Disneyland!!!

Alyssa has spent much of the past year getting to know the various Disney and Pixar characters. The first movie she really liked was Finding Nemo. Then, she started watching Cars and Monsters, Inc. After that, she fell in love with the Disney Princesses... all of them! In fact, she likes them so much that her "favorite" one changes almost daily. So, what better way to celebrate the end of her 3rd year than a trip to Disneyland!!!

The anticipation and excitement leading up to the trip was almost as exciting as the trip itself. She knew she was going to Disneyland. She knew she was going to see the castle. Most of all, she knew that she was going to meet the Princesses. She would tell me that she had a secret and whisper in my ear, "We're going to Disneyland..."

It was all that we anticipated and more. We enjoyed three full days at Disneyland and California Adventure. Our first morning, we ran straight to the Matterhorn Bobsleds to introduce Alyssa to roller coasters only to find that the ride was down. So, her first ride was the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage. The expressions on her face as she saw Nemo, Dory, and the other characters was priceless! We hit the teacups and the Dumbo ride immediately following. Then, headed off to Toon Town where we met Minnie and Mickey Mouse. The Gadget's Go Coaster in Toon Town was Alyssa's first real roller coaster experience. It was fast! I thought she would be scared to death, but she had a blast and wanted to ride again. We wanted to take her to meet the Princesses, but the line was two hours long (and we knew we'd see them later on). In the evening, we introduced her to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. With eyes wide open and face expressionless, she held on tight. When we finished the ride, she said, "That was fun!" While the rest of the park was watching fireworks, we zipped onto the Pirates of the Caribbean and the Haunted Mansion. She found both of them to be a bit scary, the pirates more so than the ghosts.

The next day, we were up bright and early for our Magic Morning admission. At 7:00 a.m., we were off and running. First, it was the Matterhorn Bobsleds. Alyssa didn't really care much for the snow monster, but the ride was an absolute blast! Then, we headed over to the Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters. What an amazing interactive experience!!! We all did it twice, then Alyssa and Daddy did it about four more times while I was looking around the store. Then, we decided to go straight to Space Mountain. It's always been my favorite ride, but it's very fast and in the dark. I was hesitant about taking Alyssa on the ride, but she said she wanted to go. So, off we went! She was asking to get off about half way through the ride, then asked if we could do it again when it was over. We rushed over to Splash Mountain and got right on. Alyssa almost flew out of her seat on the five story plunge, Daddy had to hold her in. We only got a little wet, so we rushed around and rode again. This time, we weren't so lucky. The big plunge drenched us all and Alyssa was completely soaked! She was not happy. Off to buy new clothes...

We made reservations for a Princess luncheon at Ariel's Grotto at California Adventure. As you walk down the spiral staircase, you see Ariel sitting there. She spent a moment with Alyssa while we took video and pictures. We were seated and served a three course meal. As we were eating, each Princess was announced one-by-one... Snow White, Belle, Sleeping Beauty, and Cinderella. Filled with emotion, we watched as she met each Princess. The Princesses came to our table and talked to her, then posed for a picture. It was a magical experience, one that I will never forget.

In the evening, it was back to Disneyland for fireworks. We waited and waited for Tinker Bell to fly from the top of Matterhorn to the castle, but we were distracted by the fireworks and missed her. Alyssa was so disappointed. We promised that we'd take her to meet Tinker Bell the next day (fingers crossed).


On our last day, we went to Disneyland in the morning and California Adventure for the rest of the afternoon. We went on a few rides again in the morning. Alyssa's expectations for rides have gone up since we first arrived. She now expects them all to go really fast and is quite disappointed when they don't. We visited Pixie Land to meet Tinker Bell and got very lucky that she was there! She was so sweet to Alyssa. We met one of the other fairies first, then saw Tinker Bell. Alyssa asked her, "Why did you fly so fast?" remembering that we missed her the night before. She said, "You just have to watch for me, I'm there."

We headed over to California Adventure because Friday is the only day they were doing the Pixar Play Parade. We went on the Monsters, Inc. ride and it was amazing. Then, we waited in line to meet Sully. Alyssa ran up to him earlier in the day and he almost stepped on her, so she was scared to give him a hug. One of the attendants said, "Never step in front of a walking Sully!" LOL! We also met Goofy, Woody, and Sorcerer Mickey Mouse. We were disappointed that the Toy Story interactive ride had a 2-hour wait time, so we had to skip it. We decided to see Disney's Aladdin - A Musical Spectacular instead. It was a wonderful production of the animated feature and a nice way to stay cool for an hour while we were waiting for the parade. The Pixar Play Parade was magical. All of the characters we love so much dancing, singing, and riding in the most colorful floats you've ever seen. What a great way to end our trip to the happiest place on Earth!