Spring Break: Day 5

Our last day of Disney was filled with memories that will truly last a lifetime. Sounds so cheesy, but it's the truth.  Ally's last costume change of the week was her oh-so-special Mary Poppin's costume we had made for her 6th birthday party.  I packed along Hudson's Bert costume, the hats, and of course, the infamous lace parasol. 

By Friday, we had seen just about everything at both parks, so the only thing on our agenda was to find Mary Poppins.  Just as we entered the park, the Disneyland marching band and all the characters of Alice in Wonderland came singing and clapping by.  Ally had a grip on Hudson's stroller and smiled as they walked by.  The Mad Hatter passed us, took Ally's hand, and kept walking the other direction, leading her right into the middle of their show.  No permission asked, just grabbed her hand without missing a beat of their dance.  For a split second she looked surprised, then Ally being Ally just smiled and sweetly joined into their performance.  Alice twirled Ally while the marching band played all the Mary Poppin's songs.  The Mad Hatter led the show, clapping, dancing, and directing all the attention to Ally, who he kept referring to as "Mini-Mary".  It was so adorable. 

After the show we took the kids to the Jolly Holiday Cafe to have our last round of their incredible pastries.  I'm no fruit lover, but their raspberry chocolate cupcake was pretty amazing.  Their cinnamon rolls gushed with icing, and the cherry pastries had Dan at hello.  I stood in the line while Dan found a table with the kids.  I glanced over while paying and noticed Bert was sitting with Ally and Hudson.  Dan was on his way over to get me, with a huge smile on his face.  He might have been more excited than the kids at that point.  Grinning from ear to ear, he took my tray of sugar and led me to our table.  Bert was so cute with Ally and H, in full Jolly Holiday couture, asking them about their day, their costumes, listening intently to their every word.  He smiled for photos and told us to wait for Mary, that she'd be coming by in fifteen minutes.  Right as he left, Aladdin and Jasmine walked by, noticed Ally, and complimented her dress.   Ally thanked them by asking for their autograph.  Those autograph books are serious business to my daughter.  She is driven to have as many characters and princesses sign that thing as possible.  Ally got her autographs, we ate our breakfast, and kept an eye out for Mary Poppins to arrive. 

Bert was absolutely correct, and Mary appeared precisely as he had said, fifteen minutes on the dot.  We walked over to her and she did the exact same thing as the Mad Hatter had done, took Ally and Hudson's hand, and just started walking away with them.  She looked back at Dan and I, who had started following along behind them, and asked if it was ok to take the kids.  Surprised, we both said yes.  It was the cutest thing I ever saw.  How fun to walk through Disneyland with Mary Poppins, on a "hunt" she called it, for Bert.  Mary Poppins stopped for no one, smiled and said hello, but kept a good grip on both kids as they walked all around Fantasyland in search of Bert.  She was straight out of the movie, the most perfect accent, phrases, and kept the kids in line, just as poised as her character.   Dan kept looking at me with the biggest eyes and a giant smile, like, is this really happening?  You would think it was me who was the most excited, but I am positive my 36 year old husband enjoyed it even more than I did. 

Ally and Hudson were on their best behavior while strolling through the park with Mary.  They both kept looking up at her, and then smiling at the crowds walking by taking their photos.  On their walk they passed Snow White, who stopped to admire Ally's dress, and then, the one character Hudson was dying to see, PETER PAN!  It turned into another nervous moment, he shyly turned around and wouldn't look at Peter.  Mary tried to get him to look, but bashfulness took over.  Poor H. 

They finally found Bert roaming around Sleeping Beauty's castle.  Mary leaned down and asked Ally and H if they would like to come back for their performance in front of the castle in one hour.  Ally said yes, so we parted ways until the show.  We walked over to Frontierland and ran into Woody and Jessie.  Before Peter Pan, the kids had been watching Toy Story on what felt like repeat, so they both squealed when they saw them.  For some reason Hudson didn't feel intimidated by Woody, and stepped right up to say hi and take a photo.  After meeting Jessie and Woody, we decided to take a ride on the huge Steamboat on the Rivers of America.  The kids scoped out Tom Sawyers island from the top deck of the boat, and while Dan and I enjoyed the gorgeous views of the park. 

When the time came for the parade, we walked back over to the castle.  Mary and Bert arrived, along with their own personal band, and the show began.  The band played all the fun songs from the movie, and Mary danced around with Ally and Hudson.  Midway through the show, Hudson decided he had had enough, and ran over to sit with Dan.  Ally did everything they told her to do, beaming. It sounds so sappy, but watching my daughter dance around with Mary Poppins in front of Sleeping Beauty's castle, the castle I have loved and visited a million times since I was a tiny little girl was definitely something I'll never forget. 

After the show we decided that even though it was only 2pm, there couldn't be a better end to our last day, so we headed back to our condo to finally let the kids swim in the pool.  They couldn't wait.  We had originally planned on going to the Angel's opening night baseball game on Friday night, but surprisingly, Dan changed his mind and decided he'd rather spend our last night in Anaheim at Disneyland.  What?  Did someone catch the Disney bug?  The guy who looked at me like I was a crazy person when I rattled off our week long agenda five days prior?  Yep, he was serious, he wanted to go back to experience one last night of lights, shows, and that final corn dog. 

We didn't take any pictures our last night.  We just rode rides, stuffed ourselves with as much fudge, cookies and corndogs our stomachs could handle, and experienced the park in all it's glory.  We watched Fantasmic for the second time, then walked over to Fantasyland just as Tinkerbelle was flying over the castle for her finale in the big fireworks show.  I always remember seeing Tinkerbelle fly across the park when I was a little kid, wondering how she did that.  I looked down at Ally and H, both looking up with that same wonder in their eyes.  We ended our 5 day adventure with a final flight into Neverland.  I guess Disneyland is just like Neverland, you're always a kid when you're there.  There's no other place as magical, adventurous, enchanting, and exciting, all at the same time.  It really is where memories are made!