Magical Day

This is the second in a series of blogs about Disney and Disneyland.

Can you believe I'm writing another blog so soon after the last one? I decided I want to blog a little more often. In fact, I finally added a counter to my blog so I can actually see if people are reading this... Or if I'm only writing for my own cathartic benefit.

In my last blog I wrote about some of the magic I've experienced at Disneyland. I said my next post would be about my most magical day at the DLR. Since I had already thought up my next topic, I figured that now is as good a time as any to write it.

In July of 2008 I went to a convention in Los Angeles. Marie and the kids came with me and spent the week at Disneyland while I went to the convention. After the convention ended we stayed in LA a few extra days so I could also go to Disneyland. This was Disney's "Year of a Million Dreams," and Disney lived up to the claim.

We decided to start our day with a character breakfast, this was under the advice of one of my good friends. We did the research and decided that The Storyteller's Cafe inside the Grand Californian hotel was the best bang for our buck. It's missing some of the more popular characters like Mickey and Donald. However, it is rated as the best food among the different character breakfast options; it's also the least expensive breakfast.

We made our reservations for the first available time in the day, we didn't want to cut in to our time in the parks. This meant we had to be there really early. In fact we arrived before the restaurant opened. This worked out to our advantage.

This was our first time in the Grand Californian hotel, and Marie and I were awed by the beauty and detail there. Since we were there early, we did a little exploring. The hotel pool is right across from the entrance to the restaurant. We walked away from the door to the restaurant to look at the pool.

I don't mean to sound like a bad parent, but I was so awed by the hotel that I wasn't keeping an eye on my kids. So imagine my surprise when I turn around and see my son being walked towards us by a Disney security guard. All kinds of things went through my mind at that point, mostly I was thinking that this guy was going to chastise us for walking a little bit away from the kids.

But he didn't. In fact, he asked if Ryan could help him to open the restaurant. Of course we said yes. So Ryan and he walked over to the doors, stuck the key in the lock and opened the door. Ryan got to be the first one in the restaurant, and as a thank you they gave Ryan a bunch of balloons and a few autographed pictures of Mickey and friends. Ryan was so happy he was bouncing with excitement.

Needless to say the food was amazing! I still look forward to the omelettes made to order, the fresh fruit, and the carmelized French toast. The characters were fun; Chip & Dale, Meeko, Turk, and Keenai & Koda... All the woodland characters. During breakfast the kids in the restaurant all got up and played follow the leader, singing and dancing. All that and great service too.

After breakfast, and a suitable amount of time hanging around in the lobby of the Grand Californian Hotel, it was time to go into Disneyland. We had to repark the car (move it from the hotel to the Disneyland parking lot). Marie suggested that I take the kids into the park while she parked the cars.

While we were waiting I made my way into Frontierland... They have a pin trading store that I thought would be a good place to wait. I started chatting with a cast member in front of the store. When Marie arrived the castmember asked us if we had ever seen the show at the Gokden Horseshoe. We hadn't. The lady gave us a ticket that gave us reserved seats at a table on the front row. We were able to show up just minutes before the start of the show and have some of the best seats in the house.

I think at this point i should mention that i really enjoy Disney Pin Trading. Several cast members at the resort will wear pin lanyards and you can walk up to them and trade one of your pins for one of theirs. In fact, at times I can be very aggressive about looking for cast members with pins. It's the souvenirs we look for when we go to Disneyland.

So after we left Frontierland we started heading towards Critter Country to ride the Pooh ride. Along the way I spotted a cast member who seemed to be in a bit of a hurry as she walked past us. I didn't let that stop me. I literally cut off her path with the stroller (did I mention I'm aggressive when it comes to finding pin traders?).

In the process of trading with her... Marie mentioned she was looking for a specific pin. The woman smiled and told us she knew right where it is. She then walked us over to a pin store in New Orleans Square. She showed Marie where to fins the pin, then offered to buy it using her cast member discount. Marie, trying to be discreet, stood outside during the purchase got some cash out to give to the lady. When she came out of the store she gave Marie the pin and refused to take any money for it. She said it was a gift. She also gave a pin to Ryan.

Throughout the day we kept having great and magical experiences. It was a great way to end a trip, and even though Marie and the kids had survived an entire week at Disneyland (including an actual earthquake), nothing could dim the magic we felt that day.

These are the experiences that keep bringing me back to Disneyland. It's funny that I had to grow up to appreciate the magic of Disneyland... As a kid I always chose to go to Magic Mountain. As an adult I recognize that Disney is not only set up better for the family experience, but it's just a well planned and run park.

To be honest I don't remember all the rides we did that day. I don't remember all the characters we met. What I remember is feeling like after all the time we had already spent at Disneyland, the park could still surprise me; and that's saying something.

- Posted using my iPhone