Disneyland: The Details

Disneyland was fantastic.  We had an absolutely wonderful time.  I, of course, took lots of pictures and lots of videos.  This post is going to be pretty long because I want to get all of my thoughts down so that I don't forget.  Feel free to skim if you'd like. :)  Here we go!

Traveling with a three year old is awesome, especially our three year old.  I was adding it up on the way to the airport and our trip to Disneyland was Zoë's seventh time on a plane.  She is already quite a seasoned traveler.  A pro, if you will.  She especially likes take off when we "Blast Off!" and go "SUPER FAST!"

This trip was exceptionally wonderful because she packed her own suitcase (with just a bit of guidance from Mommy) and even pulled it through the airport.  She also made sure to bring her purse.  What does a three year old pack in her purse when going on vacation, you ask?  A Cinderella cell phone, three colors of chapstick, Pirate Uniqua and Pirate Pablo.

We made sure to arrive at the airport early enough so that we had time to stop for "fancy breakfast."  Otherwise known at breakfast at Anthony's.  We have promised Zoë breakfast in the past and they stopped serving before we got there.  Not this time though.  We enjoyed a leisurely and delicious breakfast.  I do believe that is going to become a tradition in our family, at least when we travel with Miss Zoë.

After we checked in to our hotel, we decided to explore the California Adventure Park since we had dinner reservations at Ariel's Grotto in about an hour.  Our timing could not have been better.  We got into the park just in time to see the Block Party Bash.

The parade was brightly colored  and high-energy, and going right down the main street.  It featured many of the Pixar characters from Toy Story, A Bug's Life and Monsters Inc., not to mention countless people dancing and jumping and bouncing everywhere.

Zoë sat on her Daddy's shoulders in utter amazement.  She was absolutely awe struck.  At one point she said, "I cannot believe it!"  Kelly and I agreed with her.  Our favorite part were the green army men MC's.  They looked SO real. It was awesome.  A perfect start to our vacation.

* * * * *

I think that this was probably the best day of Zoë's little life so far.  She was so excited to see Ariel and have dinner with the Princesses.  She had been talking about dinner at Ariel's Grotto everyday for over a month.   I'm not kidding. 

When we walked down the stairs and saw Ariel in person, Zoë was literally jumping for joy.  She kept yelling, "Hi Ariel, Hi!" and "It's her!  It's really her!"  It was so adorable.  Zoë not only met Ariel,  she got her picture taken with her and got her autograph.  Zoë was completely over the moon.  Ariel is her very favorite princess, hands down.

We were seated for dinner and while we waited for our food we were visited by FOUR more princesses: Belle, Aurora, Snow White and Cinderella.  I know this is hard to believe but Zoë was actually rendered speechless.  Well not speechless exactly, more wordless. She got so excited that she just yammered on in gibberish.  It was pretty funny.

Each of the princesses posed for pictures and signed Zoë's autograph book.  It was truly a magical dinner.  Zoë felt so special and was thrilled to be meeting her favorite princesses in person.  She was one happy little girl.

The next morning we had early admission passes to Mickey's Toon Town Morning Madness.  I had visions of us being three of fifty or so people and meeting all the characters.  That wasn't exactly how it happened but it was still fun.  We made it just in time for Mickey Mouse to declare us all citizens of Toon Town.  (We even got buttons to make it official).   Then Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy, Goofy and Pluto disappeared.  The crowd of two hundred or so people dispersed to play and explore Toon Town and to look for Mickey and his friends, of course.

We got pretty lucky and found Goofy almost immediately.  He was very nice and posed for pictures and signed Zoë's autograph book.  Then we found Pluto.  That was when the fun really began.  Instead of just a picture and autograph they actually played for a little while.  Zoë and Pluto got stuck in jail together and she had to help him get out.

Then, while Daddy went on a mission to find a stroller, Zoë and I went on a mission to find Mickey Mouse.  As luck would have it, Mickey was in his house.  On the down side, everyone seemed to have found him and we had to wait for over a half an hour to see him.  It was well worth the wait though because not only did we get to see him, we got to tour his house, which was very cool. (As in interesting, unique AND air-conditioned).

* * * * *

Zoë and I met back up when Kelly when we stopped for a nice cold bottle of water after our tour of Mickey's house.  First stop: the Five and Dime store to buy a spray bottle-fan.  I hope the genius who invented that spray bottle-fan made millions of dollars. Being able to spray a cool mist of water on each other while we stood in the blazing sun kept us alive to enjoy Disneyland.  That was the best $17.00 we spent on our entire trip.

Refreshed from our nice cold water and spray bottle-fan, our little family decided to go looking for Donald, Daisy and Minnie Mouse.  We didn't find them but we did find Gadget's Go Coaster.  This roller coaster was by far Zoë's favorite ride at Disneyland. She would have ridden on it all day long if we had let her.  Kel and I were a little bit nervous about Zoë on her first ride, but that disappeared immediately when she started laughing as we zoomed around the first turn.  As soon as the roller coaster stopped she jumped out and said, "Let's Go Again!"  Actually, I take that back.  She was pretty ticked that we were making her get out the first time, but then she figured out that we could go again and again...we just had to get back in line.

And get back in line we did.  We ran.

The Princess Fantasy Faire is just outside of Toon Town, so after some lunch, that was our next stop.  We arrived just in time to for The Royal Coronation Ceremony where the children learned what it takes to be a true princess or knight.   A lovely maiden (I don't think she was a princess) taught the children how to do a royal dance and how to do a proper wave.  Then the children took a Royal Oath and became a princess or knight for the day.  Everyone celebrated with a group dance lead by Cinderella, Mulan and Snow White.

Kelly and  I then took our little princess into The Royal Wardrobe to be properly outfitted.  They not only had every princess dress imaginable, they also had a beauty parlor where they did princess up-do's complete with princess make-up or face paint. Unfortunately, our little princess wasn't at all interested. I cannot even tell you how disappointed I was about that.  I had visions of Zoë dressed up in all her princess glory, but it was not to be.

I won't lie.  I pouted for a while when we left empty handed.

When I was researching our trip online I printed out a list of rides that Zoë was tall enough to go on.  I was a little bit concerned because it only listed three rides.  I mean, Disneyland is fun by itself, but most of the fun is the rides.  Thankfully the website was completely wrong.  Everywhere we turned there were rides for Zoë.

The Mad Tea Party (aka The Teacups) was the second ride Zoë went on. Zoë and Kelly specifically.  It makes me nauseous just looking at the pictures frankly. Spinning in circles is not my thing.  I will take roller coasters over spinning any day.

Kelly and Zoë were so excited to go on the spinning teacups.  Do you think that Kelly took it easy with Zoë the first time around?  Um no.  They were spinning the wheel as fast as it could possibly go and Zoë LOVED it.  She actually got up on her knees and was looking over the edge of the teacups to get a better view of the world whizzing by.  (Until the operator told her to please sit back down).

Of course we had to buy some mouse ears.  They are the quintessential Disneyland souvenir.  It's almost a requirement.  We went to Mad Hatter to choose our ears.  They had quite the selection: regular mouse ears, Minnie Mouse ears, pirate mouse ears, bride mouse ears, groom mouse ears, flashing mouse ears, shiny mouse ears... You name it, there are ears to coordinate.

I myself went with the traditional ears.  Kel decided on the pirate ears (complete with earring).  Zoë chose pink Minnie Mouse ears.  We were a cute little mouse family.  In fact, when we had the ears on, Zoë would call us Mother Mouse and Father Mouse.  She was of course Daughter Mouse.

These pictures were taken while we waited in line for the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage.  It was well worth the 45 minute wait (the longest line we were in the entire time).  Zoë was beyond excited.  Once we were in the submarine she kept yelling, "Look it's Nemo!" and "Look it's Dory" and "Where is Crush?"  and "Look at that!"  She is not what you would call a quiet child, especially when she is that excited.  Nobody seemed to mind though.  She was just saying what all of the adults wanted to.  I really think that going to Disneyland with a child adds to the magic.  Every experience is amazing to them and they aren't afraid to show it.

The Grand Californian Hotel was gorgeous.  The decor is inspired by the architecture and style of the early 20th Century Arts and Crafts era.  (Think rustic castle).  There were little Disney touches everywhere you turned., from the whimsical staff uniforms to the pianist playing Disney classics.  They have achieved the perfect elegant Disney atmosphere.  One of the best guest perks of The Grand Californian is the private entrance to the California Adventure park.  No waiting in lines, no crowds.  It was heaven.

On this particular evening, after a long hot day at the park we decided to head back to the hotel (through our private entrance) to enjoy the Redwood Pool (complete with two slides).  Zoë could only go on the small slide because they don't allow two people to go down the big slide, or life jackets.  That didn't faze her a bit though.  She had just as much fun watching Mommy and Daddy go down the big slide.

After we exhausted ourselves in the pool we went upstairs, ordered room service, put on our jammies and watched a movie.  It was heavenly.  Sure, we could have gotten showered and dressed to go out, but we were wiped out.  Room service was just what the doctor ordered.  It was delicious and we all loved being able to chill and unwind after our super busy fun-filled day.

We had only planned on attending one character breakfast originally.  But (isn't there always a but?) we had so much fun at Ariel's Grotto that we decided to do another.  Sure, we had to get up at the crack of dawn to make our reservation, but the fact that the characters were there and came to our table more than made up for that  And really, how often are we going to be in Disneyland?  Not often.

I remember seeing commercials for Disneyland when I was younger.  In the commercials Mickey and Donald were walking around randomly, posing for pictures and hugging children.  That is not how it works anymore.  The characters don't just walk around.  If you do happen to  see them (which is rare) you usually have to wait in a loooong line to get your picture taken with them or try and push your way through a mob.  When you go to the character meals the characters come to you.  You see the appeal, no?

We were hoping to see Donald, Daisy and Minnie Mouse at Goofy's Kitchen since we hadn't bumped into them yet.   We did see Minnie but struck out on the others.  We did get to see Snow White again though and met Dale.  This meal may have been Zoë's favorite of our entire vacation.  It was an AMAZING buffet. The best we have ever been to, hands down.  Zoë decided on a breakfast of chocolate muffin, chocolate chip cookie pie, M&M's, some eggs,  a banana and orange juice.   Only on vacation my dear, only on vacation....

We had a plan on Day Three.  A brilliant plan really.  Some might even say scathingly brilliant.  We were going to take advantage of our early admission passes to ride all the popular rides before the masses were allowed in the park.  That in itself is not brilliant.  Our brilliant idea was to take the monorail into Disneyland and let it drop us off at the far end of the park.  Genius, no?

The Grand Californian hotel leads right into the middle of Downtown Disney.  Instead of taking a right and heading towards Disneyland we went in the opposite direction towards the monorail.  No biggie.  We were going to take the monorail and zip past all of the poor suckers walking towards Disneyland.  Those that hadn't learned the tricks we had.  (Or so we thought).

We got to the monorail to find it closed.  Closed.  The flipping monorail was closed for repairs.  So we walked all the way back to the main Disneyland gates.  WIth all of the walking we only made it in the park fifteen minutes early.  We did have time to pose for a picture before we were swarmed by the crowd, then we speed walked to get in line for It's A Small World.

Dumbo was very cool and very fun (spinning aside).  The line was only a few minutes long and the time passed quickly.  Watching the elephants flying around is almost as fun as doing it yourself.  Zoë made it very clear that she wanted to ride in a blue elephant (shocking, I know) so we ran like crazy people to a blue elephant once it was our turn.  Zoë got the hang of flying immediately and had a great time zooming us up and down.

Kelly and I seemed to have redeemed ourselves in the ride department.  I forgot to mention the bad ride choices, didn't I.  Well it started with Alice in Wonderland yesterday.  From the outside it looked like a fun little roller coaster.  It's not.  It looks like a roller coaster but the car takes you inside Alice's dark and creepy wonderland.  It is very loud and dark and the car jerks around every which way.  Zoë was not a fan. She had her hands over her eyes the entire time.  When we got off she told us that she needed some ice cream to feel better.

Next up was The Matterhorn.  Again, we didn't know it was scary.  It looked like just another roller coaster, but a roller coaster that zipped through a mountain and splashed down in the water.  No.  It was pitch black inside the mountain and monsters howled from all around you.  Not cool.  Zoë practically jumped out of our car before it stopped.  She was not pleased.  Kelly tried to tell her that they weren't monsters they were robots, but that didn't help.  Now she is afraid of robots.  Ask her. She'll tell you all about it.

There are "Kodak Photo Spots" all around Disneyland pointing out fantastic photo ops.  If it wasn't for that handy little "spot" I would have walked right past The Sword in the Stone with a smile.  Cool, but not exactly photo worthy, right?  That is unless you frame your photo so that you see the castle behind you.  Oooooh.  Ahhhhh.  Sadly, none of us were able to remove the sword.

As we were leaving the sword, we were approached by a friendly Disneyland staff member.  She told us that if we would like to go on Peter Pan's Flight she would take us to the front of the line.  Kel and I were a bit hesitant after our bad experience on Mr. Toad's Wild Ride (yes, another dark scary ride, poor Zoë) but she assured us that it wasn't scary.

It wasn't scary at all, but it took Zoë a minute or two to uncover her eyes.  She was a bit gun shy after the last few stinker rides.  Peter Pan's Flight was my favorite indoor ride.  We rode on a ship and floated through the sky by starlight and toured Neverland.  It was beautiful. Definitely two thumbs up.

* * * * *

Frontier Land was cool.  Kind of Wild West meets New Orleans.  There were cowboys and pirate ships...you name it.  Our first stop there was to an ice cream parlor to cool off and have a little snack. Oh my goodness it was hot, there is only so much a misting fan can do.

We walked through all of Frontier Land, and with the exception of  a quick stop for gumbo, we didn't see much there. I wouldn't call Frontier Land terribly toddler friendly. That is until you get to the far end. Critter Country is located at the far end of Frontier Land. That is where you will find Winnie the Pooh and his friends.  They were totally worth the walk.

We rode the Winnie the Pooh & Friends ride then went in search of the characters.  We really lucked out.  They were all there!  Zoë waited in line to meet Eeyore and Pooh. ( Long lines I might add).  While we waited in line Tigger appeared in the crowd.  He was mobbed by children immediately.  It was at that moment that I started appreciating the lines.  We soon joined the mob and as nicely as possible pushed to the front.  Kidding.  Totally kidding.  We waited patiently with the mob until Zoë got her turn.  That did teach us an important lesson: Lines are your friend.  And they are faster.

While we were in Fantasy Land a very nice Photo Pass photographer told about the "enchanted shot."  She said that if you go to Aurora's castle and hold out your hands, Tinkerbell will appear.  She said that Tinkerbell is very tiny so you won't be able to see her in person, but if you take a picture she will appear.  Well, we HAD to do that.

Zoë and I held out our hands and  had our picture taken. The photographer was right. We didn't see Tinkerbell. but she was there. Look at the pictures!  Disneyland truly is a magical place.

After exploring most of Disneyland we decided to head over to the California Adventure Park.  We had really only seen Paradise Pier before our dinner at Ariel's Grotto, so there was much more to see and do.

First up, Turtle Talk with Crush.  It is totally awesome and great fun for children of all ages.  We had a live, unrehearsed conversation with the most awesome sea turtle, Crush.  He was hilarious.  Crush even picked people out of the audience to talk to.  It was amazing.  Our favorite part was when he sang Happy Birthday to a little boy in the crowd, "Dude, dude, dude, dude, dude, dude . Dude, dude, dude, dude, dude, dude.  I'm so glad that you hatched.  Dude, dude, dude, dude, dude, dude."  We loved it.

Next stop, Playhouse Disney: Live on Stage!  Zoë loved it, especially JoJo and her friends Goliath and Skeebo.  I was expecting full sized characters that we could meet later. Instead they were teeny little puppets.  We could barely see their heads from our spot in the second row.  Like I said, I am glad Zoë enjoyed herself.  (Kelly actually fell asleep).  With our indoor entertainment complete, we headed off to find some more rides...

A Bug's Land is where you will find all the kiddie rides in the California Adventure Park (except for King Triton's Carousel on Paradise Pier).  It was really cute.  Zoë liked it but didn't seem nearly as excited about this area because she has never seen "A Bug's Life." 

We were going to see It's Tough Being a Bug but just as it was getting started the announcer said that there were some intense moments that may frighten small children so we made a bee line out of there.  (Sorry, I couldn't help myself).  Instead we explored A Bug's Land.  The thing I really liked about A Bug's Land was the shade. The entire area was right out of the movie so the plants were REALLY big around us.  It was lovely.

We rode Flik's Flyers which looked like it was made out of found objects, twigs and leaves.  It was pretty cool. We rode in a popcorn container.  Then we went next door to Francis' Ladybug Boogie.  Since that was essentially bug tea cups, I let Zoë and her Daddy enjoy that without me.  Tuck and Roll's Drive 'Em Buggies was our last ride of the day.  You know how Zoë loves "driving the wheel."  This ride was right up her alley.  She got to drive around and crash to her little hearts content.

When you first enter A Bug's Land you see a little sprinkler garden.  Under closer inspection you see that it is in fact an interactive irrigation station and everything is scaled to a bug's perspective. Honestly, we zipped past that little section on the way to the rides.  But after playing in the hot weather for a while Zoë was definitely ready to cool off.

This little fountain area is in the center of A Bug's Land.  There were holes all around the base of the fountain. Water would burst from it in short blasts and long burst creating a rainbow like arc.  The children had a blast chasing the water around.  It didn't take long for Zoë to not only cool off, but get completely soaked through. (Especially when a jet went right up her skirt).  Then we headed back to the hotel to dry off, watch Hiawatha, and get ready for the parade.

The Parade of Dreams was at the top of my "must see" list.  We missed it the first two night at Disneyland and there was no way we were going home without seeing it.  To make sure we had front row seats we got there just a touch early.  OK, so we were really early.  In my defense, the wrong time was printed on our hotel sheet.  It actually was not that bad.  We were all pretty tired by the end of our third day.  Chilling on the sidewalk eating ice cream and popcorn was kind of nice.  Zoë even made friends with the little girl sitting next to us and the two of them played with their princesses while we waited for the parade to start.

Let me just say, it was well worth the wait.  When the fairy godmothers came dancing up in front of the first float carrying Tinkerbell and Peter Pan, Zoë tried to run out and hug them.  She sat there in utter amazement for a few minutes, then the excitement kicked in and she was jumping around pointing at everything.  I have to admit it was breath taking.  I have never in my life seen anything like The Parade of Dreams.

We were planning on seeing a few more sights in Disneyland after the parade but everything pretty much closed down after it was over.  Instead we had a delicious Italian dinner in Downtown Disney then did some last minute souvenir shopping before returning to our room for a good night sleep (at ten o'clock, yikes!).

This was the view from our room.  Not bad, huh?  This was actually our second room.  We started out in a room with a view of Downtown Disney.  What I didn't realize when I made the reservation was that by view they meant you could spit on the people walking below you.  Don't get me wrong, it was a very cool view but man was it loud. Especially at night.  At night they had musicians playing in Downtown Disney.  It just so happened that the musician was placed right outside our balcony  The first night it was a bit loud, but the musician was a violinist so it was nice to fall asleep to. The second night was a different story.  The second night it sounded like there was a rock band in our room until about 10:30pm.  Hence the move.

Despite that, our rooms were fantastic.  We had a queen bed and bunk beds.  Zoë loved the bunk beds.  We let her sleep on the top bunk and she was in heaven.  In the evening the maids would come (dressed in Mary Poppins like uniforms) to turn down the beds and leave chocolate coins along with a list of activities for the next day.  That was how we discovered Princess Bedtime Stories.  Each night you could turn to Channel 44 and listen to a princess tell  a bedtime story.  How cool is that?  They also played older Disney cartoons.  Hiawatha quickly became Zoë's favorite. (She says hi-ya-wa-fa).  I'm sure she saw it at least eight times before we left.

This photo is of Miss Zoë on the way home.  She is watching the new Disney Princess DVD.  Notice her little purse tucked in next to her and her princesses lined up in front of her.  What a cutie. The stewardess kept coming to check on us and tell me how cute Zoë was.  It really was the perfect end to our vacation.

Comments

[Tiffany]

that was so amazing Maegan!!! beautiful pictures, beautiful Zoe, beautiful vacation! thanks for sharing all of this too. it helps to know what we're in store for. :D

[Auntie Patsy]

Once again,
I WANT TO BE ZOE BIRR~~~~~~~
I don't know which is my favorite picture, they are all so cute.
It's a toss up between Ariel and Zoe, or Zoe's plane ride home.
You captured the magic. :)

[Auntie Patsy]

Once again,
I WANT TO BE ZOE BIRR~~~~~~~
I don't know which is my favorite photo. It is between Ariel and Zoe and Zoe's plane ride home.
Such a cutie.
You captured the magic. :)

[Heather R]

wow, that was so well written Maegan, I feel like I was there with you the whole time. (wish I could have been.) We were there in April and reading your adventure just brought it all back. Steven loved the water area in bugs life, we spent a loooong time there. I am so happy that you guys had such a fantastic family bonding event.

[Jenifer Higgins]

Isn't Disneyland great?! It's so magical for little ones. You had great weather too. I live about an hour from Anahiem and we've been having tempatures below normal the past week and a half. It's funny to see that Zoe was wordless when meeting the princesses. When my daughter saw them last year she was so shy she wouldn't even look at them in the face!

[Tami]

Unreal!! Sounds like you all had a wonderful time, I have to say, I am shocked that you remember such details, I am very impressed Maegan! You will make sure Zoe will remember this, if not on her own, then thru you! Glad your back!