Day 5 - Disney Day 1

Matt and I woke up around 6:45 and neither of us could go back to sleep because of the anticipation so we woke Caroline up and started to get ready for the longest and one of the most exciting days of her life. Around 8 we went to have breakfast then caught the shuttle around 8:45. She was so excited while waiting for the shuttle and during the ride over. After a short ride we arrived and once inside the magic had begun.

First, we hopped on the Disneyland Railroad to get a brief tour of some of the lands and to get to Fantasyland where most of the child geared rides were. Once we arrived in Fantasyland we got in line for the Alice in Wonderland ride. It was a car ride that took us through the Alice in Wonderland story. After that daddy and Poppy took her on the Tea Cups while Nana and I took pictures and video. She liked them, but was quickly ready to go on to the next ride.

Next was Mr Toad’s Wild Ride which was a little too loud which was unnerving for her. As we were leaving Mr. Toad’s we saw King Arthur’s Sword in the Stone Ceremony so we stopped to watch for a bit. On the way to the Storybook adventure ride she saw the whale’s mouth the boat travels through and changed her mind about going. Once we showed her the other side of the tunnel she was fine and we hopped in line. This was a nice, peaceful ride through miniature scenes of some of her favorite character’s houses and scenes. The detail was amazing and it was all so beautiful.

After that she wanted to go on the Carousel. Luckily the line wasn’t too long since we have carousel’s at home to ride. We stopped in a gift shop afterwards and while we were there Nana came running in saying there were some characters outside. Once we got outside they were gone, but the Disney Band was heading out to do their show on the steps of Sleeping Beauty’s Castle. Mickey and the gang danced and sang some of the traditional Disney songs and talked about the magic of Disney. I think this was just as exciting for me as it was for her and it really brought the magic alive in us all.

After lunch Caroline and I went on Dumbo the Flying Elephant ride which was one of the few rides I remember from my trip to Disney World when I was 3. It was wonderful to share that experience with her and I hope she enjoyed it as much as I did as a child. Then we went to my all time favorite ride of my trip to Disney, It’s a Small World. Since then she’s been asked by people what her favorite part of Disney has been and she has said It’s a Small World on more than one occasion. I’ve sung that song to her since she was a newborn so finally seeing the ride I hope made it that much more special.

Next it was on to visit with the Princesses. She was so excited to see Sleeping Beauty, but unfortunately she had to leave before we made it through the line. We got to meet Minnie Mouse, Snow White, Jasmine, Cinderella and Minnie Mouse. We got pictures and autographs from each of them. Then we got her face painted like a butterfly that matched her outfit. This was the first time she had her face painted and she really enjoyed it. I knew I was waiting for a special time to have it painted for the first time. It was well worth the wait to make it here at Disney. So many people commented on it and she felt so special.

Matt had to split off to get some work stuff done so he wouldn’t have to do it on Monday so Nana, Poppy and I took her to the coronation ceremony. She was officially named a Princess at this Royal Celebration. We headed back towards the gate to watch the parade.

Before the parade started three dancing chefs and the rats from Ratatouille came by. Then the Parade of Dreams started with Tinkerbell riding on the main float and Merlin and other characters dancing in front. The whole parade was amazing and she kept waving and yelling Hi to all the characters. The floats were beautiful and the music and dancing was great too. She really enjoyed the parade and I’m glad we took the time to watch it.

After the parade we met back up with Matt and headed to California Adventure to get in line for the Aladdin Musical show. On our way there we walked by the Block Party Bash with all the Pixar characters. Matt stopped to watch with Caroline while Nana, Poppy and I went to get in line. The show was incredible and Caroline cracked up at some of the current pop culture references like when Genie broke into the High School Musical song “Get Your Head in the Game.” She loved seeing Jasmine and Aladdin soar through the air on the magic carpet.
By the time it was all over we headed to the House of Blues for dinner then back to Disney’s Frontierland for the “Fantasmic” show. It was true to its name and was absolutely FANTASMIC!!!! The music was amazing and it was so cool how they showed video clips on mist that sprayed from the river. The show added fireworks and other special lighting effects to really make it fabulous. Then when all was relatively calm there was a loud blast from the cannon on the Sailing Ship Colombia where Peter Pan and Captain Hook had a spectacular battle. Then the Mark Twain Riverboat came by with all the characters on board. It was a wonderful end to an amazing show.

As soon as it was over we headed towards the Castle to watch the fireworks, but decided to go to the Matterhorn roller coaster instead. We did get to see quite a bit of the show on the way there and came to an opening in time to watch Tinkerbell fly above the castle among the fireworks. The line for the Matterhorn was fairly short and while it scared Caroline a little bit she said she might go on it again. She said the ride made her ‘tummy laugh.’

Then we went to Space Mountain to round out the evening since she did so well on the first roller coaster. The line for Space Mountain was LONG and seemed to take forever. We were all tired and cranky, but we stuck it out. The ride was a ton of fun and Caroline enjoyed it too. She said “I didn’t get scared” as soon as we got off. The few times it was light in the ride I looked back to see her big beautiful smile and not a look of sheer terror like I think I would have had at that age. We walked back to the bus stop and as soon as Caroline sat down she leaned against daddy and fell fast asleep. We got to the hotel around 11:30pm and all fell into bed in preparation for another grand adventure the next day.

http://picasaweb.google.com/MandyDuncan/Day4DisneylandDay1?authkey=uQUqMhPDoHs