Please Pass the Pixie Dust
For our last summer fling, which coincidentally nears my oldest’s 5th birthday, I thought what better place to go than Disneyland, the “happiest place on earth”! As our vacation approached I busily learned all I could to make this a successful trip. I planned to apply some of the well-known traveller tricks: 1) plan for half-days in the park and half-days relaxing, 2) try to eat meals at off-peak times to avoid lines, and 3) my favorite that I picked up from Debbie at Delicious Baby - plan for a meltdown on Day 3. (Knowing that the meltdown is inevitable made it far less personal.) And I will tell you, not to spoil an ending, we had a terrific time. However, a moment of sheer panic hit me the day before we arrived in LA.
We made the trip by car so that we could stop at a few key places on the way back. Getting there meant being in the car essentially all day. I knew this was a tall order for a five year old and two and a half year old so I had planned for a long stop about three hours into our trip. It was a kids’ water park and family fun center, which I hoped would wear them out enough for a nap to follow as we continued driving. My youngest was understandably afraid of the water slides, so I took him to the very mild kiddie rides there. Here, I figured, was a great introduction to the fun that will follow in the next few days. We started slow, a train that went on a track the width of a small kitchen. Only seconds after the train began its mellow journey poor Josh was in tears. It just then occurred to me that my youngest doesn’t really like rides, my oldest hates characters that walk around, and my husband hates crowds. How in the world did I think this would be the greatest vacation ever? It may take a pound of pixie dust to get us through the next week together.
Fast forward, we did have a good time and I learned a lot, which I plan to share in the next post or two. But that moment of panic gave me a good lesson about weighing what’s important for the whole family when you decide a vacation destination.
For more fun travel photos, visit Photo Friday at Deliciousbaby.com.
Ah, I CANNOT WAIT until my tots are old enough to take them to Disneyland – two or three more years down the road, I suspect.
We try to avoid being in the car for more than 45 minutes (we’re so weak) for fear of a complete meltdown.
I’ll look forward to your follow up post.
Oh! No! I know sometimes I did have feeling. We are preparing for our first camping trip and I hope it will be a good fit. But my husband doesn’t like outdoor stuff. So we will see.
On the Disney topic, I can’t wait to hear all about your trip and tricks. We also plan to go to Disneyland during our South Cal trip. So I will be taking note.
Glad you had a great time. It’s OK, Mickey…you can look now