Princesses, Jedi and More

We had early admission this morning. There was no rope drop and it was funny to see adults running along Main Street pushing strollers and dragging their children behind them. One mom in front of us kept going after her children stopped. She turned and stared at them. The kids asked her to slow down. She told them they needed to run and took off again. Those poor kids!

Getting there early is important, but some people can be a little intense about it. My sister is borderline, but she would never run someone down with her stroller. Though she did tell hubby not to stop and take any pictures on our way to Peter Pan. He still managed to shoot a couple pics, including this one of Sleeping Beauty's castle.

Thanks to the early admission, we managed in less than an hour and a half to hit every ride in Fantasyland. No lines on anything but the Storybook boats where this picture was taken. (I can't remember the real name and am too tired to look it up!) I love the miniature buildings and gardens. Not a bad morning at all, but as soon as the real park opening rolled around at ten o'clock, it got really crowded.

We then took the three girls (my two and my niece) to the Fantasy Princess Faire while my sister took all the boys to Tomorrowland. This was our first time at this new attraction. It was a long wait, but worth it.

The girls met three princesses: Pocahontas, Cinderella and Belle. Hubby had fun posing with all three! I was just completely relieved because we could check off meeting Cinderella. She's my girls' fave princess and we didn't see her the last time we were here. Rose was simply beside herself. She was in awe of them and wasn't sure what to say. It was very cute and the princesses were so sweet with her. The two nine year olds had no problem talking to the princesses, however, and they even found out that Belle read American Girl novels when she was a young girl!

After meeting the princesses, the girls went down and decorated crowns with stickers. Next came the royal coronation. The girls received princess lessons as well as dance lessons then got to dance with Belle as part of a May Pole dance. Snow White and Mulan took part too. Since hubby had his fun with the princesses, I posed with two of the cast members from the show we'd just watched.

After lunch my sister and her family headed back to the hotel to meet my parents who had arrived that morning. My family went to the Jedi Academy show. The one thing I wanted most on this trip (besides seeing Cinderella and safe travel there and back) was for the kidlets to be selected to participate in this show. A Jedi Master chooses 15 younglings to be trained as padawans. I'm a huge Star Wars fan and so are my kids, and it's the first time we'd ever seen the show so I even asked on Disneyland Forums how to get chosen. The key seemed to be having the kids act enthusiastic. If you've ever met my son, he's enthusiastic about anything until you ask him to be that way. I knew we'd be attending this show over and over again until he got chosen. He said he didn't want to do it, but I knew if he understood what would happen, he'd be all over it.

We arrived early so we were sitting right at the front. I told the kids to act like they really wanted this. Rose started crying saying she didn't want to do it so she went back with hubby so she wasn't in the front. When the Jedi Master started choosing kids, Finn froze. He looked down, sort of had his hand up. I was trying to get him excited. It wasn't working. He was getting mad at me. The Jedi Master passed right over them. I was so disappointed. But then he started back. Mackenna was jumping up and down. Finn finally raised his arm high. Both of them got chosen on that second pass. Huge relief on my part.

As soon as Finn got up there, I could see a change in him. He was smiling and looked thrilled to be a part of the show. Just like I knew he would be! They put the kids in brown robes and gave them lightsabers. They taught them how to fight. It was very cool.


Then the Dark Side entered. Darth Vader and Darth Maul. My two got to fight Darth Vader. Mackenna was even chosen to use her hand to Force push the two stormtroopers back. Hubby captured it all on video! At the end of the show, they each got certificates. Finn wants to frame his and hang it in his room (Star Wars theme room, of course!) He also thanked me for pushing him to do the show! Sometimes mom does know best!

We caught up with my family at California Adventure. I took the two youngest (Rose and my nephew) to see the Playhouse Disney show while everyone else went on the Tower of Terror. I still haven't been on that ride. I sure hope I get a chance before we leave, but I always seem to be the one who gets the little ones to watch! We also went to the coolest show with Crush, the turtle from Nemo. It was an interactive show and one of the neatest things I've seen. We all had a hard time not calling each other Dude! the rest of the evening!

Back at Disneyland we ate dinner at the Plaza Inn. Yummy fried chicken! Then rode some more rides. Then it was back to the hotel for a birthday party. The Grand Californian made the most beautiful Tinkerbell cake for Rose. It was tasty too. Chocolate cake with a whipped cream with fresh strawberry filling. They rolled it in on a table with enough plates and napkins for everyone. They even included candles and matches! And Tinkerbell is edible!

Rose was very surprised. She received presents from my sisters' family and my parents. I'd gone to the Dollar Tree and found some great Disney theme items so made favor bags for all seven of the kids! Needless to say, the best 5th birthday ever continues on!

Tomorrow is a makeover for the girls at Libby Lu's and lunch with the Disney Princesses at Ariel's Grotto in California Adventure!

What was your best birthday?

P.S. A belated birthday wish to Amy! I can't believe I forgot. It is written down in my planner, but I haven't looked at that in a couple of days. So sorry!