Disneyland 2013 Day 3: California Adventure

The final day of our trip was spent at California Adventure. When we first started planning the trip, we initially thought we’d only be going to Disneyland itself. Then we decided to do the Princess Breakfast (more below), which, of course, only takes place at Ariel’s Grotto in California Adventure. Well played Disney, well played. Nelson and I were at the parks in 2005 and I didn’t remember a lot of activities for young kids in CA Adventure, but, of course, we were 2 adults without kids, so we didn’t really pay attention. As I researched more about the park, I realized there were a lot of fun things to do for them (I should have known Disney wouldn’t disappoint) and decided to go after all.

I should back track. Before going on this trip, Kalaya had no idea whatsoever Disneyland actually was. It came up last fall when we saw a stage production of The Little Mermaid at my high school, after which Kalaya got to meet Ariel. Every time we drove by the school after that Kalaya would say, “That’s where Ariel lives on the stage!!” and I had to explain that, no, in fact Ariel had left and gone back home. We started to say she lived in the ocean (of course) but then we started getting asked about Cinderella and the other princesses and eventually started talking about this magical place called Disneyland where all the princesses live, as well as Mickey and his friends and every other character from Disney movies. (it took awhile to convince her that not EVERYONE on TV lived there. “Will we see Thomas Mommy? And Elmo?” For several months as the trip was being planned, ALL she talked about was going to see Cinderella’s castle and see Mickey’s house and Ariel and Cinderella.

Oh, by the way Kalaya, Disneyland has RIDES!!!

This didn’t even come up until a few weeks before the trip. And, she had no idea what we really meant. Our family has never ridden rides at the fair and we’ve never been to another amusement park. The only thing she’s ever done is the zoo train and a couple of Merry Go Rounds. So, naturally, she had it all planned out that she would ride the Merry Go Round and Jakiah would ride the choo choo as soon as we got to Disneyland.

Day 1 at Disneyland, big sign outside the entrance listing the rides closed for the day, including King Arthur’s Carousel.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

Have I mentioned my child does not handle disappointment well? Especially when we had been planning and talking about that exact ride for WEEKS?!

I seriously debated turning around and walking back to the hotel.

(and, YES, I am an informed, smart Disney mama. I had checked the website and learned which rides were going to be closed while we were there. Only the teacups and Big Thunder Moutain were listed. NOT THE MERRY GO ROUND!! DISNEY FAIL)

THANK GOODNESS we had planned on CA Adventure, because they do have a merry go round, though with sea creatures instead of horses. So, every time she got sad about the horses, we reminded her that on FRIDAY, we would ride the fish merry go round as many times as she wanted.

You would think the 50 other rides we went on would comfort the child.

It’s a rough life.

(she’s only a little spoiled, I SWEAR. Someone with a 4 year old will understand)

SO, Friday morning, off to California Adventure we went, this time with 3 adults other, all friends from college. Which meant Nelson and I got time with friends, got time without kids, got to ride thrill rides and even got to ride a ride BY OURSELVES! It was so fun and the kids seeing Auntie Beth, Uncle Nan and Mr Curt.

Of course, the very first ride we rode was the Merry Go Round. Twice. Then The Little Mermaid ride, which I think ended up being one of Kalaya’s favorite rides of the whole trip. (No, that is not a creeper. Or my husband. But, don't we make a nice family with our friend Curt??)

Then, it was time for breakfast with the princesses!!!

I will just tell you, incase you happen to look online after reading this, Ariel’s Grotto is too expensive. I’m just being honest. It was great and the food was delicious, but when you see the price and judge (I know I would), you are correct, it was ridiculous.

But, that’s Disney. Take it or leave it. If you don’t want to pay their prices, don’t do it.

 And, frankly, I really don’t want to hear about it.

It was really fun! We got to meet 5 princesses, including Ariel, Cinderella, Aurora, Belle, and Snow White. The whole experience was so well done and the food really was good.

I almost died when Kalaya’s meal came out. She chose a chocolate chip waffle, which apparently wasn’t enough sugar, so they made it into a boat with a bacon sail and put it on a bed of blue frosting AND included a huge cup of syrup, which she dumped over everything before we realized it. Oh, and coco krispies on the side. WOW. At one point she was swirling syrup and frosting together and eating it with a spoon.

ONLY AT DISNEYLAND PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!

(I should mention that the beautiful princess dresses were never exposed to the stickiness. They came out before the food was served. Smart.)

Needless to say, she had plenty of energy at this point and off we went to Cars Land. On the way we FINALLY met Donald Duck, which Jakiah had been waiting for the whole time. You can’t tell in the pics how excited he was, because he was eating crackers at the same time, so his mouth was full. But, he LOVES Donald and can actually say, “Donald Duck” VERY distinctly and clearly.

Cars Land is SO COOL. It is just like you are walking down town in Radiator Springs! All of us adults were in awe. And, the kids loved it, especially when Lightning McQueen himself drove by AND we got to meet him!! He really is super cool. Jakiah cried for 3 reasons. 1) it was nap time 2) he wanted to actually get in and ride inside Lightning (sorry dude) and 3) he had to leave Lightning and let someone else have a turn. But, still VERY COOL!

The rest of the day included thrill rides for the adults, including California Screamin’, Tower of Terror, Grizzly Mountain, Soarin’ Over California (which Kalaya was tall enough for and loved!) and we visited Bug’s Land which had lots of simple, small rides that the kids loved. We also caught the Pixar parade.

We also went to the Disney Junior stage show, which honestly was one of the highlights of the whole trip. It was just SO perfect for our kids ages! I will talk more in another blog about how we prepped the kids for everything Disney, but this show was one thing I had heard about. It was SO CUTE!! Every time a new show was introduced, it was like a celebrity had entered the room. Even Jakiah was saying, “Oh TOOOOODLES!!!” (if you don’t get it, you don’t have young kids) It was so sweet! It was super interactive and full of preschoolers and toddlers who were so into it singing and clapping and squealing at everything, adorable!

We finished off the day with a last ride on Ariel and the Merry Go Round. We didn’t stay for the World of Color show because 1) we were all exhausted and 2) the park got CRAZY crowded, because Disneyland had closed early for Mickey’s Halloween Party and a lot of the crowd found their way over. We finished with ice cream cones for everyone, which may have been the best part for Jakaih, since it was his first one ever!

The trip was an amazing blessing and I’m so happy we went. I can’t look back at pics, videos and even reading these blog enteries without getting choked up. It was that wonderful and magical and I will never ever EVER forget it.

See you real soon!

Disneyland 2013 Day 2

Day two was just as fun as the first day! I’m really glad we gave ourselves 2 days at Disneyland for multiple reasons; it let us take our time, we didn’t feel pressured to do too much, if we weren’t able to do something the first day, we got to the second day, etc.

Day 2 was different because we added another adult to the mix! Our good friend from college, Nan, joined us. It was great to see him, but it also added some awesome parts to our Disney experience. (1) Using Kalaya’s ticket, we were able to get 4 Fast Passes at a time (Me, Nan, Nelson, Kalaya). Since Kalaya and Jakiah are too young, we were able to ride the thrill rides and never alone, it was perfect! Nan got to do everything twice. This included Star Tours, Indiana Jones and Splash Mountain, as well as the Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean. (not Fast Pass rides, but our kids were too young for both) (2) Nan and his wife Beth are annual pass holders, which meant we got to take advantage of their 10% discount in the stores and restaurants. Basically, just the sales tax, but every little bit helped!! (3) Another person to keep track of kiddos and give Nelson some ‘guy time’.

We started off the morning with ‘Magic Morning’, because we bought 3 day (non hopper) passes. Which means we got to enter the park and hour before it opened, meaning 8 o’clock. Fantasyland and Tomorrowland were the 2 lands open to us. We headed straight for Peter Pan’s Flight, because, seriously, that line is ALWAYS CRAZY LONG. I don’t really get it. I mean, it’s a nice ride, but it’s really short and nothing fancy. And, Disney hasn’t figured out how to make that go faster. Come on Imagineers! Anyway, even with early admission, it was one of the longer lines we waited in, but still less than 30 minutes and it went quickly. We also rode the Buzz Lightyear ride and then it was time to meet Nan up at the front of the park, while hoping to meet characters we had missed the day before. We managed to be at the front of the line for both Daisy (Kalaya’s #1 request besides Cinderella) and Goofy, but missed Donald again, much to Jakiah’s disappointment. Nan and I immediately went to ride Star Tours while Nelson took the kids to meet Merida. (Disney’s latest princess from the movie Brave, which our kids are too young for, but we highly recommend!!)

We had scheduled a character breakfast Breakfast with Minnie at the Plaza Inn, which included an all you can eat breakfast buffet. I purposefully scheduled it close to lunch time (about the last reservation available time wise) so that we could call it lunch instead. The food was good and Nelson was very happy to EAT! There were so many characters that came through, including; the Fairy Godmother, Minnie, Suzy (one of Cinderella’s mice friends), Max (Goofy’s son), Tigger, Eeyore, Pooh, Pinocchio, Chip and Dale. Poor Dale managed to knock Jakiah completely over, he plowed RIGHT into him, Jakiah is just so tiny! He was fine though and Nelson and Nan thought it was hilarious, we’re waiting for the Dale nightmares to begin… Only downside was that the characters made the kids not interested in the food whatsoever, but I had anticipated that and it was worth it anyway. Plus, Jakiah was free!

The rest of the day was spent riding thrill rides and rides we had missed the previous day, or riding rides for the second, or third time. Some new rides included Storybook Land, the Enchanted Tiki Room and Finding Nemo (used to be the submarine ride), as well as getting our Mickey ears and picking our their special souvineers. We told them they could each pick one thing at the parks, but not until at least the second day (so they could look around). Jakiah picked a stuffed Tigger and Kalaya picked a Minnie Mouse purse. Jakiah got basic red Mickey ears and Kalaya, of course, picked the girlyest, princessiest ears in the park which included a tiara and veil.

We called it a night early that night, the kids were wiped and we wanted a good night’s sleep before California Adventures. I believe we left the park around 7pm, after arriving at 8am. Another great day!

Disneyland 2013 Day 1

I will post a separate blog or 2 about ALL of my planning, preparation and money saving ideas for our Disney trip soon. It was over a year of planning and researching and it was all so fun and totally, totally worth it!!

If you know me, at all, you will know that Disney is one of my very favorite things in the whole. wide. world. Like, serious obsession level. It is so a part of who I am and my childhood. I had a Disney wedding. (Not AT Disneyland, but lots of Disney incorporated in the ceremony and reception.) Nelson had to go to Disneyland before we could get married. (seriously.) I love it, I love it all! Needless to say, I have waited my whole life to have kids and take them to Disneyland. I had incredibly high expectations and I was beyond excited. For real, I did not sleep for 3 nights before we left. I was SO EXCITED.

We decided to take our first family trip this year, while Kalaya is 4 and Jakiah is 20 months. I knew that everything, EVERYTHING would be 100% real for Kalaya. The princesses, the characters, the magic. She may only remember parts of it (though, her memory never ceases to blow my mind), but I will and we will. It was pure magic and imagination and watching it through her eyes is something I will never. ever. forget. Many people didn’t understand why we took Jakiah at such a young age, telling me he won’t remember it. Duh. But, he was FREE! The park, the airplane, the hotel and even several meals. So, who cares??? Plus, I will remember it. I’ll remember how he held his little pen and autograph book out to each character, how he looked with adoration up at Mickey, how Chip picked him up and rocked him and how when Tinker Bell told him, “Don’t fly away!” and he replied “OKAY!” Every moment was wonderful.

October was a fabulous time to go. We chose to spend 3 days in the parks, 2 in Disneyland and 1 in California Adventures. It was the perfect amount of time. 2 days let us not have to rush to try to do everything in 1 day at Disney and 1 at CA Adventures was enough, because our kids are 2 young for the thrill rides. I cannot say enough about how awesome this time of year was for the trip. Sunny California, but not too hot and the lines were so awesome! Seriously, we didn’t wait more than 20 minutes for most rides (and most of them were even less!) and even less than that for most of the characters. And we met a LOT of the characters! Both of the kids’ autograph books are completely full!!

Day one was spent in Disneyland. The main focus of that day was meeting characters, but we rode a lot of rides too, because the wait was so short for everything! They did awesome at waiting in line (and yes, it was just Nelson and I watching them both) and were very patient. We managed to meet Minnie, Chip, Alice, the Mad Hatter, and Pluto in the first hour, it was awesome! We went straight to the castle, which you can now walk through again to see the story of Sleeping Beauty, which was in Kalaya’s top favorite activities of the whole trip. And, no line, so we could do it again though out the trip! We spent most of that morning in Fantasy Land riding rides and meeting Rapunzel. Then, during lunch, we told Kalaya she was going to get her hair, nails and make up done at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique, which she had seen pictures of online already, but had no idea we were going to take her there. Her expression was PRICELESS (and, no, we don’t have a picture on purpose. That memory is just for us J) She was giggling and clapping and jumping up and down.

The Boutique was definitely one of the highlights of the trip. I am SO happy a friend recommended it to us. Yes, it was expensive, but it was SO wonderful and worth every penny. She love, love, LOVED it and has not stopped talking about it. And, it’s been 5 days and the hairdo is still there! Basically, she got to be made over into a princess. And, the cast members through out the park called her princess the rest of the trip, which was super cute. She was adorable and so sweet and excited about every part of it. It was such a great start to the Disney magic and experience!

And, of course, the boutique is located right next to the princesses, so off we went! #1 priority was meeting Cinderella, who has been an obsession of Kalaya for over a year. It was….magical. Seriously, it was just so perfect. Kalaya was enraptured and Cinderella made it so special, teaching her to twirl, curtsy and princess wave. The look on her face was so priceless!!

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Jakiah was fantastic with the characters as well. We weren’t sure how he’d react, because so many people were pretty discouraging, saying that their kid had freaked out or that they didn’t really get it or didn’t know how it worked or who the characters were.

Not this kid.

He LOVED the characters!! He was SO CUTE, he would toddle up and say, “Hi ______!” (we have been watching many episodes of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse in preparation and in line, I would have him practice saying their names) and hold up his little autograph book and pen, it was the cutest thing!!! People were just gushing over him. He was totally in love with hugging and kissing them and giving hi fives. So sweet!

We rode a LOT of rides the first day, some of them even twice!! The lines were that short! One bummer was that the carousel was closed, which Kalaya had really, really been looking forward to. Luckily, we were able to tell her we’d be riding one on Friday at California Adventures. Some highlights included; Snow White, Dumbo, Alice in Wonderland, It’s a Small World, Autopia, visiting Toon Town, Casey Jr train, Jungle Cruise, and Winnie the Pooh. Characters from that day included Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Alice, the Mad Hatter, Chip, Rapunzel, Cinderella, Aurora, and Tinker Bell. Not bad!

We wrapped up the day with dinner at the Jolly Holiday Bakery and watching the parade, which included the princesses, Mary Poppins, the classic characters, Peter Pan and Hook, Tiana, The Lion King and Aladdin. We were at the park for 12 hours, but the kids did GREAT! Jakiah napped in the stroller with no problem and everyone had gotten a great night’s sleep the night before.