Our trip to Disneyland was definitely magical. We contemplated long and hard whether Lexie was too young for such a trip, but she loves Mickey and Minnie and when we told her we were going to Disneyland, she had a list of folks she wanted to see. Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Pluto, Daisy and Goofy were on it, of course, but she also wanted to see the Professor and Space Pirate Pete. Well, we were able to make some of her wishes come true and Lexie was such an angel and loved every moment which makes us want to go back again real soon!!
We left on a Wednesday night and the Katayama's were nice enough to see us off. They brought lots of snacks to keep Lexie busy on the plane. Our family was very generous since this was Lexie's first time to the happiest place on Earth.
Lexie was very excited about riding the airplane. Poor thing really tried to sleep, but the seats were very uncomfortable even mommy and daddy had a hard time resting. In the end, Lexie slept for a couple of hours which made us very worried since we would be landing in Los Angeles at 5:00am and highly doubtful that we could check in that early.
We arrived at Disney's Paradise Pier around 6:30 in the morning. Just as we thought, our rooms wouldn't be ready until 4:00pm, but they gave us our room key which meant that we could head over to Disneyland when they opened at 7:00am. That was the best thing about staying on property, we got to go in early every morning. They also gave Lexie a Mickey balloon (her favorite thing) and a First Time Visit button.
While we were in the lobby, Lexie peeked into the hotel's restaurant and who does she spot, DAISY DUCK!! The little girl was bouncing around as excited as can be. Eric said, "We have to go in to eat." I wasn't planning to spend $30 a person for breakfast, but how could we say no.
Paradise Pier's character breakfast is very intimate. The buffet is small and not the greatest, but there were only about 5 other families in there, so the characters came several times to our tables and played with Lexie. She loved it!! Lexie was not afraid of them at all. In fact, when Daisy came up to us, she asked her, "Where's Minnie?"
Lexie didn't know who Stitch was, but I thought he was totally adorable.
Then they announced that Pluto was coming and all of the kids gathered on the stage to dance with him. Lexie was front and center. She was having the time of her life and then decided to do what any rock star does - JUMP off the stage. And she did it not once, but twice!
Lexie said bye to her new friends and we headed off to Disneyland.
We took the traditional picture at the entrance to the park.
This is the first time we visited the park in October, so it was fun to see all of the pumpkins and Halloween decorations. I wish someone from Disney would come to decorate my house.
Lexie was so amazed by everything she saw and she was ready to hop on some rides.
We knew one of her favorites would be the carousel. She loved looking at the pretty horses. After riding it, she did not want to come off and almost had a hissy fit. We had to explain to her that we could ride again, but had to stand in line again.
We took Lexie on the Dumbo ride. This was actually the first time Eric and I rode it, so it was an amazing experience to be on it with Lexie. When she realized that she could control Dumbo, she wanted to hold on to the lever. She liked making him go up and down.
Lexie loves trains, so we knew the Casey Jr. Train would become another favorite ride. She liked riding in the animal cages. After her first time, we had to get back in line to ride it again.
Lexie was not a fan of "It's a Small World." She was more interested in trying to lean over the side of the boat to touch the water. Throughout the ride, she was asking me to give her a snack or she was trying to swing on the rails. I think it was too slow moving and that song does get mind-numbing by the end of the ride.
We headed over to California Adventure Park. The best part is that we also get to enter the park an hour early and there's a special entrance for hotel guests, which is great to avoid the crowds. We got to meet Goofy there.
We ordered bento boxes for lunch. With these lunches, you get reserved seating to the World of Color show. Lexie fell asleep right when we got our lunches, so Eric and I enjoyed a quiet meal and then we got to take a leisurely walk through the shops. We were finally able to check into our room at about 2:00pm and get a little rest before heading back out to the park. At California Adventure Park, Lexie got to ride another carousel. This time it had ocean creatures. She really liked the purple seal.
We had to wait an hour before the show started, but we were able to get great seats. It was right along the fence and dead center. Luckily, there wasn't any wind, so we only felt the mist from the water. Lexie was a little scared because it was loud and she ended up falling asleep for most of it. Eric and I thought it was amazing. We knew there would be water, music and lights, but seeing the movie clips and feeling the heat of the fire, made it worth the wait. We highly recommend this show. Eric filmed most of it, so Lexie can watch it on tv.
When we got back to our room, the hotel had left rice krispies treats shaped like surfboards. We also got Lexie her first mouse ears. She chose the princess one over Minnie ears. What a perfect way to end a perfect day!
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