It truly was magical from the moment you enter the Magic Kingdom. There was a band playing right at the entrance. The gigantic tree was all lit up as well as the entire Main Street. It was even snowing heavily the entire length of Main Street. It really felt like Christmas as the snow was cold and stuck to you a bit before melting.
Most of the attractions were open and once the daytime people all made their way out it really wasn't crowded at all. Even on the major rides you could pretty much just walk right on. The longest wait was on the Pirates of the Caribbean but it wasn't any longer than a five minute wait at most.
The first place we headed to was Tomorrowland. At the entrance there Mike stopped to take this picture.
As it so happened, just the entrance there were three ducks sitting about six inches from the sidewalk on the grass. Needless to say, this caught Wazzu's attention immediately. People were amazed that Wazzu didn't try to chase them at all. But as you all know, Wazzu just wants to make friends. The ducks weren't afraid of her in the least so they just continued standing there chomping on the grass and Wazzu just stood three or four inches away just wagging her tail as fast as she possibly could.
The first ride we came to was Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin. This was to be Wazzu's first ride ever. To get on the ride you had to go on one of those moving sidewalks. She didn't really understand that but handled it fine. The ride was one where two people (and Wazzu) sat in a seat and in front of each person was a gun and between the two guns was a joystick used to make the car you were sitting in spin back and forth so you could shoot at all the targets.
Mike was too busy making sure Wazzu was doing fine so he only scored 900. Wazzu was totally fine on the ride and was looking around being very curious. I scored 19,700 which I thought was pretty good until I found out my Dad scored over 300,000!
On the way to the next ride we saw that a show called "Twas the Night Before Christmas" was scheduled to start in about 15 minutes. We decided to see if there was a place I could lie down to watch the show. They were extremely accommodating and put us on the ground right in the very front next to the front row of seats. The show started and we were watching the stage when suddenly a door just to our left opened. Chip & Dale and Pluto came bursting through the door. Pluto saw Wazzu and I lying there on the ground and he came toward us and bent way over and waved and waved before heading up on to the stage. I was so excited and Wazzu perked right up too!
After the show was over a member of the band came over to talk with us. Just as we were about to leave I asked if there would be any way to get a picture with Pluto. He said to wait a minute and he'd get it all arranged! While we were waiting one of the cast members came over to see Wazzu. As I was telling her to get up they noticed her Pluto pins on her vest and wanted to see them all. So I was showing them the pins when I noticed one of them had come off and was lost. They said to stay put and they would get us a replacement. My goodness what a nice place. They now call Disneyland "The Place Where Dreams Come True" and my goodness they were really surpassing all our dreams.
In just a couple minutes they took us backstage to get our picture with Pluto. Wazzu liked Pluto but wasn't all that keen on getting her picture taken...as usual. But I was so very excited as Pluto is my most favorite character of all. And Pluto was so nice to us. He gave us many many hugs and made the most cute movements to show his love.
Notice the yellow band around my wrist? Everyone that went in for Mickey's party had to wear a wrist band. I had them put one on Wazzu too - you can see it hanging from her harness. The workers checking wrist bands always thought it was cute that Wazzu had her own wrist band.
By the time we finished our pictures with Pluto the cast member returned with a voucher for us to go to any Disney shop and pick out a replacement Chip & Dale pin. I just couldn't believe how kind everyone was being to us. Disney sure knows how to do customer service. But even so they went way above and beyond what anyone could even dream.
It really didn't matter to me what we did after that as I was floating so high. Dad and Dave wanted to go on Space Mountain so while they headed off to do that Mike, Mom, Wazzu and I wandered around a bit until we came across the Carousel. That seemed gentle enough for me so went on that. Once again, Wazzu acted like she had been on a Carousel many times and it was no big deal.
Since the very first time Dave and I went to Disneyland 37 years ago we have always loved Pirates of the Caribbean so that was our next stop. For those of you who haven't been on that ride it starts out calm with the boat floating in the water. Then you come to a spot where there is a large moving picture and it gives the feeling as though you are going to go under a very large waterfall. It looks VERY realistic. So much so that Wazzu got a little worried and started to duck her head as we went under. There is even mist so you really do feel as though you are going to go under a waterfall. Shortly after that the boat drops down sharply - it's like the down part on a roller coaster. We all thought Wazzu might get worried about that but it didn't really faze her. She wasn't really sure she like getting shot at and the water spraying up from the bombs. But once that was over she absolutely loved the ride. She was so curious and went to the edge of the boat and watched everything go by even cocking her head at the donkey and then again numerous other times. She wanted to go again! But we had more to do.
Now it was time for the huge Firework Spectacular over the Castle. We hear it every night in our RV so we were excited to actually see it. It really was spectacular. From beginning to end it was 16 minutes. My Dad kept thinking it was the finale as there were so many spectacular finale type displays - but I knew very well that it lasts 16 minutes every night.
Being that Wazzu is so short and people aren't used to a dog being there I was getting worried about he being stepped on as it is now night and very dark. So I bought Wazzu one of those flashing light necklaces that people were buying for their kids. It really helped. People noticed her right away and gave her space. A lot of people were wanting to talk to Wazzu and pet her before even. But when she got her flashing necklace she was even more popular. She was a hit with both the cast members and the public. In fact, when I bought the necklace the cast member asked if she could put it on Wazzu.
Nearby was Mike's favorite, Space Mountain. The guys went on that as I rested. In fact, Mike went on it a second time while Dad and Dave opted to head to Thunder Mountain.
The parade was to start soon so Mom, Wazzu, and I headed over to the parade route to find a spot. It truly was our night as we got super lucky and found a perfect spot. We were right in front and it was nice and flat. It was also close to the beginning of the parade route so we didn't have to wait too wait long for it to start.
This was an amazing parade. There were many very fun floats with all the Disney characters we know and love.
And of course the music was great too. In addition to floats, there were many marching, walking, and dancing people and characters. Wazzu was laying in the very front right under the rope that marked off the parade route. She was watching the parade with utmost curiosity. She was interested in everything including the horses, the skaters, the oversized deer, the seven dwarfs, and on and on. She never moved at all....until the Wooden Soldiers came by. The were marching and stomping their huge oversize square "shoes" and were only an inch from Wazzu. I was so worried that she was going to get stepped on. Apparently she was worried to as she jumped back toward me and laid up against me. Once they went by, she moved back to her original position.
One group that came by was a group of go-go dancers. They were flipping up their huge skirts and swooshing them around. One of them did their swooshing right over Wazzu's head. I think Dad, Dave, and Mike all wanted to be Wazzu at that moment. TeeHee.
I guess I've never been nearly this close at a Disney parade before as I didn't realize that the floats even emit a smell. One float went by where they were cooking gingerbread and the float emitted a strong gingerbread smell. My favorite was the float that smelled like cinnamon. They really don't miss a trick there.
By the time the parade was over it was close to 11:30pm so we decided to make our way out. On the way, we passed one of the seven spots in the park that was giving out free cookies and hot chocolate. How nice was that! The cookies were great (one of my favorite kinds) and the hot chocolate was super nummy. It was a really nice treat even though it wasn't cold out.
Our last stop was to get Wazzu's replacement pin. We didn't find the exact one we had lost but I'll bet Wazzu won't mind. She had an absolute blast at Disneyworld and didn't want to leave. I must admit I didn't want to leave either. That's about the closest I've felt to a normal person in quite some time. It was fun to participate in things that real people get to do, even if for a short time.
Debbie
12/18/06
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