7 Disneyland Quicktakes

 

1. Main Street Enchanted Windows

We were finally able to check out ALL of the new Main Street Enchanted Windows that a guy in my godfather's band helped put together.  They are really neat displays (see the link for more details) and each display has two "faces" and changes as you stand there watching for a couple minutes.  

Several months ago we checked out the Cinderella and Peter Pan windows, but all 6 are now complete, so we stopped by last week to see them all.  The girls (of course!) love the Frozen window, but they were truly fascinated by ALL of them.  For myself, I like the Cinderella one best, but it is worth repeating: all the window displays are really, really creative and quite remarkable. 

2. Snow White Meet and Greet

On our way into the park during our recent visit, we saw a very short line to say hello to Snow White, so we jumped in it.  The girls never tire of saying hello to the beautiful and sweet princesses and asking them endless questions about their outfits and their days.  

 

3. Updated Matterhorn ride

Chris and Kayla got their first ride on the newly-updated-for-#Disneyland60 Matterhorn ride several months back, but I finally got my chance last week when we noticed the line was down to a 30 minutes wait (that's good for this ride which has no fast pass!).  Kayla, however, burst into tears (rather unlike her) and refused to ride on it claiming the updated Harold (the Yeti or Abominable Snowman) was too scary.  I convinced her to go with me finally, but she nervously hugged me the whole time we waited in line. After the ride, she looked at me and said, "Mom, I did ok.  I just remembered that my trust in God is bigger than my fears."  Cue tears from Mom as my heart melted. 

 

What a sweet girl I have. 

4.Updated Peter Pan ride

The Peter Pan ride was also updated for #Disneyland60, so we decided to jump in line for that when we saw that it was only a 45 minute wait (it's an extremely popular ride so that's a pretty short wait time).  Elise is afraid of the dark  everything, so she did not want to ride it, but we assured her that it was not scary and that there were lights from the city and from Neverland so it wasn't any different than her room with a nightlight... She whimpered nervously and continued to fret as we slowly made our way to the front of the line.  She and I had a lot of hugs and discussed the virtue in trusting God that things will be ok.  And we had silly selfie time to take her mind off what seemed to be impending doom to her.  

And though she did hold tight to me and whimper a bit throughout the ride, she was very proud of herself for doing it.  In fact, she now says it's her favorite ride because she gets to "fly in the dark".  Of course, when asked if she'd like to go on it again the next time we visit, she responds, "I'm going to wait awhile."  Progress is progress though and this was a BIG step for Elise, who has a lot of anxiety about what many of us would deem to be silly, trivial things.  

5. The Ever-Favorite Carousel

The girls never tire riding on the Carousel.  They are now pros at finding Walt Disney's favorite horse, Jingles, and hopping on for a ride on the lovely and popular horse.  Elise got a ride on her the last time we visited the park, and you can see how excited she is!

                            

6. Disneyland Paint the Night Parade

The other night the park was "empty" by Disneyland standards (so still lots of people, but not cray-cray :P I reserve that term only for things that are truly crazy-nuts)  Anyway, we snagged a great spot to watch the new Paint the Night Parade.  It's a nighttime parade filled with awesome floats and special effects lighting and fun music.  Unfortunately the people just next to us did not have good crowd etiquette and were blocking part of the kid's view of the parade as he came our way down the street, but we still got fantastic views as it passed us and it was just a lot of fun.  I love all the Disneyland parades and they do a remarkable job with them.  So creative and fun. 

Some Canadians were standing just behind us during the parade and they were really friendly and fun.  One of the families had a son who about to turn 7 and we invited him to sit next to the girls on the street for a better view of the parade.  He was SO enthusiastic during it all, shouting out greetings to all the characters and waving excitedly with Kayla.  

7. Disneyland 60 Fireworks Show

And just after the parade passed by, the Disneyland Forever fireworks began.  We moved out into Main Street and watched them for the second time (a few months ago we watched them just in front of the Sleeping Beauty Castle).  Disneyland has created a spectacular show and it's a little different from various vantage points in the park.  On Main Street, the buildings are lit up during the fireworks with various visual effects, so though we'd seen the show, it was like seeing it for the first time again since we watched them from a different spot in the park.  Needless to say, they were awesome and we all loved them.  A great way to end a fun family evening.  

{photos of the fireworks by Chris}

We are headed to Disneyland later today for a fun trip with my friend, Cathy, so there will be more Disney pictures on the bloggedy blog soon.  :)