Our Trip Part 5, Parades

After the aquarium and beach day, it was back to Disney for 2 more days. We rode practically everything, twice. I even got David to ride the Matterhorn as Ben was able to go on it too. We actually rode it twice! Imagine that.

I'm sure I watched the parade when I was a child. As I grew up, the parades meant one thing to me. No lines. It was a time to tackle as many rides as I could in 30 minutes all while trying not to get trapped in Tomorrow Land by a string of characters dancing down Main Street. I'd catch a glimpse of a Princess on a float as I was running from Adventure Land to Fantasy Land and that was good enough for me.

I knew we had to take the kids to see the parade. Mainly because we missed Cinderella at dinner and I had been promising Cinderella for days.

First, we geared up with some chocolate covered bananas. The perfect pre-parade snack. There's nothing like a banana on Main Street. My kids quickly fell in love with one of my favorite things.


We found a good spot close to the Nemo ride, so we could dart over right after the parade and catch a shorter line. This ride was the hot ticket while we were there with 1 to 1 1/2 hour wait times. We couldn't possibly wait that long with two small kids. We managed to get in after the parade with a 20-30 minute wait.

The action begins. The music is blaring over the intercom and we catch our first glimpse of the parade. What I quickly learned was that I still don't care about the parade. But, Emily and Ben's faces were priceless. I was so busy watching them that I would only glance at the parade to see who caused such an enamored expression on their sweet little faces. It was truly magical to watch them and in that moment I realized that I am so blessed.

Here's David and Ben.


Emily is yelling Ariel's name.


My girl looking so sweet and happy. She saw Cinderella.


We had such a nice time at the parade in Disneyland. We went to the parade in California Adventure the next day. It was mostly Pixar films, Toy Story, Cars, Nemo, Monster's Inc. I knew they would both love it.

Here's Emily loving it!


Emily is showing Woody her new Jesse doll. He gave her a big thumbs up.


This smile is the best. Can I bottle this moment and bring it out again?


Ben with his new Buzz and Zurge.


He spotted Mader from Cars.


This sums up our Disneyland portion of the trip. We had an awesome time. The lines were always short. The kids were pretty good. Nobody got sick. I couldn't ask for anything more.

We went on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride three times. The first time we went on was due to necessity as it was hot out and we all needed a break. I was hoping Emily wouldn't be scared. Ben was laying on me half asleep, so I wasn't worried about him. Emily sat between David and I and pointed out all of the stuff and asked lots of questions.
"What's that light?"
"Fireflies sweetie."
"Are they alive?"
"No sweetie."
"Are we in a boat?"
"Yes sweetie."
I sat on this ride that I've been on countless times. I realized that I actually sat right here 30 years ago probably asking my Mom and Dad the exact same questions. Now, here I am. My husband's arm around me, holding my resting son, and watching the magic of Disneyland consume my daughter. It was a full circle moment and life doesn't get any sweeter.