Friday, January 15, 2010

a dream come true: Disneyland.


confession: all my life, i've dreamed of the day that i could take my own kid to Disneyland for the first time.
confession 2: i may have been more excited for this Disneyland excursion than i was for Christmas this year (gasp!). crazy, i know...but true.

and you know, everyone kept telling me, "no no, you shouldn't take your little toddler to Disneyland- they won't enjoy it- and they won't even remember it...and it will be a nightmare..and what will you do about a nap? and expect lots of lots of meltdowns."
to all of those everyones, i say, you. were. totally. wrong.

i thought meeting Elmo was the best day of her life.
but that was until she went to Disneyland.
she LOVED it! we all loved it.



Ellie was awe-struck, amazed, giddy, happy, funny, ecstatic, and pretty much just in heaven. i've never seen her like that. so entertained, so engaged, so overjoyed around every corner.
sure, there were "moments." but c'mon, she's an 18-month old. and the moments were few compared to the happy ones. and also, the "moments" usually were associated with waiting in line and then experiencing rides that she was entirely uninterested in or freaked out by (aka, Peter Pan's Flight- which i totally talked up because she loves Tink...but came to realize that Tink is only in it once for like 2 seconds and she's like 6 inches....my bad)- which, can you blame her?

Ellie's favorite parts of the day:
-the Winnie the Pooh ride, which she did with Gammy, and meeting Winnie the Pooh (she loovvveeed the characters)
-the It's A Small World ride- which they've re-done into this Holiday ride...it was SO cute, the music didn't get stuck in my head- and Ellie kept saying "again, again again?" after we got off.
-The Celebrate/Dance Party Parade. we were front & center for this parade- and Ellie LOVED this! the characters all came and danced right in front of her, which she was totally stoked about. she even got to dance with them, too (which mostly consisted of me dancing and trying to coax her into dancing). she was also amazed that Mickey & Minnie gave her high-fives. "woooowwww," she said. so cute.
-giving Tinkerbell a hug. she was a little freaked out by Terrence (from the Tink 2 movie), but then once we walked away, she kept asking for him. i think the fact that these characters weren't in a big suit made them a little more real, and therefore a little more intimidating for her...but man, she was amazed to see Tinkerbell, in the flesh. she LOVES Tink.
-eating a big bag of cotton candy at the end of the day. in fact, she fell asleep on my shoulder walking to the car, and when i was buckling her in her carseat, she opened her eyes, and in a groggy lil voice said, "moore caandy?" and then went right back to snoozin. made me laugh.
-enjoying the whole day with her Gammy & Pops. she loovvveed having them there.


my favorite parts of the day:
-watching every little expression that came across Ellie's face with each new thing we did.
-having Gammy & Pops there to enjoy it all with us...and to watch Ellie so mr. M and i could go on a few rides together. sa-weet!
-the Monte Cristo sandwich at a little cafe in New Orleans.....deeeelliiisssh
-enjoying a whole day, stress free, with the hubs!
-seeing Ellie keep the Minnie Mouse ears on for most of the day. so cute!
-having Ellie crash on my shoulder at the end of the day. it was the perfect, sweetest finish.

all in all, it was the most lovely day- my favorite of our trip, and i think Ellie (& M's) too. i guess you could say it was a dream come true.

xoxo


17 comments:

Jana Lyn said...

You make me want to take my daughter Kate to Disneyland and Seaworld even more now! I've gotten a lot of your same comments, but we took Kate to Dubai at Ellie's age and she did awesome! Glad you are enjoying fabulous family time!
Jana Nay Weaver

Joni and Rico Adams said...

That is the funnest part about being with little ones is how magical everything is. I love seeing that and it makes me so excited right a long with them.

Ju and Brack said...

What a magical day! I cannot get over how cute E is. You are a lucky mommy and she is so lucky to have you. I'm glad you had such a great time with your parents. I can't wait to take my kiddos there someday!

Chris and Brooklyn said...

So glad you had a dream come true moment! And I am so so glad you posted this, we are taking Macie there at the end of April and she will be about 16 months and it just makes me more excited! It's so true all the comments you hear about they won't remember, they just cry, it's too hot, too long, not worth it, But your time there looked truly magical! By the way everytime you post pictures of your mom she gets more beautiful! She's so great! And Ellie is beautiful too!

Amber said...

That's really cute! I'm that that you guys had a good time! Isn't it fun to prove negative people wrong? Ha.

Ashley Myntti said...

I am so jealous!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I keep telling everyone that Disneyland is the best! I'm glad you had such a good time. Love and miss ya!

Megs said...

What a darling post! It sounds magical & I'm glad ellie did well! She's such a cutie! I'm totally jealous but I'm glad I read your experience cause I've been nervous to take emerie to those types of things but now I'm not!

anne said...

Anything Disney is so much better when you have kids to take. We went on the Disney cruise last year and we're going to Disney Land this year. The cruise was by far my most favorite trip. The kids make it so much fun. :)

Jen said...

How fun! This post got me so excited for our Disneyland trip this coming May.

And Wow, Ellie is such a doll!

Heather said...

Keira loves Tink, too. She is the only character that we stood in line for (and the longest line we ever stood in) on our last trip. Disneyland is the best with your kids. Glad you had a great time!

The Peterson's said...

That sounds wonderful! It looks you you ha a great time!!!

Christy said...

Cute pictures! I can't believe your lil one is 19-20 months now, right?? Holy cow. Miss you lady.

PS. If you saw Jessie from Toy Story, twas my sis.

jenna said...

looks like a blast!!!

Anonymous said...

That sounds like fun!! We took our boys in 2006 like forever ago lol. We are taking the kids in Oct. they are so excited!! I am excited as well lol..

Linda said...

An unforgettable time! Thank You for coming and putting up with The Hard Rock Beds! not CAFES! I am sure you were so happy to get back to real beds! We LOvED having you and going to Disneyland with Ellie for the first time. Watching you and Mike was just as fun as watching Ellie experience it all. Have a ngreat day. Call if you get scared or lonely! Besitos!

Ashley and Aaron said...

Marce! My comment is similar to Chris and Brooklyn's: This post made me so happy because Aaron and I just made plans to go to Disneyland later this year. And now I am even more excited to take Finn (and Kate too but cmon, mostly Finn)! Totally funny about the Peter Pan ride because I went to Disneyland when I was four and still have a memory of thinking I was going to fall off the ship. I was also scared of the Pinnochio ride -- that whale is freaky!

Tiffany Johnson said...

SO FUN!!! I'm so glad you went. Looks like a blast! We miss you!