Disneyland 2013 - Day 2

The Castle at Christmas

This outfit was in Vogue

The year was 1986.  I was nine years old and obviously at the peak of fashion and style in America, blazing a path for future fashion icons like myself.  My parents took Leah and me on a trip to Disneyland, and we happened to be there when Hands Across America took place on May 25th.  Interestingly enough, it was also exactly ten years before I married Chad.  Or not so interestingly enough.

If you’re older than thirty, you probably remember this benefit in which over six and half million Americans participated.  People paid $10 to stand in a line, and hold hands with those next to them in order to form a “human chain” across America for fifteen minutes and fight homelessness and hunger. 

Disneyland was one of the places participating and we got to stand off to the side and watch it.  I’m pretty sure we didn't participate because none of us wanted to touch other people.  Not for charity… not for nothin’.  That's a theory, anyway.

At the end of the fifteen minutes of togetherness and brotherly love, hundreds of balloons were released into the atmosphere that probably went on to kill a plethora of wild animals.  But this was 1986, and environmental issues weren't in the forefront of anyone’s mind.  But shoulder pads and banana clips were.  Hands Across America raised $34,000,000 and successfully cured America’s homeless and hunger problem forever.  Hooray!

One of the only official Hands Across America photos on Google

One of my parents took this from where we stood

Wave goodbye to the balloons,
and to the animals they are about
to choke and or strangle to death!

Back to 2013.  This morning we were at the park when it opened.  I don’t think I’ve ever experienced anything in my life as lovely as a sunny, quiet morning in Disneyland.  We were just entering Main Street when a cast member asked if we’d like a ride in his horseless carriage.  On our drive from Main Street to the front of Sleeping Beauty’s castle, we had a nice chat with David, our driver. After he dropped us off, he posed for pictures with the kids, and went on his way.  We explored Fantasy Faire, which is a storybook village right out of a Disney princess movie.  It opened earlier this year and if I could find a town like that to live in, I’d move in a heartbeat. 

Our favorite people in our favorite place.

We spent the day going on rides.  Indiana Jones was first, and nobody was ahead of us.  When there is no line, and you have to walk through the queue, it’s surprising how long the walk is.  When I got off the ride, I decided to count how many steps it took to reach the exit: Three hundred.  That’s a lot of steps to get off a ride.  We also timed Pirates of the Caribbean: Sixteen minutes and thirty seconds from beginning to end.  We actually went back late at night so we could take a quick nap.  I’m not joking.

How we spent most of the day 

We snacked on chili-lime mangos and strawberries, and ate lunch while we worked our way through the park.  We went to Innoventions in Tomorrowland and check out the exhibit, “Iron Man Tech Presented by Stark Industries.”  There were Iron Man suits and a replica of Tony Starks Hall of Armor.  Some of the pieces were actually used in the films.  

As we were leaving, all the lights in the building went out.  Everything went completely black.  One of the cast members immediately yelled out, “Everyone stay right where you are!  Seriously, this surprised us more than it surprised you.”  They opened some doors and ushered us out like cattle.  Outside, we noticed that most of Tomorrowland was without power.  The Monorail was just stuck there on the track, no rides were operating, and there was no music playing.  There was only the sound of people talking and babies screaming (geez, babies, enough already!).  And up until that moment, I had never realized how much music adds to the ambiance of Disneyland.  Without it, everything seemed so surreal, and Chad and I started discussing the possibility that there had been an attack on our country.  Nuclear, EMP, it doesn’t matter, the point is, instead of thinking, “Weird, the power went out,” we automatically assumed, “This is it – the apocalypse,” and we weren’t even really that surprised.  Once we exited Tomorrowland, we heard the music and saw other rides operating, so we assumed America was safe for the time being.  

Dapper Dans

We stopped to watch a barbershop quartet, the Dapper Dans sing and play the Deagan organ chimes.  They sang beautiful Christmas songs, and if it weren’t 76 degrees outside, I would’ve thought we were in a small Midwest town in the middle of the holiday season.  From there we went to California Adventure where we immediately split up and the kids ran off to ride California Screamin'.  We stayed on Buena Vista Street and I noticed a group of people dressed in clothes from the 1920s.  They were window shopping, and as we stopped to take a picture, they began performing Christmas songs on the sidewalk.  They are the Buena Vista Street Community Bell Ringers, and they were mesmerizing.  Their voices and the bells, and the Christmas songs they sang, were all so incredible that by the end of it, Chad and I felt like crying.  So what, we cry.  Sue us.

The Buena Vista Street Community Bell Ringers

We ended up in Cars Land at Cozy Cone Motel.  We ordered ice cream cones, and sat at a table underneath a huge umbrella shaped like a traffic cone.  They also serve popcone and chili cone queso, and route beer floats.  Oh, that makes me happy!  As we sat at the table and relaxed, Chad took out his iPod and played Van Morrison’s “Days Like This” for me.  We were leaning over the iPod with our heads together, listening to the song in silence.  We were at the point of the song when Van Morrison sings, “when all the parts of the puzzle, start to look like they fit…”  And just as I thought we were having this sweet moment, Chad asked, “all of the farts of the puzzle?” and the moment was over.  We got up and went on our way.  

I took this from the Interwebs

We took the bakery tour to see how sourdough bread is made, and then we met up with the kids.  Everyone was getting tired—we’d been at the parks for 7 hours, so we went back to the hotel to relax.  When I say “relax” I mean sit in our room and watch Chad do the Robot while wearing his coat inside out.

He's a dancin' machine

By 5:30 we were back at Disneyland and the sun had set, but it was still warm.  The parade was just beginning, and the crowd on Main Street was as thick as molasses.  Wait, no.  That’s dumb… it was just really thick, and overwhelming, and we got out of there as fast as we could.  It’s now 1:00 in the morning and my eyes are red and bloodshot, and I’m zoning out in front of the computer, so I will wrap this up soon, I promise you.

More rides, more adventures, more trips to the Candy Palace because they lure us in with their evil confections and we are powerless to resist.  Twice a night, it snows on Main Street.  They light the castle, and play Christmas music, and it SNOWS on Main Street!  It’s so magical I could just punch something.  Those are the only words I have for it in this sleep deprived madness I’m experiencing (or maybe it’s the caramel pecan roll I ate).

Dancing in the snow - yes, they were the only ones

Splash Mountain, once again, at 9:30.  When it was over, the cast members asked if we wanted to stay on and the kids yelled, “Yesssss!” But Chad and I were wet enough so we got off and shopped at Pooh’s Corner.  The kids ended up going on it two more times without ever getting out of their log.  They were wet and tired when we met up with them, but another visit to The Haunted Mansion was a must.  Blah blah blah, more rides, the aforementioned nap on Pirates, Dole Whip, brain freeze, and a long fatigued walk to the shuttle. 

I remember in 1986 we stayed at the Howard Johnson and rode a shuttle to the park.  One night, on the way home, I pretended to fall asleep so my dad would have to carry me to our room.  Tonight, on our shuttle back to the hotel, Ashley fell asleep (for real) on my lap.  And do you think I carried her?  You’re darn right I didn’t!  I poked her and loudly whispered, “We’re here, get up!” Because how else are kids going to learn?  That’s not true.  Well, me not carrying her is true.  She’s eleven, for pete's sake.  And I’m not a pack mule.  The point is, I remember things about my childhood trips to Disneyland.  And even though my family didn't turn out how I imagined it would, we made some good memories.  And Chad and I are going to give our kids those same memories.  Minus the Hands Across America, even though it solved America’s poverty issue in only fifteen minutes.

We were back in our room just before midnight, and Ashley was asleep almost instantaneously.  The older two weren't far behind.  Chad lasted about fifteen minutes, and I’m fading fast, but I cannot wait for tomorrow! 

When you don't need to worry, there'll be days like this

When no one's in a hurry, there'll be days like this

When you don't get betrayed by that old Judas kiss

Oh my mama told me, there'll be days like this

                                                - Van Morrison

- The Niemeyers