17 Hours of Disney Magic

Of course, we got to Disneyland well before the gates opened.  We had every intention of staying from opening at 8 to closing at midnight.  We were not going to leave any Disney time on the table! Ptolemy was so excited about his autograph book, he wanted the ticket taker to sign it!  He had no idea what he was in for!  (BTW, I got these Disney books at the dollar store.  Real autograph albums at Disney are a lot more.)

 Firt character, besides the ticket lady, Donald!

 These characters either need to ban autograph albums or get smaller hands.  IT was painful to watch them struggle with the pen, holding it up to their giant eyes.  Amusing, at the same time.

 We walked right into the castle where we met three princesses without waiting.  Two were so magical!  Some princesses get into character, some don't.  You would think that the lackluster princesses would get moved over to the Chip n Dale costumes, right?  I mean, there has to be some competition for princess status.  I have to say, Elsa and Anna were the worst princesses ever.  Totally just girls in costumes, minus the magic.  Tziporah even noticed!  I was so glad we didn't wait in line to see them!  But I'm getting ahead of myself.  Snow White was perfect!

 And so was Belle.

 After all the rides in Fantasyland, we went to a Frozen show that Scott had grabbed fast passes to.  We were on the back row of the theater, in the only spot in the blazing sun, when a cast member told us we could go sit on the floor in the front so the kids could see.  I swear, Xanthe's 10yo trip was charmed from beginning to end!  The Frozen show was a mini spoof on Frozen, and it was hilarious.

 I love Olaf!

 Sad Tziporah wanted to ride with Daddy, so I hopped off the ride and snapped photos.

 It sounds like I'm gloating, but look at those empty teacups!  The measles scare really worked in our favor!

 As luck would have it, we hit It's a Small World on the last day it was open before closing for renovations.  It was still set up with the Chirstmas decor!  Besides the insidious Small World song, (Which I love, don't get me wrong), it played Jingle Bells.  We went on it several times in the morning and several times at night.  Ruby whipped out her camera when she saw the Eiffel Tower!

 More gloating

 The mint juleps and Mickey-shaped beignets were the perfect refreshments for our lunch break in New Orleans Square.  There was a great jazz band playing, and a cast member gave all of the kids badges.  In fact, we collected several free badges over the course of the day.  New Orleans Square was way fun, and we spent a lot of time on the rides in that area.

 We also got fast passes for the show later that night.

 Food=happiness for Xanthe, so the 10yo trip had to include lots of yummy treats!

 Giving Xanthe a birthday badge.

 Waiting for the parade!  We thought we weren't going to find a seat, but a cast member opened up a new section right where we were standing 10 minutes before the parade started, and we ended up on the front row!

 Next up, Tomorrowland.  Space Mountain had quite a wait, so we got fast passes, and a stroller pass, too.  After the kids had gone on it with Scott, Xanthe was breathless with excitement.  She beged me to go on it with her, so I took Xanthe and Ruby with the stroller pass.  It was the coolest moment of the day.  I had never been on Space Mountain!  First of all, it's the coolest ride ever.  Add to that Xanthe laughing her head off in the darkness, disco music zipping us around the track.  Xanthe was so enthusiastic about it. it made the whole trip worthwhile just for that.  We decided that Disneyland was the right choice for Xanthe's trip.  Even though there are a lot of unknowns, there are parameters, unlike something like San Francisco.  At Disneyland, we could explain what was happening next, there was a map, and it was small enough for us to become somewhat familiar with, as opposed to a big city.  At every ride, Xanthe planned out whom she would ride with, who would go first, etc.  She felt pretty confident.  There were a few moments of frustration, but not many, considering we were on the go until after midnight!

 More Small World

 Tomorrowland.  This is the face that makes all the planning worth it, and we saw a lot of this face!

We had fast passes for the big fireworks show, but we were having too much fun, and we were late.  The kids couldn't see from the back of the crowd, and Scott was trying to hold Xanthe up.  Then the Xanthe Magic happened again and a cast member came up to us and led us to a roped-off area where there was room for all of us to sit down in a spot where we could see all the pyrotechnics perfectly.  The show was pretty darned amazing after that!  The grand finale was all the characters riding by on the river boat, waving, so we saw them all.  

By then, it was 10 or so, and we were thinking we might leave.  Ruby was shocked.  She said, "We would actually LEAVE when all of this was still going on without us, and we paid for it?!"  A true Dopp.  She was right!  What were we thinking!?  The last two hours were so fun!  We went on Finding Nemo with a 15-minute wait, we did all the Fantasyland rides again. that was when Star Tours and Space Mountain happened, and we decided to try to run back to the Indiana Jones ride for one last rime.  Ruby said it was her favorite ride, and she wanted to be on it when the clock struck 12 and it was her birthday.  Turned out, Ruby and I got to ride Indiana Jones three times in a row without getting off!  We could have stayed on, but it was after midnight andScott and the other kids were waiting.  It's all a blur now, but I know we were the last car out of the Mickey and Friends parking garage!  Mission accomplished!