Disneyland 2013 - Day 1

This Disneyland trip is special for many reasons.  And because I'm in a nostalgic and sentimental mood, I'm going to share some of those reasons with you.  Seventeen years ago, Chad and I came here for our first Christmas as a married couple and it was life-changing.  Since then, we've always wanted to bring our kids here at Christmastime, so this trip is our Christmas present to them.  WAY cooler than socks! 

Also, the upcoming year is going to be full of changes for our family.  I’m going back to college, Chad’s career is quickly taking a new path, and soon we'll have two kids in high school (with one driving) and our baby in middle school.  A new chapter is beginning—we can sense it heading straight for us, and although we’re excited for the inevitable change, we know that it’s gonna hit us like a freight train.  Suddenly everything in our life will be different.  So for now we want to spend some time together in a place where nothing changes, where we can come relive memories and make new ones, and where we are most happy.  Recently, a friend asked me, “So what is it about Disneyland?”  And I fumbled with my words, and I stuttered, and I tried to convey what it “is” about Disneyland, and I failed miserably.  It’s our family’s little paradise on earth, and I have a lump in my throat thinking about what it means to us.

Travelin' fools

To make that lump go away, I'm going to tell you about the boy that sat behind me on the plane this morning.  I'd like to call him Satan, but that might be construed as "mean."  First of all, I want to say that waking up at 2:30 a.m. was a piece of cake.  The drive to the airport, going through security, boarding the plane, it was all so enjoyable and fun, and I was thanking God for how easy traveling is with these kids.  I was sitting in my seat, laughing with Chad when I felt it:  Tap, tap, tap, tap...  The rhythmic tapping of tiny feet against the back of my seat.  I took a peek and sure enough, a little boy, about three or four years old, was sitting behind me.  He was seated between his mom and his brother who, fortunately, seemed to have read How To Fly With Humans For Dummies at some point.  About 20 minutes into this boy’s kick drum solo on my chair, I turned around and with all the sweetness and motherly love I could muster, I said in a sing-songy voice, “Please stop kicking my seat, thank you!”  And right away his mom told him to stop kicking.

 

I’d love to say he obeyed and that his fidgety legs found stillness, but that would be too easy, and make this blog way too short.  Let’s fast forward to an hour and a half into the flight when my patience was nearly gone because he had advanced from kicking my seat to banging his toy trucks together on his seat back tray, which caused me to rock back and forth like I was convulsing.  His mother tried one more time to calm him and he screamed, “BE QUIET MOM!!”  She quickly submitted to her toddler.  

My hero/husband said, “Let me trade seats with you.”  And since I was considering flushing the kid down the airplane’s toilet, I obliged.  From my new seat I could now peek at the boy, and watched him continually slam his trucks on the tray.  The mother quickly tried to take one away from him, and with one truck clenched tightly in his chubby little fist, he punched her in the head.  And she succumbed once again.  I kept my eyes on him as I summoned the most impressive “mom-stare” I could manage.  I imagine it was like the Care Bears, when they gather together to do the Care Bear Stare and heal the world.  I directed every ounce of mommy-power I possessed at this unruly little tyrant, and the minute he made eye contact with me, he lowered his eyes, put his hands in his lap and sat back in his chair.  The last 15 minutes of the flight were nice and quiet.  My similarities to Mary Poppins astound me.

My little boy is growing up.  Waaaaaah!

By 10:30 we had picked up our car, driven to our hotel, left the luggage with the concierge, and we were at the park.  You may remember from old posts that Indiana Jones is always the first ride we go on (it’s a tradition).  Next was the Jungle Cruise, which at Christmas becomes the Jingle Cruise, they just add a bit of holiday décor and more dumb jokes.  If you’re not aware of this magnificent ride, it’s been operating since the day Disneyland opened and has been relatively unchanged.  A skipper takes you on a riverboat tour and delivers eye-roll-provoking puns along the way.  Today’s skipper was Garrick, and here are two of his best lines:

As we passed a crocodile in the water: “Ginger is a dangerous crocodile.  Be careful—Ginger snaps.  She’s one tough cookie.”

Coming upon the hippos: “If you see them wiggling their ears, they’re trying to stay warm.  They’re trying to avoid hippo-thermia.”

Everyone groans, and everyone loves it.  Every time. 

We headed toward Fantasyland so the kids could ride the Matterhorn.  Chad and I bought an enormous smoked turkey leg and brought it to the kids while they waited in the long line.  Ashley tore into it like a starving child.  She would bite of a chunk and then throw her head back to catch it and swallow it down.  She reminded me of a lizard.  Side Note: You really have to force yourself not to think of what the turkey factory must look like where these turkeys are raised; these poor, helpless, delicious turkeys.

Splash Mountain revived us all.  We were running low on energy from being up since 2:30, but just standing in line in anticipation of that ride... only in Disneyland can standing in line for forty minutes be viewed as an exciting part of the vacation.  Ashley sat in front on the log and she got drenched; her jeans were soaked all the way through.  Shortly after, she started complaining of “chafing” and I secretly rejoiced that it wasn’t me in the front of that log.  It's a good thing kids are resilient (at least that’s what people say, they’re probably wrong, though.)

Next it was on to The Haunted Mansion.  I wrote a lot about this ride last year (click here to read about it), so I’ll just say that once again, it was beyond perfect—pure Disney magic.  But when we got off the ride, the crowd in the park had become so massive that we walked to California Adventure, and went straight to the Tower of Terror.  We then went to Cars Land just as the sun was setting, and I was amazed at the beauty of the Christmas decorations.  Had my phone not died at noon, and had either of us wanted to lug the camera around, I’d be able to share just how gorgeous everything was.  We were all tired and thirsty, so we bought four drinks (for $13 dollars… okay, so Disney’s not all THAT magic) and headed out of the park for dinner and to finally check into our room.

Yay for Chad's phone/camera!

We ate at Joe’s Crab Shack, which is next to our hotel.  We had a fun time, and the food was just what you’d envision; however, Ashley had a brief brush with horror: 

Swim, Penguin, swim!

When we were finally in our room at Crowne Plaza, we took off our shoes and sighed with relief.  Seconds after Chad removed his shoes I heard him say, “I’m pretty sure those are my feet I’m smelling.”  And then he shoved his nose in his shoes took a deep breath and said, “It’s so good someone should make a spaghetti sauce out of it.”

And there ends the first night of a very special vacation.

We wish you a merry Christmas

We wish you a merry Christmas

We wish you a merry Christmas

And a happy New Year.

- The Niemeyers