What a difference a year make

The first time went to Disneyland with Faith was right before her first birthday. This was totally a different trip than last time.

First of all, we made the whole drive down to Anaheim without having to clean up any vomit. We weren't sure what happened the last time, but right when we got to the Harris Ranch area, Faith started coughing and then vomited all over her car seat. Of course, we didn't realize at that point the air outside wouldn't be any fresher. She vomited almost every night for the whole week trip. However, she was great during the day. Not sure what that was all about, but since she had so much fun during the day, we just kept on going.

On the first time, we actually stayed in Santa Monica and did a lot. We went to Disneyland, Fashion District, Santa Monica Pier, Santa Monica's Farmer Market, Los Angeles Zoo, Getty Museum, and Third Street Promenade. This time we only went to Disneyland. Since she was older, we figured there was more she can do. Even with two and a half days, it wasn't enough. Most nights, she asked to go back to the hotel. It was fun but also exhausting for her because she was taking everything in. She's like her daddy, not a fan of crowds. Also, being more aware, she was afraid of most of the rides, but she did enjoy some aspects of it. It was either too dark, too loud, or there was some component that scared her. We did push her comfort zone a little, because we wanted to let her know that we were there with her and it would be okay. We knew Pirates of the Caribbean would be a little scary, she did spent most of the ride hidden in my arms, but she survived and did like some parts of the ride.

Although it was a tiring trip for her, she had so many memorable moments. Her favorite by far was the Princess breakfast at Ariel's Grotto in California Theme Park. We went on the second day of our trip. She was excited all morning because she knew she was going to meet the princesses. We arrived at the Park before it opened so we got to do the count down, that was fun. After making our way through the park and finding the restaurant, she was bursting with excitement. We were greeted by Ariel and got to take a picture with her. Faith still needed some time to warm up so we did a family shot with Ariel. Then the waiter took us to our table and gave Faith a crown and some stickers to decorate her crown. After they brought out our yummy spread. We had a variety of fruit, cheeses, and bread. Then we got some eggs, bacon, potatoes, and waffles with berries and whipped cream. We requested for some extra blue berries, since they are Faith's favorite. They gave her a generous portion and she finished most of it on her own, of course, she had to dip it in whipped cream. The whole time we were eating, she kept asking where the rest of the princesses would come. We told her to be patient, I'm sure you understand, that was hard for her to do.

They gave us a adequate amount of time to finish our breakfast before the first princess came out. Snow White made her appearance at last. Faith was so excited, that was the end of her eating. She kept looking around anticipating Snow White's visit to our table. When Snow White finally made it to our table, Faith was beside herself. She was so excited, but still not ready to take a picture with Snow White alone. Daddy did get one great shot, but he was so star struck himself that he forgot to take more pictures. Snow White signaled to him to snap the camera, but he thought she was waving hi to him. I had to remind him to continuously take pictures. He did a better job when Aurora arrived. She likes most of the princess, but it wasn't until Cinderella came out that she was truly in heaven. You should have seen the look on her face when they introduced Cinderella. Her expression was priceless. It was worth every penny we paid for that breakfast. Cinderella was by far the friendliness princess. Faith told her that she was her favorite princess and she asked Faith what her name was. After Faith told her, she called Faith, Princess Faith. Faith was just glowing after that. She asked Faith how old she was and if she was enjoying herself. Faith was so comfortable with her and even let Cinderella hold her for a picture. That was the first time in the whole trip that she was willing to take a picture by herself with one of the character. She also took a picture with Belle by herself afterward, but she wasn't as comfortable as she was with Cinderella. She asked if anyone else was coming out and when we got the princess button she looked at it and said that we didn't get to see Jasmine. We told her that Jasmine wasn't able to make it to the breakfast this time. After the whole event, she was still bursting with excitement.

This lead to the second memorable time. We were heading back to the hotel for her to take a nap after we saw the princesses and rode on a few rides at the California themed park, Faith noticed that we were walked to the bus station, she jumped out of the stroller, started walking back toward the park, and crying. It was such a sad, but cute moment. We had to talk her down and convince her that we will return to the park after her nap.

The Holiday parade and the rides are also memorable for her. She loved the parade so much that we decided to watch both nights. She loved see all the characters, especially Mickey, Minnie, all the Princesses, and the Seven dwarfs. Her favorite rides was the Winnie the Pooh and Dumbo ride. We rode on both of them twice. She also liked the Tea Cup ride because we kept screaming when she turned the cup.

Beside the Princess Breakfast, I think her favorite aspect of the trip was our hotel room. We stayed at the Hilton, about a 15 minutes walk to the park. We got a free upgrade to the studio and it was perfect for her. She had plenty of room to run around. They also had a little fridge in the room and she loved opening and closing it. She also enjoying drawing on the little post it notes from the hotel and putting the notes into the fridge. It was hilarious to watch her. She would draw a picture, run to the fridge, put it in, and then run back after a while to take it out. She did this over and over for three days and never got tired of it. She loved the hotel so much that every night, after she was exhausted from the park she would request to go back to the hotel. It was so cute when we were about 2 hours from home, she started crying and begging for us to go back to the hotel. We had to promise her we would return for her birthday for her to calm down.

Although it was a tiring trip for all of us because we don't sleep very well when she sleeps on the bed with us, all the walking, and me not feeling 100%, I'm so glad we were able to make to take this family vacation. She had such a wonderful time and we are so excited to have season passes to Disneyland, we can't wait to come back for her birthday. Hopefully she will overcome some of her fears in the next five months and enjoy more of the rides.