hidden Mickeys?  Have you ever found any?

Can’t get enough Disneyland fun? Check out our posts on putting the Disney in your home decor and a weekend in the Magic Kingdom with the NewlyWives.

That’s my Mom and me — wine tasting in Disney’s California Adventure on Wednesday. We were celebrating my Dad’s Birthday, but he has the pictures of us.  So maybe he will have to guest post — or just email them to me!

The Newly Wives take Disneyland!

Emily and her Matt.

Me and my Matt (our last name starts with N).

On the new Toy Story Mania ride.  That was lots of fun!

In front of Sleeping Beauty’s Castle.

Emily was really excited about the newly finished Sleeping Beauty Castle.

Looking at one of the scenes from Sleeping Beauty.

Once the day was over, the boys were excited to leave.

And then sad when we said we needed to go back and get something, haha.

Want to see more Disneyland fun? Check out our post on bringing the Disney magic home in your decor and finding Hidden Mickeys!