Miley Cyrus' Sweet 16: If Only All Sunday Nights Could Be Like This

It's almost impossible these days to come up with activities to satisfy the fickle personalities of my two girls. Kira would rather spend her time IM'ing her friends, and Kiyomi would rather spend her time - well, harassing Kira about her IM'ing. But when I got tickets to Miley Cyrus' Sweet 16 party at Disneyland, a miracle occurred: they actually agreed it was a good idea. I think I may have even seen them hug ever so briefly. So that's why, on Sunday night as most tweens were busy getting ready for school the next day, my girls and I were at Disneyland riding the Pirates of the Caribbean and stuffing our faces with cupcakes piled high with purple frosting.

(Important to note: I only got three tickets, so Rigel couldn't come hang out with us and thousands of squealing girls and their frantic moms. Obviously, he was crushed.)

The party took place after the park had closed to the public, and 5000 or so guests paid $250 each for a chance to party with Cyrus and her celebrity friends. The park looked amazing - purple (apparently Miley's favorite color) Mickey balloons everywhere and huge, candle-shaped inflatables towering over walkways. Only certain areas of the park were open, and Disneyland employees did an expert job of cheerfully keeping the crowd within the roped-off areas of the park. Who can argue with a nice lady wearing a plaid vest and waving you gently on your way with a glowing wand? I'm thinking of recruiting her to supervise my playdates.

The first thing we did was line up along the 'Purple Carpet' parade route where we were able to see the celebrities arrive, riding in open cars. Tyra Banks was one of the first to pass by, followed by Steve Carell and Cindy Crawford with their kids. High-pitched screaming from thousands of tween girls accompanied most of the arrivals, and I may have even let out a squeal myself when Babyface passed within a few feet of me. But you had to feel sorry for the cars that were met with only minimal fanfare. At one point the line stalled because the end-of-route interviews were taking a little longer than usual, and a car was stopped in front of us for a few minutes while the occupants looked around nervously. After many murmurs of, "Who is it?" filled the air, one voice said a little too loudly, "Oh, they're nobody." Those 8-year-olds can be so harsh.

There were lots of Disney stars, many of whose names I knew which made me realize I'm watching way too much TV with my kids, and Kira and Kiyomi were ecstatic when they actually got to touch the hand of some guy named Jason Dolley. (Some older girls to the right us looked pretty intent on having Jason touch something other than their hands.) Here's my picture of David Archuleta - the only picture I got that wasn't of the back of someone's head. As you can see I have absolutely no future as a photographer:

















When Miley finally arrived, riding with Mickey Mouse himself, the screams were truly deafening. I took a short movie to try and capture it. I haven't heard this much screaming since last Christmas when the Macy's sale started and Spanx were half price:



The main event of the evening was Miley's concert on Tom Sawyer Island overlooking the Rivers of America. Her dad Billy Ray Cyrus did a short set beforehand. This proved to be the only snag in our evening, as finding a place to stand to watch the concert proved daunting; Disneyland employees were intent on keeping the walkway completely clear, so if you hadn't arrived early and grabbed a table in one of the eateries in New Orleans square facing the concert you were required to stand within a roped off area. We finally managed to duck under the rope and squeeze into a space, but it was nearly impossible for my girls to see over the crowd. The situation was compounded by a guy, who appeared to be around 17, who actually pushed Kiyomi out of the way in order to get a better view. I'm going to write more about that incident later and what I yelled at him, and even post a picture I took of him for full humiliation effect. Am I bitter? Why yes, I think I am.

If you've ever stood in line for an hour to ride the Matterhorn, you'll appreciate this: we walked right on - no one in front of us, and no one in back of us. Not all of the rides were open, but the ones that were had a similar situation - absolutely no waiting. And the unexpected treat of the evening ended up being stranded inside the Alice in Wonderland ride; halfway through the ride broke down, and an employee had to come retrieve everyone and walk us out, which offered a rare, up-close look at all of the sets. (Kiyomi was a little freaked out, and kept thinking the same thing would happen when were on the Pirates of the Caribbean, which I admit would be a little scary. I swear there's that one pirate who always looks at me funny.)

There were lots of activities scattered throughout the park: a Hannah Montana dance party, a "Makeover Zone" and a gaming area - unfortunately there wasn't enough time to visit them all. (Also, during the festivities Disney presented a donation for $1 million to Youth Services America.) The evening ended with a big crowd on Main Street singing 'Happy Birthday' to Miley and then a huge fireworks display. By this time it was around 11:30, and my usually tireless girls were practically falling asleep on the pavement, but they insisted on staying until the very last firework had faded. Funny, they perked right up as we were leaving, though, at the sight of the mega souvenir store in Downtown Disney. Apparently spending all of my hard-earned cash on plushies and snowglobes totally energized them.

I can be pretty cynical, but it really is hard to have a bad time at the Happiest Place on Earth, especially for a special event like this. The only drawback? It set the bar high for Sweet 16 parties - I didn't have the heart to tell Kira and Kiyomi that when their big day comes, they can expect pizza and soda in the backyard and a guy who juggles and does balloon animals. Oh, and no celebrities.

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Thanks to Michele Himmelberg in Disney PR and Maria Bailey for making this night possible!

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tags: miley cyrus sweet 16 | disneyland | things to bring up when my girls are teenagers and they say they hate me

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