Joshua's First Trip to Disneyland

For Joshua's second birthday, we took him to Disneyland for the first time. We wrestled with how old he should be for the first time, but settled on two. I think it will be a good age. We got annual passes, so we'll get to go lots and lots (for the one year while Josh still gets in free).


I expected his head to come spinning off with all that he would be seeing, but that was not the case. I think it was too much for him to take in. He was so serious the majority of the day. I think he enjoyed it, but he was in overdrive trying to process it all.

We were there right at opening time, so got to hear the announcement when they opened the castle gate. Since it was Josh's birthday, we got him a birthday pin so he could get a little extra attention from the Disney staff. He got some, but not as much as I expected. He turned shy each time anyway.

Our first ride of the day was the carousel. It was amusing to me how fast the carousel seemed. I also got a little dizzy. I wasn't sure if this was because of my pregnancy (and standing up while moving backwards) or because I was focused on Josh. Jim said it was because my focus was different since he was feeling the same way. I had the same feeling on the Dumbo ride. Funny how those protective instincts kick right in.

The first characters we were able to meet was a group of villains. Josh wasn't scared about any villainous demeanor, but he didn't really want to get close to these guys on his own. He would say "hi" and "bye" to them when prompted, but that was it.

I think the favorite spot all day was Goofy's house in Toon Town. It had a playground-type area and just fun stuff to play with that was his size.

But the best part of Toon Town was this phone. I think he could have stayed there forever. Josh would pick it up, "LLLOOOWWWW!" and walk around with the phone to his ear (as far as the cord would let him) and hang the phone back up. Over. And Over.

And of course we had to meet Mickey Mouse (Mee-Mee House). I was hoping Josh would be less shy with him, but he still wanted to be held. Hopefully future visits will be better.

We took the train around the park, mostly to take a rest from walking. Josh was looking pretty sleepy so we tried to find a quiet spot for him to take a nap in the stroller. He has never done this well, but we hoped he would be tired enough. I thought it was going to work, but he just wanted too much interaction and was starting to get cranky. We decided to head home and maybe consider coming back in the evening.

As we were walking to the front gate, he passed out. So we turned around and found another quiet spot by It's a Small World since it is closed in preparation for Christmas. Josh took a wonderful one hour nap. It was a nice rest time for Jim and me too!

He woke up and got to enjoy some popcorn and a Mickey Mouse Ice Cream (at least what little I would share with him). Yum-O!!

What was funny was not long after he woke up a four-man drumming band came thundering out of a gate very close to where we were sitting. Thank goodness Josh had already woken or there may have been an unhappy Mama (and maybe an unhappy child). Instead we got to enjoy these fun guys.

One thing we had to do was get the boy a Mickey Ear hat. I was trying to decide between traditional black or a blue one when Josh spotted the Kermit the Frog hat. It was all over from there. I tried to talk him into a Mickey one, but that only had him choosing other hats from the wall. So I walked him away from the wall, presented him with one Mickey hat and one Kermit hat and told him to pick one.

Yep.

We got his name embroidered on the back.

We left the park around 6pm. Jim and I were both shocked at how long we all lasted. My hips were killing me and I could barely walk by the end. Even though we have passes, there is just something that makes you want to stay as long as you can - on a first visit anyway. We only rode a few rides and didn't go to many lands, but we took the day slow and just enjoyed ourselves.

On the tram ride back to the parking structure we sat across from another family with two daughters, the youngest of which was 2.5 years old. The mom said this was her third visit and the first time she really seemed to be getting it. That gave Jim great hope for Josh showing a little more outward enthusiasm after more visits.

Happy Birthday Little Dude!