After cancelling some vacation plans, I was left with a couple scheduled days off of work. Diana suggested we try out Disneyland, seeing as it's only a little over an hour away. If everything went to hell, we could always turn around and come home.
We stayed at the Disneyland Hotel. It's much more expensive compared to the other nearby hotels, and we weren't initially going to stay there, but it was recommended by so many people that we gave it a shot. In retrospect, I'm not sure we really took advantage of all it had to offer, because it didn't feel that much different than a standard hotel. Anyway, we drove up on Sunday afternoon, hoping that Allison would take a nap in the car, but that didn't happen. No big deal. After getting all checked in and arranged, we jumped in the pool for a while, and then headed over to the park. Being Sunday, it was super crowded, and we didn't even try to go on any rides, but we watched some of the parade that was going on. Allison was pretty excited to see some of the characters, and really wanted to go up and talk to them. It was hard to tell her that we could only watch and wave. She seemed particularly attracted to Chip and Dale, as well as Mary Poppins.
The evening went well in the hotel. We were in a room facing Downtown Disney, and there was live music playing, complete with bass thumping through our room. Kind of annoying but didn't make too big of an impact on either us or Allison, thankfully. Allison slept on a little converted sofa-bed thing, and Diana and I stretched out in our own queen beds (romantic, I know).
The next day, we got up in and into the park right at opening and were able to do some rides and see some sights. Allison's very first ride ever at Disneyland was the teacups, and she seemed to like that a lot. We also did the Alice in Wonderland ride, and she did not like that at all. Hands clapped over her ears. It actually is pretty dark and loud in there, both of which are not really favorites. The carousel was also fun. We went to some princess dance show, where Snow White, Cinderella, and Aurora made appearances. The kids are supposed to come up to the front of the audience and do some dancing and learn how to bow and curtsey and stuff. Allison was a little tentative about doing that. Diana went with her, but she still was a little nervous about the whole thing.
Later, we were sitting near the castle when Aurora appeared out of nowhere and walked by. We followed her to her meet-and-greet spot, where Allison held her hand and got her picture taken. She wanted to ask Aurora if she could walk around with us, but wanted me to ask her. So I asked for her, and Aurora said that unfortunately she couldn't but that if we returned around 5pm, we could walk with her back to the castle. We didn't end up taking her up on that opportunity. Allison also got pictures with Buzz Lightyear and Minnie Mouse.
We also headed over to California Adventure and wandered around a bit there. A big highlight was taking pictures with life-sized Lightening McQueen and Mater. They were basically statues with moving eyeballs, but Allison was pretty enthralled. She kept touching Lightning's hood and walking around. Very cute.
We went back to the hotel for a nap, and with a little coaxing and rocking, Allison fell asleep in my arms. Diana stayed in the hotel while I went back to the park for a yummy unhealthy lunch and to see what I could see. I got a call an hour later that they were up and were heading to the park soon. Apparently, in spite of our "Privacy Please" sign on the door, housekeeping decided to call to see if we wanted our room cleaned up, waking everyone up in the process. Ugh. But Allison woke up happy and wasn't too put off by the whole thing.
Over the trip, Diana and I were able to get in a couple rides ourselves, like Space Mountain and the Matterhorn. I went on Thunder Mountain and Pirates, too. The only ride I really wanted to go on was Indiana Jones, but it was "temporarily unavailable" whenever I walked by it. It wasn't shut down for good, but seemingly off and on throughout the day. So I was kind of bummed to miss that.
On Monday night, we switched rooms to a different tower to get away from the noise. It wasn't as nice a room, but it was quieter. Allison was just getting herself to sleep around 9:30pm when the fireworks started. She wasn't totally scared, but pretty distracted by them. I picked her up and rocked her and she went right to sleep, in spite of the booming. I put her back to bed, and Diana and I watched the rest of the fireworks from our 10th floor room. Pretty cool.
Tuesday morning, we hit the park again. Lots of carousel riding, and some more teacups. Allison did NOT want to go on the Nemo submarine ride at all. She informed us she'd go when she was bigger, bigger, bigger. I wanted to go on, but couldn't coax her and didn't force the issue. We went on the Autopia cars, and that was just OK. It was really bumpy for a little person. Dumbo was also ridden and enjoyed.
By about lunchtime, we'd kind of decided we'd seen all we were going to see and done all we were going to do, so we headed back home. Allison fell asleep in the car about 10 minutes from home, so we drove for a while longer to let her get some sleep. When we did get home, I had big plans of trying to get her inside without waking her up, but as soon as the engine turned off, she yawned and stretched and woke up.
All in all, the trip was a success, and I think laid the groundwork for future visits. I think it was a little more underwhelming than I expected, but I have really skewed expectations of how awesome Disneyland is. I also tend to picture Allison as older and more mature than she is, in spite of the fact that she's not even three years old yet. So there's plenty of time for her to mature and be a little more prepared for all that Disneyland has to offer. I'm really looking forward to going back in the future and reliving some of my childhood memories with her.
It's funny. I remember going to Disneyland as a kid, and thinking that Sleeping Beauties castle looked huge and awe-inspiring. When I've gone back as an adult, I realized that it's not much more than a two story building with some towers on it. Going back with Allison, it actually looked bigger, like it was refinished or something. Funny thing, that.
We stayed at the Disneyland Hotel. It's much more expensive compared to the other nearby hotels, and we weren't initially going to stay there, but it was recommended by so many people that we gave it a shot. In retrospect, I'm not sure we really took advantage of all it had to offer, because it didn't feel that much different than a standard hotel. Anyway, we drove up on Sunday afternoon, hoping that Allison would take a nap in the car, but that didn't happen. No big deal. After getting all checked in and arranged, we jumped in the pool for a while, and then headed over to the park. Being Sunday, it was super crowded, and we didn't even try to go on any rides, but we watched some of the parade that was going on. Allison was pretty excited to see some of the characters, and really wanted to go up and talk to them. It was hard to tell her that we could only watch and wave. She seemed particularly attracted to Chip and Dale, as well as Mary Poppins.
The evening went well in the hotel. We were in a room facing Downtown Disney, and there was live music playing, complete with bass thumping through our room. Kind of annoying but didn't make too big of an impact on either us or Allison, thankfully. Allison slept on a little converted sofa-bed thing, and Diana and I stretched out in our own queen beds (romantic, I know).
The next day, we got up in and into the park right at opening and were able to do some rides and see some sights. Allison's very first ride ever at Disneyland was the teacups, and she seemed to like that a lot. We also did the Alice in Wonderland ride, and she did not like that at all. Hands clapped over her ears. It actually is pretty dark and loud in there, both of which are not really favorites. The carousel was also fun. We went to some princess dance show, where Snow White, Cinderella, and Aurora made appearances. The kids are supposed to come up to the front of the audience and do some dancing and learn how to bow and curtsey and stuff. Allison was a little tentative about doing that. Diana went with her, but she still was a little nervous about the whole thing.
Later, we were sitting near the castle when Aurora appeared out of nowhere and walked by. We followed her to her meet-and-greet spot, where Allison held her hand and got her picture taken. She wanted to ask Aurora if she could walk around with us, but wanted me to ask her. So I asked for her, and Aurora said that unfortunately she couldn't but that if we returned around 5pm, we could walk with her back to the castle. We didn't end up taking her up on that opportunity. Allison also got pictures with Buzz Lightyear and Minnie Mouse.
We also headed over to California Adventure and wandered around a bit there. A big highlight was taking pictures with life-sized Lightening McQueen and Mater. They were basically statues with moving eyeballs, but Allison was pretty enthralled. She kept touching Lightning's hood and walking around. Very cute.
We went back to the hotel for a nap, and with a little coaxing and rocking, Allison fell asleep in my arms. Diana stayed in the hotel while I went back to the park for a yummy unhealthy lunch and to see what I could see. I got a call an hour later that they were up and were heading to the park soon. Apparently, in spite of our "Privacy Please" sign on the door, housekeeping decided to call to see if we wanted our room cleaned up, waking everyone up in the process. Ugh. But Allison woke up happy and wasn't too put off by the whole thing.
Over the trip, Diana and I were able to get in a couple rides ourselves, like Space Mountain and the Matterhorn. I went on Thunder Mountain and Pirates, too. The only ride I really wanted to go on was Indiana Jones, but it was "temporarily unavailable" whenever I walked by it. It wasn't shut down for good, but seemingly off and on throughout the day. So I was kind of bummed to miss that.
On Monday night, we switched rooms to a different tower to get away from the noise. It wasn't as nice a room, but it was quieter. Allison was just getting herself to sleep around 9:30pm when the fireworks started. She wasn't totally scared, but pretty distracted by them. I picked her up and rocked her and she went right to sleep, in spite of the booming. I put her back to bed, and Diana and I watched the rest of the fireworks from our 10th floor room. Pretty cool.
Tuesday morning, we hit the park again. Lots of carousel riding, and some more teacups. Allison did NOT want to go on the Nemo submarine ride at all. She informed us she'd go when she was bigger, bigger, bigger. I wanted to go on, but couldn't coax her and didn't force the issue. We went on the Autopia cars, and that was just OK. It was really bumpy for a little person. Dumbo was also ridden and enjoyed.
By about lunchtime, we'd kind of decided we'd seen all we were going to see and done all we were going to do, so we headed back home. Allison fell asleep in the car about 10 minutes from home, so we drove for a while longer to let her get some sleep. When we did get home, I had big plans of trying to get her inside without waking her up, but as soon as the engine turned off, she yawned and stretched and woke up.
All in all, the trip was a success, and I think laid the groundwork for future visits. I think it was a little more underwhelming than I expected, but I have really skewed expectations of how awesome Disneyland is. I also tend to picture Allison as older and more mature than she is, in spite of the fact that she's not even three years old yet. So there's plenty of time for her to mature and be a little more prepared for all that Disneyland has to offer. I'm really looking forward to going back in the future and reliving some of my childhood memories with her.
It's funny. I remember going to Disneyland as a kid, and thinking that Sleeping Beauties castle looked huge and awe-inspiring. When I've gone back as an adult, I realized that it's not much more than a two story building with some towers on it. Going back with Allison, it actually looked bigger, like it was refinished or something. Funny thing, that.
2 comments:
Allison: "I'm sad."
Diana: "What are you sad about?"
Allison: "Cinderella is leaving."
Diana: "Why does that make you sad?"
Allison: "I just want to have a little conversation with her."
I actually read that in her voice....
Adman
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