Epic California Trip--First Day at Disneyland, Day 3

The Anaheim Desert Inn is one of the most affordable hotels with suites near Disneyland.  Because of that, it is a natural magnet for big Mormon families.  I swear, every car in the parking lot was from Utah!

Monday, our first day for Disneyland, we woke very tired.  The travel had been especially hard on La Mama so Nathan was super-sweet and let me nap while Vander did.  He took Annalee down to the indoor pool with my sister Sarah, the cousins, and my brother Steven.  My mom was on-hand to take pictures and enjoy not getting wet. 

Can you believe this poor guy was battling the onset of a head cold?  I have a hard time remembering it because he tried to suck it up and not spoil everyone's fun.  But he was pretty tired and spent for the whole trip.

So why were we hanging around the hotel instead of rushing to the happiest place on earth?  Disneyland doesn't open until 10 a.m., which was actually 11:00 our time.  So we had time to sample the pathetic continental breakfast (still a nice hotel for the price, so I won't complain too much) and swim and nap before we headed over each day.

Our hotel was literally RIGHT across the street so we were able to walk there without too much trouble.  Once we had left the street and were walking down the avenue where the buses and shuttles come in, Annalee complained that her legs were tired from too much walking.  HAHAHAHA!  I just told her, get ready for more, kid!

We had a little mess up with some of the tickets because we didn't realize that they had our actual names printed on them and some of us used the wrong ones (which no one caught) and then the other people trying to use the wrong name did get caught.  But we finally all made it in and were greeted with our very first character!  While everyone else was sorting out tickets, I waited in line with Annalee and her cousin Paisley to see Ariel.  Annalee wasn't sure what to think, having never seen The Little Mermaid.  (I tried to show her as many Disney movies as possible before we went, but some of them I just couldn't get a hold of.)

Next, we saw someone from one of Annalee's favorite movies, but I don't think she was very happy to meet her. In the end, neither was I. She was the perfect villain. When I commented her on her fur coat she said, "Yes, darling, a white rabbit is going to be very, very late."

 

I tried to pose alongside her with extravagant
hands like she is doing, when suddenly she lunged in front of me and stayed there! We laughed a little and waited for her to let me in the picture but she didn't. I'm glad Nathan got the first picture while we were talking because otherwise all I would have of myself is a pair of sunglasses and a terrified preschooler. Still, trying to make the best of it, I told her "It was a pleasure to meet you," and she said, "Yes, the pleasure is all yours."

A little while later my sister took her two year old daughter to meet her because she loves 101 Dalmations so much. Of course, Ginny got a little nervous standing next to the tall and imposing Cruella, so she took a few steps forward. My sister was going to try again for a shot but before she could Cruella turned on her heel and said, "I didn't like you anyway!"

Later, my b-i-l Bob and I had a discussion about it. His stance was, "But she's a villian!" And my stance was, "But it's the happiest place on earth!" I think Cruella could have toned it down a little, been her evil self without insulting and scaring people. For example, with Ginny she could have said, "What a darling little thing, rather like a puppy. Too bad your coat has no spots." Then she would have seemed sweet to a small child and hilariously evil to the parents. Oh well.

We headed straight for Fantasyland because I'd read that the lines to see the princesses get really long later in the day.

While we tried to figure out where they were (they had moved since Nathan and I went in 2007) we hit a few attractions. I love this picture of Annalee and Vander trying to pull the Sword from the Stone. I have a picture of my fourth grade self trying to pull it out with my sister and brother when we were there over 20 years ago with my dad. Darn! I just realized it would have been so cool to recreate that picture with the three of us grown up! Too bad I didn't think of it there.

I rode Dumbo with Annalee and Daddy rode the carousel with her.

We finally found the princesses over in front of It's a Small World. The line wasn't too long. While we waited I noticed that one of the character handlers had on a button that said "Ask me about the characters."

So I said, "What do the princes do while the princesses are here meeting people?"
He said, "Oh, you know, they do princely things, taking care of the kingdom and stuff."
"Like slaying dragons?"
Suddenly, he was in his element. He said "Yeah, slaying dragons. Actually, I help slay dragons too," he puffed himself up a little, "that is....mostly I run around and provide a distraction so the prince can come in and do the slaying. I have a lot of moves. And this cloak? It's fireproof."
"Really? That's a cool cloak. Who made it?"
"The Fairy God-Mother hooks us up."
"Oh, I figured it was either her or the three fairies, you know, how they had experience helping Philip fight a dragon."
"Yeah, they take turns."

It was hilarious. Actually, all of the people at Disneyland that worked with the characters but weren't characters themselves seemed a little bit like they wished they were characters and because of that they were really fun to talk to.

They switched out the first batch of princesses before we made it to the front of the line, so instead of Snow White, Aurora, and Jasmine we got Cinderella, Belle, and Ariel. Annalee was a little reluctant to meet Cinderella. After that, she flat refused to be in a picture. I was so annoyed! After waiting all that time! So Vander and I got pictures with them and I made a mental note not to stand in any more long lines.

One of the kids' favorite rides was It's a Small World. They had it all done up for Christmas, which looked really cool. I had never been on it before so I don't know what it normally looks like. Vander, especially was enthralled, and it was just precious to watch him as he turned every which-way and craned his neck to look at everything, pointing and saying, "Wow!"

We hit Toon Town next and went on the Roger Rabbit ride but it was a little scary for the kids. We didn't spend much time there because we were getting hungry.

On the way to get food we saw Donald Duck and Annalee was desperate to meet him. I threatened her that if we stood in line and she didn't meet him we wouldn't meet anyone else. When we got near the front she said, "He's too big. I want him to get down." So Nathan said to Donald, "Donald, my daughter is a little scared of you because you're so tall. Would you mind kneeling down?" And he went on one knee and held out his arms and she ran to him. Awwww!

I had actually anticipated this happening and so before we left the kids and I had watched YouTube videos people had uploaded of their kids meeting Disney characters so she could see how big they are in real life. Oh well, I guess there's nothing like being there.

After we met him, Annalee whispered to me, "Mommy, he's just a man dressed in a Donald Duck costume." How can she be losing the magic at four years old??? So I said, "Honey, everyone here is in a costume. But this is the real Disneyland so you are meeting the real Disney characters." Sheesh.

To save money we had budgeted $40 a day for meals. Typically, we ate the continental breakfast, packed PB&J into the park for lunch, and then ate out at a nice restaurant out of the Park for dinner. Here we are, about to enjoy our sandwiches. I had also brought pudding and crackers and water. We didn't end up drinking much of the water because it wasn't very warm. Since we were in California I was desperate to enjoy some jacketless weather and left mine behind at the hotel that day. Oh, how I regretted that!

Since Dad was taking most of the pictures he didn't make it into many himself. But we couldn't resist this moment with big Ronald and little Ronald, Sarah's youngest.

Because everyone had different interests and nap schedules we didn't do very much as a whole family. Mostly, we went off and did our own thing, meeting up every now and then.

Next, the four of us took the train to Tomorrowland. Since we were coming from Toon Town, Tomorrowland was the very next stop. We wanted the kids to experience the whole train ride so we rode it all the way around and then back to our destination. Annalee had been begging us since before lunch to ride the train but by the end of it she let us know how incredibly bored she was. Yeah.

In Tomorrowland we decided to check when the next Jedi Training would be so we could come back but it turned out that one was starting right then! I didn't think we'd make it but Nathan said we would, and we did.

Annalee got picked!

Because she was so little she got to go up on the stage. It was adorable to see our little Youngling sticking out admidst the other children with her bright green bows.













As they were preparing to fight Darth Vader I made sure to get into position for a good picture. After waiting and waiting, I realized at the last minute that I should be taking a video, duh! So the first few seconds of the fight got cut off while my camera switched over.

She was so proud to get her diploma at the end of training!

We went on a few more rides in Tomorrowland, most notably Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters. It was, hands down, the kids' favorite ride of the whole trip. It might have been our favorite too. Nathan was incensed when I got a higher score than he did the first time. He demanded that we ride it again so he could trounce me. We didn't have a picture of the first time, when I rode with Annalee. The next time I rode with Vander (can you see the top of his head?) Amazingly, even Vander managed to get a few points.

The last day, Steven and I rode it when we had a few minutes to kill and he was thoroughly shamed to lose a shooting game so horribly to his sister. I can only say, practice makes perfect! Of course, we were no where near the top, since some people had scores over a million. The last picture is of me with Vander again on our last day.

We left the park at 5pm (6pm, our time) so we could get the kids to bed at a decent time. We were so tired from all the walking that I couldn't even bear to walk the extra hundred yards or so to our hotel room to look at the restaurant coupons I had meticulously printed off before we came. Instead, we hit the Dennys in the parking lot of the hotel. Here you see the fabulous matching green shirts that I scoured thrift stores to find for us so it would be easy to spot each other in the Park. Too bad it was too cold to take off our coats!

I don't know why, but it seems like strangers can never take a picture with my camera without making it turn out blurry. It's not like I do anything special when I take it. I messed around with the picture a little in Picasa so that it wouldn't be so dizzying to look at. I really wanted a record of our green shirts!