A Disneyland Character Adventure

October 24, 2012 in All Posts, characters, disneyland by Babes in Disneyland

Since my son Aidan was born more than seven years ago, I’ve taken my children on more trips to the Disneyland Resort than I can count. Aidan was one of those toddlers who screams in terror when they see the characters and my middle son Brandon is so easy going, he’s always been happy just going with the flow and getting to go on his favorite attractions with the occasional character interaction.

In an effort to be completely honest, there’s probably one more reason why over the years we have not accumulated even more photos with the Disney characters than we probably should have: the lines. The long lines to wait for characters simply turned me off from snapping my boys‘ pictures with them. In my head I would tell myself that we would do it “next time when the lines aren’t so long.” Those “next times” were few and far between.

My youngest son, Connor is now two-and-a-half years old and this child is nutty for Disney characters. He was enchanted with Mickey the first time he saw him at eight months and he’s never looked back. His bed is so full of Mickeys, Minnies and Tiggers that some nights we find him sleeping on the floor because there’s not enough room for him on the bed. When he sees photos of the characters on my computer, he talks to them and he brings his Disney “babies” with him pretty much everywhere we go.

Last Tuesday, I switched my days at work so that I could take Connor on a special mommy-son date to Disneyland… alone… without my other two sons. And not just any sort of date, we were going to go on a character mission with no “next times.” We were going to live in the moment, brave the lines and experience the most tangible piece of Disney magic I believe to be in the Disney Parks.

Our day began with a 45-minute wait at Minnie’s house in Toontown to meet the girl of Connor’s dreams. He is Minnie obsessed. He has four Minnie Mouses in his bed at all times. Connor was beyond delighted with every nook and cranny of Minnie’s house and when it came time to finally meet her, he couldn’t believe it was her.

After our photo was finished, he kept breaking free of me and running back to her asking for “one more hug and kiss.” It was precious and something I will remember the rest of my life.

We spent the rest of the day meeting characters and riding Connor’s favorite attractions, beginning with King Arthur Carrousel.

Truth be told, Connor did not want to get off when it was over and this happy face turned into a fall-to-the-ground tantrum when I pulled him from his steed.

After lunch at the Hungry Bear, we snapped photos with Pooh, Tigger and Eeyore back in Critter Country. Do not be scared off by the line; it moves really fast and was totally worth it.

We then headed to Main Street where we snapped photos with Goofy, Pluto and Minnie.

Connor was enamored with Goofy and has yet to stop talking about how Goofy touched the Mickey on the front of his shirt.

He quickly gave Pluto a hug and kiss.

And of course, there’s always time for one more photo with Minnie… even when she’s about to go take a break… and it means running in front of the other kids in line. (Don’t you hate it when kids do that kind of thing?!)

We finished the day with trips aboard the Disneyland Railroad and a wonderful trip in the Horse Drawn Street Car, which I will touch on in posts later this week or next week.

Our Disneyland character adventure was a truly amazing experience. It left me sad that I put off taking photos with my older boys for “next time” so many times yet at the same time overjoyed to experience my son Connor’s happiness and elation. I spoke with parents who traveled to the park to meet the characters from around the block and around the world. I watched two disabled guests interact with the characters in exchanges that left me with tears in my eyes. It reminded me of how magical Disneyland is and how something as simple as a handshake or hug from a character can be a true dream come true for both the young and the young at heart.

Our Disneyland character adventure was a really powerful day that left me with these words of advice:

If there’s something you’ve been putting off doing with your children at the Disneyland Resort, don’t delay and make an effort to do it on your next visit. Those lines aren’t going to change and the kids are only going to get bigger. There little for such a short amount of time, so stop putting it off and make some magic!

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