Definitely the happiest place on earth.
Because it really is...
Nothing can compare to that moment you see the gates,
and then the first step on the other side of the tunnel...magical.
So I went to Disneyland. Last week. And it was one of the greatest weeks of my year.
First there was the drive, which is long and tiresome, but I did actually look out the window!! I saw some of beautiful Utah and Nevada. And when I wasn't looking at the gorgeous scenery, I was admiring gorgeous Eddie Redmayne (Birdsong. Better than Les Mis.) After a short night in Vegas, we were to Disney by 10 am.
I was so excited, I could not contain myself. I kept doing this weird giggle. Everyone made fun of me, but it was so HAPPY!
After some room confusion and brief unpacking we FINALLY...
got lunch.
at the Earl of Sandwich. 'Twas quite good! Meatball Marinara of course.
THEN we get to go into the park. Monorail style!
My heart skipped and I had a huge grin. Flying off the train, I got a whiff of Disney air and my first view inside the park. Now for the fun part...waiting in lines!!
Okay not really, but it did take us a while to decide what to ride first. I don't know why it wasn't obvious, we ALWAYS ride Matterhorn first. Why? I dunno...TJTWII
Then we spent the rest of the day in Disneyland. Mostly Tomorrowland, finally rode Star Tours (loved it!) Beat everyone at Buzz Lightyear. It was kinda cloudy, so it scared a lot of people away, and it actually ended up sprinkling (but the way some people acted, you would have thought it was the monsoon of the century). In fact, we waited an hour for the 5:00 Christmas Candlelight Processional, but they cancelled it because of the rain. SO we went to dinner at Carnation Cafe, rode Indiana Jones, made some friends, and finally called it a successful first day.
Because the next day was going to be the greatest :)
Oh yeah, it was my birthday. I wore orange pants to celebrate.
After forgetting our ID's at the entrance and sneaking in with photos on my camera, we went and talked to my friend Tiffie Starchild and got some super awesome birthday surprises. My birthday present to myself was a leather bracelet from Frontierland. Then we hit up the Pirate Island, Splash Mountain, and Haunted Mansion before getting onto the Mark Twain steamboat on the Rivers of America. And because we know people...we got to go into the wheelhouse!! YAY! There I met Christopher and he talked to us all about the boat, and then some. He tried to make me blow the whistle...but I failed.
So we rode more rides, pretty uneventfully...but it might be because I was super focused and excited for my birthday Linner.
Only a dream of mine since I was a wee lass. It finally happened and it was delicious! I got some really good salmon, and lots of good rolls. It was also really dark, but I loved the atmosphere!
Today we also got to see the Candlelight Processional! We waited in the standing area, but were special enough to actually get a seat! Kind of a big deal. Patricia Heaton was the narrator (we were one day away from Dick Van Dyke...so sad), and she was good. I really liked the script and thought that there was an awesome message. It reminded us a lot of one of Brother Hollands Conference talks.
After Fantasmic we headed back. We needed to be well rested to wake up for our special Magic Morning.
And it was quite magical! We were to the gates way before most everyone else, and saw the first family go in. When they finally blew the horn, everyone had the same thoughts we did.
But we still only had to wait in line for 20 minutes!! And of course we won. After riding all the other Cars land rides and walking through the stores, it was time for everyone else to make their entrance. But we needed fast passes first!! So we booked it to the Racers fast pass line, and made it there JUST before everyone else did, and pretty close to the front. 10:15 passes...nice. It was good that we got them so early too, because it started to rain later in the day and they close the ride during the rain.
Because it was raining all the people got scared...so we were able to walk right on to Tower.
Which isn't as bad as I remembered. I think it's all about the nerves. I still did manage to scream the entire time. Today we also saw the Aladdin show (Hi-Larious), skipped the Toy Story Mania line, laughs on the swinging Ferris Wheel, had the greatest clam chowder, got angry at Jerk Bird, and of course hit up Screamin'.
There was actually quite a significant drizzle, so we tried to hide a little bit indoors, and that's where I found out I can actually maybe a little bit of an artist.
Ohhkaaay, so it's not that good, but I was pretty proud! I didn't even know the Animation Academy existed, but it was so much fun! We went back to draw Pluto and the Cheshire Cat.
After those 30 minutes, we just hit up some more rides while the lines were semi-short. Lines like Soarin' were actually quite lengthy, so we tried single rider. We also did some window shopping. After walking around in the puddles I noticed something...there was a hole in my shoe. How'd that even happen?! It was worn in one spot on the ball of my foot, which is the strangest place for a hole. My sock was sopping within a few hours.
Since we had ridden everything and it was the weather was less than desirable, we made reservations for the Storytellers Cafe in the Grand Californian. I was tempted by the buffet, but decided to go light because I was already bloated by all the food I had eaten that week. Then it was time for my new favorite show.
We had passes for the later show, so we got there 'bout 30 minutes early...but we were the only ones in line for 20 more minutes. So we made a friend, he held the yellow flag. We got to go sit in the Splash zone, very front and center. Prepped with the poncho and the camera, I tried to spread out so that I'd definitely have space to see. The last time I saw the show, a family of giants (no joke...they were probably seven feet) decided to park right in front of the family of shorties. So I didn't see much and it wasn't all that enjoyable. But this time, I ended up being one of the seven total people in the splash zone, so I was able to really watch and adore. 'Twas quite beautiful! I really felt the magic.
Day four was nothing too special...we started in California Adventure again, and made our way over to Disneyland. Just riding the things we wanted to again, so we managed to hit all the good ones twice or more.
Now for a funny joke. So, one night after we had gotten off Indy we were sitting in front of The Jungle Cruise, and we hear this announcement come on an intercom
"Please do not take pictures in line for Jungle Cruise. Again, please do not take pictures in line for Jungle Cruise."
And we just look at each other with confused faces and shrugged it off as a fluke.
So when we decided to ride Jungle Cruise today, we were still surprised when the announcement starting blasting through the queue
"Please do not take pictures in line for Jungle Cruise..."
And every one just stares at each other looking for someone to point fingers at.
"They are nailed to the wall for a reason."
Hardy har har.
And of course I hafta do Pirates.
After which we rode The Colombia...where I decided I need to be a real pirate.
We then bounced back to California Adventure. Saw the Aladdin show again, not as good this time. We then used some fast passes for Tower. We then got in the elevator, and after a look around noticed that it there might not be that much screaming going on, which is just no fun. But don't worry, I can scream for the entire park should I need to. I noticed I started out with a high pitched throat scream, but eventually made it to a deep diaphragmatic scream...interesting.
After park hopping a bit more and doing some shopping, we made it to our reservations at Carthay Circle.
Or what we thought were our reservations...
We made the reservations months ago, and apparently forgot which day is what...and our reservations were actually for the night before...hahaha! Luckily it's Disney, so it all worked out and we were able to still eat. It was quite fancy and very delicious. I got some pork pot roast, and it was perfect.
Then we went and rode Monsters, and eventually made our way back to World of Color...still breathtaking.
Everyone wanted to head back...but it was my last night in the park! I needed to ride Mania one more time...so we did :). By the time we were done with that, the entire park was shutting down, so we decided to head back. Slowly.
And as I lay in bed...I reflected and remembered.
I do love Disneyland.
[sorry for the tedious post...but it's more for my sake, because I want to REMEMBER]
