the happiest playdate on earth

because i can't ever seem to get enough of disneyland (or maybe because i felt a little guilt over the birthday trip sans bean), i made plans with my friend lilcee to meet up on sunday for a little disney playdate with the girls.

the bean and i decided to head out there early, and when we got there it was still cool and overcast.  it was a fabulous morning to play in the parks.  she was pretty excited to see that halloween decorations were already up.

since my birthday trip had been all about riding stuff that she would refuse to, this day was dedicated to doing all of her favorite things.  this meant heading right into fantasyland - but first, let me take a [castle] selfie.

the peter pan ride is always the most popular of the cluster of attractions as you enter fantasyland, and it's one of her favorites.  luckily, the line wasn't super long and we managed to get through it in about 20 minutes.

while she doesn't particularly care to join mr. toad on his wild ride, she does love a good photo op.

next up:  alice in wonderland.  if you'll notice, the top i wore that day had been carefully selected to do a little quasi-disneybounding as this furry feline:

she loves that little door, too.

and although the mad tea party with its spinning teacups is probably my least favorite ride in the whole place, we headed over because she likes it - and also because we pretty much walked right on.

urban legend states that the plain lavender teacup offers the fastest ride and spinniest of spins.  no, thanks.  as it is, this is how i feel on the ride in general:

afterwards, we decided to head over to it's a small world.  it'd been a long time since we'd ridden it, and it's a nice long journey through the blessedly air-conditioned ride.  we tried to catch a selfie with lilo & stitch in the background:

by then, it was time to grab a snack and then stake out a good seat for the "mickey & the magical map" show.  popcorn for me, a giant puff of cotton candy for her.

another selfie, because we could.

this is one of the few shows that the teen also enjoys watching, because they feature some of the characters she grew up with.  pocahontas is her all-time favorite, and i sent her this picture so she'd know we were thinking about her.

this guy performs in the show pretty much every single time we see it, and he's my favorite because he looks so much like my cousin 420.  like, they're like long-lost twins or something.  

when we got out of the theater, lilcee and mini cee were waiting for us at the exit.  since we were right at the entrance to toontown, we headed over to mickey's house to say hello.

somehow, taking a picture of the bean and/or the teen in this very spot has become a tradition whenever visiting mickey.  today was no different.

after the girls got in some playtime over at goofy's house, we hopped onto the disneyland railroad for a ride to new orleans square.

the plan was to get in line for the haunted mansion, newly reopened with the annual "nightmare before christmas" holiday overlay.  and we did...but it was crazy long, and we were hungry.  so we decided to hop out, grab some lunch, and see if the line died down as we ate.  the french market is a favorite spot for food, and the girls both predictably ordered the mac & cheese (which is actually really delicious).  lilcee and i decided to order a couple of entrees to share, and i've gotta say - the seasoned shrimp sandwich is a winner.  really light and yummy.

the bean's all-time favorite treat at disneyland is the beignets served at the mint julep cafe.  we happened to be seated right next to it, and because she finished eating first, lilcee was kind enough to volunteer to get in line to grab some.  the line was crazy long, but she's a trooper.

and just as we'd hoped, by the time we were done, the line for haunted mansion was much shorter.

despite her typical fear of most things scary, the bean adores this ride.  she and her sister watch "the nightmare before christmas" together fairly often, so she's familiar with the characters.  although i was a little unnerved by the christmas decor (in SEPTEMBER), i like this ride too.

would you believe that this long, sweaty line was for popcorn, of all things?

but not just any popcorn.  no, this was the one and only spot where these limited-edition popcorn buckets featuring zero the dog are available for purchase.

we took turns standing in line while taking a restroom break, and when everyone was happy again, lilcee took the girls to find a shady spot to sit and wait.  unfortunately, this was also where we were subjected to the rudeness and selfishness of a great number of people who come to disneyland.  well, i suppose this crap is all over the place, but you know what i mean.

anyway, do you see this lady who's all but blocking the bean completely from my line of vision?

lilcee had had the girls sit down in that spot, which was plenty big enough for both of them and then some.  and then that lady lumbered over and snapped at the person who was sitting a couple of feet away:  "you were supposed to be saving this spot for me!" and then she plunked her ass down, damn near sitting on top of my kid in the process.

why?  why do people do this kind of crap?  like, at the mickey & the magical map show, there was a spot on the bench in front of us that was big enough to accommodate at least two, maybe three people.  i watched a lady and her baby come over, sit down, and make a motion to someone at a nearby bench.  some dude who i assume was her husband and a youngish teen came over and the guy sat down, taking up all of the available space on the bench.  he looked up at the kid (who looked like his son, but who knows), laughed and said "oh, there's no room.  you can go sit over there" as he waved his arms around.  the kid just looked at him, slumped his shoulders, and slunk to the rear of the theater.  i mean, really?  i just don't understand people at all.

anyway, the girls were excited when they saw how cute those popcorn buckets were.  there's a little switch behind zero's nose that makes it light up, and i'm totally gonna use it as halloween decor in the house.

on the way out, we caught a glimpse of the end of the parade, although the girls were much more entertained by the antics of the disneyland ducks.

and that was that.  since it was a school night, we hightailed it outta there at a decent hour.  disneyland always makes for a super fun playdate.  can't wait for the next one.