Some Sprinkling of Disney

I'm gonna make this part one of an undetermined number of posts on Disneyland. Its one of those subjects where there is so much to talk about, its nearly overwhelming. I need to write it down, mostly for my own sake, cause I want to remember how much fun we had.

Last trip we took was in February, when Ava was just 18 months. If there is any Disney advice I can give to people its this: do not take an 18 month old to Disneyland. They are impatient, probably scared of the characters, can't really talk yet, don't usually want to ride in a stroller and in Ava's case will not sit in a high chair, or their own chair, for any meal. I've done it with both my kids, and I don't recommend it. Its an awkward age between 1 and 2 where they want to be big, but are still babies. You don't even have any idea how much of a difference waiting till they're 2 makes. Its a lot. I took Ava when she was 6 months old and she was a dream, but at 18 months she was less desirable. At 2 though, she was so much better. A different kid. She waited in line patiently, never cried, sat in the stroller everywhere that we walked, sat in her own seat the whole meal at every restaurant, only threw up once in the car (that's an achievement, seriously), picked out one toy nicely when she got to get something, and slept like a rock every night.

Alana is an avid fan of the characters. Like, hugs them and wants to spend large amounts of time with them. They are her long lost friends, and she loves them more than cookies. Ava was hesitant at first, but came around and hugged them and high-fived them and even got in pictures without me holding her. They were all about the characters. We even managed to sneak in tons of family pictures since the characters always have a Disney cast member by them who is willing to snap a pic, and who I mostly trust with my camera.

We went on tons of rides as a family, but the ones with a height restriction were mostly enjoyed by Alana and David. They went on Goofy's Sky School (a roller coaster), Splash Mountain (where Alana got so soaked I had to change her clothes, lucky I had extra), Gadget's Go-Coaster, Big Thunder Mountain, and Star Tours. Ava and I took advantage of the break each time by getting a snack, like a big hot fudge sundae at the Golden Horseshoe, or some messy beignets, or corndogs. Alana and I went on the Silly Symphony Swings, which she was a little scared about but got brave at the top, then Jumping Jellyfish. Ava patiently waited for everyone to get off rides, but she was bribed with goodies while waiting so that helped. As a family we went on Its a Small World, which was slightly less annoying with the Christmas decorations and singing Jingle Bells, David and Ava went on Pirates, where she sang Yo Ho Ho, the girls and I went on the Nemo Sub, we all went on Haunted Mansion, which Alana loved cause of the Nightmare Before Christmas decor, then we went on the standard Buzz Lightyear ride at least twice, both carousels twice, Toy Story Mania twice, the teacups only once, and a couple annoying ones like Alice in Wonderland and Winnie the Pooh. The highlight of the rides though, for the ten year old inside of me and for Alana, was Ariel's Undersea Adventure. This ride is the epitome of all of my Disney related childhood dreams. We went on it twice, and I'm still singing Part of Your World, which in my opinion should've had more time, cause its clearly the best Little Mermaid song. Ask my sister and my cousin Alissa, cause we totally acted it out on the living room floor with pillows standing in as some type of ocean rocks. Part of Your World rules.

Since this has been more of a short novel about Disneyland than a sprinkling, I'm gonna cut myself off now. I've gotta go watch Steven Colbert talk about plagiarism, which I'm hoping is about The Bloggess, so I've gotta run. I'll return later with way more pics and some ranting on about my awesome vacation.