Lim and Melendez were woken up bright and early the next day, no thanks to their three year old and their seven year old. Everyone got ready and they stopped by The Coffee House for breakfast before making their way over to Disneyland Park, Mei-Li humming Let It Go the entire time. When they arrived at the front gate, Carlos looked up at Melendez and asked, "Daddy, will she be humming the entire day?"
Melendez chuckled and shook his head, "Probably not, mijo. You both will be too excited to hum or sing."
They entered the gates and Mei-Li's eyes lit up with excitement when they landed on Sleeping Beauty's castle, "I wish I lived in a castle like that," she said wistfully.
"Sweetheart, you have to be a princess to live in a castle," Lim joked.
"But Daddy calls me Princess a lot," reminded Mei-Li.
"Yes, he does," admitted Lim.
"And I dressed up as Mulan for Halloween this past year," said Mei-Li.
"I know. I remember," said Lim.
Melendez and Carlos came up beside Lim and Mei-Li and asked, "Alright, where should we head first?"
"Me and Mommy are going to ride Thunder Mountain, right Mommy?" asked Mei-Li.
"Mmhm," nodded Lim.
"And Mommy also said we could ride Space Mountain and Splash Mountain and…"
"Remember Princess, Carlos isn't tall enough to ride everything you can," said Melendez, "And he really wants to ride Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters."
"We also have to do Star Tours and meet Mickey Mouse at some point," Lim said to her husband.
"Noted," said Melendez, "Well, we didn't drive six hours to stand around all day. Let's go enjoy Disneyland."
The family went to Fantasyland first and rode some of the rides there before the lines formed, including It's a Small World, Peter Pan's Flight, Dumbo, the carousel, and the spinning teacups. Melendez and Mei-Li went to ride the Matterhorn Bobsleds while Lim waited with Carlos and then they switched off, so Mei-Li got to ride twice. They went through the rest of the park, riding as many rides as they could; Carlos even mustered up the courage to ride Big Thunder Mountain and Splash Mountain and thoroughly enjoyed both of them. Both kids loved Winnie the Pooh, so they made sure to ride The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh before stopping for lunch at Pluto's Dog House.
"Mommy, are we ever going on the Star Wars and the Buzz Lightyear rides?" asked Carlos.
"We will after lunch, Tiánxīn. Now finish your hot dog," said Lim gently.
"And we still haven't met any of the princesses yet," said Mei-Li.
"We'll be visiting them after lunch too, mija," explained Melendez. The family toured Tomorrowland and Galaxy's Edge after they finished their meals, and they made sure Carlos got to ride Star Tours and Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters (Melendez and Lim may have both gotten a little too competitive with each other on that ride). They spent the rest of the afternoon at the character greetings in Mickey's Toontown (where they met the classic characters), Tomorrowland (Carlos got to meet Chewbacca and Darth Vader), Adventureland (where Moana was), Frontierland (where Tiana was), Critter Country (where the Winnie the Pooh characters were), and Fantasyland (where, much to Carlos's dismay, Mei-Li talked to every Disney princess, including Cinderella, Belle, Aurora, Jasmine, Elena of Avalor, Snow White, Ariel, and Rapunzel). There was one princess that was missing though.
"Mommy, Mulan wasn't in the building with all of the princesses," Mei-Li looked pretty upset.
Lim crouched down and hugged her, "I know Tiānshǐ. We have about another hour and a half left before we go back to the hotel. Hopefully, we see her before then."
Melendez got an idea and laid a hand on Lim's shoulder, "Hey Audrey, I'm going to go find a restroom. Are you okay with them?"
Lim nodded, "Yes, they want to ride It's a Small World again and the line wasn't long. I can suffer through that song without you."
"Good," he squeezed her hand, "I'll see you when you get off."
Lim knew Melendez was up to something besides a trip to the bathroom, but she didn't question his motivations. Unfortunately, she had to endure another two trips on It's a Small World before he arrived back, "Where have you been?"
"I had to run an errand," he answered.
"In Disneyland?" asked Lim, raising an eyebrow. Melendez shrugged his shoulders innocently, "Let's go, we still have a few more rides to hit."
Just as the family was about to leave to go back to the hotel for dinner, Melendez looked at his watch and said, "Wait, I think we should stop by the Wishing Well before we leave."
"Why?" asked Lim.
"Just trust me on this one," he whispered in her ear. Lim just nodded, though she was still a little apprehensive. They all headed towards the Wishing Well, and once she was in view, Melendez looked down at his daughter, whose eyes had become as big as the stars, "Who's that?"
Mei-Li didn't say anything, but instead let go of Lim's hand and began running towards Mulan. Lim looked over at Melendez, but his face didn't give anything away. By the time the other three reached the Wishing Well, Mei-Li was already talking a mile a minute, "I watch your movie all the time. I've seen it a million times!"
"Have you now?" Mulan smiled at Mei-Li.
"Yes, and I dressed up as you for Halloween last year," she said excitedly.
"Do you want me to sign your autograph book?" asked Mulan.
Mei-Li nodded and handed her autograph book to Mulan as tears of joy began to pour down her cheeks, "Thank you."
Lim looked over at Melendez and she couldn't help but have tears of her own in her eyes. She had been to Disneyland only two other times in her life: once when she was ten shortly after she had moved to the United States and once with her friends from Stanford; she hadn't taken a picture with a princess either time. But seeing her daughter so happy made the entire vacation worth it for Lim and it wasn't even over yet, "Mei-Li, turn around and look at Mommy," she held up her phone and snapped a few pictures.
"Mommy, can we get one together?" asked Mei-Li.
"Of course, sweetheart," Lim walked over to them, "For the record, this is my first picture with a Disney princess."
"Mommy's like you. She's tough. She rides a motorcycle!" said Mei-Li excitedly. Melendez took a few pictures of his girls with Mulan and Mei-Li gave Mulan a final hug before they left to go back to the hotel for dinner. Mei-Li and Carlos talked the entire meal.
After dinner, they went back to the park for the fireworks. While Mei-Li and Carlos were mesmerized by the story in the sky, Lim glanced over at Melendez and asked, "So how did you get Mulan to come out?"
Melendez smiled, "I went to the front desk at City Hall and explained that our daughter really wanted to meet Mulan and asked if they could get a cast member to come out. They said they'd try but no guarantees, of course. I didn't want to tell Mei-Li if she wasn't there and I would have just had the kids make a wish in the Wishing Well instead."
Lim took his hand and squeezed it, "Well, today you made a very special princess's dream come true."
They both looked at their kids, who were still content, and Melendez looked back over at Lim, "I love you Audrey Lim-Melendez. So much."
"I love you too," she smiled and kissed him under the firework-lit sky.
