We knew a few months ago that we wanted to have a Mickey Mouse themed birthday party for Makena, since she adores the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse tv show and loves all things Mickey. We also really wanted to take her to Disneyland, but we weren't sure when or how we'd make that happen with it being so expensive. Then my mom said she was getting a check soon (from her late father's lawsuit or something) and would put $1,000 towards a trip for Makena. I knew I could definitely get us all there for that much! I got on the ball right away and thanks to mom's AAA discount, we booked a 3 night stay at a Disney property hotel and had 3 day park hopper tickets. Our package also came with some fun extras- a phone call from Mickey and Minnie saying they were excited to see us soon, FastPasses, preferred seating at a few shows, lanyards and pins, and the thing we were most looking forward to- passes to get in to Mickey's Toontown Morning Madness! I had originally assumed we'd stay at a good neighbor hotel, and only get 2 day park tickets, but there was a huge promotion due to it being the low season and so we got an amazing deal. I'd never stayed at a Disney hotel, (well, aside from the regular value ones in WDW) and though I REALLY wanted the Disneyland Hotel, the best price was for the Paradise Pier, so that's what we booked!
To prep for this once in a lifetime trip I started showing Makena videos of Disneyland. I wanted her to be familiar with it, and excited to be there. We watched a lot of podcasts and Youtube clips. We looked at photos from when we went to Disneyland when she was only 4 months old. We looked at photos of friends Disney vacations. I was building up the excitement level to near combustion! And it worked!
We hit the road a bit after 8 am. My mom sat in the back with Makena and they played and read books and snacked and sang songs (and watched some Mickey Mouse Clubhouse of course). We were all wondering how Makena would do without a diaper, that's a long car ride, our ETA was 2:23 pm. Makena didn't mention needing to pee at all, so we pushed on till lunch time, and stopped at noon in Wheeler Ridge. We ate and then Makena used the potty in the parking lot next to our car, even though she insisted she didn't have to go. She and I ran around a bit in the grass while Pam fueled up the car. We got back in the car and I sat in back to nurse her, and just like planned she fell asleep. She woke up when we were just pulling off the freeway, it was perfect! We pulled up to the hotel at 2:20. Pam got us there in record time, considering we stopped for about an hour!!
I opened my door to get out and Makena could see through to the lobby, and said "DOOF!!" when she saw the Goofy statue. I was almost in tears already, I was so excited!
We unloaded and I checked us in, and Makena was given a balloon and a coloring booklet and crayons, plus a special photo signed "Happy Birthday Makena, love Mickey." I asked if there were any upgrades (and explaining how exciting this trip was for us and my mom bought it thanks to an inheritance and we were celebrating my daughter's 2nd birthday and she was newly potty trained and survived a 6.5 hour car trip without any accidents, haha) lo and behold we got upgraded to a park view room! YAY! Our trip was already super amazing and it had only just begun! We were on the 9th floor, all the way at the end. We had a great view of California Adventure, and to the left side we could see the Matterhorn in Disneyland. The room was really cute, Makena loved the beach ball pillow and surf board lamp. And the Mickey lifeguard lamp, which she immediately pointed out was missing his black nose. Lol.
We quickly freshened up and changed and headed to Disneyland! I love this photo that I took as Makena and Pam entered The Happiest Place On Earth! She was so happy (we all were!) to finally be in "DEEE!!"
As we walked up Main Street we noticed a parade was about to start, so we found a spot and watched Mickey's Soundsational Parade! Makena kept hearing Mickey's voice announcing the parade was starting, and she was looking for him and was SO thrilled to see all her Mickey friends as they went by on the floats!
The plan for that evening was to ride it's a small world because it was closing tomorrow to take down all the holiday decorations. We were so thankful to be there when crowds were so low, rides (yeah, I know, they are technically attractions, but I'm calling them rides) had about 10 minute wait times, some much less! Makena was in awe during the boat ride, she pointed out all sorts of stuff and soaked in everything.
We got off and she was sad, so we quickly got on the train for a round trip journey. She started to get antsy, wanting milk and I knew she was getting tired and hungry. We rode iasw again and she bought a little iasw boat toy for the bath tub. Makena saw Dumbo as we were walking to dinner so since the line was so short (we only had to wait 1 turn!) she and I went on. She had a blast making us fly up and down. We had dinner reservations for Cafe Orleans, and Makena mentioned needing to use the potty so I got our table and Pam and Grandmo tried to get Makena to pee on the tiny travel potty we borrowed. No luck, she apparently screamed and wouldn't sit down at all. We rushed back to the hotel to watch World Of Color from our room, and it was really awesome. We didn't even get to see the animated projections, but just the lights and music and fountains were amazing! Then we went to the roof top to watch the fireworks. Makena was exhausted by then and just wanted to nurse and sleep, so we went right to bed as soon as they were over.
The weather forecast was looking like rain, so we decided to not to to the parks on Monday the 23rd. And we made a great choice, it rained almost the whole day. Instead we had our Character breakfast at Surf's Up with Mickey. I was glad that Makena's first interaction with Mickey would be in a relaxed atmosphere. We got to the restaurant and she saw Pluto walking around and was so excited to go in. We met Mickey right away and took a photo. Makena gave him a hug and we got our food and started eating. It was yummy, but we were too busy being excited to eat much!
Pluto came over and pretended to drink from Makena's straw. Big laughs from Makena, and she's STILL talking about it! Goofy came over and she was a little scared, I think she was thrown off by him wearing a different outfit. He was in his surf gear, but then again so was Mickey. She didn't want to say hello to him though, so we didn't push it! She really liked Pluto and his starfish on his collar. This was my first ever character breakfast, and it was totally worth every single penny. I will always do them from now on!! It was so great how they all took their time to really get to know and interact with us. Again, we were lucky it wasn't crowded, because it felt so unrushed and was such a positive experience! The only negative was that I specifically picked this one because they do a little show where you can get up and dance and participate, but they said they weren't doing it today because of the rain. (Um, but we were indoors?!) They said instead they were sending the characters around twice, so we did get a lot of one-on-one time with each one. It felt like every 5 minutes someone was at our table, much to our delight!
Makena and I got up to get more food from the buffet, and we spotted Minnie walking in. Makena was almost squealing with joy. She ran up and gave her a huge hug, almost knocking her over. She also gave her a kiss on her nose, and right afterwards she turned around to me and was beaming! My phone camera sucks indoors though, so most of my photos were blurry or washed out with brightness. Next Disney trip I vow to have a better camera with me!!
My mom ordered her a little birthday cake that came in a pink treasure chest with a hand mirror. Some cast members came over to sing a happy birthday song, and Makena loved the Mickey head shaped sprinkles.
Stitch came by, and he noticed all the commotion and that we were celebrating Makena's birthday. He reached over to the middle of the table then gave her a jelly packet as if it was a birthday gift. It was very cute. We adults were laughing but Makena just seemed a little confused, lol.
Then Minnie came to our table, and Makena showed her her little Minnie doll, and her Minnie shirt. Makena's shoe fell off under the table and Minnie put it back on for her. Makena was in heaven! She told Minnie that Pluto drank from her cup, and then Makena said, "Minnie no drink. Only Pluto drink." Then Makena gave Minnie big hugs and as Minnie left Makena pointed out the Minnie picture on wall and Minnie copied it which Makena thought was hilarious. (Wow that was a lot of M names.)
We said good bye, and then did some shopping in the hotel store. We got 2 ponchos so we could walk around in the rain. We also exchanged some of Makena's birthday Disney gift cards for Disney Dollars, which she thought were so cool. They even had birthday cake and balloons on them. I ran up to the room to grab a phone charger, while Pam, mom, and Makena watched some Mickey cartoons in the kids movie room. Then we explored Downtown Disney and did more shopping! We had a delicious lunch, and Makena peed in the bathroom with me, thankfully. I was so proud of her! When the balloon animal lady came to our table we let Makena pick, and she wanted Pluto.
After lunch Makena and I went back to the room for her nap, and she fell asleep and recharged her battery. Pam bought a belt since she forgot hers at home, and my mom went geocaching. When Makena woke up we headed back out and went to look at the Disneyland Hotel store and pool area. I wish it had been nicer weather, the pool seemed so fun! Then again if it was nice weather we would have been busy in the parks! Makena loved seeing Mickey everywhere. She wanted a photo taken with these bushes.
We spent some time in the bookstore then got a treat at the bakery. I think one of the best parts of this trip was that we really let Makena pick whatever she wanted the majority of the time. You want a $5 cookie because it's dressed like Mickey? Sure! It's not often that we get to so blatantly spoil her, and it was awesome.
Pam and Makena have a photo by this same Lego Woody from our last visit. Makena loved playing with the sample Lego's they had out, I think Lego's are my favorite toy hands down from my childhood!
We went back to the hotel for dinner and made more squished pennies before going to our room. We love to collect these cheap fun souvenirs wherever we go.
Makena loved hopping on and "popping" the bubbles on the carpets in our hotel, especially the hidden Mickey bubbles!!
We got our morning wake up call from Mickey and rushed out the door to wait in line for our extra Magic Morning hour, meaning we (along with plenty of other people, though it was way less people than the general public!) got to enter the park at 9am instead of 10am when they officially opened. It was the most gorgeous day! We passed Jamba Juice on our way to the entrance plaza and grabbed some breakfast, then waited in a short line for the gates to open. It's always exciting to go through the turnstiles into Disneyland, but I find it completely thrilling to be there when they first open. The crowd gets to count down and then you hear the little magical chime sounds as the first guests enter. It reminds me of that same feeling I get in a Broadway theater as the lights dim, the orchestra starts to play and the curtain goes up. Exhilarating! Oh, the fun that awaits!!
We headed straight to Fanstasyland and went on Peter Pan's Flight, then Dumbo and the carousel, followed by the Alice in Wonderland ride. It was fun to go on rides I've always seen but never ridden, I really thought the Alice ride was cute!
Makena and her Grandmo on Dumbo! This wasn't part of my touring plan, (yep, I'm that kind of person who likes to plan out which things to ride and when!) but there was hardly a line and Makena asked to go on with her, so off they went! When else do you get to wait 5 minutes for Dumbo?!?! My mom, who is not a ride person, was such a trooper! I'm sure she felt safer knowing she had her nose plug in her pocket, just in case the elephants crashed into that foot of water. I'm not even kidding right now, she honestly keeps a nose plug on her. lol!
Then we waited in our first real line, about 20 minutes for the Finding Nemo submarines.
This is one of my favorite unique to Disneyland attractions. When they revamped the subs and put the Nemo parts in, they really outdid themselves in true Disney fashion! Luckily I know about the scarier scenes, so I distracted Makena a couple times and she never noticed. Can't say the same for my mom unfortunately, and she jumped and banged her knee pretty bad. :(
I hope whoever had the idea for the seagulls got a raise. They are so cute and funny, randomly shouting out "mine!"
Next was the teacups, they had been closed temporarily earlier, so we made our way back to them and Makena was in heaven. Neither my mom nor Pam are into spin rides, even though I didn't spin the teacup at all. In fact I spent the whole time trying to make sure we didn't spin, because I was worried Makena would hate that. Little did I know!! She was happy we got the pink teacup. I think she originally wanted a different color but we were the last ones in.
We went on the Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters, and had a literal blast! In defense of my score, I think I was too busy trying to see how Makena was doing to concentrate too much... ;) Though I can't understand how Pam got such a high score while sitting next to her, lol.
Then we walked across the park to Critter Country, a land I tend to never visit past Splash Mountain! But we were in search for the Winnie the Pooh ride, and it was so fun and Makena loved it so much that I'm positively kicking myself for not riding it more than once. There was absolutely NO line. We should have gone right back on once the ride was over!!!! Why didn't we?! Well, we spotted Tigger and Pooh and got in line for photos, that's why. :) Makena didn't want to see Tigger, only Pooh, but the line went to Tigger first. As we passed she wanted to say hi.
She wanted me to put her down and hug Pooh. So Pooh bear knelt down and Makena stood there and gave him the longest hug ever. The people in line were too busy oohing and ahhing over how cute she was that they didn't mind how much time she was taking. This hug went on so long it was hilarious, Makena was frozen, she didn't want to let go!
And then we were starving and Makena (okay fine, I won't blame her... I) was about to have a hunger meltdown so we went to eat. On the way to the Pizza Port we grabbed a hot corn on the cob. My mom ran back to the hotel to get her sunglasses. Pam, Makena and I ate our yummy meal and I charged my phone. The battery was running down like crazy from all the photos I was snapping. As we got our food Makena spotted these souvenir cups and wanted one. Normally I'd say no, who needs an $8 plastic cup for goodness sake? Especially when she was only going to have water in it, not the soda refills it came with! But it was her birthday trip and we had extra money from gifts so we let her have it. And now I love it, because it has the teacups on it which were her favorite!
While we were eating Makena said she needed to pee, so I took the little potty to an unused corner and tried to have her go but she refused, so we rushed like crazy to the nearest bathroom which was a pain to get to through the crowds. Biggest crowds I saw our whole trip. I guess everyone just likes to hang out between the Pizza Port and the bathroom by Space Mountain! Lol. I was worried she was going to pee in my arms! We got into a stall and again she flipped out crying and saying "no pee! no pee!" but I knew she had to go, she hadn't since the morning at the hotel. Oh well. I was frustrated and knew she'd pee when she had to, no point in trying to force her! We just left the restaurant and hoped for the best.
As we were leaving Disneyland to meet my mom in the entrance plaza so we could go to California Adventure, we spotted Mickey walking by. We got a quick photo, first ones in line! Makena wasn't looking but she did happily show him her Minnie doll! Then we saw Donald and Makena loved him so much!
At California Adventure they were doing a major remodel so that was kinda a bummer, being redirected around what will soon be a very awesome area. They are hard at work for sure, and even though there was construction and lots of boarded up places, it still held it's Disney charm! I can't wait to go back and see what they've done, not to mention the new Cars Land!! We headed to Toy Story Midway Mania, but passed by the empty line of the new Little Mermaid ride, so we went on. It was so cute and fun, and Makena loved it! She sings, "un sea, un sea!" instead of "under the sea."
On our way to TSMM we passed some PhotoPass photographers.
Then we saw Mickey in his captain/sailor outfit and took a few more photos.
Before we got in line for TSMM, we let Makena pick out an ice cream treat. She chose the Mickey ice cream sandwich. She wouldn't move it far from her mouth. The line moved quickly and she was sad to stop eating it. I put it in a baggie for later.
After the ride, happily eating the rest of the ice cream, lol.
I found a quiet empty outdoor eating area that had an outlet, so I nursed Makena and sat and charged my phone while she napped. I transferred her to her stroller after 30 minutes and she didn't wake up. My mom and I rode Soarin', then Pam and I rode Monsters Inc. We exited and saw Makena had woken, and she and Grandmo were busy making more pennies. She happily ate a Mickey soft pretzel and we explored the Animation building. The Toy Story spinning Zoetrope was awesome.
Eating a Mickey pretzel for a snack while we killed time waiting for the Playhouse Disney show!
This was another highlight, and I wish we had gone twice!! A fun interactive show with puppets and dancing and surprises that fell from the ceiling.
After Playhouse Disney we hurried over to the pier side again but we missed the toy story character Meet & Greet. So Makena went on the Fish Carousel, and my mom taught her how to jump over lines in the sidewalk as we walked to Bugs land.
My mom showed Makena how to jump over the cracks in the sidewalk, and Makena was so cute hopping as we walked.
We went to the A Bug's Life area, where I'd never been before. It is meant to make guests feel small as bugs, with huge juice boxes and stuff all around. It has a bunch of little rides, a cute Heimlich caterpillar "train" that pretends to eat through different foods, and there are different scents wafting through the air as you go by. Makena really wanted to ride on the little bumper cars but she was too short by just a smidgen. She kept saying, "me too yilll, get biiiig!" So we went on these ladybugs instead.
I saw them spinning like the tea cups, so we sat down expecting the same ride. But these spin all on their own, the wheel in the middle doesn't move. We were flinging all over the place and I panicked but Makena was laughing hysterically. Thankfully she was loving it! Then as we exited I saw the sign that says you have to sit in the very middle to stop spinning. We rode it again and spun very fast, laughing the whole time! We also went on the flying box ride and sat in a Chinese take out container, lol. Pam hadn't been feeling too well so she sat out a lot of the rides. And my mom doesn't like too many rides and I think taking her on Soarin' was a tad traumatic! She kept gasping and jumping, it was funny but I felt terrible and worried that she was miserable!
After that we hopped into Disneyland again. We wanted to watch the parade at night time and see The Magic, The Memories, and You! at it's a small world. As we walked on to Main Street we spotted Minnie Mouse and waited in a short line to say hi. Makena ran up when it was her turn and gave a huge hug, then showed Minnie her little Minnie doll. The Minnie seemed quite smitten with Makena, she spent a long time loving on her! She liked her outfit and kept hugging her. :)
While we waited for the parade Makena and I went on the tea cups twice. She was having so much fun, and so was I! What a magical memory indeed!
She loved the parade (again).
And then we watched The Magic, the Memories, and You. It was unbelievably cool. The facade of it's a small world is projected with a bunch of fascinating animations, and music plays and it shows tons of photos that were taken of guests that day. We didn't spot any of us, but that's okay. Just watching it was really really awesome. And there were fireworks at the end! The park closed and we headed back to the hotel.
I stopped to get some pretzels in Downtown Disney for our dinner and Pam took Makena upstairs and gave her a bath so she could play with her new it's a small world boat tub toy.
We woke up early and packed up the car and checked out of the hotel. :( I'd love to go back during a warmer month and spend some time at the pool. Then we rushed to grab breakfast, I got eggs and pancakes for Makena and she ate them as we waited for Disneyland to open.
The gates opened 30 minutes early, so we got wait at the front of the rope drop. It was my first time ever seeing that happen! Makena traded a pin with a cast member, she wanted the Minnie marching band one and gave him the free Cars one we got with our AAA package.
When the rope dropped we hurried to Toontown, and we were one of first families in! It was completely empty! We saw Pluto and Goofy right away, they were dancing and being silly. Makena gave hugs and then we saw Minnie.
We waited behind only one person then Makena ran to her and gave a hug. Right away Minnie pointed to Makena and nodded her head, and after we said bye the cast member escort approached us and said Minnie selected us to be the Honorary Family of Toontown! We were shocked and thrilled! She told us that when the show started we could sit in the reserved table in front.
We went to explore a bit before the show, we took a look at Goofy's house, it was fun to see all the interactive things to play with in each of the houses.
Then it was time for the show! Makena and I had watched clips of this online, but to see all her favorite friends singing and dancing was SO exciting!
We watched for a bit and then they called us up on stage. I was nervous that Makena was going to get overwhelmed and cry, but she did fine! They gave us sashes to wear and my mom introduced us and Mickey gave Makena a special certificate.
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The cast member who had told us we were selected used my phone to take a video for us. Makena loves to watch it!
We ran into the cast member escort again and she said that Minnie told her backstage that she had remembered hugging Makena last night and knew she wanted to pick us as the Honorary Family. :) Then we went to Minnie's house, Mickey's house, then Chip & Dale's tree house. Minnie's was the most fun, Makena especially liked the dishwasher in her kitchen! We went in the shop to get Makena Mickey ears with her name on the hat, but she wasn't into it so we decided not to spend the money on them. She was happy with more pressed coins!
We had lunch at the Pizza Port again, and then took photos with the castle and statue.
Then we went on the Jungle Cruise, and I ate a Dole whip float. I wish we had gone back to the Winnie the Pooh ride, but we felt a tad rushed since we wanted to go into California Adventure and meet the Toy Story characters, then hit the road and head home. So we left Disneyland and took a photo by the Mickey flowers in front.
In CA we rode The Little Mermaid ride again since there was absolutely no line at all (as I type this Makena is watching the "lil mer may" movie, it's become a favorite since this ride!)
We went to Toy Story Midway Mania, but the ride was closing down temporarily so we killed some time on the fish carousel, and Makena stayed there with my mom while Pam and I went on the California Screamin' roller coaster.
After that the line for the TSMM was long, we waited a little more than 50 minutes. Makena was getting antsy, I'm so glad we had such short lines our whole trip!! We saw Jessie walk by and Makena was waving and we told her we'd go meet her after the ride. Makena said "and hug too!" she was just SO cute the whole trip. She was so excited and as well behaved as always. I love her so much, and I'm so incredibly thankful that my mom made this trip possible!! Anyone who thinks taking a toddler to Disney is a waste clearly doesn't have a toddler as awesome as ours. ;)
Makena had a total blast on the ride this time, she wore her 3D glasses and loved it!!
Then we met with the Toy Story friends, Buzz, Jessie, then Woody. They took turns coming out for 20 minutes each, and the cast members loved Makena so much that instead of making us get in line after each one they let us stand aside so we could be first when the next one was ready. :) Makena was being silly and making funny faces with Woody, and then he copied her.
We went to Bugs land, saw Minnie again...
...shared another pretzel, watched the Muppet's 3D show, and went to Turtle Talk with Crush. Makena wasn't impressed, she asked for milk so we got up and sat in some seats in the back while she nursed. Then she heard a little girl say it was her birthday, and she said, "Ken bir!" (Makena's birthday) and ran to the front. The show was mostly over then, so we left and went on the Monsters Inc ride. She liked to point out Boo each time she saw her. Then we took a photo with Jake (from the Never Land Pirates show) just to show her buddies Ian and Colin at home.
It was getting late, and we had to hit the road. Time to leave the parks. Booooo!! By the time we pulled on to the freeway it was 6pm. Rush hour in LA, awful timing!! I was driving, and as we were in traffic Makena said she had to pee. So we told her that since she had a diaper on (I thought she'd sleep on the drive so we put one on her) it was okay for her to pee, but she freaked out and wouldn't go, but was crying to pee. It was heartbreaking. She kept saying "Pee!! No pee seat!" :( After a month of reminding her not to pee in her car seat I suppose it was way too confusing (and cruel!) to make her pee. So I pulled off the highway, and we tried to have her sit on her potty but she was screaming and crying. She was tired and cranky and nothing was going to calm her down. I sat in back and nursed and she fell asleep. Pam was too tired to drive and she hates driving at night. I had planned to drive us home, but I couldn't since I had to sit with Makena. My mom offered to drive and I told her we could switch later. We got home after 1am. What a crazy long day!!
What an amazing trip! It's taken me many attempts to work on writing this all out. Instead of checking for errors I'm just going to hit publish and call it a day!
I'm currently planning a trip to Disneyland for my 6 year old and 12 year old sister who have never been. I've been scouring the internet for blogs about other family's trips to Disney. I really enjoyed this one.
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