Today we went strong for seventeen hours. After a
quick breakfast at our hotel we arrived at Disneyland for the Extra Magic Hour
around 7:00. We rode Space Mountain which went through a temporary makeover, including
a name change. It’s now called, “Hyperspace Mountain.” As we stood in line, Admiral
Ackbar greeted us on a screen, instructing us to report to our reconnaissance ships
and make the jump to hyper space. We were being sent into an X-wing battle and
were warned, “This mission can feel like a high speed roller coaster-type
ride...” It was the most fun any of us have ever had on Space Mountain. Climbing out of the ride Chad said, “It almost felt like I
was in an actual X-Wing!” All Star-Wars-raised boys dream about that moment and it was awesome to see it happen to 41-year-old Chad. I
never really dreamed about being an X-Wing pilot, my dreams were more about living with Wookiees and Ewoks.
We rode Star Tours next, which we usually avoid because
it makes Chad and me feel carsick. But they’ve re-imagined it to reflect the new
movie and so how could we miss it? We both felt fine after the ride so we rode the Matterhorn. The Matterhorn’s famous Abominable Snowman is new and
improved and animatronic. Instead of just whizzing past him in your bobsleds,
he now seems to chase you through the mountain and I actually felt terrified.
But in a fun, someone’s-under-the-bed-and-I-can’t-move way.
We made the kids ride Small World with us before we
boarded the Disneyland Railroad and headed to Main Street. It was still quiet in
the park and we were the only people in our train. The Main Street Plaza was
filled with Disney characters, so I took Ashley to meet Goofy, Pluto, and
Donald Duck, while the rest of the family watched the Disneyland Band play
Christmas music and Frozen songs.
We walked to California Adventure and got fast
passes for Radiator Springs Racers in Cars Land, and then rode the Tower of
Terror. I don’t know what it was, and I can’t explain it, but this time was the
scariest, most stomach-dropping experience I’ve had on the Tower of Terror and
I loved every second of it. We ate lunch at Smokejumpers Grill at Grizzly Peak
before souvenir shopping. I watched Ashley buy Disney pins for her friends; she carried a list of their favorite Disney characters and spent a lot of time
selecting the perfect pin for each of them. We walked back to Disneyland
together and then separated so the kids could ride Indiana Jones and Chad and I
could finally slow down and be old.
We walked down Main Street at a sloth’s pace,
exploring every store, looking at every Christmas decoration, and taking
pictures. An hour later, we met the kids so we could go back to California
Adventure and ride Radiator Springs Racers. As we entered the park, James, a Disney
security cast member approached us. He saw our Star Wars shirts and said, “Are
you Star Wars people?”
“Yes,” we answered.
“Have you ever had a Wookiee Cookie? They’re Chewy.”
We laughed that awkward polite laugh people do
when someone says a pun.
“Do you know where Princes Leia gets her clothes?
The Darth Maul.”
Oh, another one. We laughed as we continued walking
and James the stand-up comic walked with us.
“Do you know why they filmed episodes IV, V, and
VI before I, II, and III? Because Yoda in charge he was.”
Ha ha. Still walking.
“Where did the hard-of-hearing Stormtrooper work? The
Deaf Star.”
This continued all the way to Route 66 in Cars
Land where we finally stopped and let him show us a variety of secret handshakes before we told him we had to go.
We liked James, but we were glad to say goodbye.
At 2:30, we returned to our rooms to get ready for
the movie. The day tickets went on sale, I spent 40 minutes trying to buy them
for the first showing at Downtown Disney. Apparently, nerd-demand was so high that
we broke the internet. But I got the coveted tickets, and called the theater a
month in advance to see what the line-up policy was. An employee told me they
would allow people to line up at 4:00, so at exactly 4:00 we were standing at
the ticket window. We received instructions, and picked up our wristbands which
secured our place in line. Our numbers were 121-125, which meant we wouldn’t
get the best seats in the theater. It didn't matter.
We ate dinner at Earl of Sandwich and sat outside watching
the ice skaters stumble around the outdoor rink in their big black helmets. Before we knew it, we were lining up behind the
AMC Theater with hundreds of other fans. We shuffled through security: bag checks,
metal detectors, wands. We were ushered to our place in line and then we stood
for an hour and a half. The only people to get busted were two eight-year-old
boys having a light saber battle in the parking lot. An elderly woman stood in
line with her two chubby sons in their forties, one had a blue light saber and
I heard him announce, “They’ll have to pry this out of my cold, dead hands.” I
don’t know who “they” are, but as I glanced around and saw the costumes (many
of which were Star Wars theme footy jammies and bathrobes), I realized the only
thing separating my family and me from most of these people was props.
 |
| Someone didn't read the rules. NO blasters allowed! |
Finally, they let us into the theater. The room
buzzed with anticipation and when a voice said, “Welcome to AMC,” everybody
cheered, and clapped, and “woo-hoo’d.” A preview for Warcraft
played and mostly-grown men clapped and yelled. I didn’t know what I was
watching, but I knew I was in the presence of true nerds. The lights dimmed and
the cheers intensified. The screen went black and people went nuts, but when
the words “A long time ago...” came on screen, the room absolutely erupted.
And then Star Wars happened.
I won’t even try to describe the experience of watching
Episode VII for the first time with hundreds of other people who have waited
years for it. It was the best Star Wars film I’ve ever seen, and it was
everything I hoped it would be. It felt like the old cast ushered in the new
and handed them over to us, assuring us that this time there will be no Jar Jar
Binks to ruin the universe.
The moment the movie ended, every single person turned
in their seats and discussed it. Most were sitting on the edge of their seats, some people sat back in their seats, silently staring at the
screen. As we walked outside the theater, the Disneyland Forever firework show was finishing and the timing
couldn’t have been better. The five of us stood in a circle for twenty minutes
talking about the movie, trying not to talk over each other, and all of us were
grinning. Some of us might have been crying.
 |
| It's a Small World at Christmastime |
“It’s true.
The Force, the Jedi, all of it. It’s all true.”
-Han
Solo
-Rachel
No comments:
Post a Comment