Disneyland Trip

Even though Mark's travel schedule can sometimes be a drag, it isn't without its perks. The frequent flier miles, gold medallion Delta status, and serious Marriott points can be pretty fantastic. Mark had a conference scheduled for late October in SoCal and it was just too good to pass up! Paige and I decided to crash his plans and we had a marvelous time. Mickey Mouse was a huge draw, but knowing that he AND Grandma and Grandpa live in same neck of the woods is just ideal.

 

The trip itself was full of learning moments. We learned Paige gets car sick, and that when she says her tummy hurts, I need to take her seriously. The very first day of our trip we headed down to San Diego to meet up with Mom and Dad who were finishing up a conference of their own. Halfway through the trip, Paige started to complain and I assumed it had something to do with the thousands of treats I had shoved down her to keep her happy during all the airport travel. Not so. She stunk up the rental car pretty good. Mark ended up having to make a car switch the next day after the valet warned him his car was uninhabitable. Fortunately for Paige and I, we headed home with my parents and were able to do some serious laundry and car seat disinfecting! Once she threw up, Paige was much happier and we hit up the beach. It was Paige's first time seeing the ocean, and it really wasn't that warm, but it didn't bother her much. Mark and Paige chased waves and got soaked. She was honestly wild with joy!

 

 

Do yourself a favor and zoom in on her face. Pure joy.

 

 

Mark had to work for the first few days, so Paige and I bunked with Mom and Dad and hit up Disneyland on our own. After fending off another carsickness episode and some serious traffic, we finally made it to the happiest place on Earth, and it did not disappoint! Paige was in heaven and I had so much fun watching her light up. She had a serious fondness for the characters and couldn't get enough. I could bore you all with lots of shots, but I will spare you and choose a choice few.

 

Being so tall, I guess I felt the need to crouch down for this photo?? Hmm. 

 

 

She gave kisses to each and every character she came in contact with. Melts your heart a bit. Oh to be a kid and believe in magic again.

 

How do people capture fabulous shots of the Dumbo ride? I took about 20 shots and this is the best I came up with. Anyhow, Mom and Dad only had one day off, so we traded them in for Mark for our second Disney day. It was so fun to have two full days and not feel stressed about cramming things in. We were able to do all the rides we wanted and spend time in character lines.

 

Goofy was probably our longest wait but how do you pass up Goofy?

 

 Mark and I made Paige wear cowboy boots to boost her height. She was so close to the 40 in mark, which is basically the requirement to ride any of the cool rides. With her boots on, she was like 39 and 3/4. Sometimes our plan worked, other times it did not. We hit up Splash Mountain very first and somehow Paige made the grade. We walked right on and rode the thing 4 times in a row. They didn't even make us get out of our little log! Paige screamed "Again, again" after each time and the workers obliged. It was a blast!

 

She loved it so much. I snapped my own footage but kind of wish I would have splurged on the photo they take as you head down the big drop. Priceless!

 

The lines weren't too bad, but got busier as the day went on. Especially as we neared Mickey's Halloween Party. Paige did really well in the lines, mostly due these My Little Pony figurines I picked up at Wal-Mart for 2 bucks. Easy for me to pack away, and perfect for her little hands. They would gallop along the chains and line dividers and I would stick them in my pockets on the rides. She loved showing them to anyone who would take the time to look. Paige let Belle hold Twilight Sparkle which was a pretty big deal. Belle was super sweet about it and talked to Paige about horses. She told Paige she had a horse named Felipe, and Paige told Belle she had a horse named Tucker who lived at home. Belle thought they would probably be great friends.

 

The ponies did provide a bit of drama. We went on the Storyland boat ride or whatever it is called and I let Paige keep her little pony with her since it was a huge barge type thing that went about 2 miles an hour. Once we got back to the dock, Paige slipped on the edge of the boat and her little pony figurine took a dive into the water. Paige was hysterical. Major breakdown. Initially everyone, including myself, thought she was hurt and had hit her head on the dock. It finally clicked that she was just watching Rainbow Dash sink to the bottom. Apparently, there is no crying at Disneyland so a worker nabbed us and took us to a gift store and told Paige she could pick out any toy she wanted to replace the one she lost. ANYTHING. On the house. Mark and I were stoked and couldn't believe we had the magic ticket. There was some seriously nice Disney merchandise at Paige's fingertips. Christmas people! Well, Paige was too hysterical and upset about Rainbow Dash and she refused to be consoled. She wouldn't pick a darn thing and wouldn't even be nice to the worker people who were being seriously sweet to her. We somehow got out of there with this Minnie Mouse car thing that was the closest thing they had to a figurine in hopes it would fill the void of the lost pony. Opportunity wasted!

Paige's favorite character by far was Woody. She literally held on for dear life and would not let go. Woody was so cute to her and really hammed it up.

 

In order to meet Anna and Elsa, you now have to rush to Fantasyland first thing to obtain a call back ticket. The line used to be 4 hours long, and people would actually wait 4 hours to meet them. To try and simplify things, Disney now provides tickets with a call back time, almost like a Fastpass. They only give a limited number out and we barely missed out. I blame it on the 4 times we rode Splash Mountain. Paige was pretty bummed, but since it was Halloween, lots of park goers were dressed up. We found this girl wandering the streets of California Adventure and Paige was so excited. I asked the girl if she would mind posing for a picture and she was so nice about it. No she isn't a Disney worker and not the "real" Elsa, but I thought she looked pretty legit and so did Paige!

 

 

Disney was an honest to goodness blast. I wish Paige would have been 40 inches tall. She loved the rides and had no fear, but we were turned away from a few for being too short. Paige was also so sad about not being big enough. We did manage to "sneak" her onto Soarin, Splash Mountain, and Tower of Terror. I was pretty shocked we made it onto that ride, and even more surprised that Paige LOVED it. The entire time we were in line I was thinking we were the worst parents ever. Paige was the youngest by like 10 years. Even the line was  bit spooky. I kind of thought we would be booted at any moment, but we made all the way to the elevators and I thought, "Crap, we are actually gonna make it on the ride and I will scar Paige for life." Paige, however, really has no fear and laughed from the very first drop. She immediately asked to ride it again but it literally was the last ride we rode before the park closed. It was fun way to end the trip.

 

 

The trip was perfect, minus the throw up, and it was hard to come back home. A few more fun things Paige said on the trip:

 

After a long day, we hit up Cheesecake Factory for dinner. When the waitress came to take our order, Paige flipped open the menu and said, "I would like cake, two waters, and a salad." Mark and I couldn't hold back the laughs. The little stinker is seriously 3 going on 30. And no, she doesn't eat salad, but she will eat cake.

 

While racing to make a flight connection, "Mom, I have super speed, should I use it?"

 

She's a picky eater and it makes life away from home interesting. I think more restaurants need PB and J's on their menus. Anyhow, she was pretty excited to get home and eat her own food. I gave her some Easy Mac the first day back and she says, "These seem to be wonderful!" That kid. I guess she's easy to please as long as you have the right stuff. It's as healthy as cardboard, but easy.