GFR: Disneyland

Disneyland is magic. Even at 32. I felt it. I felt it the second we got off our bus and were greeted with the Indiana Jones theme song. And then as we entered the park the music switched to the music from Up. And I was so happy.

I had really low expectations for a day at Disney with a one and two year old. It seemed like it might be a disaster waiting to happen. But it was pure joy. The kids did great, we paced ourselves well and checked in with each other regularly, "how are you doing? do we need to stop for a snack?"

A favorite moment is from that top picture. We walked up the little hill into Toon Town and Rory said, "look at how high that back drop goes." And for just a moment he really thought that blue sky was a part of the set. But no, that blue sky was just the perfect California day we were living in.

We took our time, unlike that guy running next to me. He must have forgotten his family at the entrance or something.

Before we left I read all sorts of blogs with advice on "how to do Disney with a toddler." One of them even added, "and heaven help you if you have a baby too." But it was perfect. Fantasyland has a lot of kiddy rides and Ivar was loving it. Elsie too. There is just so much to look at.

Plus, I can't really do fast rides ever since my episode of Vertigo. Even jumping on a trampoline made me horribly ill a few weeks ago, so Space Mountain wasn't even an option. Casey Junior is more my speed.

We met up with the whole family for It's a Small World, the definite highlight of our day. And then we went on Peter Pan with everyone.

Rory and I left for lunch and slowly our children began to fade away. They took turns napping, so that rides weren't an option. So we walked all over the park, people watching.

At 3:30 we could see our day was coming to an end. Both kids had hit their wall. Not bad for having been in the park by 8:15. So we went back to the hotel for naps. Below is Ivar sound asleep in a gift shop.

And thanks to Mimi and Papa, once the kids were down for the night, Rory and I got to go back to the park until midnight. We went on Star Tours, Pirates of the Caribbean, the Haunted House and Jungle Tours. Oh, and the Tiki Room. And got to see the fireworks and fantasmic. That Walt had a good idea when he was dreaming up Disneyland.