My husband and I are proud parents of a 2 year old and we are excited to take her to Disney Land. We often talk about showing her the parks, enjoying the shows and sharing a little bit of magic with her.
But… we’ve decided to wait. I personally believe that 2 years old (and under) is way too young for a child to actually remember and enjoy the park.
Sure, it’s one thing if you have six kids and the youngest happens to be 2. And yes, it depends on the maturity of the child … but I know my 2 year-old is not ready and here’s why.
Last week we attended a local harvest festival. One of the vendors hired a professional actor to play Disney’s Queen Elsa, from the hit movie Frozen.
My daughter is part of the legions of little girls that adore the movie. She owns a coveted Elsa doll and dress up gown. Queen Elsa, has a sister named Anna. Because of the movie’s popularity, we can’t find an Anna doll, so we have been using an imposter doll!
So at the harvest festival we made a note of Queen Elsa’s schedule. We were on hand when the actress playing Elsa came out. She was gorgeous. I was pleased to see that the actress was in a fine gown, her hair looked authentic and she had studied Elsa’s mannerisms.
As a mom, I was ecstatic. It’s rare to find a high quality and free opportunity for my child to meet one of her favorite movie characters.
My daughter noticed Queen Elsa as we queued up in line.
“Look Mommy! Elsa!”
“Yes darling, we are going to see her. It’s not a long wait, just two other kids in front of us.”
My husband found the perfect photography spot and, along with other families, was ready to capture a beautiful memory.
Once it was our turn, my daughter and I started walking hand in hand towards Queen Elsa. Before we got within hugging distance, my daughter changed her mind about what was going to happen next.
“No touch me!”
“Now go away!”
“See daddy now, no Elsa!”
What was happening here?! My kid had all the Frozen songs memorized, adored her Elsa dolly and was even wearing a Frozen themed shirt!
I paused to kneel and get face to face with my daughter. I questioned her to make sure she did not want to see Elsa. After she confirmed, I stood up and thanked the actress. We turned around to walk away and I indicated that the next child in line could walk up. We were done before my husband could take his camera’s lens cap off.
Can you image if we had driven six hours, paid for hotel rooms and park entry, walked for miles and waited four hours to see Elsa … and got the same reaction?!
No thank you!
Disney Land will have to wait! Unless, well, my husband and I decide to sneak off on our own for two days next spring. But that my friends, is another blog post!
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