More Disneyland...

What's Disneyland without the characters? Just your normal, average theme park really. The characters are what makes Disneyland magical. We loved seeing the characters in the parades, available for photo-ops, or just randomly wandering through the park. Lilian was particular about which characters she was willing to stand in line to see. Amazingly enough, she didn't want to meet the princesses. (Well, other than Rapunzel. But the line to her tower was 90 minutes long and we had a plane to catch....) Mostly Lilian wanted to watch them for a moment and then move on.


The characters she WAS insistent on wanting to officially meet...and willing to patiently wait in ridiculously long lines for:























One of the "handlers" for Winnie the Pooh and gang was some young guy who was keeping the line entertained by asking trivia questions...Disney in general and Winnie the Pooh specifically. I was answering questions right and left that no one else knew the answers to. He was all sorts of impressed and determined to find something that would stump me. Finally he got one. What is Winnie the Pooh's real name? He even gave me a hint...that the name was only mentioned in the book, that it was an old fashioned name and it started with an E. He was feeling all sorts of triumphant when I couldn't figure it out. He made me promise to go home and look it up. Do any of you know the answer?? :) It is Edward Bear. You know...just in case you're someday in a long line and a Disney employee, trying to kill time, asks you that very question. Now you know!



Lilian was completely fascinated with any and all things Minnie. She patiently waited in line for a good 45 minutes...not even giving up when Minnie had to go on a break.


Mickey, on the other hand...well, she did want to meet him, but seemed a little nervous about it....judging from the fact that she was clinging so tightly to my neck and trying to put as much distance between her body and his. :) I don't know if it was because Mickey was the first character we met, or if it had to do with a bit of celebrity awe seeing as she watches "Mickey Mouse Playhouse" almost daily.


Mater and Lightning McQueen. Lilian recognized them and the line was short so we hopped in for a quick photo-op.


We were on our way out of Disneyland to get some dinner when Disney's Soundsational Parade was just getting started. Crowds lined the street. Did Lilian want to watch the parade first? NO! She wanted to keep on moving. She was very insistent about it...until she heard the music and saw the drum line that begins the parade, followed closely by a very big, very colorful float with Mickey and Minnie on it. Lilian quickly changed her mind and we scooted into a spot where we could watch the rest of the parade. As you can see from the picture below, she was enthralled.

I personally, loved the parade so much myself that a few days later I bought Lilian an ice cream treat and told her we needed to sit down to eat it....mostly just because I knew the parade would be passing through very shortly and I wanted to see it again! :)

Disney sure knows how to put on a great parade....