Happiest {Consolation} Place on Earth

Brandon drew the short straw and wound up having to work on Christmas Eve and Boxing Day (although apparently that isn't a holiday here) so we weren't going to be able to make it to Moscow to spend Christmas with his family. His whole family. His siblings are all married, so have in-law schedules to adhere to as well, and they were all going to be there this year. Boy, did we feel like horses' patoots. As a "Sorry you won't be able to make it" consolation prize, Chuck & Brenda treated us to a Disneyland trip! Aww, shucks.
We rented a tricked out mini-van and drove down to LAX to pick them up from the airport. I had borrowed multiple Disney movies for Teagan to watch on the drive down and become acquainted with the magic. Instead, she insisted on (read: screamed for) Dora. Silly goose. Sidenote: I had requested a Disneyland Sing-Along from the library and it didn't get there in time for our trip. We picked it up when we got home and Teagan watched it no less than twice a day for the 3 weeks we had it. She recognized all the characters and some of the rides and absolutely loved it. Almost as much as she loved having a DVD player in the van. She looks up at the the roof of our car and asks for movies ("noovies") now. Poor thing.

We had a late night that night, so thought Teagan would crash and sleep like a log, the way she does at home. Boy, we were wrong. She was awake more than she slept and made sure we didn't sleep either, crawling all over me when I tried to have her sleep in bed with me. We were sharing a suite with Brandon's parents and we'd taken the room with 2 queen beds, as it seemed to have more room for the playpen. But Chuck and Brenda were gracious enough to give up the King room so Teagan could have a room to herself in hopes that she'd sleep better. Sheesh, what a diva. So, bless their hearts, we shared a room and all slept much better for the remainder of the trip.

 

We were ready for a day 'o' fun, despite the miserable night's sleep. We met all sorts of interesting people on the bus ride over, most from Australia. I guess they have their summer break now. Sidenote: I have confirmed that chivalry is indeed dead. We rode the shuttle back and forth a lot, and at times chivalry seemed to be thriving, then went on life support, and by the time we rode the bus for the last time, I called time of death. I was surprised when the driver stopped to let us on, as the bus already seemed full to capacity. With no open seats, Brandon's parents stood, holding on to poles, I stood with the stroller, and Brandon (again) drew the short straw and had to hold Teagan. I took a quick scan of the bus and understood why many of the people didn't get up to offer them a seat. Until I got to the back and a gaggle of spry, young men sat laughing about the events of their day. I did my best to reserve judgment until we disembarked, thinking that perhaps they were physically handicapped in some way. No limps, no crutches, no wheelchairs or any other indication that they weren't perfectly healthy and would have had a much easier time standing than a man wrestling 30 pounds of exhausted toddler. C'est la vie, I suppose.

Disney characters weren't the only familiar faces we ran into at The Land. Brandon looked up as we were in line for Pirates of the Caribbean and noticed an old friend. Well, the distant cousin of our old friend. They seem to find us everywhere.

Just when you thought Disneyland was the happiest it could be, they decorated for Christmas. Brenda has a great love for Disneyland to begin with. Add Christmas lights and Santa hats and she's a giddy schoolgirl. It was fun to watch. It really is an amazing time to visit. Merry Christmas indeed.

Brenda and I fixated on some toddler princess dolls that we both found ADORABLE. She agonized over which one to choose every time we passed a store. She finally settled on Rapunzel and I don't believe she's ever looked back. We picked one up for Teagan for Christmas - she LOVES Tangled. And while I hadn't seen Brave, I thought Merida was the cutest thing I'd ever laid eyes on. I refrained, but it took every ounce of self restraint I possessed. Look at that smirk!

Fast passes were out by the time we arrived at the brand new Cars Land, and we didn't want to spend hours waiting to ride the new Cars inspired ride, we instead opted to watch from the sidelines. It really was amazing. They recreated Radiator Springs PERFECTLY. Like you would expect anything less. It was so fun to walk around and take in the scenery. So clever.

Disneyland's Christmas Parade. The memories may fade, but the neck cramps will stay with Brandon for a LONG time :) The poor man held his daughter aloft for more than half an hour while she was captivated by the sights and sounds of every Disney character she knew and loved waltzing down the street in front of her. I spent almost as much time watching her as I did the parade. She was calling characters' names and waving to them. "Hi Pooh! Hi Nanarella! Hi Ninnie Mouse! Hi Nickey Mouse!" Absolutely precious.

Sure, she could wave at them from a distance, but when it came to getting up close and personal with some of her favourites, she morphed into a whiny, clingy, very LOUD mess. Bless her heart, Minnie tried, but Teagan just wasn't having it. But immediately after we started to move on and the next little boy in line marched up and hugged Minnie, it was all "Bye Ninnie Mounse! Love you!" Too little, too late, my dear.

Our friend, Kaylinn, can tell you horror stories from her days as a character escort - not sure if that's the right term - and just from seeing the hoards of children waiting to meet them and accosting them on their way to their break. Keep that in mind when I tell you that I tried not to be obnoxious to the princesses. We happened to be strolling down a little path from Fantasyland and were directly across from the Princess Walk (where you line up to meet 3 princesses) when the shift changed and said princesses literally passed by us several feet away. We didn't shout their name, we didn't ask for a photo because we knew that they'd been dealing with that for hours. But what wonderful girls, Tiana (didn't get my camera out in time) and Aurora were very sweet to wave politely at Teagan as they made their way to the backlot and Jasmine (need to write a letter) stopped for a few minutes and talked to Teagan, giving her a high five and dealing very nicely with her not responding at all. She'll be upset when I tell her this story in a few years when the obsession with princesses has reached its peak. Jasmine went above and beyond to make Teagan's experience magical - and if she hadn't been 2 and in desperate need of a nap, it might have worked.

Teagan surprised me by how well she tolerated so much time sitting in the stroller and getting in and out. Of course, things were much easier with Grandma's phone. The little stinker hardly said "Grandma" without "phone" appearing in the same sentence. And Grandma delivered every time - she had to say no for years with her own, so now she gets to be the good guy :) Teagan loved the rides and went on a lot - it helps to be over 3 feet when you're 2. I was nervous about Pirates of the Caribbean, with the rollercoaster-like drops (Brandon will laugh when he reads that - I'm kind of a ride wimp) but she didn't make a peep. It was pitch black, so she could have been paralyzed with fear but I couldn't tell. We'll say she smiled. She and Grandma could have ridden Small World all day long, but we only did it twice. The Saturday we were there was MADNESS and even Small World's line was almost an hour long. We didn't stay long that day. Between Teagan's cold and feeling like a sardine who'd been hit by a truck (meaning it was too crowded and we were exhausted) we called it a day and relaxed at the hotel.

One of the things Brandon insisted on showing his parents (and rightly so) was World of Colour. We had been to Disneyland as a family in the summer of 2010, mere weeks before its debut. We got to see it with Mark and Kaylinn in the summer of 2011 (man, we're spoiled!) and loved it. We got fast passes and lined up almost an hour before the show to make sure we had good seats...okay, and to rest. It was incredible. It'll be hard to enjoy the Bellagio fountains after this. They loved it, we loved it, Teagan loved the first few minutes. I downloaded a Disneyland app that allows you to take a virtual tour of Disneyland and California Adventure, and you can line up videos to make your own World of Colour show. She loves it. It was fun to see her actually enjoying things this time around. I'm making sure to document everything because it will be a LONG time before she sees it again :)

To sum up, if you can't go home for Christmas, go to Disneyland instead. Thanks, Mom & Dad for a wonderful time!