The Big D

I had been putting this trip off for years.  Disneyland.  I can remember loving amusement parks as a kid; however, as an adult, I loathe them.  Sylvie has been begging me to take her to Disneyland since she was 3, mainly because her pal Molly goes every year.  Finally, I decided that the time had come.  Sylvie was the perfect age.  She still loves Disney characters (not yet a jaded big kid) and she's big enough to ride a lot of rides.  Rex pretty  much gets excited about whatever Sylvie gets excited about, so he was excited.

As I planned the trip, I became pretty excited because I knew how wondrous the place would be to them.  I wanted it to be a really fun weekend.  I wanted to stay in the park or right across the street so there would be no driving.  Also, I wanted to go for two full days since the park is so large.  Somehow, I talked Jeff into all this.  I started planning.  It was hard to stay enthusiastic when I saw how much just two days in Disneyland was going to cost.  GOOD LORD!  The park tickets were about 3 times the price of the hotel. How do normal families go?  OK, I got over that shock.  Then, we had to decide if we would drive or fly.  After some deliberation, we decided to drive.  The trip was set.  As a special surprise to Sylvie, I splurged on lunch for two (girls only) with the Disney Princesses at Ariel's Grotto.

The trip went great.  The park was all decorated for Christmas which made it even more spectacular.  Having a hotel just across the street was fantastic.  We could leave the park for a break and head back in for more fun.  In fact the first day, it was mommy who got overwhelmed by about 4 p.m. so we had an early dinner near our hotel before heading back in.  We stayed late in the park both nights.  As it turns out, Disneyland with kids is pretty fun.  It's actually a lot like Las Vegas, but at least in Disneyland the "fake" factor (buildings, castles, costumes, river cruises etc....) seems more like a magical fantasy land than just a gaudy city full of places to drink and shop.  Don't get me wrong, Disneyland was very commercial, but pretty respectful about it.  Moreover, that place was CLEAN.  There must have been magic elves keeping that park picked up.  Well, here are the pictures.  

Here we are waiting in line to ride "It's a Small World," which was my absolute favorite ride when I was a little girl.  It was Sylvie's favorite as well.  We rode it twice.  The second time, Sylvie and I stood in line together in the pouring rain in the dark - she insisted.   It did not disappoint; it was just as I remembered it.

In the boat at last, so excited!

Rex and Jeff as we head into the ride.

It's a small world after all.  The ride was all decorated for Christmas which made it even more special.

Rex loved loved the Autotopia car ride in Tomorrow Land.  They were these little gasoline powered cars that ran on tracks over a pretty big course.  The ride has obviously been there since I was little.  The fumes actually made me queasy each time we rode it, which was about 5 or 6 times!  That's my foot pushing the gas pedal for Rex.  

What I was really excited about was mouse ears!  I couldn't wait to buy them for Rex and Sylvie.  Look how adorable Rex's custom ears are!  Unfortunately, I made the regrettable mistake of letting Sylvie choose her own ears.  There were pink ones, ones with tiaras, princess ones with veils etc....  The following is what she chose.

Yes, she thought she looked pretty spectacular.  No, we couldn't convince her to choose a different pair, though we really really tried.  Yes, she got a lot of attention.  This will be really funny when she's a teenager.

Then, it was off to Pixie Hollow

Where, we met the fairy Iridessa

And, Tinkerbell herself, who talked to the kids for quite a while.  Sylvie was very sweet about introducing and taking care of her little brother making all the adults around us smile.

The lovely Tinkerbell.

Cinderella's Castle all lit up the first night.  The Christmas lights were pretty amazing.

The next day was Sylvie's big lunch at Ariel's Grotto.  The boys hit some more rides in the California Adventure Park and had lunch on their own.

Here is Sylvie being greeted by Ariel when we got there.  Sylvie's little eyes almost popped out of her head when she saw Ariel.  She was so excited by the princesses and so awed by the "fancy" lunch just for her.  She was so nervous because I told her that all of the princesses would come say hello at our table.  We had to practice what she would say to each princess!  So, precious.

Sylvie at her special (hysterically expensive) lunch - there was even fancy Jello on our appetizer tower.  I also let her order a Sprite!  

See if you know your princesses . . .

Cinderella.

Snow White

Belle.  We were very excited about meeting Belle because she loves books too.  Plus, we loved her dress.

Aurora (Sleeping Beauty) - Sylvie's favorite.  We practiced a million times, "Hi, my name is Sylvie.  You are my favorite princess."

Sylvie really loved the fancy desserts they brought us at the end of the meal, especially the white chocolate sea shell.  She earned big smiles from the waiters when she asked for a box so she could take the treats to share with her Dad and little brother (they were pretty appreciative as well).

Once we all regrouped, we hit some other areas like Frontier Town.  We even took a cruise on a giant sailing ship because of course there was a man-made river!  Later, we took a jungle cruise as well.  It's pretty amazing what they have built up.  

I know some people will be appalled but we all had a good time at this shooting range where the rifles shot laser lights at targets.  Here is Rex in his new Sheriff Woody hat (he's a Toy Story fanatic).

Jeff showing Rex how to shoot.  

The end!