Disney!!!

We spent last weekend in Disneyland and the remainder of this week recovering.  Aaron even caught some kind of cold there – not fun at all.  But the majority of the trip was fun, crazy, expensive, and people-packed.  After day 1, I felt as if I’d done nothing all day but was still exhausted….

So here’s a summary of our trip.

Day 1, Thursday, Feb 24:  We spent the majority of the day in the car … driving, driving, driving.  Elayna was GREAT on the long road trip and watched movies, sang songs, and played.  The rest of us were grouchy and hungry by the time we made it to Huntington Beach and our evening of playing in the surf.

Elayna loved this most of all.  It was slightly chilly but once she was wet, we couldn’t keep her out of the water.  It wasn’t until she took a good wave in the face that we could convince her to warm up and change clothes.

Day #2 Friday, Feb 25:  Off to Disneyland!!  Elayna had a dazed expression the majority of the day.  We raced around the park and packed most of it in this first day.  The Fast Pass system was amazing and the lines weren’t too bad.  I did learn a few very important things this first day:

1)  A 2 year old is just as happy to watch birds as she is to see Mickey Mouse.

2)  The excitement of the ride is directly proportional to how long you stand in line.

3)  Candy suckers fix all things.

4)  It’s a Small World is obnoxiously long.

 

Around 6 we were tired, cranky, wet (it rained most of the afternoon), and sick of Disney.  We did discover a great restaurant in Downtown Disney though and slept well that night.

Day #3  Saturday, Feb 26:  Alicia met a friend of hers for breakfast and California Adventure didn’t open until 10.  Therefore, Aaron and I decided to tackle Disneyland first thing and try to beat the crowds.  This ended up being one of the best days – the crowds were slim, Elayna was in a great mood, and we crossed off most of Fantasyland in one about an hour.  Elayna may always be traumatized by Mr Toad’s Wild Ride but she was a great sport. 

Mid-morning, we traversed over to California Adventure and met up with Lic.  California Adventure is a much smaller park so we were able to explore and do the Soaring over California ride in the morning.  We visited their winery for lunch (yes, there’s a winery in California Adventure), rode the empty Monster’s Inc ride several times, and had margaritas for a snack -- so the afternoon went quickly.  Elayna liked the Bug’s Land and she did great on the ferris wheel with us.  She even warmed up to Mulan.

I had prepurchased dinner tickets for us in the park and this gave us special seats for the World of Color show.  This was amazing – lights and color and music and the fountain – all beautiful and choreographed.  It may have been the highlight of our day!

It was a late night but Elayna took it in stride and seemed to enjoy herself much more.  I think she ‘got it’ and was particularly happy with her new Ariel sweatshirt.

Day 4, Sun Feb 27:  Because of our success the day before, A, E and I again hit the park early and found it mostly empty!  We walked onto Pirates of the Caribbean and Indiana Jones, and quickly rode Thunder Mountain Railroad.  We were even able to visit the Princesses without an obnoxious wait. 

This was Elayna’s best day by far.  She smiled at the Princesses, she waved to the characters in It’s a Small World.  She even played with her Minnie toy for long periods.  It was so satisfying to see her light up and have a great time and we definitely want to take her again when she’s older.

But our time there was short … back in the car for the long drive home throughout the afternoon.  Amazingly, the ride home flew by and we have a lot of good memories of the trip.

Thanks to Aunt Lic for going with us!!!  She was a great sport and it definitely helped to have an extra set of hands to watch E.  The 3 of us were able to take turns watching her and going on older adult rides and this definitely helped.