The Happiest Place on Earth

We just had the most wonderful family vacation! We’d been wanting to do something special with Jillian before the new baby comes. Her birthday happens to fall during Daddy’s Spring Break this year, so we decided to go to Disneyland and California Adventures – yay for 2fer tickets!

On Sunday, we arrived just in time to check in at our hotel, which was just about a block away from the park entrance. After dropping off our luggage, we met Michelle and George in Downtown Disney where they generously treated Jillian to a trip through Build-A-Bear! Jillian has been sleeping with her Hello Kitty ever since!

The next morning we headed over to California Adventures where we enjoyed a live interactive showing of Playhouse Disney and multiple rides in A Bug’s Land before and after our mid-day siesta. We also caught the tail end of the Pixar Parade just as we were making our way to Ariel’s Grotto for the most amazing dining experience an almost 3 year old could have! We brought her Cinderella outfit (of course!) and she was ready to dine with the princesses. They called our name and we headed down a spiral staircase to find . . . Ariel! She was waiting to greet each little guest for a picture, autograph, hug . . . high five . . . nod . . . hmmm, Jillian froze in her moment of glory. Ariel was very sweet and patient and Jillian was able to talk to her a bit on our way out later. Once we were seated, the really tall guy in purple sang and introduced each princess who then entered the dining room and spent some time at each table talking to the “little princesses.” When the server came to our table, Jillian ordered “slurpie noodles.” Yep. That’s right. Spaghetti! Yikes! So, as each princess got closer I would wipe away the sauce the best I could to avoid a ROYAL mess! (Mommy and Daddy’s dinner was delicious, too, by the way!) Jillian was shy and asked me to tell Cinderella that she’s her favorite. When Snow White knelt down, she was very quiet and had an intimate conversation in whispered tones that only she and Jillian could hear. When we asked Jillian later what she and Snow White were discussing, she let us know she had inquired about Belle. Apparently, Belle was very busy that night and couldn’t make it. All of the princesses were so sweet and even though Jillian was a little overwhelmed and clammed up in the moment, she seemed to really enjoy her special evening. After dinner, we turned her back into regular Jillian and shut the park down with many more rides in A Bug’s Land. Lots of fun!

On Tuesday, we were up and out and over to Disneyland right away. As we walked up mainstreet, Jillian caught a glimpse of the castle entrance to Fantasyland and shouted, “I. SEE. CINDER. ELLA’S. CASTLE!!!!!!!!!!” We were able to do so much that day: It’s a Small Word, Sleeping Beauty’s Castle Tour (twice), Dumbo (twice), Casey Jr.’s Train (twice), King Arthur’s Carousel (twice), Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, Winnie the Pooh, Pirates of the Caribbean, The Jungle Cruise, and a personalized set of pink princesses mouse ears! Then, after dinner and a little souvenir shopping in the evening, we stuck around for the most fantastic fireworks show we’ve ever seen! She almost fell asleep on Daddy’s shoulders, but once the show started there was lots of clapping going on up on top of his head!

We had such an amazing time and can’t wait to go back when our next little princess is old enough!