Month of Maggie Kicked Off with a Visit to the Mouse House

Yep, it's birthday time again in this house and that means a visit to the House of Mouse (aka Disneyland). Anyhoo....here are a few highlights from our weekend.

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Princess Pandemonium
I think Maggie only likes Princesses because her sister does. However, even for Maggie, no trip to Disneyland would be complete without a little Princess action. The new princess set up is such an improvement. Disney corraled all the princesses into one area and organized a single line and at the end, three princesses. Wahhooooo! What a time saver. Sure, you don't know who the princesses are, but it beats the heck out of three lines. Also, they've combined Princess Story Time in the same area, which is much better than that crowded shop. So, if you hit story time and the Princess line, you've seen 4 princesses...add a princess lunch with its 5 princess line up and you'll get all the princesses in a painless morning/meal. Does it get any better than that?

Pocahontas and Mulan Finally Get Some Brand Management
It's clear that Mulan and Pocahontas finally have a little brand management behind them. We actually saw Pocahontas and heard Mulan at storytime. Huge firsts for us Disney veterans. I also noticed considerable more merchandising around both of these princesses. I'm glad to see it as they are my favorite princesses and I always thought Disney was missing out on a revenue opportunity. Glad they finally agree that the brave princesses need some marketing too.

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Gay Day
Saturday and Sunday both were Gay Day at Disneyland. The park was packed with men and women wearing red shirts announcing the day, in case you had any doubt. I figured it out fairly early in the day (gee...those red shirts reading "Gay Day 2006" were real subtle) but alas my less observant husband, also dressed in a red shirt, didn't notice the shirts. When I pointed it out to him at about 3pm, he started laughing. "So that's why all those guys were looking at me strange!" I guess he's hot regardless of gender.

The other funny "Gay Day" story involves La Nina. Our family was in line for dinner and one section of the restaurant was absolutely packed with men in red shirts. La Nina suddenly had a very urgent need to go potty and she and I had to make a run for it, right through the red shirted group. Several rather brawny men were blocking my way, so I said, "We've got a potty emergency and need a little help." Well, let me tell you, if you are ever in a situation where your 4 year old needs to make a potty dash, look for men wearing red shirts. She and I had a line of blockers the Oakland Raider's Quarterback would be envious of. Five men formed a V and sprinted ahead of us, yelling, "Potty Emergency". We made the 100 yard dash through a crowded restaurant in 10 seconds flat. And when we came out dry, we got a round of applause. It was very nice to be so well cared for!

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Down to a Single Stroller
We decided on this trip to only take one stroller. It was a bold move, but it's time La Nina get off her hiney and work a little. (She's a lazy little thing and she doesn't like to sweat!) I'd say we had mixed results. The first day was fine. La Nina walked without complaint, the second day the whining began. Maggie is fine walking, but she never really walks. She jumps, she spins, she zigs and zags...but walking...not so much. And while Maggie will walk forever, she's slow! I mean really slow. She and I were forever getting left behind our group, because she was either dancing or just strolling in a very unhurried manner people watching. The one thing that did really worked is that each girl at one point, gave up the stroller for a very tired sibling. Each did it without complaint and walked back to the hotel after a long day while her sister slept. It was a great act of sisterly compassion and love and a great reminder that even young kids can have empathy.

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That's it for our Disney adventure. It was fun. It was fun to be there with some of the families from Maggie's group and celebrate all the 3 year olds en masse. And yes, for the record, my children are totally spoiled, but what the heck~that's what happens when you have them later in life.