the non-racing parts of our Disneyland weekend

So while we went down to Disneyland for the weekend so I could do this…

… we also got a chance to enjoy the parks a bit both before and after the race.

On Saturday, we assembled quite a gaggle of a group, with friends F & T (with their kids F & E) from LA, CM & W from our hood, and BFF Auds jumping in at the end as well. What this really translates into as the parent of a toddler is that Miss L had a lot of people to entertain her while waiting for certain attractions, and we had some free arms at points throughout the day as well. And Disneyland is always so much fun when you’re experiencing your loves of the park with people experiencing it for the first time!

Miss L was a big fan of my medal, and she really wanted to wear all  5 lbs of it around the park at every opportunity.

On Monday, we used our tickets for a “Magic Morning” to get into the park an hour early… and because of it being off-season, this is the Disneyland we encountered:

That would be a lovely and empty Disneyland full of rides just waiting for an impatient little toddler to jump on and off of!

We walked right on Alice In Wonderland, the Mad Tea Party, Finding Nemo, Dumbo and the Storybook Canal ride within the span of 60 minutes.

Then, since it was only 10:30am, we decided to wait in line to meet the Princesses. While Miss L is only acquainted with a few of their movies, her diapers and sippy cups have helped her name and identify all of them with precision (hello scary marketing tactics!).

The Princess Fantasy Faire is nicely tucked away near Toontown and the “Royal Walk” allows each visitor some very nice one-on-one time with each of 3 princesses.

We thought she’d be insanely happy to meet Cinderella, since that’s pretty much her favorite word right now, but according to her memory, her favorite princess was Snow White. She did warm up enough so that she ran up to, and hugged, Aurora at the end as well… so we’ll count this as a successful meet and greet with royalty.

Afterwards, we stopped by Mickey’s house to snap a photo as well. Miss L, however was disapointed about the lack of presence of a certain canine companion. “Where Pluto go?” was the first thing she asked Mickey. No, “Hi Mickey!” or anything like that. She didn’t enjoy our explanation that Pluto was in his dog house down the way… which might be why she chose not to smile in the photo… hmm…

So while lots of things in Disneyland were just about Miss L’s size…

… there were still lots of rides she didn’t get to experience just quite yet.

But that’s ok, because I’m sure we’ll be back sooner than we know it and maybe she’ll grow to 35” by then….

“Bye bye Disneyland!”