Typical Disneyland day with a toddler

Disneyland

J's 1st visit

The first time we took J to Disneyland she was about two and a half years old; it had been about 3 years since my last visit and I was itching to go. Part of that long delay was when I got pregnant I didn't think I would have a good time at the park (not true you can) , and the other part was that I felt J was too you to appreciate or enjoy the park (also not true). We had a pretty good day and shortly after became annual passholders and frequented the park a few times a month.
Flash forward five years later I was pregnant with my second child, and although this pregnancy was much more difficult and I was in constant pain to walk I still had to visit during  for my birthday, Friday the 13th , Halloween time (aka One24/7Dad's bday), Christmas time and a dear friend was getting married there so I couldn't miss that! So on those trips I either rented a wheelchair for long days or we stayed at one area of the park as I waddled my way from attraction to attraction and  had frequent rest stops.

Dapper Day 2014

Max's first visit was when he was only five weeks old! We didn't stay long as it was an impromptu visit and we were not prepared for a long day. After that we visited again three or four times before his first birthday. Although his eyes didn't light up when we saw Mickey, and he slept through the parade he did enjoy the carousel and the characters were just amazing around him.
Our most recent visit was a couple weeks ago just before Disneyland's official birthday celebration. Max was now a solid 18 months and had a blast, boy was he a trooper knocking out closer to 10pm right before we left for the night.
We started the day at Disneyland California Adventure park, and walked onto Monsters Inc. His wide eyed expression showed complete terror but no tears and issues on the ride. J was never a fan of any of the indoor attractions until she was about six and even then... We had our Fast Passes (FP) tickets to see the Arendelle princesses but that was still about an hour away so we jumped over to Bugs Land to squeeze in some Max friendly rides. While in line to see Elsa & Ana he feel asleep (which was still a 45 min wait with FP so J and 24/7Dad drew Baymax at the Animation Academy while I saved our place in line), and with good reason we had been up since about 6 am that morning. Taking advantage of this J and 24/7Dad jumped in line for Tower of Terror and got me a parent swap pass. We skipped Cars Land this time because the wait per usual was really long and once Max woke up there would be nothing for him to do there; and I jumped to the boardwalk where we got FP for California Screaming and had a LIGHT snack. Once max woke up he did a couple turns on Triton's Carousel and he had his snack. Again we used the valuable parent swap pass and J took another turn, this time with me, on the coaster. We met up with Max & 24/7Dad at the Redwood Trails burning off some energy after first getting a FP for Grizzly River Run. Since it was a warm day even the FP line was a bit long so much to Js dismay I opted not to use a parent swap pass and instead went to order lunch and find a shady spot to eat.
After lunch, mmm my fav Earl of Sandwich Holiday Sandwich, we took the monorail into Disneyland. We went straight to Thunder Mountain to get out FP and then after a quick potty break got in the long but quickly moving Pirates of the Caribbean ride. I took a quick pick of Max as we boarded and another classic look of terror came across hi face. I think this had to do more with the flash than the boat since the ride hadn't started and I doubt he remembers when he was on it the last time. He held on for dear life during the dips at the beginning and never quite trusted the ride after but again no tears and no issues on the ride. It was time to head back to Thunder Mountain and while 24/7 Dad and J went on I was going to hop over and get our FP for Star Tours. At this point Max fell asleep again so I was in search for a cool shady spot which was hard to come by. I finally found a spot next to a kind family on the island where the Partners statue is at facing the parade route. So I put a blanket out by the cirb incase we stayed for the parade and I sat on the floor again the fence as he slept. It was very comfortable since there was a delicious cross breeze cooling me down. 24/7Dad and J headed over to Space Mountain while Max was out cold. He woke up just a few minutes before the parade started and he was very attentive to the parade in his very serious pout that is so adorable. A lady next to us smiled and noticed that all the princesses said hi to him and blew him a kiss. He enjoyed Terk coming up and giving him a high-five!

After the parade and another potty break we headed to fantasyland where we hoped on King Arthur's Carousel, bummed we did not get on Jingles :( and saw that 24/7 Dad was already in line for Dumbo. Afterwards we jumped on Casey Jr's train, and we headed to the teacups where Max loved spinning the wheel. Then off to Small World one of my absolute favorite rides (beating ou Peter Pan only because that line is always a killer). I highly recommend eating at the Plaza Inn. Their fried chicken is uuumazing, and filling. The four of us shared two adult plates with an extra scoop of mashed potatoes and we were stuffed. We then headed back over to Small World to find our spot for the Pain the Night Parade. We had about an hour and a half wait before the parade started and 24/7Dad took Max to burn off some energy at Goofy's backyard play area in Toontown, and then took J to redeem her FP for Star Tours.

Paint the Night parade is... well... its indescribable but its awesome! We oooooed and awwwwed the whole way through and were sadden when it ended in what felt to be all too soon. After a delay of about 15 minutes it was announced that the firework show would be cancelled due to weather. Booo!
Since there was only a few minute wait for Autopia J decided to put her driving skills to the test. Lets just say I am not looking forward to when she wants to get behind the wheel for realsies. We ended our day using the parent swap for Space Mountain they got earlier, and J always has a terrorized happy look during the picture at the end. She really does love this ride I promise! Max fell asleep again and we were all tired so we made our way to the trams and then to our car and we all knocked out hard when we got home dreaming about mouse ears and pixie dust! It was a great day!

 We love you KA ;)