We camped in “Mickey’s Backyard” in Anaheim, and could see the nightly fireworks just overtop of the trailer. They were so close it appeared they were just across the street, which also makes them super loud. Lucky for us, the first night Ry bear was SO tired, she didn’t wake up (they were at 7:45), and the second night she got to watch them because we didn’t get back from Disneyland until 7:30, so she brushed our teeth and watched her first fireworks from mom’s shoulders.
Nixon’s walk was very blah here as we didn’t leave the RV park. I thought the neighbourhood was fine, not really nice by any means, but not ghetto by a long shot, but Josh had his sneaky suspicions on high alert after the checkin lady asked if our bikes were expensive, and encouraged them to be locked up in the facility garage for our stay. They are older, but were costly in their time, and it would be a pain to loose them so we took her advice.
Disneyland! We were all pretty pumped for our day at Disney. Josh and I hadn’t been to this one in Cali since we were both very small (me 9, him 5), and over the last 7 years we’ve hit up all the overseas parks (Japan in ’07, Paris in ’08, and Hong Kong in ’10) but since this one is big we were looking forward to it. Rylie had no idea, but we pumped her up with Minnie Mouse. Her balloon is still floating from her birthday exactly a month ago, so its a daily reminder of who that is.
We arrived in the park about 12, after giving Rylie a good morning nap. We drove to the Disney parking lot and forked out the $17 parking fee (then rode their free shuttle) because even though the RV park has a shuttle, it stops a few other places and only comes every 25 min, hugely cutting down our go time.
We decided on the chariot for her to ride in. I felt a little awkward boarding that giant contraption on the bus, and we needed to squeak through a special gate at the doors, but overall, she is actually happy riding in it, so it was worth the pain. We weren’t the only ones with a double chariot either. Since you have to take them out and park before getting into the lines it worked out okay, especially to store all of our other crap.
Our first ride was Alice in Wonderland, where poor Rylie had a little breakdown. It was loud, dark, and she didn’t know what on earth was happening. Oops, not a great start.
From there we rode the train around the grounds, which she liked. It was slow, the tunnels had neat things to see, and she could semi-climb on the bench beside me to expend some energy.
After that we were spot on time for one of the shows, so we settled in for her 5 minute attention span, saw some singing, dancing, some Mickey mouse and other princesses before sneaking out and getting back on our way.
From there it was the “Small World” which had a super long looking line, but it moved fast. Stroller parking was ridiculous, it appeared every baby in the park was on this ride. Rylie loved this one; it was slow, bright, and there were billions of dancing and singing dollies. How could she not?!
Tea cups were near by, and with little wait time, so mom and Rylie went on and she squealed with delight!
It was off to the Carousel next, which in baby terms, she’s obsessed with. Another love, this time with dad.
We wandered the grounds, had a sit down in the park near the castle, with a coffee and let miss muffet climb around and look at the ducks.
Afternoon nap was a no go, even in the chariot with the windows covered, but at least she got a bit down time while Josh and I walked around tomorrow land, frontier land, and adventure land. We also might have had a yummy pretzel.
Re-charged and ready to go we headed over to the Winnie the Poo, then snagged some speedy dinner at a quick service cafe (clam chowder in a bread bowl, and loved by all 3).
Last but not least, as Josh would “not have seen Disneyland without a visit to the Pirates of the Caribbean”, we had to attempt it. The line moved fast, and in less than 15 min we were on our boat. This ride would be less than awesome for an older toddler right before bed, but ours was too young to know about pirates, guns, and skeletons so we were lucky. She liked this one, despite the darkness, all except the two tame little waterfall drops. Where did THAT come from?!
On the way out, we were halted by the parade, so we stopped for a few minutes to put Rylie on our shoulders for a peek, before continuing onto Main street, where everyone had started to fan out towards the shops to spend, spend, spend.
Somehow, I lost Josh and Rylie on our way out. It was packed and we were going across the street to a store, dodging between hoards of people. It was like crossing the street in Vietnam; nearly impossible. I was panicking a bit, thinking I’d have to wait until thousands of people cleared out before I would find them. Even with the neon green, giant stroller, I could not find them for about 15 minutes. No phone, no way to contact them. I was like a kid lost in a store without her mommy. I was so close, but so far, looking between where we were and where we were going, but with no luck. Finally, I branched out a bit further, knowing he’d stay close with that stroller, and finally I caught a shiny green glimpse of it. Phew.
Off to the buses, we made it home by 7:30 or so. We spent WAY longer than we had expected to last, but I think we’re all glad we did. Rylie did really well, and was super tired when she finally got to bed, but how often do you get to see Disneyland?!