Hanging with Mickey and Friends

This past weekend we finally took the kids to see Disneyland. It had been building up for the past month or so--hardly a day went by without the twins watching one of the Disney Princesses on DVD. Their favorite was Ariel, followed by Belle, then Cinderella, and then finally Aurora (because the kids had only recently started watching Sleeping Beauty). They were also big fans of the New Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, complete with a new theme song from They Might Be Giants. Hot Dog!

PJ and I were also keen on seeing the Pirates of the Caribbean ride, due to the fact that it had been remodeled to tie up with the movie.

We broke down and got two four-day passes from Costco--at $119 per pass, it was a bargain, considering that a single-day ticket was $79. Kids 3 and younger were free.

We got to the park at 4pm. We figured that this would be plenty of time to see what we wanted to see, since the Park closed at 11pm. The smaller crowds and the cooler temperature were also a plus.

We decide to watch the Snow White mini-play first. Unfortunately, we were unable to catch the 4:15 show, so we had to waste some time until the next show, which was at 5:30. To kill time, we went to the It's a Small World attraction, since the lines were relatively short. So we lined up, and waited.

And waited. Whoops, the ride broke down. And it was only 4:45! We decided to head to Toontown to see Mickey Mouse's house. No lines! So we walk in...and hit a line. By 5:15 we were this close to meeting Mickey Mouse, but no luck. We had to leave if we wanted to catch Snow White. So, we leave and proceed to the ampitheatre to watch Snow White's Scary Adventure.

It was pretty much the cartoon, except with Live! actors. Snow White was a cutie, but here face was a bit long. The dwarves were rather tall; I'd say they were my height (if not a bit taller). Then again, from an American standpoint, that's probably short. The Magic Mirror, though, was pretty awesome; the wicked stepmother was cool. The stage production of Beauty and the Beast still beats this, though.

We then went back to It's a Small World to find that the ride was now up and running. I wish it had stayed down; that was seriously annoying. I was ready to jump out of the boat and start ripping up displays.

After escaping from that creepshow we staked our claim to a prime spot to watch the parade. Once the music started the kids hid their faces, but when Ariel came out they got interested, and just proceeded to watch (Amelie got scared by the Ursula float though).

Ursula, the "o-pus" as the kids call her

Unfortunately, the girl who played Ariel wasn't as attractive as the one who played her the last time I went and saw the parade. The other princesses weren't so great either; I'd say Alice was the prettiest of the lot.

After the parade was over we went and had dinner. Of course, the price of food at Disney is off the charts. We pretty much had classic kids food--mozzarella sticks, chicken strips and fish and chips. We spent around $30 for the carcinogenic nightmare. The good thing was that I managed to find a seat fronting the Rivers of America--a primo spot to watch the Fantasmic! show. The kids, of course, hid their faces again--but once I pointed out the Disney princesses in their barges, they began to watch.

Jack in Night Vision!

As a finale, we went and rode the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction just to see what changes they made to match the movies. They've added Jack Sparrow in various areas (three in all), and the dummies look amazingly like the real deal. Sadly, no Keira. Davy Jones and Captain Barbossa do make appearances, though.

After that, it was 10:30pm! We headed home.

I'd say the twins' first trip to Disneyland was a moderate success. We'll see how they react to California Adventure, which would be our next stop.

Photos by me. All characters are owned by Disney, except of course for Mommy and Camille.