Character Dining at the Plaza Inn

We learned after our first trip to Disney as parents, that if you want to eat with characters (or any kind of sit down dining), you have to plan ahead and make a reservation.  In Disneyland, they take reservations 60 days in advance, but in Disney World (which is more of a longer-term vacation spot), they take reservations 6 months in advance.  If you want a popular spot, you better be sitting at your computer the first day the reservations are allowed and that's just what I did.  We planned one in each park and each one was geared towards a separate child.  In the Disneyland park, we set up a breakfast with Minnie and Friends, and in California Adventure, we scheduled lunch with the princesses (separate post).

These dining experiences are great because there is no waiting in line and the characters come to your table while you're eating.  The first one to find us was Dale and Brady couldn't wait to have him be the first to sign his autograph book.  It's blurry because he was so excited to hand it to him.   You can tell even from the side, that Izzie isn't too pleased.

She's keeping a close eye on him. 

Special Mickey waffle for Brady.

Dale took it as a personal mission to get Brady to like him.  No matter which table he was headed to, he kept stopping for Izzie.  She's batting him away in this one. 

Playing coy with Izzie. 

Tigger! 

Dale's back! 

They'd already seen Minnie earlier, but were happy to see her again. 

Can you tell how excited Brady is? 

Eeyore! 

Captain Hook!  Brady was excited to see him since he'd just come from meeting Tinkerbell.  He wanted to meet all the characters from Neverland. 

We told Hook that we had Izzie with us.  They have a show on Disney Junior called Jake and the Neverland Pirates, where there are kid pirates who are always foiling Captain Hook and the girl is named Izzy.   

My kids devour fruit and Izzie couldn't let us have watermelon without her getting some. 

Pooh Bear!  My personal favorite of the suited characters. 

Izzie loved Pooh Bear!  Must be genetic. 

Christmas Portraits 2012

Last week we had Brady's Christmas portraits taken.  The past two years we've done them the week before Thanksgiving because portrait studios are crazy busy and crowded right after Thanksgiving as everyone goes to get Christmas portraits.  This way we avoid the rush and can relax knowing there isn't someone right behind us breathing down our necks.  I was a little nervous after this summer's trouble getting portraits taken with Brady.  I made sure to practice with him and tell him where we were going.  He loves to say, "Boo," and for me to act surprised or scared, so I figured that might be my trick to get a genuine smile and it worked a good bit.  We didn't get as many great shots as in the past, but I'm happy with what we got.  I probably save more money when he doesn't take a million great shots and I can't choose between them.  The top one I bought because it shows off his whole outfit, even if the smile isn't quite as genuine.

Andy really liked this one, but I don't know what it is about it that I feel it doesn't look like Brady.  Maybe it's the hair not having a chance to grow out more, making his teeth and eyes more prominent.  We will see if I break down and buy a few as I have 90 days to order additional prints.

I bought several of this one because again, you can see the whole outfit.  It's also cute how the photographer had him stick his hands in his pockets, making him look so grown up.  I can't tell you how glad I was that he didn't try to run away this time and knew the red dot was where he was supposed to stand.

The photographer tried to get a silhouette shot, but he wouldn't keep his mouth closed.

Every year, we do the formal Christmas outfit and then a pair of Christmas pajamas (or Christmas related informal outfit, depending on what I see in stores).  We used the same present box in the pic above that he was seen sitting in at 9 months old.  There were things inside the box and of course, Brady couldn't resist.  He found a small stuffed gingerbread man, but was distracted by it, so the box and toys went away quickly.

 Every year, I buy the Christmas Pooh bear that Disney sells.  I usually buy the pajamas first and so far, I've been very lucky that the colors on the Pooh bear have matched.  He was happy to see Pooh (we'd hidden him so he'd be excited), and these pictures turned out better than the formal shots.  I got a TON of this shot and it's the one that will end up on our wall for years to come.

The photographer had the idea to have him lay on his belly and hold Pooh.  She was a little slow to snap the shot above because he'd just finished smiling and looks like he's pouting instead.

The second attempt went much better and we bought several of this shot as well.

They always try to sell you on enhancements which are way more expensive than getting the regular portraits.  I haven't gotten any in a while and didn't get any this time, but they're still fun to share.

I can't wait until next year, when I can put Brady and Izzie B in matching Christmas outfits.  Gymboree is where I've bought Brady's outfit each year and they always offer coordinating sets for boys and girls from newborns up to age 12.  It's always hard to see the adorable girl outfits that have matched his over the years and I can't wait to get to buy one next year!

Disneyland Paris

Our final full day in Paris, we decided to take Brady to Disneyland Paris.  We'd taken him to Disney World twice in the last year and know how much he enjoys it, so we figured that it was time we did something for him.  Disneyland Paris is located in a suburb of Paris, opposite of Versailles, but it also took us an hour to get there via the higher speed suburban trains.  It was supposed to be the nicest day during the week, and also happened to be a Saturday, so the train was packed with people taking their kids to Disney.

The Disneyland stop is at the end of the line, and when we got off, we knew everyone was headed for the park.  The line to go through the bag check was crazy and like almost everything we've encountered in Europe, comes to a bottleneck.

This year Disneyland Paris is celebrating their 20th anniversary.  It seems every time we make a trip to Disney, it's a celebration.  So far, I've been to the 40th anniversary of Disneyland in California, the 2000 celebration at Disney World, and Disney World's 40th anniversary.

When we first arrived, we grabbed some fast passes for Buzz Lightyear, then decided to go see Mickey Mouse.  The set up for Mickey Mouse in Paris was nicer than at home because they had a big screen showing old Mickey Mouse cartoons and it kept the kids entertained.  You can see Brady above riding on Andy's shoulders enjoying the cartoons.

The pure joy on Brady's face when he was next in line to see Mickey.

Kisses for Mickey.

After Brady's audience with Mickey Mouse, we rode Buzz Lightyear, then headed over to the place where Winnie the Pooh was going to be.  I love the honey pot landscaping in front.

Running up to Pooh Bear.

Dancing with Pooh.

Lots of love for Pooh Bear.  Brady refused to stop loving on him to turn around so I could get his face in a picture.

Sleeping Beauty's castle.  I felt like it was a combination between Cinderella's castle at Disney World and Sleeping Beauty's castle at Disneyland.  It wasn't quite as large either.

Trying on a Goofy hat (pun intended).

Brady has recently developed a love of popcorn, and since there aren't pretzels on every corner in Paris, we got him a bucket of popcorn to snack on.  He ate this whole one and another one later in the day.

Snacking away . . .

Getting ready for the mid-day parade.

The 20th anniversary train.

One of the things that really annoyed me about this particular Disneyland, was partly the management and partly the people that were there.  We followed Goofy from his parade float and were the second ones there when he stopped, but grown people were shoving us out of the way (and other small children) so that they could get their picture with Goofy.  At home, the person that would be the character's "bodyguard" would make sure that the people formed a line, but here they let it be a mob scene with people everywhere and no order.  Eventually we gave up.  Another thing that really bothered me was that there was smoking allowed in the park and it felt like we weren't able to go anywhere without smoke being blown in our faces.

Brady and Andy both enjoying a mid-day nap.

Getting ready to ride It's a Small World.

Holland

Ireland

France

London ( I thought this was really cool)

Greece

Italy

Germany and Switzerland

Japan

Africa

Northern Africa

Mayans

Polynesia (again with surfer Brady in the background)

The coolest part was that they depicted the USA since it's not something we put in our ride at home.

Football and baseball players

Unfortunately, the weather forecasts in Europe are very unreliable.  When there's a 0% chance of rain, it rains, which is exactly what happened as soon as we got of It's a Small World.  We headed for cover (along with everyone else) and since there didn't seem to be an end in sight, we decided to call it a day.