Disneyland with a Toddler

Here’s the final list of what we did with Cooper while at Disneyland and California Adventure. I think it is in full…and keep in mind, there are plenty MORE things to do with a toddler, but these are the things we did while we were there. Good luck with your first trip to Disneyland with your child…it is truly magical. =)

• Pick up “First Time” Button
• Carousel
• Dumbo
• Storybook Land Canal Boats
• Teacups
• Pirates of the Caribbean
• Peter Pan
• Pictures with Mater and Lightning McQueen
• Water park area – Bug’s Life
• Flik’s Flyers
• Disneyland Train
• It’s A Small World
• Playground at Toon Town
• The tram
• Casey Jr.’s Circus Train
• Jungle Cruise
• The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
• Purchase Mickey Mouse ears
• Tiki Room
• Heimlich’s Chew Chew Train
• 3D show – Muppet Vision
• Monsters Inc. – Mike & Sully to the Rescue
• Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters
• Finding Nemo’s Submarine Voyage
• Redd Rockett’s Pizza Port
• Autopia

Disneyland – Day 3 and there’s still more to do…

Day #6 in LA:

Random fun thing in the car on the way to meet Uncle Scott and Aunt Annie for breakfast…Cooper discovered how to make a “surprise” face. Here it is: After saying goodbye to Aunt and Uncle (*sniff*sniff*), we headed to D-land to sneak in one last little bit of fun. We got the obligatory family photo next to the “N” in California Adventure.Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters was the first ride we hit up over in Tomorrowland. Cooper had a blast shooting targets!

Then, we waited in line for what felt like WAY too long for Finding Nemo’s Submarine Voyage. Thankfully, for Cooper at least, it proved worth the wait! It’s actually quite a long ride where while underwater, they show short bits from the actual movie. There were definitely parts where I was worried Cooper was going to get scared, but he loved it! Yay! Here’s Cooper peering out the porthole. Thank you Merri for the Finding Nemo truck! Made him that much more excited about the ride. I just happened to have it in my purse. =)

We grabbed some pizza at Redd Rockett’s Pizza Port after taking a spin on Autopia. Again, Cooper loved it more than I could’ve imagined. The only bummer was that the machines for the driver’s licenses were down. =( No license for Cooper, oh well. We went on the carousel one final time before heading down Main Street for the last time….=( We scurried home to squeeze in a quick nap before heading to the Irvine Spectrum to meet one of Ryan’s friends from college and her family. We ate at Red Robin and there happened to be…another carousel just outside! The fun just never ends down in LA, does it? Oh, and look what the balloon gal made for him at Red Robin? Such a spoiled, happy little boy!

Disneyland – Mickey ears are a must!

Day #5 in LA: We still had a pretty full day, not not anything like our first day at Disneyland! We had breakfast just outside of D-land around 10:30ish. Our first stop today was Dumbo, again! =) This time, Cooper got to ride with Aunt Annie and Papa! Then, we hopped in line for Casey Jr.’s Circus Train (yes, it was still ridiculously hot, and yes we were still having a great time in spite of it). We went on the carousel again, this time Cooper rode his own horse and got to sit next to Uncle Scott. Then, we were off to the Jungle Cruise. While Cooper loved this ride as well, he was equally excited to see the actual ducks floating in the water. That’s what he’s looking at here: We then zipped over to The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. Which was when we finally purchased the Mickey ears. I had been looking for them in infant size, my husband thought I was silly, but then…when he finally saw Cooper wearing them…well, what do YOU think? Necessary? I say a resounding YES, YES, YES! And of course we had to get his name put on… We, believe it or not, hit Pirates of the Carribean yet again, as well as the Tiki Room (which I now how downloaded on my ipod and Cooper enjoys listening to thoroughly on a regular basis). Then we went to California Adventure for some lunch. We ate at the Pacific Wharf Cafe which, while delicious, remained all too true to the “pay a fortune and get a tiny amount on your plate” motto that IS theme parks!

We hit the Bug’s Life area again and discovered Heimlich’s Chew Chew Train. This, was also a hit after which we had to visit the ladybugs again… We ended the day with Cooper’s first 3D show, Muppet Vision 3D, which is hilarious. I was impressed with how Cooper handled the glasses! Didn’t seem to bother him in the least! We also took a tiny risk of going on Monsters, Inc. – Mike & Sully to the Rescue! I was unsure of how Cooper would handle “monsters”. Well, he loved them SO much that we watched Monsters Inc. in the car on the way back up toward Sacramento. I think we must’ve gone on at least 7 times. We took home a tired, but entirely happy little boy.

It’s all about family…

Day #4 in LA: We pretty much spent the day with lots of family. Grandparents, aunts and uncles, great aunts and uncles…etc. But probably the most special for me was watching Cooper see his “Great-Mama”, that’s the name he’s designated for her, my Grandma. Oh my! I may be tearing up as we speak.

Family is important in my mind, therefore, the more time we can spend with them, the better. My Grandma is 94, and I cherish every time I get to see her when I travel down to LA. To see her light up when Cooper races all around the assisted living building, melts my heart. He even planted a kiss right on her cheek before we left. Seriously, love on your family ya’ll!

Disneyland – It CAN be done with toddlers!

Day #3 in LA – Disneyland!Many people looked at us like we were crazy when I shared that we would be taking my 22 month old son to Disneyland. But, we did many things that made his first trip to the “happiest place on earth”, truly happy.

For starters, we bought 5-day hopper tickets so that we could spend short spurts of time at the park, and not feel like we were wasting money. (of course, another perk is that kids are free until the age of 3, get ‘em in free while you can!)

Our first day, we arrived at about 11 o’clock. These were the first 3 pictures we took:   While Cooper was very overwhelmed, he was ECSTATIC! A second fun perk to bringing your child to Disneyland for the first time is the adorable button we received. We were told to swing by “Newsstand” just to the left of the main entrance once you enter the park. He’s sporting it on the fire truck above.

We went on the carousel for his first ride, we figured that would be a good “transition” ride, not too overwhelming. Apparently he liked it, when he got off the ride, this is what happened: He didn’t quite understand that there were more rides to come. He didn’t want to get off the ride. Next up, we were onto Dumbo… Then we went on the Storybook Land Canal Boats, the teacups, then met up with some friends for lunch. (It was a much needed break – did I mention it was in the upper 90’s?)

Following lunch, we went on Pirates of the Caribbean, YES, WITH our 22 month old! ;) Once again, many people said we were crazy for trying it, but we did a pirate theme for his birthday last year, and thought it’d be fun to give it a go. I think we ended up going on it around 4-5 times. Cooper was a bit timid, but then wanted to go on again and again! Now, he talks about it all the time. We hit up Peter Pan where Cooper took about a 40 minute nap on Papa’s shoulder while we waited in line. Flexibility was key, and as long as Cooper was having fun, I will definitely willing to be flexible.

Next we scooted over to California Adventure to visit a water feature (again, upper 90’s, yuck!). In the “Bug’s Land”, they have a few little water areas for the kids to play in. Cooper and the boys we went with got rather wet! After, we discovered another of Cooper’s favorite rides,  Francis’ Ladybug Boogie! (similar to the teacups, but slightly less spinning, however, you can’t control it) We also went on Flik’s Flyers before getting some ice cream at Bur-r-r Bank and snapping some shots with Lightning McQueen and Mater. We headed back to the main park to ride the train and hit “It’s a Small World” (which my husband had NEVER been on! How does this happen?!) Of course we stopped by the “C” in California Adventure to take a picture of Cooper. You think we’re getting tired at this point? You betcha! We checked out Toon Town while some of the older kids went on Thunder Mountain and discovered a fun playground near Goofy’s house, and everything at perfect kid level! Cooper was running around in toddler heaven.   We grabbed some dinner and finally left the park around 8:45 (for Cooper’s last ride of the day, the tram!). Yes, he was just as excited to ride the tram as he was to ride say, the carousel. He thought the overhead passes were “tunnels or caves”. So many adventures through the eyes of a toddler.

I’ll do a summary of all the things we did with Cooper at Disneyland at the end, however, for just Day #1, here’s what we managed to squeeze in (Disneyland’s Toddler-friendly adventures):

• Pick up “First Time” Button
• Carousel
• Dumbo
• Storybook Land Canal Boats
• Teacups
• Pirates of the Caribbean
• Peter Pan
• Pictures with Mater and Lightning McQueen
• Water park area – Bug’s Life
• Flik’s Flyers
• Disneyland Train
• It’s A Small World
• Playground at Toon Town
• The tram 

See? Disneyland can be fun and successful even with a toddler!

Sand, Sun and Fun!

Day #2 in LA – The Beach!

We started at the Sugar Shack in Huntington Beach. Yes, our family is stuck on some silly traditions. We go nearly every time I’m down in LA. Here we are on the Main Street: We walked up and down the pier where Cooper enjoyed gawking at surfers, ducks, and bird poop! We also took our picture by the HB bench. Daddy got in on the pic this time! Here’s where we got major spoiled. We drove down to Newport Beach where our friend, Barbara DeLaPena has a beach house she lives in for the summer. Can I just tell you that this lady knows how to set up the beach for a toddler? She had multiple umbrellas set up for shade, a kiddie pool full of water, and sand toys to your heart’s content. Now, one might think, “Why on earth would I need a kiddie pool full of water when I have the whole ocean right in front of me?” Please, allow me to explain.

Reason #1: Waves.

Reason #2: Comfy chairs in the shade where I can watch my son play safely.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Barbara also had frozen grapes… AND….a water heater box that Cooper had a blast crawling in and out of… We did make it down to the waves.

Life Lesson: I’ll insert a “Rookie to Rock Star” word of advice here that thankfully my mom engrained in me even before my son was born. (Thanks, mom! Love you with all my heart) YOUR attitude as a mom STRONGLY influences how your child will react to the situation. If you run after the waves having an absolute blast, your child is FAR more likely to do the same. Not guaranteed of course, but at least a higher chance. So, don’t know that it had anything to do with that this time around, but Cooper fell in love with the beach. Look at the pure glee on his face.

Final note and “Rookie to Rock Star” moment for me on this day…be flexible! I know I’ve said it a bunch of times, and I will continue to say so. I wasn’t sure how nap was gonna work out this day, look how it did, for a glorious hour and a half. Cooper was a trooper and the day was sheer joy! Thank you Barbara.