Disneyland Resort: Rainy Princess Day
In honor of the rainy weather than southern California has been having recently, here are some pictures from Adventure my friends Carrie, Marissa and I took last year. We had planned what we were calling a Princess Day in both Disneyland and Disney California Adventure. Each of us had a princess crown (Carrie: Aurora, Marissa: Snow White, myself: Tiana), reservations had been made at Ariel's Grotto in the Paradise Pier area of DCA, so we were good to go. What we hadn't been planning on, however, was the crazy storm that had Orange County drowning in rain for almost an entire week. It was don't-drive-anywhere-unless-you-absolutely-have-to-drive-anywhere kind of weather.
But did that stop us?
Nope. Not in the slightest. In fact, it all but encouraged our trip, since we knew both parks were bound to be deserted. And empty they were, and pretty much flooded. It poured down rain during the first half of our day, and finally stopped some time in the afternoon, but with the gray skies and chill, hardly anyone had come out to the parks, and we ended up having a blast.
One downside to our Princess Day was that due to the crazy rain, and the fact that they were made for small children and didn't fit us very well, was that the three of us decided to leave our princess crowns in the car. But, after our tram ride and check through security, we headed over toe DCA for lunch at Ariel's Grotto...
As soon as you enter the restaurant, you meet Ariel. I am standing on the left, and my friend Carrie is to the right.
Aurora was the first princess to make the rounds. Now, I am a fan of Aurora in blue, and before she came to our table, my friends and I were discussing the whole "make it pink, make it blue" when I wondered, what if Aurora wore green? So, when she arrived at our table, I asked her. I think my question surprised her, but she was eager to answer.
Carrie: I mean, you see Flora and Merriweather fight over the color of the dress. What if Fauna was like, "You know what? Forget pink and blue, I want it GREEN!"
This definitely cracked us all up, Aurora included, and we then had a full on conversation about Disney princess clothing. We traded comments on each princess and her outfits, which we liked, which we didn't care for. I found it interesting, however, that whenever Aurora made a comment about another princess, she always said, "Well, in the movie..." Kinda made me wonder. Had Aurora seen the movies? She lives in the 14th century (as Phillip tells us in the movie), so did they have televisions back then? And if so, does that mean that Prince Phillip has a tricked out entertainment room in the castle? Because if he does, that would be totally cool.
I'm sad to say that not until Pocahontas came along did we have another good conversation with the princesses. Belle, Cinderella and Snow White were sweet, of course, and very friendly, not the experience was nowhere near what we had with Aurora. Pocahontas, though, was fun.
Pocahontas: And how are you lovely ladies? Did you arrive on foot, my carriage or canoe? Because, I did do my rain dance this morning.
Us: Oooh, so the rain is YOUR fault?
Pocahontas: Guilty.
Yummy desserts!
I can't even begin to tell you how much I want this!
On our way over to Disneyland, I stopped to see if I might fit the bill to be one of the construction workers. This wall was up all along the bridge on the pier, as they were still working on World of Color at the time. They had plenty of photo stop opportunities all along the wall.
On Main Street over at City Hall we ran into Alice and the Mad Hatter.
They were having a good time, despite the rain.
That is, until they started fighting. I don't remember what started the fight, exactly, but sleep was mentioned.
Hatter: [to Alice] Yes, well, you snore when you sleep!
Alice: And how exactly do you that I snore? How do you know my sleeping habits?
Us: Yeah, how DO you know?
Yeah, we let them go at it and left them to settle things between themselves.
When we had first arrived that morning, it was raining. By the time we left Ariel's Grotto, it had stopped, but was still cloudy outside. After leaving Alice and Hatter, it POURED as we walked down Main Street. We cut through the Emporium to head over to Fantasyland. The water was all the way to the curb and we took to calling the street Lake Main Street. And of course, were was no avoiding the water, so we ended up wading through it and soaking our feet.
And as qucikly as the rain started, it stopped. Well, long enough for me to give the Sword in the Stone a try. Needless to say, it didn't budge.
And for your viewing pleasure: It's Raining at Disneyland!
While we waited the rain out in the Emporium, I grabbed my camera and caught some of it on video. I love how you can not only see the rain, but hear it. It rained that hard off and on for a week at the beginning of last year, which is sorta what's going on right now. We waited as long as we could and then Carrie braved it all by running out first.