Our family's first trip, 3 year old mood swings and all that jazz.

[sophies*mom]

Hi everyone

This is my very first trip report on the DIS! I've been reading trip reports for a while, hyping myself up for our trip! Now here I am, just over a week post trip! It's funny that we wait so long for our trip and then poof! It's over so soon.

Anyway, time for some introductions

This is my DH, Eli, holding our 8 month old son, Parker.

And myself, Elena, with my Disney mini me, our 3yo daughter, Sophie!

I have been do Disneyland many times and have been sorta of...obsessed? lol about Disney for a long time. I told Eli that when we had kids, it would only get worse and it turned out to be true! Sophie is following in mommy's footsteps quite well

I grew up in CA (between Santa Cruz and Monterey) but moved to NV when Eli and I were married just over 4yrs ago. Sadly, that put me further away from Disneyland! My last trip was in 2007. I went twice that year, once in summer and then again in November.

Eli had never been and honestly couldn't care less about Disney related ANYTHING.
I convinced him two years ago that we should take a family trip before we had our next baby. In the middle of planning, I became pregnant with Parker so we called off the trip. I was really sad but had a rough pregnancy so I couldn't imagine trying to do the parks like that.

Somehow, I managed to talk him into it once again. I'm just that good!

Our trip was planned for April 15-18th. I was so excited!

 

[sophies*mom]

About a month out, Sophie and I (mostly me, of course) made a countdown chain. It was starting to feel real! She didn't quite get what it meant, but she would soon.

I bought some construction paper and Mickey Mouse stickers and we crafted the day away!

I had also picked up this sticker book at Michael's and it was perfect. I love the vintage look of the characters.

No good Disney project would be complete without a Mickey whole punch. Great for confetti, too! I bought this at the Gag Factory in Toontown way back when. (it's taken a bit of a beating in the years since lol)

Keeping brother occupied

Crafting to Disney tunes

And juice, Minnie Mouse inspired

With two demanding children and a husband (lol) it took all day to assemble this but I thought it turned out great!

I thought it would get Sophie excited, but she's 3 so naturally she had to throw a tantrum about taking chains off lol. She thought I was ruining it! Oh goodness.

 

[CrAzY4DL]

Super cute, love the ears! Totally gonna steal idea for family October trip.

 

[sophies*mom]

You should! I saw the idea on Pinterest and finally got to use it.

 

[ttig34]

Great start. Looking forward to hearing more!

 

[sophies*mom]

Our first morning started out very early. I think I didn't even bother sleeping that night before. Eli's alarm went off at 3:30am! Eeps.

Driving from Reno was approx. 8.5hrs with no stops, but we all know that would not happen with a 3yo and an 8mo! lol

We wanted to leave around 4:30am but by the time we were actually on the road, it was around 5:30.

The kids slept for a good chunk of the morning. We stopped somewhere near Stockton. Eli took Sophie out so she could stretch her legs and it gave me a chance to nurse Parker and see if he needed a diaper change. We got back on the road and drove until we needed get gas.

We don't have a GPS so I printed out directions from Google maps. Either I am an idiot or the directions were poorly written. Somehow we went an hour out of our way and had to turn around. Eli was getting frustrated and the kids were getting restless. Parker was so tired of being in his car seat and was crying, so naturally by that time, I was also in tears. We had been on the road for 11hrs at that point (stops included). My phone was almost dead but I was able to pull up my maps app and get the GPS on it to point us in the right direction. 45mins later and we were FINALLY where we needed to be. As soon as we were out of the car and checked in, we were able to breathe and got our second wind.
We had made plans to meet up with my friend, Lynne (and her husband and son), at the Rainforest Cafe, so I hopped in the shower and then we were off!
It was a short walk to Downtown Disney. Before long we found my friend and perused the gift shop while the kids played while as waited for our table.

After dinner we said goodbye to our friends and decided to look around and I immediately had a hankering for something sweet.
We went to Marcelline's Confectionary. I decided on a chocolate dipped Mickey pretzel and a red velvet Mickey cake pop! I waited until we got back to the hotel before Sophie, Eli and I devoured them but oh man. SO good. The cake pop was delicious!

After buying our snacks we headed to World of Disney. I wanted to buy some postcards but was immediately disappointed in their selection. I thought for sure I'd find some better ones in the parks so I didn't buy any. Actually, the only thing I bought there was a Donald Duck pressed penny! haha.

We walked back to our hotel and got ready for bed. I checked up on FB and of course felt the need to brag about my delicious goodies.

Sleepy time!

 

[sophies*mom]

This morning was already starting out a little rocky. I know Sophie was still tired from the day before and refused to eat breakfast. I knew that was going to bite me in the butt later.
As soon as the kids were dressed, we were out the door. I wanted to make sure we were at the gates without being behind too many people.

There were what seemed like a lot of people waiting to get in but we didn't stand there very long.

First things first, we headed to City Hall for pins! For sure had to get first visit pins (it was Eli and the kids' first time, not mine), and even though my birthday wasn't until the end of the week, I asked for a birthday pin as a keepsake.

First on our agenda was to get fast passes for World of Color. Off to Grizzly River run!

After getting FPs, our first stop was the Disney Jr. Live on Stage show. Sophie is a Disney Jr. JUNKIE. I thought for sure she'd go crazy over this. Sadly, I think she was a little afraid at first and watched cautiously from our spot. She didn't even want to sit on my lap. lol. It wasn't until the bubbles, snow and gold doubloons fell from the ceiling that she got a little more into it.

Parker was having a blast, though

Since Sophie was still a little grouchy I thought maybe getting some sugar into her would put her in a better mood. We walked right across from the theater and got a smoothie to share and a rice krispie treat. She wanted nothing to do with the krispie. There goes $5! lol

From there we headed to Bug's Land.

I had been worried about how she would do with characters but I didn't anticipate her literally dragging her feet and crying in line for rides! Omg. I had to physically pick her up a couple times and it was embarrassing.

Our first ride was Heimlich's Chew Chew train. It was cute and really tame so when she actually got on it, she had a good time.

After we got off, we decided to try something different. We headed over to the Little Mermaid ride. She did drag her feet a bit but because it was a fast loader, with the moving floor and constant loading ride vehicles, we got on really quickly and she didn't freak out as much. I tried to point out all the fun aspects of the ride, but once we got to Ursula, she closed her eyes and buried her head. I had a feeling this was going to set the tone for the rest of the day. She did good overall, though, and we told her she could pick out some mouse ears.

We headed to Paradise Pier and stopped for her to have a snack. She ate a go-gurt and I gave her a pep talk. She's only 3, so I couldn't expect her to suck it up and not act scared if she was, but we were at Disney! Nothing was going to hurt her and I let her know that I was there the whole time and she didn't have to be scared.

Right behind where we sat, there was a Duffy meet 'n greet. On our way to the Little Mermaid, there was the Phineas and Ferb dance party thing and she FREAKED when she saw them. I'll admit, they're kinda freaky looking anyway lol, so I honestly thought she would get scared when she saw Duffy. Nope! She thought he was the greatest. He walked by us and waved and she got excited. She said he kissed her lol. I think maybe he blew her a kiss when I wasn't looking, but that's her story so whatever makes her happy.

Finally, she got her mouse ears! I also got a sweatshirt and Eli picked up some mouse ears for a friend.

Our next ride was King Triton's Carousel. I had also picked up a FP for CA Screamin'. I wasn't about to miss that one!
It was probably the shiny pole, but Parker was having the time of his little life!

Sophie's grouchiness was getting the best of me and I was hungry, so I decided the best thing to do was to stop and get lunch.

Eli got a teriyaki beef rice bowl at the Lucky Fortune Cookery and I decided on a carne asada and tamale platter at Cocina Cucamonga. We also got a souvenir sipper with much needed coke inside! lol

Mine was good except the carne asada was a little tough. Eli said his was good but not enough for the price (around $10, I think).
After that we did diaper changes and I headed to the baby care center to nurse Parker. It was so nice to go into an air conditioned place to nurse him. He started really eating table foods on this trip, but still loves to nurse. I could've sat in there all day nursing and rocking him, but alas, back to the heat and the crowds.

Next up I think was time to ride CA Screamin'. My favorite ride in DCA! It was a little weird riding it by myself, but when we got ready to ride, Eli and the kids were on the bridge cheering me on. I thought that was pretty sweet. Sophie told him I was going on a fast choo choo train lol.

From there we went to Cars Land!
I think it would've been more enjoyable if there weren't soooo many dang people there. That was for sure the most crowded area of the park. It was still pretty cool to see, though. I really wanted to get some churro bites from the Cozy Cones but that was the one cone that was closed! Oh well.

continued...

 

[sophies*mom]

Here comes Mater!

We ended up not riding any of the rides there. I thought it would be fun to go on Mater's Junkyard Jamboree but I didn't think Sophie would like it so we just looked around and left. We did pose for a picture with Stanley as a family, but it came out soooo terrible. This nice Asian couple offered to take it for us and oh man. Their intentions were good at least lol

One of Sophie's favorite movies is Monster's Inc, so we thought she would love this one.

Sophie was not enjoying her time in line and we decided when it was done, we needed to take her back to the room so she could nap. I really thought she'd enjoy more but I was sadly wrong. She wasn't a total fan of the ride (which was becoming a trend with the indoor/dark rides) so when we got off I told her she was going to take a nap and I was done hearing her cry, which only made her cry louder. *sigh*. A nice janitor CM heard her and gave her two Mickey stickers. I thought that was really sweet!

On our way out of the park, we spotted Pluto! There was only one other family in front of us taking pictures with him, so I decided to take advantage of it. Sophie took one look at him and started crying hysterically. I was wondering how she'd do with characters, there's my answer! I was optimistic after her sweet encounter with Duffy but I didn't force her to go near him. He did see her crying and came to the stroller to say hi and that only made it worse lol. Ugh.

I decided to pose with him by myself.

After that we made our way out of the park and to our hotel. I guess we should've done that sooner as it was 4:30 by that time and we were going to miss the Pixar Play parade but Sophie fell asleep right away and took a nice long nap! And it was nice to rest my feet.
We decided to go back and have dinner and then find our spots for World of Color.

It was chilly when we got back so we decided to get soup in bread bowls at the Pacific Wharf Cafe. I got broccoli and cheese and Eli got clam chowder. It was all over when Sophie saw the Mickey cookie, she HAD to have it. At that point, I didn't care as long as she was in a good mood!

I thought the soup was good but there wasn't enough. I considered asking them to give it to me with the bread bowl on the side, but we were in a hurry and I was hungry.

It's as big as her head!! lol

We were running behind on time and scarfed our soups down. I tried to eat what I could of the bread bowl (I was going to get my money's worth, after all! haha) but it was too tough to pull apart. We tossed what we didn't eat and made our way to find our section.

We were in the blue section and I had no idea where to go. Luckily, the first WoC CM we found was in the blue section. Perfect! There were not a lot of people there so we also got lucky and parked the stroller and waited. We had about half an hour until the show started and the pier all lit up was so pretty!

We made friends with the people next to us and chatted a bit. Before long, it was starting.

I was on the fence about even seeing it, but I am SO glad I did! It was AMAZING!!!
My only gripe was because our section wasn't completely full, they had brought people in from a more crowded section (I think) and had them fill in the gaps. Which meant 3 tall guys who stood right in front of us AND put their kids on their shoulders. I made a remark about not being able to see but I guess they didn't hear me. Probably a good thing cuz it was kind of rude, lol. I scooted to where I could see but they didn't even stay the whole show, thank goodness.
Parker fell asleep and Sophie didn't care to see anything unil she heard snippets of songs from movies she liked.

After the show we went back to our hotel but decided that soup did nothing for us so we headed back down the street to Denny's lol. Then back to the hotel and to sleep! I was pooped and hoped Sophie would have a much better park day at Disneyland. That was the park I was most looking forward to, anyway!

 

[ttig34]

Looking forward to Sophie's adventures in Disneyland. At that age, you just never know how they will react. Take one step at a time.

 

[LizzieinDisney]

Joining in! Looking forward to hearing the rest of your report and how little Sophie enjoys DL! Also, Parker has the cutest smile. Thanks for sharing!

 

[want2bamommy]

I'm enjoying your review We'll be taking our first trip to DL in a few months and my DD will be 3 years old at that point and we'll be taking our 4 month old as well.

Can you tell me about the bed you brought with you for DD? It looks great for her size! I will have to find one for my daughter.

I can't wait to read the rest.

 

[sophies*mom]

Thanks so much everyone!

The bed was given to us, so I honestly don't know where it came from. It was my husband's grandma's boyfriend's daughter's granddaughter's! hahaha. True story. So I have no idea where it came from, but you could search Disney EZ beds online. They are similar! But I am SO glad we had it, she loves it and went to sleep with no problems!

3 year olds, oh man. And a girl to boot, moody! lol But as you'll read, Disneyland was a better day

 

[want2bamommy]

The bed was given to us, so I honestly don't know where it came from. It was my husband's grandma's boyfriend's daughter's granddaughter's! hahaha. True story. So I have no idea where it came from, but you could search Disney EZ beds online. They are similar! But I am SO glad we had it, she loves it and went to sleep with no problems!

3 year olds, oh man. And a girl to boot, moody! lol But as you'll read, Disneyland was a better day

That true story cracked me up! Thanks. I'll definitely look around online

 

[sophies*mom]

Finally, our Disneyland day!
By now I was desperate. I really wanted this day, of all days, to go smoothly with zero to none in the way of meltdowns from Sophie. Eli and I had talked to her several times about what we were doing, what rides we were going on, who we might see and so on, to prepare her. I told her she was a big girl! There was nothing scary, no crying when we go stand in line for rides. I told her (mom of the year right here! ha) if she didn't cry in lines, I'd give her a lollipop every time. I had a bag of Dum Dum suckers that I was going to give her for waiting in line anyway, I had no qualms about using them as a bribe! haha.

With that understanding, we were off to the park.

We got in and followed the small crowd to the end of Main St. What'ya know, we made it to rope drop again! haha. I amaze myself.

We waited at the hub and planned to go straight into Fantasyland.

Very first ride, Dumbo!

As we got close, Sophie started dragging her feet and whining about getting in line. We have the Disneyland sing along dvd and she has watched it hundreds of times, including seeing this ride in action, so I knew she knew what was going to happen.

I squashed her attitude as much as I could and picked her up and plopped her into a yellow Dumbo. I told her she had to sit and put her seatbelt on and it was going to be fun! She was a little scared at first but when she realized we were "in a flying Dumbo!" she thought it was great.

She had fun and agreed to take a picture with me in the stationary Dumbo just outside the ride.

From there she spotted the teacups. One of her favorite movies is Alice in Wonderland. As soon as she heard the theme music, she was begging to go on! You didn't have to ask me twice. There was no line so we got on almost immediately.

It was at THIS moment

that I knew this day was going to be the day I had imagined all along. I so desperately wanted her to have fun. The day before at DCA really squashed my Disney spirit but seeing the pure happiness on her face made me cry! Here we were spinning around and around on the teacups and I was sitting there savoring the look on my daughter's face and wiping tears away!! Eli thought I was being silly for crying it was really special to me.

As soon as we got off, she asked to go on again. I didn't care if that's all we did all day, she and I were on Disney cloud 9!
Going with the Alice theme, we got in line for Alice in Wonderland.

Sadly, it was scary for her but she didn't cry! She was happy and then just closed her eyes. Sad since it's one of her favorite movies but I understand at 3, dark rides could be a little creepy.

Before our trip, the one ride Eli said he refused to go on was It's a Small World, but I told him he just had to ride it once in his entire life and he was off the hook. So naturally we had to fill that quota on this trip!

As we waited in line, I noticed right across the way Merida (from Brave) was doing a meet 'n greet. I wanted to go see her so badly but we were already in line and Sophie acted scared of her (of course). Sigh. We never did see her again because she walked off right before we got on the ride.

This ride turned out to be overwhelming and Sophie closed her eyes. This kid, I tell ya! I wanted her to see the little nods to the different Disney movies on the ride but she wouldn't open her eyes. Another favorite of hers is Lilo & Stitch, so when I saw them, I literally pried her eye open with my fingers!! I was laughing but I just wanted her to open her eyes and see her favorite characters. I love that part of the ride and once she saw them, she was happily chattering about the characters.

After that, we decided to head to Adventureland.

Heading into Adventureland, we walked right by the Tiki Room and what did I see? The Tiki juice bar. I immediately hopped in line, leaving Eli a little cofused as to where I had gone, haha. I was not about to miss the opportunity for a Dole Whip! I got two, one for each of us, because I was not about to share!


My very first Dole Whip! It was DELICIOUS! MMMMM.

The little sneak took a lick of Eli's while he was tending to Parker! haha.

We figured it was as good a time as any for her to have a snack. I brought Uncrustables for her and they were perfect. She is so picky but she really likes pb&j.

continued...

 

[sophies*mom]

After seeing the wait time posted for the Jungle Cruise, (40 minutes!) I suggested that we get something to eat. I had planned on Bengal BBQ for lunch, so we each got two skewers. He had the Banyan beef skewer, we each had a Chieftain chicken skewer and I had a Bengal beef skewer. We also got a tiger tail (bread) and a large drink to share. They were good but nowhere near filling whatsoever, which is a drag because all of that was $25! We decided we'd have to eat again in a bit because we were both still hungry.

Eli grabbed a FP for Indiana Jones and then we walked around a bit. I think from there went on Pirates of the Caribbean. Now I felt bad here because once we were in our boat, I know Sophie was scared. I told her it was okay to be scared and she could hold my hand and close her eyes. Parker slept the entire time! This one really opened my eyes, I never thought about seeing it from her perspective as being scary.

By this time the sun was really hot and I stupidly suggested Eli take the canopy off the stroller before we left for the park because it was such a pain the day before. Parker was looking pretty pink in the cheeks even though he had sunscreen on. I hadn't put any on because Eli couldn't find it, even though he was sure he put it in the stroller. We decided that we needed to at least buy him a hat until we could find it, to keep the sun off his head and face.

"Not large but in charge"

That lasted all of 5 minutes before he yanked it off his head and threw it on the ground, which also quickly got run over by our stroller. Great. It was the only hat in an infant size! I really wanted a sunhat (I bought one before our trip but when I went to pack, couldn't find it). I told Eli that Parker needed to nurse anyway, especially for being in the sun so much, so I would ask the ladies in the baby care center to see if they sold any sunscreen. We figured ours must have been forgotten in the room.

I got there and no luck. They told me to try the camera shop next door. I nursed Parker for as long as he would, and then went next door. Sure enough, they were selling very over priced sunscreen! lol. Paid for it and liberally applied it to all of us. Better late than never I guess.

There was still so much we hadn't done, but we had promised Sophie we would go to Toontown and see Mickey and Minnie's house. On our way, we decided to hit up Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters in Tomorrowland. Another ride that was not a hit with Sophie. She buried her head and Parker snoozed as Eli and I defeated Zurg! haha. You totally can't see them, but all 4 of us are in there!

And yes. I got my butt whooped! He was cheating, somehow. I just know he was, haha.

On our way to Toontown we spotted Peter Pan siging autographs. There was a crowd of people around him so we kept going. I spotted the statue of the White Rabbit and decided this was a fun photo op. I had taken pictures here when I had gone with my best friend several years ago, so I couldn't pass it up!

We decided to get some food and found a seat by City Hall. Eli got pizza, Sophie a Mickey ice cream sandwich and I had the most disappointing turkey sandwich I have ever eaten. The bread made it terrible, so FYI! Don't get a sandwich on ciabatta (I think it was) from Clarabelle's! It was soooo dry, even after I put mayo on it.

I really wanted to see Minnie's house first, but there was a line out the door and we saw her doing a meet 'n greet back behind it. We went to Mickey's house instead.

We originally hadn't planned to stay and meet Mickey but thought, why not. Sophie had no interest in posing with him. She was perfectly happy to stand with daddy while Parker and I got pictures with him.

continued...

 

[sophies*mom]

Played around Toontown a bit

Then to Goofy's house. Sophie had fun playing in his "garden" playground area. She really didn't want to leave!

By then it was getting closer to parade time and since that sandwich sucked, I was still hungry. I really wanted to eat at Hungry Bear restaurant so we headed to Critter Country. We hadn't made it to that part of the park yet, either. We got there and it was closed! I was so bummed! We went on Winnie the Pooh as planned anyway.

Since we were in Pooh Corner, I couldn't leave without a fun snack! So I got a Tigger Tail. They were not as overly sweet as I had kept reading. I took a bite and saved the rest for later.

Eli asked for some turtle fudge but when we got to the bench, this is what he pulled out. lol. I thought, whatever it is, it's cute! And he ate it anyway.

I was really eating a lot on this trip, I felt like I was constantly starving. I think it was all the extra walking I was doing. Since Hungry Bear was closed, we decided to eat at the Plaza Inn. I also thought that since Mickey's Soundsational Parade was going to start soon, we could get our food and sit on the patio and watch the parade.

Even though I was disappointed about Hungry Bear, I thought this was a good compromise. AND they gave free refills on soda! A park rarity.

As we were eating, it started to get cold and windy. We apparently had forgotten Sophie's sweater, so I pulled out Parker's receiving blanket and told her to wrap it around herself. Right before the parade was starting, Parker also had a hefty poopy diaper. Thank goodness we were RIGHT next to the baby care center! Eli took him for a change and soon the parade started.

Parker wanted nothing to do with daddy so I had to hold him, and I love the man but he sucks at taking pictures, so none of the pictures he got of the parade are good. They're all really dark and fuzzy I got a couple video clips so I'll have to try and upload those later.

After the parade, we wanted to ride one last ride.

Either teacups or Dumbo, but Sophie had a leakage in her diaper so the time it took to change her pants I thought we wouldn't get to ride anything. We were walking by the teacups and they were doing one last spin! She and I ran to the line and spun our 4th and final spin on the teacups. I was happy that we ended with her favorite ride.

This turned out to be a great park day! There were a few ups and downs along the way but better than the day before had been!
I was sad to be leaving but I was so insanely tired and my feet were killing me, so back to the hotel we went.

Eli and I were laughing because if she hadn't been buckled in, she would have fallen out of there several times on the way back to our room!

Next: our travels home.

 

[sophies*mom]

I can't believe i never finished this, haha.
Almost a year later...if anyone is interested in hearing about our last day, I'll add it. Not many comments on here except for my own

 

[holymac]

I want to hear the rest! We are taking our 4 and 6 year olds in May!

 

[wiigirl]

Cute pics!

 

[shoppgirl]

I enjoyed reading your TR so far and would love to know the rest of it!!! Your pictures are fantastic too. Your trip reminds me so much of my first trip with my girls to WDW when my youngest was 4. I didn't have any temper tantrums to deal with, but I had plenty of tears because she was afraid of every single dark ride. I had high hopes of going on the Haunted Mansion, Pirates, Snow White, Buzz.....but no. To this day, the four year old is now 10 and still refuses to go on the Haunted Mansion and Pirates!!!!

Please continue....you're doing a great job! You will be glad you finished it!