One Whirlwind Day With a 3yr old and 1yr old ~ Yes We Are Crazy

[letthembelittle]

We had the opportunity on our week long trip to California to visit Disneyland on April 29th. Our BIL works for Disney and kindly gave us one day park hopper passes. I had always said my kids wouldn’t go to Disney until they were at least 7, old enough to ride most rides, go all day without a nap, and patient enough to wait in lines. Well I got to eat my words since our dd is just 3 and our ds just 1.

The crew:
Our family dh, me, dd (3), and ds (1)
My younger sister (27)
BIL and SIL, our nephews (6 and 2) and our niece (4)

We started our day with our alarms going off at 6AM; honestly I woke several times that night all excited. Our ds was awake at 6:15 pulling at the door handle to our condo. It was like he knew we were going! We got ready and got dd up and ready, met BIL and SIL and left at 8AM for our drive up from Escondido. The drive was easy, not too much traffic but we were glad to have the carpool lane to drive in. My sister was coming from Pasadena so she met up with us in the parking lot. We were one of the last cars to park in the outside area rather then in the garage, the worker told us it was closer but I am not so sure! Riding the tram with a double stroller packed for the day was a bit of a pain since we had to unpack and carry our stuff and our kids so that we could fit on the tram. Getting through security was no problem except that dh hadn’t made our sandwiches and they wouldn’t let us bring in a loaf of bread, so he went to make sandwiches while I sunscreened up the kids.

We had a bit of a line to get into the park but it moved pretty well. We planned on heading straight for Dumbo but the sight of Pluto, penguin from Mary Poppins, and Goofy caused us a little detour.

The wait for Dumbo was 20 minutes, Sis and I took both kids while dh waited to take pictures. DD was so happy to ride in a purple Dumbo. We then rode the carousel. We met up with SIL and dn to wait at the Princess Faire.

I was so impressed that dd and dn stood and waited for an hour to see the princesses. The CM told us it was the longest line in the park, he said if we could survive it then we could do Nemo. Right as we got to the front of the line Cinderella came up to go in, dd just happened to be right at the edge so Cinderella greeted her and put her hand on dd's cheek, you would have thought dd was floating afterwards! We got to meet Jasmine, Cinderella, and Pocahontas.

We met up with the guys for lunch at the tables right outside of the Faire. While we were eating the performance started so we got to see some of that. SIL and I and all the kids then headed over for ToonTown, not a good idea to have 5 kids and two moms. We went through Minnie's house, it was pretty crowded but fun. DD liked the wishing well outside the house.

We saw Goofy and Minnie (who was a highlight for dd). We waited for the rest of our crew in the nicely benched and shaded area right inside Toontown; it was great since it was a pretty warm day.

 

[quest4dl]

What a sweet picture of your dd with Cinderella! She certainly looks like she is on !

 

[letthembelittle]

I didnt think anything could top meeting Cinderella, but you will have to see who her favorite ended up being when I post Part 2. Meeting Cinderella made waiting in that long line worth it, because if we had been 3 people sooner we wouldnt have met her.

 

[daisy_77]

I am loving your report! Your kids are cuties!!

 

[letthembelittle]

Awww, thanks!

 

[letthembelittle]

Part 2

After TT we headed over to ride Winnie the Pooh, on the way there we ran into Jessie and Woody, dd loves Jessie so it was fun to meet them in person. Dh decided to take ds and go ride Pirates with bil and their two oldest. According to dh, ds liked most of the ride but didn’t like the drop at the beginning. I would never have taken a 1 year old on the ride but I guess it worked out. The Winnie the Pooh ride was so cute, dd thought it was loud so she covered her ears but she liked seeing the characters.

After getting off the ride we waited to meet Tigger and Eeyore. The rest of the family wasn’t back yet so we rode Winnie the Pooh again.

After that we headed back to FL to ride Casey Jr, it was such a cute ride even if the wait was fairly long with a squirmy one year old in the sun. We then decided to head over the CA but on the way there we ran into the Fairy Godmother, she was just adorable. She showed dd that they had the same shoes and tried to get ds to laugh by curling her tongue and squeaking her nose. She was definitely dd's favorite character encounter.

Over at CA we headed straight to Monster’s Inc and basically walked right on. Then we headed over to Bugs Land, with better planning this would have been more fun but I walked around with ds while dh rode some ride with dd. Then I took dd to see the Playhouse Disney show, because we watch most of the shows she really enjoyed it. I wished we had sat in the middle of the theater so that the bubbles and streamers would have reached us. After the show we met the rest of the family and had some yummy chicken fingers and fries while waiting for the parade. Ds finally passed out in the stroller bil had rented. This was a big deal since neither of my kids tends to sleep anywhere but their crib/beds or in their car seats.

After the parade it was back over to Disneyland to get our spot for that parade. We sat just down from the bathrooms next to Alice in Wonderland, it was a great place to sit, nice shade, great benches, and narrow enough that no one sat in front of us. I took dd and dn to see Triton’s garden and Snow White’s grotto, both of which were so cute. Then it was over to the Dumbo car you can sit in, both little girls loved the fountain on the way. We made it back to see the parade which we all loved. It was so beautiful and magical and just everything Disney should be. I love the song they use for it. I was glad to have thrown jackets in the stroller since it cooled down after the parade. We walked with everyone else out of the park while bil and my sister shopped for souvenirs. Waiting for the tram was the longest wait of the day. Then it was into pjs for the kids and time for the drive back to the condo.

I know dd enjoyed the day because she hasn’t stopped talking about it but I think the look on ds's face shows that he did, too!

 

[letthembelittle]

Now after having spent such a fun day at the park I am excited to be planning another trip in the fall of 2009. By then our kids will be 4 1/2, 2 1/2, and hopefully a new baby that will be about 6 months old. I have invited all of our families so now comes the fun of picking dates and hotels. I will be starting a Pre-Trip report soon!

 

[thmar]

Thanks for the TR...I always wondered if it would be worth it to take children so young. I have a grandson who's 2 and a granddaughter who's 1 month old. Sounds like you and the kids enjoyed your time at the park...makes me think that we may try it in a few of years.

 

[letthembelittle]

I had always said that I wouldnt take my kids to Disney until they were about 7, old enough (and tall enough) to ride all the rides, not need naps, understand having to wait in line, ect but my just turned 3 year old dd LOVED all of it. I now think that is the perfect age!

She was old enough to not be scared of the characters, tell us what she wanted to do after seeing the YouTube videos, and be excited about meeting "her" princess Cinderella. My little guy was too little, he just wanted to run everywhere which is hard when you are waiting in line or for a parade. And although I think he had fun it is not like he will remember the trip.

 

[daisy_77]

Great report! How did your kids do while waiting in line?

 

[wendylady36]

You have such adorable kids! It looks and sounds like you all had fun.

My family has always taken kids to Disneyland, they took me when I was only a few weeks old. I remember being like your DD, the rides were always too loud for me, my 2 year old niece would agree too!

 

[letthembelittle]

daisy_77 ~ The longest line we waited in was the PFF, it was probably about an hour, dd did just fine, she decorated her crown, ate snacks, danced around. The rest of the lines were much shorter so she was fine, ds on the other hand was never still, we put him on our shoulders alot to keep him out of trouble and to know where he was.

wendylady36 ~ Thanks! Dd did think most of the rides were loud, but she was fine with her ears covered.

 

[jeniferjuniper]

Your little ones are way too cute!