DisneyLand

We decided that Disneyland was just the thing our family needed this month, so we took a last minute trip. Zach's parents came with us. Thank You, Thank You, Thank You, Bob and Pam. This trip might have been disastrous had you not been there to help us. They are delightful travel companions and we had a great time together.

Violet was so excited to go to Disneyland. A couple of days before we left, Zach showed her some video of Disneyland on the computer and she got really excited. Violet LOVED the carnivals last year and she is obsessed with Mickey Mouse and all of her "friends." We thought it would be a hit.

I should have done a little bit of research before I left about taking small children to Disneyland because when we got there I did everything WRONG! We got the kids in the strollers and started walking. Violet was loving it. We went straight to Fantasyland and saw there was no line on a few rides, so we parked the strollers and took the kids on "Snow White's Scary Adventure." What was I thinking? Pure Terror in the eyes of my toddlers. So we calmed Violet down and assured her that the other rides were not scary, then took her on "Pinocchio's Daring Adventure." Strike Two. At that point, Violet decided that she would no longer go on any indoor rides! Screaming and crying is what followed. We did the carousel and teacups and things were looking up. We showed her the little boats for "It's a small world" and she wanted to get on them. As soon as the boats went indoors, she screamed and cried . . . the entire ride. The ride is about 15 minutes long.

At this point, I kind of felt like a horrible mom and I had lost all of Violet's trust because I kept assuring her that Disneyland was not a scary place. We ventured into Toon Town and Violet loved it in there. We met Minnie Mouse and saw Goofy and walked straight through Mickey's house and met Mickey. That of course, was a hit.

I love Scotty's face in this one.

Violet saw the train that goes around Disneyland and wanted to ride it, so we parked our strollers and got on. Everything was fine until we entered the tunnel after TomorrowLand. It got dark and there's a dinosaur display in there. Violet cried. And that was pretty much day 1.

The next morning we went to Minnie's Breakfast. Violet had a little autograph book and she loved it as the characters came up and visited us at our table. Unfortunately, Scotty did not appreciate the characters up close and personal visits as he screamed anytime any one of them approached us. If it's not one kid, it's the other. Though I must admit, that Rafiki from Lion King is a scary looking fellow.

Pluto is Violet's 2nd favorite after Mickey. When she walked up to him she pet him on the nose. It was so cute.

We decided to take a different approach on Day 2 and think of things we normally wouldn't do. We went into California Adventure to take the kids to the Aladdin show. My kids watch Aladdin ALL the time so I was confident this would be great. We waited in line for an hour. Once we got to our seats the kids were happy and it was air-conditioned. Things looked good. Then the lights went down, the curtains went up and panic ensued. Both of my kids started to cry. What was happening? This was the low point.

We went to the parade that evening and Violet loved it, Scotty hated it.

Thankfully, things only got better from then. The entire trip was redeemed because Violet loved Mickey's ferris wheel. We rode it 3 times. Scotty did not love it, but got used to it by the end. What a good little brother! On day 3 we ventured to find all of the rides that take place entirely outdoors and it was a success. The little rocket ride, autopia, flying elephants were great. Violet started to be really happy. We went into California Adventure and rode Mickey's Ferris Wheel a couple more times and went into Bug's Land and rode every little ride in the place. Then we watched the Pixar parade and Violet LOVED it, especially Mater and Lightning McQueen. By this time, Scotty just wanted out of the dang stroller, and he let us know it. Day 3 was a success.

Violet is pointing to her very most favorite ride (probably my very least favorite.)

On the evening of day two, I got on my phone and did a google search about taking small children to Disneyland and the first link I clicked on said that we should avoid all the rides that I mentioned we took Violet on first. It even said that you should consider deboarding the train at TomorrowLand and getting back on again at Main Street to avoid the tunnel with the dinosaurs! I had made every possible mistake that could be made when taking small children to Disneyland! The article I read insists that if you start out in Bug's Land and work your way up to the flying elephants and such that by Day 3 your child will be ready to ride the Matterhorn. I think that probably would have happened with Violet if I had just taken ten minutes to do a little bit of research. Well, live and learn.

It's a really hard thing to be in Disneyland and have your child crying and saying "I want to go home" all the time. But now that we're home, Violet keeps telling us that she wants to go back to Disneyland. I guess that means it was a success.