Disneyland 2012 - Day 3

A detective, Wenda, Waldo, a waitress and a Slytherin wizard.  A motley crew!

Another Magic Morning meant another unwelcome wake-up call from me. This time, it was California Adventure at 7 AM – which ended up being more like 7:50 after we had breakfast at Tangaroa Terrace in the hotel. We got into the park 10 minutes before it opened, so we had to pass all the people lined up behind the rope (we took a picture again, minus yesterday’s flaunting) and even had a sneaky girl from the crowd climb under the rope and try to walk in with us.  Nice try, lady! We headed directly for Cars Land and got to experience the rides totally wait-free. 

Hanging out in Cars Land

The Tower of Terror was next, and by the time we got on the elevator, our hearts were already pounding and anxiety levels were high – just how we like it. And then we screamed our lips off for the next few minutes. The kids and I went on a second time, but Chad refused.  He always refuses the second ride. Once we were done, and my rubber legs had regained their strength, we went to Paradise Pier and rode California Screamin’, which made me scream so hard I tasted blood.

We spent the morning riding rides that had no lines, walking around the park that seemed nearly deserted, and even splitting up again so our kids could go on Grizzly River Run and get soaked, which neither Chad nor I found tempting. Instead, we went to the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail and climbed rope ladders and rock walls and met Dug from Up! 

By the time we met back up with our kids, they wanted to go to Disneyland and were no longer happy with us.  It’d been a long morning and they were hungry and irritable. They were desperate to get back to Disneyland. Ali said, “you can’t keep us trapped here against our will.” Jackson was going to call the police on us when we told them we weren’t going to Disneyland until tonight. And finally the poor deprived boy asked, “Mom, can we get lunch or are you guys going to starve us, too?” 

Due to legal reasons, we decided not to let them starve to death, and we got them lunch at Boardwalk Pizza and Pasta. Chad had some Mediterranean food and I had a salad. Once we we all had more energy, Ashley and I headed back to the hotel to relax before the Halloween Party, and Chad took the other poor, unfortunate souls to Disneyland for more rides. 

Ashley and I stopped by Build A Bear so she could use the gift card she received from her Aunt for her birthday. She chose a tie-dye teddy bear, put it in a Winnie the Pooh costume, named her Snuggles Pooh and was the most content, happy girl the rest of the day.  We spent some time in the sun at the pool, and even met Goofy when he came out to greet the hotel guests. We had some much needed one-on-one time.

Finally, we all met back up in the room, put on our costumes, and walked back to Disneyland for the Halloween Party. Unfortunately, Chad started feeling really crummy about 20 minutes in, and ended up going back to the hotel. This left  the kids and me to spend the evening trick-or-treating, people watching (there were some INCREDIBLE costumes), riding rides, and enjoying our first Halloween in Disneyland all by ourselves. We sure missed Chad.  And my Wenda costume didn’t make much sense without Waldo.  I heard, “Hey, I found you!” or “There’s Waldo!” or “Ha!  There you are!” about 57 times, and I will never. Ever. EVER wear that costume again. When you don’t like to get attention, a Where’s Waldo costume is about the worst thing you can wear. Duly noted.

My trick-or-treating machines

As much as we love and adore Disneyland, we do much better when it’s not peak season, when most kids are in school, and the crowds are thin.  Halloween night in Disneyland is the exact opposite of all of that. Tonight was insane. They packed so many people into that park it was hard to walk. When the kids were on Splash Mountain, and I was trick-or-treating while waiting for them to get off the ride, there was a moment when I had this out-of-body experience of looking down on myself standing in a Where’s Waldo costume, saying “Trick or treat” and my kids were nowhere around, and I felt like the single biggest loser in the world. Except for maybe that heavy set man with a full beard who was wearing an Alice in Wonderland costume, and his wife - the 4’1” chubby lady dressed as Mrs. Incredible. 

The kids and I enjoyed our time together, but the whole night was really off without Chad there. Everyone has a not-so-perfect Disneyland story though. When I was 3, my parents took me to meet Tigger, and I was so scared that I wrapped my arms around my dad while he held me, and I bit his neck, refusing to let go.  When Ali was 3, we took her to meet Cinderella, and when the princess knelt down to say hello, Ali stuck her hands in her arm pits, put on her biggest frowny-face, and said, “I like Snow WHITE.” I guess our Halloween without Daddy will just be added to that file of memories.

Cinderella vs. Alison the 3 year old

Tomorrow, our oldest turns 14.  Her first request was to be allowed to wake up whenever she wakes up. So I will grant her that wish. And the second she opens her eyes, I will yank her butt out of bed, and we will celebrate her beautiful life until the sun goes down. Here’s to a good night sleep, and a much improved Daddy by morning.

The Niemeyers