Maddie Goes To Disneyland!!!

No need to rub your eyes - you read it correctly. We made it to Disneyland!!! We are now proud Disneyland Annual Pass holders! WOHOO!!!We've been talking about our annual passes since last February, when Brant found out he would be attending Fuller. It was only a matter of time...and Saturday turned out to be that magical day where my (our) dream came true!! Although it wasn't last minute, our decision wasn't finalized until Saturday morning. We finished getting ourselves put together, ate our lunch at home, and hopped in the car to drive over to the happiest place on earth. After we purchased our passes, had our official member ID pictures taken (yes, I have my picture on a Disneyland card!!), and made our way through the crowd (not too bad, considering it was a Saturday in August), we were enjoying our first ride at 2:30.
The button on the top of Maddie's stroller says "1st Visit!" So fun!The real question on your mind is, "How did Maddie do?" Well, I can proudly report that she was a champ! With only a short nap in the car for the day, she was spectacular. Brant and I were more than thrilled to officially introduce her to Disneyland, and she ate it up (as much as a 1-year-old can). We were pleasantly surprised at how well she did on all of the rides we took her on.The first order of business was to take her on Peter Pan, seeing as this is Brant's favorite classic ride in the park. (We couldn't have taken her on my favorite ride...Splash Mountain). It was too dark to really see the expressions on her face, but she just sat in our laps, holding onto the lap bar, moving her head around to take it all in. We proceeded with taking her on Pirates of the Caribbean, again, without so much as a peep from her. She didn't seem to mind any of the drops, splashes of water or the loud noises. It was great! Throughout the afternoon, we took her on Winnie the Pooh, It's a Small World, The Haunted Mansion, and Dumbo. Brant and I were also able to each get a ride on Splash Mountain, with less than a 2 minute wait for each of us!We didn't seek out any characters this time, but we stumbled upon Ariel, who was sort of in a secret location. Maddie immediately flashed a smile to Ariel, who lit up and said, "Oh, you are such a precious starfish!" Usually I don't seek out getting a picture with the princesses...I mean, they just look like people dressed up for a costume party, but this was a special occasion!Maddie was done with the formalities and went back to eating her crackers. :)
Maddie's Grandma Martha bought her this Minnie Mouse fleece when we visited Downtown Disney in June. It served its purpose well, and will continue to be well used on many more visits! Isn't she too cute?!
By 7:45, Maddie had crashed, leaving us with a dilemma: do we continue to play in the park, or should we be responsible parents and take our daughter home to bed? Hmm...well, you see, she was so peaceful in her stroller, that we didn't want to wake her in the transfer from the tram to the car seat, so, we decided we best keep playing...just for a little while longer. :) Brant took a ride on Thunder Mountain, while Maddie and I went to save a spot for Fantasmic! The show didn't start until 9:05, but, as you can imagine, the seating area was pretty well packed.

I asked one of the cast members if there was any point in moving forward to find a seat in the area, and she directed me over to a blue tarp where a guy had been sitting, reserving the space for anyone he felt like. He had already recruited a few other people to join him, and he decided to let us sit on his tarp as well. So nice! His spot was dead center, in front of the show, and he had been saving it since 4:30! He comes to Disneyland 3-5 times per week, just for the Fantasmic show - now that is commitment!

The show was unbelievable, just as we remembered, but the very best part was watching Maddie experience it all. She had, obviously, woken up from her "nap", and was able to thoroughly enjoy the show. I don't know if you have ever seen the show before, but there are an incredible amount of lights, loud music/sounds, enormous water screens, scary villains, and character dances. The entire show lasts about 25 minutes. Whenever a character would start dancing to the music and the beat of the drums, Maddie would wave her hands in the air and "dance" with them. And whenever a villain did an evil cackle-type laugh, Maddie would laugh hysterically with them. It was so funny! She had a huge smile on her face most of the show, and her eyes were so wide, you would have never guessed she was so tired. After Fantasmic ended, the fireworks show began, which was beautiful and a perfect way to end our night.

Needless to say, when the show was finished, she seriously looked like she hadn't slept in days. It was time for us to go home. But, we can hardly wait to come back! And the beautiful thing is, we can come back as much as we'd like!! So, if I say, "I want to go to Disneyland today!", we very well might! I love it. This is going to be the perfect "entertainment"/activity for our family. We're in for a wonderful couple of years down in Pasadena, but it will indeed have pressures and stresses that we cannot predict, particularly with Brant's doctoral work. He (we) is so excited to have this as an outlet to decompress and let go from his studies. It is really going to keep us more sane and joyful than anything. Believe it or not, these passes are truly a gift for us. A gift for our marriage and for our family.

I promise I won't blog about Disneyland every single time we go...cause you would certainly get tired of reading about the same sort of thing that often! But don't be surprised if you see them on occasion!