Disneyland

Disneyland, oh Disneyland. How should I even journal about our trip. Perhaps I should start by being honest. It was horrid. Absolutely dreadful. The worst Disney trip ever. Okay okay, it wasn't that bad, but it was pretty bad. Instead of strolling around the park, taking in the lovely Christmas decorations and snacking on Christmas goodies (I had printed out 4 pages or information as to where one might purchase items like gingerbread Mickey cookies, cranberry bread, and peppermint mochas, etc.), I spent my time lying on the couch in our hotel room watching episode after episode of Cash Cab. And since you're wondering why I chose Cash Cab over Mickey, let me back up a bit and explain how this came to be.

I wasn't in my hotel room the whole time. The first day at Disney we arrived before the gates opened, not due to my great time management skills but because I couldn't figure out what time it actually was. Yes I'm laughing as I'm writing this...long story about the hotel clock and the time change. Anyway, we were there early. The girls were squealing and jumping up and down like they do when they are super excited. Everyone in line was looking at them like they were a little odd but Shawn and I just smiled and said, they're really excited. We got in the park and headed right for Small World since it's Kate's favorite ride and it had been closed for repairs during our last trip. We were anxious to finally get there and see it all decked out for Christmas. And it certainly exceeded our expectations! You have to hand it to Disney for all the detail work. Even the mermaids in Small World were singing Jingle Shells and we noticed there were stockings for Ariel's sisters.

I can't remember the order of rides after this, I was actually feeling pretty icky and had taken some DayQuil, something I don't normally take but knew I needed to survive the day due to a wicked head cold. Anyway, some highlights from the first day include the following:

The girls' visit to the new Pixie Hollow where they got to meet Rosetta, the sweetest little garden fairy, who spoke to them in a Southern accent, and Tinkerbell, who was just darling and very generous with the time she gave to Gracie and Kate.




































A visit to Santa's Reindeer Round-Up where they got to see the real Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, etc., and take their picture with reindeer Pluto.












































The awesome Christmas parade complete with dancing gingerbread cookies, snowmen, Mrs. Claus and Santa. Of course the princesses were there too...decked out in holiday attire of course.



Other highlights from the first day include the girls' first ride on Big Thunder Railroad, a spectacular fireworks show and a lovely snowfall on Main Street.

My memory starts to get a little fuzzy at this point (must have been the developing fever) but I did make it back that second day after purchasing more DayQuil from the convenience store. We headed straight to Critter Country because Gracie wanted to go on Winnie the Pooh. And we did purchase a Gingerbread Mickey (so cute) at the store in the area. After eating our cookie, Gracie told me she would go on The Haunted Mansion and I was just thrilled because it had been given a whole Nightmare Before Christmas twist that I really wanted to see, but we had to turn back after 5 seconds of entering the mansion. Gracie just couldn't take it. And I'm glad we turned back, honestly, because it would have truly scared her. I did manage to ride it once by myself and enjoyed the Christmas/Halloween makeover. But at this point I wasn't feeling so great and I just got worse and worse. Long story short, I walked back to the hotel to rest while Shawn and the girls went to the California.

The last day is when the stomach flu kicked in for me and maybe I should just leave it at that...don't really need to bring back that memory in great detail. Shawn and the girls spent the day in Disneyland and had a nice time. Ideally I would have been with them but with such a curveball thrown, I had no other choice than to accept my fate of spending the day on the hotel room couch. I guess I took one for the team this time. It's unfortunate that I didn't get to experience Disney as I had anticipated but I am so very thankful no one else got sick! I hope they remember a happy trip despite Mom's sorry condition. Here are some images from It's a Small World (Christmas style) to keep the memory happy. Peace out.