Hello Princess, We've Been Waiting for You! About This Page:

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My DH and I promised all three of our kids that for their 6th birthday we would take them, one on one, to Disneyland. Our DS went last year, and my DD, Sophia, got to go this year. Because her birthday falls in the hottest and most crowded time of year (July), we opted to go early. Also, she has never been before and will now have a frame of reference for all things Disney when we go on our cruise in May. So, on Friday, Feb 26th, Sophia and I flew to California where my mom & dad (who were driving back to Seattle) met us for a weekend at the happiest place on earth. Here is our “trip report”…


Friday: After finding out that our flight had been cancelled, and rebooking on a later flight, I picked Sophia up from school to start our trip. She was very excited to have a “parent sign-out” and get to leave school at lunchtime. In the car, on the way to the airport, I handed her a bag and told her that it came in the mail for her that day. There was a letter she had to read before she could open the bag, it said “Dear Sophia, I am so happy that you are coming to see me at Disneyland! Be a good girl for your mama and I will see you very soon. Love, Minnie Mouse”. In the bag was a set of Minnie ears on a headband, complete with a pink polka-dot bow. She was thrilled, and immediately put on the ears, and didn’t take them off (other than to go through security) until bedtime that night.

Sophia had been sick with an ear infection all week, and her ears bothered her a little on the flight. Otherwise it was an uneventful trip. My parents picked us up at the airport & we drove to our hotel, (Hyatt Regency OC - very nice!), where we had adjoining rooms. We got unpacked and then decided to take the free shuttle over to Downtown Disney for dinner. I had never seen Downtown Disney before, and it was pretty cool! Sophia was walking down the cobblestone street and was in awe of all the lights, musicians and pretty buildings. I told her “just wait until you see Disneyland tomorrow!” It was a nice night out, and we had some time to walk around while we waited for a table at Naples Ristorante e Pizzeria. Our meal was excellent.

Saturday: Sophia and I woke up at 6:30 that morning and she was full of anticipation. We knew it might rain that day, but I was still sad when I opened the curtains to the dismal scene outside. Sheets of rain were blowing across the courtyard and the skies were dark. We took our time getting ready, and went downstairs for a delicious buffet breakfast, hoping it would clear up some before we went to the park. By the time we got on the shuttle, it had stopped raining and there was some sun peeking through the clouds.


We got into the park, and when we walked around the corner onto Main Street Sophia was just in awe. I remembered why Disneyland is so special. Everything is clean and beautiful and everyone is helpful and happy. We went to City Hall as our first stop where Sophia got a “It’s My First Visit!” button to wear. Just about every Disney cast member who met her that day said “Hello Princess, we’ve been waiting for you!”

We walked down Main Street and as soon as Sophia saw Sleeping Beauty’s castle she had the biggest smile on her face. We were able to meet Goofy, Pluto, Mickey and Minnie, and go on a few rides before it started raining again, Flying Dumbo and the Storybook Boat Ride, Small World and Mickey’s Toon Town Rollercoaster. She loved that so much she wanted to go on Space Mountain. So we headed that direction. We went to Autopia next, and while sitting in our cars the rain began to pour down again. We managed to get under cover and get our ponchos on, and then headed to Space Mountain, since it was an indoor ride.

I don’t remember Space Mountain being as loud, dark and violently jerky as it was, but I pretty much was miserable (and so were my poor parents) that whole 5 minutes, or however long that ride is. Sophia started screaming right away, and it was so loud I couldn’t talk to her to see if she was ok. I was holding her leg and could feel her muscles tense and hear her blood-curdling scream. I felt like the worst mother in the world and just prayed the ride would end soon. A camera flashes a photo of you part way through, and then we were done. When we came into the light I looked over at Sophia completely panicked, and she had the biggest smile on her face. “I want to go on it again!” she said. We walked (ok, Sophia walked, the adults stumbled) to the entrance & saw the photo of us… Sophia was smiling like a maniac and I look like the terrified one.

After Space Mountain we headed to La Brea Bakery in Downtown Disney for lunch (clam chowder in a bread bowl - very good). It was a much needed break. We were damp, but happy to be alive.

We finished lunch and headed back into the park. All Sophia had talked about for the week leading up to the trip was meeting Tinkerbell, so we headed for Pixie Hollow to see if she was there. On the way, Sophia got the pin trading system down and had several adorable encounters with the wonderful Disney cast members, and even a fellow tourist. It just melted my heart to see how good they all were with little kids. I suppose that is their job, but it all seemed very genuine.

We had about a 15 minute wait at Pixie Hollow and when we got close to the front of the line Sophia about came unglued when she spotted Tinkerbell’s wings through the giant flower walls. We met one of Tink’s friends first, Silvermist, and then came the main attraction. The photographer waved her forward and she walked up to Tinkerbell with open arms saying “I love you so much, you are my favorite! I’ve never met a real fairy before!” The photographer, grandma and mama were all in tears. Tinkerbell, bless her heart, never broke character and spent more time with Sophia than she had with some of the other kids, kneeling down and talking to her as she elaborately signed her autograph book. There were more hugs, and a few photos and then we were on our way… my little girl practically walking on air.

Next stop was the Bibidi Bobidi Boutique, where “Princess Sophia” had her hair & makeup done like a real princess. The “ladies in waiting” were fantastic, and they had a very long conversation about all things Princess-y. Sophia, being her talkative self, charmed them all. The magic icing on the cake was when the photographer told Sophia that she heard she met a special friend that day, and that she sent a little gift for her. She asked Sophia to close her eyes and put out her hand, and then placed a tiny Tinkerbell pin with fluttering wings in it. The look on Sophia’s face when she opened her eyes was priceless, and the Disney cast members in this store have my heart forever now. Truly the most magical place on earth.

After Sophia was all princess-ed up we went to Adventure Land and took a jungle cruise and went on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. It was getting colder, and the rain was starting to pick back up at this point and so we did some final souvenir shopping, watched a very wet parade and then headed back to the hotel.

We decided on Joe’s Crab Shack for dinner and walked the block over to it. Grandma bought Sophia a Tinkerbell costume as her special gift that day and Sophia wanted to wear it to dinner (over pants and shirt of course – it was chilly!). If you’ve ever been to Joe’s, you know the servers all stop what they are doing and dance once an hour. Our server was so smitten with Sophia in her Tinkerbell getup that she invited her to come dance, both times while we were there. So much cuteness!

After dinner it was back to the hotel for a bath – time to wash all that princess off. It took some real work on my part to get most of the “pixie dust” out of that child’s hair! Sophia and I both had a hard time sleeping that night due to the cheerleaders in the room next to us who were there for a competition.

Sunday: We woke up to beautiful sunny skies! Too bad we didn’t have a full day to spend. We found out that California Adventure didn’t open until 10, so we made a quick decision to go back to Disneyland for a couple hours first. We had a light breakfast in our room, got packed and checked out, and then took the shuttle back to Disney. Sophia was so excited to hear that we were going back!

We walked into the park and ran right into Chip & Dale! Donald Duck was there too. The crowds were starting to get bigger, so we made our way to the back of the park to go on some things we missed the day before. We rode the monorail, the Rocketships, Mad Hatter’s Tea Cups and Small World one more time before saying goodbye to Disneyland and heading over to California Adventure.

This was my first time to CA Adventure, and I wished we had more time to explore it. It’s really beautiful inside. Right away we ran into Minnie Mouse and Lilo, then headed back to Paradise Pier. We stopped to look as Bugs Life along the way. At Paradise Pier we rode on King Triton’s carousel and then went to check in at Ariel’s Grotto for lunch. This is where the magic happened that day.

Before being seated at our table, we got to meet Ariel and take photos with her. Then we sat down, ordered our lunch and the yummy pre fixe menu started being delivered. Almost immediately a “royal servant” announced the first of the Princesses to visit us that day… Snow White! It turned out that our table was the first table on the rotation that each of the Princesses visited. Sophia had her autograph book ready for each one, and enjoyed talking to them and getting her picture taken. Next was Mulan, the Princess from China, then Sleeping Beauty, and Sophia’s favorite princess was last… Cinderella.

After lunch we had to go back to the hotel, get our bags, say goodbye to grandpa & grandma and head for the airport. It was a long trip home, and we were both exhausted by the time we arrived in Phoenix.