Today Theresa, Ian, and I are all headed to Disneyland. Alli (who is 7 weeks old now) is staying home with just the grandparents for the first time ever. Let's hope she's good for them. We'll only be going for a few hours.
We usually tell Ian we're headed to Disneyland a few days before we go. Doing this means we get treated to "Ian going to Disneyland?" for a couple days. He knows what Disneyland is and really likes it. Good boy.
Everyone is wearing a Christmas hat today. I decided to recreate Vader's Santa hat from my shirt, and I did get a few compliments on it throughout the day.
Our usual parking is at the Mickey and Friends lot, but after seeing ahead of time that it was closed on the MouseWait app, we headed to the Toy Story Parking lot. A quick bus ride later, the three of us made it to the Disneyland gates, seeing lines that stretched past the monorail beam and halfway to the center.
After making it inside, the Christmas Fantasy parade was causing another backup. Luckily the additional path behind the shops was open so we were able to avoid Main Street.
Happy to be in the parks.
We made our way to the back of the Matterhorn and caught up to the parade. Ian was happy to wave to Santa and the reindeer.
The one ride we figured we had time for was King Arthur's Carrousel. It's about 4pm and the Candlelight Processional starts at 5:20pm.
Easily his favorite ride.
We've still never been able to ride Jingles. This was just a quick photo-op after the ride stopped.
After the ride, all of us grab some space on Main Street while we waited for the Processional to come by. We knew there was no way we'd get to the parks early enough to get a decent view of the first show. Our plan was to watch Ruston while he came in, then just listen to the first show.
Grabbing dinner. Really wish they had trays... Three chili dogs, one hot dog, plus 4 waters were all balanced a little precariously.
Ian's been so good and could definitely use some time to stretch his legs. With Main Street closed off at both ends, he had plenty of room to run. He walked over to a cast member and she gave him a couple stickers.
Thank you!
Collecting a couple more stickers from another cast member. At the end of the night, he had at least 7 stickers all over him.
And if people liked my hat, they absolutely loved his hat. There were even a few that knew it was from one of our favorite Christmas TV specials "Prep and Landing". Ian, T, and I just watched it a couple days before.
It became a game running away from me. He sure did love it.
Come back here! *Squeal with laughter*
Just about time to see Ruston!
Just after 5:20pm, the lights dim and music fills the air.
Ruston told us ahead of time which side he'd be on, so we made sure to line up on the correct side. I didn't know where our other friend Paula would be walking, but as I was going through my photos after the fact, I saw she was right in the front!
Ruston! Ian waved big as Ruston walked by.
All the other choir members walking in.
After the last of the choir members passed, it was time for us to follow behind them. The line for the 2nd show started as soon as the way was clear. Everyone was held at the midway point on Main Street until the ropes were set up.
As I was holding Ian he said, "Uncle Jacob hold?" Uncle Jacob is a little taller and Ian's able to see a little more when Jacob is holding him.
As soon as the ropes were up, everyone shuffled forward. Here's where we ended up. Not much of a view, but we can hear everything that's going on.
Well what do you know. Not such a bad view after all. There's Ruston!
Quite the crowd for the 2nd showing.
Beautiful.
Smile Ian!
We were able to meet up with a friend who we met through Candlelight years ago. Ian was tickled with Duchess and got licked so many times.
Between shows, Ruston was able to come out and see visit with us. It's tradition to drink my Grandma's recipe spiced tea and snack on Rice Krispy Treats.
All too soon it was time for Ruston to head to the back and get ready for the 2nd showing. Big hugs before he goes.
The remaining 5 of us were within 10 feet of the front of the line, and would have surely had our choice of spots for the 2nd showing, but that'd be another 2 hours here and we have to get home to baby Alli.
Even still, I always enjoy coming to Disneyland at this time of year and Candlelight just completes my Christmas season.
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