After driving for two days in drowning rain, I was pretty uncertain about how I would find my time at Disneyland. I am happy to say that I really had a wonderful and magical time.
We went to Disney World about 5 years ago when Nicole was Danielle's age, and that was a wonderful trip, but I was surprised to discover that there are several things about the California Disney that I preferred to the Orlando version.
While there aren't the same number of parks or rides, they do a several of them better in California....especially Pirates of the Caribbean and It's a Small World. I also found the smaller size much easier to negotiate. We could easily walk back and forth between parks. The kids enjoyed having a little more freedom, and for Danielle, the trip was pure magic.
One attraction that I missed before and wanted to check out was Turtle Talk with Crush.....it was fabulous. Crush interacts with the audience and talks with the kids and adults, and he is funny, clever, and really amazing. Danielle had her hand up for a long time to ask Crush a question, but the show ended without him calling on her. Everyone was leaving the theater as she proceeded to burst into heartbroken tears. The person who holds the microphone came up to ask her if she had wanted to ask Crush a question, and she sobbed out that she wanted to know why turtles have shells. He told her that Crush wasn't very far away and he thought he could call Crush back. So with only our family left in the room, Crush zoomed back into the "tank" and crashed into the glass, making her laugh. She then proceeded to have a 5 minute charming conversation with Crush. It is little things like this that make Disneyland the happiest place on earth!
Danielle loved getting to see all the real princesses both in the parade, around the park and at Ariel's Grotto.
We saw family periodically and some of the kids paired off to go on their own adventures.
Nicole got to hug her favorite princess, Mulan. Even Andrew had a wonderful time, despite his unhappiness with having to miss a busy week of school.
Danielle was tall enough to go on most of the rides and was surprisingly a thrill seeker! She even put her hands in the air her third time on the Thunder Mountain Railroad.
All the kids had the privilege of trying out a Dole Whip like they have in Hawaii! Connor used his souvinir money to get a couple more he like them so much.
We had a wonderful time at Disneyland. I just wish we had a little more time to spend with our extended family. I wondered a little about what changes will come into our lives before we are back.
