Disneyland

We love going to Disneyland during the Christmas season.  The park is extra beautiful and special all decorated for the holidays.  But this trip was really all about Jackie and her birthday.  We did some things we wouldn't normally do and haven't done before, just for her.

We started our day at California Adventure for breakfast with the Princesses at Ariel's Grotto.
While we were waiting for the whole park to open we were walking down this street that looks like a Hollywood backlot.  Jackie was so disconcerted walking towards this wall painted to look like a street  receding into the distance that she started crying about standing in front of it to take a picture!

Breakfast with the princesses was really nice!   Expensive, but it was actually quite yummy.  And Jackie got to hug several princesses.  They have a lot of kids to visit so they didn't spend much time with each one.  But Belle was especially friendly and sweet to get down on Jackie's level and talk with her.

After breakfast we rode a couple of rides at Cali Adventure - like the Little Mermaid ride and Bug's Land rides.  But we skipped the new Cars Land area because it was clearly a very popular part of the park that day.  We'll see it next time.

Next we walked over to Disneyland.  Jackie spent much of her time on Daddy's shoulders

And the first thing on the agenda was meeting Rapunzel.  This has been Jackie's favorite princess (though mainly that's because people tell her she looks like Rapunzel).  I had bought her a Rapunzel costume on super sale after Halloween and gave it to her to wear to Disneyland.  For anyone that hasn't been there in a while and doesn't have kids.... this is a thing now, dressing up like your favorite princess.  We waited in line for a whole hour to meet Rapunzel!  But, it was worth it.  They had a very special moment together.  Rapunzel was super sweet and friendly and had a lengthy conversation with Jackie, about her hair, of course, and what she likes to do.  Jackie said she likes to dance and Rapunzel said she is still learning how and could Jackie show her.  So Jackie spun around for her.

Otherwise it was a day full of eating treats and riding silly kids rides, Small World, Storybook Land, Alice, that little train I can never remember the name of, Winnie the Pooh, Finding Nemo.  Chris tricked her into going on Pirates again.  And she was not happy about the drop in pitch black darkness.  She's ridden many of these rides before but really doesn't remember them.  However she definitely remembers Peter Pan and absolutely refuses to go on it.  I thought it was the darkness she didn't like but there were lots of other dark areas of rides that she said weren't scary so I asked her again why she doesn't like Peter.  It's the flying in the darkness that she finds disconcerting.  That beautiful part when you fly in the dark with the twinkling lights.... that's what scares her.  I guess she won't be an astronaut after all!

Jackie also got to pick out her own birthday gifts at Disneyland.  An over priced minnie mouse t-shirt, a Little Mermaid music box (because Sawyer got a music box last time and Jackie's been talking about wanting one all year), and a playset of a hairdryer, curling iron, straightening iron, etc.  She is so girlie!!