After a couple of hours of morning laziness on one of the last days of February, I loaded up the kids and our coats and off we went for a cool day at Disneyland. The high was supposed to be 62, brrr! But it wasn't supposed to rain, so I figured it would be a great day as long as we are dry. Plus, two of my friends were texting me saying they were going and I should too.
I decided to be brave, very brave - I took the single stroller! And I didn't haul around a potty chair! I managed to pack everything we'd need into one bag too. I was really traveling light today! I stopped for some cash at the magic money machine (ATM) to cover whatever I've forgotten to bring along. I also stopped to get gas. Holy Gas Pumps! The price of gas shot up like a weed in summer! I'm gonna have to start staying home.
Since we were meeting up with friends, we ended up spending more time on Main Street than we ever have before. Usually, we shoot right up Main Street to the best part of Disneyland: Sleeping Beauty's Castle. We barely notice Main Street, we just dodge the horse drawn buggies and the wild motorized wheelchairs and go right up to the castle.
Today, we visited with characters and then went into the Fire House. That was nice! After climbing around in there for a bit, we wandered up and got a treat in the bakery. Yummy!
We made our way up to the Hub where Walt is holding Mickey's hand. That's where my friends all decided to feed their babies, rest and relax on the benches. But my girls were going crazy wanting to get inside that castle! So I took them and ended up with one extra to the castle. Gracie and Jillian were holding hands and walking - as always both of them were talking a mile a minute at the same time. They managed to trip over each other and they both did a belly flop to the bricks! Now I had two crying kids laying face down in front of the castle. Oh, no.
Luckily, the magic of Disneyland cured them both pretty fast. We checked to see if their knees still bent and their arms still wiggled and their toes could still dance around. All was well! Whew!
I took the three of them through the arches of the castle and straight to our favorite stroller parking spot - right by the exit of the Sleeping Beauty story. We we walked up and over and through the castle in Sleeping Beauty's story. We always run past Maleficent and hang on tight together so she won't scare us! And we always stop at the end and watch Aurora's dress turn pink and blue and pink and blue. We never leave till it's pink.
Once we exited, we went right to the stroller and we were nearly run over by a herd of Alice in Wonderland characters! It was great! They ran right past us and they even patted Gracie and Jillian on their heads as they rushed by.
How NOT to navigate your way around Disneyland: Ask a 2, 3, and 4 yr old what they all want to do next. You'll get 50 different answers in a split second. Luckily, most of the answers led in the same direction so we went that-a-way. And wouldn't you know it, nobody was in the teacup for once! How do you like your tea? Three lumps of sugar for me!
Jillian had never been on the Storybook Canal ride and we hadn't been on it in ages, so we got in line for that. The line really didn't look very long until we figured out it was really very thin lines so the people were que'ed up pretty tightly: a small space, a mile of people. The canal boats are constantly loading and unloading passengers so the line moved along. The girls were wound up and excited, so even a moving line was pretty hard for them. My apologies to everyone in line with us.
Once we got in the boat, Jillian wondered if it was like the Pirate ride and she got really nervous really fast! She buried her head in her mom and feared for her life as we entered the mouth of the whale. She just knew there would be a big drop and a splash! It was smooth sailing right on through that whale and out the other side. We had some very happy girls!
My other friend was busy holding down a bench. She is pregnant and in that super-exhausted stage of the game, the first trimester. She sent her husband to hold a place for us in line at Small World. Awesome!
We all gathered and got in line with Mr. Placeholder, and that is when we realized we were a pretty big group! Nine of us all together! My apologies to all the people in line behind us as we hopped over the rope and didn't wait anywhere near as long as we should have. Really, you didn't want us to. Just ask the people in the Storybook Land line!
We boarded a boat and I handed my camera to my friend in the front. She held it way out over the water without using the precautionary wrist strap and snapped a picture of all of us. Don't we look excited? We don't know the people in the back row of our boat, they just got lucky and rode with us.
See that? 5 little girls! We were outnumbered as parents, and somehow, we still managed to dodge the next attraction: Princess Fantasy Faire. This one is hard to dodge, but it's another long line. It is rarely under an hour long wait and the line is long and boring. We tootled on over to Toon Town to visit everyone's favorite mouse. Minnie!
We all decided that we were all hungry and wanted to go home, and by "we" I mean the grown-ups. The kids were fine and had hours and hours of energy left in them! My favorite place to eat is the Test Pilot Burger Grill in California Adventure. What is that from Toon Town, a three mile hike? Jillian and her mom and baby decided to head home and the other family wanted to head over to Critter Country to see if they could find Winnie the Pooh before he was done for the day. It was great to be with friends at Disneyland, but we all went our separate ways.
Libby fell asleep, but we decided to try to visit Rapunzel and Flynn Rider before we went to eat. She wasn't at all excited about getting close to the characters today anyway. We got to the Tangled que and guess what, the line was closed so that Rapunzel and Flynn could take a short break. They would open the line back up at 4:45 and the characters would return at 5pm. Ok, we had 45 minutes so we went to the Mexican restaurant around the bend.
We decided to just walk and wander while Libby slept. We found a "stage" in Frontierland where Gracie could put on a show, and she did. She danced but didn't sing. I applauded enthusiastically when she finished and then I asked her why she didn't sing. She said "because a man was on his phone". Oh. Nothing like learning manners from your own kid. I am so proud of her! And I feel like Grover at the end of his Monster book. You know the one.
Then we strolled into the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique. I don't like to tempt and tease my child, but my inner child wanted to go in there so very badly! In we went! What a gift shop! We saw all the beautiful princess wear and accessories, took mental notes of the prices. Ouch. And then we peeked in the back to watch little girls getting their hair and makeup done princess style. Oh how wonderful! I asked for a price list to satisfy my curiosity and shock myself back into reality. It worked. One of the best things in this store was a stained glass window. I think it would be a beautiful quilt pattern!
We left the shop and Gracie cried and gave me the biggest sad face she could make. Ok, we can mark that stop off of our list of Disneyland experiences. Done. No need to return, it's just too wonderful and expensive.
Ignoring my daughters sobs and pleas for over priced princess gear, I noticed a door on the back of the castle that I don't remember ever seeing before. Another gift shop? No signs. Hmmm. We peeked inside. Maybe it is a secret "Cast Members Only" room! Nope, it's even better! It is a room where you can view a video of the Sleeping Beauty castle tour (which is mostly stairs). It is a nice small room, beautifully decorated with a big bench that can only be described with a gasp and a WOW!
Libby woke up from her nap in here. I was thinking this would be a great place to nurse a baby, except for the camera in the ceiling. Otherwise it was a perfect little resting spot away from the crowds. Even though it was a small space it was a magical transition into the old days of royal princesses. The bench and the items in the display case looked like museum pieces. What a treasure!
We went out through the front of the castle and headed toward Main Street. I was worn out and ready to go home. Of course, the girls were not. Since Libby just woke up, we headed to the baby center so that she could go potty on the tiny toddler toilets. Gracie didn't have to go, so we were safe to use the tiny toilets just for Libby. Only children under 42" are allowed to use the itty bitty potties. Gracie is 43" tall. They have two toddler toilets and no regular sized toilets. The toddler toilets aren't out in the open, but they aren't all that private either. Oh well, so we went in and Gracie suddenly had to go too. Ok, go.
The girls were each sitting on a pot and I told Gracie, "ok, get up now". She says "No, I'm pooping". Oh no! Not here! I don't wanna stink up the whole baby center! Yuck! Libby is done and putting herself back together and I say to Gracie, "Honey, get up, let's go" and she says "I'm still pooping". OMG! The stink! And she's STILL pooping! Finally, she got up and the turd that was in the bowl was ENORMOUS! Not kidding, that turd must have been 14" long. Not even sure how it all fit in the potty! So we flush and the water spun around and the turd just sat there, wedged in the top part of the bowl! NO!!! Go down! Bend! Break in half! Go Away!! It finally gave and went down, but geez, I thought for sure my kid who was just over the height max for using those toddler toilets just clogged it up. How on earth can anyone poop a turd that big? I'm afraid to ever go in there again.
We fled out of the baby center and went down Main Street. I asked the girls if they would like to see the cartoon movies. Cartoon movies? They were thrilled. Yes! Another Disneyland first! I thought the movie theater was a sit-down place with old cartoons looping one after another. I was wrong. It has six screens in one room, all old cartoons that I was hoping to see looping continuously. But there was no seating. There was an elevated platform in the middle of the room, not sure why. Hmm. I thought this would be one of those nice little resting places at Disneyland, but it isn't. It is pretty nice, but without seats I was a wee bit disappointed. The girls liked the cartoons but they weren't thrilled. I bet they'll like it better if I take them on a hundred degree day and it's air conditioned inside. I probably will too.
Next stop, another place I've heard about but never stopped in. The Magic Shop. This place was amazing! Disney magic at its best! It was a lot smaller than I imagined, the three of us fit in the store and that's just about all the room there was. There is a vast array of magic trick merchandise on the wall and a big counter with magicians running the store. I told Gracie to ask one if he knew any magic tricks. She did.
He was very enthusiastic and he came out from behind the counter, put on a black jacket and top hat and did a magic show just for Gracie! He took one playing card and spun it around in the air, making it float and twirl around. It was amazing! It disappeared for a minute and he found it in Gracie's ear! The look on her face was Disneyland Magic Amplified! He made that card dance in mid-air again and then he gave it to her! Ever see a child with eyes as big as the moon? She was so amazed and mystified! She just loved it! And she got to keep the magic card, which she carried as if it was the most valuable treasure in the land.
She carried her treasured magic card around for three days, including giving it a space on her pillow at night. She couldn't get it to spin or float, but she stared at it and you could see the wheels turning in her head. She thought long and hard about those few minutes in the Magic Shop. It was by far our best stop of the day!
Considering we didn't see a parade, any shows, and rode only two rides, we somehow managed to have a fabulous full day at Disneyland once again! We did lots of new things, ate well, rested well, and had a lot of fun! Libby wore her Minnie Mouse coat after the sun went down, so cute! We left at 6:20 and got home at 7:30. The kids slept from 6:25 til 7:30. That was my biggest mistake! We left too early. Those carseats are way too comfortable and they were recharged for the evening! I couldn't get them settled down before 11pm which made for a pretty short night for this exhausted mommy. I think one more hour would have been all we needed to put them out for the night. Can't wait to go to Disneyland again! I think I can squeeze in one more trip before I need to renew my pass.
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