The Magic Kingdom Day 1

Here is the second half of our whirlwind Christmas vacation.  You see, it all started two years ago-the last time we were in California for the holidays.  It was New Years Day and we were watching the Rose Parade on TV.  My mom loves a parade.  David mentioned that it would be cool to go and see the real thing.  Mom jumped on that bandwagon as fast as she could.  My brother who lives in So. Cal. heard of the nascent plan and phoned me.  He said that Susan's (his wife, my sister-in-law) sister and husband had just done the parade and had a blast.  He wanted in.  So, we said, January 1st, 2010 was our goal (the next time it would be my family's turn for Christmas).  The plan was getting firmer and bigger.  Well, it just grew from there.  As the season approached Cyndi decided she had enough time off and would definitely join us.  Laurie and Todd were just going to send their girls at first, then decided to come for part of the time, and finally decided they couldn't miss a moment of the party.  David's sisters Penny and Holly decided they needed a vacation and bought tickets to join us.  At the very last minute Cyndi invited her friend Renato and his kids to come along!  So, in the end we had 17 people coming to stay with my brother Craig's family of four kids plus two parents in San Clemente, California, making a total of 23.  Mostly due to the great hospitality of Craig and Susan we had a FANTASTIC time.  It didn't even feel crowded!

We decided early on that you can't drive all the way to Southern California and not go to Disneyland.  So we included the Magic Kingdom in our plans.  Some went for two days, some for one day, and some not at all.  It was, well....magical.  Anna was the perfect age.  She was tall enough for all the rides, but young enough to really feel the wonder.

The first day we had Anna, David, myself, Aunt Penny, Aunt Holly, Grandma Ann, and Cousin Michelle.  It was a beautiful Southern California day.  Sunny, but not too hot.  We got there shortly after the park opened and early enough for free parking :).  The place was packed.  We knew it would be crowded.  They say that the very busiest time at Disneyland is this week between Christmas and New Years.  It wasn't too bad.  Grandma Ann ran to get us fast passes for Splash Mountain and Michelle got in the Princess line.  The rest of us went to Small world which was all decorated up for Christmas, 

and then on to Toon Town.  We waited in line to see Minnie Mouse at her house-Anna's first character.  She was star struck and put both hands over her mouth in excitement.  It was very fun to watch.  This is a collage of some of the characters we met in our two days.

We walked through Minnie's house with Aunt Penny,

and rode Donald Duck's roller coaster with Aunt Holly. Then Michelle(who voluntarily had waited over an hour in the princess line) called to say she was close to the front and we got to meet Mulan and Ariel.  We caught a glimpse of Jasmine as she left.  From there we went over to the Huanted House which was also decorated for Christmas.  I think it was a little too scary for Anna girl, but she was a trooper.  We came out just in time for Tiana and Prince Naveen's Jubilee show on the river boat, which was fantastic!

We had seen The Princess and the Frog movie earlier that week, so it was fresh in our minds.  The music is awesome and the show was great.  Anna danced on top of Daddy's shoulders

We hit the Dumbo ride - David waited in this line.  The wait was almost an hour.

  We also hit the merry go round - a short line, and still amuses Anna.  Michelle enjoyed it as well which was great because I only tolerate the merry go round and pray not to get too dizzy.

Then it was time for Splash Mountain.  I was worried she might be too scared when we actually got on the ride, but she loved it.  Even the big drop. She wanted to go again, but we had to explain that we had skipped the big line this time, but couldn't skip it again.  We went on to meet Winnie the Pooh, and then headed over to watch the big Parade with Santa at the end.  We had great seats, and Anna pointed, and jumped and yelled with every character that she recognized.

Especially Santa!
We headed over to California Adventure so we could sit down and rest in a show.

We chose to go to the Disney Playhouse show since she knows all those TV shows.  When the door opened there was a big open carpeted room with one bench lining the wall.  David and Grandma Ann made a beeline for those coveted benches, and Anna drug the rest of us up front to sit criss-cross applesauce (the new p.c. alternative to Indian style).  She loved the show. I thought I might never walk again.  We watched a great Pixar parade with Monsters Inc, Bug Life, Toy Story, Incredible, and Nemo characters. Then, we walked all the way to the back of the boardwalk where we found Woody and a crazy Ferris wheel that has cars that slide.  Penny, Michelle and I gazed in fear from the ground as we watched David, Anna, Holly and Grandma Ann get in the sliding swinging cars.  I thought both Penny and I might throw up as we watched their car slide and swing to a horizontal position!  Grandma Ann and Holly both said it was one of the scariest rides they had ever been on.  David loved it (he was the one making it swing, of course), and he said that Anna laughed her head off the whole time!

David loved the screamin' roller coaster, and I loved the buzz lightyear ride that was like an arcade (this however, was our longest ride.  I think we waited about an hour and a half).  Anna loved Ariel's merry- go-round.  We hit a few other rides around the boardwalk, and made our way back for the electric light parade.  It was very sparkly and spectacular.  By then we were beat and decided we had to head home.  As we walked to our shuttle bus we were surprised to see the fireworks show begin.

It was perfect timing.  We watched from the Plaza and headed home.  We were beat.  We got In-n-out burgers on the way home (long live the double-double animal style!).  I took 4 Advil and crashed.  A great first day in the Magic Kingdom.