What an amazing day! I love Disneyland (and Disney's California Adventure, too, of course!) I was getting a little bit antsy during the car ride up there this morning. It took more than an hour and a half to get there, and I wanted to run around, not sit strapped into my carseat. Luckily, after the first hour or so, Mommy broke out the portable DVD player and put in a Winnie the Pooh DVD. That kept me happy until we got there. But I didn't know what happy was until I walked through those glorious Disney gates.
The day started off in Fantasyland. As soon as we arrived, we went to Fantasyland and Mommy and Daddy decided to take me on the Peter Pan ride. The line was long, but I passed the time climbing the railings between the snaking line of people who were waitng with us. The ride was OK, but I wasn't really sure I liked it. Kind of jerky at times. I wanted something more straightforward. After that, we went on the carousel, and that was great! Daddy stood next to me and held me so I wouldn't fall off my horse. Papa rode with us, too. Excellent ride! I gave it 4 out of 4 stars.
Then we rode on the Small World ride, which kind of freaked me out. I cried a bit. Mommy wasn't sure whether I was scared or just upset by the endless monotony of the "It's a Small World" song. Either way, I couldn't wait to get off that ride. Once off the boat, my spirits returned immediately to their previous state of joy.
click to view movie
After the Small World fiasco, Mommy and Daddy were up for a break from rides, so we walked across to the California Adventure park. I didn't do any rides there, but really enjoyed skeeball on the boardwalk, as well as watching the whitewater rafting ride. I could have done that for hours more. "More raft! More raft!" Mommy bought me some Buzz Lightyear sunglasses at the giant dinosaur. It took a little while to get used to wearing them, but I left them on most of the time. She explained that I needed to protect my eyes; and once I realized that Mommy, Daddy, Gramma, and Papa were all wearing sunglasses, too, I decided that they were OK.
When we came back to Disneyland, we decided to ride the train to Critter Country to take me on the Pooh ride. (Didn't they learn their lesson on Small World?) Once the train began to move, I promptly fell asleep for the entire journey around the park. Daddy was able to transfer me to the stroller, and I obliged everyone by taking a short nap so Mommy and Daddy could do the Haunted House. When I woke up, we all rode the Winnie the Pooh ride, and I'll admit, it freaked me out. You can see by the look on my face, sitting in the honeycomb, that it wasn't going to go well. That picture was taken before the ride really even got going! But, while I didn't exactly enjoy myself, it was a good experience, and I wasn't traumatized or anything. I rebounded immediately, having a great time in the shop directly outside the ride, and posing for a picture in front of the mound of honey pots.
After more walking around and some dinner, we were just about to leave when Gramma noticed that Mickey was receiving visitors on Main Street. I was VERY excited to see Mickey up close. I told Daddy that I wanted to hug Mickey, and even practiced a few times while we were waiting in line together. Unfortunately, when it was my turn to meet him, I froze up a bit, and clung to Daddy with all my might. Through the power of selective memory, I plan to remember my first meeting with Mickey a little differently; I plan to remember an encounter during which we hugged and exchanged kind and friendly greetings. At least I can honestly say that my meeting with Mickey was not as traumatic as the Winnie the Pooh ride!
After meeting Mickey, we headed back to the car, via the World of Disney store, where Mommy bought me an excellent Mickey doll. While we were waiting for the tram, Papa asked me what happened when I saw Mickey, to which I replied, "Buy." I was, of course, making a great and ironic joke, which Mommy thought was classic. I aim to please.
It was a very long day. We were in the car by 7:30 am and we didn't leave the Disney parking lot until after 9:30 pm. But I was in an agreeable and enthusiastic mood all day. The day was topped off by fireworks that we could see from the roof of the parking structure, right before we left. Incredible. Can we go again tomorrow?!?