The girls woke up bright and early (ugh) so that we could go get breakfast at the hotel. Such a nice provided breakfast - there are even waffle makers! The girls enjoyed watching the other people in the hotel come and go while picking at their food (apparently, the "colored cereal" [Fruit Loops] was the best thing EVER). Back to the room, pack up our stuff, drive over to A, V, and S's place, and then off we went to Disneyland.
20 minutes of freeway driving was not so bad at all. 20 minutes of waiting in traffic lines until we could turn into the Disney parking structure was not so great. I guess it's just part of the experience. L was about to pee herself in excitement, even in the parking garage. Once we parked and got all our stuff together, we walked over to the entrance to buy tickets, put stuff in the lockers, sunscreen up everyone (it was gonna be a hot/humid day), and then entered Disneyland.
I wish I could have had a video camera trained on L and E's faces as we entered and they saw just how vast and cool the entire place was. L, who can normally talk her face off, was absolutely silent and had her fingers in her mouth (nervous gesture). E could not stop craning her head around in every direction to look at everything. L couldn't believe that the actual characters we'd seen on the computer and on TV were standing around waiting to meet people here. Sleeping Beauty's castle was just amazing to her - while we were waiting for everyone else to do something (I can't remember now), she dragged me by the hand to walk through the castle. Then, she ran back to Auntie V and wanted to go through again. Her eyes were just shining! Made me incredibly happy. I think E was just thrilled to see everything and everyone.
Our first (real) stop was Toontown, in the very back of the park. It's meant for little ones, and apparently the characters (i.e. Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto) are outside and available to meet you right when it opens. Our first character meet-and-greet was with Minnie Mouse. Both girls were TERRIFIED, lol! They didn't want to go near her! The pictures are hilarious because of this. Then, we saw Goofy and got a few pictures, off to Mickey's house for a tour and pictures, and then we played played played in Toontown. YAY!
We had passed the princess area on our way to Toontown, so the girls desperately wanted to go back and meet the princesses. When we had originally gone by, there was Tiana (Princess and the Frog), Cinderella, and Ariel and Eric (Little Mermaid). When we came back and got in the 45-minute long line (!), there was Snow White, Aurora (Sleeping Beauty), and Jasmine (Aladdin). Fine, okay, whatever, the girls will get to meet some princesses, right? Not their favorite (Tiana), but that's okay. When we were almost at the front of the line, it was time for the princesses to switch out. All of a sudden, Tiana was back! The girls were beyond excited. When it was our turn, we met Belle (Beauty and the Beast), Cinderella, and Tiana. The girls actually hugged them all, got a few pictures, and looked so happy. L was still completely beside herself and couldn't manage two words, but as soon as we were away from them, she exploded with words about all of it. E wanted so badly to see Tiana, and when she finally did, she just had this look of complete wonder on her face and could hardly hug her and tear her eyes away from Tiana's face. Just adorable!
Then, I can't remember what all we did in what order. We had a great picnic lunch that V made in a picnic area just outside the park, at which time the space shuttle Endeavor came roaring overhead on the back of a 747. We rode the Disney train, Winnie the Pooh ride (met Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, and Eeyore too!), saw Halloween decorations, watched E nap in the stroller for awhile, rode the Dumbo ride, had a whirl around the carousel, toured Sleeping Beauty's castle (L was so happy!), and then settled down for the parade on Main Street. E had her jaw open the entire time, and L was asking me questions about who was who and waving at everyone as they went by. They waved back! We got the girls Mickey ears with their names embroidered on them, a stuffed Disney toy of their choice (E got Donald Duck and L got Mickey the sorcerer), and then packed our stuff back up to head "home."
Long day. Got back to A, V, and S's, had dinner, went back to the hotel for a bath (boy were we all sweaty), and totally collapsed in bed. I'm so glad we did this with the girls, but I am so very, very tired.
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