Road Trippin' With The Niemeyers: Disneyland, 2014

Chad woke up at 2:00 this morning to set up the iPhone that we bought Ali for her sixteenth birthday. I woke up shortly after because how can I sleep?! We’re going to Disneyland! We left the house at 4:30 and an hour and fifteen minutes later we were sitting on the plane. Well, Chad was. Because when the employees at the counter announced that MVPs may now board, Chad took advantage and promptly abandoned us. The employees also announced that any person wearing a Russell Wilson jersey was allowed to board early. Boy did I pick the wrong day to wear my “The Boz” jersey. The kids and I had to board the plane with the rest of the nobodies.

The flight was oddly familiar and I experienced déjà vu more than once because, after a while, flights all blend together. The guy next to Chad sniffled and coughed and as the sunrise shone through the windows, the snot droplets from his sneezes filled the air with Ebola. Another time, a flight attendant named Jay stopped to tell us how much he appreciated our kids saying “thank you” when he collected their garbage, telling us that it’s not uncommon for him to serve 150 people and hear “thank you” maybe twice, if he's lucky. I’ve decided not to be a flight attendant when I grow up. If, in fact, I DO grow up because Ebola.

Chad, in his phone-programming excitement, had put Ali’s phone in his backpack instead of first putting it in the cute gift bag with matching tissue paper I had prepared, which also contained her birthday cards. The gift bag is still sitting on our bedroom floor. So we improvised and wrapped her phone in an airsick bag and presented it to her on the plane. Happy Birthday, Ali.

We walked through the stained-glass doors of the Grand Californian just before 10:00, checked in, and dropped our bags at Bell Service. We walked through Downtown Disney to Disneyland. As we entered the gates, the Disneyland Band was performing “A Spoonful of Sugar” while Alice and the Mad Hatter choreographed a dance with daddies and their babies in strollers, and all the stress of home and work and school and busyness just melted away.

We have some friends who are planning trips to Disneyland and they were on my mind as we strolled down Main Street U.S.A. I tried looking at it all as though I were experiencing it for the first time. I wanted to be able to give them tips and itineraries and all kinds of pointers, but after our first ride, which was The Indiana Jones Adventure, I quickly realized that there really are no words to describe the magic, and no way to capture the perfection of Disneyland without just experiencing it.

Big Thunder Mountain

We spent three hours going on the birthday girl’s favorite rides. We were all looking forward to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad because this year marks the 35^th anniversary of the roller coaster and it’s been completely refurbished. The new track has made the ride faster and more intense than ever. There’s a new grand finale involving dynamite that made this my favorite ride of the day.

We had reservations at The Blue Bayou for Ali’s birthday lunch. Seated near the water, listening to the boats full of people riding Pirates of the Caribbean, we ate lunch and Ali and Chad tried their first Mint Juleps in Disneyland. I tasted theirs... the drinks could also be called Syrup Juleps, but they might not sell so well then.

Ali and Daddy at The Blue Bayou

Ashley steering The Columbia

After lunch we rode more rides and on our second run on Splash Mountain, I ended up in the front seat of the log. I have gone down the 53-foot drop countless times. I’ve been soaked, I’ve stayed dry, I’ve experienced it all. But today, quantum physics and the laws of science worked together in such a way that as our log hit the bottom of the drop, I got a mouthful of Splash Mountain juice. And it was as salty as the ocean. I don’t know if I swallowed it because it all happened so fast, but I’m certain it contained a lot of things that I don’t want in my mouth. And my jeans were soaked through. After that Chad and I were happy to find a bench and dry off while the kids went on the Matterhorn, which, because of our past few experiences, Chad has renamed, "My Back Hurts."

Mickey’s Soundsational Parade was going by and we enjoyed that while we waited for the kids. As soon as their ride was over, we started walking to the hotel and we fell in behind the last float of the parade, directly behind the cast members carrying the rope signifying the end. And guess what float it was? Just guess.

Did you guess The Jolly Holiday float filled with chimney sweeps singing “Chim Chim Cher-ee”? Because if you did, you were right. And in front of the float, Bert and Mary Poppins rode on the backs of Carousel horses waving to the audience and being holy. We followed that float from Fantasy Land to the end of Main Street and we sang along and waved to the audience as if we ourselves were chimney sweeps. It was glorious. I also learned that a lot of people sing "Chim Chim Cher-ee" and don't actually know any of the words but they make up for it by singing even louder.

"When you're with a sweep you're in fine company"

We got to our room and rested for a bit before leaving to meet one of my oldest and dearest friends Steffi, her husband Alex, and their new baby Eli. They drove up from San Diego to have dinner with us and see Ali for her birthday. We met them at an Italian restaurant “Naples” in Downtown Disney and it was my favorite part of the day. Right next to guest-starring alongside Mary Poppins in today’s parade.

Clearly, no one knew where to look

The kids quickly got bored and because they’d been up since 3 am, they walked back to the hotel. We enjoyed a long dinner with our friends and when it was finally time for them to go, Chad had—yet another—celebrity sighting. This time, it was Dylan Riley Snyder, teen star of the Disney show “Kickin’ It.” Only Chad and teenagers would recognize this guy, but nonetheless, I snuck a picture. People were stopping by his table to meet him, so I used Steffi and Alex as props in order to get a picture for the kids. They had fallen asleep in our room and didn’t reply to Chad’s text telling them to come back. And they’re gonna be so mad in the morning!