Our Trip to the Happiest Place on Earth

When we found out that kids under 3 are FREE at Disneyland, we jumped on planning a little family vacation.  When we first put our down payment on the trip Audrey was really just into Mickey and Friends.  We weren't sure if she'd enjoy the entire Disney experience and I was nervous that it would be one big tantrum.  That was when she first turned two.  Fast forward a few short months and we have a Disney Princess fanatic on our hands.  At this point, we knew Disneyland was going to blow Audrey's little mind.  We knew she'd love seeing the princesses and all of the characters.  She was even excited for the rides!  Our only thought at this point was that maybe she'd be too shy or embarrassed to talk to or approach the characters.  Regardless, we were all excited to go on our trip!

We decided to drive to Anaheim.  It was a little bit cheaper than flying for us, plus we had the luxury of stopping and seeing lots of things on the way there.  We are so fortunate that Tony's family has a house in St. Gorge.  This allowed us to leave Tuesday evening after Tony got off work, drive the 4 hours to St. George, and stop for the night.  Audrey did great sleeping in the "big bed with mama."  We woke up the next day and started the last leg of our journey to Anaheim.  We stopped in Vegas for lunch, and didn't feel like going on the Strip, so we decided to just stop at Excalibur.  It's at the very end of the strip and it is a castle, for crying out loud.  Perfect for Miss Princess Audrey.  She was pretty excited to go in the castle, but once we got in she did not appreciate the over-stimulation of lights, noises, smoke, talking, people, etc.  (Neither did I, let's be honest)  We ate a quick lunch and got out of there.

I was really concerned about Audrey getting a good nap that day, because the next day was our first day in Disney.  If any of you know Audrey (or have a toddler) you know that no nap = no fun for anyone ever.  This girl NEEDS her nap.  She's not one of those kids that can deal with it for a day.  No way.  Plus, she wouldn't nap the day before.  I was SO happy when I looked over to see this sweet girl asleep.  She slept for two hours of our drive, and my stress was completely gone! :)

We finally got to our hotel, checked in, and went to the pool.  It was nice to have some time to just chill before our big day the next day!

Audrey woke us up bright and early to get ready for our first day at Disneyland!

Brushing her teeth, getting ready for the day

She loved this waterfall in the lobby of our hotel.  It was one of the highlights of the trip :)

When we got to the park we knew where we had to head very first.  Fantasy Faire - where the princesses are.  

...BUT WAIT....

She spotted Minnie Mouse!

Audrey saw Minnie right at the entrance of the park and we had to stop and say hi.  Audrey was SO excited to meet Minnie, and it was the perfect start to our day.

...Okay, now we can head to Fantasy Faire.

We were pretty lucky and got a really good spot in line.  We only had to wait 15 minutes to see the princesses!  The rest of the day was no different.  Wait times were minimal and it was great.  The park didn't feel crowded at all!  We did some research as to which times were least crowded, and we picked well!  With the Disney Wait Times app on our phones, and the lack of crowds at the park, we hardly waited for anything.  I think our longest wait was for Dumbo, around 10 minutes.  Anyway, the princesses that were there that day were Cinderella, Ariel, and Aurora.  They stayed the same the whole three days we were there, so Audrey didn't really get to see many other princesses.  She didn't care at all.

After we met the princesses, we took Audrey on some of the rides she's been talking about for months.

She loved Dumbo!  We rode it three times!

She's been talking about the Spinning Cups forever.  This was probably her favorite ride.  Although, she calls them "Minnie's Spinning Cups"  

'

On "It's A Small World"

 Rapunzel didn't show up for visitors until 11 am that day.  Audrey got pretty upset about it so Tony told her that Rapunzel had to eat her breakfast and brush her long hair.  She was very satisfied with that.  Makes sense, that girl's got some long hair!  Once we were done with a few rides, we finally got to see Audrey's hero.

After seeing Rapunzel it was getting close to nap time so we decided to go back to the hotel.  We couldn't get out of the park because so many characters were waiting around the entrance!  Audrey loved seeing Goofy, and loved taking a walk with Dale (who she refuses to call by his real name.  She's convinced his name is ChipandDale) ;)

We ate lunch at Carnation Cafe on Main Street, USA - expensive but SO yummy! - then finally headed back for a much needed rest.

Our initial plan was to return to Disneyland after our nap, but it closed early that day so they could decorate for Halloween.  We had to change our plans a bit so we headed to California Adventure.

Audrey loved the new Little Mermaid ride.  I must admit, it was probably one of my favorites, as well.  It was nice and cool and a really well done ride.

We got our carousel on and rode King Triton's Carousel.  It was all sea creatures and Audrey was thrilled to ride on a dolphin.  We tried to get her to ride an otter but she wouldn't do it.

We also rode the ferris wheel (or "ferrist wheel" if you're Audrey), Mater's Junkyard Jamboree (an Audrey favorite), and explored A Bug's Land.  Then we went back to our hotel room, ordered some yummy pizza, and called it a day.

Making some friends on our way out of the park.

We were lucky to have Tony's parents come and stay with Audrey while Tony and I had some time in the park by ourselves.  I told Tony it was by far my favorite date we've been on! We got to ride some of the "big kid" rides and got to spend some time together.  It was a nice, relaxing time and I'm really glad I got to have some time with just Tony.  We did Day 2 evening and Day 3 morning just the two of us.

Our second day in Disneyland with Audrey was one of our favorites.  Our plan was to head to Toon Town first, but when Audrey saw Fantasy Faire we had to do round two of princess visits.  It was the same princesses but we were first in line so they talked with her a whole lot more since no one else was there.

We finally made it to Toon Town only to realize it didn't open for another 15 minutes.  Tony had dropped us off and was riding the shuttle over so he was making his way over to meet us.  We were just sitting around, waiting for Toon Town to open, when we saw Merida skipping through the park.  Audrey sprinted for her.  Right before we left Audrey suddenly became way into Merida (don't ask me why!) so she was really thrilled to see her in person.

Merida was probably my favorite princess we met.  She was really great at acting the part.  When we saw her walking around she walked with that non-princess strut that she does in the movie.  Her accent was spot on and she just really did a great job.  

FINALLY we got to Toon Town, and we were there when they opened the gates.  Minnie, Goofy, Mickey, and Daisy Duck were all there to welcome their guests and Audrey got some VIP  treatment.  Audrey immediately ran to Minnie Mouse, who took her hand and walked her through ToonTown and right into her house. Audrey and Minnie played in her house in each of the rooms, and Audrey got to be first in line for pictures. She was thrilled!  We were talking about how Audrey didn't seem to realize how special it was because she loves Minnie, and sees them as friends.  Why wouldn't she take her hand, walk through town, and go to Minnie's house?  They're pals!

It was HOT that day, and Audrey and I were getting grumpy so after Toon Town we went to see the Disney Junior Live on Stage! show.  It was indoors and Audrey loved it.

Then, look who we found right outside the theater!

This was kind of the last day for Audrey in Disneyland.  We brought her back Saturday night because she was really sad she didn't get to see Pluto and didn't have his signature on her autograph frame.  Tony dropped us off, and Audrey and I sprinted to Toon Town.  I figured he would be there.  Tony called when he got to the park and informed me that he saw Pluto AT THE ENTRANCE.  So, we sprinted back, making it just in time.  Audrey was thrilled to see Pluto!  It was really cute.

It was a great trip and one we'll always remember.  We're so glad we decided to take Audrey.  She still talks about all of the things we did there.  It was so fun to see her experience it all!

Phew!  Mega post!  I'm proud of you for surviving that novel.