For the past couple of years Riley pretty much eats, sleeps and breathes all things princess and from the first time that she saw a picture of the Disney castle she has talked about getting go there someday to meet the princesses. At the beginning of February, Kris had a business trip planned to southern California that gave the girls and I the perfect reason to tag along....Disneyland!
The girls and I flew out to Orange County on Wednesday night and we spent the next morning hanging out at Kris' hotel while he finished up some work. Lucky for us there was a lake right outside and even better were the duck food dispensers to keep us busy feeding the ducks for a while. We spent part of our trip with a couple who work with Kris and live in Orange County, they were amazing hosts and tour guides for the weekend. Cory and Nicole also have 3 year old twins and a 1 year old who were the perfect playmates for our girls.
Thursday afternoon we decided to see a little bit of L.A., so we hit the Santa Monica Pier for lunch and then headed to Hollywood to check out the Walk of Fame. We really wanted to take Riley out on the beach for a little bit and maybe let her get her feet wet, but it was so cold that day that we just decided to look at the ocean from afar.
Friday was our first day at Disneyland and sadly it was pouring rain and freezing cold, so we before we got to the park we had to make a pit stop for ponchos and a rain cover for the stroller. All outfitted to keep her princess dress dry, we made it to the park and we were so excited for Riley's first glimpse of the castle. As we walked up to the castle, Cinderella was standing in the courtyard so we rushed around to meet her. Riley's reaction to meeting her very first princes was just about the sweetest thing I have ever seen, I literally had tears in my eyes watching her.
As a special surprise for Riley, I booked an appointment at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique for princess makeovers, the 2nd cutest thing ever! Riley had her very own Fairy Godmother in training who made her over into a little princess, she picked her own hairstyle, make-up, nail polish and bling. At the end of their makeover, they turn their chair around to face some curtains and after a few magic words, a couple of little birds pull back the curtain to reveal a mirror and they can see themselves for the first time, it really doesn't get much better than that. She was in heaven!
Back into the rain, we took the little princess on her first rides and we got to meet a few characters and of course more princesses along the way. We knew that Riley was going to love everything about Disney, but we had no idea how much Piper would love it too. She was so excited about the characters, she smiled at them and touched them...totally fascinated. The rides were also a huge hit! Piper was not one bit scared which was not the case for Riley at the beginning, but after a little convincing she agreed to give the Peter Pan ride a try and then it was all over, she couldn't get enough!
Our 2nd day was still cold, but dry and we decided to do the California Adventure park which is right next to Disneyland. They have some of the Toy Story, Cars and Little Mermaid stuff and we had made lunch reservations for Ariel's Grotto, where the princesses come around to your table to meet you personally. After our yummy lunch, we made it around to meet some more characters, ride a few rides and caught a couple of parades. The Disneyland parade was amazing! I think that it was one our most favorite things.
We stayed our last 2 nights at the Disneyland hotel and it was awesome to be so close to the park and to have a little time with just the 4 of us. For our last day we got to start off our morning with an extra hour in the park before it opened to the public, it was amazing to have virtually no lines to wait in. We had done and seen so much at this point, so we had a much more laid back day and decided that Riley had built her confidence enough that we could try out some of the more daring rides like Pirates of the Caribbean and the Haunted Mansion.
Riley was totally bummed that the Tea Cup ride wasn't open, but we got to sit in one of the tea cups anyway...not really the same, but not nausea inducing.
Piper LOVED Minnie Mouse!
By the end of our 3 days we had been on so many rides, caught some amazing shows and parades and met so many of our favorite characters. By far and away the most important thing of all for Miss Riley was that she got to meet every one of the princesses. It was such a fabulous family vacation and while we were sad to leave, we were definitely too exhausted to stay another day and so we headed home with lots of amazing memories!
