My Little Princesses
After our fun-filled day in Newport, we were so excited to take the girls to Disneyland.
It was a little chilly at night and in the early morning, so we made sure to buy some sweatshirts the night before in Downtown Disney. Grace didn't want to match Charley and I with our 2013 Disneyland sweatshirts. She wanted the one with the princesses that wasn't "like Charley and Mommy's."
What better way to start off our three days in Disneyland than with breakfast with the princesses in Ariel's Grotto.
We made sure to make reservations a few weeks ahead of time, and since they weren't until 9:30, we spent a couple hours hanging out in California Adventure in a bug's land.
We started out on Flik's Flyers, the girls' very first ride. They both loved it!
Next up was Francis' Ladybug Boogie.
Charley was too small for Tuck and Roll's Drive 'Em Buggies, so Daddy took Grace while we watched nearby.
We went on one more ride in this section of the park, Heimlich's Chew Chew Train. This one was really fun, because it was like you were eating your way through different foods. In the animal cracker box, it even smelled like cookies!
The girls' had been on an A Bugs Life kick for a couple of weeks before we left, so they absolutely loved this place. I have to admit, even Isaac and I were having a blast.
It was getting close to breakfast time, so we made our way towards the Pier where Ariel's Grotto was located. We stopped by Ariel's Undersea Adventure on the way.
We checked in for breakfast, and then took a couple of pictures on the pier and rode on King Triton's Carousel while we waited.
We were seated, and they gave the girls princess crowns with stickers to decorate. Isaac and I had the most expensive mimosas ever along with a pretty delicious breakfast of fruit, waffles, eggs, potatoes, pastries, and much more. The princesses came out and went around the room to each table. Ours happened to be first, and Grace wasn't impressed watching them leave our table and go to the others.
Love how Grace calls her Ah-woah-wha
Breakfast was SO much fun. I highly recommend it.
Before breakfast, Isaac had spotted a caricature station and wanted to get the girls' drawn. While we were walking over there, Grace spotted her all time favorite character from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Donald Duck! While Isaac took Charley over to get started on her drawing, Grace and I headed over to meet Donald.
She was so excited, even hugging him and giving him high fives.
After the artist finished drawing Grace and Charley's caricatures, we left to hit up some more rides while she painted them.
We went on the Golden Zephyr, saw a little Toy Story skit, and then Charley was ready for a nap.
She slept in Daddy's arms while we got seated and ready for Disney Junior - Live On Stage! Of course she woke up as soon as the show started. It was a fun surprise party for Minnie with all of their favorite Disney Junior characters. How fun!
After the show, we left California Adventure and moved on to Disneyland. Right inside, we ran into the cutest Mickey ever! Charley loved his cheeks and wouldn't stop touching them.
We turned the corner, and there was Pluto (or Cluto as Grace calls him).
We started walking again, and ran into Goofy.
We stopped to show the girls the castle, and Grace couldn't get over it. She kept wanting to go back.
We found this awesome app on my phone that showed you a map of the whole park, where each ride was located, and how long the wait time was. What a lifesaver! We pretty much just went to whatever ride had the shortest wait time and hardly had to wait at all. I think the longest we spent waiting was twenty minutes for Nemo on the last day. That line was normally forty-five minutes to an hour each time we checked, so twenty was nothing.
First up for the Disneyland rides was Pinocchio's Daring Journey. It was getting hot by then, so we were thankful that the line was inside. Grace was not a fan of this ride. It was dark and twisty, so she clung to my side and got scared.
Daddy and Charley tried to take the Sword out of the Stone.
(Check out all of the people behind them! Sunday was easily the busiest day.)
We headed to It's a Small World next to brighten things up for Grace Face. This was Charley's favorite ride. She kept pointing to everything and babbling about them.
After the ride, we stopped by a little store to grab an autograph book (can't believe I forgot to get one before breakfast with the princesses). All over the park, literally in every store, they were selling these baby Disney characters with blankets wrapped around them. Charley got a Minnie, and I was surprised that Grace picked out Bambi. She kept calling him a reindeer, which was so funny.
Then, Grace spotted Merida from Brave. She was awesome with her Scottish accent, and they even had bagpipes playing in the background.
We headed over to Toontown which was crazzzyy packed. We grabbed some Fast Passes for the Roger Rabbit ride, and took a break in the shade with some Mickey Ice Cream sandwiches.
On our way out of Toontown, we got our first $3.75 Disneyland churro! It was well worth the wait.
We went on Pirates of the Caribbean, and it was so fun. The girls actually liked that dark one.
After the Pirates ride, we headed to Critter Country to go on Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. This one was another dark one, but it didn't scare Grace. She was too busy dancing in line and being a ham.
When we left Critter Country, we noticed that there was a line with no wait right next to the castle. We asked what it was for, and the "cast member" told us that it was to walk through the castle and meet the princesses. Cinderella, Aurora, and Ariel were currently inside. Apparently, this is a new thing, because I'd never heard of it. We went inside and Grace had fun talking to all of the princesses and taking pictures with them again. I think she felt like she knew them, since we met most of them at breakfast.
We went into the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique to check it out. For a small fortune, you can choose a princess dress, complete with all the accessories, have the "cast members" dress you like that princess, do your hair, make-up, and nails, and take pictures with the princesses and Cinderella's carriage. We will most definitely be doing this for the girls when they get a little older and can truly appreciate it! This year, Grace just got a sweet new Mickey bracelet that she has refused to take off ever since.
Next, we went on Snow White's Scary Adventures. This one really freaked Grace out. Just look at the bad witch. We had gone to see Disney on Ice a few weeks before our trip, so she knew the story of Snow White. It was cool to see her associate the two with one another.
Just outside, we hung out by the wishing well and made our wishes. Daddy let Grace make about ten. Good thing he had lots of change!
After the last ride, we needed to go on one that wasn't so scary, so we headed to Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters. Daddy and Grace shot at the targets, while Charley and I just kind of watched from behind. We also tried on and bought (but not these ones) some cute hats afterwards.
Finally, it was getting close to the park's closing time and Magical, Disney's Nighttime Firework Spectacular. We made sure to get there extra early to get a front row seat since this was the only night the show was going on while we were in town.
Grace fell asleep in her stroller since it was already after 9:00. We had been in Disneyland since 8:00 that morning. Despite taking multiple power naps as we walked between attractions, she was exhausted. Who could blame her, right? I still wasn't letting her sleep through the fireworks. As soon as they started, I tried waking her up. Girl wasn't budging. Finally, I picked her up and shook her a little. She was still sleepy, but as soon as she saw Tinkerbell flying in front of the castle while the fireworks were booming overhead, she was up and excited. It was so fun and just as I remembered it. Charley loved watching the bright, colorful fireworks and enjoyed the show from Daddy's arms.
There's Dumbo on the right.
Tinkerbell is on the left soaring in front of the castle.
By the end of the day, Grace couldn't stop talking about princesses although she never really showed any interest in them before. She was having the greatest time ever, and we still had two more days to go!
It was so funny, because I've never seen so many characters before. I've been to Disneyland at least a dozen times and don't remember ever seeing so many, so I wasn't really on the lookout for them. I was more concerned with following the map and getting to our next destination. It seemed like every few minutes, Grace was shouting at us to show us another. She was the most excited little girl I've ever seen, and that totally made this whole trip worth it.
I couldn't wait to see what the next day had in store!
More coming soon...
