This past Thursday and Friday, the Pumpkin Princess made her Disneyland debut. We left a little after six in the morning in the Pumpkin Prius, and got to the Disneyland Ambassador Hotel shortly before nine. We dropped our bags off at the front desk and the Pumpkin Daddy headed to the parking tower. They had a good-sized TV with little cushioned footstools parked around it in the lobby, so the Pumpkin Princess sat happily watching "Snow White" until he came back, and we boarded the complimentary shuttle bus.
That's some serious Disney-fication. Did you notice that even the exhaust pipe has a cover in the shape of a Mickey Mouse head?
The Pumpkin Princess was very pleased. She loves busses and trains.
When we got to the park, the Pumpkin Daddy made a mad dash to get Fast Pass tickets to "Pooh's Hunny Hunt", which is the Tokyo version of "Pooh's Hunny Pot". It's one of the newest attractions in Tokyo Disneyland, so it's the most popular. While the Pumpkin Daddy was running, the Pumpkin Princess and I slowly made our way through the entrance area. The Pumpkin Princess saw one of the Three Little Pigs and squealed, "Little Pig! What are you doing here?" She loves watching the free downloads of old Disney Cartoons at her grandpa's house, and she likes the Three Little Pigs quite a bit. I guess she didn't realize it was a Disney Cartoon.
The two of us headed for the Sweetheart Cafe and bought some breads, sandwiches, coffee and juice to eat as breakfast. We sat eating and waiting for the Pumpkin Daddy. Everything was expensive but tasted quite good.
The Pumpkin Princess did not think much of the Enchanted Tiki Room (she found it too scary) but she liked the Country Bear Theater.
It was time for our Fast Pass tickets for Pooh's Hunny Hunt, so we headed in that direction. I thought it was a nicely designed cute ride and enjoyed it, but the Pumpkin Princess, the love of the Pumpkin Daddy's life whom he wanted to impress with his dedication and dashing skills, was not particularly impressed. She liked the carousel better.
The unimpressed Pumpkin Princess, the broken-hearted Pumpkin Daddy, and the Pumpkin Mommy headed for It's a Small World. The last time I was there (when I was pregnant with the Pumpkin Princess), the filling was coming out of tears in the seats, and the paint was visibly chipped from some of the dolls. The company sponsoring the attraction was a department store that filed for bankruptcy shortly after. I guess the park took the signature ride in their own hands, and things looked reasonably nice. The Pumpkin Princess, however, nodded off to sleep somewhere between the can-can dancers and the Japanese girls with umbrellas.The Pumpkin Daddy, eager to please his Princess, had meticulously researched the time and route the parade would take. We strolled leisurely to a spot in Tomorrowland he'd figured out, where a "cast member" was just closing off the street for the parade. We essentially had front row seats.
But the Pumpkin Princess slept through the entire thing.
She kept sleeping while we shopped for presents to take home to our co-workers (they'll think you rude if you take time off work to go to Disneyland and not bring them a can or two of cookies or candies. I don't know if this is a thing in the original Disneyland in Aneheim, and I would appreciate if my American friends could help me out, but here, cookies and candies in tins printed with Mickey and Donald and Pooh probably consist of at least half the revenue generated by the shops in the park).
She barely woke up in time for Goofy's Fronteir Revue. The show was fun, and the Pumpkin Princess was pleased. The food left much to be desired, but that was kind of expected. We left the venue just in time for the Electrical Parade.
Then we went back to the hotel. We had a full bathroom with bathtub, but everyone was too tired to run a bath. The Pumpkin Princess slept in until around 7:30, which is incredibly late for her.
Let's see if I can get the second day posted sometime soon.
2 comments:
Hope the Pumpkin Princess stayed awake for the second day in the park! The Little Missy was three the first time we took her to Disneyland and it was so great because she was young enough to believe that all the characters were real. I have some of the best pics of her from that trip!
And yes, in America, it is standard to bring back some kind of treats or souvenirs for family, friends and co-workers, regardless of where you go. Candies or cookies from Disneyland, chocolate covered macadamia nuts from Hawaii, etc., are expected.
I would be very afraid of the Little Missy if, at age three, she didn't think the characters were real! I'd heard my nephew cried when Mickey Mouse approached him because he'd expected a mouse to be smaller than he was and not something his mother's size, so before we went, I showed the Pumpkin Princess pictures in guidebooks and web pages of little boys and girls having their pictures taken with Mickey and Minnie so that she would get a feel for the size ratio.
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