Disneyland, 30th Anniversary Celebration

Tokyo Disneyland celebrated its 30th birthday this year and we decided we needed to take part in the celebration. I know reading this blog you must think I go to Disneyland like every week. It may seem like it to you, and I know we have been way more than the average American since we live 30 minutes away door to door depending on the length of strollers waiting on the elevators. But we had not been since October, and for us, this is a long time. I like to take the kids for the different seasons because Tokyo Disney does such a fabulous job of celebrating and decorating different seasons. My favorite season is the Christmas season because instead of hearing Mary Poppins over the loud speaker you hear Christmas music ALL DAY LONG! Back to this post, we went to Disney this past Friday - just me and the kids - and we had a fabulous time. Lots of my friends could not believe I went by myself with both the kids, but to be honest, it was like a one day vacation. We left before they could destroy anything in the house and we got home in time for bed so I came home to a clean house and clean dishes from breakfast. Someone else cooked for me and entertained my kids all day, so it turned out well for me. The hardest part was using the bathroom, all three of us, together. That made for some interesting conversations. The kids love Disney. Even the K Man is getting into it. We have our own little system. We do not arrive as soon as the park opens. We take our time in the morning and get there around 10:30. My kids are not yet interested in the rides with fast passes so there is no reason to rush the day, especially when we live nearby and can go whenever we choose. We ride a few rides, have lunch, ride a few more rides, find a bench to watch the afternoon parade and eat a snack, ride a few more rides, have dinner, buy our token gift for the day, and go back to the same bench to watch the electrical parade. As soon as those final lights pass by, we are near the front of the park and we exit immediately to head home, usually home by 8:45. This past Friday was no exception. Miss M wanted to get a photo with Minnie, but the line was a bit long so I convinced her to wait another time when daddy can come with us and stand in line while we go and ride things until our turn. The kids LOVE the tea cups...me not so much...but I ride them because that is what a mom does when daddy cannot come along. Thankfully they have yet to figure out how to spin it too fast. We ride the same rides - tea cups, small world, merry-go-round, and Dumbo. Then we venture to Cartoon land and walk through all of the houses - Minnie's house, Chip and Dale's tree house, and Daisy and Donald's boat. We have not waiting in the 80 minute line to do Mickey's house and get our picture with him. I tried to get Miss M to do Goofy's new house this past time, but she wanted to go back to Small World. It looked fun, but not so fun as to pick a fight over her with. There is a reason they call Disneyland a magical place...it just is. You can see it from the looks in their eyes.