Our Trip to Anaheim (code for Disneyland)

Check that box off. We don't need to do that again, do we?!?

Make no mistake, Disneyland is not an inexpensive endeavor. There's always a story and this one involves muffle/wardrobe drama, food poisoning and the question, "Do you think I'll get to meet the REAL Mickey Mouse?"

It was a great day in our house when the invitation arrived. You see, when Katie started asking us about Disneyland about a year or so ago, I panicked and told her that you can't go to Disneyland unless Mickey Mouse invites you. Lo and behold, it worked. She dropped it and we weren't pestered constantly about going. Whew! But, now it was time. Time to go to Disneyland which meant that Mickey Mouse needed to invite her. And so, he did.

"Dear Katie: I've been thinking about you a lot recently. I know that you will be turning 5 years old next month. I am hoping that you can come visit me this weekend. I talked to my good friend, Snoopy, and he would like you to come visit him too. Please talk to your Mommy and Daddy. I would love to see you soon! Love - Mickey Mouse"

I'll try to post some video of her after reading the invitation. It's very funny as she runs around excited yelling, "I'm going to...um, Mommy, where am I going again?"

Well, work had to be completely obnoxious at this time, so thankfully Dan was able to take Butch and Miss Magoo to the airport. (The carseat looks fab in his BMW btw!) As I was on a call with the board of directors, Butch is texting me asking me when the next flight was and if I thought I could make that one. Well, I made the original flight with time to spare (and the directors are very happy with their insurance as well if you were wondering). The return was equally as bad as Dan got Butch and Bugs home and I went to a baseball game with another client whose CEO was actually on our same flight up from Orange County.

We spent the first day at Knott's Berry Farm which was really pretty fun. Nice kids area, no crowds, a good western skit (it had all of laughing at one point or another) and, of course, Snoopy! Yay! We even took her on Splash Mountain which wasn't so splashy, nor too mountain-y either. Juuuusssttt Riiiggghhhtt!

You can't really tell from the picture, but she's holding her Snoopy doll. She was pretty nervous to meet Snoopy (and all the characters) but this was her second time meeting Snoopy so she was a little more comfortable with him.


The covered wagon we sat in during the western show. Sorry, no clips of the show.

And, the entrance to Camp Snoopy, the kids part of Knott's Berry Farm. She LOVED the waterfall!

The only drawback to Knott's Berry Farm was the food. We must have picked the wrong place because it was terrible and I think the cause of our food poisoning later in the trip. Ick!

Disney was, well Disney. We met a lot of the characters including Mickey and Minnie. Katie never asked for any of the crazy Disney gear that we saw others wearing (I like to think she has my good taste), although I did think she needed these Minnie Mouse clips for her hair (who's good taste?!) :)


I think Disney was extreme sensory overload for her. The sights, the sounds, the characters and people...although she absolutely did notice that the characters didn't talk. I think that prompted her completely deflating question about the real Mickey Mouse. On TV he talks. Why not in person? I don't think our stammering that this was, in fact, the real Mickey Mouse was convincing at all.


We had breakfast with Minnie Mouse and the characters and that was a hit. We almost skipped it but Katie finally warmed up to the experience a little bit. When Minnie Mouse came around, she whispered in Katie's ear. I think she was admiring the Minnie "ears" but K hasn't told us what she actually said.


We rode a lot of rides, but Katie didn't fall in love with any of them and want to ride over and over and over...just once and she was done. On to the next, please. (This isn't a bad thing by any standard - especially when it comes to rides like "It's a Small World" which, yes, I have video footage of and if anyone wants to see it, I'm happy to post.)

When we asked her about the best parts of the trip, she told me (1) the makeover, meaning the face-painting and (2) the water park at the hotel. Really? I could have taken you to a street fair in Seattle for face-painting!


One final treat was getting to see Aunt D, David and Christa. Thanks for driving over to see us, guys!

Well, we can now check this item off the "Good Parent Checklist" and move onto other things, like planning birthday parties and trips to Hawaii. Thanks goodness! And if she ever wants to go back, Angie has already volunteered to take her. It's good to have friends that love Disney!