Disneyland with Kiera!!

July 28, 2011 (warning, this is LONG!)

I really wanted to go to Disneyland while I was in California. It had been about 7 years since the last time I had been and I can't imagine when the next time I will be out there will be. Working right next door to it and hearing the fireworks go off each night at 9:30 was killing me. At first we weren't going to go, but Erika thought it would be nice for me to take Kiera for the first time since I am such a Disney lover. I felt bad that Erika wouldn't be going with her daughter for her first visit, but she told me that Disneyland had never been her thing. Kiera guessed where we were going because she heard Brian talking about it the night before as he was researching parking options. She didn't outwardly show her excitement, but she did say she was excited to be going.

It amazes me how the feeling of enchantment comes over you as you walk into the park. Even Brian said as we were walking under the train to enter Main Street USA that now that we were there he was starting to get excited.

When we arrived around 1pm, we went straight to Tomorrowland so we could get a Fast Pass for Star Tours, which had recently reopened. Unfortunately they were all handed out at that point. The ride went down a little over an hour later so it didn't really matter anyways. So next we went to Space Mountain because when we had annual passes we went on that ride a lot. The line was approximately 45 minutes and Kiera did great in line. We kept feeding her snacks. Once we got on the ride I sat alone and Kiera sat with Brian. I guess the seatbelt was too tight and she might have been a little scared in the dark indoor roller coaster because I could hear her screaming through the entire ride. I felt so badly for her and for Brian because I'm sure he felt badly as she screamed "This isn't fun!"

Thankfully she recovered quickly after the ride and we were on to the next ride. We went to Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters next. I told Kiera how much Nathan and Nicholas enjoyed this ride and I explained how we had to shoot the Z's and get a high score. I spent most of my time taking pictures of them on the ride, but I did get a score of over 22,000. Pretty Pitiful!

We decided to walk over to Fantasyland because that had more Kiera-type rides. On our way we saw Snow White. Brian ran after her and was second in line to have a picture with her. This was a whole new experience for me. Disney with a girl! Pictures with a Princess!

We also met Aurora and she talked to Kiera for quite some time. I told Brian I wanted my picture with her also. I told her that my husband proposed to me in her castle. She looked at Brian and I said "No, that's my brother, my husband is not here." She said she loves hearing stories like that.

Then we walked through Sleeping Beauty's castle which was recently redone with more digital scenes. The storybooks were still there depicting each scene and Kiera enjoyed reading each of those. It was special for me to go through there again and be in the place where such a magical moment in my life happened.

While we were waiting in line for the carousel after Kiera tried to pull the sword from the stone, unsuccessfully, even with Brian's muscles to help, Kiera picked out which horse she wanted to ride on. Each one was unique and she picked one with bells. Neither Brian or I could believe we were able to get it! Brian sat and took pictures and I spotted a free horse so I rode on it.

We thought we'd head to It's a Small World next because the lines for the Fantasyland attractions were all at least 30 minutes. On our way we saw people lining up for the parade. We decided to watch it then so we sat down (the sidewalk was super hot!) and snacked while we waited the 15 minutes for it to start. Erika had packed a bunch of food for us to bring and Brian carried it around all day in a backpack. It worked out great because we didn't have to buy anything. I got very excited when Mickey's Soundsational parade began. Mickey and Minnie started it off. I danced around (while seated) to the music and Kiera started to move also. It was really hard to tell if she was enjoying herself, but during the parade I could really see her getting into it. We would wave to the different characters on the floats. I think the character she was most excited about seeing during the parade was Mary Poppins and the chimney sweepers. I got emotional watching Kiera enjoy the parade. I just love being at Disney so much that it was overwhelming to share this first visit with her and Brian.

After the parade was over we headed over to It's a Small World. Kiera seemed to like this ride a lot. She pointed at things all over that she wanted Brian to take pictures of. We joked at some of the funny things we saw. I noticed they had updated the ride and added some Disney characters to it. I saw Lilo & Stitch, The Little Mermaid and Flounder, the Three Caballeros and Woody too. I thought that was a fun touch to add to the ride. I think this was Kiera's favorite ride we went on.

Erika had told Kiera she had $5 plus $20 of her own money to spend so at the end of this ride when you exit through a store Kiera started shopping. She looked at everything and picked a stuffed animal, Baby Marie from the Aristocats, and settled on that. We told her there were more stores to check out so we didn't buy anything there. I did ask a cast member for a 1st Visit pin though and gave that to her.

We went over to Toontown and walked through Minnie's house. She was very interested in checking everything out - seeing what she had in her fridge, making a cake in the oven and doing the dishes in the dish washer. Brian had given her a penny to throw in a water fountain where she saw lots of coins. She asked why all the money was in there and we told her people throw it in and make a wish. She didn't throw it in there because she couldn't think of what she wanted to wish for. She did end up throwing it in at Minnie's house, but I didn't ask what she wished for. Something tells me it was something soft, white and with whiskers.

Kiera wanted her picture with Mickey (or was it me that wanted her picture with Mickey?) so we visited his house. Again she touched everything and posed for a picture on his couch. I'm so glad she was getting into it! There was a movie that kept her attention while we waited in line for our photo with Mickey and she wasn't scared of him at all.

We hopped on the train, went through the Grand Canyon where everyone tried to take pictures with their flash after numerous announcements from the conductor NOT to. We went over to Critter Country and went on Splash Mountain. Kiera wanted to know what kind of ride it was and we explained it was like It's a Small World where you ride in a boat and look at things. The sun was starting to go down and it was getting cool so we put on our jackets over us during the ride. Smart move - they kept us dry! We told her there was a big drop and I think she was pretty hesitant, but enjoyed it. Kiera did excellent in the lines. She didn't complain at all. She was set on doing a lot of shopping though and she kept gravitating back to that stuffed animal. When we told her we were going to another ride she'd say she didn't want to because she wanted to go to another store. I think we learned for next time not to tell her about the money to spend until we leave!

We haven't done the Jungle Cruise at Walt Disney World because Chris remembered it as being lame. We took Kiera on it and I had a blast. The commentary was so punny it was hysterical. I laughed quite a bit. We also went to The Enchanted Tiki Room. I think it was my first time ever. That song gets in your head. Then we had some pineapple flavored soft serve ice cream while we waited for the fireworks show. Brian shared his with Kiera and then when his was done she shared some of mine. She sure has the Gray sweet tooth!

I enjoyed the fireworks because Tinkerbell and Dumbo both fly behind the castle. That was a fun surprise. The fireworks were cool with a shooting star flying slowly from one side of the castle to the other. They also had special shapes like hearts and when they said the word magical three circle fireworks went up into the night sky and formed the Mickey icon. That was by far my favorite.

Kiera still wasn't acting tired after the fireworks and Brian and I were in no rush to leave so we went to Pirates of the Caribbean. The line wasn't long at all and I love where this ride starts. You start off slow like you're riding in a canoe with fireflies and someone playing the banjo and you go next to the Blue Bayou restaurant. It's very peaceful and of course the restaurant has special meaning to me since Chris and I ate there the day he proposed to me. They have changed the pirate on the smoke as you enter the ride from Davy Jones to Blackbeard from the recent Pirates movie, On Stranger Tides. I enjoyed seeing how Captain Jack Sparrow was incorporated into the ride. It's a little different than in Orlando.

We were done that ride just as Fantasmic was about to start. We found a spot that we squeezed into right up front. It was an amazing spot considering we got there 5 minutes before the show started and everyone around us had probably been waiting for a half hour. I hadn't seen Fantasmic in quite some time so I was surprised that I remembered it. I love all the characters from the various films they've incorporated into it. In the end Mickey conquered his dream and slayed the dragon!

 

By that time we figured we should get going, but of course Kiera needed to go to one more shop. And what do you think she picked up? Yup, the same Aristocats stuffed animal she'd seen in several other stores. Brian talked to her about how much money she had and if she bought this she wouldn't have any more money until after Christmas. He told her that was after Orion's birthday and Thanksgiving so if they were out at a store and saw something she wanted she wouldn't be able to get it. It took awhile, but she finally decided not to get anything after Brian told her about going to the Disney Store to look around. She wanted to go that night, but Brian told her it wasn't open. On the way out we looked at all the windows in Main Street. I love how they do the windows and they had characters from old windows from years past in them. What an amazing day with my brother and niece.