First visit to Disneyland! Day One, Post No. 10

Beautiful dancers twirl, wave, and smile along the street in front of the float on which ride five Disney princesses: Snow White, Cinderella, Aurora, Belle and Rapunzel. I found online this term associated with the float--the Royal Princess Romantic Melodies. At the front of the float I instantly recognized Snow White. Not sure who that other princess is, sitting down on the right. Wearing lavender, Rapunzel is there behind these two, up higher--I recognized her by her braids, the thickest, longest ones I'm likely to ever see. I hope that you can see the smiles on the faces of the two little girls in the crowd, bottom left of the photo. They're waving and smiling, so thrilled to see these princesses right there in front of them! Here at the back of the float, Cinderella and Belle. So, the other princess at the front has to be Aurora. To confirm her identity, I Google Imaged "Princess Aurora Mickey's Soundsational Parade." Yep, she's Aurora.

First visit to Disneyland! Day One, Post No. 1

12:32 p.m. and I have walked through the gates at Disneyland for the first time in my life. Automatically, I feel like a kid again. Well, mentally at least. I know my body is the age that I am, but who cares. I know that there will be benches and low walls and rides and such to allow me the chance to rest when I need to. My friends Sharon and Jenna have been here before, so they are my aces in the hole, so I know they'll keep me from making too many missteps as we spend lots of time here over the next four days. I bought those sunglasses at the Rain Forest Cafe the day before so that I could deal with that bright sun. Sharon and Jenna remembered to bring theirs from home--see what I mean about experienced travelers to Southern California? Our hotel sells not only bus passes but also Disneyland tickets! By getting our four-day-hoppers before we left the lobby, we avoided one line at the park. Eyes glued to the flower-filled Mickey Mouse on the slope that led up to the Disneyland Railroad depot, I would have missed seeing my first characters. Thanks, Sharon, for pointing out princesses! Belle and Cinderella? Yes! I Googled to check my answer. Not bad for an ol' lady! We rode the train around the park, twice, at my request. I just kept looking and looking and looking. When we got off at the station, I looked across the street and saw a few folks in line, looked to the left to see what had grabbed their attention. Mickey Mouse! I took off across the street and got in line. Yes, my first character photo is with the greatest mouse ever! What a good hugger he was, too! One photo I took while we were on the train--Minnie Mouse being so sweet with a little girl. Wow. My face had started to ache a bit from the full-time grin plastered on it. And I'm certain that the excitement level in every word I spoke, every thought I had soared to the stratosphere, just like a rocket in a Disney cartoon! P.S. I apologize for the fact that the photos may be loading slowly--I think it has something to do with a change made at Flickr. There is nothing that I can do about it. I hope you'll still visit the blog and enjoy the photos. Thank you.