Savannah, Heather, and I recently returned from a trip to Disneyland. The favorite ride of both of the girls was Big Thunder Mountain. In preparation for the ride, the castmember (as all workers at Disneyland are titled) reminds the passengers to "hang onto your hats and glasses because this here is the wildest ride in the west!"
I thought that statement was an appropriate summary for our trip. Our trip had a lot of ups and downs, crazy turns, adrenaline rushes, and ended with a feeling of excitement and satisfaction. Our first day on the park was crowded but we managed to find the lines that were the shortest. We met some princesses and fairies and a few other Disney friends. Savannah was actually big enough to try some of the rides that she hadn't been able to enjoy before.
A big downer was when Heather caught her finger on a rope climb at Tarzan's house and pulled the skin off of the tip. We took her to the First Aid office. The doctor (that's right, there actually is a Disney doctor) fixed her finger right up with some ointment and a band-aid, and gave Heather a fastpass to any ride at the park. This was a great upper because the lines were so long that day that we hadn't gotten on too many major rides. She picked Splash Mountain so we headed that way. Savannah sat in front of me and made sure I had my arms around her the entire time. Both girls loved this ride and we were able to enjoy it a few more times over the next few days. That evening was the fireworks show. It was spectacular. Because it is Halloweentime, the show is centered around the Disney villians and saltier characters. This was one of my favorite times on the trip. The girls both fell asleep before it started, they were still kind of out of it when I woke them up to watch it so I don't think they enjoyed it nearly as much as I did.
The next day we tried out the Matterhorn. This was a ride neither of the girls had been on. They loved it!! Because the park was less crowded we were able to go a few times on this ride as wekk. Near the Matterhorn was a platform where you could meet some of Disey's villians. When we started in the line they had Captain Hook, the Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland, and Snow White's wicked stepmother. Right before we got to the front, Jafar showed up and the Old Hag (also from Snow White). Savannah wanted nothing to do with these characters and hid behind me while Heather made introductions. Unfortunately, Jafar noticed her and tried to make contact. Savannah started screaming and didn't know where to go because on both sides of her were people she did not want to meet. I finally got her off the platform where I could wipe away the tears and help her calm down. I was surprised that she would be so afraid of them.
Disney's California was also fun. I like it because it is a little slower paced with all of the shows, etc. In Bugland, Heather had another accident when she slid down a rock and scraped up both of her elbows. Who would have thought you could get so many injuries at Disneyland. Savannah wasn't tall enough to ride the biggest roller coaster and that made her quite sad.
We did get to ride the new 3-D Toy Story Ride which is fantastic! There is no fastpass for this ride but the wait is worth it. Savannah's favorite ride was Soarin' California. We also had fun walking through the gardens. There was a candy corn theme in the gardens, the various plants all produced candy corn. It was cute.
Wednesday we woke to rain. It had been a little chilly the other days and the girls hadn't been able to swim in the pool (a favorite past time whenever we travel). I told them we wouldn't be able to that night either if it didn't stop raining. I noticed Heather saying a little prayer after I mentioned this. Despite the rain, this was probably our most fun day at the park. The lines were short and we were able to see and do quite a few things. I think one of the favorites of this day was in Tomorrowland where you visit the house of the future. We all got a kick out of seeing the TV system that was set up just like ours at home. I loved the kitchen, it had so many nifty things in it like a digital cookbook that shows up on your counter and a digital calendar and message board to keep track of schedules, etc. I told James he would have to start researching because I want some of those things in my kitchen! We visited Pixie Hollow again to meet more of the fairies. Heather has read many of the Pixie Hollow book series so she was excited to see some of the characters she had read about. We tried to track down Belle for Savannah but we were unsucessful.
In fact, we spent much of the trip trying to meet her but Disneyland has a Princess Area where you line up to meet the princesses. The downfall to this system is they can't (or won't) tell you what time certain princesses will be there "they can guarantee that you will meet three princesses but they can't guarantee which ones they will be." I think I became more frustrated than Savannah did. In the end, she was happy to let me sign "Belle" in her book. Both girls were pretty impressed with my princess handwriting. On our way to the airport, they had me fill up their books with signatures of other characters we hadn't met. After raining the entire day, as we headed back to the motel, the clouds cleared up and the rain stopped. As you can guess, we spent the evening at the swimming pool. I'm always amazed at the faith of a child.Our final day at the park was spent seeing some shows and meeting characters with a final ride on Big Thunder Mountain. We saw Aladdin in the big theatre at the California park. It was amazing!
It was like watching a mini-broadway production. The girls were mesmerized. We saw the talking turtle next and girls were not impressed. Apparently, if my girls don't get picked to talk to the turtle, they don't want anything to do with him. I was surprised by their attitude and recognized it was getting time to leave because they must be tired if their upset that a cartoon turtle won't talk to them. We headed to the airport later that evening and flew back home. I was glad that James had pushed me into taking this trip with the girls. We had a lot of fun and made many memories. One thing I did learn while I was with them is that they get excited to go on the trip but they are just as excited to go home. It was nice to see the love they have for their siblings and how much they miss them and that at the end of the day, "there's no place like home."
