Disney tips for parents with young kiddos

I am writing this post as requested by my friends Debbie, Katie and Sophie who are going to Disneyland with their families next month. (They were smart and didn't book their trips during spring break!) I hope my information is helpful to them and anyone else who reads this. BTW this might end up being a very long post as there is so much to cover, so bear with me as I motor through all my thoughts and ideas.

You can save a ton of money by NOT booking a Disney hotel. Instead book a Good neighbor hotel. They are usually within walking distance and also offer early entry for one day with purchase of 3 day park hopper pass. We also got a deal with Alaskan airlines where the kids fly free...and we got all our Disney tickets at the children's rate. We used River City Travel to book our trip, but I'm sure any travel agent can help get you the best deal. We stayed at the Anaheim Fairfield and thought it was great. Close to the park, friendly people and they upgraded our room upon arrival for no extra fee when they realized we had 3 kids. They also have pack and play cribs, so we didn't have to pack one along for Hayden.

Try to get a room that faces the park. We really enjoyed watching the fireworks every night from our hotel.

Bring your own snacks into the park. I packed a whole suitcase of snacks and distributed them as needed each day. They will let you in to the park with snacks as long as it doesn't appear that you are planning for a whole picnic. Granola bars, fruit snacks, fruit roll ups, cookies, crackers etc are fine. You will be glad you did. Our kids worked up quite an appetite and you can't really find much of anything in the parks for less than 3.95 + tax. We used these snacks for breakfast rather than wasting precious time sitting down for a meal. I also packed extras for times through out the day when the kids get the munchies.

Fruit snacks are also great to give kids on the plane to aid in popping their ears when the pressure from the plane taking off and landing can cause little ones to complain.

Bring your own water into the park...unless you like to pay for your water. I got dehydrated on our second day because we never really stopped long enough to get something to drink. I brought water in for the kids, but didn't drink enough myself. Not only was I not drinking as much liquid as usual, but I was active all day, walking and carrying the kids around. I got a pounding headache and just felt a bit off all day, so take it from me, bring lots of water to drink. (Since you can't bring water on the plane, unless you check it in your luggage, I packed empty water bottles and we filled them up at the hotel and at the drinking fountains inside the park.

Wear comfortable shoes. Preferably, tennis shoes/running shoes. Don't even think about heels!!! We didn't run into problems with blisters, but I brought band aids just in case.

Grab a schedule and a map at the gate when you enter. They have them at California Adventure too and it was helpful to confirm how we wanted to plan our day. You can find a calendar with a semi-reliable schedule on the Disney website, which is how we knew when the shows and parades were ahead of time.

Plan to take a break in the middle of the day to go back to your hotel and give your kids and you a break. You will be glad you did. After a few hours the kids will be charged up and ready to go back again.

Break up your week. We had a 3 day park hopper, so we took our break after day 2 in Disneyland. We still went out to eat and shopped in Downtown Disney...and went swimming at our hotel, but the pace was much slower. No real agenda.

Bring a Neat sheet for sitting on during parades and fireworks. We used ours at least 3 times and I'm glad we had it along. They fold up really small, so you won't need much space to pack one.

Bring a poncho. It might rain...it did while we were there, but most of all , bring it if you don't want to get wet on the Grizzly river run. You can get disposable ponchos at Walmart for 88 cents. I also found glow sticks at Walmart for 88 cents. The kids loved them at night.

Bring sunscreen, hats and sunglasses for everyone. It would be a shame to get burnt, or worse your kids to get burnt.

Other things to pack: Extra, extra large Ziploc bags to store all lotions, hair gel, spray...basically anything you don't want to find spilled all over your clothes. I also packed a few empty bags so I could keep all the dirty clothes in these. Disposable cameras for the kids...you may get lots of pictures of legs and hotel wall paintings, but the kids enjoy being photographers too. At least one hooded sweatshirt or light jacket per person...it gets cold at times. A small backpack to throw stuff in (camera, snacks, money, sunglasses) Not too big that you can't bring it on rides or too heavy that you hate lugging it around. A double stroller if you have or can borrow one. If you have more than 2 kids under 8 it will really come in handy. You can also rent single strollers for $10 a day, but if your kids fall asleep, you have to wake them up and return the stroller before returning to your hotel.

I brought my stash of quarters and pennies for the squished penny machines that are all over the park. You can find them in most gift shops, but there are a lot of them in the penny arcade on Main street.

Wish I would have brought Icy Hot or Bengay type topical muscle ache reliever. My quads were so sore from walking non-stop.

Use the Fast passes. I was surprised at how many people were standing in lines with a 45 minute wait. Find out what rides you are most interested in and plan accordingly. The rides with the fast pass option are the most popular, so don't even bother standing in line when you can use your fast pass. Note, some rides (tower of terror, soaring over California, and others "sell out" of fast passes, so punch your favorites early in the day.) You have to wait 2-3 hours before you can punch for another fast pass, so plan your day with things to fill your time while you wait to use your fast pass.

Early entry. When you purchase a 3 day park hopper, you can get in one hour early (8 am) to Fantasyland . You used to be able to get into the whole park, but now it's just Fantasyland. There are certain days when this option is available, so find out ahead of time. If you have early entry at Fantasy land, go to Dumbo or Peter Pan first. There are no fast passes in Fantasyland and the wait for these rides is usually very long. We rode It's a small world late in the evening and got in right away, but there seemed to be a line during the day.

Wait at the gates at 10 am for Toontown to open. Trust me, we did and we still had to stand in line 30 minutes to go through Mickey's house to meet and get pictures with Mickey. Minnie on the other hand is usually not in her house, but rather on the street and the line seemed to move faster.

Princess Fantasy Fair opens at 10 am. This is great for girls (but even Zander had a good time). You can hear stories read by princesses, decorate a princess/prince crown, learn how to be a good princess/prince, go through the coronation, learn dances and wait in line to meet the princesses (usually 3 or so princesses). Since we already had plans for a princess lunch, we didn't stand in line to meet them, but we did everything else. There is a Jedi training (in Tomorrowland I think), but we never made it over for that.

Make character dining reservations 3-4 weeks before you go. I was surprised by this, but so glad I knew to do so. There were many an upset guest at Disneyland when they found out there were absolutely no tables available. When I reserved our lunch at Ariel's Grotto 3 weeks prior, all the inside seating was booked, so we ate outside (which is fine BTW, because it's covered and they have heaters above each table).

When making reservations, milk it for all it's worth. When making the reservation for Ariel's Grotto, I told them that we were celebrating Natalie's birthday...all the kids got a special crown and a special pin featuring the princesses and Natalie got a special dessert. I also told them Ariel was her favorite princess...to my surprise, Ariel spent quite a bit more time paying special attention to Natalie. She danced with her and talked to her and flat out made her day. FYI it is a spendy meal, however at Ariel's grotto, Hayden ate for free. They told us if the park doesn't require a ticket for him, they don't charge for his meal. Unfortunately, not every restaurant has this policy.

Blue Bayou. When I booked the Blue Bayou, I told them we were celebrating my MIL's birthday which was the week before. She also got a special dessert and a card signed by the workers. If you are going for lunch reservations, get the first seating, which I think is 11:30 and you are almost guaranteed to sit by the water. We had 11:40 reservations and got second row. It is dark in there, but I already knew what I was going to order ahead of time, so reading the menu wasn't an issue. You can Google words like "Disney restaurant menus" and find out what to expect, just make sure you are looking at a current menu or the selections and pricing may have changed. By the way the Monte Cristo is to die for! It is also a lot to eat, so even with my "I want to eat the whole thing" mentality, I opted to split it with my mother in law and it was more than enough food. I even passed on dessert, which I was fully prepared to order before my meal came. You will be charged $4 to split a meal, but it is a lot less than buying 2 meals, plus you still get all the sides, salad and bread, so not a bad deal in my mind.

Cafe Orleans is right across the street from Blue Bayou and has many of the same things on their menu for a bit less money. We ate dinner there the first night...they have kid's menus that fold into pirate hats too! Beware, their prices are not posted outside. Dinner prices start at the $10-$13 range for adults. I had a salad that was very filling. At the end of your meal they bring you gold pirate chocolate coins which the kids thought were cool.

Taste Pilots (in California Adventure) is located next to Soarin' over California. They serve Chicken and burgers mostly and have great cris-cross fries and onion rings. Lunch starts at $5-$6. I had a crispy chicken salad and we got fries and onion rings to share.

Shows are a great way to get off your feet and keep the kids entertained away from the hot sun or rain whichever the case may be. Shows we loved in Disneyland: Parade of a million Dreams, Fireworks, Princess Fantasy Faire storytime. Shows we liked at California Adventure: Aladdin, Bear and the Big Blue House (Playhouse Disney), Muppets 3-D movie, Turtle Talk with Crush and Electric Parade. I was really only disappointed with the Block party parade.

Meeting Characters. I found this link to be extremely helpful regarding tips for meeting characters. Here are just a few of the suggestions. Bring an autograph book, or buy one at DL. Have your book turned to the page where you want them to sign. By doing this, you avoid ink bleeding through and showing through your other autographs. Some people use their autograph books as photo albums (placing photo next to autograph) so it is helpful to leave enough space for this ahead of time. Also, bring large pens, not skinny ball point type as some of the costumes have big hands which make gripping a pen difficult. The most valuable piece of information I read was have your kid color a picture for his/her favorite character. This gives them more time to be doted on and the characters really love it. Worked like a charm for us...so don't forget to pack your crayons and paper.

Also if any of your kids are into the movie cars, Lightening and Mator come out twice a day by the pier in Disney California, you can also get the times the daily schedule.

Kodak Moments. As any good scrapbooker will tell you, sometimes you have to create a good photo. Don't be afraid to set up your photos a little. I do this on vacation by planning outfits that look good together. One day we did all blue. Don't be afraid to have someone take a picture of your whole family, otherwise you may never get photographed! There are Disney photographers positioned all over the park who will take photos to add to your photo pass. Give them your camera as well, they don't mind taking photos with your camera too. I found the castle photo is best in the morning and later in the afternoon, but mid day to about 4 or 5 when the sun is directly above, the colors tend to be washed out and the subjects tend to squint more when the sun is in their eyes. Another good place for a group photo is the staircase in the ally near Blue Bayou. Don't just take photos of your kids posing with the characters, get them talking and interacting with them too. These are some of the better pictures from our trip.

Just a few ideas to make the magic even more magical: Pack a special gift for your kids and then when you have a special interaction with a character, put the gift beside there bed and write a note from the character about the incident. Mail a post card from the park to your house so that a couple days after we get home you kids get mail from Minnie and Mickey telling them how much fun they had and hope they come back real soon.

Face Painting. You can do it in Downtown Disney or there is an area over by It's a small world close to where they sell Turkey Legs. The cost varies but for a scroll on one side and Tinkerbell on the other with a scroll was only $7. You can also do it at the princess area but the wait is longer.

My online friend works as a skipper on the Jungle Cruise and she said to stop by the jungle cruise and be sure to ask your skipper for a jungle map!
'
That is enough for now. Please feel free to ask questions.

Day 4: Our last day at Disneyland

Our last day was our busiest by far. We started off our last day on the Astro Orbitor in Tomorrowland. Then we ventured over to ride on the Pirates of the Caribbean again. Everybody sing with me "yo ho, yo ho a pirates life for me..."
By the time we were done riding Pirates, California Adventure was open so we went straight to Soarin Over California to punch in for our Fast Pass. Then we got in line to ride the Grizzly River Run. Dan and I were able to ride with Zander and Natalie while Dan's mom stayed with Hayden. Then as soon as we finished, she rode it with Natalie who wanted to ride again. We all got wet, but it was such a warm day we didn't mind one bit...well, Zander minded, but he was a good sport about it. We had about 20 minutes to kill before our next show, so we watched the Miner 49er bluegrass band for a bit. All the kids were clapping away...even Hayden. On one of the songs, Zander got to join in and help by playing the washboard. In the photo, he is the one standing next to the man in the red shirt. After Zander was done, we walked over to the Playhouse Disney theater to watch Bear and the Big Blue House. Natalie and Zander used to love watching Bear and the Big Blue House when they were younger, so they ate it up. In fact, that is how my MIL got her nickname, Grandma Flutter, but that is another story for another day.

Along with Bear, we also heard stories from Jo Jo's Circus, Stanley, and Winnie the Pooh. Towards the end of the program bubbles danced down from the ceiling. Then the kids all got to sing the goodbye song along with Bear and Luna. It was nice to be inside, sitting down for a change.

By the time the Playhouse Disney show ended, our fast pass time for Soarin' Over California was ready so we got in the fast pass line and zoomed past the folks without fast passes (who had to wait 45 minutes to ride. Serves them right I guess.) Soarin' Over California is a must ride attraction. You are sitting on a chair lift of sorts and when it starts, you are lifted up into the "sky" above an Omnimax type movie screen. As you are riding it seems as if you really are flying over California. A note to those who are planning to go to DL/CA, take deep breaths when you ride this because you can actually smell pine trees and orange groves etc., but it's very subtle. Here are Natalie and Dan giving me the thumbs up before take off. We all loved this ride and Natalie got to go again right away. Later in the day Zander would ride it 3 more times! Our next stop was to get some lunch before Grandma Flutter had to catch her plane back home. We ate at Taste Pilot's Grill. I thought the food there was all good...and handy right next to the soarin' ride.
Here is Zander with his scary face as he stands next to the door with the monsters from Monster's Inc. Dan and Sharon are the only ones who rode on Tower of Terror as seen in the photo in the distance, behind Dan. They said it wasn't "that" bad. Hmmm. I don't know if I buy that...free falling from the top...not my idea of a great time.

Anyway, after we spent about an hour riding in a Bug's Land we walked over to Paradise Pier an waited for the arrival of Zander's favorite characters, Lightning McQueen and Mator from the movie Cars. I was so glad that we got to see them up close and Zander was in awe the whole time.
Next on our agenda was the Aladdin play, but it didn't start for another hour, so we walked back over to Disneyland and all of us picked our our mouse ears and had our names sewn on the back. We all got the black ears, except Natalie who picked out lavender ears with Tinkerbell on the front. I never had ears before, so this was something even I was excited about. Knowing that Dan wouldn't want to get ears for himself, I brought along his ears from his childhood and "suggested" that he wear them for the photo. It made for the "classic" Disneyland photo in front of the DL train station. In the background you can see the flowers planted in the shape of Mickey Mouse.
We got back to California Adventure just in time for the Aladdin play...just barely. We ended up sitting way up at the top, but any view was a good view, so it didn't really matter much. The play was great. It was even up to date as the Genie interjected funny lines about Britney Spears and Sanjaya. In the voice of Simon Cowell, the Genie said to Aladdin after he sang a song...you call that singing? You're no better than Sanjaya. All this to say it was entertaining for the adults too. There were even a couple scenes where the magic carpet flew all over inside the theater, and Aladdin came in on a life-sized elephant. Thumbs up...must see play.
Once we cleared out of the theater, we high-tailed it to the Block party. From the photos I saw it looked like a lot of fun and a chance for the kids to see some more of their favorite Disney/Pixar characters. As it turns out, it was basically like a small parade with about 4-5 floats. Each one had a character on it and where ever the "parade" stopped, you got to dance with whichever character was closest to you. I was really hoping to be near Woody, but he was on the head float. We got to dance with Flick and Atta, the Ants from a Bug's life...yeah, ants aren't really cute to me these days if you catch my drift!!! At any rate, Zander was excited to see Woody, so I guess it was worth it, but I don't think I would arrange my schedule around it next time. Zander and Natalie got an autograph from Mrs. Incredible (aka Elastagirl) too, so that was fun.
Wow!!! I need a nap just after writing everything so far...it was a day packed full of fun. By now it was around 5:00 and we were all in need of a break. Natalie, Hayden and I went back to the hotel and Dan and Zander rode Soarin' Over California some more. After awhile, they came back to the hotel with dinner from McDonald's. Around 8pm, I took Zander and Natalie back to California Adventure to see the Electric Parade. I had never seen it before, but had recognized many of the floats from photographs I'd seen. I'm sure for those of you who saw it as a kid, it's the exact same parade you remember. Very old school. Remember Pete's Dragon? He was even in the parade. After the parade I decided to let the kids ride on some more rides. It was, after all, our last chance. We went back to a Bug's Land so Zander, who was asleep in the stroller earlier in the day, could ride on the rides. It was great. We walked on to most of the rides right away, without any lines! I wanted to go back to Disneyland, but my tickets fell out of my pocket somehow. I used my sad puppy dog eyes and the person at the turn style said they would let us in since it was so late. Natalie really wanted to shop at the "It's a small world" gift shop, so we went there first then we rode on the carousel, the tea cups and called it a night. After all it was 11:30 pm!!! I checked one last time at the lost and found for Natalie's Ariel things, but no luck. She cried all the way back to the hotel, but I know she was tired so that didn't make it any easier for her. I got the kids in bed and started packing all our clothes and belongings. I think I got in bed around 1:30 or so...which wouldn't be all that bad if I didn't have to wake up at 3 am for a 4:30 shuttle to the airport. Yikes...that was brutal. So that is our trip in a nutshell, a very large nutshell. I hope you enjoyed our photos.

Fabulous Food Friday

Monte Cristo Sandwich

Here is the recipe for the famed Monte Cristo Sandwich from Disneyland's Blue Bayou.

Monte Cristo Sandwich is served with currant jelly sauce. First prepare this, then make the batter. While it is chilling, put together the sandwiches. When the sandwiches are fried, the complete service is ready.


Currant Jelly Sauce
2/3 c. currant jelly
1 TB water
1 TB half and half
Combine jelly, water and half and half in blender and mix until smooth. Makes about 3/4 cup.


Batter
2/3 c. water
1 small egg
1/2 t. salt
1/8 t. white pepper
few drops yellow food coloring
2/3 c. all-purpose flour
1 3/4 t. baking powder
Place water, egg, salt, pepper and food coloring in a bowl and using an electric mixer, mix well at low speed. Add flour and baking powder and mix until batter is smooth. Chill. Makes enough for 4 sandwiches.


Sandwiches
8 slices white bread
4 slices turkey (1 oz. each)
4 slices swiss cheese
4 slices Pullman ham
Make 4 sandwiches, putting cheese between ham and turkey. Cut into fourths and put a toothpick through each quarter.
Final Preparation:
soybean or vegetable oil for frying
Confectioners' sugar
currant jelly sauce
Heat about 6-inches of oil to 340F in a fryer. Dip sandwiches in batter to cover all surfaces. Deep fry sandwiches until golden brown, turning as needed. Remove from oil, take out toothpicks, sprinkle sandwiches with confectioners' sugar. Serve with currant jelly sauce.

If you don't want to use the currant jelly, try using raspberry jam. Just as good!

Day 3: Downtown Disney

Ahhh! A day to sleep in. How nice. Our day started off with the kids discovering "surprises" left by Ariel and Mickey. They left stickers and character baseballs with a note from the characters saying they had fun meeting them (Natalie and Zander) yesterday. The kids were so excited.
After we had a bite to eat, we strolled down to the pool to sit in the sun while we waited for Dan's mom (who was staying at a nearby hotel). It was nice to lay in the sun and the kids had fun throwing the life preserver into the pool. (After looking at my pictures, it looks like I need to spend some more quality time in the sun!)
After awhile we all headed to Downtown Disney which doesn't require a ticket to get in...it's Disney's way of "helping" us spend money at the park even when we're not at Disneyland! Clever! We stopped and had lunch at the Jazz Kitchen (a New Orleans style restaurant) and topped off our meal with some delicious bread pudding.
After lunch we stopped in at the Lego store and the guys had fun "playing" with Legos and other Lego merchandise. As you can see there were Star wars characters made entirely of Legos. It was a big hit. We killed quite a lot of time here. After stopping at Build a bear (just to look) we were heading back to our hotel when we ran into our friends Brooke and Rob (who used to live across the street from us in Troutdale). We chatted for awhile and then went back to the hotel to swim. I highly recommend taking a break from Disneyland for a day. After 2 days, we (the adults) were tired as well as sore from all the walking). It was good for the kids to have a day at a slower pace too...they were on the verge of over stimulation.

Disneyland Day 2...Mickey and friends

Our second day in Disneyland started out in Toontown with a visit to Mickey Mouse's house. It took about 20-30 minutes to get through the house, so I'm glad we didn't wait until later in the day to see Mickey. Natalie really wanted to bring her Ariel doll and without thinking I said she could. Unfortunately, this is the last time we knew where Ariel was. Later that day I realized that she didn't make it back to the hotel with us...along with Natlie's Ariel back pack that was also lost/stolen. We checked lost and found 4 times during our stay, but no one turned her in. On the last day she cried all the way home. It was her favorite doll and she was so sad.

After we took a few photos we went out side where Minnie Mouse was greeting guests. Here line was short, so I quickly got all the kids over and in line to meet Minnie. Next we went on the Gadget roller coaster and them it was time for our lunch at the Blue Bayou. I went ahead and stood in line for our table. I asked for waterfront seating, but the closest they had was the second row in...unless we wanted to wait an additional hour.
I shared a Monte Cristo sandwich with my MIL and Dan ordered Crab cakes. The kids had mac and cheese. It was all very tasty. I have no complaints and because we split a meal we didn't break the bank like we did at Ariel's Grotto. It was fun to eat in the Pirates ride which we went on the day before.

After lunch we used our fastpass at Big Thunder mountain railroad...Another one of my favorites. Natalie loved it. When we got off she said "that was awesome, I want to go again"...so we did!

By now, it was time for a break, so we rested for a bit at the hotel. While the boys were napping, Natalie and I went back to Disneyland to meet Ariel at her Grotto for a photo op. This time it was a different Ariel, but Natalie must not have even noticed. She was stunning and looked just like Ariel. Natalie drew her a picture and wrote I love Ariel. She loved it and gave Natalie lots of hugs and smiles. She was on cloud 9 for sure.

After checking the lost and found again, Natalie and I rushed over to California Adventure where we were going to meet the boys and watch the Aladdin play. Unfortunately, there was a misprint in the schedule and the play wasn't showing at that time. Instead we went to the Muppet 3-D show which was great. Natalie kept reaching out trying to grab at things. It was pretty cute.

Next we went to see Turtle Talk with Crush (from Finding Nemo). This was an amazing interactive experience where a computer generated turtle would call on people from the audience and answer their questions. Everything was in real time, the voice, movements and even humorous comments. Dan and I were very impressed. Next we went to a drawing class and we all learned how to draw Goofy. Dan's drawing turned out the best. The kids were a little frustrated at how theirs turned out, but we were very proud of them for following the directions all the way through. We decided to kill some more time before we walked back to the hotel, so we rode on the Monster's Inc. ride.

Later we cruised on over for the fireworks...

Fireworks at Disneyland

Our First Morning...Early Entry

The moment I'd been waiting for was finally here. I was giddy! We chose to use our early entry because it's only offered on certain days and this was the best day for us. So we got up early and walked to Disneyland so we could get in at 8 am, an hour before the park opens. (Although, I'm not sure if there was much of a difference during spring break. There were still a lot of people there already.)

As we were walking down Main Street for the first time, it was so great, as a mom, to watch the expressions on their faces as they saw the castle for the first time. I could have cried...I'm such a sap that way.

When we got to the castle, of course we had to have our pictures taken. I'm glad we did, because the lighting was great this time of day and it was a lot less crowded. We also had a Disney photographer take our photo. Disneyland has this great system for taking photos. When you are done, they give you a card (credit card size) that has your photo information on it. Then every time you get your picture taken, you hand the photographer your card and they add the photos to the card. Then you can view them online or at the Disney photo shop and you can order prints up to 30 days.

The only section that was open for the early entry is Fantasyland (this is different from the last time we went, when the whole park was open). So for our first ride, we went on Dumbo. At first Zander wasn't sure about Dumbo, but when he got off, he wanted to go again. Instead, we decided we better get in line for Peter Pan's ride as the wait time was already 30 minutes. (unfortunately, there are no fastpasses in Fantasyland). The kids waited patiently through the line and enjoyed the ride. As it turns out, this was the longest we would have to wait in line for a ride!

By the time we were done, the rest of the park was open, so we went over to ride on Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters in Tomorrow land. As you ride through the ride, you are on a mission to destroy Zurg with your laser gun. There are targets all through out the ride and you can shoot at them and earn points. This ride was so fun we went on it again, as the wait was only 10 minutes. Our next stop was Star Tours. This is one of my all-time favorite rides. Hayden wasn't old enough, so Dan's mom watched him while we went on the ride. Star Tours simulates a space flight (from Star Wars) and makes you feel like you are actually "flying." I wasn't sure how the kids would do with all the surprises this ride has, but they absolutely loved it.

Afternoon with the Princesses

Today was our big Princess day. Beginning with the Princess Fantasy Faire, the kids got to hear stories told by some of the princesses. Then they made crowns and learned princess etiquette as well as some new dances. Zander was a real trouper and didn't mind one bit. Of course Natalie couldn't have been more excited to see the princesses.
She was a little star struck and shy at first, but she soon warmed up to everything. There was a beautiful May pole dance in addition to the other dances they learned.

As soon as the Faire was over it was off to California Adventure for our lunch at Ariel's Grotto. Our reservations were for outdoor seating, as the inside was already filled up all week. I prayed for nice weather and although it was a little breezy, the sun was out and it looked like the rain that was forecasted wasn't going to give us any trouble. By the time we got to our table, the wind picked up a bit, but fortunately, we all had jackets.

When I made the reservations, I mentioned Ariel was her favorite princess...this really paid off, as Natalie got to spend extra special time with Ariel. When she first came to our table, she took Natalie aside for a little dance. The two twirled around and I just knew Natalie was having the time of her life...again, totally could have cried...but then who would take the pictures, right? Before we left in the morning, I asked Natalie if she wanted to draw a picture for Ariel. She got right on it and as a result, got extra hugs from her favorite mermaid. Ariel told her she was going to keep it in her special treasure chest and reminded Natalie to eat all her seaweed (veggies)...after that, the green beans were gone. Every last one.
The autograph books really came in handy and we got 5 princesses autographs all in one sitting. Much better than waiting in line for them!
When I made the reservations, I also mentioned we were celebrating Natalie's birthday (even though it was really in December) They brought out a dish of ice cream w/ a candle for Natalie, but had a hard time lighting it due to the wind. Ariel helped Natalie blow it out. Just as we finished our lunch the wind really picked up, by the time we left the restaurant, it started to rain...The timing couldn't have been better. We walked back to our hotel for some much needed rest.

Later that night we returned for the parade and went on the It's a Small World ride...then we called it a night. It was truly a magical day!