Thanksgiving with the Mouse

We had a quick trip to take in some southern California sunshine this Thanksgiving. Mike, Collin and I hopped on a plane to see the Uncles (and Auntie Virginia), Papa and Nona in Culver City. We were lucky enough to stay right next door to Chris and Todd in their friend's house. They were out of town and had a three year old so the house already came kid proofed and full of toys for Collin to explore. It was comfortable and perfect for our short stay.

Like any Hanada meal, Thanksgiving was full of deliciousness and copious amounts of food. We stuffed ourselves silly then got ready for our next day adventure to Disneyland. Mike and I unfortunately suffered the petri dish of our child so we were both trying to get over a nasty cold. Thanks to cold medicine I was determined to survive Disneyland (and Mike well he buckled through).



It has been at least ten years since I had walked inside Disneyland and it hit me with happy giddiness like being a kid. It's complete sensory overload with lights, crowds of people, many, many opportunities to arm yourselves with Disney merchandise, and of course rides. I don't think Collin was quite sure what to think.

At first he saw Chip or Dale (the giant chipmunk) and wanted a "big hug!" But alas there was a line for a big hug so we steered him another direction. A little bit of nostalgia from my childhood...the Disney characters used to walk around and spend more time greeting you and giving hugs, and now you have to stand in line to get a picture or go to a certain corner of the park. This I found a little lame, but I digress.

I spotted the Dumbo ride and we had to do that. Collin loves the swings so naturally he'd love the flying elephant. Thanks to Papa who kept him entertained while most of us stood in line for 45 minutes, we made it to the end and Collin got to fly up and down while dad snapped some pictures.

They also have a fast pass that lets you avoid most of the wait on a bunch of the rides. Thankfully we were traveling with Disney experts who knew about this...and the advantage of a large group meant that we could be waiting for one ride while someone else raced to get us fast passes for another ride. I hate standing in line and pretty much have little patience for anything over 30 minutes so this fast pass thing is pretty clever. Thanks Disney!

The park was also decked out with Christmas lights, trees and decorations so that made it even more fun and festive to take in. The weather was cool but not like the 20 degrees when we left Portland! We made it to the Jungle Cruise where Collin stared in awe at all the wild "animals."

The classic Pirates of the Caribbean ride now of course has Jack Sparrow and I still love this one. But, in retrospect it was a little scary for Collin. As the boat went into complete darkness, Collin let out a large whimper. And then when a "monster" over the waterfall screen showed up he screamed out and I started feeling really bad. Did we traumatize him, give him nightmares? Luckily he seems to not have any permanent damage. A few minutes after the ride he asked, "Again?"

He also helped drive a race car, played around in Toon Town (and could run through the houses over and over). I had to get him the souvenir Mickey hat with his name stitched on it which he promptly threw off. The Pooh Ride was also lots of fun for him (and clearly the designers were on acid). And, we had a loud dinner complete with live music which was entrancing.

Thanks to Papa, we also went on big people rides like Indiana Jones, Thunder Mountain Railroad and the Haunted Mansion (Christmas style). I was a little bummed to miss Space Mountain but was not interested in standing in a 2 hour line and the Matterhorn was closed down for maintenance.



Collin made it without any huge meltdowns and was wide eyed the whole time. We made it to past 6pm when he finally conked out and we headed home. Next time I'm sure Collin will be a lot more excited about the magic of Disney, but I'm glad we were able to take him. And THANKFUL we had supportive family with us. If it had been just me and Mike, surviving the whole day there would've been impossible and we would've missed out on any rides past 35 inches.



It really is magical knowing that he thought all this was real. And now that I've been re-engaged, we'll have to be back soon because we missed out on a Small World, Peter Pan, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride and more! And apparently California Adventure is opening a "Car's Land" next year. I foresee a fourth birthday adventure in our future.