My mom insisted on taking her grandchild, DD #1 to Disneyland when she was not quite two years old. We said she wouldn’t remember a thing (and she doesn’t), but we couldn’t take away a grandmother’s joy at seeing her granddaughter have fun, even if the moment is fleeting.
DD #1’s second trip to Disneyland was when she was 4 and DD #2 was about 21 months. That trip DD#1 now remembers. We went to Disneyland days before Christmas. School wasn’t out yet but there were a lot of people already at the park. We got there at about 10am with pre-purchased tickets. Getting into the actual park took some time though, because we had to find parking and then take a shuttle. We also had to make sure that the stroller and our bags were complete with all the essentials that we would need to last us until the evening.
The first ride we took at the park was the “Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage” ride. Lines were still okay at that time, and by ok I mean, about 15 minutes. We went inside a “submarine” and watched the story of Nemo unfold through the portholes. Nice!
By the time we finished with the ride, it was almost lunch time. To avoid the crowds, we decided to go ahead and eat already. We brought some jarred food for DD #2 and the rest of us had burgers and nuggets from the concession stand. While eating, there was a Star Wars show going on, which kept us entertained through our meal.
Then, we took the boat ride on “It’s a small world.” I had gone on this ride a couple of times in the past. It didn’t fail to bring happy feelings as the wonderful dolls serenaded us. Of course, this one had a Christmas theme which made it a bit more festive.
Not surprisingly, Mickey’s Toontown was a real hit with the kids. First, we checked out Chip n Dale’s treehouse and Donald’s boat. Then we went to each of Mickey’s and Minnie’s house. We had nice family photos taken with Mickey and Minnie. Minnie was in her Christmas garb. Afterwards, DD#2 and I enjoyed the Roger Rabbit Car Toon Spin and the Go coaster, while hubby and DD#1 sat these rides out.
Next, Grandma spent some quality time with DD#2 at the Mad Tea party teacup ride while hubby, DD#2 and I lined up for the other rides in Fantasyland. We pretty much covered this place well. We went to Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, Peter Pan’s Flight, Pinocchio’s Daring Journey, and Snow White’s Scary Adventures. Some of the rides were a bit scary for DD#2. The Snow White ride, in particular, had some creepy shockers where even we, the adults, were surprised! But well, with a ride called, Scary adventures, we should’ve expected that. Peter Pan’s flight was a fun ride and the magical, starlit sky at the end of the ride was awesome. Of course, we did not pass up the chance to ride on King Arthur’s carousel.
We then decided to see the princesses. While DD#2 took a nap, I lined up for almost two hours just so DD#1 could meet some princesses! I hope one day she remembers the lengths I go through to make her happy. Sigh. Prior to this trip, we got an autographed picture of Cinderella and DD#1 was quite excited to see the princesses in person. They don’t guarantee you, however, as to which three princesses will be there when you finally get to the front of the line. Tired but happy, we finally got to meet Belle, Arielle, and Jasmine. DD#1 had photos taken with each of them. We were given a card which had a barcode linked to our photos. These photos we could later on pick up at one of the gift shops (at tourist prices, of course) or could be shared and/or purchased online as well. DD#1 was so ecstatic that she no longer felt tired. I, however, was tired but mustered the energy any wanderlusting mama should have.
We walked through Sleeping Beauty’s castle and browsed for souvenirs at the Bibbidi Bobbidi boutique. The merchandise was so cute, I would not be surprised if one racked up a huge shopping bill…I mentioned that we browsed, right? We skipped the Indiana Jones and Jungle Cruise rides at Adventureland as well as the rides at Critter country. We did buy the Mickey caps for the girls at the Briar patch store where they had a huge selection of Mickey caps. The girls chose a pink Mickey cap with a tiara and we got them embroidered with their names. It was a nice souvenir for this trip. I wanted to get one of those pirate Mickey caps but I managed to avoid the temptation.
With Grandma watching the girls, hubby and I managed a few rides of our own. We went on the Pirates of the Carribbean (over an hour’s wait!) and the Haunted Mansion rides. These were good, fun rides.
By this time, we decided to get some gumbo dinner at the New Orleans Square. Nothing really spectacular, but we had expected meals to be non-descript. We had to eat—and eat fast—so we could do more! After all, we didn’t go to Disneyland for dining.
We then waited at Main St. for the Christmas parade. Hubby had DD#1 on his shoulders while I had DD#2 on mine. The parade was wonderful. The girls finally saw Cinderella (the princess that DD#1 did not get to meet earlier) and Prince Charming. Toy Story characters were there too! At the end of it though, my shoulders and back ached so much, it felt like the Seven Dwarfs stomped on me-- while carrying a barrel of jewels! That was my sign that we had to head home. We had planned to return after a couple of days to check out Downtown Disney and catch the fireworks, albeit not from the New Orleans area.
My mom was right, as mothers always are ;) The girls may or may not remember this trip, but we do. The trip might not be known as “our trip to Disneyland” but more likely “the day we took the kids to Disneyland.” And by now there are newer rides that the girls will love to go on. But there always is a next time. Next time, we hope to check out Disney World and go on another magical journey to yet another one of the happiest places on earth.
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