Happiest Girls on Earth
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| It's a Small World! (Everyone's in White Clothes at the end of the ride...) |
I will say this: someday when my own daughter is an absolute monster, I'll pause and remember that this was rightfully coming to me.
Current, present-day me though, has been lucky enough to realize just how great of a person my mom is. So when she really wanted to go to Disneyland, and when I'd already just been a couple years ago, and when she couldn't really find someone excited to go with her, I swallowed my (residual) discomfort and slight reluctance to go and we bought tickets and met up at the airport for a two day excursion to the happiest place on earth. Anticipation is said to be part of an enjoyable experience, and I can honestly say that I got more and more excited as we got closer to going. We'd call and chat almost every day and my mom would say things like "Just two more weeks!" or "This is really getting me through this last little bit" or "I am so excited, just a few more days!" and I couldn't help but be really excited too.
We did all the things that we never get to do. It felt special to fly in at exactly the same time from different parts of the country, and then instead of staying at the Grand Californian Hotel, we wandered all around Downtown Disney window shopping and learning how to make Minnie and Mickey candy apples, and then wandered into the lobbies and up the elevators of all the hotels before finally sitting down to eat at the Storyteller's Cafe Restaurant in the Grand Californian Hotel. Dinner was a buffet full of pasta and salad and different meats and then we sampled all of the desserts, because we could. A final word on the hotel though, my mom was in Heaven (and I admit, it was really cool)! Designed in the "arts and crafts" era, the architecture and interior design was super awesome; I haven't seen anything quite like it. Those Disney people just don't leave one detail missed, so it felt different there (from the huge hearth fireplace complete with wooden rocking chairs to the grand piano where Disney tunes were grandly played) and we both loved it.
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| Grand Californian Hotel!! |
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| Palm Trees in Downtown Disney |
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| Shrubs by one of the Hotels |
Getting enough sleep was crucial for our first day at Disneyland. We were aiming to get there at 8:30 am, but got there at 8:40 am. They let you into the main street around 8:45 am, so day 1 we decided to go to California Adventure first. We'd heard of the cars ride, so when the clock struck 9, we moved our way to carsland and got into line. The line immediately caused my mom some concern because it mostly just seemed like a huge pack of people and not actually a line. No worries though, the huge crowd was the line and we waited maybe only 40 minutes for a ride that we wouldn't ever go on again - because the wait was upwards of 2 hours and the fast passes sold out before 1 pm. It was a great way to start the day because we'd chosen the most popular ride and neither of us had done it. The rest of day 1 was like clockwork. We'd always have a fast pass on hand, and then we'd hit the non-fast pass rides while we were waiting. Also, the Tower of Terror - we both loved it! It was somewhere early in the day and I remember us both just laughing so hard at the spooky intro, and then laughing harder at just how silly and well-done the ride is. It's definitely in the top five. Surprise ride we both liked in California Adventure - the Little Mermaid. I couldn't get over the dancing turtle! I would dance with him, and we'd both kind of sing along. We were back in Disneyland by about 1 o'clock having done every ride we'd wanted to in California Adventure, which really is quite an accomplishment (and Tower of Terror twice). I'm serious, name one of the favorite rides over in California Adventure, and we had done it.
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| In our Car on the Cars Ride (we got the red one!!) |
My mom really loves Disneyland more. A thing she didn't know, is that I had watched "The Great and Powerful Oz" on the plane ride over, and so the birds in the forest that scream "You'll Die! You'll Die" right before they go into the forest were very much in my memory. So every time I saw scary ominous creatures looking at me on the little kid rides, I'd yell out as if I were them "You'll Die! You'll Die!" to mock or play along, I'm not sure. I think my mom thought I was obsessed with death - but she caught on by day two and I explained it. Also, on ALMOST EVERY SINGLE little kid ride, there are ominous looking storybook creatures. Yep. I did it every time. Disneyland children highlights include, the scary Snow White ride (which has zero resolution and actually is quite scary for a kid), Peter Pan (classic), Mr. Toad's wild ride (they animate death and hell), Winnie the Pooh and Alice's Wonderland (which both end in birthday parties). We also fast passed our way fairly well here too, catching Splash Mountain, Indiana Jones twice and Space Mountain all in the same day. So day 1, we basically rode every ride we had wanted to and we were both really really tired. Fifteen hours of Disneyland is not for the faint of heart, we stayed until midnight. I reminisced about the time I was 10 yrs old or so and left Disneyland crying from fatigue. I think I was remembering this as I was so happy that our current hotel was only a five minute block from the park entrance and exit. We caught some of the fireworks on day 1 also, however, the winds were high and they were stopped, but more on this on day 2.
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| Waiting in the sun. |
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| Once upon a time Costumes in Cal. Adventure. |
We were more tired day 2. On friday the park was absolutely packed. I don't actually know how we managed to wait no more than 30 min per ride because the wait times for most of the big rides were over an hour. On saturday, it was EVEN MORE crowded. We heard people saying it was the most crowded they had seen it in 40 years. I was so glad we'd done everything the day before. So, because it was a lower energy day, we did all the rides we never do. Tiki Room, Amazing Mr. Lincoln, Captain Eno, the Metrorail, the Train, the Storyland boats all kept us somewhat amused and ok with the fact that the park was so busy. I will admit, I was a little more bored on day 2 as I'm a fan of the move and wear yourself out approach to the park instead of the waiting in line for the not even fun rides approach, but there were a couple of surprises. We went back over to California Adventure and did Tower of Terror again - still great time three. Also, there's a new Toy Story ride over there and we waited in line for a REALLY long time and I wouldn't have missed it for anything. No wonder the line is so long, it's like an arcade game dream made into amusement park ride. I absolutely loved it. Finally, back in Disneyland we went on the Roger Rabbit ride in ToonTown, which I usually miss because I had bad childhood memories about waiting in the sun forever for it. This time though, we had a fast pass, and LOVED it! What a good ride. Also, we got fast passes for Splash Mountain on day 2, and got to be in the VERY FRONT (a thing I'd never done before). I screamed really loud because I actually was a little scared (both of getting soaked and going straight down into bramble bushes). We did get absolutely soaked. Finally, day 2, we had done enough things and the park was so busy, that we paused to watch the fireworks. My mom LOVES fireworks. I didn't know this about her, but she does and she loved that they were choreographed to Disney tunes. "Best firework show I have ever seen!" she said as we watched and sung along. Since getting teary-eyed is a thing I do now, I did get a little choked up at one point. It was beautiful, and fun to be there with my mom.
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| The 80's cover band that I rocked. |
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| Fireworks At Disneyland w/the Statue of Walt and Mickey and the Castle |
Top Rides (yeah, probably in this order)
1. Tower of Terror
2. Splash Mountain
3. Indiana Jones
4. Toy Story
5. Roger Rabbit
6. Snow White's Scary Adventure
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| Scared out of my mind! Remembered to pose though! |
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