Ahhhhh......love love love how this Valentine's post is basically a month late, bahahah!
I am glad this blog is not my sole job. I would probably be fired!
So as you guessed it, this is a Disney post. We sure are making good on our annual passes! As we speak, we will be heading back to Disney the week of spring break, the same week the entire world has spring break.
Since we can't ever go to Disneyland during off peak times (thanks dumb jobs) we have to suck it up and go with the masses. I heard Valentine's weekend can especially be brutal. However, we were prepared. Also, I don't know if my brain took a mental valium, but I was SUPER relaxed the whole trip. I know that makes me sound bad, but I have a tendency to be a bit high strung on vacays. Maybe I am turning a new leaf! Here's the breakdown of our trip:
The drive down:
We officially hit the road closer to noon that Friday. I was battling a cold and not feeling well at all. I loaded up on sudafed and we made our way down. The drive down was pretty decent, not a lot of fuss. We made stops to let Rowan stretch her legs. OF COURSE we hit LA around 6:30 when basically when hell is unleashed, especially because it was a Friday. We took the 210, and even that was psychotically packed. So we did something nutty and drove city streets of Pasadena all the way through to the 57. It was a little crazy but we avoided so much traffic. We ended up at our hotel around closer to 9.
The hotel:
We booked our hotel through priceline and we stayed "off campus" (aka not the Disney row of hotels) and stayed at the ALO hotel in Anaheim. I wasn't exactly excited we were a 10-15 minute drive to the park, but it was fantastic. We took the shuttle everyday at 7 and it dropped us off right smack at the front. Rowan LOVED the shuttle too. Let's get back to the hotel though...holy crap it was super lovely, amazing staff, and we overall had the BEST experience! They also had a yummy buffet breakfast each morning! I HIGHLY recommend this hotel. Pardon the crappy photo quality and the mess of our room lol!
Actual time in Disneyland:
Everyday we got to the park by 7:15-7:20 each day. We were only there for Saturday and Sunday, so we wanted to take advantage of every second! Guys, I can't stress enough how important it is to come early if you actually want to enjoy your day. Because of that we were able to do so much and enjoy ourselves. Sure enough, it got crazy packed by the afternoon and it didn't help that it was an ungodly warm that weekend too. In the afternoons we didn't get to do nearly as much because it was so packed, but because we came early, we weren't stressed about it. We did one parade and I had to yell at a lady for trying to push me out of my spot. Besides that, no one died LOL! Rowan super enjoyed all the rides she could go on, but didn't really like the Haunted Mansion. I also got to sample some of the Star Wars treats that were pretty good! We did all the fast passes for all the big rides and felt satisfied!
Breakfast with Minnie:
SO we bit the expensive bullet and had breakfast with Minnie! It was amazing! As most of you know, Rowan has a MASSIVE love for Minnie. It was also a great opportunity to meet all the characters! We booked the earliest breakfast you could get (7:20 am) and I highly recommend that. The place was empty and we got MASSIVE quality time with the characters, it was unreal! I was nervous about Rowan being scared but she wasn't! She loved everyone! Her reaction to Minnie drove me to tears! I think I was just as excited as her! Since this breakfast ain't cheap, I literally ate my way through the place. Rowan hardly ate everything and towards the end was getting antsy and acting a little wild. I think it was huge sensory overload for her, but it was worth every penny!!
Stuff we learned:
By now, I feel we have a good handle on traveling with the girl. However, every dang time I feel like we learn something new! Here's some things I learned:
-Rowan HATES HATES HATES lines.
I know this is a big fat DUH but it never was an issue before, LOL! Oh lordy! That was hard trying to entertain her! We thankfully didn't wait horribly long for a lot of stuff but the worst was the 45 minute wait for Dumbo. We did snacks, sang songs, and eventually broke down and put on a show on our phones. I'm sure I got judged, but at least she was quiet, right!?! Anyone have tips?
-HAVE ALL THE SANITIZER WIPES.
I know everyone is different, but I personally like carrying hand sanitizing wipes. I buy 2 big containers and pack about 20+ wipes for the day. However that wasn't enough. Rowan and I got pooped on by a bird and we were down to 3 wipes. I was almost in tears because as y'all know, I am HUGE germaphobe, like I may need therapy bad. I was freaking out lol! I learned we personally should just pack the whole container.
-You can never have enough clothes.
I pack about 2 changes of clothes for Rowan, but I think we need to do three. One of the days Rowan peed through her diaper and got her pee everywhere. Another day was the bird pooping incident. I feel we went through her clothes like no one's business.
I think by far this was my most favorite Disney trip! I am so thankful we have the opportunities to do these trips!
