Disneyland- Meeting the Characters

The first character we met was Tow Mater. On the first day we were there, his line was pretty short and I was like, let's go meet Mater. I absolutely love Tow Mater! He is one of my all time favorite characters!! He is just so adorable!

On the second day, we planned to meet lots of characters. First, we went to the Princess area and jumped in line for Cinderella, Ariel, and Aurora. Meeting characters was much more organized and made more sense this time we were at Disneyland. Last time, you just waited in line and had no idea who you were meeting until you got in there. We waited in the Princess line like 10 times to meet all of the princesses that each of our princesses wanted to meet. It was kind of frustrating because we had to meet a few more than once just to get everyone. This time was much better. I thought it was pretty fair too. The first time we went to Disneyland, they had random lines in random places and a lot of people cut in line and stuff so that went much better this time too. Everything was just much more organized. Grant's Uncle said that about 10-15 years ago, characters used to just roam around the park and meet people. It was super magical, but then over the years people wanted to get autographs and pictures and such. So they had to start forming lines to make it more fair... so maybe they were still figuring things out the first two times we went. Anyway, I really appreciated knowing who we were waiting in line for. Meeting characters is the most important part of Disneyland for me because I feel that we can go on rides anywhere but the characters are a lot of the magic of Disneyland... so I don't mind waiting in line to meet them... especially with 6 girls!! :)

The first princess that we met was Cinderella.  I really liked how she asked each of our girls what their name was.  Then she had them pose with cute arms for the picture.  Cinderella is my favorite princess and Sariah's too.  I wish I would've taken a picture with just Sariah and her but we felt a little rushed during this whole section.  I think this is the busiest princess line because it has three of the most popular princesses in one line.

Next, we met Ariel, who is Riana and Calyssa's favorite princess.  Calyssa could hardly wait to run up and hug Ariel.  She was so excited!  Ariel hugged her and said, "I love your red hair!  It is so pretty!"  Ariel was really pretty!  And even though we felt rushed, I just had to get a picture with Callie and Ariel.  (I wish I would've gotten one with Riana and her too, but oh well.  We have some when she was younger.)  I think Callie was in dreamland with Ariel because I couldn't get her attention... LOL!

Later, she said, "Oh. Wow! I nuggle her!  I like Ariel... and her ride!  Ariel is my favorite!"

Next came Princess Aurora (which Calyssa calls Princess Rori, just like her sister... so cute!)  She talked to the girls about where they were from.  I was brave enough to get a picture of the two Princess Aurora's ("two Princess Rori's") together!  (But if I could go back and do it again, I would've gotten one with Tierra and Princess Aurora too, because that is her favorite.  I was glad I snapped one of them hugging, at least.  I think they were expecting us to take up the same amount of time as 1-2 girls, but we had 6 girls that each wanted special time.  It was fine just a little rushed with these three princesses.  I'm happy to say, however, that it did get better as the day went on.)  I thought it was super cute that even Riana and Sariah still wanted hugs from all the princesses.  I loved that!!  :)  (Later in the day, after we had met most of the princesses, Riana started crying and worried that maybe next time, when she was older, she wouldn't want to meet the princesses anymore.  It was so sad and yet so sweet, at the same time!  I reasurred her by telling her that adults still like to meet the characters.  I think that helped her feel better.)

Next, we went outside and the line for Belle just happened to be forming.  We were the first ones in line and didn't have to wait very long.  How lucky!  Belle asked the girls all about our trip from Washington to Disneyland and asked them if they rode in a carriage.  She was cute!!  She is Karina's favorite princess (and has been her whole life) and she is also Grant's cousin, Missy's favorite princess.  I was able to get a picture of just Belle and Karina and also a sweet one of her kissing Calyssa.

At the same time that Belle was walking up, Snow White was walking up too.  We were able to hop right over in her line next.  She spent some special time making wishes in her wishing well with the girls!  They loved that!!  I especially enjoyed watching her with Calyssa.  She was so sweet with her!!  We had some pretty special moments with Snow White!  :)

 

Callie said, "No White nuggle me and my crownie and my shoeies!"

Next, we were able to find Merida over by the ride, "It's A Small World."  Callie loves Merida!  Merida was absolutely adorable and even spoke with a cute little Scottish accent.  She asked them their names, asked them all about what Washington was like, and answered their questions about her brothers who were popping up and down.  Calyssa loved giving Merida a snuggle... it was very sweet!!  Merida was very sweet!!  :)

 

Callie said, "Merida is cute!  I yike her bear brothers... and they yike me!  Ariel's my favorite and Merida's my favorite!"

Aurora said, "The bears were up there... maybe they were doing hide and go seek.  Merida was really nice and her face was pretty."

The next princess we met was Rapunzel.  We were able to go to her house and meet her, right after we watched her show.  The girls really enjoyed seeing her show.  She asked them their names and then asked what they liked to do for fun.  When they told her they liked soccer, she said that they didn't really have soccer where she is from.  Aurora could not leave her hair alone.  She just kept petting it... it was hilarious!  Calyssa really wanted to meet Flynn Ryder too, since he was in the show with Rapunzel.  She said, "Punzel had a dream, Mommy!  (Singing) 'I had a dream... I had a dream'... Punzel had a dream, Mommy... And how about Flynn Ryder, Mommy?"

Next, the girls met my favorite prince, Aladdin.  He asked them which princesses they had met and when they said they hadn't met Jasmine yet, he told them she would be here soon but right now she was feeding Rajah.  He then asked them about their favorite rides.  They thought it was nice meeting Aladdin but didn't like meeting him as much as meeting the Princesses.

Aladdin was right!  Jasmine came out only about 5-10 minutes after we met Aladdin.  She was absolutely amazed that all 6 of these girls were sisters!!  She taught them how to stand just like her... which made for a very cute picture!  :)

Then we walked over to New Orleans Square to meet Aurora's favorite princess, Tiana.  We had tried earlier and the worker told us to come back at a certain time.  He was amazed when we were early and when Tiana came, we were the first in line.  She was so touched that we would wait just for her!  She talked to the girls for quite a while and asked them how long they had been at Disneyland and how they liked it.  She was so incredibly adorable and so sweet with the girls!!  She had the cutest little accent (which Missy and I absolutely loved!)  She said, "Can I get a nice little picture with ya'll?" Then had each of them practice their "pretty princess smiles."  I think she was my favorite to watch the girls meet, from this trip.  And Aurora absolutely loved meeting her and giggled out loud when she saw her autograph on the page.  She said, "My favorite was Tiana.  I loved hugging her!  I like her!  I loved it when she blew kisses to me!  And I liked it when she signed my autograph.  She was... epic!!"  After the picture, Tiana spent some special time talking to Aurora and blowing her some sweet kisses.  It was so cute to watch!  Then she gave each of the girls hugs too (which the girls were lucky enough to get from most of the princesses.)

Next, Grant, Mike, and the older girls went on Splash Mountain so we decided to go meet Winnie the Pooh and friends.  The line didn't look very long but they ended up having a little 10 minute break in the middle of the line... so we had to wait a bit longer.  It still wasn't too bad though and we got them when they were fresh off of the break, as we were 2nd or 3rd in line.

I was a bit hesistant to take Callie to meet these big characters because all my 1-3 year olds in the past, have been terrified of all the characters without the real faces.  But she was totally excited and loved every minute of hanging out with them.  Tigger and Eeyore were so funny!  Tigger pretended that his arm was tired of signing, which made the girls laugh.  And Eeyore "leaned" on Calyssa during the picture... so cute!  Callie kept talking about how Eeyore had patted her head.  She said, "Eeyore pat my head, Mommy and Tigger funny!  Tigger pat my head, Mommy!  That is funny!"  Aurora said that she wished she could've worn her Tigger costume when she met Tigger.

After Tigger and Eeyore, we met Winnie the Pooh.  He was my absolute favorite to watch Callie with.  She loved him!!  While he was signing autographs, she held up her hands like she wanted him to hold her, she patted his side trying to get his attention, she jumped and down with excitement, and then she just stood there and petted his side with both hands over and over and over... she was so in love with Pooh!  A couple of times, her sisters tried to hold her but she just wiggled back down so she could stand by Pooh.  He took some time to hug each of the girls but Callie didn't want to stop hugging him... it was so sweet!!  Definitely one of my favorite moments from the trip!!  :)

Later she said, "Pooh love me!  Winnie the Pooh love me.  I go like this (patted her stomach.)  Pooh so soft... nice!"

The next day, while we were walking around California Adventures, from a distance, we saw Mickey Mouse, Chip and Dale the chipmunks, Donald, Pluto, and also Goofy.  A couple of them even walked by us... I guess we were standing in the right place.  Goofy was sweet enough to come over and hang out with the girls.  They were so excited!  And it was magical too because it just happened when we weren't expecting it.  Goofy patted Calyssa on the head and she loved that, "Doofy pat my head, Mommy, he pat my head!!"  (In fact, she still talks about that whenever we mention Goofy.)  So fun!

Lastly, we went to Toon Town, hoping to meet Mickey and Minnie, at the end of their day.  It took us a while to get through Mickey's house and unforunately, when we went to meet Minnie, they had already closed her line for the day.  Since it was our last day their, the girls were super bummed.  Oh well... they have met her before.  Plus that just means we will have to go back.   :)  Plus, Riana was able to snap a good picture of Minnie looking right at us.  How fun!

The girls enjoyed meeting Mickey Mouse... especially Callie.  She was jumping up and down and saying, "Mickey Mouse... that Mickey Mouse!!"  And she just didn't want to stop looking at him!  The big characters don't speak, but the worker there said about Callie, "She has mermaid hair... does she like to swim?"  All the girls enjoyed meeting Mickey!  :)

We were so lucky to be able to meet so many of the main characters at Disneyland and lucked out on timing a lot too.  It was so much more organized this time that it made it a really good experience!  We really enjoyed sharing this part of Disneyland together.  :)