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Returning from the Happiest Place on Earth…
So, Sunday morning at around 4AM our alarms went off, letting us know that our vacation was about to begin. Ugh. By 5AM, my mom was downstairs and we were hauling our suitcases downstairs for the six-hour ride to Disneyland.
The ride itself wasn’t too bad. I’m not saying it was a dream come true, but on the suck scale, it was about a 2 out of five sucks. Well, the part where my mom was driving would be scored higher because it was making me car sick, but when I took over, it got a lot better.
Anyhow, roughly six-hours later at about 11AM, we were in Anaheim, approaching Disneyland. We were staying at the Disneyland Hotel, which was a nice experience. It’s sort of the mid-priced hotel of the Disneyland group of hotels, and also one of the older hotels. The newest is the Grand Californian, which is built in the typical arts and crafts style.
We were able to do an early check-in and got right to the business at hand‚Äîoff to Disneyland and it’s sister park, California Adventure park.
The first ride we hit was one called “Soaring Over California”, which we’d ridden for the first time a couple of year’s ago. It’s basically less of a ride and more of a scenic tour. You’re strapped into a row of seats that is lifted over a large movie screen. The screen curves around you and you are given the sights and smells of various Californian areas. You actually feel like you’re handgliding over these different areas.
The first two days were spent trying to do everything possible that both parks had to offer. We had a chance to ride a few rides that we hadn’t ridden a couple years ago‚Äîlike the big roller coast at California Adventure and Space Mountain at Disneyland. The big roller coaster was missed last time, but was a blast. Literally a blast. Like they tell you you’re about to take off, and BAM… you’re literally taken from 0 to 60 in just a second. Space Mountain has been closed every time we’ve gone in the past, and wasn’t supposed to open until Friday, but they opened it a week early and we jumped on. You’re in complete darkness the whole time riding the fastest roller coaster in the park. Jesus. Fun, once my stomach caught up with my body.
We also managed to see some of the great shows. Aladdin was a lot of fun. It’s a stage show, in the California Adventure park and was the better of the stage shows. Fanstasmic is an outdoor water show, in the Disneyland park and was also really great. Afterwards, there was a very cool fireworks show that really lit up the sky.
One of the things I commented on with Wifey™ was how funny it was to see all these people walking around with these Mickey Mouse ears with the crabbiest faces on earth. Or better, the parents SCREAMING at their kids, while wearing a set of said Mickey Mouse ears. Ugh. Welcome to the Happiest Place on Earth. Probably the worst and most annoying thing about being at Disneyland are all the people pushing strollers. In my opinion, if you’re kid is too young to walk, they’re too young to be at Disneyland. I think most of these parents just bring the strollers along to load their shit on. Half the time, there was no kid in the stroller, just a load of backpacks and coats piled up on it. And then these people slam these strollers into the backs of people’s heels, because it’s so crowded. Ugh. If I have a kid, it won’t be enjoying Disneyland until it’s able to walk. Getting a stroller slammed into the back of your ankle can really ruin your day.
The third day took a turn for the worse, when I got a flu bug. The girls went on and enjoyed themselves, but I spent practically the whole day in the hotel room feeling like crap. I managed to get out a few times, but headed back very quickly. One of our last stops was at the Buzz Lightyear ride, where you have to shoot at these targets. I managed to get 16,800, but was surprised when my mom came out telling me she got over 17,000. Ugh.
Anyhow, our ride home was a five on the suck scale. We did manage to stop in Beverly Hills for about an hour to grab a drink and take a walk down Rodeo Drive, which was pretty nice. Stores like Versace, Barney’s, Hermes where you’re almost afraid to go into. We even saw Jonathan Salon, which is featured on the Blow Out show on Bravo. Fun stuff.
The rest of the ride home was just LOOOOOOOOOOONG. The same six-hours, just LOOOOOOOOOOOOONG.
So, now we’re back and I’m still sick. The last two days have left me without a voice and crabby. Luckily, the sore throat and muscle aches are gone, now it’s just a hoarse voice. Ugh. I swear, everytime I take a vacation I get sick. It’s true. I’d put money on it if I could.
Back to work on Monday. I’ll probably have some more anecdotes during the week.
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This entry was posted on Friday, July 15th, 2005 at 7:59 pm and is filed under Entries, Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.