Disneyland pt. 1

We went to Disneyland!!! I can't believe we actually did it. I remember once in Houston just having a hard day and feeling like our old life in California was completely gone and lost to us. I thought we'd never have stability, we'd never have the means to take the girls to Disneyland, or just to revisit our old Los Angeles stomping grounds. Even as I was sad and depressed back there, I knew it was a little ridiculous - but still, sometimes it's the little things that make you even more sad.

Since we've been in Las Vegas we've wanted to go, but the timing hasn't been right. This Christmas my parents decided to give everyone a 3 day park hopper pass. My sister and I planned the trip so that we could go together. The girls were very excited even though they really didn't know what to expect. I tried showing them little youtube videos of different rides and parades. We decided to go during the weekdays of the first week of March. Ryan worked Monday and then we drove off in the afternoon when Willa got home from school.

Carrie's sister-in-law works for Marriott and got us a deal at the Marriott right across the street. Originally, we were going to try one a little further away that would have been bigger and nicer, but in the end Ryan and I really wanted to be within walking distance with our girls. We knew that we would need a rest every afternoon and didn't want the hassle of the Disney parking garages and driving back and forth so much. It was so nice to stay that close. I highly recommend it with kids.

Getting ready for the first day. I also highly recommend a stroller. I wasn't sure if I should be no stroller, a single stroller, or the double. I ended up packing the single and the double just in case Willa wanted to walk more than ride. Let the record read that she did not wish to walk more. Plus, the seats could recline and they had a big sunshade. The girls fell asleep multiple times in this puppy.

Waiting in line to get through security. My my, how things have changed. I forgot about the security lines and I was shocked at how long they took to get through on the first mornings, even though we arrived about 30 minutes before the park opened.

Disneyland actually started out a bit traumatically, we tried to get there as early as possible, but got held up waiting in the security line (see above). Then, we didn't realize that that day was a Magic Morning at Disneyland, so we immediately hurried to Fantasyland only to find out that it was already packed with people. The girls recognized the teacups and the line wasn't too long, so we go in. Unfortunately, it was a little faster than June's tummy could handle and both girls were a little nervous the whole time. It's sad to see the happy expectation turn to genuine fear. After the teacups, we headed straight to Alice, since the line is right there. Unfortunately, this was a bad decision because neither of the girls had seen the movie and they both chose to sit together in the front with Ryan and I sitting behind. Those Fantasyland rides can get a little scary and about halfway through they were both crying. We felt so bad! We hurried over to Dumbo, but by then they were spooked and didn't want to go on it. It took a lot of coaxing to do the next few rides even though they were very gentle. Ryan and I realized that we needed to each sit with a girl on the rides to help keep them calm.

Happy before it started.

 Happily the Carousel is pretty much like every other carousel - except June didn't get the bench seat that she prefers and was nervous on the horse going up and down. Her poor tummy.

 They didn't dare go on Dumbo right away, it looked to fast, but they were happy to get a photo on the Dumbo sitting outside of the ride. Ryan and I kind of kept to the mantra of not forcing them. This was their trip - we would push and urge them a little, but we wouldn't force them on things they were scared of or that they wouldn't like. We also didn't force them to stay in the park. Every afternoon they were done and begging to go back to the hotel and swim, so we would abruptly stop where we were headed and just go back to the hotel for a couple hours of R&R.

We are getting on the Casey Jr. Train and you can see Willa's fresh anxiety after Alice in Wonderland.

 I also realized that even though they liked the rides, my girls probably would prefer more of the shows. So we took time the first day to watch a little Beauty and the Beast play that was about 20 minutes. I think they liked just sitting and laughing and relaxing. It was strange to get out of the mindset of "how many rides can we get on" and just take in the atmosphere of the park and the other entertainment.

After swimming the first day, we headed back to the park around 6 pm and the girls were in much better moods. June slept in the stroller for a bit while Ryan coaxed Willa on Dumbo. Willa LOVED Dumbo, they might have even done it twice that evening. But every other day she begged for it and we did it at least once or twice. We did a few more Fantasyland rides and then ended the night with Autopia. They were so excited and thrilled to have their cars. Willa drove with me and June was with Ryan below.