Vacation part II: Disneyland

Even as we were driving down to our vacation we were still undecided if Disneyland was something we wanted to do this trip or not. We were going back and forth because we didn't know if we would get our bang for our buck with Maisie and the weather predicted rain (it rains in southern California?). We set our alarms early for Saturday morning and decided we would see how the weather was in the morning and go from there. We woke up, opened the curtains and sure enough rain. Not pouring, but misty and very wet. We were still debating the idea until Austin said "lets just do it". We were Oregonians after all and if anything this would be in our favor because the locals wouldn't dare brave the rain (IE shorter lines). We made a stop at target so I could pick up some rain boots because I only had my fryes with me (note to self: I need some real *all weather* shoes). It was still drizzling by the time we got to Disneyland and just as we thought, there were barely any lines. I think the longest we had to wait for a ride was 15 minutes (dang Peter Pan and Nemo) but other than that, we pretty much walked right on. Around 3 o'clock it completely stopped raining and didn't start raining again until 11:30 pm as we were leaving the park. 

Maisie was so happy. I knew she would be excited, but I thought she would eventually get bored or over stimulated, but nope, never once did she melt down, cry or even complain. She was in heaven (after all it is called the happiest place on earth right?). I was also surprised how many rides she could go on at her age. More than 30 and seeing how she's still free until 3 it was awesome! Her first ride? The jungle cruise. She was in awe (see picture below). Her second ride? Pirates of the Caribbean and again she had a blast. During the dark parts she would nuzzle in close, but when asked if she wanted to ride it again it was a big yes. 

Other rides:

Peter Pan, Pinochio, Dumbo, King Arthur's Carousel, Autopia, The many adventures of Winnie the Pooh, the Haunted Mansion, Mr Toad, Buzz Lightgear's astro blaster, Nemo, Story book land, Small World and so many more!

Maisie's favorites?

Dumbo, Winnie the Pooh, Small World and the Jungle cruise, but she liked all the others too.

Towards the end of the night they did a projection show on the face of the "It's a Small World" building. All the lights, colors, clips and music put Maisie into a trance. It was beautiful and while "When you wish upon a star" played I was flooded by memories of this very thing as a kid, standing in awe and trying to take in everything, the sight, smell and sound in the best I could. As I was remembering those moments, I was hit with a feeling with how this will always be such a happy memory for us. Now, Maisie might not fully remember this trip, but I will forever. I will always remember how her face lit up and how happy she was just to be there and how happy we all were being there together. In that moment I felt so proud of us. 

I didn't take as many pictures as I had planned, but between dodging the rain and bouncing from one ride to the next it was quite difficult.

But alas, here are some pictures of our trip to Disneyland:

Jungle cruise *the picture mentioned above

We had so much fun that we are starting to plan the next time we can go down again. This time maybe meet up with my parents and sister that way Maisie can run around while me and Austin ride the "big kid" rides. It will have to be in the summer too because we don't want to wear panchos again.

Also, if you have a toddler and are thinking about planning a trip to Disneyland, do it! Even though Austin and I didn't get to go on the bigger rides, it was well worth the sacrifice. It was definitely worth the money too seeing how there was so much a toddler can do there. I mean the place was made for kids right?