Disneyland, March 2019

Mom and I decided to brave the drizzly rainy day in order to take advantage of low crowds; I also didn't want to take Ada out of preschool if we had gone the following day. I was pretty tired from my late nights in PG (paired with my body's inability to sleep in), but I rallied!

The risk totally paid off! It was drizzling for sure when we got there; we bought the ponchos for $12 each and it promptly stopped raining. Lol. We definitely used them throughout the day, though! It rained on and off, but never really a downpour. The worst of it was right when we were leaving the park at the end of the day.

We parked in the Mickey & friends lot and did the tram. I still think this is way better than the Toy Story lot/bus shuttle, despite it being really difficult to get the collapsed stroller on the tram. It just seems faster and dumps you closer to the park. They did the security checks in the garage as opposed to near the gates like last time.

Bought our ponchos and got situated; we went straight to Fantasyland for Peter Pan. We probably waited 20 minutes?? This may have been our longest line all day, but it went fast since we were so excited to be there.

Ada's not feeling the wind/rain on the tram. Ryan thought this was a ride, pretty much (you can't tell from his face here)

Yay for happy rides like Peter Pan!

The kids were a little bummed the tea cups were closed cuz of rain, but we went on Dumbo. I never think about going on this ride, but it's a good tame innocuous one for the kids. I sat with Ryan; he seemed to like it!

Flyin' on Dumbo; Ada and Grammy are two behind us!

Mom took the kids on the carousel; I tested out Pinocchio to see if it was too scary for Ada.

Then we did It's a Small World, which was closed last time. The kids seemed fascinated. That ride is so dang long! I was annoyed cuz the boats were wet on the seat and in the footwell.

Mom is checked out 😂

We ate lunch at Plaza Inn; shared some fried chicken and got kids meals for the kids.

Headed to Tomorrowland; grabbed some cotton candy for the kids and waited in line for Autopia. We waited 10-15 min; got nervous cuz it started to rain, and we'd left ponchos in the stroller, parked. Stuck it out though and it was fine.

Did the submarine ride; that was also a 10-15 min wait. It's cute; don't get me wrong. But OMG the claustrophobia! I couldn't handle the parts where we went through seemingly narrow parts where all I could see was a "wall" of barnacles. I kept looking at the employee in the lookout position and reassuring myself that at least he was out of the water. I didn't like when it got dark. The kids seemed to like it, but Ada said later that she didn't. I'm guessing it was because of the "scary" jellyfish dark part.

Next, I did the Matterhorn by myself. Gotta love that single rider line!! I waited mayyybe five minutes. The ride was about as jerky as I remembered; fun, but not as fun as Big Thunder.

Baby ducks!

Back in Fantasyland, we did the KC Junior train. I don't think I'd done this before; this was a big hit with Ryan cuz trains. Would've been really quick, but we didn't want to squish into a cage with another family, so we waited for the next round. Mom got a churro afterward. We joke that this was the longest line we waited in all day. 😂

Noticed so many pretty flowers this trip! Hello Golden Afternoon!

Down to Frontierland, and Mom did Big Thunder Mountain Railroad solo while the kids balanced on a jagged rock wall; I tried to see Mom on the ride while making sure they didn't trip and fall. We headed to the Tiki Room while it started to rain again. Such a great place to rest! I don't think it'll ever get old to me; I love when it goes dark and the storm starts :). Ryan didn't seem TOO freaked out by the "walls talking" despite dwelling on this after the last trip.

Next I did Splash Mountain by myself. I figured it was a good time to do it, since I already had a poncho on! I was sooo nervous and forgot about the unexpected drop in the dark before the big one. That kind of made the big one not horrible; MAN is that a fast drop, but it ends right when you're like "Okay enough!" It definitely helps to scream. 😂

Afterward, it was nice to go on the wonderfully tame Winnie the Pooh ride, which I knew the kids loved. No movie stars this time though! We went into the gift shop nearby (so annoying with Ryan touching everything and Ada asking to buy everything). We didn't buy anything, but it turns out that wasting this time bought us time in the line to meet all the Pooh characters! An employee clued us in that they were all coming back from a break (and there was NO line--well, one family). I don't think my kids are super familiar with the characters, but they were thrilled to hug and meet these cuddly guys!

Next, Mom did Indiana Jones while we did the Tarzan Treehouse. I really didn't wanna climb those stairs cuz how tired I was by then! But the kids really wanted to do it. Mom got food at Bengal BBQ, and I got Tropical Hideaway. At the nearby market, I grabbed some overnight oats, which they didn't charge me for, because apparently they're supposed to toss them at 5pm. Lol. I saw them throw them out after I checked out. One bite into my food, Ryan told me he had to pee. Took him as soon as Mom got back. When we came back and started eating again, he told me he had to poop. Ughgghg. Back to the bathrooms... Thankfully he did his business so we didn't have to return a third time.

Next we did the Jungle Cruise. Cheesy as ever! It was fun to do it at night for a change. The kids (namely Ada) seemed a little apprehensive, but I think they liked it overall. Ada asked if they were real animals. What do you tell a kid?! You want it to be magical, but you don't wanna lie or scare them.

We grabbed Dole Whip and decided to check out the princesses at Royal Hall while everyone beelined for spots for the parade--I was shocked they have it open so late (7pm). OMG. There was NO line; we walked right in to meet Cinderella. This ended up being a highlight if not THE highlight of the day for me. Watching the kids' faces while they talked to and hugged the princesses! Ryan was ENTHRALLED. Cinderella was first. Ada was super quiet and nervous; Ryan was just awestruck, so he didn't say much either despite Cinderella trying to make conversation. They hugged (and Ryan accidentally copped a feel on Cinder's bosom) then she led them by the hand to Ariel. Ryan would not let go of both princesses' hands. 😂 They basically try to find out what the kids like/their favorite rides at Disneyland, but I don't think they understood the question. Ryan started talking about a game of "putting two balls in the hole" (maybe something at the pizza arcade??). Ariel led them over to Snow White, who really talked the high-pitched part. They finally opened up a little bit at this point, but then it was time to go.

We ate our Dole Whip and tried to catch the end of the parade, but it was raining pretty good at this point, and the parade was almost over anyway apparently. Packed up and rushed to the tram area. The kids are getting so hard to steer in the stroller! Awkwardly crammed ourselves and the stroller in the tram in the rain and made it up the escalator with a ton of other people, and thennnn began the search for our car. Such a rookie mistake! When we left the garage that morning, we realized we didn't take note of where we parked (besides knowing what level), but we didn't wanna turn back. Packed up and got the kids in jammies and on the road around 7; they fell asleep shortly after 7:30. With the rain and perhaps some leftover commuter traffic, it took us about an hour and fifteen or twenty to get home.

Overall, a banner day at Disneyland!!