First Disneyland trip

We made our first official trip with our one and a half year old son. We did a short trip when he was one year old to Lake Tahoe but that was a pretty short trip and he did not even understand much then. He had fun playing with the sand on the beach there. But other than that, we were pretty hesitant to take him on a trip as we were worried about his food and lot of other things. We finally made a trip to LA and took him to Disneyland and Universal Studios in December during the Christmas time.

Everyone I spoke to told me that he was too young to visit Disneyland. People were concerned that he would not remember anything. Yes, I know he will not remember anything but that doesn’t mean that he should not be allowed to enjoy until he is old enough to remember right? The other concern lot of people raised was that he would not be able to get on any of the rides in Disneyland. Even though many people thought this was not an appropriate age for him to visit Disneyland, I was pretty sure he would like Disneyland and that there was plenty of stuff to do even for young children. This was thanks to the n number of times that I have visited Disneyland.

So what is there in Disneyland for young children?

Plenty! This is what we did with our son:

Day 1 – We first saw the Christmas parade which he absolutely loved. He had a big smile plastered on his face, even though he had not seen most of the cartoon characters which came in the parade. You don’t have to watch the cartoons in order to enjoy the parade or Disneyland in general. We then saw some characters standing there and got some autographs and photos with them – like Aladdin, Jasmine, Genie, Snow White, Cindrella and Pluto. We also got some great pics in front of the Disneyland Railroad. My son loves trains so I was confident that he would love Disneyland train but it was closed for renovation or something, so that was disappointing. We did loads of shopping and got him many toys and books that he himself picked. He also picked a balloon with Mickey inside and played with it.

And then I took him to that one ride which I knew he would love – It’s a small world. It is such a cute boat ride with dolls from all over the world. It’s my favorite ride and my son loved it too. Then we saw the fireworks which he enjoyed sitting on his father’s shoulders. We could not cover a lot in a single day, mainly because we took multiple breaks for eating and drinking, also it was extremely crowded. Just to buy a coffee, I stood for an hour or so in line. It was like waiting for a ride.

Day 2 – We first met Mickey at his house in Toontown. I was sure my son would love toontown and he did. He even smiled at Mickey (he hardly smiles at strangers) and now Mickey is one of his favorite characters. He learned how to say the word “Mickey” and “Pluto” (he loves dogs so Pluto was a favorite) while we were there. Then we went to a musical show which had Mickey and some of the other cartoon characters – “Mickey and the magical lamp”. This show made him like Mickey even more. We then took him on a train ride in Fantasyland called Circus train ride I think which was good. We did more shopping. We then saw the evening parade which was much better than the Christmas parade that we saw on the previous day. This one had lights and characters from Cars movie (he loves cars) which made my son like this parade even more.

Then we went to California adventures park and had dinner there. After dinner, we saw the lights show which had fountains and music called “World of Color”.

I also wanted to take my son on few of the other rides and shows like Frozen but we ran out of time. We started the day late and we took it slowly this time. My son had a great time and it was a nice break for him too. He likes buses so even enjoyed the bus ride from parking lot to Disneyland entrance. Disneyland mostly has pastas and pizzas, so after eating pastas and pizzas for two consecutive days, he started hating them 🙂

I came back totally refreshed as I was fed up of the daily grind. I even got to visit the Wizarding world of Harry Potter in Universal Studios which was on my wishlist from a long time. My son did not enjoy much there but I totally loved it. I drank butterbeer, ate chocolate frogs, got my wizard robes, wands, scarves, dressed up like a Hogwarts student and shopped in Hogsmeade. Dream came true. 🙂

Now I am busy planning another trip (to a different place) for next month. 😀