Disneyland - Day Five

So today we got a chance to say "Goodbye" to Disneyland. I still think the 5-Day Park Hopper was a great idea, but it was a lot of Disney. I expected Marina to be sick of it all. During the day she said she wanted to go home. Then she'd say she never wanted to leave. Go figure.

It was great timing for Marina to have her princess makeover, or so I thought. She wouldn't even go into the Bibbity Bobbity Boutique with me. So I wondered if we should forget it. But eventually, she stopped sulking and followed me in. They were running a bit behind, so Marina picked out the Jasmine costume while we waited. It was so cute, it even jingled when she walked. When it was finally her turn, she put the costume on and sat in the stylist's chair. She chose everything in blue to go with her costume - even the hair extension. The stylist we had, Kathy, seemed spend a long time brushing her hair, something Marina hates. But she endured it like a princess should. While her hair was being arranged, another stylist, Danielle, put make up and nail polish on her. She loved that! All the time, everyone called her "Princess." She looked so cute when she was done. She even got a mini photo session where she posed with a carriage. She often calls our car a "carriage," so I'm sure a real one was exciting.

We were both starving after that, so I picked up a turkey leg on Main Street for us to split. Marina really loved that. (In fact, she wanted one for dinner as well.) We hadn't been to Adventureland for a few days, so we went back there. We visited the Enchanted Tiki Room and the Jungle Cruise again. On the Jungle Cruise, we met a mother with her two year-old. She told me her daughter was very excited because she thought Marina was Jasmine. So cute!

Marina told me she wanted a drink with ice cream in it. I finally figured out she wanted a milkshake. Turns out, you can't get a milkshake at Disneyland. We checked California Adventure with no luck. So Marina settled for chocolate ice cream with sprinkles. While we were there, we checked out the Playhouse Disney show. Marina really enjoyed it.

Marina wanted to ride It's A Small World again, so we went back to Disneyland. We went through Fantasyland riding all of her favorite rides: Dumbo, King Arthur's Carousel, the Storybook Boats. When Marina said she was ready to leave, I had her say goodbye to everything including Sleeping Beauty's Castle, the rides, her favorite display windows. I hoped it would help her understand that our vacation was over.

At the hotel, she wanted to go swimming again. A good way to relax and get ready to go home tomorrow.

Disneyland - Day One

We arrived in Los Angeles last night and started our Disneyland "celebration" today. Marina was so excited she could hardly stand it. She chose to wear her Belle dress today. At the ticket window I got more than just our Park Hopper, I was given a button for Marina that said "It's My First Visit." She wore it happily.

When we entered at the gates, Marina saw the train and wanted to ride it. So we took a trip to Fantasyland. Then we tried "It's a Small World." She loved finding all the Disney characters inside. We wandered a bit around Fantasyland and took a ride on King Arthur's Carousel. She picked out a horse with a pink saddle and roses. The attendant took the time to stop and tell Marina she was on the lead horse whose name was Jingles. She felt so special!

We headed over to California Adventure for a very important lunch. We went to Ariel's Grotto for lunch with the Princesses. As we entered the dining room, each child had their picture taken with Ariel. Marina was so excited because Ariel is her favorite princess. We were seated and we ordered our lunch. It was pretty fancy - complete with antipasto appetizers! As we ate, Cinderella, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty and Belle were introduced into the dining room. Marina was so excited to meet each of them, especially Belle whose dress she wore. A page named Tyler talked with us a bit and agreed to take pictures with me in them too.After lunch we stayed around California Adventure. Marina wanted to ride the large Ferris Wheel. It was a long line, but she was willing to wait for it. Then we found King Triton's Carousel. There was no line, so we got on it quickly. She was even happier to hear we could stay on it for another ride. So we did. We found Bug Land and Marina found lots to do there. She got soaking wet in the water park. Fortunately, the Belle dress dried quickly. The lines were long for the Bug Land rides, but she enjoyed her turns on them.

Our last stop of the day was the Aladdin show on the Hollywood Backlot. That was something I wanted to do. The show was fantastic. Marina especially loved the magic carpet scene where it flew over the audience.

By the time that was over, we were both pretty tired and decided to call it a day. We went back to the hotel and swam in the pool. She made a new friend named Zoe. We all watched the Disney fireworks together from the hotel balcony. Too bad they leave tomorrow.