The Happiest Place

On Wednesday we managed to sneak off to Disneyland. We had a very fun day together!
The classic shot by the castle. Amara decided to dress up in her Aurora dress, complete with her princess "ears." While most people wear normal clothes to Disneyland, a considerable portion of the kids do come in costume. Its a pretty fun tradition. And all the cast members (or staff, for the uninitiated) referred to Amara as Princess all day. They're great. One other thing I love about Disney: its so clean that I don't cringe every time Amara sits down in her dress. Sit in the street for all I care - you won't get gummy or grimy here!

We waited a long time at the Princess Fantasy Faire, but we did manage to meet four princesses. Ironically, it was the same four that we met last time. Amara didn't complain, but I know she's dying to meet Aurora. Cinderella would be exciting, too. Belle was fantastic. Amara tends to clam up a bit when she gets in front of people. She didn't seem nervous, but wasn't sure what to say, I think. Belle really made an effort to draw her out.

She also spent some time talking with Ethan and won him over, as you can see.

How times have changed. When we were here at Christmastime, the kids had no idea who Darth Vader was, and we had to explain to them (plus it was SO crowded they could barely see the show). This time, we got a seat front and center, and since the kids have seen Star Wars 5,679,262 times, they LOVED it. Amara wasn't ready to duel with Darth Vader (which quite a few volunteers get to do), but Darth Maul saved a special sneer for her. The kids have been reenacting the scenario since we got home. Ethan's been using a small tent pole as his very own double bladed light saber. Should I be concerned that both kids are usually Vader and Maul??

Photo by Ethan. Artsy kid, eh?

It was SO HOT. We knew it would be warm, but didn't expect high 90s in October. Yikes. Ice cream was completely necessary. And very tasty.

The Halloween decorations are already up. We saw a few characters in costume in the evening, but its my understanding that as Halloween gets closer, they'll be in costume all the time.

This was at The Haunted Mansion. Jack from The Nightmare Before Christmas is already the theme here. We took both kids on this ride, and they were great. It was interesting having an almost 3 year-old with us this time. Last time, Ethan didn't really know what he was getting into, so he just went along with wherever we took him. This time, he was more wary. Plus with no lines on many rides, we were able to go on so many more of them. Roger Rabbit freaked him out a little. He didn't want to go on Pirates because he remembers screaming during the drop last time. I told him at one point that if something was too scary, he should cover his eyes for a minute, and then the scary part would pass and he could open them again. We took him on Mr Toad's Wild Ride. It started out fine and dandy. He sat on my lap and drove the car. Some bright flashing lights partway through scared him a little, and soon I had a driver that was driving with one hand, and covering his eyes with the other. Fortunately, none of the rides did any serious frightening. There were no tears or protests, and he proclaimed that fun was had afterward.

He needed his own set of ears, didn't he?

We really had a fantastic day. The kids had fun, and it was great to get away and just be with each other for the day!

UPDATE: It was really great to be able to sneak over to DL on a day that was so uncrowded. The wait for most rides was less than 10 minutes, often as little as 5 (like pirates and space mountain). In fact the lines were so short that Kristina snuck away and went on Space Mountain and I was able to ride Indiana Jones for the first time.

Its really a great ride!

- Alan